To the New Year!

After many ignored petitions to The Snow Maker, we finally got a forecast for 100% snow!  Woo hoo!!!  The morning of December 30th was cold but with still no snow.  The boys were invited to a friends house, here in the hood so I took them over and returned home to get my house in order before my guests and the New Year arrived.  Around 10:30 the snow began to fall.  Big, beautiful, fluffy flakes of snow!!! 

"Yea!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!" 

Cleaning house seemed so much more fun when a glance up at the window and the view was of a winter wonderland.  My friend, Lauren and her fiance were flying in that afternoon.  I was so thrilled that there would be snow on their mountain visit!

After the house was clean I went back to get the boys and to visit with my friend for awhile.  She invited me into her garage.  It seems strange, I know, but there was a cozy corner in there with a couch facing a stove.  She had a lovely fire burning and so we were quite warm there with our tea.  (The stove is connected to vents that run into the house so this heats their home.  Isn't that interesting?)  Anywhoo, while we visited the snow continued to fall.

"I hope you don't have trouble getting out of my drive way," she said.

"Oh.  I hadn't thought of that.  Do people often have a hard time with it?"

"When there is snow," she nodded.  Then she tells me that sometimes she even has a hard time getting up her drive with her 4 wheel drive.

Poop. 

I don't have 4wd.  I have a Ford Taurus.  Aaron drives the Explorer because of his commute.  Plus he was going to pick up our guests at the airport that day so he really needed it.

Aaron text that he had my friends and that they were on their way home.  It would be a long slow drive with the icy roads.  I decided to head home.  I wanted to have banana bread baking when they arrived and a fire going in the fireplace.  I rounded up the boys and we headed out.

As my friend had predicted, I could not get out of her driveway.  At the very top of her drive, the car sat and spun her tires.  I got out and sort of dug the snow away from the front of the tires.  I got back in the car and gave it another go.  The little path I dug worked and I went just as far as I had dug.  About 5 inches.  I tried to call my friend to see if she could give me some instruction but she was on the phone.  So I called Caren.

"Try going in reverse back down her drive and park your car.  Then I'll pick you up."

I looked down the steep driveway that was lined with forest on either side.

"Um...Caren, I don't think I can maneuver that."

"I'll try calling her then.  She has an ATV with a plow on it.  Maybe she can plow you out."  Caren was able to get ahold of her and my friend came hiking up her driveway. 

"My husband took the ATV hunting!" she shouted.

Poop.

About this time a Monster Truck  pulled up.  I kid you not, this thing pretty much roared "Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!" from it's exhaust pipe.  The window rolled down and out popped the head of, what appeared to be, a 14 year old boy.

"Do you ladies need help?"  At least it sounded like his voice had already changed.

"Yes!" my friend answered.

"Give me about 5 minutes.  I'll run home and get my chain."

I was glad that it appeared that I would be rescued but leery of my heroes youth.

"Do you think he will know what he's doing?"  I asked my friend.

"Oh sure!" 

True to his word, Baby Face returned with his Monster Truck and chain.  He asked that my friend stand up the road a little, just ahead of the curve, so that if other cards were coming she could let them know what was going on up ahead.

I like that.  That shows wisdom.  Maybe he does know what to do.

Baby Face then arranged his truck to be in front of my car.  He layed down in the snow and hooked the chain to something under my car. 

"You're sure you know what you're doing?"

"Sure!" 

After that was accomplished he came to me with this huge chain in his hand and says, "I'm going to attach this to my truck.  I need you to hold this end while I drive up a bit to tighten it up."

I whispered a trashy version of "poop" as he placed the heavy chain in my hand and I placed my trust in Baby Face.

As he hooked the other end to his truck my friend up the road yells, "I sure wish I had my camera right now!"

There I stood, ankle deep in snow.  My sons are in my car with a chain attached to it.  I am holding the chain that is now attached to a Monster Truck and the Baby Face driver is slowly pulling the truck up and the chain tightens.  I would've loved for her to have had a camera too.  I had visions of being dragged down the road behind this truck.

Baby Face poked out of the window again.

"OK, now I need you to drive your car as I pull you out.  Don't gun it though or you are going to fly into the back of my truck.  OK?"

