Rum Balls

 These are  really easy, really delicious. No baking necessary! When you’re having company over or visting someone else for the holidays, just set a plate heaping full of them out and watch them disappear.  It’s best to make them atleast a week ahead of time, put them in a tupperware container and set in the refrigerator to “season”.

Rum Balls
2 cups finely crushed vanilla wafers
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup light rum
Powdered sugar
Line airtight container with wax paper.  Set aside. In large mixing bowl, combine wafers, granulated sugar and walnuts. Add butter and rum. Stir until well blended. Mixture will be crumbly.
Shape mixture into 1 inch balls. Roll balls in powdered sugar. Place on ungreased baking sheet and let stand for 1 hour. Re-roll balls in powdered sugar and place in prepared container. Store in refrigerator. – Allow to season for alteast one week. Rum flavor improves with time.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

This one’s been around, but it still makes me laugh.

SARAH PALIN: The chicken crossed the road because gosh-darn it, he’s a  maverick!
Honey, where’s my gun?

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for change! The chicken wanted change!

JOHN MC CAIN:  My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

 HILLARY CLINTON:  When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure right from Day One that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn’t about me.

 GEORGE W. BUSH: We don’t really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

 DICK CHENEY: Where’s my gun? And where’s Harry Whittington? Is that a quail?

 COLIN POWELL:  Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.

BILL CLINTON: I did not …cross the road… with that chicken.

 AL GORE: I invented the chicken.

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken’s intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some chickens of color.

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won’t realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he’s acting by not taking on his current problems before adding new problems.

 OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I’m going to give this chicken a NEW CAR so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road..

 NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he’s guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.
 PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.
 MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer’s Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

 ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.

 JERRY FALWELL: Because the chicken was gay! Can’t you people see the plain truth? That’s why they call it the ‘other side.’ Yes, my friends, That chicken is gay. And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the Liberal media whitewashes with seemingly harmless phrases like ‘the other side.’ That chicken should not be crossing the road. It’s as plain and as simple as that.

 GRANDPA: In my day we didn’t ask why the chicken crossed the road.  Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

 BARBARA WALTERS: Isn’t that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish it’s lifelong dream of crossing the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

 BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken2010, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken2010. This new platform is much more stable and will never reboot.

 COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

For the Love of Dogs

 For those of you who have been following along here with me for a while, you know I take pictures almost daily. Recently I was asked by a dear friend to take pictures of her three month old niece.  This baby was the most beautiful thing, she has strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes – and the holiday outfits made her look like a true Kris Kringle baby.

 Out of respect for the family I won’t share their full portraits, but I did get permission from my friend to show you the picture I liked the most, seen below.   Our photo session was held at her house, and she was so generous in letting us dismantle her living room for pictures.  While she and her pup, Izzy,  observed patiently on the sidelines, Izzy fell asleep in her “mothers” lap.

 If this isn’t a portrait of real love, I don’t know what is.    

 

An Irish Christmas Tale

 

Paddy was working in his woodwork shop making toys for the lads and lasses. He was hover’n over a saw machine when a wood piece slipped and he cut off all of his fingers. Off to the hospital rushed he.

The doctor asks him “Did you bring your fingers?”

Poor Paddy in tearful pain says “No.”

Doc says “Ah now Paddy, with our modern medical technology we could’ve sewn them back on as good as new. Why didn’t you bring the fingers??”

 And Paddy looks at him and screams “How de feck could I pick dem up????”

Rain, darn it.

 Oh, how I wanted snow.  The husband not so much. He’s probably doing a happy dance as I type, because when it snows,  for him it means a lot of plowing.

  This is what I see as I look out my office window… we are blessed with a neighborhood full of older colonial homes and I am grateful daily to be surrounded by the old New England charm.

  Although it’s hard to see in this photo, when we look out the back windows we have Mrs. N’s awesome log cabin up on the hill.  Our previous home had beautiful grounds, but it was set way back off the road. What I find I am enjoying most in our move to This Old House is the proximity to neighbors… seeing lights on across the street or over at Mrs. N’s. 
 See the dreariness of this morning?  For all of you who are complaining of snow…
YES, send me that semi truck full. I’ll accept the delivery.

 The eldest child is home from college for winter break
 and she has joined me in making cookies
for the christmas cookie collection.
We tried something new this year and it came out delicious!!
Have you seen these in the store? 
You should be able to find them in the baking section.
   Recipe is on back, similar to Choc chips.. YUM.

 

More Blog Love

 See the button on the right over there?  Everybody needs a little…

 Yeah, well no one needs the aggravation of trying to figure out how to make the “codes” of a blog button work if you don’t really know what you’re doing.  So after two hours of cursing the machine, I went to the expert –  Di of The Blue Ridge Gal.  She saved me with the flash of an SOS.  Go ahead, click on it.. it works!   The jingle, by the way, is a song written and sung by Mikes partners son, James.  Not bad, huh? 

Thanks, Di –

 And.. look what arrived in the mail from Misha in the Tennesee mountains!…. a moose, a snowman and a PEACE pillow.   Misha, your christmas card was beautiful too, Thank you.

 We had a serious winter sky early this evening… I’m hoping for snow.

The Reason

   I was asked recently why I like to blog.
 “What’s the appeal? You’re having mini conversations
 with people you don’t even know and might never meet!”
       The appeal?  It’s the human connection…the commiserating, shared creativity,
virtual visits to parts of the world and occupations and customs
I may never experience in person. 
 A room with a different view.  
We laugh together, cry together and  sometimes for each other.
We share ideas and recipes and remedies. 
Blogland is a village of sorts, complete with idiots,
but I try to avoid those.

