RISE AND SHINE, PEOPLE!

God Save the Queen, I have SO FREAKING MUCH to do this week, and it's going to be AWESOME!  More details after this little gem...

... I think that about the birds outside, too!!!

So, CGtY is officially 5, which means she's promoted herself in her make believe play to CEO and Supreme Ruler of DisneyPrincessBarbieFairyLand.  She's a gracious monarch, though.  She lets me be  in charge of the Mermaids, and CGtE is now the Head of the Department of Entertainment (a promotion from last year's Lead Servant and Scapegoat).  He and I can't help but agree that the pay is lousy (we are rewarded for our loyalty with more and bigger messes to clean up), but the creative license perks are pretty sweet (I can make the Mermaids stage a rebellion and flood DisneyPrincessBarbieFairyLand unless Her Majesty meets their demands.  Like, eating all of her dinner or getting her pajamas on, say.)  Her subjects (who, among the masses, include Cinderella, Rapunzel, Merida, 5 of those Ty animals with the freakishly big eyes, and about a dozen Littlest Pet Shop critters that hurt worse than Legos when I step on them in the dark) adore her and have good cause to place their (inanimate) faith in her ability to rule; there hasn't been a flood yet.  Unless you count the bathtub, which we don't- that's Her Majesty treating them all to a vacation at the beach.

Anyway, yeah, back to my metric ton of stuff to do this week:

Tomorrow is a full day of finishing the Spring Cleaning.  Every blessed thing in the house has been disturbed, dusted, wiped down, disinfected and rearranged.  I wish I had taken a photo of the area under the stairs before I redid it, to show the difference.  It looks amazing now!  I still have the dining room and downstairs bathroom to complete, as well as detail mopping the kitchen.  (Detail mopping- on my knees with a cloth and bucket, a la Cinderella.  Good time for prayer and worship, that!)
Aside from those couple of things, most of the stuff was done last week and just needs "touchups".  Well, except for my room, which always needs to be done- but no one is going to see it, as it's in a permanent state of reinvention so it doesn't really figure in.  And I'll have to repeatedly pick up the trail of toys that the CGs strew behind them as they go.  Cleaning a house with young kids in it is like trying to file and organize papers on a desk while a fan blows on them.  Or brushing your teeth while you are eating Oreos. Ok, no, ew.  The first thing.  The second one may be an effective analogy, but it's still a really gross mental image!

Tuesday evening, some friends of ours will be visiting from Leeds, UK.  I can't wait to see them!  It's going to be fantastic!  Later in the week I'm going to be meeting another friend I haven't seen in a long while for a late dinner, so I'm looking forward to that as well.  Nothing is better than good food and good friends gathering to visit! :)

Also this week, I've got to solidify my posts for the Annual A-Z!  I'm doing a "Snail Mail" theme (well, of course I am!  What else would it have been!) and I still have to come up with a few of the trickier ones.  You know.  Q, V, X, Y.  Surprisingly, U, W and Z were all easy ones.

Lucy Jane has been hibernating for too long and has to get busy on some stock pieces for the upcoming Hydrangea Fest!  Only 8 ish weeks to go!  Yikes!  More giraffes and hippos and sea turtles and stuff to make.  The CGs think it's done by magic.  Oh, they've seen the machine going, and they have seen the process from start to finish.  But usually the main work is done while they are at school or asleep, so one minute it's a pile of fabric and then >POOF!< there is a shelf full of cuddly plush animals (that, ironically and maddeningly, they are not allowed to touch and/or play with! LOL!)  I'm making them some of their own.  CGtE hasn't decided what he wants yet, but CGtY is painstakingly choosing the fabric for her custom unicorn.  Someone made a comment somewhere- the cobbler's children being barefoot... or something along those lines. Well, fine.  Now my CGs will own Lucy Jane made Funky Friends.  I can't wait to show Pauline (the pattern maker) when I get them done. :)
(Just so we are clear, it's not as if the CGs don't have a bunch of loved plushies already.  They do.  But somehow my love of sewing Funky Friends and my compulsory need to be a sometimes indulgent parent seem to have collided.)

