Deck the Halls with Chips and Salsa

I'm enjoying some quiet time while listening to some Christmas music. My children and I attended a Christmas concert at my high school alma mater last night. It included singing and instrumental. It's been a while since I've attended anything there, but, I'm always amazed at the level of talent high school kids possess. And it's always a delight to hear something you've never heard before. One song was the title of this blog. I LOVE the music to this Christmas standard. I'm trying to locate a decent MP3 version of it. Another cutesie song was Good King Kong Looked Out. Here is a link to the lyrics -
http://www.santasearch.org/music.asp?PID=1&SongID=1077
- The ultimate touch was when the whole choir pulled out kazoos and hummed in harmony! It was so fun. Here is a link to the Virginia Beach Chorale video performance of this song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrbHOtAthqA&feature=related
I would say the high school group was as good, if not a touch better!

The auditorium was nicely filled, but not cramped. I had both kids with me, Jacob on my lap, when I heard a girl behind me say to her kids, 'There's Mr. McC. He was the choir director when I was here.' I tried to inconspicuously see where Mr. McC was because he was my choir director, also. Lo and behold, he was sitting in our row three seats away from us. Leaving Jacob behind I slid into the seat beside the former music director, tapped him and asked if he by any chance recognized me. Allaying any embarrassment at NOT making an ID I told him my last name. He remembered and even recalled my involvement in all the music programs- vocal and instrumental. Music was everything to me when I was in high school. I had a moment of dread that I didn't have any continuing musical achievements to share. But as the evening's program started and I returned to me seat I thought about the influence he and our band directors, Mr. E. and Mr. B. played in my life in my other musical endeavors.

My musical endeavors started during my early years of teaching in an Erie parochial school. I instituted my own brand of music into religion classes. Hoping to sauce up the routine of practicing songs for Mass I used a song from a District Chorus concert in which I'd been a part. It was an inspirational round. We did not have a music teacher at my first school so everyone was willing to participate. Grades 5-8 sang it for a meditation song.
As time went on I tried to incorporate 70s protest(?) songs into classes, pathetically strumming my guitar while the kids sang, Get Together, One Tin Soldier and You've Got a Friend, etc. I wrote and my classes performed several prayer services. The last one showing the principal's trust in me when I put modern music and dialog into the story of the passion of Christ. I only organized one performance after that and it was back to a more austere atmosphere as a student played the piano while the rest of the fifth graders sang Only a Baby Came. Where on earth did I get any knowledge or arrogance to think I could pull these things off? Mr. McC, who always showed me more confidence than I actually ever felt in myself.

Mr. E was the one who cemented my enjoyment of big band music. In my current favorite oldie, Little River Band's song Reminiscing, they mention "Cole Porter tunes...Night and Day..." I love Night and Day. I have a cassette Christmas In the Mood. Thank you Glenn Miller. I played the piano in our high school's Stage Band. I remember practicing the Tonight Show Theme on the piano over and over and still never feeling completely confident that I was playing it well. As a result I tried to play quietly. I still remembering Mr. E encouraging me to play louder! Playing the saxophone and piano in a group are two of my favorite memories of my school years.

Teachers don't always get the recognition they deserve. But it sometimes takes years for their students to perceive the influence of those steadfast figures . That includes parents, teachers, neighbors, bosses and unwavering friends.

The concert ended with the invitation of former choir members to come onstage/up front to sing the Hallelujah Chorus. I did not go up- two kids couldn't be left behind. I wasn't sure if I SANG it in high school. It seems to me I accompanied the choir on the piano. I did know the soprano part and sang it from my seat. The girl behind me was singing the alto part. She did pretty well, too! They asked everyone to stand up for this performance. I think this was the only thing that marred the show: it was next to impossible to see anything but the backs of the people in front of me! It would have been much better if everyone had remained seated.

Obviously it wasn't such a problem because I hadn't even considered it until I started writing this blog. Deck the Halls with Chips and Salsa. That's memorable. And sounds like time for a snack.

