A New Year Adventure!

The end of the year makes me think back on all the various things I learned this past year and the looming New Year makes me think about things I have yet to learn in 2012. In some ways I feel like a small bug standing in front of a huge mountain. I'm obviously exhausted from just climbing over the mountain behind me and yet I know I have to keep going because wondrous adventures are waiting for me on the other side. Each day a journey, a learning experience that will strengthen me and make me wiser or at least more sophisticated.

Learning is the key to appreciating others. Without learning how to make dinner you can’t feed your family. Without learning how to shop you can’t give gifts and without learning how to take care of yourself you might not ever be able to take care of anyone else. Don't you love learning how to make something new? A new story, a poem, a sweater or a meal? Sometimes we just want to learn to get along with others.

 I enjoy trying out new recipes and with every new crochet stitch or dash to the dictionary I know I am improving, so I can share something with those who know other things. We don’t all know the same things, thank goodness. Imagine how boring that would be? Some of us have strengths where others have weaknesses. If we hold each other up with our knowledge and learn everything we can, then we can help each other move forward into the Happiest of New Years! I hope you join me in this learning quest, so we can mutually benefit and share our bounty with those following our blogs!

What do you want to learn in the coming year?

Twelve Things I Love About Christmas

      1.     Kindness

      Example: The person who notices that I have five things in my shopping cart and she has 100, but is kind enough to let me get in front of her even though she’s a busy mom with four kids at home waiting for food. I realize this happens during other months, but during December it seems more meaningful.

2.       Love

      Example: Watching a holiday movie and waiting for the ending, when my sweetheart sniffles and squeezes my hand.

3.       Aromas

      Examples: Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, oranges, lemons, cranberries and pecan scented air, swirling around, making me blissfully dizzy and craving something fragrant and wonderful to eat.
      The smell of incense and candles at Midnight mass making me sneeze, but also reminding me of hay in a manger. I can picture myself kneeling in front of the manger and accidentally sneezing all over Jesus. How do you spell Claritin in Aramaic?

4.       Passion

      Example: Putting up our tree and fighting over the best way to wrap the bulbs around the branches. He says to go on the outside and I insist on getting deeper to the trunk to make room for the ornaments. This has been going on for twenty years and I don’t think I want to stop now.

5.       Chocolate

      Example: Why drink cocktails at a holiday party when there are chocolate dipped peanut butter confections, chocolate dipped pretzels, chocolate Yule logs, boxes of chocolate bonbons and endless chocolate delights just waiting for you to casually swagger up and stealthily inhale as many as your conscience can live with? I suppose a chocolate martini can’t hurt either.

6.       Joy

      Example: Watching kids unwrap presents. Ripping wrapping paper, delightful screams, giggling, laughter, etc. Awesome.

7.      Evergreens 

      Example: Forest room spray and live pine trees and wreaths on doors. We used to have living trees we'd plant every year, but here in the desert they just didn't work out very well. Our artificial Christmas tree is adorable and once I light my pine scented candle….

8.      Music

      Example: Singing Christmas carols and listening to classical and medieval Christmas tunes. Bells. I love bells.

9.       Giving

      For example, the perfect gift--a Santa Claus secret. Not necessarily expensive, but one that defines this Christmas from any other Christmas. It will be remembered for many years either for the difficult  assembly instructions or the complexity that went into preparing it. The gift that stands out for years as that memorable or shocking gift. The one that makes the giver blush because the recipient is so dog gone happy and everyone wants to know how you thought of it or what made you so generous or how did you find the time to…or where did you get it? 

10.  Free shipping

11.  Decorations

      Example: Sparkling holiday lights reflected in a loved one’s eyes.

12.   Togetherness

      Doesn’t it seem like hugs last longer and are more frequent at Christmas?
      Isn’t it wonderful to count your blessings when you’re together?

Revealing My Secret Rum Ball Recipe

Easy Holiday Rum Balls

These make a perfect hostess gift and will be

 remembered long after the sugar cookies, date nut bread, even the fudge has been scarfed down and forgotten. I’ve made them for years and I often hear people on wobbly legs, leaving with their designated driver saying things like,

“Who made those rum balls? I have to get the recipe.”

1 cup powdered sugar

3 cups crushed vanilla wafers (The best part of this recipe is that

you can use up older cookies or cakes instead of the vanilla wafers)

Typically, I use graham crackers but one year I used

Leftover chocolate cake and oh my goodness they were fantabulous!

1 cup finely chopped walnuts

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

3 tablespoons Karo syrup

½ cup Bacardi rum and three secret drops of German rum flavoring because regular rum evaporates rather quickly. The rum flavoring I mention is more potent and delicious than the stuff in our local  grocery stores. The Dr. Oetker Rum flavor will take your rum balls to a whole new level. It is available in most European delicatessens.

Chocolate sprinkles for decorating
Powdered sugar for decorating

Anyway, add ingredients to your bowl one at a time, stirring between each addition. Size wise I roll them into one inch round balls.

Then roll half of them in powdered sugar and the other half of the balls in the

chocolate sprinkles. Set them on wax paper and try one. I said one. 

Pink Bunny Slipper Noir-Part lll

    The conclusion to Pink Bunny Slipper Noir (Please check my previous posts if you missed Part I and Part II)

If they looked like this, then maybe it was the heel?
 I remember begging for something similar when I was a teen.
I'm pretty sure Loni had regular bunny slippers as pictured in Part I

 Brenda spent the entire night in the hospital. While in the waiting room, she saw open wounds and the victims of massive amounts of pain, hobbling and screaming in through the emergency room double doors. Saturated freeways and vehicle nightmares were stretching the limits of the county hospital. People were crying, babies were screaming, families were praying, hugging and holding hands. Her daughter would survive, but many of these people didn’t look like they would make it out of there alive. The smell of blood, human waste and antiseptics created waves of nausea that overwhelmed her, making her run from the vinyl molded seat to the institutional, public facilities. Between the waiting and the shivering, time seemed to stand still.