And I'm working on my backlog of letters to answer.  I have it down to around 30 now.  This past week was awesome and brought letters in from as far away as Hungary, plus a stack from all around the US.  I am loving the new friendships I have made through LetterMo, and the continued correspondence from long-established pen friends.  It's a wonderful and important part of my daily life to send and receive letters!

Then Friday I'm hosting a 31 Gifts party!  I LOVE 31 stuff.  I have a demi purse in "peacock paisley" (now retired, sadly) that I use ALL the time, but I have my eye on that Cindy design, and that drool-inducing Organista bag... !

Ok... I've rambled on long enough!  Time to crash in the bed and tackle that list of awesomeness in the morning at 6 a.m.!  Goodnight, my dears!

Seafood Noms

Any seafood lovers out there?  Show of hands.  I see you over there, Florida! ;)
I wanted to share a recipe with you that I made up on the spot the other day.
This will make 8 - 10 servings.

Get 3 boxes of this:

Some of these (thawed).  They are the little ones; Mediterranean sea scallops, not bay scallops.
(I got the frozen bag and thawed and used about half- ish.  Maybe 2 cups worth?)

A package of this (chunk style):

And a box of this:

Prepare the pasta according to the directions.  While it's going, prepare the shrimp according to the directions.  When the shrimp is almost opaque, but not quite, add in the scallops and crab and cook another 5 or 6 minutes.  Drain the pasta, put it in a serving dish and mix in the seafood.  Be sure you get all of that lime sauce in!

This tastes good with cheddar biscuits, salad, and green beans as side dishes.
If you make it for yourself, let me know how you liked it! :)

A Swinging St. Patrick's Day Weekend

It's been a great St. Patrick's Day weekend over here!

I spent Friday night in the company of many, many friends, tearing up the dance floor at the monthly GA Tech swing dance!!!  I danced from 8-Midnight and then some of us went to the local Steak N Shake until around 2 ish.  I crashed in bed at around 2:45, with sore feet, aching muscles and a huge grin on my face.  That's the most social fun I've had in a while and I am so looking forward to next month's shindig! :) :) :)

I clean up rather cutely! Though, this pic was taken
before I stopped by to see a friend at a salon and
wound up getting a bangs trim and curls done! :)

Here's a short video- I didn't take many photos or movies CAUSE I WAS DANCING! :)

Yesterday, Mum and I ran general errands around town and then went and got our nails done.  A rare treat for me, that I thank her for!  I took this photo of my "dressed up for St. Patrick's Day" self whilst waiting for her to get done with her mani-pedi:

Green shirt and green nails (Kiwi Kiss by Salon Perfect),
 plus the shamrock necklace that the Bestie gave me for Christmas!
No chance I was getting pinched! LOL

Then we met up with some friends at the Douglasville Irish Bred Pub.  I'm completely temperance.  I don't drink anything alcoholic whatsoever.  But their food is wonderful!  I had the Blarney Burger and sweet potato fries.

Source

There were Celtic dancers doing Riverdance type musical stampeding. (I can't imagine what it sounded like downstairs!  It's a historic building, so I'm fairly certain it may have seemed like the ceiling was going to cave in!) Sorry, I wasn't able to get a photo of the dancers.  Too many people in the way and they were jumping around so much, the camera couldn't focus. Oh, and there was also this guy:

So grainy- but better than no photo at all, I suppose!

We stuck around until around 9 ish and then headed home so I could write a few reply letters (the backlog is stacking up! I also still need to finish taking photos of the incoming for the Flikr albums). After Friday's shenanigans, it was a good idea (however boring) to go to bed at a decent hour.

