December in Photos

Here's the entire month of December up until Christmas...

Thomas and I went to Trader Joe's to stock up for Christmas prep, and we found a chocolate bar.  A really huge chocolate bar.  Two kilos, to be exact.  Of course I bought it.  It was, after all, just one chocolate bar.

For my work Christmas party at the beginning of December, I had promised on multiple occasions to bake my cake.  So I did. Here's the recipe, in case you wanted it.

December 4 -- our first snow!  The first snow is always the most exciting.  (The last snow is the second-most exciting.)

Fernando left for Knoxville, Kentucky on December 5.  He spent two weeks there in training to be a full-fledged field service technician.  No-- is really loving him so far, and I know Fernando will quickly pick up the technology in the high-speed lamination industry.  He has such a big, sexy brain!

I brought home the rest of my cake from our work Christmas party.  Yeah, my co-workers complained.  But my guys were complaining more loudly, and I have to live with them.

December 9 -- Manicotti Day!  Mom and I kept things simple and made a beautiful batch of Christmas dinner manicotti.

December 11 -- at a Christmas party that I attended where my parents and my younger brother were also invited.  I missed Fernando, but we had a blast together with the other guests.  Two piano guys (Duelling Pianos) played music all night, and dancing broke out; I got Dad and Mom to dance together!  It was awesome.

Random photos of me while Fernando was gone.  I like to have the guys take my picture so I can text them to Fernando so he doesn't forget what I look like.  Or that he has a wife.  :)

I throw some goofy ones in for good measure.

December 18 -- Once Fernando was home, we really just wanted to relax together, because we knew he was flying right back out on Monday.  But, friends invited us to a restaurant for dinner and they wouldn't accept a no, so we ended up having a great meal with them.  It was bitter cold that Sunday, too, and I ended up taking a picture of our frozen car, dirt-spattered and icicle-hanging, in the restaurant parking lot.

December 19 -- At an ungodly hour, I drove Fernando to O'Hare for his next trip.  On the way home, I saw, in person and for the first time, a sun dog!  I took an exit before my usual exit (and one that saves time--Fernando's trick!), since it goes by/through a forest preserve.  I pulled over in a parking lot, positioned the tree in the sun's line of sight, and got this beautiful image of my very first sun dog.  They generally occur shortly after sunrise and at super cold temperatures--it was about 11 below when I took this, I think--and they are much more magnificent in real life than in a photo.

December 21 -- New hair style day!  I got my hair cut, colored, and styled by the daughter of our beauty specialist.  I had it done in the morning, then drove up the street to work in the afternoon.  Andrea (our beauty specialist) took these pictures of me.

A lady gushed over my hair, so I gave her Ali's number and she made an appointment on the spot!

December 22 -- Fernando came home from his most recent trip, and Thomas and I drove to pick him up.  Thomas forgot to fill the gas tank, and we ended up circling around and around and around...  So once we picked up Fernando, we drove to the O'Hare Oasis on I-294 and filled up the tank.  It's so good to have Fernando home for just a little bit at Christmastime!

December 23 -- Fernando was coming to pick me up from work when Arabelle (my BMW) had a radiator burst and overheated.  The night ended up being a time of me shopping in my store while Danny and Thomas drove to meet Fernando, then Danny driving to my work to pick me up and bring me back to the parking lot of Our Lady of the Woods where Fernando pulled in.  Then, it was a tow truck pick-up and driving home, and trying to figure out how to get our BMW repaired.

Finally, the day before Christmas came and I found myself baking bread!  I had made a double batch of cinnamon rolls, which also means making two loaves of bread (my recipe makes enough dough for the equivalent of four loaves of bread).  Mmmm, warm bread with butter, all melty and delicious!

That's my December!  It has flown by in a flash, I can't believe it's Christmas, and the coming of a new year!!


Back to life,
Christine

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The Last Days of March in Photos

As March marched toward its last day (couldn't resist that), I waved goodbye to Fernando, who headed west to South Dakota, and I began a week full of activity.  It was good to be home for a solid length of time, to stay in one place, to be there, all there, as my guys came in and out and lived their lives and shared them with me.

Fernando left for South Dakota.

Right off the bat, in a raid on my freezer to figure out what to cook, I found the carcass from our Thanksgiving turkey--my mom had given it to me to throw in the freezer since we were leaving the next day for California to be with Fernando's family at his aunt's death.  The carcass came out, along with fixings for that day's meal.

Thanksgiving turkey carcass, simmering on the stove overnight.

I cut up the turkey and strained the broth, to be turned into turkey and gravy for Hawaiian haystacks (I think I'll post that recipe soon).

It has been invigorating to be in the kitchen cooking again, and I made another family favorite last week--Tortellini and Spinach Soup.

I spent a chilly, hand-numbing afternoon at the Morton Arboretum with a sweet young lady friend, walking, spotting signs of spring, stopping, taking pictures, talking.  I love that Miss S loves "going deep" in our conversations; we fall into it naturally, and even though we talk about lighthearted subjects too, we have some intense conversations--discussing, sharing opinions, being open and honest, affirming.

Soon this field will be covered with daffodils!

It snowed one afternoon.  I guess March is going out like a lion.

I tried taking a selfie to show off my new glasses.  I love my guys.

More baking ensued, with two new recipes to be blogged soon--Irish soda bread, and honey-cinnamon butter.  Comfort food, indeed!