Hormonally yours,
Peg

This is what the voters wanted?

I was just reading the Erie Sunday Times. I came across this AP article Obama: Tax Cut Deal Not Perfect--- http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hE7jEUWP7-iXGq3S8UUaJ6D8pNsQ?docId=33fab62999354f4293e374c55893b959 Go here to read the article in its entirety. I've been following it since the news broke of Obama's negotiation with Republicans to get this passed. This is exactly what mystifies me:

"Republicans support the plan because it would not impose higher taxes on the wealthiest, as Obama long had wanted to do. Democrats object to the pact on grounds that it is too generous to the rich.

Obama said the agreement will require that both parties accept some things they don't like. But he said the agreement will help the middle-class families that he and others have argued should be spared further economic hardship."

Who voted Republicans back into the majority??? I completely understand about fiscal responsibility. You should only spend money you have. And I do not have a Robin Hood Syndrome: Take from the rich to give to the poor. Simply put everyone, richest to poorest, has to do their fair share. There are no free rides. These tax cuts, according to the news articles I've read, began in the Bush (2001-2008) administration. It extended to the middle class, also. Which, being middle class, is nice. BUT, I'm probably in the minority- a bipartisan who believes what I get for my tax money is the best bargain of my life. How much would it cost me to support a small troop to protect my personal property and freedoms? Back to my question: is this truly what most Americans believe will build a strong nation?

In my opinion President Obama is on the right track but is constantly being derailed by corporate/industrial interests who can now legally donate to political candidates' campaigns. Yikes.

Damn, I tried to publish while this was saving and now half my blog is missing. Maybe that was fate telling me not to share what I was thinking today.

Hormonally yours,

Peg

Chef Blessings and Blunders

I love having a laptop stationed on my kitchen counter. Having access to thousands, nay, millions of recipes is very helpful when making dinner. My kids, 5 and 9, are extremely picky eaters. No longer do I make special meals for them as I once did; (and as my sister likes to remind me as my mother did for me! Gosh, I miss my mom.) The same for my husband who entered the marriage having only regularly eaten beef, peanut butter sandwiches and pizza. I admit as a kid I was terribly picky but now I enjoy trying new foods and usually find I enjoy them. Cajun seasoning, horseradish and garlic are flavors I savor. Veal is my new meat of choice. And I just bought Cornish Hens for our Christmas feast when my son just couldn't agree to duck. So I try to make a variety of foods. If they don't like it, fine, if they do, I usually faint. My husband always graciously thanks me for making dinner and says it was good. If his comment is "not bad" I know he didn't like it at all.

Tonight's dining adventure was veal scallopini. We'd had veal marsala a few weeks ago. Here's the link to the recipe I used. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Veal-Scallopini/Detail.aspx It was easy and I only had to buy some mushrooms. May I recommend crimini (baby bella) mushrooms. Even Tim admitted they were good tasting and he NEVER eats mushrooms. This took about 15 minutes to make. I wanted to put it over linguine but I hated to pull out my BIG sauce pan. So we settled for egg noodles.

Prior to starting to dinner I thought I would make some hard-boiled eggs to put on salads for dinner tomorrow. I think I'm a fairly intelligent person, but it took me a LONG time to learn and remember how to make hard-boiled eggs. I think I've mastered the two-steps and let them sit for 17 minutes after boiling and immerse them in ice water. So I'm not too vigilant about monitoring the eggs as they're warming to boiling point. I was watching Word Girl with the kids when I heard what sounded like gunshots in our kitchen. I ran out and looked around stumped for a few seconds before I realized MY EGGS WERE EXPLODING! Yes, the one KEY step to successfully making hard-boiled eggs is turning off the heat when the water boils! I had a lack of vigilance yesterday when making tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner: I left the kitchen while the tomato soup was heating. When I returned it had burned the bottom of the pan. Tuesday we had tacos and I put the ground beef on the lowest heat and ran my daughter to her piano lesson, less than a mile away. I then decided to make another stop. When we returned the meat was a crusty dark-brown on the outside and pink on the inside. I'm sensing a pattern here.