"Got it."

I got back in the car and the boys were so excited.

"That is the coolest truck ever, Mom!"  Drew shouted.

"Yep."  I tried to get buckled.  Before I got it snapped though, Baby Face pulled forward.

Poop!  (Except I thought the other colorful version again.)

I quickly put the car in gear and pulled up.  With as much ease as picking a flower, the Monster Truck plucked us right out of my friends driveway.  Baby Face climbed out of his truck and unhooked everything. 

"Thank you so much!"  I called to him.

"No problem.  Good luck getting home!"

Yeah, really.  I still have to get up our driveway...

I followed behind the Monster Truck.

"Mom, don't you think you should do something for him?" Gabriel asked.

"You are right son.  I would love to."

"Don't you have any money?" 

"Not on me dear.  He lives nearby so we will see where he goes and then I'll do something nice after the snow is gone."

"His parents must be so proud of him," Gabe said.

"I'm sure you're right buddy!" I laughed, "I will be sure to let his parents know what he did."

I was nervous the rest of the drive down.  Going up the hill was icy but the car went slow.  I would be fighting gravity and ice on the way down.  I came to the biggest part of the hill.  The part where we would go down.  The part that when I walk up, I try not too talk too much because I need every bit of  breath I have.  (Stop laughing Caren.  I really do try not to talk on that stretch!)  I turned the car and shifted into neutral.  We slowly rolled down the hill.  Everything was so beautiful!  I cheered for the pretty snow that was still falling. 

Our street is at the bottom of this big hill and then ours is up the side of a hill as well.  Clear as mud?  Basically, when we got down this big hill I had to turn my car up another hill.  The car went about 6 feet and got stuck again.  It just could not climb up these icy roads.  I took out my phone:

"Caren?  I'm stuck again."

"Try going in at the second entrance.  It's not as steep.  Maybe you can make that and if not back out and drive down to the fire station.  Lot's of people park down there because they can't get up.  I can pick you up there."

"OK.  I'll try the second entrance.  Stay by your phone though in case I need you to get me at the station."

So, I backed out and slid down to the next entrance.  Caren, was right and my car went up with only little difficulty.  But then....rrrrrr....the car got stuck again.  This time, I'm only about a house away from Caren's.  She has a low spot in her yard that I hoped I could park in. 

In the trunk of my car was Gabriel's Homework Halloween costume.  It was made of poster board.  I got out of the car and used the poster board to dig, dig, dig two trails in front of my tires.  This time I dug them long enough for me to reach Caren's driveway.  I got back in the car and called Caren again.

"It's me.  I got stuck again but I think I can get into the low part of your driveway and park in your yard.  Would that be OK?  Because I know I won't be able to make it up my drive."

"Sure!  If that doesn't work you can at least park down in front of your property near your drive.  But try to get up in my yard because otherwise when they do come to plow, your car is going to be covered."

"K.  I'll call you if there is another glitch."  And then to the boys: "OK fellas.  We are going to try again!"

Drew began to pray, "Lord please, please make the snow stop so we can get home."

"No Lord!  Don't let the snow stop!  We love it!!!!"  Gabriel countered.

"Guys, it's all good.  If you are going to pray anything, pray that I can get this car into Ms. Caren's yard."

But I couldn't.  The trails I dug worked and I got to the base of her driveway but I could not go up it.  I backed out and went to park down near our house as Caren had suggested.  Then the boys and I hiked up the driveway in the snow.

As difficult as all of this sounds it was so much fun!  The kids and I got in as fast as we could and got the hot cocoa going.  I lit a fire and got started on the banana bread.  It was not even in the oven when Aaron, Lauren and Ryan walked in.  This means, that it took almost as long for me to get home from a house in our neighborhood as it did for them to get to our house on the slow track from the airport!  Ha!

We had a great visit with our friends.  We sled in our front yard and built a snowman.  He's a sad little guy because the snow was not very wet and did not pack well.  We had a pretty pathetic snowball fight too but it was still fun.  Aaron shoveled the driveway while we all played.  Yeah.  He shoveled our 250 ft. long driveway.  That's on a hill.  This is fun to him though so...  New Year's Eve we played board games until midnight.  We had a champagne toast to the year and then I cried while we sang Auld Lang Syne. 

