Still November Hodgepodge

Joyce asks the questions, and we provide the answers. See how others answered at From This Side of the Pond.

1. Does anybody really know what day it is? Last week we skipped the Hodgepodge and I just assumed this week would find us in December, but nope. Still November. Do you wear a watch? Use a paper calendar or strictly electronic? What's your favorite hour of the day? Why? 

I realize that's not exactly what Joyce asked, but it's what came to mind! I absolutely have no idea what day it is. I guess that's what retirement will do for you. I wear a semi-smart watch; it's an off-brand and will notify me of texts/calls but I can't answer through the phone. I use it a lot for the timer. 

When I was working I tried to use an electronic calendar but found I needed a paper one. These days it's strictly Google Calendar. 

I don't have a favorite hour of the day, but Gurl Dogg's is the 2:00 or 3:00 hour...that's when she goes for her teetee-poo walk in the park.

2. Tell us something about how you celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday. 

The boys and their girlfriends were all here, plus one of my son's friends. It was different without CH being here but we managed to have a good time talking and laughing. 

3. What's a sound you hate to hear? 

The squealing of tires. I always wait for a crash at the end. 

4. Where do you not mind waiting? 

At home. While I'm waiting on packages from Amazon.

5. I really wish____________________________________. 

Well, not to be a Debbie Downer, but I wish I had asked CH some things that I realize we didn't talk about. We talked about a LOT but of course, some things were missed.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

If you've read this far, then you probably have put 2 & 2 together. CH passed away on Veteran's Day from complications from colon cancer. His health declined rapidly over the past couple of months and he was just so tired after almost 3 years of treatments. He prepared us as well as he could have and as I'm doing the paperwork for various things, I'm realizing he's still taking care of me. 

This was taken at the Little Grand Canyon, UT in July. We never imagined that 4 months later he would be gone.

The Perfect No-Stress Holiday

 

As I read back over last year's first post, I had to laugh. I wrote about last Christmas being stress-free, but this year definitely wins...hands down! Last Christmas came as close to being perfect as it could ever be, so I decided not to compete with it. OS is living across the country (again), YS moved out, and MS is now living with us. Still no grandkids (I've now lost hope on that ever happening) and the boys have each said they don't like Christmas. On the upside...no gifts to worry about! 😀 Seriously. I didn't step foot in a store except for a grocery store the whole break. What could be less stressful than that?

Truth be told, I still can't "get into" Christmas like I used to. It's been 7 Christmases since my mom passed, and I'm still grieving during that holiday. And on top of all that, can I just say that 2021 just sucked for my family? As in, the worst year ever. 

I did very little baking (mostly only as gifts for my neighbor and church personnel) and even less decorating. I couldn't face putting up my big tree; besides that, some of the lights are broken, others aren't working, and it just looks sad. I ended up buying a prelit $20 3 feet tree and a smaller prelit tabletop tree, putting up my childhood creche, and calling it quits. 

This tree holds ornaments that I picked up while on vacations over the past 10 years. It started when we used to go to The Keys between Christmas & New Year's.

This little tree holds my Danish ornaments (and 1 Irish ornament).

I bought a few things for CH, he bought a couple of things for me, and we were done. We had a very scaled-down Christmas Eve Dinner with MS and YS' GF (YS had to work); we didn't even eat in the dining room. 

We usually have a big Christmas Day Brunch, but since YS had to work that evening, we decided to put it off until the 26th. I made cinnamon rolls and we just kind of grazed after Mass. After Sunday Mass, I got everything ready for brunch. YS & his GF were 30 minutes late, but was I stressed? Heck, no!

(The mimosas may have helped some!)

I didn't even put up my Christmas carousel this year. I pulled it up from the basement but then decided to heck with it. No stress.

We usually go camping between Christmas and New Year's but CH had a chemo treatment on Tuesday so we weren't able to go anywhere. But you know what? It was nice being at home for NYE. I cleaned out a lot of the house and got rid of a bunch of stuff. I watched movies, cleaned the house, read, and took Gurl Dogg on daily walks. It made me wish I was already retired! 

But I'm not. My school district had an administration day scheduled for Monday with the kids returning on Tuesday. After 2 weeks of unseasonable warm temperatures, we had snow Monday morning! It wasn't much and it started melting before 10:00 a.m. but it was nice to not have to get out of the house. Having a bonus day for blogging was nice, too!