     Sneezing, she tied her damp robe a little tighter. Focusing her mind on her daughter, Brenda sat mumbling, imploring and begging for mercy. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out another Kleenex. She wanted to be angry at someone, but there was no one to blame, she thought, dabbing at the corners of her eyes and subsequently shredding her tissue. A throbbing ache in her chest made her want to scream, but realistically the only anger she felt was toward stupid, inanimate, pink bunny slippers.

     A nurse approached and asked, “Are you Loni’s mother?”

     “Yes, yes, is she awake? Can I go see her?” Brenda asked, springing from her seat and sending confetti-like shredded paper, floating, like magical pixie dust into the air.

     “Absolutely, come with me,” the matronly nurse said, turning toward the crowded elevator.

     Once at the room the nurse veered toward her station, leaving Brenda alone with Loni who loudly squealed, “Mommy!”

     Thank God she thought, her baby is fine and as she hugged her child and inhaled the sweet smell of Loni’s chocolate infused hair, she realized that her heart was now gleefully jumping up and down,  like a silly pink bunny.

If you enjoyed Pink Bunny Slipper Noir then you might like my story "Losers Ledge" available now as part of a collection of great stories called Fiction Noir-13 stories.  Click here to read it on your e-reader today!

      Fiction-Noir-Thirteen Stories Anthology


I hope that the holidays find you and all your loved ones safe and sound. Please drive carefully and take care of each other. Count your blessings and watch for those magical moments that create lasting holiday memories.

Pink Bunny Slipper Noir-Part II

I'm trying to be considerate of everyone's time with short posts this month--here's the second of three parts.
(If you missed the first part just go to my previous post)


 After hearing a loud crash, Brenda tiptoed cautiously toward the noise to investigate. Darkness filled the kitchen and an eerie silence settled around her like those quiet moments before a storm. The smell of chocolate filled the kitchen and the only sound she heard was rain pouring down outside, blasting the shutters and rattling the entire house.

     “Loni? Loni?” She asked, “Was that you?” When Loni didn’t answer, she went to look for the flashlight in the hallway closet. Returning, she saw Loni lying face down on the floor unconscious. “Oh my goodness,” she screamed, “wake up.” When nudging her, and yelling at her didn’t work, she tried to see if she was still breathing, but her own shaking hands kept moving the flashlight, making any assessment impossible. Fragrant cocoa powder dusted the saltillo tiles. Frantic, her mother ran to call 911. By the time the paramedics arrived, the lights were back on and Brenda noticed blood oozing from her daughter’s serene and lovely forehead. “What happened to my little girl?” she asked the nearest EMT as he placed Loni’s limp body on the stretcher.

     “She has a concussion and some bleeding. She’ll wake up in the hospital,” the guy said.

      Confused and mystified, Brenda wondered how something this  ridiculous and tragic could happen in her kitchen. Aloud she asked, “How did this happen?” Rain soaked through her robe as she followed her daughter out to the medical van.

     “I guess one of the ears got caught on something,” he replied, hurrying to get in on the passenger side. “You might want to wait here.”
          “Ears?” She asked, sorrowfully watching him return some equipment to the van.
          "Yeah, the pink bunny slippers...I guess one of the ears...somehow got caught under your refrigerator in the dark and she slipped, hitting her head on the stove.” Noticing her worried look he said, “Don’t worry, she’ll be fine. She needs some stitches but it's not her temple.”

     “I’m coming with you,” she declared, her voice quivering and her heart thumping like a caged rabbit.

  

Stay tuned next week for the conclusion to Pink Bunny Slipper Noir....

I'm no Agatha Christie, but I thought it was fun to write this anyway. What do you think happens now?

Pink Bunny Slipper Noir-Part I

I'm trying to be considerate of everyone's time with short posts this month--here's a short story in three parts.


Part I

     “I never liked those silly pink slippers,” her mother said standing over the hospital bed. “I don’t even remember why you talked me into buying them.  Never in a million years would I think  they would be dangerous!” Sniffing into her tissue she stared down at her daughter’s swollen and bandaged forehead.

      Loni couldn’t say anything, but she saw the pain on her mother’s tear-stained face. Blinking enormous blue eyes at her mom, Loni's medication numbed any physical pain and all she felt was despair at what it was doing to her mother. “This is outrageous,” her mother continued. “You can’t even talk, and I miss your smile.” Poor mom, Loni thought, she looks so tired.

     A nurse came in to replace the I.V. drip. Noticing the pained expressions, she  addressed Loni’s mother, Brenda, and said  “She’ll be fine, miss.” Brenda, sneezed, the nurse responded with, “Bless you.”

     “Can you believe this?” Brenda mumbled, shredding her Kleenex into snowflake like pieces that stuck to the front lapel of her grass green robe. “When is the doctor coming?”

     “Soon,” the nurse replied, tucking the sheets under Loni and opening the drapes. Turning to go, she smiled and said, “The rain is gone. Thank God.”

       Outside the sun sparkled on the wet window like shimmering mother of pearl. She thanked God her daughter was alive and thought back to the events of the previous evening. 

      Last night they were sitting comfortably in front of the fireplace with a cup of hot cocoa. Brutal weather had knocked down phone lines, and wiped out power in several communities.

Loni had put on her robe and slippers before going out into the kitchen for some hot cocoa, when suddenly the lights went out.

To be continued....

What happened to Loni? Stop in again soon, to read the second part of Pink Bunny Slipper Noir....