Chef Dena

I can not even begin to describe the amount of FOOD in our house at this very moment. I went on one of my random "I'm Betty Crocker reincarnated" rampages this week. As a result, we can barely close the fridge.

Homemade pizza with onion, olives, and bell pepperCheck out the pizza. I made that. Mine actually even came out looking pretty close to the photo which almost never happens. I must say, I felt quite "da woman" last night as my HOMEMADE PIZZA DOUGH was rising in a bowl. I severely underestimated the upper arm strength needed to roll out dough, though. Ow, ow, ow. Also, the kitchen hasn't quite recovered. I got flour on the counters, the floor, the ceiling, and at least one cat. I wet a paper towel to clean up the mess so now there's a light, doughy substance on just about everything.

I made 2 pizzas - soy sausage for Blair and veggie for me. That's in additon to the massive amount of chili I made this weekend. (I simply can not face another bowl of chili for lunch. Can NOT.) I bought the ingredients to make a chicken pot-pie for tonight (veat chicken meat!) but there is simply no room in the fridge. We are eating pizza and chili for the remainder of the week.

We also have a lot of strawberries. I got a call yesterday from Blair at about noon, saying that "tomorrow is snack day at work and I have to bring something." It's like a five-year-old letting you know that the play is tomorrow and by the way, he needs a frog costume.

"How long have you known about this?" I demanded.

Phone silence. Finally, "Ummm. About two weeks?" he finally says.

Luckily, my sister gave me this really cool recipe book of her favorite recipes and it had a holiday section in it, so we managed to whip up individual strawberry cheesecakes. Kind of - I messed up the recipe by using real sugar instead of the confectioner's sugar the recipe called for. Blair said I should have my own TV show called "Cooking with Dena." They'd have to bleep out every other word as I walk around my TV set kitchen yelling, "Damn it! That's not supposed to look like like that," and "Here's a picture of what the dish should look like. If your dish looks like mine, that means you f'd it up."

You'd watch, right? Okay, it's 8:30 am. Sounds like a good time for a little pizza snack. =) Have a great day.

Why I'm A Red Hot Mama

I'm a hottie. Not because of looks or personality, but because I am apparently entering the early stages of menopause with raging hot flashes. Not even 40 and going up in flames. Lovely.

Most of the flashes occur at night. I'll be sleeping peacefully only to awake wondering who set the bed on fire. Drenched in sweat, I fling the covers (and usually a cat) off me, using the sheet to fan myself while I turn my pillow over, looking for a dry spot. When the hot flash passes, I'm left shivering and burrow back under the covers. This occurs approximately 2-6 times/night.

The hot flashes have recently moved into daytime hours, which is a real treat. I was at a birthday party last night and at one point, with no warning, was concerned I might spontaneously combust. The feeling passed within a minute or two but yowza--middle age is not for the faint of heart.

I've actually got a book on menopause somewhere in the house. It was being flaunted by Oprah years ago and I bought it to get an early heads up, but got bored early on because nothing applied to me. Guess what? Time for a closer re-read.

Meanwhile, I may start traveling with a fire extinguisher in my purse. Red. Hot. Mama. Please... make it stop?

Blair's Little Buddy

As promised, here are photos of Blair and our nephew, 19 months, Blair's new best friend. He was attached to Blair's side for the better part of our visit to Atlanta. These are the photos my aunt sent me. More to follow from my Dad and sister, I'm sure.

Eating (or catching) breakfast

Now it's time to read the tractor book...

Now it's time to play puzzles

And now we attack!

Kickin' It Into High Gear

I went computer free this Thanksgiving weekend. It was lovely. But I've missed my little on-line life and am ready to dive back in.

Frankly, my head is swimming with a wide range of "to-do's." (That, and cold medication. The pesky cough/cold insists on hanging around.) December is BOOK WRITING MONTH. Or rather, editing month. I've written drafts of all the chapters for my new cat humor book but need to go back and up the humor, edit for brevity and flow, and make sure it all comes together. It's one of those months where I'll sit down at my desk each morning to discover the great wit and hilarity I've recorded or else I'll turn lightly suicidal, wondering how on earth I'm going to pull a rabbit out of my hat. Regardless, 8 AM - NOON every day is writing time. Afternoons are for everything else, including:

• Calling around for insurance quotes for the APSRC.
• Writing our annual holiday newsletter.
• Sending out invoices for overdue payments.
• Confirming my radio guests for December.
• Sending out a press release.
• Read a friend's book and write an online review.
• Pick out carpet for my writing room. (We finished painting this weekend - YEA!)
• Send out thank-you cards to sponsors from last weekend's writers conference.
• Run, run, RUN!!!

I am in the holiday spirit. The tree's are up, the house decorated, it's cold and rainy outside and warm and snuggly inside. My cold gives me an excuse to eat oatmeal for dinner and then go to bed at, like, 8 PM. I am methodically working my way through six piles of laundry which, oddly, brings me peace.

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. Now let's kick into high gear for the last month of the year!