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November 25, 2007

the family finn is back for a few

tessy-n-me have been kickin' it with steve, connie and the ben for the past few days...

wishing them the funnest fun on their trip to the carribean!

Posted by Meagen at 02:34 PM | Comments (0)

November 22, 2007

it's through the woods to tully & sue's house we go!

well, it's not the serious woods, it's just the kinda woods....

as some of you might have suspected, it was KINNON'S FIRST THANKSGIVING!

here you see kinnon in the company of grandpa and grandma perry! now, i know i'm totally prejudiced, but i'm telling you cutest.kid.ever. i would have to say that the super-soft brown corduroy pants, and turkey topper, did not hurt the cute factor any.....man! babies are so super snuggable!!!! it's got to be some kind of olfactory response.....it's just too extreme to be anything else!
suzanne made a most lovely meal, including way too many scrumptous appetizers indulged in far too greedily. i had no idea that i was going to be served up such a loverly piece of salmon (at other thanksgivings, i usually do the "side dishes", when doing the traditional meal, which usually do more than satisfy!)!!! it was more than obvious that a lot of time, passion, and talent was put into the whole affair. SUZANNE, COULD YOU PLEASE TAKE YOUR RIGHTFUL BOW?!?!?!?

in addition to tully, sue, kinnon, chuck,sherry, brian (i think he spells it with an "i"), sporty and me, JAY CZELUSNIAK was in the house. (*total aside here; somehow i think jay should have his own television show....like the reality version of 6 feet under. even the last name screams for it as the title of the show; CZELUSNIAK pronounce selloozkneeack...)

this was my first time celebrating thanksgiving with tully and his family, but i've heard jay is a regular. i'll report that many, many, MANY laughs were had, which is, of course, exactly as it should be. chuck carved that bird up like the pro's i've been watching on television all week.

even though i haven't eaten any beef, pork or poultry in about 20 years, i've recently developed an appreciation for butchery...in it's most honest sense. i've been re-reading my old betty crocker cookbook and actually parusing the meat sections (for meals for sporty). people used to buy much bigger sections of meat, and make the different cuts out of them....well, i'm sure it wasn't like everyone doing it, but it was available to cut down on price. anyway, it requires knowledge of animal physiology to cut down a leg of lamb, or a hind quarter of beef, which in a twisted way i can appreciate. i especially appreciate there's no denial or detachment of what you're eating, since it's very obviously a piece of an animal you're cutting down into different cuts of meat... i don't think the stop&shop offers the option of buying a big chunk of animal...you'd prolly have to go to arnold's meats in springfield, since there's no real meat market left in northampton.... but, i digress, most especially since i'm still not eating any beef, pork or poultry... we all did our duty by the meal, but it seemed like we barely put a dent into it...meaning; LEFTOVERS FOR ALL!!!
while i was sitting there, feeling like i could absolutely bust my gut, the dessert spread was layed out...

obviously i threw my busted gut out a window and had at that sugary goodness before i even thought to take a picture. at sherry's suggestion, i went with the raspberry trifle....dude, the berries were somehow fresher than i've tasted in quite some many moons. i made a vanilla cherry walnut crumble to contribute, that was horrid. well, i mean, it tasted fine, but it certainly was no crumble..it was beyond watery.....it went from crumble to ice cream topping in about 20 minutes flat....learn from me people, THAW YOUR FROZEN FRUIT BEFORE YOU COOK WITH IT!!!
***although tessy could not be there, bernice (who has the most spindley legs EVER)

and henry

were. they're wonderful dog's, despite henry's pee-thing....like maggie (the finn's old lab mix), and brandy (ted's old cocker spaniel), and i'm sure like TONS of other dogs out there with this problem; henry pee's when he gets excited, and especially when you're excited to see him, which i usually am... he IS getting much better with age, but when i bestow the love i feel for him, there's peeing....even if it's 2 hours into the visit and i haven't said hardly a word to him that whole time...but then i couldn't take it any more, and i just hadta partake in some bestowing, you know?
the other thing that had to be done, was for the table to tease tully about his xtreme hat head.

now, having lived in san francisco for almost 9 years, i know that there are people out there who will pay good money to get their hair styled in a similar fashion. no one would believe me when i tried to bring this up....*sigh* i find myself missing san francisco at the oddest times....
BUT WHO'D WANNA MISS OUT ON THIS CUTIE PATOOTIE?!?!?!?

man, i gotta get me some pj's like those!!!
i hope everyone had a day they were thankful for, maybe even in the way i was greatful for this day!

Posted by Meagen at 08:34 PM | Comments (1)

November 21, 2007

i saw the white house christmas tree

i was in line at the light, and this HUGE convoy was going by. it took me a little too long to figure out that it was the christmas tree for the white house en route from vermont. it also took a wee bit too longer to dig out my camera to take a pict. but what i'm trying to show with what i did catch, is the back of the last truck of the convoy. they took the tree up to the vets hospital (i think) as some kind of honorary thing, then it was off to another stop of the tour i suppose....

gratuitous cute shot of tessikins.