From My Kitchen: December 2021

 

December means Christmas, so of course, this post is going to include be about a sweet recipe. I seriously scaled down my baking and candy-making this year. I only made 1 batch of Texas Millionaires and that was for my next-door neighbor who supplies pecans for the purpose of being gifted a batch. I made a couple of batches of Eggnog Bread, with gluten this year and an Apple Cake for Christmas Eve Dessert. A couple of days before Christmas, I had a craving for bakery cookies. The problem is, there is no bakery in the Small Town. There used to be one that had amazing cookies (but the King Cake was a huge disappointment) but every time I've driven by it appears to be closed. 

I have a huge problem with cut-out sugar cookies. I can never roll the dough out evenly and I can't tell how thick it's supposed to be. I found a recipe a few years ago that I used to make cookies for the goody bags for my in-laws' 50th wedding anniversary, but they aren't "bakery cookies". They are really good, but not what I was looking for. 

A search for "bakery sugar cookies recipe" gave me exactly what I wanted. The Best Sugar Cookies really are! I used the trick that I outlined in the post about my in-laws' cookies, but I'll share it again:

2 craft sticks that are 1/4 inch are perfect. Just lay 2 down and put the dough in between, cover with parchment paper, and put the rolling pin on the sticks.

Then roll away and you have dough that is the perfect thickness. And it's even! Well, as long as the rolling pin doesn't slip or you have too much dough for the length of the sticks. I halved the dough and then rolled, so it worked well. 

If you try these cookies, make sure you follow the steps exactly. The main thing is to roll out the dough, then refrigerate. I think I only messed up 1 cookie after cutting it out, and it was because I wasn't sure which of my cookie cutters to use. After that, it was clear sailing. I put rum flavoring in this batch but I couldn't really taste it. 

The finished product:

The icing part of the recipe says to omit the vanilla flavoring for "stark white" frosting, but I put it in and the cookies were still "stark white" in my opinion. 

The cookies were such a hit that I made another batch for New Year's Eve. For this batch, I put in maple flavoring and they were delicious. I could definitely taste the difference between the ones I made the week before. While not many comments were made on the Christmas cookies, MS & YS and YS' GF all raved about how good these were. 

The New Year's Cookies:

Only 1 cookie made it past midnight! 

These cookies were so easy to make, they just took a little bit of time since the dough needs to stay in the fridge for a minimum of 1-2 hours. I kept mine in for 2 hours which was perfect. I used the "easy cookie frosting" because, well, it was definitely easier and I didn't want a "fail" on the cookies! The frosting dried in a couple of hours although the recipe says they take around 24. 

Do you have a go-to cookie recipe? If so, is it easy and quick or time-consuming?

A Festive Hodgepodge

 

Joyce hosts most weeks and provides questions for us to ponder and then answer. Check out how others answered the questions at From This Side of the Pond.

1. 'Tis the season to be jolly....so are you? 

Not yet...but I'm trying to be. There's too much to do between school and church to be jolly just yet.

2. Do you trim a tree this time of year, and if so is yours all done? What's something in your home-closet-life that needs to be trimmed in the new year? 

I don't put up a tree until a week or 2 before Christmas and then leave it up until Jesus' Baptism (Jan. 9 in 2022). FYI: In case you weren't aware, I'm Catholic; we celebrate Christmas until Jesus' Baptism. So if you're all about Christmas, it gives you a reason to enjoy your decorations a little longer! (You're welcome!) I've decided to only do a small tabletop tree this year, along with having another small one somewhere else in the house. There are no grandkids and each of my boys has announced that they don't like Christmas, so I'm not bothering too much with it this year. 

Our basement needs some serious cleaning out. I have a lot of stuff that I saved from the boys' childhood that they don't care about. I need to get down there, sift through everything, throw a lot of it most of it out. 

3. Are you 'dreaming of a white Christmas'? Is that a possibility where you'll be celebrating? According to this site the top ten places in the US you can count on for a white Christmas are- North Pole Alaska, Crater Lake Oregon, Yellowstone National Park, Winthrop Washington, Aspen Colorado, Ketchum Idaho, Mt. Washington New Hampshire, Whitefish Montana, Duluth Minnesota, and the Lake Tahoe town of Truckee California

Of the snowy spots listed which would you most like to visit? 

