Case Family Christmas Party 2008

My two bestest girlfriends in the whole world..Mary Jo and Darla. The Three Amigas...still crazy after all these years.

Rose and I and the giant red bling ornament that-could-pass-for a necklace from Tiffany's!

bUnCo is so much fun!

Toni Reynolds hosts December bunco for us each year, and does an amazing job. She made a baked potato bar with out of this world holiday appetizers and jazzy snacks. Toni poured smooooth butterscotch schnapps and Bailey's, and made ice cold Copper Camels for the bunco girls. Thanks Toni! I am so lucky to have such great friends.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

My first SLIM tree - I like it, I like it alot! It didn't take 2 hours to assemble like my big fat BUT beautiful very full tree. Life is good when you have a bit of extra time to do things like bake, shop, wrap, get your Christmas cards done, and visit with friends.

Check out Jingle Bells by the Gap's Merry Mixer Group - it's pretty entertaining!

Christmas Outing

Fred and I enjoyed a night out seeing a movie and having dinner on a snowy icy night. The drive to MH from Boise was wIcKeD. Saw 3 wrecks before my eyes on the interstate. Was VERY glad to get home 1 hour and 20 minutes later.

Holiday Lunch at St. Luke's

Can I tell you how good the food is at St. Luke's Boise? They baked, they roasted, and the leadership team served a delicious holiday meal to all employees this past week. Nice.

Downtown Mountain Home Lamp Post with Holiday Decorations

Just wanted to add another activity to my already busy crazy schedule so.. I decorated the lamp post in front of our Gym, Fitness Plus, for the holidays. Why not add a little jazz to an ordinary street lamp? The big lighted candle is courtesy of the City of Mountain Home. And at night, if you look close, you'll see about 1/5 of the lights are out about three quarters of the way up...as I was decorating I caused a slight electrical surge (and my hand is still a little "numb" from the jolt). Decorating doesn't require a degree in electrical kilowatts and metal, but maybe I should have known what I was doing up there.

Boise State - 2008 WAC Champs!

Western Athletic Conference Champs with their trophy on the Blue Turf. Ya Baby! The Blue Turf was PACKED with Bronco Nation fans (I never could see Suzanne...5'1" in a sea of tall football players and fans..impossible to find the itty bitty daughter of mine).

Senior Vinny Perretta #19

Bronco Stadium

West Side, with the new Stueckle Sky Center on the very tip top.

Boise State perfect season 2008!

How 'bout those Broncos?! Nov 29, 2008
The Broncos lead in every 2nd half of their 12 games.
The most famous Bronco Ian Johnson had his best game of the year and WAC-record-tying 57th rushing touchdown of his career.
Bad news is the Broncos will not get an invitation to a BCS bowl game.

Top picture of Quinn, Marcus and freshman quarterback Kellen Moore taken at the van postgame.

Pumpkin Trifle Recipe

Hello friends! Here is a great recipe for Pumpkin Trifle. Pumpkin Pie can be a bit boring, so I am trying a new twist on using pumpkin this holiday. I made this for Bunco last week and it was a hit.

Wishing you all a peaceful Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Trifle

2 (14-ounce) packages gingerbread mix
1 (5.1-ounce) box cook-and-serve vanilla pudding mix
1 (30-ounce) can pumpkin pie filling
½ cup packed brown sugar
1/3 teaspoon ground cardamom or cinnamon
1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping
½ cup gingersnaps, optional

Directions
Bake the gingerbread according to the package directions; cool completely. Meanwhile, prepare the pudding and set aside to cool. Stir the pumpkin pie filling, sugar, and cardamom into the pudding. Crumble 1 batch of gingerbread into the bottom of a large, pretty bowl. Pour ½ of the pudding mixture over the gingerbread, then add a layer of whipped topping. Repeat with the remaining gingerbread, pudding, and whipped topping. Sprinkle of the top with crushed gingersnaps, if desired. Refrigerate overnight. Trifle can be layered in a punch bowl.

