Monday, December 21, 2009

The tree is decorated...

...I've taken a few pictures, I finished shopping, and now I just have wrapping... which is more complicated than it sounds, but more about that another day.

Meanwhile, the lovely Monique-aka-Surferwife23 has given me an award. It comes with tasks--tell 10 things that make me happy and then pass it on to 10 others. I'm gonna do the first part today, so here goes:

Ten Things That Make Me Happy (and I'm not going to count the grandkids; that seems too easy):

1. Getting my first blog award--thanks, Surferwife!

2. Strawberry limoncello martinis. Olive Garden makes 'em, and now so does my husband. I'll post his recipe some day soon.

3. All by itself, limoncello Italian liqueur is nice, too. I'm sipping it right now.

4. Joni Mitchell's "I Wish I had a River"--it's so wonderfully melancholy. The first time I heard it, it was being sung by the Robert Downey Jr. character on Ally McBeal (the first hint that he was going to leave her, if I remember right). I actually had a little crush on that character. Sigh.

5. The smell of sugared almonds that fills one of the malls here at Christmas, and the taste of them when we bring home a couple of jumbo bags.

6. The fact that our daughter Abby dropped off a sample of her own home-made sugared almonds this morning, on her way to work.

7. Pioneer Woman. Her approach to cooking is encouraging and fun, her cookbook is a best-seller, her posts from the book tour showed how much she loves people, and her romantic stories about Marlboro Man and their kids are heartwarming. I used to think she was the Martha Stewart of the west, but if she turns out to be the next Oprah, you heard it here first.

8. With our grandkids, riding the carousel that we saved, and which we operate at Como Park in St. Paul. I'll tell that story some day.

9. Knowing that the book we coauthored with longtime baseball man Wayne Terwilliger is a good piece of work, that it's in the Library of Congress, and that it's still available on Amazon. That's another story I haven't told here.

10. Working only half-time and, truth be told, looking forward to retirement. There is so much I want to do outside of work, and I think it's coming within view.

So that's my list...as soon as I post I'll think of 10 more things, I'm sure. I still have to pass along the award, but I'm saving that for another day.

10 comments:

gayle said...

Congrats on the award!! You have a great list and I LOVE # 10!!!

Mrs. Plank said...

WOW! I love your list. I would like the martini recipe, hope you post it soon :). The Pioneer Woman lives about 30 minutes away from me and I dream about running into her somewhere. I just love the way she writes and how things resonate with her. I really loved your list. Can't wait to follow you!

Ms Sparrow said...

Wow, I'm so inpressed with your list! I'll have to check out the Pioneer Woman.

SurferWife said...

Must have martini recipe.

Unknown said...

Congrats on your award. Your photo is very nice too! I wish you a very merry and festive holiday season, and good luck in the new year!

Cheers!
Julie
Julie Magers Soulen Photography
Blog of Note

Allyson said...

I am so with Monique on this...we NEED that martini recipe. The first time I had limoncello was in Rome and I thought my esophagus had caught on fire. But in a good way. So, when you get a minute...

Congratulations on your award. I loved making my list of 10. And now I will have to go check out the Pioneer Woman's cookbook. I follow her on Twitter but apparently I'm missing the biggest piece.

Anonymous said...

I hope you and your family will have a good holiday this year and that the new year will be a healthy and prosperous one for you.

Abe and Patty Lincoln
Brookville, Ohio

Far Side of Fifty said...

Love the photo of your little Almond loon..I have forgotten all about those..do you have instructions..?
Sounds like we have a whole lot more to learn about you! :)

BPOTW said...

Your selection of ornaments is quite adorable! Hope you enjoy the remainder of the holidays!

Sandy said...

Good list, congrats on the award.

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