We had a very rare white Christmas last year. It was just about the most perfect Christmas ever. I even wrote about it!  A Perfect Way to End a Year

Hmmmm...where to visit? We were close to Mt. Washington a few years ago when we stopped by a friend's to visit on our way to Canada; Duluth just sounds too cold.  Okay, I have no idea where I'd like to visit!

4. December 8th is National Brownie Day...will you be celebrating? How do you like your brownies-chewy or cake-like, frosted or plain, nuts or no nuts, a piece from the middle or give me the corner? As a child were you a member of a brownie troop? 

Well, I will be celebrating now that I know it!!! I use the Ghiradelli brand of brownie mix; the dark chocolate is the family fave. I use the cake-like version, plain, no nuts. I'm not real picky about which brownie I get.

I was a Brownie for a short while. In 2nd grade, I wore my uniform to school one day. This was my first year in public school so I didn't really know all of the rules yet. After we were given an ice cream, the teacher told us to stay in our seat. I was through with mine so I just sat there holding my stick. A classmate told me to go throw it away but I told her we couldn't get up. She encouraged me to get up, the teacher wouldn't mind. That earned me my only paddling of my school days. The classmate got one as well (not her first or last!)...and I never wore my uniform to school again. Isn't it funny what we remember from our childhood?

5. Share a favorite line or two from a Christmas carol or holiday tune. 

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
From now on
Our troubles will be out of sight

The song is in both of my all-time favorite movies: The Holiday and Family Stone. I've already watched The Holiday and there will be more viewings between now & Christmas!

Here's something very interesting. These aren't the original words. Apparently, when Judy Garland sang this in Meet Me In St. Louis she objected to the original words, but Hugh Martin was against changing them. He finally gave in and re-wrote it. Then, Frank Sinatra changed "until then we'll have to muddle through somehow" to "hang a shining star upon the highest bough". Want to know what the original words are? I found them on classicfm.com.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

The SLPs (Speech-Language Pathologists) in my district had a combo baby shower/Christmas Party last week. The food decor was just incredible! Here's a peek:

This was purchased from Swiss Colony. Aren't the raccoons just adorable?

And this cheese hedgehog!

The best part? All I had to do was show up! 😉

A Perfect Way to End the Year

 

Photo by Jude Beck on Unsplash

This Christmas was the least stressful holiday I've had while being a mom. With 3 grown boys, 1 with a household not far from here, 1 living out of state, and 1 living at home for a while, I knew things were going to be quiet. Especially with "the virus" (as my school kids call it) putting a damper on things, I was expecting a peaceful, quiet holiday. School was scheduled to end on the 18th, but we received a little gift from the school board: an extra day off. Numbers were spiking here, so we were in school 2 days, virtual 2 days, and off on Friday. I actually had everything done before I usually do, so I was able to work on something for my online teacher (SLP) store. I wanted to get some of it done so I could completely take the last week of the year off while we were on vacation.

The weather forecast for Christmas Eve into Christmas Day hinted at a white Christmas. Yeah, right. I only remember maybe 2 white Christmases in my life. When you live in the Tennessee Valley, you learn to take the forecast with a grain of salt and not believe it until you see it. WELL...when I left for the 5:00 Christmas Eve Mass, it was snowing and had just begun to stick. It snowed all during Mass and when I walked out the door, it was still snowing and everything was covered. The 6:00 bells were ringing, most of the people were already gone so it was quiet and most everything was still. It was absolutely gorgeous!

YS moved back into the house a few months ago, and (just in case you don't know) he's an excellent cook. I had everything ready to pop into the oven before I left, but he had everything heated up and cooked when I got home. He also did this:

It just filled my heart with the joy of the season to see that! This isn't something we see very often:

I wish I had asked YS or CH to turn off the lights in the dining room and living room...it would have made for a better picture of our tree. Before I went home I drove by the tree in the park, which is right next to where I live.

Our backyard looked just as enchanted; like something out of Narnia:

Around 8:30 pm, I happened to notice a vehicle pull into our driveway. I went to the side window, looked out, and saw MS getting out of a taxi! He flew in to surprise us for Christmas! (But can you believe I didn't take any pictures of the boys that weekend???) That was the icing on the Christmas Cake!