Today has thus far been spent quietly, catching up on the blogs I read; writing letters, posts, and to-do lists for the coming week; and getting my game plan down for making the most out of the hours that will compose tomorrow.  Because I have a metric ton of stuff to do that must get done if all of my other plans are to ever happen.  (This is what procrastination does to you, kids.)  I have one of those B12 energy shot drinks on hand if I end up needing it, but I'm hoping to be able to get the right amount of sleep tonight so that I won't have to open it.  Kind of nice to have a back up plan, though.  Those dust bunnies better live it up now.  They'll be obliterated in the morning. :)

I hope you have had a marvelous Green Weekend, my dears!  Don't forget about the giveaway happening on Friday!  See you soon!

Tea Themed Giveaway!

I am so blessed.  Seriously.

I have a dear friend (who wishes to remain anonymous), who does not have her own space in the blogosphere, but who regularly delights in the comments and goings on of you who read The Modest Peacock that I share with her.  She says you are some of the highlights of her day! (I'm looking right at you, Muskoka River, Square Tooth Girl, Feathered Nest, Daily Dodo and all of my Snail Mail related blog rollers!!!)

A fellow tea drinker like me, she has asked to partner with me and contribute items for a Tea themed giveaway to celebrate the signs of spring that are popping up here in the South!!!  Isn't that the sweetest thing!  Of course I said yes!!

Together, we are offering a goody package that will have the following items in:

• One Old Country Roses by Royal Dalton Demitasse teacup and saucer set
• One box of Twinings Tea - Variety set (Eng. Breakfast, Irish Breakfast, Lady Grey, Earl Grey)
• One package of Biscoff tea biscuits
• One box of Pims raspberry tea cookies
• One jar of Sweetwater Creek Farms local wildflower honey
• One tin of sugar cubes
• One box of International Delights French Vanilla creamers
• The current issue of Tea Time magazine
• One custom, one-of-a-kind beaded stretch bracelet, made by yours truly
• One set of notecards by Pooch and Sweetheart and a cool pen

All tied up with a fancy ribbon and signed with x's and o's!!!

Just leave a comment below to be entered in the drawing!  I'll select the lucky winner at random on Friday, March 22!  Don't forget to send your friends over as well!  "Tea for two" is twice as nice! ;)

Keep Calm And...

Following a random thread of thought down a rabbit hole, I found these gems sprinkled across the internets.  Which are your favorites?  I rather love them all. :)

The original sentiment

After

After a sleepless night (general insomnia), I heard the children wake up for Christmas morning.
After they had come downstairs and gasped with delight over their presents, there was paper everywhere and smiles and laughter and it was wonderful.
After the presents were all open, there was a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast.  Simple, but so good.
After spending time playing games and setting up toys, it was time for them to go to their dad's for his visitation time.  They will be back on Jan. 1st.
After they were gone, the house was too quiet.
After I had lunch and cleaned up the downstairs, I decided to go see Les Miserables.
After I sat down in the theater, someone I hadn't seen in a long time found me and invited me to sit with them.
After the opening overture, I didn't stop crying until the credits rolled.
After the movie, we went to get a bite to eat and catch up on each other's lives for a couple of hours.
After I got home the weather turned downright nasty.  Glad to be snug and safe.
After a good night's sleep, I spent the majority of today job searching and submitting online applications.
After some general blogging, I discovered that my ex married his mistress yesterday.  I thought I would feel something one way or another, or have some sort of response since our divorce was only final Nov 28th, but I didn't.  I don't really care.  Huh.
After I helped my Gran with some stuff she needed, I went back to my job search and was interrupted by 3 different instant messages from good friends wanting to chat.  Gal pal Nikki lives in Savannah and is always ready to tell me how the city looks and what's happening there. I felt loved and cared about. :)
After writing this, I'm ready to go to bed and have a busy, productive, and happy day tomorrow, spending time in prayer, getting caught up on housework, sewing work, more job searching, and writing some long overdue letters.

I'm going to leave you with a great song lyric about "after".  It's by Mumford and Sons.  (Here's the full song if you want to hear it.  I'll likely feature it on a MM sometime later.)

