You knew it would turn out this way . . . part 2

You knew it would turn out this way . . .

This year was supposed to be low-key, Christmas-decor-wise. Since we’re going be celebrating Christmas in warmer climes (it will be warmer, right, Katie?) Jim had me convinced that we didn’t need to put up any Christmas decorations this year: no tree; no angel, snowman, Santa and Christmas tree collections, no village, no outdoor lights. Almost. Then my women’s group needed a place to hold their annual holiday party. I hosted it last year when I chaired the event. Based on that, I knew that all I had to do was clean the house – and decorate! Up went the tree, out came all those holiday collections! Christmas was back in the Groble house! Now if I can just convince him to put up a couple of our spiral trees out front . . .

Christmas trees.

Santas

Snowmen

My angel collection.


The tree

Thanksgiving at the Grobles

Grilling the turkey on Thanksgiving and Christmas day has become something of a Groble tradition, carried out no matter what the weather. We've grilled in conditions ranging from above-normal temperatures to rain to 12 inches of snow and counting (our first Christmas in Ohio). It's tough keeping that grill hot in a blinding snow storm! We continued the tradition again this year; fortunately, the weather cooperated and the bird (14 lbs) was done in 2 hours. 15 minutes. As usual, I made way too much food, but leftovers always taste so good! And I froze some, so that Jimmy and Sarah, who came home for the weekend, can take some of it back with them.

Jimmy does the honors of carving the bird.

The dogs are hoping Jimmy will drop some of that turkey.

This is me, showing Sarah how to use a can opener (just kidding!)

Everybody dig in!

Playing with dead flowers

For the last couple of years, we have not dead-headed the plants in the yard, leaving the seed pods for the birds to enjoy and incidentally encouraging new plants. This year, I was fascinated by the shapes and textures of the dried seeds, flower heads, and foliage. So I thought I'd try my hand at a few arrangements. I started with the dried hydrangeas flowerheads and the ligularia seeds, and soon I had cuttings from the sedum, goatsbeard, hosta, and even the grasses from on top of the berm. I grabbed 3 vases and played around and viola! My favorite is the grouping in the beer stein and Jim's is the one in the red vase.

How I spent my birthday

Today my drivers license expired. I wasn't really paying much attention to that fact, although I knew it was happening this year. I had decided to take the day off to just hang around the house, so of course we didn't. First stop: the Westside Market for bread for tomorrow -- and the rest of the week, because neither of us has ever met a loaf of bread we didn't like! We also stopped at the Vietnamese booth and the crepes vendor, where I got a banana, peanut butter and chocolate stuffed crepe. That was supposed to be the only stop on our trip, but on the way home we decided to go to the Verizon store to unplug some of the apps on our phones. It was when the sales associate there asked Jim for his drivers license that I realized we had one more place to go!

The Drivers License facility was on our way home. As always, it was a pleasant experience. I was second in line. The very nice lady behind the counter and I chatted about vision restrictions, glasses, and the fact that both of us were named "Patricia Ann" while we completed the paperwork. There was a mirror by the picture-taking area so you could comb your hair and make sure there weren't any little green things in your teeth. LESS THAN HALF AN HOUR LATER, I was legal for another four years, with a picture that actually looks like me. Doing business with the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles is so unlike my past experiences at the Lombard IL facility that I am always amazed.

Mother Nature’s last gift?

Sunday was a gorgeous autumn day: high 50’s, not a cloud in the sky. The nice weather drew us out to the front patio, where we sat for a couple of hours, soaking up the sun and enjoying what most surely will be the last day like that for a couple of months. All too soon, the snow will arrive.

Election Day thoughts

Today was one of those off- off-year Election Days -- no major races in our quiet suburban community, just a bunch of ballot proposals and a few local contests. We got up at the crack of dawn so we could be among the first voters at the polling place. The event sparked a few observations, as it usually does, since we are “students” of both politics and history.

Because there were no “glamour” contests (president, governor or even mayor) voter turnout today will probably be very low. This is unfortunate, because local contests such as tax levies, ballot proposals for changes to local government structure, and city council and school board elections have the most immediate impact on the everyday lives of the average voter.

I am continuously awed at how seriously we take the process of our elections. The folks that man the front lines (i.e., the polling places) are ordinary people who sit through training on the election-system de jur, get up at a god-awful time on election day to set up the voting booths and equipment, put in 12-15 hours more to make sure everyone who wants to vote can, submit the results to the proper authority, and then dismantle everything. Many of them do this time after time, perhaps giving up vacation time out of their real jobs. They do this no matter how many or how few people turn out to vote. And when you consider the potential for disaster, the fact that a (very) large percentage of the time things go off without a hitch is truly amazing.

So kudos to the polling place workers, those uncelebrated ordinary citizens who are the real cogs in our election machinery.

Lookin' good and chocolate too!

So last week I hosted a fundraiser committee meeting, and decided to make cupcakes. I threw together a mix, adding an entire bag of chocolate chunks to boost the chocolate level a little bit. When it came time to frost them, I remembered that my cookie press came with decorator tips and thought, why not? The hardest part was keeping the pressure steady as I went around the cupcake. Throw on some chocolate sprinkles and they looked pretty good for a first try. And it was surprisingly fun! No wonder cake decorators seem to really love their jobs! Hmmm, I wonder if Charm City Cakes has any openings?