Giving Thanks

Things I'm thankful for this year:

• My beautiful, amazing, loving wife.
  
• My supportive and understanding family.
  
• Friends that support me when I need to be supported and challenge me when I need to be challenged.
  
• Tan-Tan and the Boopie Bear
  
• A great job (at least while my employer remains solvent!)
  
• Selling my house after being on the market for only five weeks
  
• Ridiculous high-pitched duets with my wife (at home!)
  
• Opportunities to serve and to give back to our community
• Wedding Workout Plan
• Wireless Internet
• Wonderful cooking from my wife and her family for Thanksgiving Dinner
  
• And for a God that has so richly blessed me this past year.
  

Happy birthday(s)!

I wanted to give a shout out to two lovely ladies who are celebrating their birthday today: my little niece Tanith turns two and my mother-in-law Donna (a/k/a Mrs.Mac) turns some undisclosed young-at-heart age :). We celebrate along with you, and hope that you feel blessed with the love of family & friends!

What can I say, Princess Tan-Tan? I admire a girl who knows what she wants and goes after it with gusto, and you certainly fit that bill! Sassy and smart, you share some qualities of your mama (Debbie) and your titas/aunts (me, Aimee, Mia). You're the only other girl that puts a special sparkle in my husband's eye, and because I love you, you may continue to offer your cheek to him for kisses :). And may you always have that spunk, and that dimply, heart-melting smile.

And while it's pretty common for some ladies to gripe about their mothers-in-law, thankfully that's not the case for me! Mrs. Mac is generous & loving, and as a retired elementary school teacher and now a volunteer at the local hospital, she is a helper at heart. I got such a kick at the Purdue football game where she cheered like it was the Superbowl! :) When the Barton talks about his childhood he often mentions her unconditional support, and I know she will always be a cheerleader for our marriage and our future family.

Happy birthday, we love you both!

The power of touch

No, not what you're thinking! I'm referring to my hubby's new toy, the iPod Touch. I used to tease him about his love affair with his Macbook laptop, but these days he's been stepping out on ole Mac to reach out and touch his new iPod, especially since it picks up our wireless Internet at home. He'll run to check it as soon as he gets home, and I'll look over to see him peering so intently into the colorful icons on its interactive screen that I often wonder if it is relaying state secrets to him or the answers to life's deepest questions. Or maybe he's really the secret agent of our household :). Oh well, I suppose it's my fault since I recently bought it for him as a gift! Actually, when we were on our honeymoon I pulled him into an Apple store as we were walking by and spontaneously suggested that I buy him one of the new iPods on the spot and I could use his other iPod Nano. So he was excited for a hot second, then he suddenly grew thoughtful and said that he would rather wait until he got home so he could research the different new models, and survey his friends about their pros and cons. Sheesh. Anyway, enjoy, my dear!

Our 1st Christmas gift

We recently received this plate in the mail as an early Christmas gift from Mr. & Mrs. Mac (a/k/a the Barton's parents :), as a commemoration of our wedding date, and we think it's beautiful! It already has a special viewing place on top of our new cabinet in the family room. They ordered it a couple months ago, but they are handmade at the Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI. By the way, if you have never been or haven't been to Greenfield Village in a while you really should check out this local gem that we have, it really is an amazing snapshot of history. We're really hoping we can check out the fireworks & DSO performance next year again during the 4th of July week, it was a great time - come & picnic with us!

The inscription that we chose for the plate is an excerpt of the oft-quoted biblical quote Joshua 24:15. While a pretty plate shouldn't have to remind us that our house serves the Lord, we figure hey we can all use another reminder, right?

