Pick three, totally selfish wishes.  I wish…

…I could magically lose thirty pounds.

…I never had to balance my checkbook again because I have a self-replenishing account.

…I had a *real* office.

Your turn.  And remember–be selfish!

Ahhh.  The Holiday season, when some of the best films are released. 

Pirates 3 just came to video, so I had to add it to my collection.  Harry Potter 5 will be released soon and that’s what I told the kids I want for Christmas from them.  Then there are several movies coming out at the theatre that I want to see. 

P.S. I Love You with Gerard Butler and Hilary Swank.  Looks like a fabulous movie.  Sweeney Todd with the incomparable Johnny Depp.  (My son wants to see this one as well.)  And National Treasure 2.  I loved the first one and am really looking forward to this second one as well.  Since most of these movies are released on the same day, I’m thinking I may have to make it an all day deal.  I haven’t done that in a long time, but…

 What about you?  Any movies you’re looking forward to catching this Holiday season?

Well, maybe not.  But you will certainly make the people you share this fabulous Pecan Pie recipe with very happy.  They will drool.  They will rhapsodize your culinary abilities.  They will beg you for the recipe and offer to clean your house.  (Probably not, but it sounded good, didn’t it?)

Ahem.

Anyway…  This is my favorite Pecan Pie recipe and because it’s the end of the week and my brain is basically all but shutting down, I thought I would do something simple and helpful to make both of our lives easier. 

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup dark corn syrup

1/2 cup white corn syrup

1 cup light brown sugar

1/3 tsp of salt

1/3 cup of melted butter

3 eggs

1 cup pecans

1 9 inch pie shell

To Prepare:

Combine syrup, sugar, salt and butter.  Slightly beat the eggs, then add to the mixture. Beat well, then pour into pie shell.  Sprinkle pecans on top of pie.  Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.  Enjoy!

Have a GREAT weekend, everyone!  (And make this pie!)

Ya’ll, I’m so proud of my children.  They’re artisitc sides are really coming through this holiday season.  For instance, this afternoon, my dearies came to me and asked if they could use the gingerbread cookie mix I’d bought to make cookies.  I said yes, envisioning carefully decorated gingerbread men, Christmas trees, stars and what have you.  Instead, THIS is what they made…

I promise, they’re edible.  And, revolting shape aside, quite tasty.

1.) If you aren’t a wine drinker, even one named Novella doesn’t taste good.  (And since we were plotting a novella, I thought for sure it would be different.)

2.) Nothing smells better than a crackling fire, bread baking and the scent of this candle, even when the smoke alarm is going off.

3.) Vicki is the fire master.  She can coax a beautiful flame from a single dying coal.

4.) Jen is a thoughtful hostess, always offering to make tea, bring a drink, provide a snack, etc…  She also never sleeps and has the best laugh of anyone I have ever heard.

5.) Staying in pajamas all day is perfectly acceptable behavior, particularly when you’re with friends who are disinclined to change as well.  I don’t think I ever even brushed my hair on Saturday.  Teeth?  Yes.  Hair.  I don’t think so.

6.) Being with people who “get” you is a beautiful thing. 

Dear Monday,

     Go away. I’m not ready. It’s pretty and cool outside, and I want to sit in my swing and read a good book.  I want to experiment with new fall recipes, do crafty things and start planning my Thanksgiving dinner.  I want to make hot apple cider–though I don’t drink hot stuff–and bake apple pies and pecan tarts and sugar cookies.  I want to turn on my gas logs and watch the cozy fire.  I want to take long naps and wear sweatpants and basically veg out and enjoy the blissfully cool weather after this horribly long, miserable summer.

     That’s all.  Thank you.

~Rhonda

PS–Note to editor: I’m not going to do *any* of this stuff.  I’m going to work.   Just thought I’d better mention that.

Well, sorta.  I got an email from Jen yesterday with pictures from a 1977 JC Penney catalog and it absolutely made me howl.  I was 6 years old in 1977 and can remember lots of things from that time period in my life.  The big bag of M&M’s in my stocking at Christmas.  The baby birds I found in the chimney.  Picking plums off the tree in my grandmother’s back yard.  Penny candy.  However, I cannot remember ANY of this…

and this

and this

I don’t recall my parents ever dressing alike and if they did, I am certain I have blocked it out.

In fact, I seem to have blocked out anything to do with fashion from that time.  Now I know why.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

A couple of days ago this little guy flew into my sliding glass window.  (Don’t worry.  He eventually flew away, so he wasn’t hurt.)

 I’ve only recently really started looking at the birds that flock to my feeders, so I’m sad to say I didn’t know that this was a male hairy woodpecker.  (I had to email Brenda and Jen and show it to them.)  Right now I know that I’ve got chickadees, nuthatches, titmice, wrens, blue jays and cardnials coming to my feeders, but there are several more I can’t identify just yet.   The chicadees are my favorites.  They’re just happy little birds.   What about you?  Do you put out feed for our feathered friends?  Do you enjoy watching them? 

But I will. 

One of my dh’s pet peeves is when people take their cell phones into the sanctuary at church, then forget to turn them off.  Once, during revival, we had a guest singer in who was in the middle of a prayer when someone’s cell phone went off and, without missing a beat, he said.  “Listen, that’s the Lord calling now.”  He got a good joke out of it, but he still managed to make his point.

Anyway, anytime a cell phone has rung during church, dh has always tsked under his breath or frowned.  Imagine his surprise and humiliation then, when his phone not only went off in church, but instead of the ring-tone, it was dh’s own pre-recorded voice saying, “The phone is ringing, the phone is ringing.”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen that particular shade of red on his cheeks before.

So what about you?  Had any embarrassing things happen lately?

This is absolutely hysterical!  I tried to figure out who to post it directly, but that didn’t work.  So just click here.

Have a great weekend, everyone!