Christmas movies: I have a type
My partner and I love Christmas movies. Most years, we start watching them the day after Thanksgiving and continue each day until December 25th. The first one we watch is usually Christmas Vacation. The last one is usually A Christmas Story. And in between, well, anything goes: Christmas comedy. Christmas horror. Christmas romance. Christmas classic. Christmas heartfelt.
This year, I’ve been paying more than the usual attention to what I enjoy the most. With the exception of Love Hard (I adore Jimmy Cho) and maybe Trading Christmas (Faith Ford won my heart), I’m not a huge fan of Christmas romance or rom-coms. I might be tired of the tropes. Or maybe nothing about them matches my experience, observations, or fantasies.
Christmas horror is an interesting genre. Most of them are campy and funny. Some are truly frightening. I could do without gore, but I like them. My favorites are Violent Night, Krampus, and A Christmas Horror Story (featuring Bill Shatner!).
I may have too many favorite comedies to list. A Christmas Vacation is a must watch every year. It’s on its way to being a classic. Office Christmas Party with Jason Bateman is hilarious. (I just watched that yesterday!) Bad Santa with my soon-to-be exhusband Billy Bob Thornton. The Santa Clause series.
I have finally figured out that my favorite Christmas genre is ‘heartfelt”. Christmas Chronicles 1 and 2 with sexy santa Kurt Russell. Red One with the Rock and J.K.Simmons. It’s a Wonderful Life with the inimitable Jimmy Stewart. A Bishop’s Wife with Cary Grant. The Holdovers with Paul Giamatti. These are the movies that make my heart sing and my soul long for something I have yet to identify.
Although, I can’t forget Die Hard. It’s in a category all by itself. Rock on, Bruce Willis.
My Mom’s Favorite Holiday Cookie
Full disclosure: This is a picture I found on DepositPhotos. I haven’t made them yet this year because there is far too much going on to bake. But I plan to. In the meantime, you can enjoy them.. They are so yummy!
You might think that lemon is not a flavor of the holidays, but you wouldn’t dare say it to my mom. She loved the flavor of lemons and she loved these cookies. She called them snowballs. I’m happy to share the recipe with you.
Ingredients
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1⁄4cup butter, softened
1 package lemon cake mix
1⁄4teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
Pre-heat oven to 375.
Let’s Make Cookies!
Combine cream cheese and butter. (You can do it by hand but using a mixer makes it creamier.)
Mix in 1/2 of the cake mix, the egg and the vanilla until smooth. (Make sure your mixer is on low if you’re using one.)
Stir in the rest of the cake mix.
Drop dough by teaspoon onto a cookie sheet.
Bake 8-10 minutes.
While still warm, dust liberally with powdered sugar.
Peter Piper picked a lot of peppers.
A bounty of colorful peppers.
Hot Pepper Jelly. YUMMY
We joined CSA this Fall—Community Supported Agriculture. In case you are like me and this is a new term for you, when you participate in CSA you purchase a share of the farms crops. This purchase gives local farms the means to buy their seeds etc for the subsequent growing season, while you benefit from a weekly haul of produce and other products. It is a risk to purchase a share because there is no guarantee of a return, for instance, if the crops are bad or the weather is destructive. But it’s a cool thing to do because it supports local farmers. We need local farmers to thrive, now more than ever.
A Fall CSA is shorter than the spring/summer version. As you might imagine, the variety of possible produce is smaller too. That being said, this year we have gotten an abundance of food. Lots of end of summer corn, tomatoes and melon, winter squashes, pounds and pounds of potatoes, cauliflower, cabbage….and peppers. OH MY GOSH. So many peppers.
Because there was no possibility that the two of us could eat so many, we made a dozen or so jars of Hot Pepper Jelly. Have you ever had it? First of all, it’s easy to make. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be able to do it. Second…it is DELICIOUS. Sweet, hot, yummy with any kind of cheese (especially cream cheese).
I think we might try canning cranberry sauce next. Stay tuned.
Forever grateful
My father was in the military long before I was even a twinkle in his eye, serving in the Navy during the Korean War. He never spoke of it, but given the treasures he kept, it was clear he was proud of his service. My oldest nephew was a soldier in Afghanistan. He served multiple tours as a medic. All that he saw, all that he did, had a profound impact on him. He was never the same after his honorable discharge. My ex-spouse was in the Navy for over a decade. He was an electrician onboard a submarine in a time of relative peace.
Although they all served under different circumstances and joined for different reasons, one thing they had in common was a years-long commitment to defending our country and protecting our rights. My heart fills every time I think of the time their lives were not their own,, the dreams and goals they sacrificed or put on hold.