I have resolved to watch my language more this year.  I would like to be more lady-like.  So, I will not say anything that my kids can't say.  Also, I hope to watch how much I talk.  To not delve out opinions unless requested and to watch my mouth in general.  No more negative talk to myself.  That goes for you too thoughts.  At least I hope to achieve this.  New Year's Day was a fail on all of the above. 

Day two of 2011, we took our guests skiing.

Skiing is not something I'm really a fan of.  I have not been in 14 years so I was nervous.  At first I was excitedly nervous but as the car got closer and closer to the slopes the excited part quieted and the nervous part grew.  My kids were nervous too.  Drew said that only idiots would ski.  It's too dangerous.

"Only idiots let fear keep them from doing things in life, son.  It's OK to be scared but if you let the fear rule you, you will never do anything fun in life."  I told my sons this and tried to believe it myself.

Aaron took the boys to lessons and Lauren, Ryan and I hit the slopes.  I made them promise not to leave me.  They promised.

Before we entered the lift we double checked to be sure we were going on a green.  I was shaking I was so scared and cold.  Before I could get out of it though a lift chair scooped up the three of us.  Ryan and Lauren were comfortably admiring the beautiful views.  I clung to the lifts bar for dear life.

"I change my mind.  I want off.  I want off!"

LauRyan just sort of laughed and tried to encourage me to enjoy the view.  Wind kicked up the powder at the top of the mountain.

"Look at that!"  Lauren gushed, "I love that!  So pretty!"

All I saw was strong wind.  Wind that will probably accelerate my descent down the mountain.   I saw cold powdery snow that would soon be whipped up into my face.  The lift was incredibly long.  Even LauRyan was wondering when we would reach the top.  I could see skiers below.  Many were going really fast.  "Shredding" they call it.  Some were falling.

"I want off!  When will they let us off? $#%*, $#%*!  As soon as we can I'm getting off and if it's a blue instead of a green they can drive me down."

"You will be fine.  Remember what you told your kids this morning?"  Lauren reminded me.

I tried hard not to cry.

"Why are all of my friends so adventurous?!"  I lamented, "they make me float rivers..."

"Please.  Floating a river is not scary!  That's relaxing," Lauren said.

"Yeah, well I got dumped and went down the rapids with no $%#@*  tube!  I want off!"

"Michal, that's enough," was Lauren's honey toned response.

Then we saw, what looked like a place to get off.  But apparently it was only for getting on.  I thought I would try anyway.  I called to the guys manning the lift, "Could I please get off here?!"

"Ah... hell no!"  he laughed.

Lauren and Ryan laughed too!  It was kind of funny.  Kind of.

We were only half way up at this point.  The lift ride took 15 minutes, people!  The high that day was only about 20 degrees and it was getting colder as we went up.

"I can't feel my face," Ryan said.  But he said it like that was cool.

We finally reached the top and the views were so amazing and majestic that it scared me even more.  We were waaaaaaaaay up there.  LauRyan let me go as slow as I liked.  It all came back to me.  I was still very afraid but the ski lift ride was more scary then the actual skiing.  There was a couple of moments where things were so pretty and quiet.  I allowed the beauty to calm my spirit a bit.  I tried to go where Lauren went.  Seeing her make it safely was reassuring.  About half way down, Lauren took off on her own and Ryan would go and then stop to wait for me.  It endeared him to me all the more!  Other skiers swish, swish, swished around me.  At one point a father and his 3 year old daughter blew past me.  The humility of that and the fact that I was getting cold caused me to pick up my pace a bit.  Once I got to the bottom Ryan directed me to the bar.  We would find Lauren there waiting for us with Bloody Mary's.  God bless that woman.

"I am sorry I was so slow guys,"  I apologized.

"Not at all.  I am so proud of you!  You conquered your fear!"  Lauren gave me a little hug and passed me my drink.  So good!

