I WOULDN'T HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY

I had planned on having a quiet evening. I purchased some new books today--was all set to curl up and read in silence.

The best laid plans . . .

Right now, there's music coming from 2 different directions in our house. Loud music.

In one room, there's Noah, practicing his trumpet for a competition that he's chosen to participate in tomorrow.

In yet another room, there's Ian, proudly playing the latest recording of his band's "butt-whup" music (as he refers to it).

Heaven knows they came by it honestly, huh?

I can read another time. This is music to my ears.

CLOSE THE BLINDS AND TAKE THE PHONE OFF THE HOOK--IT'S 4 GLORIOUS HOURS OF "24"

I'm a simple woman, with simple needs . . . and one of my needs is my weekly Jack Bauer fix!!! It's been toooooo long. I've missed the creepy, hazy blue lighting of the CTU headquarters. It seems like ages since I've heard that unmistakably ominous countdown clock.

Great show. Great characters. Great plot. Great suspense.

Kiefer simply makes MacGyver look like a pathetic cartoon character. It's true.

We were out of town for the weekend (more bloggy details to follow in a later post) so we had to record BOTH nights of the 24 premiere. I was hoping and praying that all would go well with our DVR. Someone was gonna have some MAJOR heck to pay if my show didn't record. Heads woulda rolled. I'm just sayin' . . .

David and I have our evening planned (yes. we're party animals.) We're gonna sit down and enjoy a 24 marathon tonight. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.

I was successful in steering clear of any Jack-Bauer-CTU-Chloe-nuclear-bombs-corrupt-president type conversations today. I didn't want ANY details to slip from anyone else. I simply must experience the premiere for myself!

Something tells me it won't disappoint.

THE INEVITABLE RESULT IF MINNIE PEARL AND MARTHA STEWART HAD A LOVE CHILD

As I unlocked my front door when I got home today, I looked up and HAD to laugh! There it was . . . all bright and shiny and predominant . . . the tag from Pottery Barn still hanging from my rustic, holiday swag.

Now mind you, the decoration has been hanging there for a solid month. How could I not have noticed?! And I pride myself in being a "detail" person . . .

Makes me wonder. Did any of the 25+ people who visited my home over the Christmas season spot my faux pas as they passed over the threshold?

I choose to believe that they were all soooo overwhelmed by the warmth, love and good cheer emanating from our home that they didn't even notice. ;-]

BUT I'M A HIT WITH THE 10-YEAR-OLD CROWD!

My sister (who has 4 kids--Joseph being the oldest) e-mailed me a couple of days ago. It simply said this:

"Hey, Sis! Joe just informed me that you're cooler than I am. He says you say things like 'That is SOOOO yesterday.' "

It made me smile. ;-]

(Oh . . . and for the record, sis, IIIIII think you're very cool!)

THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

Santa Claus came early this year! At least to our house anyway.

My thoughtful husband showed enough forethought to realize that the gift I wanted most would actually come in handy before the holidays (he's smart like that). Sooooo, he snuck downstairs one night while I was asleep (yep--totally unbeknownst to me) and ordered my present online. It was delivered to my office a couple of weeks before Christmas. Clever boy.

I love to cook. Not saying I'm great at it but I do love it . . . Especially baking. My specialty has become my Grandmother Elliott's Cheese Straws. They remind me of Christmas because that was the time of year that she always had an endless supply of canisters filled w/ those buttery, cheesy, pecan-laden, pastry-like cookies. Yum. I never grew tired of them. Still don't!

Grandmother also cooked them for wedding receptions, showers, etc. but Christmas . . . now thaaaat was when she churned them out.

The Cheese Straws are a labor of love. Over the years, I've learned what works best and have my whole system down. I bake them by the dozens.

This Christmas, the process was so much smoother! David ordered a KitchenAid Mixer for me. Yep. The heavy-duty stand mixer that takes up any spare counter space you might have had and weighs roughly 120 pounds.

Everyone oooohs and aaaaahs when I mention that I got one for Christmas (and by everyone, of course I mean women). The first question they ask is always, "What color did you get?" (Chrome, by the way.)

As I baked my Christmas cookies this year I couldn't help but think about just how much my Grandmother Elliott woulda enjoyed this mechanical wonder.

I'm guessin' I'll pass it on to my granddaughter some day . . .

"HI. MY NAME IS L. I'M A PISCES. I LIKE LONG WALKS IN THE RAIN, AND . . ."

Allow me to re-introduce myself!

Sorry. It wasn't intentional to neglect my blog during the holidays. I'm confident in saying that this past December just maaaaaay have been our busiest on record. For real! It was great though--truly wouldn't trade a minute of it. Was full of family, fun, friends and frivolity. ;-]

I plan on filling you in on the month's festivies over the next few days so stay tuned.

I'd love to stay and chat but I must go. Need to get geared up for the national championship game later. It's a raaaare event for me to pull for Florida BUT it's necessary tonight. (Gotta stay true to the SEC, ya understand.)