Celebrating Love!

Happy Valentine's Day!! I'd love to know how you are spending this day (or weekend) with your special someone. My honey and I are leaving in a few hours to head up to the mountains to The Dillard House for the weekend. I can hardly wait. I haven't left the house since Monday. It really hasn't been as bad as it sounds. I've caught up on a lot of things that needed to be done around here as well as cooked. I've cooked a lot. Here are a couple of my creations to celebrate today!

This is a Chocolate Raspberry Bundt Cake! Here is the recipe if you're interested. You really should be interested ... it's fabulous. 


And of course, what's Valentine's Day without some Chocolate Covered Strawberries?


In other news, D and I got a movie from the Red Box to watch last night and it was a total waste of our $1.29. If you are considering renting Red 2, don't bother. We saw Red (the first one) and really liked it. The sequel was a total bust. Just a Public Service Announcement to save your time and money. 

With more worthless news, I've been working in front of the muted television all morning. Since it's Valentine's Day, I've seen both John Legend on GMA and Rueben Studdard on The Today Show. What a treat! I've only un-muted for those two to serenade me. Oh, which reminds me, did you all watch The Beatles' 50th Anniversary of the Ed Sullivan Show the other night on television? It was so good. Even though Paul and Ringo both performed individually and together (which was great), the highlight of the show in my opinion was "Let It Be" with John Legend and Alicia Keys. I'm so hoping it comes out on iTunes. It's definitely going on my playlist if it does.

And one last thing (if you're still reading this boring account) since I've been watching the Valentine's editions of these morning shows, I've seen more people drink a glass of wine before noon than I can count. Granted it might be cranberry juice. I'm not judging but I just hope they are pacing themselves. It's going to be hard for some of us to catch up. I'm just sayin.

Happy Love Day to you and yours!

The Sanguine in All of Us

So today I've been holed up in this house working on the solitary work of preparing a newspaper column and a speaking engagement. When I had my personality type evaluated several years ago, it was determined that I tend to be more on the Sanguine side of the spectrum. All that means is I talk more than I think. Or I talk before I think. Or I talk and don't think. All of the above are true. Suffice it to say that I like to talk. A lot. Somebody has to do it. Anyway, it's an odd correlation to me that a talker would be a writer. But I love to write. The only thing is I have to be alone to write. Now I know that some folks go to Starbucks or Panera or somewhere like that but goodness gracious, I would be so distracted at who was getting a latte, macchiato, or cinnamon crunch scone that I would never in my days get a dang thing accomplished. So... I write at home by myself. It's a lonely life. (not really, I was being dramatic. I'm also prone to going overboard on the drama, too. I'm a very complicated personality). 

So Monday there is a Times column due and Wednesday there is a speaking thingy to do. Both of these will have a Valentine's theme. Because, tis the season. (and that's what they asked me to write and speak about). I'm just flattered that they all think I have something worth writing and speaking about. But I love Valentine's Day. I've resisted the urge to become cynical in my old age about what some would consider a card-shop-created holiday. We so what if it is? Is that so bad? If it causes one man who might not otherwise remember to think of his woman with a card, nice dinner or weekend away, well yes, it is absolutely okay with me to have such a holiday. I personally remember all of my loved ones, especially my widowed mother and mother-in-law. This has to hard for them although I've never heard them say that. I think they just don't give it much thought. Or maybe they do. Either way, I think they need a little something on this day.

The good news is that I've pretty much completed both of my tasks for today. The deadline for the newspaper article is Monday so I'll have time to send it to my proofreaders (E, G and D) for any corrections. I'll meet with E tomorrow to go over the notes for Wednesday's speech (that sounds like I'm going to give the State of the Union Address or something. It's more like talking - see I'm good at that). We are going to brainstorm about ideas for a Power Point to go along with it, as she is totally the creative genius behind that.  

On another note, D is flying back from Kansas City today where it snowed and reached a balmy high of 7 yesterday. Thank you, Jesus, I live in Georgia.   

On yet another note, I had lunch with a close friend yesterday who is thinking about taking a major step into a new professional venture. And it's a big step that could reap great rewards. I'm so proud of my friend. I've been reading the book "When Wallflowers Dance" by Angela Thomas in preparation for our Bible study intensive at our church the end of this month. In this book, Angela talks about women living out their "dance" with Jesus and not just staying on the sidelines of life. My friend is truly living her dance with Jesus, contemplating a big change but with much prayerful consideration. She's asked me to join her in prayer and possibly in this venture. I'm honored to be asked to do both. You go, girl!

He Knows Me So Well

It's just been one of those weeks.  One when you write a great blog post about Valentine's Day but somehow it doesn't get saved and you lose it.  One when you're just too tired to write the same post again.  One when you do something stupid like fall out of bed (don't ask) and then can't move your back for about two days.   One when you are feeling so overwhelmed with all you have to do that you just want to stay in bed all day and do nothing.  One when you feel like all of the sadness in the world has surrounded your family and you can't take too much more. 

