Day 29 -- lunchtime

My appetite is still in the dumps after being sick... I'm simply not hungry. But this isn't a bad thing. Before I got sick, I was trying to lose weight and it's hard to do because I love food. (To clarify, the wrong kinds of food. ;-)) So this appetite disappearance is actually a blessing in disguise.

Lunchtime today consisted of eggs and a glass of cranberry juice. Scrambled eggs are the bane of my existence except when they're smothered in ketchup and mayo... it is then that they become a dish worthy of reckoning. :-)

Before I made lunch, I made chicken soup and cleaned up the house. It feels so good to have everything accomplished. A clean house to welcome my students! Chicken soup to welcome home my husband. :-)

I like chopping up veggies and meat and throwing in a ton of herbs and pepper and smelling the simmer all over the house...

mOre snaPshoTs

    Jesse asked Sara what his name was. She thought for a moment, then she said,             "I'm Jesse."

Avoiding a skunk waddling across the highway and having my husband still congratulating me on this feat two days later.

Forgetting to bring any night clothing with me on the trip therefore, having to buy new ones at Superstore in Regina. It was a mistake that turned into a good thing: I LOVE them. They are so warm and cozy, I could wear them 24/7. Unfortunately, I can't! (Professional image up-keep.)

Watching Ghost Protocol in the Galaxy theatre and feeling my stomach churn over the tall building with lots of glass part. I think I may have yelped a couple of times.

Going to Boston Pizza and eating at midnight. They have the most delectable Christmas dessert there: Peppermint Brownie Delight. Side note: Jesse and I aren't big fans of peppermint and chocolate mixed together. I mean, come on: two great flavors, why mix them? But the picture of this one was pretty convincing so, we ordered it. Picture this: two hot brownies, two big scoops of vanilla ice-cream (the kind with chunks of vanilla in it), raspberry syrup and chocolate syrup drizzled over, then... the final touch: crushed peppermint candy canes over everything. It. Was. Heavenly.

Our second test of 'in sickness and in health'. Half an hour before we arrived at my parents, Jesse came down with some sort of head cold/flu. His fever was very high, he ached all over, he was shaking and shivering and coughing. At one point, he was so weak that he couldn't even move. I finally got him to take some Advil and that seemed to help keep his fever down. He doesn't often get sick, but when he does, he REALLY does.

Ruth got herself into some trouble for being too noisy while Jesse was trying to sleep. Hannah scolded her soundly for almost waking up her "brother-in-law"... the idea of a five-year-old having a brother-in-law cracks me up. And it gets better: Sara is two.

Exchanging presents at Lindsey's place. She got us several awesome gifts but the one I am going to mention is the SKITTLES!!! Hehe. I love having friends who get you what you want for Christmas.

Sitting in our living room and not having to worry about the mosquitoes. They are finally gone. Good ol' Raid.

Getting the mail and seeing that my new camera had arrived. I am (so, SO!!!) excited about the camera. Jesse is excited about the tripod. And Snow is happy because ...

....he got salmon flavored Kitty Treats for Christmas. (Jesse calls them Cat Crack.) We're good cat owners because we only give him one at a time. Amen.

Celebrating the New Year with my family and many folks from the Endeavour Church. It was a lot of fun and we rang in the tick-tock of Midnight with a rousing chorus of Onward Christian Soldiers. Mainly because I was too exhausted at that point to think of anything else creative.

Jamming with Ellie and Lydia for the first time in months. I actually can't remember the last time we did that. It was good and it brought back pleasant memories of our family band and all the hours we used to practice together. I am glad we were able to bond in this way over the years. Music is magic and it is definitely alive and well.

Eating supper at Brewsters with Sam. This restaurant is also where two dear friends waitress, so between Jesse, Sam, Gillian, Brie and awesome, awesome food, it was a pleasant experience for me. I will be going back there again.

Watching five different movies in two days while in Regina. We watched The Adventures of Tintin, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Arthur Christmas, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Sherlock Holmes Game of Shadows. All were brilliant. I definitely want to review each of them for Ponderings. What a treat to be able to go sit in a darkened theatre and watch things come to life on the big screen.