 I received cookies in the mail today from Hilary of
Crazy As A Loom ….
…not helping me with the “Lead me not into temptation” thing…
but these sure hit the spot with a nice cup of tea
on a bone-cold winter day.
Thank you, Hilary.

Looking around This Old House, I see I may have gone hog-wild with the decorating and I’m wondering, too late,  who’s gonna help me put it all away. My family finds 2,000 things of more importance to do when it comes time to take it all down.
I found this sign at one of the casino shops last week –

 And this one is perfect for This Old House, much to the husband’s chagrin.
.  
I am a sucker for vintage snowmen, and these two are my favorite. 
They are keeping Henry company on the kitchen island.
 
I picked up this throw on sale at TJMaxx,
now lets see how much it sheds on the couch.
Can’t be worse than the dog.

Thank you to all of you who comment and commiserate here at
This Old House.
You’re all part of the journey and I’m grateful for your presence.

Elizabeth Edwards

 I am so sad for this woman. My heart broke open  when I saw tonights’  headlines declaring she had lost her battle with cancer.  Ever since her estranged husbands run for the presidency and the story that slowly unfolded, I was hoping for a decent ending to her story. I don’t know what that would have been…but it doesn’t seem fair that she should have had to endure the loss of her son,  a battle with cancer and  the painful fallout from her husbands’ affair – the loss of her marriage, and ultimately, her life.

 Her own words speak volumes about the kind of woman she was.

“The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered. We know that. And, yes, there are certainly times when we aren’t able to muster as much strength and patience as we would like. It’s called being human” But I have found that in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in the world, the days I do have are made all the more meaningful and precious. And for that I am grateful. It isn’t possible to put into words the love and gratitude I feel to everyone who has and continues to support and inspire me every day. To you I simply say: you know.”

If there is truly a hereafter and justice is served – I hope she is walking hand in hand with her beloved son, catching up on the years that have passed.  Rest in Peace, Elizabeth Edwards.

Twilight

   Do I admit that I am a fan of Stephenie Meyers Twilight Series?  And do I throw my sister and my good friend Joey under the bus and tell you they’re just as bad as I am?  Heck yeah, I’m not going it alone 🙂 

  I have ALWAYS been a Vampire fan, and I find True Blood to be a bit campy and cheap and I just don’t watch it.  I’m in it for the gorgeous scenery and the romance, and maybe even the anquish, because there is plenty of that to go around.

  I read all four Twilight novels in nine days… couldn’t put them down.  Joey and I along with a few other mid-lifers went to see each of the movies as they came out with the exception of the most recent one, “Eclipse”. Matinee hours,  to be less conspicuous.  We were not alone. There were plenty of mid-life-wifes there and each of us gasped in unison at the appropriate moments.  

 The DVD  for Eclipse has just come out and I grabbed a copy today. I need the Closed Caption now a days to really enjoy a movie, even though the scenery in it is worthy without sound.  There will be a private showing tonight in my home and there might  just be chocolate wine, guacamole and chips involved.

  Go ahead and laugh if you will, but don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.

Mohegan Sun Casino

 Yesterday Mah Baybeee gambled for the first time!  Good Gawd when did I get this old?  Although can I gush for a minute?… one of the slot maintenance gurus said my daughter and I look like sisters.  Yes, I know part of his job is to make everyone joyful so they’ll dump more money in the slots,  just hush.

 We live within 45 minutes of  both Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos and occasionally head up there for dinner and a vacuum suck of about $300. of our hard-earned cash because we never ever win anything there, ever. .  I should point out that we aren’t much for gambling. It’s more of a once a year something-different thing to do.    Anyway… I don’t know if it’s a sign of the times, but the place was half empy when we got there around 2:00pm  and throughout the night there weren’t many “winning” bells and whistles going off.  Lots of people staring at machines with blank faces, mechanically hitting the spin button or pulling the lever just for something different.  I did a lot of people watching, and I noticed some folks actually have a pattern they follow… hit the button, pull the lever twice. (you have the option).  Or, there’s a rythym to their button hitting or lever pulling. Either way, they are mesmerized.

 That’s my mom next to my girl,  being a bad influence.

 Mike’s hand on the wheel of (mis)fortune.

  We had a good time, celebrating my MIL’s birthday and her oldest grandchilds new gambling status. Burgers and steaks at Michael Jordan’s joint, slots for a few hours until fingers were pryed off slot levers. The kid came out the winner, up $83. 

 Shopping area with a Dale Chihuly  glass sculpture…

Here’s what Mohegan has to say about itself:   A world at play and a world to its own, Mohegan Sun, created in 1996 by the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut, is one of the world’s most amazing destinations with some of New England’s finest dining, hotel accommodations, retail shopping, live entertainment and sporting events. Boasting three world-class casinos, Mohegan Sun is also host to the Kids Quest/Cyber Quest family entertainment facility, a luxurious day spa, convention center and meeting facility, a state-of-the-art Poker Room as well as three major entertainment venues with seating from 300 to 10,000. People from across the globe come to see live concerts with some of today’s top headliners, along with major sporting events including Mohegan Sun’s very own WNBA team, the Connecticut Sun.
Every turn leads to a new adventure with an indoor 55-foot waterfall, and electrifying water wall, the world’s largest and most spectacular indoor planetarium dome and the awe-inspiring Wombi Rock, a glowing crystal mountain made of imported stone that serves as the focal point of Casino of the Sky.

And it’s all that.