And after the storm
I run and run as the rains come
and I look up, I look up
On my knees and out of luck
I look up...

There will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears
when love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears
Get over your hill and see what you find there
with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.

Christmas Eve Blessings

It's been a lovely Christmas Eve!  I spent the morning making a special breakfast for the Cute Gremlins.  We'd found this marvelous book at the library:

which, at the end of the story, gives the recipe for the traditional British meal of Toad-In-A-Hole (which I first ever heard of in the movie "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" when I was a little girl, but had never actually tried.)  So we gave it a go and it was quite tasty!

Then we played board games and did some laundry/general hanging around the house stuff.  Friend Christina came by for a few minutes and dropped off some presents around the tree.  (She will come back over tomorrow before the CGs leave for their week at their dad's.)  She's only home 40 more days before a return deployment to Afghanistan.  Please, pleasepleaseplease keep her in your prayers!  She left to run errands before church, and we went into town and grabbed a bite of lunch, CG the Elder got a haircut, and we returned home to play more games and watch Christmas movies.  At 5:30 was the candlelight service at church, which was just lovely and filled my heart with such peace.  I do love my church family so much!  Home once again, we helped Gran fix a nice dinner and just enjoy the evening.

The CGs went to bed, "Santa" finished up by bringing the rest of the presents out of hiding and filling the stockings, and now I'm blogging to you, my wonderful friends- wishing you every wonderful Christmas happiness as I head off to bed.  (But not before, in my notoriously creative and last minute flash of artist personality, I finish making a few gifts for friends!!!)

Happy Christmas to you all!!!

Yoga Pants and Girl Scout Cookies

I laughed until my sides ached!  Enjoy these two, but here is the entire 2 hour show.  Watch it with someone you love to laugh with and it will be 2 of the best hours of your life. :)

This Just Takes The Cake

What do this Octopus:

this Sea Turtle:

and this Burmese Python:

have in common??

THEY ARE ALL EDIBLE CAKES!!!  Those are some mad decorating skills!
Which one is your favorite?   I love all three, but I'm really loving that Sea Turtle in the middle.

Here's more info on the creators:
Octopus cake: Karen Portaleo of Highland Bakery, right here in Atlanta. Here's the bakery website.  Here's her Flikr stream with more amazing photos.  She modestly asserts that she's entirely self-taught. O_o  Well done, Karen.  Simply breathtaking!
Sea Turtle cake: Louise Hill of Love To Cake, in London, UK.  Here's her website. And here is her Flikr stream.  Look for a Harry Potter Sorting Hat that she did.  Fantastic!
Python cake: Francesca of North Star Cakes, in Kent, UK.  She made this cake for her daughter's birthday and (deservingly so) photos of her incredible creation exploded across the internet.  Here's her website and her Facebook page.

These artists inspire me to take what I love doing to a higher skill level.  I hope they have inspired you, too.  And while it would be nothing remotely close to as beautiful as these are, I'm also rather inspired to go bake a cake today (and eat it too!)

Grilled Cheese

Yesterday my friend Carrie posed a question on her Facebook wall:
"What is the best cheese for a grilled cheese sandwich?"
Almost instantly, there were well over 20 comments ranging from the classic (including my own suggestion of deli sliced ham and swiss) to the fancy ("marble rye and Gruyere") to the extremely creative that substituted cheese altogether ("melted banana, peanut butter, honey-cured bacon and cinnamon with fresh fruit"!).  There was even a nice representation of the range from healthy ("hummus, bean sprouts, white sharp cheddar and tomato on wheat") to utterly artery clogging ("Velveeta...that block of uber-processed goodness").

One of her commenters mid-way through the thread made the good point that "ALL THE CHEESE" is the best cheese to grill (agreed!!!), which of course prompted me to borrow an Allie Brosh drawing (copyright hers) from a meme creator page and tweak the text to create this:

Pretty sure I know what we're having for lunch now...  :)

Over At Lucy Jane's...