Food

Food. It's my sustenance, my joy, my crutch. Food's always been there for me: through death, divorce, and disheartening news yet never far away during new loves, new friendships, and new jobs. My family was not that unusual at the kitchen table. You were home at suppertime to eat together. You finished what was put on your plate. And dining out often signified some kind of family celebration. Food brings people together: an excuse to go with friends in high school for dinner and a movie; the frequent scene of a first date; large family gatherings at a favorite neighborhood restaurant, or backyard barbeque; and as a "grown-up", a way to stay connected with friends from old jobs or departments. Food holds a particularly warm, fuzzy spot in the hearts of women in our bunco group. We love to cook and prepare food for each other. So, take a nibble here and there, and I'll keep posting pictures of great meals I've enjoyed with friends and family. Don't be shy to leave your own thoughts about food!

Nov 8 - Time Flies and Now it's Time to Go Home

One last lunch with Ann and Rose before Fred and I headed to the Airport and our journey ends.

Airport Fiasco - generous Fred was getting out a few dollars to tip the Alamo driver taking us from the rental lot to the airport. He dropped his wallet apparently in the shuttle van and didn't realize it was gone until just inside the airport. Fred jumped in the next shuttle van to return to the lot and then searched all 14 Alamo vans, but no wallet was found or turned it. Credit cards, driver's license, about $350 cash. (I am in tears thinking he is not going to be able to get on the airplane). We think the driver made a sweep and picked it off. I had all the cards canceled by the time we made it to the gate. Thank you to Delta Airlines for allowing Fred to board with me, and using his Medicare card. What a sad sad ending to a nice vacation.

I knew the sunny vacation was officially over when our plane was approaching Boise and I saw blowing sleeting snow from the window. Ugh. Winter is here.

Nov 7 Cute Coasters in the Enchanted Garden

Fun little shop, and they were decorating for Christmas. Bought an Evelyn and Crabtree room spray, Morrocan Spice. Smells SO nice!

Nov 7 * Dinner at Cafe Alfresco

Dined on our last night in Dunedin at Cafe Alfresco. Nice little spot right on the Pinellas Trail. Ann and Rose brought their neighbor Pat, who has a condo in Cove Cay near Ann, but is a full timer from Canada (about 3 hours north of Detroit..burr). Fred had a GYNORMOUS plate of Cajun Meatloaf. We told ourselves we'd order one meal and split it...of course our eyes are bigger than our tummies and we always seemed to order our own meal and have enough for 2 meals later.

Went over to visit Esther, Ethel Fritts was there too. Esther played 3 songs on her organ for us before parting. The girl is 92 and plays better than a 5th grader! She is such a sweet lady.

Tomorrow we leave, and we are both sad. We love it here.

Nov 7 - Early Morning Bike Ride

I filled the bike tires with air, and took off for a 10 mile ride this morning. Love love love the mornings with the sun shining and the sea air at my side. I decided to take a few pictures of the sites on my ride along with a part of the bike in each picture. A little way to remember where I went today.

BIG scare! As I was making a turn on the bike, my camera fell out of my pocket on the cobbletone street. Oh my God! I was sick - I went back and picked up the camera fearing the worse that maybe the screen was cracked or the whole camera busted. I parked the bike and ran to my camera to make sure my best friend was not smashed. It was not! Eureka! I turned it on and bingo it was working. I peddled home to get Fred so we could head down to the Friday Green Market in downtown Dunedin.

The Green Market was full of fresh veggies, fruits, homemade desserts, and very nice people out for a Friday morning stroll. I took a few great pictures of all the produce when my camera blinked out "Internal Memory Full". What? Huh? I looked and saw NO MEMORY CARD. Oh my God. My memory stick was missing and I was sure it lay back on the cobblestone street. Fred and I raced back, really not sure where exactly I dropped the camera about an hour prior. I pulled down San Salvador Street, and I looked and saw the most beautiful thing (well almost the most beautiful thing) .... my memory stick was laying in the street! I put it in and bam, it worked! Thank you Lord for small miracles.

Nov 7 Friday * Best day yet in Florida!

Highs in low 80's - lots of sunshine - many people in Clearwater for the Ironman - this event will bring in 1500 participants and 5 million $$$ for the city. Clearwater rolled out the white sand for all the visitors this weekend!

You can see in the beach pictures that it was a fabulous day!

