My Favorite Time of Year

Everyone has a favorite time of year.  I really do enjoy Thanksgiving to Christmas because of all the family time, parties and the joyous meaning of the holiday season.  I love Valentines Day because in the 13 years Vernon and I have been together, he has not missed one.  I love all the pink and hearts and flowers everywhere.  Superbowl Sunday is pretty awesome with all the parties and everyone sharing their favorite party food recipes. I  get really caught up in March Madness where I end up spending more time with Dad watching NCAA Basketball and losing a bit of cash.  My most favorite time of year is right now, it started today, can you guess what it is?

The beginning of Daylight Savings Time.  Why is that? We lose an hour of sleep, it pretty much sucks. Well, not for me. For the next three weeks, Vernon and I will only be 5 hours apart rather than the usual 6.  Even though it's just one time zone, it almost feels like we are physically closer, as silly as that sounds.  Yay for Daylight Savings!   

Do you have a favorite time of year? If so, why?

Toasting Glasses

We've picked out a pair of toasting glasses. I was hoping for some help on what to put on them.  We'll consider traditional, whimsical, contemporary... anything!  I love brainstorming.

Leave us your suggestions in the comments. Don't forget to mention the name/type of font you would use.

Thanksgiving 2012

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I was lucky to be able to spend it with friends.  We had a traditional meal with a gloriously delicious turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, corn, homemade stuffing, and dinner rolls.  We finished it all off with pumpkin pie and apple-pear pie.  We enjoyed each other's company, laughed and watched some great movies: Eight Crazy Nights, The Tale of Despereaux, Addams Family Values and last but not least, The Color of Magic.  I take photos of holidays and special occasions because I get sad that Vernon is not there with me, so I bring him with me by taking pictures and talking about him.  Last night was even better because they turned on The Color of Magic, which is a movie based on the Discworld Book series by Terry Pratchett.  Vernon and I have read all of the Rincewind books together and then watched the movie together on one of my trips to England.  But, to be honest, he and I weren't very impressed with the movie and quickly dozed off.  There was so much missing that we got frustrated.  When watching the same movie last night, everyone liked it so very much.  I enjoyed it and happily talked about the Terry Pratchett books with everyone.  It was like Vernon was there and at one moment during the movie I felt emotional and wanted to cry.

 

The next day is.... you guessed it... Black Friday.  I did this once several years ago.  I stood out in a parking lot with a friend at like 4am and I don't think either of us were really planning on getting anything specific.  We just wanted to have the experience.  I don't think I'll ever do that again, especially with the crazy stories that I hear every year  and the scary videos that I see. I can't imagine what the rest of the world thinks of us crazy Americans fighting each other, stepping on children and grabbing and shoving like a bunch of starving wild dogs over a freshly killed deer carcass. It's pretty sad when you think about it.  Just so you non-Americans know, we all aren't like that. 

Today I did go out on Black Friday, but later in the morning when the psycho craziness had died down; but the parking lots are still full and stores are still busy, but it's all civilized.  I stopped at the Goodwill store and found a couple of beautiful teapots for my reception centerpieces.  I want to find used ones and I don't want them to match.  They only cost $1.50 each. I feel like I got the best deal of Black Friday! I was so excited to find these.  I'm going to go back a few times a month to look for more. These are the only ones I'm going to share because I don't want to spoil all the fun.  So exciting!

Tomorrow I have a second Thanksgiving dinner with my parents so that will be fun.  I was able to have some face time with Vernon today after I came back from my Black Friday shopping and he said to me, "Darling, I'm glad you get to have multiple Thanksgiving meals".  Yeah, me too.

Super Bowl Sunday and Other American Traditions

Photo taken by my cousin Holly while enjoying the festivities in Indianapolis.

Sometimes I wonder that if I were in England, what traditions would I bring with me as an American. Every family has their own traditions but overall, Americans have the same traditions when it comes to holidays and certain times of the year. Why am I picking American traditions as a topic today? It is the Super Bowl today! Although my team (Chicago Bears) is not in the Super Bowl this year, it is still a day I look forward to every year. It is awesome when your team makes it to the Super Bowl. The last time the Bears were in the Super Bowl was 2007 and they lost against the Indianapolis Colts. I DO remember the year they won the Super Bowl. It was 1985. I miss those days!


Chicago Bears - Superbowl Shuffle by jpdc11

So how would I bring the Super Bowl to England? Well first unfortunately we would have to record the game because it wouldn't start until 11pm. Then we would probably have the party the following week. I would invite Vernon's family, our friends, and encourage the kids to stick around too. I would make beer brats and hamburgers and have all the snacks anyone could want like cheese, sausage and crackers.. and not English sausage, it would be summer sausage. Not sure if they have that out there or not... I would definitely have to plan ahead to make sure I had all the foods necessary to make this a true Super Bowl experience. Then there is the football pool. I am participating in my first office pool so I'm anxious to see how that turns out. My next favorite thing about the Super Bowl are the COMMERCIALS! My most favorite commercial aired last year.



The halftime show entertainment can be great, or it can really suck, or it can involve a wardrobe malfunction that people will talk about for years to come.



Another American tradition which is also a holiday is Thanksgiving. I really want to show Vernon and his family what I love so much about Thanksgiving. Getting together with family, turkey, mashed potatoes, and all the extras with dessert featuring pumpkin pie! There is also the traditional Thanksgiving Day football game. It would be such a wonderful day and I would really enjoy cooking a traditional American Thanksgiving meal for my English family.



Another tradition / holiday would be the 4th of July. I never really got into this holiday because fireworks scare me and annoy the crap out of me when I'm trying to sleep at 1am, but I do like the picnics and all the stars and stripes.  Maybe that week we'd have an American Day and go out that weekend for a picnic or something. That would be fun. This past 4th I was in a parade and I admit to having fun.

Well, the game will be starting in another hour so I'm going to finish up this post and get out my football pool sheet to see if I win any money. I have some good numbers so we'll see how I do.

Wish me luck!