Lucy Jane has a recent post you may all be interested in.  It hints at a GIVEAWAY COMING UP HERE SOON!!!  (So subtlety was never my strong suit!)

Read all about it HERE and please pass Lucy Jane's blog along to anyone you know who may like it. Please, please, please!  And thank you! :)

Off to fix supper (Flounder fillets with herbs, parmesan pasta salad, green beans, garlic italian toast), and then back to work in the studio for a bit before bed. :)

See you soon, my lovelies!

Krispy Kreme

ATTENTION: Best doughnuts in the world.  

Come to Atlanta.  

Get one when the "HOT" light is on. 

There is even an app for your phone to tell you when and where to find it.

Your taste buds will thank you.  

That is all.

March, Mars and Music Monday

March is here.  It is the third month of the year, which means that 2012 is a quarter of the way over.  (YIPES.  I have to step up my working pace...!)  March is the third month in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and derives its name from Mars.  But not actually this Mars:

4th planet from the sun and one of planet
Earth's closest neighbors (as compared to,
say, Neptune.)

It was named for Mars, the Roman god of war.*

This dude.

But I was never much interested in Roman and Greek mythology, so it may as well be the planet Mars.  Planet Mars brings to mind a piece we played in band these 15 years ago.**  For your Music Monday entertainment, I give you the "Mars" movement from The Planets by Gustav Holst.  Turn up the volume and enjoy!

*According to bits and pieces from Wikipedia and the Internets

** It also brings to mind one of these:

February Gratitudes

February has come and gone!  It was a busy month, filled with good friends, letters in the mailbox, and so many blessings to be thankful for!!

• 2.29- Cutie Pie Emily making me smile every 5 minutes!
• 2.28- Dayquil
• 2.27- Voting
• 2.26- All the bills paid up
• 2.25- Inspiration for new projects and creative goodness!
• 2.24- Fish legs is tasty noms! :)
• 2.23- a whole day to myself to move furniture around, get organized and clean things up
• 2.22- Taking Gran out shopping
• 2.21- Fun time with kids, making green slime :)
• 2.20- Friend's surgery went well
• 2.19- Getting GRACED by 2 wonderful friends. You two are such blessings!!!
• 2.18- Good doctors for my Grandmama
• 2.17- Musical Numbers
• 2.16- Fantastic Bible Study time!
• 2.15- Half price chocolates/Valentine's candy
• 2.14- Friend who sent me Mr. Darcy in the mailbox and made my Valentine's Day not so horrible
• 2.13- More letters in my mailbox
• 2.12- Email about things relating to The Other Me that made my entire year!
• 2.11- Heat and warm blankets as the temps drop super fast outside.
• 2.10- Two people I love have a Birthday today!
• 2.9- A few questions answered
• 2.8- I found a few awesome treasures at the thrift store!
• 2.7- Letters in my mailbox
• 2.6- My brother-in-law, who has a birthday today
• 2.5- Someone who came to church
• 2.4- Strong headache medicine
• 2.3- The freedom to make a few long term plans
• 2.2- Pretty paper to write letters on
• 2.1- Meeting new friends through the Lettermo challenge

November Gratitudes

While the first thing that tends to jump to people's minds at the word 'November' is likely Thanksgiving Day, I did my very best to not lose sight of my blessings from the first day of the month to the last.  I am blessed beyond measure.

