Julia London's Blog, page 85

My Holiday "Hallmark" Moment

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Something warm and fuzzy happened to me over the holidays, one of those fleeting moments when all seems right with the world and your heart is about to burst?

I was hosting a family dinner. My parents have been divorced almost fifteen years now. Mom is remarried. I never had any hope they would reconcile and I feel they are both much happier apart, but I like that they can be in the same room and be friendly. I appreciate that they both come to family functions and get along.

But in this one moment, they exchanged a look. You know those looks. They were obviously both thinking the same thing at the same time and they didn't even need words to share those thoughts. I hadn't seen them have that kind of look in years and it brought me back. I was a kid again. All was right with the world. Until I realized what they were bonding over…

"I know," Mom said to Dad, at last. "It's like looking at our baby all over again."

"It really brings you back," Dad agreed.

Baby, what? Huh? I figured it out late. They're talking about the baby on the TV commercial, an HP commercial for photo printing. For weeks, I had been noticing the same baby and I think it was just the night before that I told my husband, "That baby really bugs me. It's one of those babies that is so ugly you tell the parents it's cute, but… ew."

Click here to view the embedded video.

So of course… they were talking about that baby. And, the Hallmark moment was gone. They were saying that baby- that creepy fat-faced baby- looked just like (my sister? Debbie? Kristin? Either one, just not) me. Mental brake screech! My whole world was suddenly shaken. I'd always thought I was a super cute baby. Are you kidding me?

"The baby looks just like you, Sherri." Mom confirmed. "So cute."

"Adorable," Dad beamed. Beamed! My dad does not beam. Mom and Dad exchanged another look.

"Chubby cheeks and everything," Mom sighed.

"Oh, gah! Mom!" I sounded like my teen daughter. Suddenly I realized why my kids cringe when I comment aloud on their baby pictures.

So, how were the holidays for you? Have any warm and fuzzy moments? Any holiday mishaps? Has your world been shaken? Does watching the baby in traffic freak you out? Do you wonder why the parents in the commercial feel comfortable letting their baby hang out in a walker at the edge of a cliff? (Yipes!) Seen any ugly babies lately?

Forty and Twenty Blackbirds Fell from the Sky

I'm a big fan of google news. When I look over my page of headlines, I feel like God, checking in on the world, nodding, frowning, tsk-tsking, and sometimes laughing.

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The Birds

This weekend, there was a bounty of Stephen King worthy phenomena near Little Rock, Arkansas, all collected in one neat little google newsblock.

First, on Thursday night, December 30th, for those conspiracy theorists out there, about 100,000 fish were found floating dead in the Arkansas river. The idea of dead fish is creepy enough on its own, but then, just before midnight on New Year's Eve, a flock of 5,000 blackbirds fell from the sky near Beebe, Arkansas.

My first thought was that the birds ate the dead fish, and whatever killed the fish, killed the birds. Elementary, my dear Watson. But no, biologists said that the two events were unrelated, because you know, a whole mess of animals dying within 125 miles of each other happens all the time.

Really? Birds just fall out of the sky at the same time that fish are getting fried? How creepy would it be to walk outside and have it raining dead birds? When I was a kid, I saw The Birds. I still have nightmares, not sure what it is about birds that can be so lovely and so eerie all at the same time.

If I lived near Beebe, I'd be nervous. The news is reporting that workers in Hazmat suits walked around, collecting the dead animals, but told the residents "not to panic. Oh, right. If I lived there, I'd check the color of the water, the air quality levels, the terrorist alerts, and then I'd hunker down in my shelter with forty cans of Spam and wait another ten years until the planet had died out, and there were no more humans around.

Or maybe not.

Did you all hear about this one?

Long Summer Nights

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Happy New Year! Ring it in with a Kindle!

[image error]It's 2011!  And I know you all don't want to hear me rattle on about this and that and resolutions and so forth… you just want to hear the winner's name.  That's right, who is going to win the Kindle?   All right then, you got it…drum roll please…..

