As you may know, my Grandfather passed away at the end of February.  He had been gearing up to make a trip to Wichita so that he could deliver a car that he’d fixed up for me, and also to visit.  It was my sister’s old car, a ’96 Camry, which she sold to Dad because she couldn’t afford an expensive repair, which I was buying from Dad, and which Grandpa had said he would fix in exchange for Baby.  I thought he was off his rocker, because Baby is more of a liability than an asset, but I agreed.  He loves to fix cars and he probably was going to use her for parts, so maybe it was a good deal, or maybe he was just being ultra-generous.  Probably a combination of both, as he really lived to help others out…and to fix cars.  He consistently had about ten of them, or more, on his property.

I was very eager to get the Camry back, but Grandpa isn’t known for his timeliness.  Mom got her lateness factor from him, and multiplied it by a million, but he still is pretty hard to keep on a schedule.  He had fixed the car after a few months, but instead of bringing it back or letting us come and pick it up, he kept telling us he really wanted to make the trip himself because he lived to visit us and delivering the car gave him a good reason to come.  Nine months later, he was ready to bring it! A snow storm (the one that almost killed me) delayed him by a week and before the weather cleared…he was gone.

We aren’t guaranteed a tomorrow, but most of us take it for granted, not only for ourselves but for our loved ones.  As we witness the heartbreaking devastation and loss from the Oklahoma tornadoes, it is a good reminder to appreciate what we have today, especially the people, because we never know if we’ll have them tomorrow.  I’m just so glad we got to have one last good visit with Grandpa before he passed.

Grandpa always made sure to feed us something nutritious while he was visiting!

Dennis and I traveled with Mom and Dad to Joplin, MO, the weekend after Grandpa’s death so that we could pick up the car, and they were going to stay behind to help Uncle David care for Grandma, who has advanced Alzheimer’s.   The funeral wasn’t until the following weekend.  When we arrived, we found the car stuffed to the gills with food.

As we emptied it out, saving a bit for ourselves since Uncle David said we could keep what we wanted, I thought about Grandpa and how he had probably bought all this food to give to those he loved.  I thought about all the times he’d come to Wichita, car loaded to the brim with boxes full of apples, or peaches, or yogurt, or whatever, to give to us.  He lived to help people, especially their diets. :)

I wish I would have taken a picture of the back seat that showed how high the stuff was piled.  On top was a crate of blueberries, a flat of nectarines, a flat of lemons, and a pineapple.  Remember when I mentioned inheriting blueberries and lemons from Grandpa?  This is how–they came with the car. :)

Through the window you can see how high he’d piled food stuffs! This trunk had SO much in it, including a 50 lb. bag of shelled peanuts and a folding table that he bought for Dad.

I wasn’t able to thank Grandpa for his work on the car while he was here, or for the lemons and blueberries that he inadvertently gifted to me, but I’m so very thankful.  I now have a solid, reliable car that starts without any tricks, and doesn’t have any “Service” or “Check Engine” lights lit up on the dash.

And I’ve named her Becky because Becky seems like a solid, reliable kind of name to me.  :)

As for Baby, she is still alive and kicking.  Dennis turned her into his project car for a couple months and did some very inexpensive fixes on her appearance, and then my sister ended up needing a car (the same one who I inadvertently got mine from) so we gifted her with Baby.  I’m glad to have her still in the family and not consigned to a junk yard just yet.  I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for Baby and all her troublesome ways, but I’m beyond thankful for Becky and all Grandpa did to fix her up for me, including the groovy gray primer on her nose that we just need to cover with some white. :)

Though I have to say, part of me enjoys the reminder of how much work he put into the car I’m now driving.  Thank you Grandpa, I love and miss you!!!!

Once again the things in my day have overfilled the hours that remain and I have to skip the Thankful Thursday post I had planned.  Instead of having radio blog silence, however, I decided to ask you what you’re thankful for.  I opened this question up for comments on my Facebook page so head over there to add your thanksgiving(s).  I really hope to see at least 25 comments by the time I get home from work so surprise me with more, OK? :D

So I was all geared up to finally dedicate this Thursday to Grandpa. Alas, I’ve been up for 17 hours on four hours sleep (doctor appointment early in the  morning, then had cupcakes to make, my oil to change, and an 8-hour shift to work…life) and don’t have the energy to do his post justice.  Until next week, I’ll leave you with this…

Me and the little sisters all had a night in and cooked dinner together, which I don’t think we’ve done since we all lived in the same house…fifteen years ago!  I’m thankful for the wonderful evening, but mostly I’m just thankful for my awesome sisters.