It was -4* C. today. In January. In Saskatchewan. That's really warm. And the snow and ice were all melting and falling off the car. Weather predictions say it's supposed to last all week. ::happy sigh::

Today my husband told me I am prettier than Marilyn Monroe. (In context, it doesn't sound weird. Lol!) It never fails: he makes me feel beautiful, smart and best of all, strong and good. I am really blessed to have such a man.

The best snapshot of the week is simply that God answered my prayers regarding several matters: Jesse and I drew ever closer through this holiday season, the visit with my family went well, Christmas with the in-laws was so good and last, but most certainly not least, Jesse is getting better.

Happy Holidays for all, forever. Cheers!

Discovery

Funny how you can know a person so well and find out something about them you didn't know.

Setting: Jesse and Naomi in grocery store carrying basket half filled with groceries. Jesse reads things off of list in hand while Naomi grabs them off shelves.

"Cream of wheat..." Jesse reads.
"It's my favorite hot cereal," Naomi replies.
"Yeah, it's my favorite too," Jesse says.
"No way!"

As it turns out, we prefer it above oatmeal, cracked wheat, corn meal mush or just about any other hot cereal. Life is good. :-)

Life's Goodness

The performance went really well!! I love sitting in the back, listening to the other actors... and hearing the audience laugh. What a delight. :-) There is something about working with so many talented, experienced people. Even the teenagers have been on stage almost their entire life. They calm my nerves with their expertise. :-)

We had a couple instances of ad-libbing yesterday evening and both scenes turned into something hilarious. At one point, I was supposed to be laughing a little for the audience but I was almost in hysterics. :-) So funny.

And Dickens? Well, wonderful food and the day wasn't terribly cold. Lovely. Now if I could just stay healthy!! The fiddling went well, too. A few of the tunes I hadn't heard/played before but they were pretty simple and she had chord charts. Some of them were really nice... especially the Irish sets.

Tonight holds another performance... Remember my lines... remember my cues into the music for the Ghost of Christmas Future scene... remember the words to the solo... :-)

A Jam of a Mess

Our family loves food. I don't think we're gluttons, necessarily. We just love good food. I, myself, am constantly on the look out for fine chocolate. We also seem to adopt family members based on what type of food they enjoy. If they like homemade ice-cream, we've been known to smile endearingly and say, “We must be related!”
We have a lot of funny stories about food. One in particular never leaves my mind for very long and I thought I would share it here because other people might have the crazy sense of humor the Holter family has. :-)
In Saskatchewan one spring, my parents, along with two of my siblings, were gone on a trip. My grandparents were staying with us children to make sure we didn't get into too much trouble and to help out with the work.
Before my parents departed, Mom had made up a batch jam from rhubarb and applesauce (believe it or not, that combination makes an excellent jam). We can our jam and fruit in quart jars because we eat such quantities of it.
Anyway, one morning, a bowl of our lovely jam ended up on the floor somehow and what a mess that was! But the real showdown came the next evening.
Hannah had asked for the jam twice and no one was paying her the least bit of attention. At the same time, Zeke (7, at the time) grabbed his plate and came around to the end of the table to get some jam put on his toast. As I helped him, Hannah stood up so she could get the jam herself. Zeke was just picking up his plate so he could go back to his place, when Hannah reached over me to grab the jam. Unknown to her, there was condensation on the outside of the jar and she put a healthy squeeze on that puppy as she tried to lift it to carry it to her plate.
You can imagine the following scene: She actually shot that jar of jam straight at Zeke. Nothing broke, thankfully, but he was literally covered in jam. He had it in his hair, his eyebrows, on his forehead, cheeks and chin, his arms and hands; his shirt was red and wet, and so were his pants... he even had jam on his feet. And the floor was a disaster!
Being that all seated at the table were Holters, the situation appealed to our sense of ridiculousness and we all sat and laughed hysterically for over five minutes. :-) After all, what's the use of crying over spilt jam? :-)