Yep, It's Christmas!

If you've been brave enough to go out shopping, I'm sure you've noticed they've already got the Christmas stuff up. Actually it's been out there for a few weeks now, but now I'm hearing the music. I love it! (Although for my sister who works in retail - I am so very sorry.) This year, I'm so excited I've got a great head start because I already have a holiday card to send out. If you haven't heard of it before, check out Scrapblog.com. I used it to email out a birth announcement slideshow to all of my friends and family when Marisa was born. Now they have a really cool feature where you can design your own cards and have them printed. They held a contest to design holiday cards and my design won! I won fifty free prints and a prize from Digital Scrapbooking Magazine. I'm not sure yet what they're sending me, but I'm supposed to get something in the mail any day now! Here's my winning card...

Surf and Sand Birthday

Hello again! 

So - what did I get for my birthday?

Well, first of all I was taken out for sushi in Laguna (at Sushi Laguna) by Scott (my awesome hubby).  We met some of our ER friends and drank beer and ate a bunch of random, crazy sushi (thank you Dave Whittaker). 

We then all headed out for drinks at a local bar in Laguna.  It was actually pouring rain in Laguna which made for a very unique and special night.  I am so tired of how hot it has been in California that I was very happy to see the rain (even though it was still quite warm outside).

Scotty then surprised me with a night at the Surf and Sand Resort in Laguna Beach.  See the awesome pics above.   Our room had a balcony over the crashing waves on sand (super loud and really extra cool with the rain!)  Thank you Gant Pammy for the evening away from our little monsters (Scott's mom - our official "nanny" kept our little guys for the night!).

Wednesday morning I was treated to a day at the spa at the Surf and Sand while Scotty took my day shift in the ER (what a total benefit to have a husband who works at the same hospital as me!).   What a treat! No work and a day at the spa!

Had dinner with my mom and dad on Wed night and came home to meet my husband after his long day of work in the ER.  

What a life!

Well - tomorrow is a day off - day with the family then we'll be celebrating our official Thanksgiving Chez Wendy (my sis) on Sunday (pics to follow - I promise!).

So - happy weekend to everyone.  Hope everyone is recovering from Thanksgiving and thank you to all of my friends for a great birthday!

Cindy

BIRTHDAY THANKS

A BIRTHDAY by Christina Rossetti

My heart is like a singing bird

Whose nest is in a water'd shoot;

My heart is like an apple-tree

Whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit;

My heart is like a rainbow shell

That paddles in a halcyon sea;

My heart is gladder than all these

Because my love is come to me.

Raise me a dais of silk and down;

Hang it with vair and purple dyes;

Carve it in doves and pomegranates,

And peacocks with a hundred eyes;

Work it in gold and silver grapes,

In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys;

Because the birthday of my life

Is come, my love is come to me.

Today is my birthday.  37 years old.  Not much to say, at first, about turning 37.

Some people may think that this might be a hard birthday.  You know - we live in Southern California.  We are surrounded by gorgeous 25 year olds with great bodies every day.  And yes, I may have been thinking a month ago that this might be a tough birthday.  My butt is not as firm as it used to be and I certainly hardly ever have time to go to the gym these days.  OK - the treadmill in the corner of this room (in my home office) has only been used twice (a gift last Nov 25th from my hubby on my 36th birthday).  But recent events have forced me to reconsider.  This is not a bad birthday.    

About 3 weeks ago I learned that one of my closest friends from high school had been hospitalized with metastatic breast cancer.  She had been diagnosed about a year earlier and had done everything (bilateral mastectomies, chemo and radiation).  This is one of those long time, forever friends of mine.  Paula dated Dave in high school.  I have been friends with both of them since then.  They've dated on and off - you know, one of those crazy on and off type love affairs.  They had two children who are now 12 and 14.  Our lives had taken us in different directions - we would go years without talking and then jump right back in to where we left off. Last time I spoke with Paula she was doing great.  Dave and her were on one of their "on" periods.  This was over 2 years ago.  I did not even know that Paula had been diagnosed with breast cancer.  