To the men and women who enlisted or were drafted, or currently serve in any branch of the military, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for your service, your dedication to our country, and the sacrifices you made in defense of life and liberty. Tomorrow, we celebrate you.
My heart honors you and is grateful for you every day.
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Time to try something new.
Ladies and gentlemen, my very first TikTok. Drop a comment and let me know if you think I should do more videos on TikTok, or just admit videos are not my thing.
It shouldn’t be this hard.
Create self care habits and rituals.
One more time, I have set my intentions to take better care of myself. I’m very good at taking care of other people. But remembering to exercise, eat clean, and REST continues to be difficult.
Sure, I can go along for a while but then life happens and I get off track. Again. Then I have to grieve the time lost, pull myself up and dust myself off, and begin again.
So, here I go. Making a fresh self-care plan and trying to figure out what I need to do to be more likely to stick to it. I WANT to stick to it. Anyone want to join me? Maybe we can encourage each other.
Start date September 1.
The Beach is My Happy Place
I love the beach.
Actually, I more than love it. It soothes me. Heals me. I never feel as peaceful or happy as I do when I can see the waves, smell the water, and feel the ocean breeze. Earlier this week, went to a small beach on the Connecticut shoreline. It took me an hour to drive there, and I stayed a couple of hours. I know some people would say it wasn’t worth the time. But it was for me.
Does the beach affect you the same? If so, take a moment to watch this industrious creature and listen to the sounds of the water.
A Moody and Fun Evening #edgarallenpoespeakeasy
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy at a local theater. It was amazing! the actors (who were also the bartenders) performed interpretations of Poe’s work in a very atmospheric setting. It was moving, eery, funny and generally a good time. Of course, Poe-inspired drinks were serve.
I highly recommend attending if they come to your town!
QRCode
In case you want to check them out!
An alter to Poe.
If You Can’t Stand the Heat…
If you live in the wake of the current heat wave, there’s nothing you can do about it.
Except you literally should stay out of the kitchen. Today it was 109 with the heat index. My poor flowers are suffering. Some water today resuscitated them, and we moved all of them to shade in the middle of the yard. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone tended to us like that?
I’ve never been a fast writer, but it’s extremely challenging to write in weather like this. It’s physically uncomfortable, of course. But the scorching temperatures and the New England humidity make it nearly impossible to concentrate. But I’ve made commitments so I keep chugging along. I plan to have a new novella and the final installment in the Living After Midnight series before the summer is over.
Ever hear of the Little Train That Could? I think I can, I think I can, I know I can, I know I can…
Stay tuned.
June 7 Will Always Be a Holiday
There are some events that give you cause for reflection. They may make you rethink decisions you’ve made, or trigger an important memory, or fill you with gratitude. June 7 does this for me. It’s Prince’s birthday.
He’d be 67 if he was still with us. Although there is a hole in my heart from losing him nine years ago, I am ever grateful for the joy and comfort he gave me while I was lucky enough to share the planet with him. His music, the way he sang, and played the guitar like a wizard touched me so deeply. He wrote to my heart and sang right into my soul.
He was also more than that.
He gave me the courage to write and, in fact, inspired many, many stories, some yet untold. He led me to the greatest friendships of my life. He gave me my soulmate. And he saved my life. (The details are here. https://www.trevannrogers.com/blog/2024/4/16/repost-from-4-24-16)
Today, I reflect on having him in my life for over forty years. There is no doubt in my heart—It was always love.
Grow If You Want To.
A Hosta Prayer Plant we resurrected.
If you know me well, you know that I hate yard work. Mowing, weeding, planting, trimming, bugs, dirt... Every bit of it. The problem is that I love beautiful gardens. I enjoy watching flowers grow. But actually doing the work? Ugh.
Fortunately, my partner loves gardens too, and enjoys working with flowers. However, her back issues prevent her from doing everything she wants to do. Over the years, we have taken on a shared philosophy of gardens: Grow if you want to.
So we do the best we can at planting. (That bleeding heart in the middle of the pachysandra? I planted it upside down.) We buy nearly dead plants on sale because we want to give them love and hope. We let everything grow as wild as it wants to, with the exception of growing ON the siding or roof. We hire a great guy to mow and trim and dig big holes. And I get my hands dirty.
The result is that we have wild blueberry bushes, apple trees, and cherry trees on our small hillside. Our pachysandra is taking over half the yard. Little violets are taking over the other half. It’s lovely.
This year, we are going to try to grow vegetables, and sunflowers. Fingers crossed. Stay tuned.