Made in Detroit

The media is abuzz with talks about a possible government bridge loan to the Big Three automakers.  I would like to state for the record that due to my new familial status (hubby works for GM) and the fact that I was born and raised in the Detroit area and have lived here all of my life, I reluctantly agree that there is "no other option" given the economic ripple impact that would take place here in Michigan and nationally, even if it's a desperate short-term option that may not even get them to the point where the credit market turns around a bit.  However, I simply HATE that fact, because a big part of me wants to scream a stream of gibberish in the car at some of the commentators on NPR that sounds a little bit like "free market!  supply & demand!  it's a capitalist society, people!".  But I don't, and I will suffer in silence (for now) while my husband & his co-workers press on at a company that is quickly running out of options while celebrating their 100th year anniversary without much fanfare.  Cheers.

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Voodoo remedies

That's what I called my newest home remedies for this season's inevitable bout of colds when I was talking to a co-worker recently.  But aside from my usual tactics of a high-dose of vitamin C and an early bedtime, I've added a couple new ones.  Last year, I got on the Airborne tablet kick, which my friend Sarah dubbed "placebo" when I mentioned it a couple weekends ago.  And while I have no idea what its actual effectiveness rating would be in a consumer test against a sugar pill (or SweeTart?) my sister Aimee and I both agree that $6 is more than a fair price to pay for something that we believe makes us feel better, even if it actually does nothing for our physical symptoms!   
 
I stumbled upon the next remedy when I felt the full onset of cold symptoms one night recently. I had sent the hubby off to the gym solo, and was about to curl up on the couch and watch Prison Break when I decided a hot cup o' tea was in order.  I rooted around the cupboards to find a decaf version and came across something that the Barton had brought over from his old house, Throat Coat  http://www.tealand.com/ThroatCoat.asp .  I heated up some water and steeped it as directed, and drank it plain.  Miraculous!  OK, not really in the biblical sense, but my sore throat instantly felt better and my stomach was calm.   I'm now convinced that after a couple of antihistamine pills to help me get through the next couple of long 12-hour work days that ensued, a few more cups of Throat Coat and a pretty intense yoga class Saturday morning ("now, everyone reach up and elongate your side body just a little bit more before taking three knee dips to the floor, raise your arms higher!" -  say what?!?), I was as good as new.  Seriously, try it if you don't mind the hints of black licorice/anise.
 
My last remedy to report on I read about in some health magazine last week on the treadmill.  I picked up a teeny bottle of eucalyptus oil for $5 from Whole Foods, aka "Whole Paycheck" as the Barton likes to call it, and sprinkled a few drops on the steamy shower floor, and voila', an instant Vicks-like mist!  That's pretty much what it smells like, though you can get a variety of scents http://www.goddess-within.com/aucaesoi.html, this one was recommended to open up your breathing.  Good times. 
 
I'll sign off now to eat my vanilla almond granola bar from Trader Joe's for an afternoon snack, but before I do that I'll note here that I have not turned into a crunchy Generation Xer, so not to worry.  I'm still a regular retail-consuming (bad), Lexus-driving (bad for my husband's company, I know), sushi-eating, shower-singing, recycling, tattoo-bearing, Martha Stewart-watching, yoga-practicing, oatmeal-raisin-cookie-baking, churchgoing, conservative, Crackberry addict who loves her family & friends and weeps at the end of every Extreme Home Makeover episode.  Yeah, that's right.  So don't even try to slap a label on me.  Holla!
 
P.S.  Hope you're feeling better honey!

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Biscuits and Gravy

On our way back from Purdue, we stopped at a hotel that had a free breakfast in the morning. As hotels are one-upping each other with their breakfast options, this hotel offered a couple of hot breakfast options. One of them was the awesomeness that is biscuits and gravy. I rarely eat biscuits and gravy - I would never make it for myself, and I think I've only had it a couple of times in the past year. But there's something about white sausage gravy, flavored with black pepper, on top of fresh biscuits that I love.

Liv doesn't understand biscuits and gravy. Nor did two English couples at our hotel. While I was eating, one couple was staring at me, trying to figure out what was going on. When the other couple came down for breakfast, the first couple tried to explain to the second couple that you put this gravy on a biscuit and eat it. They seemed disgusted by this breakfast choice, to which I have one response: blood sausage.

But maybe it's just me. So let me ask - biscuits and gravy: no way or yes please?