Paula passed away 10 days ago.  I did have the opportunity to visit her in the hospital before she passed.  But this has been a hard time.  Of course I miss that I will not have my friend and regret that I had not been a much, much better friend.  We all love Paula.  Mostly though I am saddened that her 2 kids will be without her.  My heart is still breaking for this family.  

Paula would have had her 37th birthday on December 22nd.  Her funeral was a week ago today. She will be greatly, greatly missed.  I will always hold this great memory of Paula, huge smile on her face, throwing up her arms over her head and yelling "Woo-hoo!" I don't remember what this was over but she was celebrating something with me.  That was Paula.  This is what I will remember.

So today I am not going to be anything but completely thankful for my 37th birthday.  I am blessed beyond belief to be healthy and happy with great friends and family.  I have a great husband and 2 fantastic boys.  Max and Keirnan are 4 and 2 and both got yelled at this morning for "bad additudes!" OK, Keirnan also got in trouble for spitting at grandma (just a rasberry but still!)  

I have only great things to be happy for today.  And yes, hubby has something planned for us tonight.  I am a very, very lucky girl.  And even though I am not super religious, it is at times like this that I must stop and say "thank you" - to God, to Buddha, to whatever you believe in.  I am truly blessed. 

So, what do I want for my birthday? Everyone is asking...  I really can think of nothing except another year (at least) of health and happiness for all of us.  What can you all get me? Just each of you please contact one of your long lost friends, one of your "Paula" friends - just call or email and see how they are.  Be a better friend if you can and enjoy every single second that you've got.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL OF US!

MISS YOU PAULA  XOXO

I heart Thanksgiving. (and FoodNetwork.com)

I just went to the store today and picked up a frozen 15lb Butterball turkey. I really hope it thaws out in time. It should. I've done this for years now and yet every year I compulsively check and re-check all the turkey calculators for size recommendations and cooking times. There was a woman there frantically tossing them around in the freezer looking for a 24lb turkey. That would take even longer to thaw so I'm pretty sure I'm good. 

I've been cooking Thanksgiving since I was probably about 20. It all started because my dad saw me cooking dinner for a boyfriend one day and said, "How come you never cook for me?, I see how it is." And so, out of guilt, uh I mean love, I decided I would attempt to cook Thanksgiving dinner for the family. I watched an episode of Emeril doing a spicy Cajun pepper stuffed turkey with boudin stuffing. I made roasted garlic mashed potatoes from scratch for the very first time and threw in lots of cheese just for fun. I don't remember what else I made but I remember my family raving about it and telling me it was the best turkey they ever had and that I was now in charge of Thanksgiving from here on out. 

It was step one of turning into my grandmother - equating the amount of your food that everyone eats with how much they love you. 

By the way, I have also achieved step two - constantly asking how it is and offering more and more when they've already said NO THANK YOU a thousand times. (Step three is getting upset when they say no. I have to stop myself at this point and remember not to take it personally. Their stomach is only so big and it's rude to unbutton their pants at the table.) 

Anyway, ever since then it's like I'm in a contest to top myself from the year before. I spend hours online looking at all of the recipes to see if I want to change anything, and then a few more hours laying out my grocery list and my timeline (which never seems to work out because I always end up with no makeup on, and so hungry I snap at anyone who wants to take pictures of the food and family.) But this year is different. This year, I have a baby so I had to let go and ask for help. I assigned the mashed potatoes to my mother, dessert to my great aunt, and I decided to nix the candied yams. Too many carbs anyway. I'm determined to have my hair and makeup done, clean the house before hand, get the table set the night before, and have a stress free Thanksgiving. And so, after much deliberation...here is my menu:

-I'm going rogue on the turkey and trying a combination of two Emeril recipes. There will be lots of butter and cayenne pepper involved. This is a big deal for me people. I usually don't color outside the lines.