And the winner is…   Nancy Yambor.   Nancy check your inbox for an email from me and we'll get the ball rolling on getting your brand new Kindle and a $50 gift card on its way to you.   And don't forget people, you can start the new year right with a wonderful read from our very own Whine Sisters!   Jacquie D'alessandro, Sherri Erwin, Julia London, Julie Kenner/JK Beck, yours truly (Dee Davis) and the always fabulous Kathleen O'Reilly!  And as always check in here daily for the latest whine from the girls with the the gift for gab. 

Happy Happy New Year!!!!!!   Let the good times roll!

Partying like it's 2010!

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We're at the last day of 2010, and everyone always asks, what are you plans for New Year's Eve? This year, we'll be sitting at home, watching the ball drop on television, and possibly falling asleep. Even as a kid, I never got the thrill of New Year's Eve. For me, the better holiday was New Year's Day. Parades, football, lots of football finger food.

When I worked at the restaurant during high school, New Year's Eve was total chaos. It was a popular place in Dallas for New Year's Eve, and we'd run a special menu and people would wait for 2.5 to 3 hours in order to eat. There was a big bar and dance floor downstairs (it was Baby Doe's Matchless Mine if any of you have ever eaten there), and you had to walk down this long rock tunnel (like a mine shaft) to get up from the bar. As a hostess, my job was to go find people in the bar. We lost many a good, honorable customers in that bar, disappearing forever on New Year's Eve, much like socks in a dryer. Sometimes people would walk up five and six hours later, a little bleary-eyed perhaps, and ask if there table was ready yet. We did our best, but after those years, New Year's Eve was never a big hoo-haw to me.

I think I like the new beginnings, instead the sadness of the ending, so I'll be concentrating on tomorrow today. I don't make resolutions, but I usually eat a little better in January, hit the gym a little more, write a little longer and hug my family a little more.

So, here's the question for today (and your last chance to put in comments for tomorrow's Kindle giveaway!):

Big plans for tonight, or do you sit at home in your PJ's? Are you resolution-maker? Tomorrow, what's on the agenda?

Movies and Books!

I should be working a whole lot more than I am right now.  I have some serious goals for 2011, and so far, I am managing maybe two hours work each day.  I lay the blame squarely at Hubot's feet, along with making me fat.  He is on this freakishly long break from school, and who has always had the power to easily entice me to go off and do and eat fun things when I should be writing.  In the last two weeks, we've seen a bunch of movies.  Some weren't very good (Yogi Bear, which I managed to avoid), Tangled (very cute), Megamind (very cute) and Despicable Me (the best of the lot).  Just so you know, these have been viewed with young children.  Hubot and I don't generally pay to see kid movies.  I said generally, nyuk nyuk.

But we've seen some good adult movies, too.  One, The Days of Wine and Roses, was a 1963 Academy Award nominee.  It was surprisingly dark and very good, with Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick, both of whom were nominated.  If you ever catch this on Turner Classic Movies, I recommend it.

The movie Hubot and I agree was excellent all the way around (and one that apparently stays close to the book in terms of story and dialogue) was True Grit.  Hubot didn't want to see this because he is so loyal to the Duke, but when our local paper–which pans everything–liked it, he decided to give it a try.  We both gave it an enthusiastic five stars and all four thumbs up.  I think it is safe to say that you can still be loyal to John Wayne and enjoy this version, too.  And I have to say, Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn was every bit as good as John Wayne (from what I remember).

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Next, I wanted to see The King's Speech.  Hubot said he would not sit through another movie in which I had a Colin Firth orgasm (and I was impressed he remembered his name).  So I went alone, happy to ogle Colin Firth in peace.  I shuffled in to the earliest showing with all the bluehairs, who, by the way, sneak in their own snacks.   Anyway, The King's Speech was EXCELLENT.  It is about the triumph of the human spirit.  It is about a part of history I didn't know much about.  It is about a man with a profound stuttering problem who has to assure millions of subjects that they were on top of the situation when war was declared.  Can you imagine the pressure?  And Colin Firth did an extraordinary job of making me believe he was a stammerer.  Very good movie, very fine acting by Colin Firth and Geoffery Rush.  All thumbs up, highly recommend, five stars!