I take Gurl Dogg (remember her?) on a daily walk in the park. There was still plenty of snow to be found.

See what I mean? A beautiful Southern Christmas Snow...MAGICAL! By the time I walked GD, the kids had already sledded. The next day there were still signs of the laughter:

With all of the craziness of 2020 and the unsurety of 2021, it made me smile to think of the joy that the little ones were able to experience on Christmas Day!

Giving Thanks With the Hodgepodge

I'm baaaack! At least for today to link up with the Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce!

1. Tradition...how tightly do you cling to tradition when it comes to holiday gatherings and celebrations? For instance do you always do the cooking, never eat at home, always go to grandma's, never miss the parade, always watch football, never change the menu, always eat at 2 PM, etc.? Have you ever celebrated Christmas or Thanksgiving away from hearth, home, and family? How did that feel?
I am a HUGE traditionalist. I'm a firm believer in keeping traditions alive for future generations. It's not about the time, but it is about the same food!
When I was a guard instructor for a high school band, we went to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC. It was really strange to be away from home and the normal traditions on Thanksgiving. Having hotel food for Thanksgiving in the Northeast was definitely different.

2. Help...is it easy for you to ask for help or are you a do-it-yourselfer? How is that a good/bad thing?
I only ask for help when I get to the point of being frustrated. In one way, it's a good thing, but the frustration part definitely is not!

3. Abundance...what is there an abundance of in your kitchen?
I'm actually stumped on this one. Since the kitchen remodel, things are being kept to a minimum.

4. Name...the smallest thing you're thankful for? the biggest?
Smallest: Spending time with family. That could also be the biggest thing, too.  

5. Key...What do you think is the key to living a more grateful life?
Taking the time to stop and notice the small things.

6. State your own random thought here.
Surprise! I haven't fallen off the face of the earth! School has been ridiculously crazy this year, and, between the kitchen (more on that at some point) & a trip to Ireland (DEFINITELY more on that at some point!) I just haven't had the time to pay attention to writing. Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

A Surprising Hodgepodge

1. What's left to be done on your Christmas to-do list? 

I have to make a couple of batches of Texas Millionaires; 1 for our neighbors & 1 for us, and then cook Christmas Eve Dinner & Christmas Brunch, and that's it. I've really scaled down my preparations this year. It's been totally stress-free and very relaxing.

2. The Hodgepodge lands on the first day of winter this year. What's your favorite thing about winter? 

Some people are going to think this is crazy, but I love that it gets dark so early, especially if I don't have anywhere I need to be after work. I love getting into my jammies right after supper and hopping into bed to watch a movie.

3. In what area of your life are you immature? Feel free to elaborate or not. 

Oh, my! I think the better question would be "in what area am I mature?"! 

4. What was the most (or one of the most) important lessons you learned in 2016? 

God knows everything. He knows what we're going to do, how we're going to mess up, and how we're going to fix it, so there's no need to worry. He's got it.

5. It's Fried Shrimp Day...are you a fan? What's your favorite way to eat shrimp? Will there be shrimp somewhere in your holiday feastings? 

I absolutely love shrimp! Favorite way: marinate in Italian Dressing and grill. There will most certainly be shrimp in my very near future!

6. What sound lulls you to sleep? 

I can't believe I'm saying this, but...silence. I've always had to have some background noise to sleep, but during Lent I started going to sleep without the tv or radio on. 

7. What one word best describes your 2016? 

Rollercoaster. It started off kind of sucky, we had fantastic trips to Edisto & SD, and then the fires in the area. 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I was ready for a very quiet Christmas with just my daddy, CH, and YS. OS is out on the West Coast with his girlfriend, and MS decided to stay at school. There was an incident with his car and the university bus, so he was without a car. I had resigned myself to maybe seeing him next week for a day or two. BUT...one of his friends let him borrow his truck, and he surprised me! CH & YS didn't say anything to me, and I was totally surprised! 

Merry Christmas! See y'all next year!

{Friday Foto Friends} Thanksgiving Hangover

Time for another Friday Foto Friends hosted by Deb at Breathing in Grace.  As I said last week, I use this as an opportunity to summarize my week and events that are going on in the Small Town.