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” Robert Brault

Some simple and “little” things that I’m thankful for this week:

Magazines.  Thanks to a couple readers/friends (Suzie and Kerry!) I get some amazing food magazines along with my other subscriptions, and having those with me at work gives me something to do when my coworkers are all smart-phoning it up on our breaks.  (Um yeah.  No smart phone for me. I’ve got my mags–I know they’re so jealous! :))

The taste of sunshine on a snowy day.  I created these cupcakes to sell for Easter, and of course had to do some quality control.  Hello, sunshine!

Cuddles with the husband.  Just nothing better than having him next to me at night.

Dressing Barbies with a a bunch of kids…and a few adults. Sometimes it’s good to forget that you’re a “grown up” and just go with the flow.  Fun times! :D

Having two little ones vying for lap time with me, and bouncing them on my legs while singing “Froggy went a courtin’.”  And their smiles of delight. Be still my beating heart!

Some simply amazing eats at Ciao.  I usually eschew the humble margherita pizza, thinking I’d prefer something with tons of toppings, but am so glad I went with simple this time. So good! Also pictured are my salad (fabuloso), a mocha, and fried mozarella. Yumbo!

Not to mention great company!

Sister-friend time with Jaci (and  her sister, Liz, who is also a special friend who thankfully doesn’t live so far away), who was visiting from TX. OK so this is not a little thing at all, this was like the highlight of my year so far, but hello.  I can’t have a Thankful Thursday blog without mentioning this just cuz it isn’t little. Duh.

Also, a really big thank you to everyone who commented on my post about my Grandpa passing. People that have never commented before came out of the woodwork and your kindness means so much.  Honestly, I don’t have the courage to read the comments yet but I did scan the names and was blown away by how many people I didn’t know had commented.  This is not a “simple thing,” it is a big thing, but I did want to take this opportunity to thank you.  I have the best readers ever. Plus, you guys have amazing taste in blogs. :D

I usually can’t tolerate being busy for very long, it really starts to get to me and after a while I need a day of nothing–plan nothing, do nothing.

However, lately I’ve been thankful for how busy I am because it helps keep my mind off of things I don’t want to think about. I haven’t mentioned it before, but I started selling cupcakes almost two months ago and I’m doing really well with it, though I’m still hesitant to say I’m officially “in business.” As long as I can convince myself it’s a casual thing, it’s not stressing me like selling cakes used to.  I’ve already gone through 500 cupcake liners and started on another bulk package, so I’m definitely keeping busy with my not-official-yet second job.

Also, friends we haven’t seen in years invited us over for dinner (Kathy and her husband were there too!) and it was really nice to reconnect with all of them and do something social since I’m usually Miss Hermit Crab all up in my shell/house and never wanting to leave.  I was really excited to meet their new baby and I even got to feed and burp him.  After burping, he rested his head against my cheek and momma snapped a photo. I could have died and gone to baby heaven. :D

My good best friend, Jaci, is in town from Texas and I will get to see her on Friday!!!!!  Yay for being busy with such good things. Praise the Lord.

On my way to work yesterday, I hit a patch of snow on the highway and lost control of my vehicle.  Usually when I start spinning around in snow or ice on a residential street,  I get this weird zen feeling and just know that everything will be OK, and I never feel out of control.  (Not that I do much spinning as I’m a cautious driver, but I’ve had a couple on really bad icy days.)  I allow the car to complete the spin while tapping the break, and it’s always OK, I’ve never hit anything.  So let’s just say I did not have that feeling yesterday when I start spinning on the highway with cars zooming past me.

I was pressing the gas instead of the break without even realizing it, panicked I was going to hit someone, and when I saw the median rushing at me I thought “Wow. I’m really going to hit that.”  And I did.

When it was all over, I was sitting on the highway, facing the oncoming traffic, and still moving forward because my foot was still pushing on the gas instead of the break.  So I finally released the gas and stopped the car, and just stared at the traffic coming at me in shock.

I was thinking, wow, I didn’t hit anyone!  Wow, my car is still running!  Wow, I’M STILL ALIVE!  As soon as there was a break in the traffic I did a U-turn to get going in the right direction, amazed that I was still on my way to work after such a close call.  I praised God and laughed with amazement and shock all the way to work, which was a bumpy ride due to the alignment of my car now being shot.

I was so shaken up when I was clocking in, I really didn’t wonder why we were immediately called to the conference room.  I thought maybe they were going to thank those who had braved the streets for not calling in due to the weather.  Um, not so much.  We were called in so they could tell us that the REC was closing.

It still hasn’t really sunk in that the job I’ve had for almost nine years is going away.  It’s not a catastrophe for me, as I will be able to get another job within the postal service if I so desire (this isn’t true for all the employees, unfortunately), but the future is still uncomfortably uncertain.   But despite this sad news, I’m happy.  I’m happy to be alive.

Funny how almost dying can put things in perspective.  :D  Thank you, Lord.  I’m thankful to be alive.

