What i really want for my birthday.

I am 46 years old today.
That's 46 trips all the way around the sun.
Today i am starting my 47th.
To mark the occasion i have prepared a haiku about the things that matter to me, the things that i truly and deeply want for my birthday.

even more random than normal

The first official class in NikCo Studio - Collage Creations - happened two weeks ago and was a success. I have posted a few pictures on the NikCo Facefook page, but here is a collage of some of the fun that was had:

Suzanne and I met for Ice Cream for Breakfast Day back on March 21st at Coldstone Creamery.
She had Coffee Lovers and i created my own mix of Oreo filling ice cream with caramel, Reese's cups and rainbow sprinkles. Yes, i did say my ice cream tasted just like Oreo cream.
It was ridiculously good.


On the same day we celebrated Dash's fifth birthday with a minion themed family party.
It was a really good time. though you might not know it by looking at the cake picture:

That kid hated having the birthday song sung to him.
I am not sure if it was the actual song, the attention or the off-key singing, but he held his ears through the whole song and while he blew out the candle.
These are the sorts of tales and pictures i am collecting for the rehearsal dinner at his wedding.





A few days ago i received some REALLY GOOD news and some REALLY BAD news a few hours apart.
Have you ever been so happy and so sad at the same time that it short-circuited your brain?
I retired to my heated bed, but couldn't fall asleep to nap.
Couldn't nap? 
That is serious because i am a champion napper.
 All i could do was lay curled under my fuzzy blanket, stare into space and wonder, What is the difference between a faun and a satyr?
 Mr Tumnus from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was half-goat/ half-man and called a faun; whereas, Grover from the Percy Jackson series is half-goat/ half-man and called a satyr.
What the what, people?
[And we won't even get into how faun and fawn are homophones so when i was little i kept expecting baby deers to show up and couldn't understood why they never did,]
All afternoon i racked my brain, trying to ferret out any little piece of forgotten mythology that would answer the question, to no avail. So today i looked it up.
MENTAL MORSEL: The interwebs cannot agree, but after reading waaaaaayyyyyy too many articles about both this is what i have gleaned:

•  fauns are originally from Greek mythology, followers of Pan, forest-dwellers, have attributes of both goat and man and are generally depicted as fun-loving, joyful, music-playing scamps
•  satyrs appear in both Greek and Roman mythology, followers of Dionysus or Bacchaus (Greek/Roman), have attributes of both goat and man as well as horse and are depicted as lustful, hard-partying hooligans 
•  as has happened with all Greek and Roman mythology over the years, fauns and satyrs have been confused, combined and used interchangeably so that now many consider faun to be the Greek name and satyr to be the Roman name for the same creature

Phew...hope that cleared up the confusion.

Finally, i have finally updated my 101 List to reflect what i have done over the last month.

you'll have to register that shillelagh, ma'am

My dad lives in a gated community.
This is what i saw driving in today:

i love oldsters

i found it!

My missing pink camera card reader has been located.
The culprit was not evil gnomes as suspected or even the increasingly bold mouse that tap dances in my kitchen nightly.
No, indeed.
It was a beloved companion whom i never even suspected: Squeaky Monkey.
I don't know why it was hidden, tucked away at the back of the passenger seat of my car under Squeaky Monkey's feet and he was mum on the subject.
Let's do a quick run down of last month now that we have photos, shall we?

Erin and I (along with baby Caleb) attended the Festival of the Wreaths at the Carroll County Arts Council, which is in a cool converted Art Deco theater. There were over 150 wreaths decorated in every style and theme. Erin had created a fun one out of craft supplies with her friend Amy of One Artsy Mama dot com. In fact, Erin is now working with Amy on the blog.

  Go visit them

.

And now a gratuitous adorable baby shot.

I like to really get utility from things.
It is important to me to not be wasteful.

But mayhaps it is time to get a new laundry basket.








There was one of those you-can-steal-a-present gift exchanges at a Christmas party that i  attended and a designed a ReWearables necklace as my offering. Good news: it turned out well and several people liked it. Bad news: there was almost a fist fight when one woman took it away from another. I was rather conflicted: great for my ego, bad for the Christmas Spirit.
At the same exchange i came away with a cement hedgehog.

The drive to Ohio on Christmas Eve was again fraught with questionable weather. Why can't it ever just be cold, but sunny?
The fog in the mountains was awesome and i mean it in the definition of inspiring an overwhelming feeling of fear.
Here is the visibility in the valleys, on the ascents/descents and on the mountain tops.

I got the best ho socks ever for Christmas,

and an Elf on the Shelf.

But not some ordinary Elf on the Shelf.