The second run was a little easier.  The lift was still scary but better since I knew what was coming.  For some reason when it was time to get off I was not quite ready.  My ski's never touched the earth and I quickly realized that I would have to jump.  It sounds much scarier then it was.  I was only like a foot high.  Still, I fell flat on my back.  It didn't hurt that bad.  What hurt was the snowboarder who was unloading after me.  He careened into my leg.  I have a beautiful bruised egg just above my knee.  Another chair full of people unloaded (and fell while trying to avoid me) before the guys manning the lift noticed. 

"Here, let me help you out of the way so no one runs into you," one offered.

"Too late," I told him.

I got back into my ski's and headed out down the slope.  I had told LauRyan not to worry about me so much this time.  It was agreed that when they got to the bottom they would immediately board the lift again to try some other runs and I would go rest in the lodge a bit.  They would still stop periodically to look up the slope to see how I was doing.  At one point though I lost a ski.  I didn't fall.  I was going so slow I sort of walked out of it.  I don't think I ever got back in it right when I lost it on my jump off of the lift.  So I tried to get it on but the snow was too deep and my ski would just sink into it instead of snapping onto my boot.  I decided to walk a ways until I was in a safer spot and also a more solid spot.  I was way too far up the mountain to try and walk the whole thing.

I was worried for LauRyan.  I did not want them to be waiting for me and I knew they would be worried for me.  Just then a snow "ambulance" flew up the slope. 

Oh great.  They are going to think that's for me. 

I finally got to a place where I would try to get the skis on again.  It was a lot of work.  I kept wondering where ski patrol was.  Shouldn't there be someone coming by to check on people?  It took about 5 minutes but I finally got my skis on.  Just as I snapped on the last one Ski Patrol swooped in.

"Do you need any help?"

"Nope.  Just got it."

"Great!  Have fun!  Skiing is easier then walking."

"You have'nt seen me ski yet."

The ski "ambulance" went by again with a body dragging behind it.  I tried to pick up my pace because I knew Lauren and Ryan would be worried about me.  Sure enough, when I got to the bottom, Ryan was waiting.  They did not get back on the lift for another run.  They too had seen the ski "ambulance" and wanted to make sure I was alright first.  Ryan again directed me to the bar where Lauren was waiting with another round of Bloody Mary's for us.  As soon as I walked in she came running to me with open arms and a relief washed face.

I suck.

(Dang it!  I can't say that either.)

I did not go back out.  I waited instead for Aaron and the boys while my friends went back out for several more quick runs.  It seems the 2 mile run that took me 30 minutes should really only take about 8 minutes.  Hm.

Today I am sore and bruised but very happy to have that under my belt.  My kids did not enjoy their ski experience either but we are all quite proud of ourselves for Doing it Scared.  My guests are gone and I spent the day putting the house back together.  This afternoon I leashed Drake and we went for a walk up the snow covered hill.  A feeling of normalcy swept over me and then just as quickly I realized how un-normal this is.  Again, I find that I am so undeservedly blessed.

Thanksgiving ProDUCKtion

Thanksgiving week...Whew!  So much went down that I would love, love to blog about.  It would be both therapeutic and good comedy but these things were to personal for me to share with the masses.  You are probably thinking: Umm...you just blogged about your boobs.  My boobs are mine to share or not.  These other personal stories belong to my house guests and I will keep them theirs no matter how badly I would like to divulge.  So I will tell my Thanksgiving tale but there will be some holes.  Hopefully, I can weave it in such a way that it will still end up making sense. 

Scene I Act I

The festivities began on Tuesday last week.  Aaron's family was scheduled to arrive that evening.  I was thrilled their arrival would not intrude on Baking Day because this Baking Day was to be crucial to our Thanksgiving meal.  We planned to make as many of the sides and desserts as we could so that everything could just be re-heated on the big day. 

Baking Day started off pretty stellar when Caren greeted me by asking if I had any whiskey.

"I ran out last night,"  she explained.  Riiight.

I thought it was some hard core Mountain People thing.  She clarified that she needed whiskey to make home made Bailey's.  So we were off to a great start!  I learned to make home made cranberry sauce (which is both easy and delicious) bread stuffing, and cornbread stuffing.  Kathy is our Crust Queen so she made pie crusts for all of our pies.  The innards of the pies were a joint effort. 