Ice cream--eaten from the carton--was also on the end-of-March agenda; a Friday night, missing Fernando but still comfortable and at peace at home.  The carton called my name, and I answered.  There wasn't much left, anyway.

Danny made an "appointment" to get his hair cut; I hope he pays me!

Yet another new recipe, thanks to Miss S and her family--beef stroganoff.  Hoo-boy, those mushrooms!  I loved it.  Half the guys picked them out, so this will be a meal for Fernando and me; they'll have to fend for themselves the next time I make it.

Thomas took my picture on Easter Sunday, and I texted it to Fernando, who was still covering NCAA women's basketball in South Dakota.  We shared a casual Easter afternoon with Dad and Mom, minus Fernando and Jake, who had to work, plus my brother Jeff.

The end of March turned into New Recipe Month, with the addition of these lemon cheesecake crumb bars for Easter dessert.  If you love lemon half as much as I do, you'll love these.  Yeah, the recipe will come soon!

Random picture of a trip to Trader Joe's for fruit, veggies, and a few other items...

Another random picture, this time of my parents' family room as I waited for them to return so I could act as Computer Tech Girl for them.  I love knowing just enough to be able to solve computer problems for them.  It makes me feel smart.

Finally, Danny and I brought the Suburban in to the shop to see if they could fix the driver's seat.  I hadn't driven it in months, because the seat got stuck in the far back position and wouldn't move forward.  Thus, I couldn't reach the pedals, and couldn't drive it.  #shortpeopleproblems

I had to drive the BMW exclusively.  Woo-hoo!

Lo and behold, the technician removed "items" from the track of the seat, and it miraculously works again.  We elected not to have the passenger airbag serviced, since the car is so old.  We like to call that warning light in the photo the Don't drive with beachballs warning light.  It's still lit, and I think of sun, sand, and waves crashing on the shore whenever I turn on the ignition.

That's our end of March, and we now wait for warmer weather (still not happening yet--how about 50s even?) and look ahead to what God has in store for us for April.  But that's a post for tomorrow.


Back to life,
Christine

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Saving Money on Haircuts

July 23.

I do not like cutting hair.  I've done it for my guys, even Fernando, for 24+ years, and we've saved a lot of money, but I still don't like it. 

Now that a few of my guys have jobs, they pay me to cut their hair.  So, two haircuts done and $13 sits in my pocket.  I feel better.

How about some more money math to make me--and you--feel better about cutting your own kids' hair?

Let's go conservative, with only four haircuts a year.  Since I don't like cutting hair, as I've said, this number is actually probably pretty accurate.  :)  Let's also say their first haircuts were at the age of one, which is true.  Here we go...

Joseph is 25, so 24 years of haircuts = 96 haircuts in his lifetime.
Jacob is 23, so 22 years of haircuts = 88 haircuts.
Danny is 21, so 20 years = 80 haircuts.
Thomas is 18, so 17 years = 68.

I've probably given Fernando haircuts half the time, and he goes and gets it cut the other half.  So two haircuts per year for him, for let's just say 15 years, is 30 haircuts.

Add that all up:  96 + 88 + 80 + 68 + 30 = 362 total haircuts.  At least.

Let's also be conservative in the cost of a haircut, given that little kids' cuts are less expensive.  We'll average it out at about $10 per cut to make the math easy.  I'm not the best at math.  That comes to $3,620 not spent at the hair salon.  But wait, we've bought two sets of very nice clippers (about $60 apiece), plus a cape ($10), plus clipper conditioner (about $6).  So let's subtract $136 from our total, and we get:

$3,516 in savings!

Not too bad.  Now I feel better about having given all those haircuts.  I guess my reward for all that unpleasant work is the knowledge that I saved us a bunch of dough.  :)


Back to life,
Christine

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The Sheep is Shorn!

I already posted a photo of what Jacob looked like when he first got home:

Well, he went back to WIU afterwards (this was Thanksgiving), and came home a few weeks later, done with his last semester at school.  The very first item on our To-Do List was a haircut!

At least the top of his head looked more normal!  Finally, he shaved.  Somewhat.

I do like the goatee, but it needs some work.  Jacob will be starting his internship very soon, so let's hope they ask him to ditch the facial hair--or at least keep it to a minimum.  :)


Back to life,
Christine

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The New Look

May 11.  After attending Jacob's friend Josh's honors convocation yesterday, I got Fernando to take a few pictures of me by the blossoming trees.

Then, the next day, everyone got hair cuts.  Including me.  It started as a simple thing, with me cutting off a hunk of hair on one side and asking Danny to cut it straight all the way around.  Then it got complicated.  He cut some, I cut some, we traded again, and then it got desperate.  I ended up at the hair salon and asked the stylist to just even it out.  Fernando was not happy (at first), but once I showered and styled my hair, it was okay, if not a bit short.

Danny took the picture for me.  I quickly got used to it, and so did Fernando.  Welcome to the new me!  :)


Back to life,
Christine

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Counting My Blessings #1

Join us at Tamara's blog by clicking above!!

Yes, I'm posting late today.  But it has been busy around here--a good busy.  We've had normal family times, too, throughout the week.  I can't say quiet times because our home is anything but quiet with five guys here!

Today I thank the Lord for a husband whose name means brave.  He was brave to take those scissors and cut someone's hair--his first time ever!

We were both a little shocked at the almost eight inches he cut off, but we both can now say that we like what he did with my hair.  ;)

photo courtesy of Danny

Back to life,

Christine

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captured by Christine Anne