Oh, no.

Mine is full of candy, has a fan and LIGHTS UP.

I also have an interesting story about driving back in time, but that will have to wait because i need to go pick up the shawarma.

Throwback Thanksgiving

Look at that black and white suit dress.

mmmmm... 1989

For my whole life, Thanksgiving was at my Grandma Hord's in  Ohio. 

It was always my favorite time of the year: food, family and guaranteed BFF time. 

Rea and I could tell you at any time of the year how many days there were until Thanksgiving; it was OUR holiday.

Going to college in Florida meant that i would miss it for the first time. 

I couldn't even imagine what Thanksgiving could be without all of my traditions.

Luckily, my other grandparents were at their winter place just a little over an hour away.

My Grandma Craig knew i was having a tough time and gave me the cutest Thanksgiving pin: a cartoon turkey and monk advises us to Count Your Blessings. 

It made me smile and somehow everything was okay.

I have worn it every Thanksgiving since then, putting it on today for the 25th time.  

A very, merry Mother's Day Birthday.

Every few years the High Holy Day of the Nikiverse -my birthday- falls on Mother's Day. I LOVE when it does because it seems appropriate that the celebration of my birth should coincide with the day honoring the woman who did all of the work on that day.
The last time it happened i spent the day with fTM Erin and her wonderful mother. This year i drove to Ohio to be with my mommy.
To make the day even sweeter, Mom and I had brunch with my sister. This was Kris' first Mother's Day without any of her sons as the youngest -Matt- moved to Florida less than 2 weeks ago, but she at least got to spend it with her mom.
There were heart-shaped sweet rolls and flowers and cards and presents and lots of laughter. The whole day was so relaxed, however, there weren't lots of pictures. In fact, there's only one, but it's a goody:

Happy Birthday to my Rickki Rea

Over the holidays my bff and i spent quality time at one of our happy places - the Hobby Lobby.
Giggling up and down the aisles i spotted a sign so perfect for her - tall and heartfelt - that it had to be captured:

Tall, blonde, green-eyed twin.

85 days my elder.

Best Friend Forever.

what i found waiting for me at work this morning

UPDATED!

Ho Ho oh No

Aaaaaand have a good day.

Breaking news people: i just SOLD that giant santa head to a gentleman for his youth group's White Elephant Christmas exchange on Wednesday.  Some local teen is going to end up with this monstrosity.
teehee
And yes Sheryl, it does indeed light up; we checked

It's National Rabbit Day!

 

And, of course, my favorite Bunny

 

 

 

ps - Happy Birthday, Kaaren!

fun farm party at the farm

How is it even possible that fTM's Matt's baby - Sammy- is already one?
Heck, he is already on the way to being a big brother in January.
What's next? College?
A few weeks ago I went to Hendershot Farms in PA to celebrate Sam's birthday with both Matt and Sara's families. It was great to see all of them, especially some folks that I haven't seen since the wedding.

The food was all farm themed.
I was afraid to ask exactly what was on the ingredient list for the cowpies, but they were super yummy.
Instead of a big cake there were three different kinds of cupcakes and a little smash cake.
mmmmm... cupcakes...

And of course there was the birthday pig full of fruit salad in his custom built cutting board corral.
What?
You've never had a birthday pig full of fruit salad?
Then you, my friend, have never lived.

Matt's brother, Chris, designed and carved Mr. Pig.

The detail was mind boggling: pink snout with raisin nostrils, perfect little rind ears, giant googley eyes, zucchini tops for hooves, a pink candle melted and twisted into a curly tail and lollipops in a feeding trough for the kids. I saw pictures of the birthday shark he did for his niece's birthday; i'm getting this guy to do my next party fruit.
Speaking of fruit... you know who loves fruit?
The birthday boy.

Sitting on his dad's shoulders, Sammy was perfectly content as long as I kept handing him bits of fruit. Of course, if the stream of fruit slowed down he gave me some harsh looks.
It was a beautiful day, though a bit hot, so after eating we all moved outside under the shade trees.

With daddy, mommy and pops (Matt's dad)

All of the kids took turns riding the little four wheeler and the big kids took turns riding the big ones. I have to admit that I sort of started the whole thing. I was lamenting that the kids had wheels and looked longingly at Andrew (Sara's brother) as he rode off to work in one of the far barns. His wife, Tiffany, looked at me and said Do you want me to take you for a ride on mine?
Ummmm... have you met me?
I am very sad that there isn't a picture of me riding behind a rather pregnant Tiffany as she took me through the fields and hills of the 400 acres. It was my first time on an ATV and I think I need one.
When we got back the Hillegass boys started taking turns and then taking the kids for rides.
And of course we had to get back to the serious business of birthdaying.