My bread stuffing went smoothly enough and was pretty easy to make.  I needed the cornbread stuffing for Aaron's Turducken that he had decided to try and tackle this year. 

I screwed it up.  I'm not going into the details but it was bad.  Kathy tried to act like it could be saved.  Laurel winced a tad and said it had "bite."  Caren took a bite and suggested we feed it to the birds.  I was so ticked.  It is hard for me when I mess up on baking day because I am rarely making something just for me and my family.  Half of the Thanksgiving sized portions were going to Caren's family.  Not only that but I just wasted a bunch of organic ingredients. 

I carried my tray of cornbread-poop out side and fought tears as I crumbled it out onto the ground.   Part of my tears and anxiety was caused by the caffeine in the Bailey's spiked coffee we'd been drinking the rest is because I still had sweet potatoes and green bean casserole to make and the day was mostly over.  Family was on their way and I still had a few more things left to do at the house.

When I returned to the kitchen the other ladies were packing up their things to go.  Caren had a glass of red waiting for me. 

"Sit.  Relax.  It's only Tuesday.  You can make the rest later.  After you've had your wine we will remake the cornbread casserole."  Dear wise Caren!

Note to self: no coffee on Baking Day.

The second batch turned out super yummy!  Plus, Caren added bacon from Laurel's hog to it.  (Mountain People.)

I finally gathered my goodies and went home.  As I walked home, I couldn't help but notice that the cornbread I left for the birds had yet to be touched...

I was so happy that I had started a crock pot stew before heading to Baking Day.  I walked in and dinner was ready!  I had about an hour before the kids got home for some finishing touches in the house.  When Aaron's family arrived the house was filled with a savory aroma, candles were lit and a fire was roaring.  I love to set a scene!  It was a lovely evening.

Scene II

Wednesday I woke up at the crack of dawn and pressed my face to the window looking for any sign that my next guest was near to arriving.  I had been much anticipating this visit with my friend Shalah.  There were no cars out yet but there was snow.  Yee haw!  I had been praying that it would snow for our guests.  Nothing stuck but it was still fun to watch it fall while snuggled down in a blanket, next to a warm fire. 

Every hour I fogged up the windows again, looking for signs of Shalah. 

Nothing. 

After about my 3rd time to the window she text that she was on her way.  On her freakin' way!  It was 9 in the morning!!  Unacceptable.  I told her to leave at the crack of dawn.  She had began her trip the day before and stopped in Raton, New Mexico.  That was hard enough for me, knowing that she was only about 3 hours away!  Oh the angst!  Plus she was missing the snow.  She finally arrived at 12:30.  The snow hung on just a touch for her.  I scolded her for her late start and for following GPS directions instead of mine.  Then there was hugging and squealing and I ushered into my home. 

Sitting on the couch with my Shalah was such a joy.  Moments were surreal.  She was really here!  Wine and laughter was in abundance.  In fact UPS showed up to deliver our wine club wine.  I seriously could not have arranged it any better.

That evening my BIL, Matt, wanted to treat the family to dinner for his dad's birthday.  The restaurant of choice was Casa Bonita.  Casa Bonita is no ordinary restaurant.  They have shows every 15 minutes.  I imagine this place is an ADD's dream.  There is a pirates duel, gorillas, sky divers and more.  There is also an arcade, in case you get bored.  Upon arrival they immediately herd you into lines and hand you a menu.  Once in line, you really can't leave.  Drew announced that he needed the restroom but we told him there was no escape.  While in line someone comes by to take your party's order.  You inch on a little more until you get to a cashier who rings up your ticket and sells arcade tokens that Uncle Matt had to of course purchase for his nephews.  Inch on a little more until you get to the trays and silverware.  Up a little more and there is an assembly line of sorts.  Our party of 8's plates were all there waiting for us.  Oops...wait..where's the All You Can Eat Beef Plate?  No worries!  A plate of Mexican Beef entrees slides out of the kitchen.  This started some concern about the quality of the food we were about to eat.  Maybe the concern should've started back in line where they trapped you like a rat.  Maybe it should've been piqued when I noticed the Help Always Wanted signs they had posted while we went through the line. 