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Then, we went to see the Fighter (on the same, dreary wet and rainy day.  I don't think I've ever seen two movies in one day.  Ever).  The Fighter was the one we agreed on, because we are back to not agreeing on movies.  To be fair, Hubot has sat through his fair share of romantic comedies, but I've put in some time, too.  He assured me this was not another fighter movie.  He said it was the true story of two brothers.  I said okay.  We went.  It was pretty good.  It was the true story about two brothers (both boxers) and the triumph of human spirit (I told him that the Fighter and the King's Speech were similar in that regard, and he was horrified that a movie about stuttering and boxing could be compared, LOL).  The acting was great, and Christian Bale in particular.  But overall…it was another movie about another boxer who overcomes the odds and wins the big fight.  And it's about boxing. I am going to have to go with one thumb and three female stars, four male stars.  The good news is, Hubot promised me that I get to pick the next movie.  Oh, yuuuum.  Going back and forth between The Black Swan and Just So You Know.  Opinions?

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And last but not least, I love this book I have been reading for what feels like six months.  It is called Skippy Dies (and Skippy does indeed die in the opening act).  It's set in a boy's boarding school in Dublin, and the book is about the characters of this boarding school, a bunch of fourteen year old boys, their teachers, and their crushes.  I do not know what it is about this book, but I love it.  Paul Murray brings characters to life in a way I truly envy.  I can see every one of these boys, I can hear them speaking with a British accent.  I would give this two thumbs up and a hearty five stars but for one little problem:  The book is over 700 pages long.  700+ pages!!  Who has that kind of time?  I don't.  And I am reading it on my Kindle, so the only thing I know is that I am 63% through.  I fear it will be 2012 before I reach the end.  Paul Murray, you did an excellent job, but seriously…700+ pages?  Shouldn't it have been a couple of books?  But anyway, if you ever have that kind of time, I really do love this book.

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So as we close out 2010, what books or movies would you recommend?  What books or movies would you avoid?

IF YOU CAN'T BE AN ATHLETE, BE AN ATHLETIC SUPPORTER!

I've never excelled at sports.  In grade school, I was always one of the last people to be chosen for a team in gym.  I actually liked the square dancing section of gym, as opposed to the volley ball, soccer, and field hockey sections (ever get hit in the shin with a field hockey stick?  Youch!).  For years my sports of choice have been swimming and tennis, but I recently discovered a new sport that I've fallen in love with.  It's called Pickleball.

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Pickleball is fun for the whole family!

Nearly everyone I've mentioned it to says, "Never heard of it."  I'd never heard of it either.  It's a combination of Ping-Pong, tennis and badminton and is played on a smaller version of a tennis court with a paddle and a whiffle-like ball.  You can play singles or doubles (like tennis), but because the court is half the size, it's much easier on the body.  But yet you still get a really good workout (yeah!).  The whiffle ball doesn't bounce like a tennis ball so it's necessary to do a lot of bending and stretching and moving to make your shots.  Plus, Pickleball is much easier than tennis—and it's serious fun!  And addictive—once I started playing, I wanted to play every day.  If you've never played and have the opportunity to do so, jump on it!

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What are your favorite sports?  Do you participate, or are you more a spectator?  Do you have the "Athletic Chromosome?"  Have you ever heard of Pickleball or tried it?

