♫ O Christmas Tree ♫

The Scene of the Crime...

Good mail...

From my office window, I can see down our street, and one of my favorite times of the day is watching the UPS truck as he makes his rounds. It isn't everyday, but at least 2-3 times a week. I guess I am the "Gladys Kravitz" on the block, but I love to try and guess which house he is going to stop, and imagine what they might have arriving. This time of year it is even more fun!

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Today I was working in my office working on a grueling project for a client that was not going smoothly, and I looked up to see the UPS truck coming down the street, he slowed down, and stopped right in front of my house! It was for me!!!

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So after I gathered all the barking dogs into another room, I flung open the door and saw him jogging back to his truck to jump in and drive away.

I looked down and at my feet was a box.

It was a long skinny rectangle box... almost like a box of long stem roses would come in.

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I tore it open and found a Christmas card from the client I had been grumbling about even as the package arrived. Okay that was very humbling, I was glad there was no "package cam" attached to it to.

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It was the nicest gift; a box packed full of wrapping paper, ribbon, bows, and coordinating tissue paper. So cool. I have seen all kinds of corporate gifts, the hickory farms packs, candy, chocolate, pens... but this was so unique and very thoughtful. (or was it Kevin's way of reminding me not to forget his Christmas gift? hahaha).

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For me it was perfect, because I am out of everything! For the past two years I kept thinking I went out after Christmas and bought stuff when it was marked down, only to find I hadn't done that. But by then it was in the height of the season and I would decide to get by until after Christmas and buy it on sale after the holiday. And so I have depleted my supply to literally down to nothing, I couldn't wrap a piece of gum at my house... until now. So sweet, and thoughtful, Thank you boss!!

Turkey, apple, cranberry something...

I will probably not be known for my good cooking skills when I am gone... but I have come such a long way from where I started!

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I still make lots of mistakes, like a couple of months ago I sprinkled Cumin instead of Cinnamon into a recipe... yep that was a big horrible tasting disaster. We finally figured it out because I had left the ingredients on the counter and while the teenager was reviewing what I could have possibly done, he found my error. I am sure this will be a source for belly laughs for a long time to come.

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But I am not sure if that is a bad chef problem, or just a Mom in a hurry grabbing the first "C" spice I got to. Either way... I am certain "chef of the year" will NOT be my legacy!

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(pretty sure you can't even make it into an honorable mention with flub up's like that, but I am okay with it and have lots of other happy places).

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I have however had a few successes this week that are worth giving myself a Victory button. The young women in our ward planned a service activity to change up their traditional Christmas party. And they were able to go and do some house cleaning chores for a single mom. In the planning process they were trying to figure out how to assign everyone a duty and it was not a huge home, and we have a very large group... so in my infinite wisdom, I volunteered the 16-18 year olds (Laurels) to break away and come to my house and make some freezer meals to put in the lady's freezer to add to the service (sorry Laurels - they will probably ban me soon for always volunteering them for stuff, he he he).

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They came, they put them together and they conquered!

9 freezer meals for this family in less than an hour (we had some ingredients cooked up ahead of time)!

When I joined my freezer meal group last year, I felt like every recipe I tried to make was a flop! But eventually it got a little better. I always felt bad for not joining back after summer. But life just got soooo busy. So this was such a great validation of what I actually learned, and was able to teach to the young women that they can use at any time later in life.

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Oh how wonderful it would be in college during finals week to have a week and a half's worth of warm hot meals in your freezer. Or when you are a new wife to be able to devote more time to serve others because you have some meals ready for your husband when he gets home, or as a mother with children to have hot meals all ready to go when you get sick and just can't put one foot in front of the other, but still have mouths to feed. It is a blessing and a tool they can use the rest of their lives! And they were able to share it with this single mom in the process I love it!!

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My heart was so full, and it was so rewarding to not be a "goon" in the kitchen in front of them! Victory with a big V in my book!!

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At the end of the night, we came back to the church for hot cocoa and cookies (a big huge thank you Leah, that was a nice finishing touch), shared our testimonies of Charity and Service with the young women. And gave them these blocks. The previous presidency had started it with them and each yw painted a block her favorite color, or color of her room (but was never told why). Then we put the annual mutual theme on one side, and Sister Daltons 100% club challenge on the other.

They turned out really cute; it was another neat idea they had started that we had the privilege of carrying out for them.

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My second victory was creating a recipe from scratch in my head. Oh I have attempted this many times before, but this one was actually edible and tasty!!

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We had some leftover turkey... the inspiration!
I chopped it up and added a chopped apple... that just sounded good to me.

Then I decided to turn it into a salad... so I put in some lemon juice, fat free mayo and sour cream.

It just needed some color, so I threw in some dried cranberries.

Then chopped in a few pecans to seal the deal.

It is soooo good, and pretty healthy if you use the light sour cream and mayo and go really easy on the nuts; but load up on the apple!!

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I know, this has probably already been created somewhere... but it felt good in any case.

I just have to come up with a name for it... turkey apple cranberry something?

Look at me, I am whipping things out around here like a true Mom!

5 months before my teenager graduates,

that gene starts to kick in... Figures!

Say Cheese!

Last week my strong silent mysterious man had a consultation with a new dentist. It went really well and he feels like it is someone he can trust that would help him work through some of his dental needs.

It has been years and if you know this guy at all, you have a clue about what a HUGE step it is for him!!

So here we are last week, before the appointment...
And here he is with the teenager today after his first official visit.
Yes, that is a smile on my husbands face... WITH TEETH SHOWING!!
Doc started with the front so he could have his smile back right away and then he will work backwards from there.
(what a smart guy, who knew that would be so important to him)
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We are beyond thrilled about this at our house! After many conversations together as a family about this process for him, we came to understand that it will be a big step in rebuilding his confidence; and as his major support team we never realized that part of him hadn't quite recovered.
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I can't wait to have our family Christmas pictures done!
"Say cheese" brings on a whole new meaning around here!