Once we had our food things moved fast.  We were quickly ushered through the restaurant (nay...the CARNIVAL) to our table.  At the end of the table is a flag.  Like a Panchos flag!  You raise it when you want more.  Looking at my plate of gruel I was pretty certain that I, for one, would not be raising the flag.  The kids were up and down from the table to watch the various shows.

"This man dove off of a 20 foot waterfall,"  Drew announced, "and he LIVED!"  So the entertainment was good. 

Matt also pulled out all of the stops and had a mariachi band come to play a Happy Birthday song to his dad.  After the song they moved about one table over to play it again, then down about two more tables to play it yet again. 

Matt had been to this place once when he was 6 years old.  I see now why he remembered it so well.  It is scalded into my brain.  Forever. 

(This is where there was another adventure that I can't share happened.  Just imagine the fun one can have upon ingesting Mexican food.)

Scene III

Turducken.  Aaron had declared that he would be making Turducken earlier in the week.  He did his research and his time had come to execute his plan.  He began by deboning the chicken and duck.  This was done Wednesday night.  I think after the adventures of Casa Bonita he was ready to knife something.  It proved to be very cathartic for him.  He first worked on the chicken.  By the time he got to the duck he was nothing less then jovial!  Matt and Shalah were armed with cameras, prepared to document the making of a Turducken.  Aaron lifted the duck by it's wings and danced it about for the cameras.  With very little coaxing, he next posed with his head in the place where the ducks once was.  It was hilarious!  It was even more amusing that this was my oh-so-serious Aaron.

Thursday morning Drew woke me up with, "Happy Thanksgiving mom.  It's Giant Meat Day!  It's my lucky day!" 

Shalah and I took a walk around the "hood" and reviewed what was left to be done for the meal.   This made me realize that I forgot pecans for the sweet potatoes but knew where Caren kept hers.  I went to her house to grab them and noticed my cornbread from two days before were still on the ground.  Undisturbed.

Back at the homestead, I set out some snacky foods and made the prosciutto asparagus puffs again.  Aaron was not only baking a  Turducken but also frying a turkey.  The timing of it all was crucial and so he kept asking us when we thought dinner would be served.

"2-ish,"  I said.

"3:30,"  Shalah countered.

After the snacks were out and being snacked, I moved on to the green bean casserole.  I washed and snapped the green beans and added cream of mushroom soup and those crunchy onion thingys.  Just as I finished prepping the casserole Aaron entered the kitchen and asked, "Are those green beans raw?" 

Usually I use canned green beans but the goal this year was to do nothing from a can or a box.  Canned green beans are pre-cooked.  Once the casserole is made it has 30 minutes in the oven before ready.  Who knew how long it would take if we put raw green beans in.  Matt, with his uncanny way of always catching me in a low point, was there with his camera and snapped the very moment.  I am looking down into the dish with this new realization, feeling a little burn in the eyes again.  Behind my back, Shalah is giving Aaron the "shut it" sign with her hand.  Aaron is grinning ear to ear, amused by my kitchen skills. 

Shalah shewed them both out of the kitchen, pried the casserole out of my hand and redirected me to some potato mashing.  That I can do.  I don't know how she fixed it.  I think she rinsed all of the ingredients off of my beans.  Whatever she did it worked and I found solace in the soothing rhythm of mashing taters.

The meal was finally ready...at 3:30. 

Both of Aaron's turkey's were great!  He accomplished a Thanksgiving culinary fete! 

After we were all stuffed to our gizzards, we agreed that a hike was in order.  Leaving the kids with my MIL, the rest of us bundled up and set up the hill.  It was a crisp cold!  Getting ourselves moving was just the thing to warm us up and move the turkey down a bit, creating just enough room for pie.

Scene IV

Friday morning we took the crew to a favorite breakfast place for the Mountain People, Kountry Road Cafe in Kitteredge.  Portions here are not normal.  Food is delish!  Gabriel ordered pancakes.  They were about 2 inches thick and as big as his plate!  Matt ordered something called Holy Cow.  Evidently it was named such because that's what one said when the dish is set before you.  It was sausage laced mashed potatoes, with a layer of scrambled eggs, layered by more sausage mashed potatoes, topped with gravy, crowned with chicken fried steak and bejeweled with four slices of french toast. 