Holiday yumminess

I'm being a semi-sloth this holiday–doing lots of vegging, hanging out with the fam, avoiding the computer (well, sorta–I'm plowing through old emails), re-arranging 4 rooms full of furniture (ugh!) and eating way, way, way too much. It's a nice break– recharging my batteries that, hopefully, will be fully charged by Jan 3 when the husband goes back to work (and, hopefully, by then the furniture will be moved, as the husband is very useful in such endeavors).

I'm also did a lot of cooking with the kids, and because I love my mom's recipe for fudge beyond belief, I thought I'd share it with y'all, along with another fav.

First, what to do with all that leftover turkey: Soup!

Probably too late for this year, as I doubt you have a turkey carcass hanging around, but if you do, you can make a yummy soup. Here's how:

Get all the meat you want off.

Boil the turkey a long time.

Pick the rest of the good meat off the bones, toss the yuck and the bones. SAVE the water–it's now stock.

In a big pot, use the turkey stock, some more water, and the meat you picked off, plus any leftover meat you want.

Over medium heat.

Add bay leaves, a handful of rice, some chopped up celery (or dried celery leaves), a smidge of parsley, one package powdered onion soup mix, salt, pepper, chopped carrots, and chopped potatoes.

Simmer the heck out of it.

Eat and enjoy. Yum.

That one's semi-healthy. Now for my absolute favorite holiday treat; my mom gave me this recipe in a book the day I moved out for college, so not only is it yummy, it's sentimental—we made it every year when I was growing up, I've made it every year since I moved out. Mom calls it Five Minute Fudge. I'm calling it Anna's Fudge:

You'll need:

2 T. butter

2/3 c. undiluted Evaporated Milk (Mom suggests Carnation)

1 2/3 c. sugar

1/2 t. salt

2 c. miniature marshmellows

1 1/2 c. semi-sweet choc chips

1 t. vanilla

(you can add 1/2 c. nuts, but I never do).

Combine butter, evap milk, sugar and salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to boil. Cook 5 minutes STIRRING CONSTANTLY (start timing when it starts to bubble around the edges).

Remove from heat. Stir in marshmellows, chips, vanilla & nuts until it's all melted together.

Spread into a buttered 8″ square pan. Refrigerate (I always freeze for 10 minutes, then cut the fudge and move to the fridge).

I LOVE this fudge soooo much better than store-bought. Hope you do, too!

How about y'all? Any favorite holiday recipes?

Hope y'all are either being really productive this holiday, or enjoying slothiness like me!

Twas the Day after the Day after…

[image error]Long before Black Friday, the day after Christmas was all about sales.   I remember getting up and out early on the 26th with my mother to stand in line at the Hallmark store or later the Container Store to get half off on next year's Christmas Cards and wrapping paper.  One of us would stand in line while the other did the shopping.  It was one of those bonding moments you don't necessarily recognize at the time, but that nowdays reminds me so much of my mother I actually get homesick—while standing in line of course. 

These days, the sales are coming earlier.  And it isn't as important to get up and go.   But there's something to be said for sharing a ritual with family members.  Whether it's making Christmas cookies. Cutting down your own tree. Marking each and every one of the twelve days.  Going to see the nutcracker, or maybe just lying on the floor and watching the tree lights twinkle.  They're the memories we hold close even[image error] after the rituals have become part of our past.   Special times with my mother—even if we were overwhelmed and exhausted when we got home.  And besides we got some great deals on boxes and bows and ribbons and tags. 

So what about you?   Do you shop on the day after Christmas?  Do you have special Christmas rituals? 

And don't forget that we're announcing the winner of the Kindle on January 1!  So comment for a chance to win!

P.S.  This year, I did half-price shopping in a blizzard– a definite first for this Texas girl.

Merry Christmas and…

Happy Birthday, dear Jacquie! Happy birthday to you! xox

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If you're home looking for something to load on that brand new e-reader device, I suggest the very Christmassy Naughty or Nice.

Or something by birthday girl Jacquie, of course. Or any of the delightful Whine Sisters books. Go crazy! It's Christmas.

We hope you're all having a lovely holiday!