feeling right this time of year

How great is this time of year?

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. Jen spent the night with us Wednesday in preparation for Thursday’s big gathering of Kell’s family at Luckett Lodge in Brandon. Even though I still don’t know about half the people there, it was great to see and visit with those that I did know. I am certainly thankful for my husband’s wonderful family, even though I missed my own.

Those cute Alexander girls.

What's with the face, Coug?

After all the Thanksgiving festivities, we got a lot accomplished. I bought some knobs for my living room from our beautiful new Anthropologie store (I only went 3 times in a week) along with this year’s new ornament – appropriately, a little house. We also saw Four Christmases, picked out our tree, got it home and in the stand, adjusted it at least 3 times (still leaning), trimmed the leaning tower of Frasier Fir, finished a book (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - LOVED it), wrapped all the gifts and decorated my mantle (see below, obviously).

Marshall Ramsey’s question of the day today was about favorite Christmas TV specials, and it reminded me of how many I still enjoy today that were a part of my own childhood holidays. Here are mine…

1) Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the animated version, of course). This one takes the cake hands down. No competition.

2) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I love those little felt characters, and I can probably sing you all the songs. Seriously, an elf that wants to be a dentist? It doesn’t get better than that (exception: see #1).

3) A Charlie Brown Christmas. Leave it to Charlie to remind us of what Christmas is really about – complete with the Christmas story from the Bible. Do you think you could do that nowadays? I think not. And that sweet little tree…

4) National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. I’m embarrassed to say that I actually prefer the DVD version because of all the “color” TBS leaves out. “Eddie, if I woke up tomorrow morning with my head sewn to the carpet, I wouldn’t be more surprised than I am right now.”

5) A Christmas Story. I absolutely love that TBS plays it for 24 hours straight on Christmas day. That lamp would add a lot to the décor in my living room.

On a sad note, farewell to Coach Croom. He resigned from his post as head coach of the Bulldogs on Friday after 5 years at the helm. Though the outcome of many of the games may not have been what we were looking for, no one can question his historic impact on our university nor his unwavering devotion to his team and staff. No matter the tallies in the W and L columns, I truly believe Mississippi State is a better institution because of him. Godspeed, Coach.

And now for another Delicious Dish! Kell had this dip at a friend’s house and bugged me for days to get the recipe. It would be great year-round, but we gathered around a bowl of it before Thanksgiving.

Mexican Corn Dip

2 cans mexican corn ,drained well
1 small can green chilis, drained
8 oz mayo
8 oz sour cream (1 small container)
2-cups shredded cheddar cheese
pinch of sugar
1 bunch green onions chopped

Mix all ingredients well. Chill. Serve with Fritos (or Scoops – Kell hates Fritos).

One last thing…I kind of want some Converse sneakers. Is that weird?