Towards the end of our meal the waiter comes by and asked if he could take our plates.  When he saw how much Matt had put away of the Holy Cow he said that he had never seen anyone eat that much of it before and added that no one had ever finished it.

"Really?" Matt asked, "No one has finished it?  Oh...now I have to do it."

We tried to convince him that there was no need.  We were all impressed with how much he had eaten.

"This isn't about you, it's about me."  Matt said and forkful after painful forkful he chiseled away at the meager remainings of his breakfast.  The waiter came by again and Matt asked if he finished, would his picture be put up on the wall. 

"No.  But we should start doing that."

"Forget it."  Matt said and pushed the plate away.  No gut, no glory.  Or something like that. 

A hike was once again the remedy for our over indulgence.  I took Matt and Shay to Mt. Falcon.  The views were great!  I had to scold Shalah a little bit because she kept texting.

"Shay, if you don't look up from texting you could trip on a rock or something."  I tell her and then...trip!  She did.

"How do you do that?"

"Common sense."

We saw deer in the meadow and interesting, grizzly looking people and then a mouse scurried across the trail.  It has taken nothing less then a mouse to cause me to turn around on a hike before but not our Shalah.  Noooo.  She thought the little mountain mouse is adorable!  Ignoring my warnings of diseased bites she bent down and scooped up the little critter in her hand.  Cupped in her hand, he was so warm he darn near fell asleep.  Or he fainted.  Who knows.  Matt and Shalah proceeded to have a photo shoot of the mouse and named him Howard.  I stayed on my side of the trail waiting for her to get bit.  After the photo shoot, Shalah tucks the little rat into her coat pocket.

"That is not going in my car.  You are going to forget about it and accidentally crush it."  Shay poo-pooed all of my objections.

"You can't even take wild flowers from these places.  I'm pretty sure it is a no-no to take actual wild life."  This did not deter her either but she did have a thought that she could be taking him away from a family.  And so we all headed back to the very place where Howard was found and returned him there.

Act II Scene I

So, I know this is a terribly long blog but we are reviewing darn near a week instead of a day like most times.  Hopefully, you have found it entertaining enough to hang in there.  If only I could have added those other funny moments of....*sigh*  I may have to start having people sign consent forms for me to tell their tales.

Saturday was the Gingerbread House Snack Down!  Caren had once been apart of these and wanted to revive them this year.  She and I had spent two weeks shopping for decorations and scheming for our entries.  The theme was Christmas Storybooks.  I knew right away that my team would do The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.  Who-ville is so colorful, whimsical and kooky!  Anything goes and so we would use that to our advantage.  If our homes are lopsided we can claim that it is just Who-ish.  It was fool proof!  I found a very Who-like apron and a spirally Santa hat.  Just looking the part could be all that is needed to intimidate the competition.

Poor Shalah.  I'm pretty sure she started to break out in hives as soon as I told her about the whole thing.  Not that Shay is not a fun girl but she is just not....festive.  Or creative.  She is not really anything that -ive follows.  I knew this would be hard for her but I was not backing down from the challenge and I needed her help.  Oh!  There is an -ive word that does describe Shalah and that is COMPETITIVE.  I knew it would kick in eventually and boy, how!

After I showed Shalah my Who-ville print outs and all of the supplies that I had bought she got to brainstorming.  I wanted a village surrounding the tree where they sing their song.  In the back ground I wanted Mt. Crumpit.  Everything had to be edible and everything had to be assembled on sight.  I did some preliminary runs on the Grinch and pre-made a gingerbread arch way, some roofs, and the Grinches sleigh.

I did ask Shalah that she not have wine until after the competition.

"Really?  I think you will find I work better that way."

"I can't have you getting sloppy and risking a house caving in or something."

I was making creamed brandy cordials for the party though and since neither of us had ever had brandy we did decide to try a bit.  We gave our sifters a swirl, clinked them together and took a sip.

*Hoo-ah! Ack!  Doi-oi-oing!* 

We both winced and wheezed in unison.

"Whew,"  Shay said.  "Ready for the next sip?"  The next was the same as the first.

