Shannon’s World

My friend Julie at work knows I am always looking for good book recommendations and sent me one today: The Ride of Our Lives.  Mike Leonard writes about the trip he took with his 80 year old parents in an RV across the country.  It sounds hilarious and also received good reviews on amazon.  The premise reminded me of two things: (1) the 4 trips I took across country with my family in 1981, 1988, 1990 and in 1997 and (2) the trip my friend Micki took with her grandparents in 2000.  She drove them from Indiana to Washington DC for a vacation! 

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. . .Mike and I had a fun but busy weekend.  We had 3 Christmas parties to go to on Friday night and only made it to one.  Our intentions were good. . .but it just didn’t work out.  Saturday was met with lots of shopping, errands and Chrimstas card construction!  We took it easy and watched Wedding Crashers on Saturday night.  Mike won the DVD the previous weekend at Chris and Sarah’s Holiday Party and Gift Exchange.  It was even funnier the second time we saw it.  Sunday we met some friends that were in town for breakfast.  It was great to see them, get caught up and enjoy an excellent breakfast. 

After breakfast we ordered our rocking chair for the nursery.  I am so excited about this chair.  It’s a Best Chair and the most comfortable thing I’ve ever sat in.  Here’s a link, it’s not the exact chair as ours is from the nursery line, but our chair does the same thing: rocks, swivels and reclines!  I am thinking this chair will make late night feedings just a little bit sweeter. . .so excited!

I am always giving Mike a hard time when he comes home from grocery shopping.  He will typically run out for milk and come home with an assortment of candy, sugar cereals and heart clogging frozen foods (this is why I do 98% of grocery shopping!).  I’ll be the first to admit he found a great, healthy non-heart clogging frozen food during a trip to Costco:  Rice, Chicken and Bean burriottos by Elisia’s Gourmet Kitchen.  They’re great for lunch or dinner, only need 2 min in the microwave and have only 3 grams of fat.

People.com has some great stocking stuffers/gift ideas for under $25: Ultimate Gifts Under $25.  It’s got some fun things on there.  I do wish they’d specify when gifts are for dogs, though.  They also have gift guides for Men, Hostess, Mom, Pets, Co-worker and Best Friend.

(love that purse!)

My advent calendar let me know, only 10 shopping/shipping days left!!

The results are in . . .below are the top 10 Baby Names of 2006. For a full list of the top 100 check out Baby Center.

Boys:

1. Aiden
2. Jacob
3. Ethan
4. Ryan
5. Matthew
6. Jack
7. Noah
8. Nicholas
9. Joshua
10. Logan

Girls:

1. Emma
2. Madison
3. Ava
4. Emily
5. Isabella
6. Kaitlyn
7. Sophia
8. Olivia
9. Abigail
10. Hailey

The tree is up and decorated! I found myself with a free Thursday evening, since Grey’s Anatomy was not on. Mike and I got to work and had everything done in a few hours. A few statistics:

# of lights: 450
# of trips to CVS to get more lights: 1
feet of popcorn: 24
feet of wood beads: 24
# of ornaments: ?? we didn’t count!
height of tree: over 7 feet

Mike and I affectionately call this our CRAZY Christmas tree. After decorating, we stepped back and just started laughing at the tree. It reminds me of Pigpen or something. . .branches every which way, disheveled may be a good word to describe it. Instead of a nice pear shape, the tree tends to be more like a rectangle with a point on the top. Regardless, it’s our first tree and we love it!

I almost forgot about this great new breakfast treat until one of my friends just mentioned Paula Deen. My Mom made this Thanksgiving morning and it was a great, somewhat healthier alternative to the upside down, frozen dough, pudding and walnut breakfast cake.

Enjoy!

Granite Steps Country Blueberry Coffee Cake
(from Food Network)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 (12-ounce) can buttermilk biscuits
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Generously grease a 9-inch square baking dish. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon and mix well with a fork. Separate biscuit dough into 10 biscuits. Cut each biscuit into quarters, and dip each piece in melted butter and coat with brown sugar mixture. Arrange in a single layer in baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the oats.

Combine blueberries and sugar in a bowl and toss to coat. Spoon over oats and biscuits and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup oats. Drizzle remaining melted butter on top. Bake for 20 minutes or until cake is golden brown and center is done. Cool for 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Note: My Mom accidentally bought cinnamon rolls instead of biscuits and they worked really well!

It’s Wednesday, which means I am thinking about Grey’s Anatomy tomorrow.  I am sad to report it’s a repeat.  When I was in DC for Thanksgiving my sister in law informed me that Joe, the bartender had a past role on a reality tv show.  Not just any reality tv show. . .he played the fiance on the Fox “hit” “My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance”.  My initial reaction was “NO WAY!”, but the IMDB confirms.  Just wanted to give you something to chew on while we wait for a new episode of Grey’s.

Tree update: our tree is in the house, in the stand with skirt around and angel on top.  We are waiting for the branches to drop, but we may be waiting for a long time!  I’ve strung approximately 24 feet of popcorn, so we’ll see how we do with that.  I also have 24 feet of wooden beads to put on, so I think we’ll be ok if we alternate between the two.  I am thinking we’ll put the lights on tonight.  I love lots of lights on a tree: the small, clear kind.  Hope to have some pics of the tree and the belly soon. 

Despite being under the weather, Mike and I had a great weekend.  We spent the weekend with the Hunt’s and the Gibson’s – attending Jason Oskay’s 30th b-day party together on Saturday night.  Jorie organized a great event to celebrate: a Texas Hold Em Tournament.  Having never played before I was skeptical, but the girls quickly found their own table and had fun. 

On Sunday, Mike and I bought our first Christmas Tree!  We’ve been married for 3+ years but never bought a tree because we are typically out of town for long periods of time over Christmas – not this year!  I am so excited because I have a huge ornament collection; I try to pick up a few when I travel to new and exciting places.  The tree is currently in a bucket of water in our garage.  Hopefully tonight we will get it in the house. . .in the stand, etc. 

Growing up we always had popcorn strung on our tree.  I’ve decided that Mike and I need popcorn, too – ugh!  Big Mistake!  What was I thinking!  What a pain!  I might have 12 inches complete and am dreading finishing this project.