I guess my attempt at food variety has made an impression on my daughter. Here is her instructions for making Thanksgiving Dinner: I don't use wine very often, not sure why she thought that would be necessary?

Food warning: If capers are on the list of ingredients be conservative. I thought I would add a few more and they overpowered (whatever it was) I made.

Do you ever inadvertently add too much cream to your coffee when refilling and then keep adding more coffee as you drink it? That's what I'm doing right now. I recently read where your brain makes its own cholestrol and diabetics with low-blood sugars starve their brains of this necessary nourishment causing a brain-malfunction. Maybe that's my residual problem. I love to blame blunders on factors I have no control over. But, I've got to face it: I'm over 40 and these things start to happen- as the doctor I saw today likes to remind me.

Hormonally yours,
Peg

The Need for Name-Calling

You "protoplasmal primordial atomic globule."

What a fantastic insult, except, that it's truly descriptive of what we are. Does everyone call someone a name at some time or other? I frequently mutter "idiot" under my breath in reference to (not "reverence to") my husband. It's hard to tell sometimes if he's serious and I flat out told him the other day after an attempt to jest- a WEAK attempt, "You may be joking, but my first instinct is to think, 'what an idiot,' and that's what stays with me."

Certain words I just don't like to hear or hear other people called. Faggot is a word I despise. I'm not sure an opera singer could make that word sound pleasant. I'm still offended by the 7 words you can't say on TV- well, most of them any way. Bad words to my kids are words like: dumb, stupid, jerk. I'll never forget Sarah coming home from school in 1st grade and whispering to me that someone said a bad word. I was mildly concerned because any secret divulging stance is sure to draw Jacob closer. I almost laughed with relief when Sarah breathed the word in my ear: stupid. I've volunteered in Sarah's school and I've heard a lot worse; usually from a special needs child being towed down the hall. Nonetheless I believe there is some instinctual need to call another person an unflattering name. From a young age kids pick up on this name-calling they hear others using.

On an hours-long trip to Ocean City Sarah and Jacob began to call each other moe-ron (moron). Tim asked the kids where they'd heard that word and before the kids could answer I said, "Probably because you've called a dozen other drivers just that name!" Now, honestly, Tim and I like this word. Especially if we say it MOE- ron instead or MORE- on. We like to refer to our heinies as our BOO- tocks. Not sure why, exactly. The kids use this, too, and no one knows what they are talking about.

Now that I've introduced "butts" into this posting let me just say that my kids absolutely delight in calling each other something with the word butt in it. Buttface, butthead, buttcheeks, stinkybutt, bigbutt, goatbutt, any way of including "butt" in a compound word/sentence is very satisfying to them. In an effort to curb this tendency I introduced a list of names that would be acceptable for them to call each other:

nitwit
knucklehead
nincompoop
barnacle
dimwit
dingleberry
dingaling

The first two words are complements of two students I had, Megan and Dennis, (brother and sister) who would call each other those names. It amused me greatly.

We added the following word since the kids liked the PBS show Cyberchase so much.
duncebucket

For me the beauty in name calling is coming up with something so preposterous it's more humorous than insulting , you "protoplasmal primordial atomic globule."