• 11.30- Leftover 'Fish Legs' from our date at Joe's Crab Shack
• 11.29- Jake's home improvement accident involving a work knife and his arm could have been so serious. I'm thankful he didn't die. No, really. It could have gone that way and God kept it from being so.
• 11.28- Tallied up the hours scheduled for this week and it merits a low, "how awesome is this!" whistle
• 11.27- Excellent message at church from Pastor Godwin
• 11.26- Same as yesterday
• 11.25- No fights breaking out in our store
• 11.24- Happy Eat-Yourself-Into-A-Stupor Day! :)
• 11.23- Quick closing at work so that we could come home and get ready for Thanksgiving.
• 11.22- Grocery shopping by myself for some quiet down time
• 11.21- Several friends are expecting! I love new babies!
• 11.20- Choir practice and cute pass-along clothes from friends
• 11.19- A soft bed to sleep in
• 11.18- Sturdy shoes
• 11.17- Great day at work, wonderful last Bible study class, a good car to run all over town doing errands in, and books waiting for me at the library. :)
• 11.16- I GOT THE JOB!!! :D
• 11.15- A good rainy, snuggly kind of day to get my room cleaned up and then write letters and catch up on other work
• 11.14- Quiet time writing letters at the new library
• 11.13- Church and bringing Christina with me! :)
• 11.12- All day of a gorgeous wedding and wonderful people to photograph!
• 11.11- Getting an elephant made and delivered and getting to have a chocolate peanut butter milkshake afterwards
• 11.10- Getting to tour the wedding venue early to compose some shot ideas
• 11.9- My pastor
• 11.8- Morning: spending time at the new library while Emily was in daycare. Writing letters, finding books for myself and letting the older 3 kids browse. Also thankful for my right to vote. Evening: spending time visiting with my friend Adam Jones.
• 11.7- Quality time spent with Emily at the new library and grocery shopping
• 11.6- My mother in law coming to church with us before she had to head back to south GA
• 11.5- Morning: The new library is open! Evening: Going to see Joe M. Turner's magic show
• 11.4- An evening at the opera. So beautiful.
• 11.3- A (once again) stellar Bible study session
• 11.2- Dayquil
• 11.1- My awesome Aunt

Thanksgiving Irony

This time last year, I wrote this post about what I'm thankful for.

With the exception of having a Honda Odyssey instead of the Buick, and my job being different, this year's list is exactly the same as last year's, down to the box of cordial cherries! LOL

But I do have way more to be thankful for, even if it doesn't all get mentioned.  Like, this year more than last year, I'm thankful for the penpal letters and cards that have shown up in my mailbox these past few months.  I'm thankful for so many new blog friends.  I'm thankful for my Gran's hip surgery to have gone so well.  I'm just thankful.  For so much.

I'm off to the kitchen now, to pop some gossamer spice cookies in the oven for tomorrow!  We're going to Atlanta to be with Husband's family (his mom's side in the a.m., and his dad's side in the afternoon).  And after I am full up with all of that food (glorious food), I'm going to sleep as long and hard as I can, because I will be working retail on Black Friday and Saturday! :)  I've missed it, though, and I'm looking forward to helping people find what they need for Christmas gifts and projects.  I LOVE my new job so much!

Happy Thanksgiving, my loves.  I am thankful for you.
Until Sunday,
Jenny

Oooga Booga! :)

It's Halloween!  We don't celebrate Halloween, per se, but we do attend this MASSIVE Fall Festival that our church hosts every year.  This is the 21st annual festival.  I've just dropped off these 4 cakes for people to win at the cake walk:

Frank is going with us.  If I'd had more time, I would have dressed him up as FRANKenstein, but I barely had enough time to get all the rest of this stuff done (and some of the sewing still isn't), so ... meh. Jenny Halloween pun fail.  But there is always next year.

I'll post photos on Friday of Frank at the festival (hint for his costume:  I used a roll of toilet paper) and some of his other Autumn-y Adventures.

Today is also the last day of NaBloWriMo!!! I did it! :)

In quick mail news, here is the mail from Friday:

A letter from my awesome Mother-in-law, and a Halloween card from a friend that says "If thinking of you made me any happier..." And the inside says "I'd Glow in the Dark!"

For today's Music Monday, here is my favorite rendition of the Harry Potter main theme.  Drool.  I want to play piano like that!!! Awesomeness!!!  Enjoy your Spooktacular evening and stay safe!