Sunday between Masses, our parish held a "Harvest of Blessings" in the Parish Hall. Different ministries set up tables to give parishioners information and a chance to donate to the different ministries. So, yeah; it's a fundraiser. The Council of Catholic Women (CCW) did a table with Cookies and baked goods, Crafts, and What-nots. The baked goods sold very well; the other things were a bit iffy. 

The firefighters are continuing to get the fires near my mountain school under control. There has been no school there since last Thursday; the whole system had Wednesday off for the Thanksgiving Holiday. On Tuesday, I was blowing the driveway off when I heard a helicopter. I didn't think to take my phone out of my pocket to snap a picture, which was really too bad because the one that flew over had a bucket hanging from it and it would have been a great picture! I snapped this one flying over (minus the bucket) on Wednesday. All of us who have anything to do with that community will be forever grateful to the firefighters...no structures were lost.

Wednesday, I had a haircut & pedi scheduled. This is my girl, Charity. She does an amazing job with my giant "peasant" feet! We have a good time during that hour catching up and chatting. 💕 her!

I finished my pie-making and was very pleased with how my pies turned out. They were both new recipes, and were absolutely amazing!

 Mass on Thanksgiving: There were quite a few people there, which is great for that day to not be a Holy Day of Obligation (a day when it is required for us to attend Mass). The picture above is a blanket that was blessed by the Priest. This will go to someone who is ill. Father does this during a Weekday Mass as needed. As we go to receive the Eucharist in Communion, we are invited to lay our hand on the blanket and say a short prayer for the person receiving it.

I didn't get to this table in time, but this table was directly behind the blanket table. People brought their Thanksgiving Bread in and put it on the table to be blessed during Mass. A couple of youth baked small loaves of bread to be given away. The table was completely full (and overflowing) during Mass. I love this tradition that our current Priest started a few years ago.

Last picture! This was our Thanksgiving Table. I completely forgot to get a picture of the "food table" before everyone dug in. On the menu: turkey (duh!), ham, Tipsy Sweet Potatoes (using Tennessee Honey...delish!), Dressing (another new recipe because I couldn't find the one I usually use...CH thought it was his granny's recipe, so I'd say it turned out well!), garlic green beans, Holy Bread (see bread picture above!), orange cranberry salad (thank you, Publix!), deviled eggs, and a couple of fruit/cool whip salads. Oh, and pies for dessert, which no one ate until much later. 2 of the 3 boys were here; MS is too far away to justify coming home for a long weekend. My dad and 1 of YS' friends also joined us.

It was nice to have Thanksgiving at my own house, and to cook the whole dinner by myself. YS helped out by clearing the dishes & loading the dishwasher for me. OS left for his house after a few hours; his roommates aren't home, so I think he was looking forward to some peace & quiet for a while. 

I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving!

Adios, 2015 Hodgepodge!

It's time to say Adios to 2015!  Thank, goodness! Joyce is helping us ring in the New Year with one more round of Hodgepodge Q&A.

1. Share a favorite memory/moment from the week of Christmas.
We had our traditional Christmas Day Brunch. All 3 boys were here, plus my dad, and one of my sisters & BIL. This was the first year my sister came, and it was great fun! I hope we can do it again next year.

2.  If someone wrote a book about your life based on the past year, what genre would it fall under? What would the title be?
Drama. I have no idea what the title would be.

3. What made you feel patriotic this year?
Going to Texas A&M and taking a self-guided tour of campus. That is such an amazing place that honors veterans and traditions like no place I've ever seen.

4. What experience from this past year would you like to do all over again?
A Texas A&M Game. OMG, it was just so amazing! I'd do it again in a heartbeat! It was definitely the best weekend of the year.

5. What song lyric sums up or is a reflection of your 2015?

6. On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate 2015?  (10=stellar) Why?
5. It was just so-so. At first I was going to rate it a "2", but then I thought about the good things that happened this year; they brought it up to a "5".

7. What part of the upcoming year are you most excited about?
Not knowing what's in store for us. Hopefully it will be a good year; much better than last. CH & I will be planning a summer trip soon...time for me to check out Trip Advisor to see what I need to make sure I don't miss!