My Jessie girl enjoying our first real snow this winter (we’re up to 15 inches). One of the reasons my life is so sweet.

This giveaway is now closed.  (The comments that didn’t answer the question or opted out were not counted.) The winners of the cookies are #47 Stephanie Thummel, #22 Simone, #60 Erin’s DC Kitchen, #4 Deborah, and #61 Stephanie C.  The winners of the crème bouquet are #14 Erin, #21 Holly Cummings, #44 Sarah, #36 Becky Esinger, and #55 Gloria – The Ginger Snap Girl. Please reply to my email within 48 hours to claim your prize.  Congrats!

Wow, it’s my 100th Thankful Thursday post, guys!  It really doesn’t seem that long ago that I wrote my first one.  Back then it was “Thankful Tuesdays.”  Since that first post, I’ve been thankful for cheese & my savior (not in that order, of course), friends with benefits, a drugged up Dad, souls being saved, all the bad stuff, the demise of Den’s evil glasses, my sisters, and even nose hairs.  Among many, many other things.  And yet there is always something to be thankful for every day.  It’s not always something new, but good things that continue and endure the test of time are something to be even more thankful for and recognized on a daily basis.

You guys already know I’m thankful for you, right?  I did devote an entire Thankful Thursday to you, after all.  Well, to celebrate my 100th Thankful Thursday, I’m going to offer a giveaway that (I hope) will make you thankful.  I asked for suggestions last week on what I should do for my post today and Rhonda suggested offering my own baked goods.  Suzie seconded the motion so I decided that’s what I’d do, with an optional extra.

Giveaway details

I’m offering FIVE readers the chance to win a small flat-rate Priority mail box stuffed with my blue ribbon Almond Fudge Cookies, and blue ribbon Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (you choose with/without toasted pecans).  And if you so desire, I’ll throw in a 2 oz. bottle of my top secret (OK not really) most favorite frosting flavoring, crème bouquet (read more about it here to see if it’s something you would like).

I’m also offering FIVE additional readers a 2 oz. bottle of crème bouquet flavor emulsion so you can make your cakes taste like heaven on Earth.

Giveaway is open worldwide, but if you are a foreign reader, I can only offer the crème bouquet. 

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. SEE THE BEGINNING OF THIS POST FOR THE LIST OF WINNERS.

To enter, leave a comment telling me how you found my blog.  I always wonder!  If you only want to enter one drawing, please indicate which one in the comments, otherwise you will be entered for both.

You can earn an extra entry by following me on Twitter and leaving me a separate comment letting me know you do or already do.

Giveaway will close Wednesday, January 30th, at midnight and winners will be contacted by email.

Thank you so much for reading, and good luck!

At last…

My looooove has come along.

WAIT! Stop the music.  Before I continue with my post, I have to right a wrong I did on my last Thankful Thursday. There probably were lots of omissions on that post because I with such generous people in my life, but the one I realized was that I didn’t include was Debbi‘s cookies, which she sent to me just because.

They were so good I didn’t get a picture of them, which is why I forgot to include them.  This photo, which I swiped from a friend’s Tumblr post, is the only proof her Snickerdoodles and Wookie Cookies were ever in my possession.  These were the best snickerdoodles I ever had, I just loved how fat and fluffy they were.  Thank you so much Debbi, you are a gem!

OK, back to your regularly scheduled programming…

I’m so dramatic with my title, you probably think I’ve been reconnected with a long-lost friend.  Nope, just my bestest sister-friend!  Danielle and I are now working together at the REC again!  We both started around the same time in the spring of 2004 and she left about a year later.  We were quite the pair, constantly being “shushed” when we sat together on the floor, because WE CAN’T CONTROL THE VOLUME OF OUR VOICES !  Or our laughter.  And ever since that first Halloween we worked together, management has continued to remind everyone to wear “work appropriate” costumes for Halloween.  Probably while visions of a certain witch and go-go girl dance in their heads.  Oops.

That pic was taken by a co-worker that came home with us after work for a photo shoot, so we really did, yes we did, go to work looking like that.

I do have to say our skirts were a bit on the short side.  And the tight side.  Wow.  But at least I had a cape to cover my butt, Danielle.  ;)

I do remember burning with embarrassment from the moment I stepped out of the car until we got back into it (we used to car pool), so I guess I did have some sense when it came to what was appropriate for an office environment, I just didn’t have the sense to apply it. lol

I don’t have anything else to say except I’m so thankful to be working with my sister again!  Though we live in the same city, we don’t spend much time together like we used to because we’re both so busy, and it’s nice to have some time we can chat face-to-face, even if it is on short breaks.  I’ll take it!

I don’t care if it’s lame, I’m giddy with excitement to be working with Danielle again. <3  Let’s see if we can stay out of trouble this time!