Nov 6 * Dinner at Marlin Darlin Grill

First time for Stone Crab Claws for me - I waited two years to have this dinner! Stone Crab Claws come into season around Nov 1 through early spring. I always seem to miss the season. Fred had a full lobster which had him a little frightened at first, and Ann and Rose each had Grouper Oscar with asparagus and crab CHUNKS on top. Joanne the manager gave me all the specials on the phone, and sat us in Karen's section when we got there. She said Karen was the best which she was. Karen "gloved" up and helped Fred pull the meat from Mr. Lobster, and Karen crack one tough claw for me. Ask for Karen's table if you dine at Marlin Darlin Grill on West Bay in Belleair Bluffs.

Nov 6 * 70.3 Clearwater Ironman Competition

Two days until 1500 athletes compete in the Clearwater 70.3 Ironman competition. The athletes will swim in the gulf 1.5 miles, bike 56 miles through Pinellas County, then run 13.1 miles on Saturday, Nov 8. Fred had rushing memories of the full Ironman competitions he did within the last 10 years. The expo, the bikes, watching people swim in the Gulf (wetsuits a must). We even ran into one of the organizers today that we met during the Boise 70.3 last June when we volunteered at the registration table. Small world. Fred completed TWO Ironman's in California, and Suzanne is now training to compete in the 2009 Boise 70.3 Ironman in June.

Nov 6 Sunny Clearwater Beach

The positive energy starts to flow when the sun comes out! The overcast skies left western Florida today, and we had sunshine! We were at the beach by noon, and stayed til 3. Any day at the beach is a better day than ... most everything else!

Nov 5 2008 - Change Has Come to America - Obama is Elected President

Found a unique Florida Obama for President sign, along with the Tampa Tribune, St. Petersburg Times, and USA Today headlines. Historic Election in 2008. Hope to share these papers with my grandkids one day.

Nov 5 Sunset in Dunedin

After 2 days of clouds, the sun came out to make my day, just a few minutes before sundown. I rode my bike to the Dunedin Marina to watch the end of the day. Beautiful...I hope you get a chance someday to watch the sunset from Dunedin.

Nov 5 - Saint Leo's Abbey's, Florida

Stopped by Saint Abbey's. Home of Benedictine Monks. Was very peaceful to go into the chapel and reflect. Met a Monk, bought a few prayer tokens, and then picked an orange from their groves. This was the highlight of Fred's day. The highlight of my day was getting bit by a fire ant when I was in the orange grove - I screamed, ran to the car and tried to put out the fire from the ant bite -- let me just say. Don't mess with fire ants. Run far far away and don't think they can't do damage. They do and it hurts for days.

Nov 5 Dade City FLA

Took a day trip to Dade City Florida - wanted to have lunch at Kafe Kokopelli's - heard SO much about it since Gail the owner is Betty Power's daughter. Betty is my sister Ann's neighbor in Cove Cay. Wow - what a great find! Kafe Kokopelli is a must see in Dade City. The decor is SO eclectic - stuffed deer heads, moose racks, chandeliers over booths, you can't imagine the interesting treasures Gail has added to her restaurant and banquet rooms. I had the best reuben ever, warm butter melted on thick slices of corned beef with swiss cheese - a mile high sandwich. Fred opted for a Cuban Pork sandwich which was one of the house specialty's.

Signs which make downtown Dunedin a delight

I hope Mountain Home looks at adding a functional clock like this in our green area of the old El Rancho lot..you know... turn right at the clock, meet me at the clock, our little town needs a little point of interest don't you think?

Nov 4 -- Sights from Dunedin FLA

Election Day 2008. Life will be forever different tomorrow on Nov 5.

I walked around Dunedin this morning and took a view pictures. City Hall and met the very knowledge and friendly CEO/President Lynn Wargo. We talked about our cities, Dunedin and Mountain Home ID, and new businesses and friends she has in Idaho.

Also stopped in and saw Susan Littlejohn, my favorite and cutest realtor in Dunedin. Susan is a person I would be friends with if I lived full time in Dunedin.

Shopping Finds at the Prime Outlet Mall in Ellenton FL

It was a cloudy overcast day. Not a beach day :( So, of course, what should three girls and a guy do? Head to the Outlet Mall! Fred seemed to have found some great finds, UnderArmor was his favorite store, with Nike a close second. Once an Ironman, always an Ironman. I found a nice necklace and earrings at Chico's, and also stopped at the Grove from some fresh tangolos, and big tomatoes. Fred spent a few bills, and I was a good girl!