Hormonally yours,
Peg

"...protoplasmal primordial atomic globule..." Gilbert and Sullivan The Mikado

Evergreen Hunting Season Begins

We always go hunting for our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. No license necessary to kill the poor, defenseless evergreen. The weather report predicted snow showers. So we dressed accordingly. This was my son's first wearing of long underwear. We all wore snowpants and were excited to be out in the first snowfall of the year. As you can see by the photo it was blue skies- freezing cold- but sunny. I think our tree is a bit compact. It's taller than my husband but I think we usually have one a couple feet taller. I found one almost immediately that I knew we would have to trim a foot or two off the top but was vetoed. Tim prefers to spend hours searching for the perfect tree- which we would do before kids. We always ended up selecting one of first trees we marked. I am by no means an interior decorator but I do have a good sense of space. Here's our 2010 tree:

Tim found this tree farm online: Renick's in West Sunbury. It was a bit farther than we usually drive but it was worth it. We had to drive to a field a half a mile away and hike through a field to the trees. Once cut the owners will twine it so it fit in the back of van.We prefer a Fraser Fir because of the short, soft needles and the limbs are sturdy enough to support large ornaments. (I don't think we'll get many large ornaments on this tree.) Usually it stays fresh for over a month. Last year we didn't have good luck with the fir tree. Needles were dropping a week before Christmas! But there were brown needles on it when we cut it down. That's why we had to find a new tree farm.

We found this carcass in our tree: It looks like a horseshoe crab shell! I've got evolution on the mind while reading Bill Bryson's *A Short History of Nearly Everything.

Back to the day's adventure: Af ter our tree was situated in the back of our van we turned the GPS on to find a nearby restaurant. Our GPS hates us. We don't always listen to its instructions and I think it holds a grudge and gives us bogus directions. Today we missed a turn, which would take us into the parking lot of a mall. We turned 100 yards farther along into the same mall. It kept telling to make a u-turn, which we did not do. Finally it told us to take the road out of the mall and onto the highway where we were suppose to make a U-TURN!!! It's been a long time since I took my driving test but I can't recall when it is legal to make a u-turn, if ever? We retraced our route and went into the mall the way the GPS had originally instructed and lo and behold there was the Texas Roadhouse to our left! We'd driven right by it!

We enjoyed our lunch- I highly recommend the Portabella Mushroom Chicken. It came with the largest sweet potato I've ever seen. We brought home enough food for the next several days. The weird thing was we saw our next-door neighbor there! We were 42 miles south of our homes and we ended up at the same restaurant at the same time. I think that's bizarre.

We ended up shopping at this mall (Clearview Mall) since we had a fantastic parking spot. We didn't purchase a thing there but since both kids were so patient they were rewarded with a sit in a massage chair. It's funny, neither child likes the kiddy rides where you insert a couple quarters and it throttles them about. They saw these chairs as soon as we entered the mall and they were hooked. If they behaved they could ride the chairs before we left.























We took a different route home: Rte. 8 the whole way! We did stop at a strange-looking place along Rte. 8- a large, silver, saucer-shaped UFO would be a good description. It was called Playthings Etc. We spent a couple hours there. They had some of the most unusual and interesting playthings. Sarah bought a whoopee cushion for Jacob for Christmas. They're a bit obsessed with those things. Although they call them "Whompie Cushions."

Twenty-nine days until Christmas. Something has happened to make time speed up. That's bizarre, too.

Hormonally yours,
Peg

Behind Thanksgiving

I had planned to do a Thanksgiving acrostic using trivia from a book called Eating the Plates: A Pilgrim book of Food and Manners. I'm going to try but had some trouble doing a rough draft. So...if this in an incomplete acrostic, I apologize.

Tongue of ox- also known as neat's tongue; the 66-day trip across the Atlantic was a miserable one for the 202 passengers. These folks ate moldy cheese, dried peas, salty beef and dried fish. A large supply of ship's biscuits were stacked in huge piles. They were made of wheat flour, pea flour and water. They were flat and round, the size of dinner plates. They were also hard as rock. Their favorite meat was neat's tongue- dried ox tongue. The Pilgrims hated water and washed down their meals with beer, ale, wine, gin and brandy. Even children drank beer.

Holland first- The Pilgrims went to Holland first to test the waters of religious freedom. The Dutch treated them well and fairly. But the Pilgrims "thought the Dutch were more interested in money and fun than they were in religion." The Pilgrims were afraid their children would be adversely affected by their (the Dutch) influence. That was when they decided to travel to America.