Matt and Sara stripped Sammy down for his smash cake, which he ate rather neatly.
I think he would have been happier with a fork.
In fact, he was really enjoying the lemon pudding when suddenly he hit messy critical mass; looking down at his cake/pudding encased hands he gave Sara a little whimper with save me from the stickiness in his eyes.

My favorite part of the day -besides seeing people I love- was when the baby drums were opened.
His parents have already taught him to hit things rhythmically when they say Drum Sammy so this is the next logical step.
He'll be on Matt's slightly more expensive DW kit in no time.

As the day wound down and people started to load up the cars for their drives home,
Matt got everyone party favors:
corn picked right from the stalk.





To say that it was fabulous to eat corn that was only a few hours from the field is an understatement.

It was the perfect end to a farm party.

July 4th in Vegas

Last year on July 4th Douglas and I were in Las Vegas.
I thought for sure there would be lavish spectaculars for the Independence Day celebration and maybe there were, but we didn't see them. Since the holiday fell on a Wednesday, all of the hotels were celebrating on Saturday; we left on Thursday.
However, there were some fabulous decorations around town.
The Palazzo has a huge atrium in the shopping area just past where it is connected to the Venetian, featuring a water wall, flat fountain and vaulted stained glass skylight .

I'm sure that ordinarily it is quite open and lovely, but with the larger than life Stars and Stripes hanging from the ceiling it was breathtaking. It is hard to convey the size of this thing. Imagine having a garrison flag indoors and you are on the right track.
The flag was surrounded by stylized fireworks and smaller, sparklier flags. It was the most ridiculously wonderful red, white and blue decor i have ever seen.

a lot to live up to...

"All right," said Deep Thought. "The Answer to the Great Question..."
"Yes..!"
"Of Life, the Universe and Everything..." said Deep Thought.
"Yes...!"
"Is..." said Deep Thought, and paused.
"Yes...!"
"Is..."
"Yes...!!!...?"
"Forty-two," said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.

I turned 42 over the weekend.
Ever since i was a kid reading The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy i've expected that at 42 i would indeed know what i needed know in life.
hmmmmmm...
I've got a LOT to do and learn in the next 363 days.

roast beef and noodles

On my mother's side of the family the most requested "special meal" was roast beef and noodles.
No one knows if it is an Ohio thing or what, but the recipe came from my great-grandma Craig (mom's dad's mom). My grandma learned it after she married my grandpa, taught it to her daughters who taught it their daughters.
It is labor intensive and the most delicious food on the planet.
Roast beef and noodles is legend in my family: my sister made it the night before she had my first nephew and to this day swears that rolling out the noodles started her labor.
Growing up i watched every time it was made, eventually helping out. But since the meal only happens once or twice a year it took a while for me to finally be ready to try it myself.
The first time i did the whole meal on my own was Father's Day 1998. Yes, there is a scrapbook page about it. Since then i have made it... let's see... carry the 2... zero times.
So imagine my surprise and delight when i was told that we were having roast beef and noodles for Christmas dinner. And that i was cooking it.
You have to start with a nice piece of beef.

I know nothing about roasts.
I feel like we have used bottom rounds or chucks or something in the past, but i could be making that up in my head. Mom and her sister, Aunt CC, discussed the issue for a good, long while and decided that we needed an English roast.
Never even heard of it, but this lovely 9 pounder that the butcher cut for us looks pretty good.
It also looks pretty large.
Traditionally the roast is seared and then cooked in a dutch oven, but this meat was not going to fit into any dutch oven. Mom had foreseen this problem and had a ginormous crockpot in which to cook it.
After freaking out about the crockpot (listen, i only know one way to cook this splendid meal and was already feeling the pressure -self imposed, of course- to get it right so i feel justified in my teeny tiny meltdown about breaking tradition) and coming to peace about it, the next obstacle was how to brown it.
The meat has to be seared in a good amount of shortening to get the right flavor. No pot is big enough to hold, you can't really get a crock pot hot enough to sear, and i was afraid of setting the kitchen -or my skin- on fire with splattering grease if we tried a frying pan.
In the end we went with a frying pan/splatter shield combo that i felt somewhat confident about, though i did make my mommy leave the kitchen when i first introduced the meat to the hot pan just in case. I had to hold the roast in place with forks to brown the four short sides, but it was an unqualified success.

Transferring it across the kitchen to the crockpot was nerve-wracking,

 but i didn't drop it on the floor. Even the super big oval crockpot barely held the roast, but with some maneuvering and shoving i was able to cover it with water and get the lid in place.