Posted by Meagen at 04:39 PM | Comments (3)

November 20, 2007

THE FIRST SNOW!!!!

this is a 6:30am shot of the first falling flakes of snow in northampton, ma. even though the weathermen of various channel said it would only be a "dusting", the snow went on and on! there was accumulation here, sir! right here in northampton city!!!
then there was HAPPY THANKSGIVING CHARLIE BROWN and that whole scene with charlie brown, lucy, and the football. man-o-man, that's just a cruel scenario...isn't it? my favorite scene is, and always has been, when snoopy and woodstock set up the backyard for the kids' thanksgiving feast. i have a very specific memory of my reaction to snoopy fighting a lawn chair i was doubled over in pain from the laughter, with tears streaming down my face. today i would say, "i was a mess!" my other favorite part of the show, is when the meal is made... and served. cuz i loved all that stuff; popcorn, jellybeans, toast, etc! now, although the linus bits weren't really my favorites, he was my favorite character for a couple of reasons. 1)his serious monologues were proof unto me that children should be listened to, as they sometimes had something worthwhile to offer.... 2)we both had that blanket/thumb-sucking-thing going on....
sporty came home after the show was over and we had fish taco dinner plate for dinner i would call this a night of nights....

Posted by Meagen at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)

November 18, 2007

tis the season to doll the place up in lights, glass, evergreen and other pretty things

i got the tree up, and the decorations out-n-about...

i decided to go with just the miniature tree this year. i don't know why, but it seemed like the right thing to do. not to mention i wanted to have the tree out on the porch so it could be more easily seen. anywho, as i was unpacking all my ornaments, i realized that they kinda looked like candy in a way...not that i'm planning on eating any....but i can see why little kids would want to!

i know that i'm not going to have a chance to do this on friday, after thanksgiving, which would be my drothers. so, i'm into it now, with festive drink in hand, and holiday tunes in ear!!!!

Posted by Meagen at 08:09 PM | Comments (1)

November 17, 2007

ninja knitter

Posted by Meagen at 04:27 PM | Comments (0)

November 16, 2007

thank-you sage!!!!

i was watching oprah's great american haircut episode the other day, and it dawned on me; i'm one of those people who's got hair that's dowdy and doesn't even know it! do i need to mention that i shed more than the dog while sporting that dowdy hair?!?!?!

*please forgive the blinding color of the shirt.

i put my hair into a ponytail at the nape of my neck with a couple of elastics. sage then cut the hair off just above the elastic. i feel A GAZILLION TIMES BETTER, and i'm sending those 13" to the charity on the show that makes wigs for women with cancer. it makes sense since the show inspired me, not to mention i sent my last braid (15" long braid!, people) to locks of love.

Posted by Meagen at 03:59 PM | Comments (2)

November 15, 2007

my ever-more-entrancing engagement with pushing daisies

most unfortunately, i am writing this entry long after the pictures were taken. i will attempt to watch this episode again on the abc website ->http://dynamic.abc.go.com/streaming/landing?lid=ABCCOMGlobalMenu&lpos=FEP

oh, and did i mention that tessy's wicked cute?!?!?!!

Posted by Meagen at 08:47 AM | Comments (1)

November 12, 2007

i find it interesting...

this tree's leaves turn yellow in the fall

when it's leaves are red in the spring....and, of course, green in the summer...i will provide supporting documentation as soon as i can find it in the archives....

Posted by Meagen at 08:39 PM | Comments (1)

November 10, 2007

roast pumpkin stew

interested?

cut 1 med. pumpkin into manageable sized pieces with the skin still on, but with seeds removed, and place cut side up on a baking sheet. roast at 450F for about 45 minutes; until browned on the edges.
roughly chop 1 onion and 6-8 cleaned button mushrooms. saute these in the bottom of your soup pot with whatever oil you prefer. add 3 cloves minced garlic, along with cumin, tumeric, and cayenne pepper to taste; i used about 1/2 tsp of cumin and tumeric, and 1/4 tsp cayenne. if you are pre-disposed, you might want to add 1 smidge of nutmeg as well, but only if you are pre-disposed. add the spices to the onion/mushroom mix and continue cooking until a bit of brown is sticking on the bottom of the pot.
add 1 can french cut green beans, 1 large can diced tomatoes (juice and all), and two cups of veggie stock
bring to a boil and then simmer uncovered for about 20-30 minutes, or until water has cooked off by half. take off heat. when pumpkin is roasted, and somewhat cooled, cut away from skin, cube, and add to "stew". re-heat all contents together to serve. i have served this over brown rice, whole wheat corkscrews, and whole wheat egg noodles, each of which tasted good enough to lick your plate clean.


also; tessy's wicked cute!

Posted by Meagen at 03:14 PM | Comments (0)

November 03, 2007

can you see it?!?!

it's like a real-life winnie-thur-pooh beehive up in that tree in my backyard.

also; it's starting to get cold....

in my backyard.

Posted by Meagen at 08:09 PM | Comments (1)