Always hungry always cold. They left England September 6, 1620. Nothing like some cool air for your trip on the open ocean. It would have to be better than hot humid air!

Never changed their clothes the entire trip. All the passengers stayed in one room. The odor must have been Noxious.

Knife- everyone had to have their own knife. Adults were allowed to thrust knife into a cooking pot to spear a piece of food but children weren't to take any food for themselves. They could only eat whatever their parents handed to them.

Saints and Strangers- The Pilgrims could not afford the cost of a trip across the Atlantic. So they made a deal with a group of investors called Merchant Adventurers. They hired the Mayflower, and provided food and supplies. In return the Pilgrims agreed to give the Merchant Adventurers everything of value they found in America for 7 years. The Pilgrims would only keep what they needed to stay alive. The MA made the same deal with other travelers on the Mayflower. The Pilgrims called these other settlers "Strangers."

Good gravy my shoulder hurts this Thanksgiving day. I already had some trouble straightening my arm upward, but Friday I got a Tetanus/Whooping Cough Booster in same arm. Since I had had a tetanus almost exactly 2 years ago the nurse warned me I may have some muscle pain. Saturday was the worst, but after some soaking and massaging it seemed to be on the mend. Then on Monday what did we work on in Yoga? Shoulders!!! I could do everything while there without too much discomfort. But the next few days have been a bit iffy. I still cannot sleep on my right side. My complaint seems to lack Gravity next to the tribulations the Pilgrims went through just to avoid religious persecution.

Insects- Little insects like weevils, maggots and grubs chewed tunnels into the ship's biscuits so some Pilgrims preferred to eat at night in the dark.

Variety of schemes to trick the Indians- they would bury their dead at night so the Indians would not see the decimation of their population. All the healthy men would march up and down and fire their rifles with the hope the Indians thought they had a big army. They brought large canons from the ship and mounted them high on a hill.

Indians were surprisingly friendly. Samoset and Squanto assisted the new arrivals to plant crops. They also assisted in procuring a treaty between Chief Massasoit promising no Indian attacks.

Napkins- It was fine to eat with your fingers, grabbing food right from the pot, but you had to at least wipe your fingers before doing so. The Pilgrims had BIG napkins that they threw over their shoulder or tied around their necks. It hung down almost to their knees. You could use the napkin to grab pieces of hot food, too.

Guns made a tremendous noise which made hunting difficult. The guns were not very accurate, either. The Indians traded deer meat in exchange for beads and knives. The Pilgrims were thrilled; back in England only the richest people ever ate deer meat.

The Mayflower Compact was signed before the passengers were allowed to disembark. It said they would form a colony with "just and equall lawes for all." It makes me so proud that this was foremost on the Pilgrims' minds way back in 1620. The Saints and the Strangers were both Pilgrims now. They knew to insure their survival they would have to work side-by-side and compromise. After being cooped up for sixty-six days in foul conditions tempers were probably short. The fact that these people survived is a true testament to self-determination.

Penner, Lucille Recht. Eating the Plates: A Pilgrim Book of Food and Manners. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1991

*I just read this Mayflower reference: If your two parents hadn't bonded just when they did-possibly to the nanosecond-you wouldn't be here. Like wise for your parents parents and so on and so on. Continue further to the time of the Mayflower Pilgrims and you have no fewer than 16, 384 ancestors exchanging genetic material in a way that would, eventually and miraculously, result in you.
*This info comes almost word for word from Bill Bryson *A Short History of Nearly Everything p. 397

Hormonally yours,
Peg

Deathly Hallows Review (SPOILER ALERT)

Let me start by saying my review may be skewed negatively because of the terrible seats we had because I never imagined there would be a full house on a Tuesday after the movie had been out for 4 days! It will also be skewed negatively because I am very protective of the books/stories/characters. Therein lies the problem with this movie, as in all the previous ones:

The books/stories are so full. I understand the movies have to leave something out, but why add things that weren't in the book and are misleading to boot! Two instances in this movie just tick me off: again SPOILER ALERT.