But God.  Because He is full of grace and mercy, He sends you bright spots all week to overshadow the pain.  Praise Him! 
Bright spot:  My son sent me a text message on Valentine's Day that said, "I'm so blessed that you're my mom. I love you."  Have mercy. 
Bright spot:  My daughter sat and listened for well over an hour yesterday to me throw out ideas about my upcoming speaking engagement; and then vent, rant and rave about a whole myriad of subjects.  After listening patiently, she gave her valuable and creative input.  Bless her. 
Bright spot:  I sat with a group of godly women last night with whom I share a common passion.  What an amazing blessing to hear their hearts and thoughts about this ministry.  
Bright spot:  Friends who constantly surround me and my family with encouragement and support through texts, emails and phone calls.  Yesterday I sent an email to a dear friend full of scattered ideas about a particular subject that I just can't seem to wrap my head around and within minutes she responded with thoughts as to how to make this whole thing work. (J- if you're reading, thank you!). 

And then on Valentine's Day evening, as I'm still sitting in the bed, in my pajamas, nursing my aching back, in comes the love of my life with a beautiful bouquet.  But this isn't just any bouquet because this one has been custom made just for me with roses and Dove chocolate.  He knows me so well.  Nothing like chocolate to help you forget your troubles.  It also served as just another reminder that when life is going, well, like life does, there is always beauty, love, goodness and sweetness to be found.

"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him."  Psalm 34:8

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, all! Hope you are having a great day! D and I celebrated last night with a trip with some friends to the Cheesecake Factory and then to see "Mamma Mia!" at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta! Good food, Great friends, and fabulous fun at the Fabulous Fox! "Mamma Mia!" is just the best ever! You can't help yourself - you really just want to sing and dance right along with them (oh, wait, I did). It is really incredible how musically talented some folks are . . . and these folks are! We had the best time!

The Ghosts of Valentine's Day Past

I'll have to admit, I've struggled with writing this post. Why? because it makes me kinda sad. I no longer get to do some of the fun things that we did when our kids were younger. For 20+ years I devoted most of my time and energy to raising two of the most incredible children ever (in my humble opinion). Yes, I worked outside the home part-time throughout those years but primarily my focus was my children. I so wanted their childhood to be a very good and positive memory for them. And because of my celebratory personality, holidays and birthdays, well, let's just say . . . were always something special. Which brings us to our Valentine's Day tradition! Some of you are probably thinking, did she just say Valentine's Day tradition? Who has traditions surrounding Valentine's Day? That would be us.

First of all, on the big day, we always piled in D's SUV for what we called the "Fast Food Progressive Dinner." Beginning with our drinks, we chose the fast food restaurant that had our favorite foods. The point is: the place had to have a drive thru. We stayed in the car to eat and drink everything. This was great fun! You know when you have your children in the car with you, they are a captive audience so we got to talk, laugh and relax together while poor D drove us all over tarnation trying to satisfy our every fast food whim.

We always had our favorites:
Tea: Zaxby's - because everybody knows they have great tea and absolutely the best ice!
Appetizer: This would always be a toss up between the following: Arby's curly fries or mozzarella sticks, Sonic's tator tots or Chick-fil-A's waffle fries.
The Main Course: Each person got to choose their favorite so you realize we could be visiting every fast food restaurant chain known to North America in the course of one evening and some twice! Which is what we usually did. Some favorites here: CFA's classic chicken sandwich, Big Mac from McDonalds; tacos from Taco Bell. Oh, it was a dilemma.
Dessert: Hmm . . . a blizzard from the DQ? ice dream from CFA? or a frosty from Wendys? All very good choices.
And, as you can tell, no nutritional information was investigated at all on this day!

Then when we got home from that expedition, I always had a Scavenger Hunt ready for the kids to find their Valentine's Day gifts. Gifts were not expensive or outrageous, just fun new stuff. I would prepare clues and hide their gifts ahead of time so that when we returned, we could let the games begin. They loved it! Keep in mind, we did this up until about two years ago when G was a senior in high school. It's kinda like we were with Santa. If they told me that they didn't believe in Santa anymore, then Santa stopped bringing them gifts. Guess who never mentioned not believing in Santa again? Guess who never complained about Valentine's Day either?

I sure do miss this. I guess D and I could do a Scavenger Hunt together. Not sure what we would hunt for and not sure I could remember where I hid it. Isn't menopause fun? Don't answer that. This is about Valentine's Day.

So, this Valentine's Day and always, I'm sending much, much love to the most incredible man I know and to two of the best children a mother could ever ask for. I love you all so much. Thank you for allowing me to do such crazy stuff all those years! It was a joy and an honor. Much love, Mom