Two hours on high, flip the meat and one more hour on low brought to medium rare. I took out the meat, let it rest, sliced it up and put the slices back into the crockpot with some broth on high to speed it to a juicy medium finish.

While the roast was cooking, i turned these three humble ingredients into homemade noodles.
Normally we use three room temperature eggs for a family, but with 10 people coming mom thought it best to use five.
 Basically, you beat the eggs in a bowl with a fork, salt them a little and add flour a little at a time until it is the correct consistency.

that rolling pin belonged to my grandma;
i want it

This is a lot harder than it sounds, so i did a full batch with 3 eggs, another with 2 eggs and then combined them when it was time to roll.

You roll and roll and roll and roll

and roll and roll until you have a thin layer roughly the size and shape of Australia. There is no width measurement that i can give you; again, it is done by feel.

Mixing with just a fork is tiring, but the rolling is the killer. I am not exaggerating when i say that you have to be careful not to sweat on the noodles when you roll.

 Our female ancestors were TOUGH, people; weaker sex, my a**.

Make sure the surface of the the noodles is liberally floured because then it gets cut into strips that are about this big (let's call it anywhere from three-quarters of an inch to one and a quarter inches; this is the final length of your noodles) and the strips get stacked on top of one another in piles of about six.

Personally, i cut the long strips in half (momma doesn't) because now we are at the part that is both hard and tedious: noodle cutting!

With a paring knife slice tiny, little, wee, itty-bitty pieces off of your stacks. This is the final width of the noodles. To get them thin enough i could only have three noodle strips in my pile, but mom was doing piles of four and piles of six (she does have like 50 years of experience on me).

After they are all cut, spread them out on a tea towel to dry.

You can make them the night ahead of time, but i wouldn't do it any sooner than that.
It took about 45 minutes, with both of us cutting at the same time, to finish cutting this five egg batch.
Complete prep time was probably about 2 hours
They may not look like much now, but wowza after they are cooked they are heaven.

All of the broth from the crockpot went into a dutch oven and i added beef broth and water to bring the level up to three-quarters full. At this point, it is much easier if two people are involved. Several handfuls of noodles go into a colander, the majority of the excess flour is shaken off over the sink and then carefully sprinkled into the boiling broth while constantly stirring. There is some debate about at what level of boiling you add the noodles, but i like it to be at a rolling boil.
Cooking the noodles is the next to last thing you do before serving the meal (potato mashing is done while they cook) so my sister had arrived by the time the noodles went in. I looked at her and said, I don't remember; how long do these take to cook? and she replied, Until they are done.
I rolled my eyes and looked to our mother who nodded, shrugged her shoulders and said Thirty minutes give or take; you just cook them till they are done.
And this is why old family recipes never make it into cookbooks.

Traditionally you are supposed to eat them with your meat and over mashed potatoes like gravy.
Yes, a starch on top of a starch; remember this is an old, country recipe from when food had to sustain the level of work people did every day. Personally, i think putting them on mashed potatoes just diminishes their flavor and takes up precious stomach space.
 If i could get away with it, i would eat noodles by themselves out of a bowl.
Or straight out of the pot.
With a ladle.
They are the yummiest food ever.
I love them more than steak.
 More than moni cheese.
More than the color pink.
More than glitter.
It had been at least six years since i had noodles and they were delicious.
In fact, they were so good that mom and i decided on New Year's Eve we had enough meat left to make another, smaller batch.
So, so, so, good.
As we were putting things away and straightening up to go to bed around 2am i joked that she should put the leftover noodles in separate containers because i was gonna eat mine for breakfast and didn't want to take more than my share (which i would because they are like crack to me and i can not resist the noodle). This is what i found in the fridge the next morning.

 

ahhhhhhh... family...



Christmas pics

This year Momma and I got a new-to-us Christmas tree when my sister bought a bigger one for her house. There were so many colored mini-lights on this puppy that we only had to add some ribbon and a few ornaments for it to look really pretty in front of the sliding glass doors. The ribbon angel managed to make it through another year after some trimming and dress alterations.

Christmas morning was very laid back with traditional hot rolls, stockings and squeals of delight opening gifts.

Most of the day was spent preparing dinner -which will get its own post because it was kind of a big deal- and the evening belonged to eating and hanging out with Kris and her family.
My nephew and his girlfriend drove up from Florida so there were 8 of us in Mom's little apartment.
It was crowded, loud and wonderful. Just look at how many takes it took to get a picture of Kris and her boys:

Here is the family with Larry,
the boys with their girlfriends Krissy and Ari,
Kris and Larry,

and the girls.