1. After Ron splits leaving Harry and Hermione alone, Harry tries to cheer Hermione by DANCING with her. If you've seen The Goblet of Fire movie you know Harry HATES dancing and doesn't do it well. It also made it seem as if Harry was thinking of MORE than dancing. The books made it crystal clear with whom Harry and Hermione were in love but the movies always try to show a weird love triangle that never existed. Again, wasn't in the book, adds nothing to the story.

2. The ending of the movie was the pits. SPOILER ALERT If you've read the book you know that Voldemort was not able to command the elder wand he took from Dumbledore's lifeless hands because you have to win the wand in combat or be given the wand. Yet the movie showed him using the wand to send a lightning bolt/pillar of fire (?) to the sky! Again, didn't happen in the book and will seriously undermine how the end works out! Why will Voldemort kill Snape if he can manipulate the elder wand? The wand is rightfully Harry's and should only work properly at his command. I may have actually given this movie a thumb's up if it hadn't ended this way.

3. We took my 9-year old daughter (a Potter enthusiast- we read/she read all 7 books. That was a prerequisite to watching the final 3 ---4 since the last book was made into 2--- movies.) Sarah had seen the previous movies so nothing really frightened her in this film. We all jumped when Nagini jumped out, but we were only a row away from the screen. It was almost 3D! Of all the things to add we had a scene of Harry and Hermione naked in an embrace. No specific body parts were shown, but it was enough. This was when Ron had returned and was attempting to destroy the locket and Voldemort's soul tried to hurt Ron by showing him Hermione preferred Harry,which of course was untrue-- but tell that to the screenwriter (see complaint #1). I think Sarah wanted to ask about it but wasn't sure how/what to say. Just like my mother, I don't allow Sarah to watch things like that. So that was a bit of a shock for us both to see.

4. Sarah noted this change: Narcissa Malfoy had black hair with a gray stripe a la bride of Frankenstein . In the books it was noted a few times how opposite she was of her sister, Bellatrix. In the previous movie Narcissa had blond hair. Little changes like that are annoying, too. I think it showed that she had a tiny smidgen of decency left in her- that fact she was opposite in looks from the crazy chick, Bellatrix. (I was incorrect. I put in HP and the Half-Blood Prince and Narcissa did have the bride-of-Frankstein 'do. I'm sure she appeared in one of the movies with blond hair.)

5. I really wish Kreacher had had more screen time. In the book when he decides Harry is not terrible and wants to be helpful is so touching. And when he wanted to doink Mundungus on the head with a frying pan- priceless. I'm really surprised that didn't make it into the movie. Dobby and his little boots-in the movie- was so endearing. Sarah knew he wasn't going to survive this movie but she still had a little sniffle when it happened. I think I even choked up a bit. I don't know if those who haven't read the book will feel that way because Dobby though present in most of the books was absent from most of the other movies!


I feel the same way about the lack of Fred and George Weasley and their pranks and their attitude towards life in general. They made the books so refreshing when the content was heavy. I think the producers had to decide which direction they should take these films: action or drama (dramedy would have been my choice.) It sure looks like they chose action.

A nice surprise was Xenophillius Lovegood. (Not sure of Xeno's spelling.) He looked like Lucius Malfoy in the early movies. I would have casted someone who looked a bit crazier, but he was appealing.

Since we're nearing the end of the movies let me just say I think Rupert Grint was the best cast out of all the main characters. He looks and acts the part exactly how I imagined Ron Weasley in the book would act and sound. My favorite actor was the girl who played Luna Lovegood. I think she was well cast in looks and actions.

I originally was not going to see this movie. I'm glad I did, but will not be lured to the theater for the last movie. I can wait for the small screen showing. I'm anxiously awaiting Dec. 4 when Eclipse comes out on DVD.

Hormonally yours,
Peg