Getting back in the groove…

Dec 30, 2008

Today I have about as much energy as a slug. Get­ting back into the groove after all the hus­tle and bus­tle of last minute hol­i­day prepa­ra­tions always seems to be hard for me. We open presents at our house on Christ­mas Eve. I love bak­ing cook­ies all morn­ing and after­noon, cook­ing the din­ner and watch­ing Ans­ley go nuts count­ing down the hours until we open presents.  It is all so much fun and see­ing happy faces on our girls is hon­estly the best gift ever.

We had a won­der­ful visit with my mom and dad as well as my sis­ter and her fam­ily. Alan, Ans­ley and I left to head down to Beau­mont Christ­mas day. I love going home on Christ­mas day. Hav­ing the car filled with gifts and the excite­ment of see­ing every­one is a feel­ing I always look for­ward to. Made­lyn and Isabella were very happy with their gifts from Santa which is a good thing since he was sit­ting right in the liv­ing room as we had our fam­ily gift exchange. Made­lyn always tells Dad/Santa thank you for all her presents. It is so cute. She really does believe. She would call this 1 800 line to track Santa and then call Mom to let her know where Paw Paw was so she wouldn’t be wor­ried. I thought that was so cute.

I think what I love most about these pho­tos is that they aren’t per­fect by any means… dark light­ing, flash flare, out of focus etc. every­thing hap­pen­ing so fast you just point and shot and hope you get a photo of some­one to remem­ber the moment… they are real life… and they are part of my life with the fam­ily I love so much. So to me they are perfect.

So now here I sit try­ing to get back into the groove of book dead­lines, online work­shops, CHA and other things in my near future. But all I can seem to do is reflect on the fact that another year has passed. I’m sure I will start mov­ing at a faster pace than a slug some­time around 10 tonight as this seems to be when I get my sec­ond wind. If I don’t I’m not going to worry too much about it as I know I will be all set and ready tomorrow.

To all my blog­ging friends I wish you the most won­der­ful New Year filled with hap­pi­ness and love. And if you are in the need for a really quick, sim­ple and yummy dish to bring to a New Year’s Eve party here is the dish for you. It is my Mom’s Beer Sausage recipe. I have never met a per­son yet that has not loved it.

Mom’s Beer Sausage
Ingre­di­ents:
3 Pack­ages of Eck­rich Sausage
2 Bot­tles of Chili Sauce
2 Bot­tles of Beer (any kind is fine)
1 1/2 Cups Brown Sugar

Direc­tions:
Slice sausage into bite sized pieces, brown and drain off fat
In a bowl com­bine chili sauce, beer and brown sugar, stir until mixed
Place browned sausage into an oven safe bowl, pour liq­uid mix­ture over sausage, place in pre­heated oven at 350 degrees and heat until mix­ture is hot.  Serve while still hot/warm in a bowl or set out and have guests use tooth­picks to pick up the sausage pieces.

Happy New Year my friends!