Luckily we were spared any more of it by a call from Caren.  Time was running short and she needed help with decorating and making bowls and bowls of icing.  Shalah and I packed four bags of supplies and headed over the hill.  We both let out a little whimper when we still saw evidence of my cornbread from what had now been 4 days.  Not a rat, bird, fox or otherwise had come to eat it. *sigh*

We entered the house to a vision of red and white clothed tables that were full of candies and food.  As I took it all in The Nutcrackers "Dance of the Sugar Plumb Fairies" began and then in swirled Caren looking gorgeous in a red sweater, black embroidered skirt and tall black boots.  There were quick but warm introductions as she handed me a bag of decorations (my forte) and recruited Shalah to making icing in the kitchen (her forte.)

Caren and I had a vision of candy decorations all over the house and so I had painted designs on Styrofoam circles that her daughters then wrapped in colorful cellophane.  I "pinned" them to corners of the tables and hung candy canes from windows and chandeliers.

Then I set to work on the creamed brandy.  They were to be topped with candied almond slivers.  These, of course, I burned.  Caren came behind me to smooth things out (as always) and I opted to just throw them in the trash this time, since the word of my fine cooking had apparently spread to the mountain critters.  I decided instead of giving it another go that we could just sprinkle them with cinnamon.  The recipe called for 2 T of brandy so I did 4.  My plan was to throw the rest of my competitors off balance.

The competition began with the pop of a champagne bottle.  My friend Robbie was also on my team.  She was also instructed to stay clear of the booze but somehow she and Shay both managed to bootleg some.  We had our game faces on though and executed the whole thing beautifully.  Shalah was in charge of Mt. Crumpit.  I showed her many picture with Crumpit's distinguishing curved tip.  The curved tip was the tricky part but Shay pulled it off perfectly!  Robbie layed down the frosting snow and piped green frosting over inverted ice cream cones to make the village tree.  I  made a few houses, the Grinch himself and then, at the last minute, a tootsie roll Max topped with a broken pretzel for his antler.  It was a good call because he turned out to be the biggest hit!

Everyone finished and the judging began.  The judges were nearly as serious as the competitors (i.e. me.)  There was long discussions and notes made over each creation.  I walked about to see how everyone else did.  There were several that had me nervous.  The Mountain People are creative.

The winners were finally announced.  There were several honorable mentions and even one "Dig Deeper Next Year" award. 

"It was tough to choose the winner and we even argued a bit about a few..."  I nervously gripped Drew's hand and then got embarrassed because Caren caught me, "...but we finally decided that if you are going to go big, then you should go Texas big!" 

With that a bottle of wine and a gingerbread man trophy was passed to us.  Just under our cheering I heard Drew ask, "Did we win a trip back to Texas?"

This brought me down a little.  Poor bug!

Final Scene

The next morning I took Shalah to my beloved Red Rocks.  I knew if anyone would appreciate it she would.  I've raved enough about them in previous blogs so I won't beat that horse.  We went into Morrison for lunch and shopping.

There is a small antique store that I had always wanted to check out and so Shalah and I started there.  The place was so packed full  of "treasures" that we could hardly maneuver through.  The floor boards creaked beneath our feet.  It smelled just like my Grandma's house, may she rest in peace.  A very old woman asked to assist us with anything we needed.  We turned a corner into a kitchen-like area.  There was a silverware tray with old pieces of stainless steel and even some plastic flatware.  It was like an episode of hoarders!  The elderly woman encouraged us to shop down stairs as well.  It was just as crowded and creepy.  Behind a curtain of sheets we saw a small living area with a bowl of cat food set out.  We climbed back up the groaning, creaking stairs and made as polite of a rushed exit as possible.  There were some really cool ski's in there though....poop.

After a few more over priced stores we walked over to a B&B place that I had always wanted to peek in on.  As we walked though I noticed the air was colder and the clouds looked different.  Snow clouds.

Shalah teased me that if I was able to predict snow by looking at the clouds it was time to return to Texas.  I laughed too because I was pretty sure I could not predict snow.  I did hope (really hard) that it would though.  What a perfect way to end our visit together!  So we headed home and sat on the couch under blankets and our hands wrapped around hot mugs of tea.

*Cue snow...black out and....curtain*