8. Insert your own random thought here.
It's really sad to see pictures of people taking down their decorations already. You spend all of that time putting the decorations up, why be in such a rush to take them down? Leave them up until Epiphany (or at least until the New Year) and enjoy them a little longer!  I was sitting on the couch yesterday and the sun started shining through the kitchen window, hitting the Christmas Tree in 1 spot. I grabbed my camera (of course!) and got this shot:

I'm going to cheat and sneak in another random thought. The other day, I saw that a radio personality from The Catholic Channel (Sirius Radio) has a Saint's Generator on her website. You click on a button and a saint for the year is randomly selected for you. I got Saint Peregrine, who is the patron saint for cancer patients. My first thought was that I hoped it wasn't an omen, followed by maybe I got him for Thanksgiving for a few family members who were diagnosed in 2015 (and are all doing great). Then, the next day, I got an email from a blogging friend to let me know of her diagnosis. So, my friend, this year is dedicated to you! May St. Peregrine intercede in your behalf to receive healing!

You can find the Saint's Name Generator here.

It's a Lie

See that last line?  It's a lie. This year was harder than last year. In the weeks leading up to Christmas (and during Christmas Mass), the priests said to be joyful. Even when you're hurting or grieving for a loved one, be joyful. I tried. I really did. Tears welled up during mass...I swear I could hear my mom singing. I know she wouldn't want us to be sad on this day.. on her birthday that she shares with Jesus. 

Then, I start chastising myself. I'm an adult...I knew my mom wouldn't be around forever. I should be able to do without her. But, gosh, I miss her. 

I have a friend whose mother went in for a heart cath the other day, but they couldn't complete it and called in hospice. My heart aches for her, but she has time to say goodbye to her. She has time to rack her brain and think of questions to ask her. My mom was here one day & gone the next. Just. Like. That. 

My mom didn't get to tell us that it's going to be okay. That we're going to be okay. It's hard to see my daddy getting through each day without her. 

Another friend talked about going through all of the stages of grief. She talked about the anger stage, which I still haven't gone through. Not in the sense that I'm mad that she's gone. She was in pain every day, and she lived her life for the moment that she would gain entrance into heaven. Was she a saint? Was she perfect? No, absolutely not. But, how can I be angry that she left this life exactly as she wanted? Doesn't everybody wish for more time with their parents before they pass away?

Christmas was just...weird. I ended up getting OS the exact same clothes that I did last year. (oops!) The presents just aren't important any more. So, next year, I think we'll skip it. We'll have the Christmas Eve Dinner & Christmas Morning Brunch. But presents? Unless they ask for something specific, I think we'll skip it. I just don't think it should feel like an obligation; it should be something you want to do. I'd much rather have my family with me at Midnight Mass than any thing in the world. Maybe next year.

Maybe next year won't be so hard. 

Another Friday Frags

 WOW! I'm on a roll: 2 Friday Frags in a row! (Although last week I completely forgot to link up!)

 Nothing much happened this week, just the usual. The Small Town had their Christmas Tree Lighting in the park on Tues. It was originally scheduled for last week, but we had a lot of rain at the beginning of the week so it was rescheduled. They really do a good job with it; they have luminaries lighting the sidewalks & 1 of the roads is blocked for the "train rides". I wanted to take some pictures, but Tues. was a Holy Day of Obligation so I went to Mass. Maybe next year. 

 I don't know how  you people who live in warm weather get in the Christmas Spirit. Our temps are supposed to be in the 70's this weekend, and it just doesn't feel like Christmas. Our family get-together is this weekend, so the windows will be open and the little ones will be playing outside.

 Wed. we had our quarterly SLP (Speech Language Pathologist) meeting, followed by our Christmas party at a local restaurant. Our Speech Coordinator printed out Christmas rhymes and taped the answers on the ornaments that we brought in for the ornament swap. It was a great idea! I ended up getting the ornament that the person sitting beside me brought, and she got the one I brought, AND the same ornament as another SLP!

These are my "Speech Besties" (at least the one on the right is 1...after she knows I included this picture she may disown me!):

I told the one on the right to "elongate her neck" (which is what I tell myself these days when I'm in a picture!) and this is what happened! The lady in the middle is my "presenting buddy": we've presented a poster at the national convention and spoke at the state convention in Oct. These are amazing ladies & SLPs!

 Lastly...an impromptu selfie with CH:

 If you've participated in Friday Frags with Mrs. 4444, link up with Traci at A Star in my Own Universe. She's picked up the torch and is trying to get this thing back up off the ground!

Has anything exciting happened in your neck of the woods this week?