***

Wow, next week will be my 100th Thankful Thursday post! We should celebrate. Give me some ideas of something fun I could do for it.  Perhaps a giveaway or something?  Give me some ideas! (Update: Rhonda suggested me giving away my own baked goods. Would you be interested in that?)

Have you ever watched George Carlin’s skit on “Stuff?”  If not, it’s pretty funny if you have 5 minutes to spare:

So yeah, that’s what I’m thankful for today. STUFF.  That I have too much stuff!  Sure, it’s a problem, but it beats the alternative…not enough stuff!

So I’ve gotten a lot of great stuff lately. First, stuff in the mail. I love stuff in the mail!

I won three beautiful jars of Bonne Maman preserves from Nutmeg Nanny in November. The first thing I did with the strawberry was slather it on a cornmeal pancake. Thank you Brandy, we love these preserves!

I got a lot of cookies in the mail last month from the cookie swap.  I swapped with four people but received cookies from six because Allison and Eileen asked if they could send me some cookies too.  Guess what I said? :)

The plate has cookies on it from my first four boxes received from Marcia, Jolie, Eileen & Linda. My favorites were the Marbled Cream Cheese Pound Cake from Marcia, Hazlenut Crinkles from Jolie (bottom left on the plate), the Brown Butter Toffee Blondies from Eileen (top middle), the molasses cookies from Jolie (middle right) and the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies from Linda (bottom right).

Look at the adorable packaging Allison and Katie sent their cookies in!  A “cookie radio” tin and a gingerbread house!

Katie sent White Chocolate Peppermint Sugar Cookies (swoon–my favorite of all the cookies!) and Allison sent some wonderful Lemon Burst Cookies.  I got them late because mail delivery was stopped to our area due to loose dogs (such a bummer) and it took me a while to figure it out, but even after a week in the mail these suckers were incredible and still so moist. Thank you guys, all of you, for the wonderful treats!

After the cookies started rolling in, out of the blue, I got this huge package from California. I love surprise packages!  I opened it up and still had no idea who it was from when I saw what was inside.  I really was not expecting a big box of yumminess.  I read the card and couldn’t make out the name very well, then I looked at the address again, knowing it seemed familiar and everything finally clicked together. A reader named Emma bid on a ton of stuff for Suzie’s bake sale fundraiser and one of the many thing she won was from me (almond fudge cookies) so she had my address from that and sneakily used it to mail me some of her “favorite things.”  Wow, this woman is beyond generous.  Thank you, Emma!

So much goodness! A huge sack of sliced almonds (yay for more almond fudge cookies!), a big sack of dried young coconut (wow so good), seasonings, some major fun dark chocolate (I didn’t even know there were 70% dark chocolate Kit Kats did you?), sipping chocolate, granola, honey mints, coconut sugar, and even some dog treats for Jessie!

I also got some Japanese treats from my friends Kriss & Nicole who moved their family to Japan several months ago.  Kriss used to share these with me when we worked together because his sister always mailed him snacks, so he knew my favorites were the Senbe and included those too. They’re the rice cakes on top–they’re sweet and salty and so good.  Thanks Kriss and Nicole!

I won a giveaway from The Squishy Monster and got a ton of Newman products. I had no idea they even had this large a line!  All of this was so good, though I did give quite a bit of it to my Dad b/c they he loves old-fashioned cookies like gingersnaps and hermits. Thank you Angie! And someone else will be thanking you too soon because I sent a little bit to a mutual friend. :)

And let’s not forget Xena, my warrior princess.  <3

I also got some gifts last month and I’m not going to share all of them since I’m already overwhelmed by stuff with this post, but here’s a little bit.  I got this angel wrap with matching socks, which is like a robe but way cooler, from my sister-in-law, Joan, at our family Christmas party (we get gifts by drawing numbers, I happened to get her gift).

Joan also drew my name for our personal family Christmas gift exchange (we draw names rather than giving gifts to everyone to save money since we’re always broke-haha).  I’ve been wanting a doughnut pan foreeeeevers and Joan got me a set of TWO! One regular, one that makes twisted long johns-oh yeah!

I had to make the long johns immediately because I’m going sugar-free for a while. Aren’t they cool?!

And here’s something I just received yesterday from my friend Erika, who is now a skinny hard core mail carrier:

These are pretty enough to serve dessert in, and bonus: built in portion control. Love it.

So yes, stuff is good, but when you have too much stuff, like I do right now, getting rid of it/giving it away is even better.  So I’m going to do a house purge! In 2011, I purged 111 things from my house in January, then purged 112 things in 2012.  This year, the magic number is 113 things. It sounds like a lot, but this is going to be a cinch. I think I have that many magazines alone to get rid of!  I’ll report back when the house has been exorcised of unnecessary stuff.

What about you?  What stuff are you thankful for right now?  Do you need to do a “stuff purge?”