-Paula Deen's Good Old Country Stuffing - it has rice in it!!! Asians and rice...mmmmm, rice.

-Giblet Gravy - I'll make this ahead of time instead of fussing over the drippings just before dinner.

-Fresh Cranberry Compote - it's amazing, it has orange and lemon zest in it.

-Paula Deen's Fancy Green Beans - they come out a little sweet and crunchy with bacon and cashews.

-Glazed Carrots

-Mom's Mashed Potatoes

-Dessert is going to be a surprise!

In case you're interested, all recipes are on FoodNetwork.com and there are great instructional videos on everything from trussing the turkey to carving it. Have fun cooking and Happy Thanksgiving!

MY VAMPIRE HUSBAND!

Seriously though - does he NOT look like he would have made a very HOT Edward?  Maybe for the next movie of the TWILIGHT SAGA - he could play Edward for the next movie - THE NEW MOON - although I hear it is already in production? Or - maybe he could play Dr. Carlisle Cullen.  Yes - I think he would make an excellent Dr. Cullen.  He's cute, he could for sure pull off the whole vampire thing and he's got the whole "ER" thing down.  We are sooo set!

Just looking through old pics and came across this one - from when we were graduating from our Emergency Medicine residency program in Texas.  Doesn't he look like he would make a great vampire! 

Lucky me!

TWILIGHT MOVIE REVIEW

So - just a quick blurb about the movie TWILIGHT:

First - I must ask myself: Oh why, oh why, did I go to the movie this morning?  

You know how people always say that the book is better than the movie? Well - in this case this is really more than true.  I do not understand how anyone could take such a great story - with such fantastic potential and completely screw it up! 

I think that the script must have been really very short.  I do not believe that any of the characters had any lines that were more than 3 or 4 words long.  There was absolutely no character development.  Even Wendy found herself laughing when Dr. Carlisle Cullen (played by Peter Facinelli) walked into the ER - you know - the scene where Bella (Kristen Stewart) is taken to the ER after Edward (Robert Pattinson) saves her from nearly being smooshed by a van in the high school parking lot... It was truly laughable - Dr. Cullen walks into the ER - while putting on gloves (oh - quick side note here - I am a REAL LIFE ER doc and I don't walk into a patients room ever while snapping my gloves into place - seemed very forced to me).  Anyway - back to my rant - Dr. Cullen's face is more than vampire-pale, ghastly - it is like clown makeup white.   

As far as the acting goes - well, I think that Peter Facinelli did a great job playing Dr. Cullen (aside from the make up and the glove-snapping).  I am saddened by the fact that Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) was portrayed as a slightly mentally retarded Edward Scissorhands type and that Alice (Ashley Greene) and Rosalie (Nikki Reed) were not just a little bit cuter.  I can't complain that much about the Alice and Rosalie characters as they did not get that much face time - but I really did expect that these two (actually that the entire Cullen family) would be breathtakingly beautiful and I really was waiting for some super model type beauties to show up in these roles.  

Edward was of course very good looking - very hot and he did a great job looking the part.  But, I feel like he was not given enough material to really work with.  His character could have been really great but again, really limited character development.  I was really bummed that they did not give Robert Pattinson a better script - a better movie to act in.  So Robert - you are not blamed for this one - I think you looked awesome and did what you could.  I will picture your face as Edward while I finish these last two books of the Twilight Saga. 

Elizabeth Reaser (she played Esme - Dr. Carslile Cullen's wife) did a great job.  Also - not much camera time but she looked great and her character seemed different than the crazy little chick she played on Grey's last season.  Nice job, Elizabeth. 

OK - that's all I've got today as a movie critic.  I think I'll go back to doing what I do better - making funky onesies and cute little dresses and of course - being a real life ER doctor.  Maybe I will try that glove-snapping trick as I walk into my patients rooms tonight.  Hmmm....