No boogie this year

Tis the season for parties and merry-making. I just received my 4th party invitation this afternoon. All 4 parties are either this weekend, next Friday or next Saturday. Must be a popular time for Christmas parties. Coincidently, we will be in Williamsburg. So I will be going to neither party. Oh well.....

But wait !!! My friends in Malaysia are having their annual Christmas-do on 23rd Dec. And that party is always a blast. If I start digging a hole through the core of the earth, I might get there in time. Maybe next year. I have a very good reason to go home next year. Someone very close to me will be tying the knot. And I am so excited!

Hark ! I think we are ready

Gobble, Gobble

Wow, the much awaited Thanksgiving weekend came and went by so quickly. Too quickly infact. This year I have so many things to be thankful for. One of which is having my parents here with us. The time spent with them here will be precious. I am also thankful for having such wonderful in-laws who makes me feel truly welcome to be a part of this family. They have definitely made my transition to the U.S more pleasant.
And ofcourse, I am thankful for the yummylicious spread on the table. The call of the turkey makes one do insane things. Things like waking up at 5am in the morning on Friday, walking into various stores looking like a zombie and walking out feeling like "Hah!! I got this last travel charger on the shelf for only $4.99!! I bet that man behind me was looking for the same thing... but I got to it first! Na na na na naaa"
Then I come home and tell myself that I wouldn't do such a ridiculous thing next year because sleep cost more than $4.99.
But who knows what the turkey will do to me next year.

Baking a pie and checking it twice

I am making an oooey goooey dark Chocolate Pie for Thanksgiving this year. I made a trial one on Sunday and it turned out edible. (Surprise, surprise)
After my attempt with a Cheesecake last year, I have prepared myself for whatever fate bestows upon me.
Since everyone seemed to like the pie on Sunday, I feel a little more confident now. I am trying out a different recipe for the meringue this time. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed it won't sink.
........... I just timed myself. Took me 2.5 hours to make this pie and to wash up everything. Hmm.. think I'll make something simpler next year.

A day with the Potters of North Carolina

Mom-in-law took us to Seagrove to see some of the finest potters of North Carolina on Friday and arranged to meet Joyce there. The Seagrove area is one of the largest communities of potters with the longest continual history of pottery making in the U.S. We explored the rural landscape and visited the potters in their workshops and studios which was basically their home. Seagrove is home to more than 100 potters. Each potter have their own unique style and artistic skill. Every piece of pottery is handmade and skillfully honed on the potter's wheel, glazed and fired. This skill has been passed on from generations and has contributed to the ongoing Seagrove tradition today.
We managed to visit just a few handful of potters in the area that day. Ben Owen, Avery Pottery. The Great White Oak, Jugtown Pottery, Potts Pottery, Thomas Pottery, WhyNot Pottery just to name a few.

And I bought...... a piece of Rock Soap.

Very nice folks

Sophie's parents invited us and my parents over for dinner tonight. It was really nice and an honour to finally meet her parents, sister and brother-in-law whom we've heard so much about. They are from Belgium and have many interesting stories from all the places they visited from all over the world.
Her mom served us a really fancy meal of salmon quiche, dumplings in dim sum baskets, asparagus, salmon and a wonderful pudding with blackberries and redberries. Everything was truly delicious.
We had a wonderful time. Thank you Mr & Mrs Lefebvre, Sophie, Brian, Mary & Matt, and ofcourse Elise for a great evening !

No, we did not fall off the face of the earth

Elizabeth just made me realize that November is almost gone. Aunty Patsy just called and reminded me that my last post was dated November 8. I am so behind writing any new posts due to lack of time and the shorter daylight hours doesnt help much either. It's not that I have been too busy to write but the seasonal change and the many festivities around the corner just seems to deplete all my brain power. I need to :
- organize my christmas list
- make a trial Chocolate Chess Pie this weekend and a real one for Thanksgiving. Geez!! I didnt realize that Thanksgiving is next week!! Yay and Yikes.
- write Christmas cards
- send Christmas cards
- look into my vacation days (or lack of) for a trip to Williamsburg, VA in December.
- scout out things to do in Mount Vernon
- start wrapping presents !! (my favorite thing to do)
- mail gifts to Malaysia (and keep my fingers crossed they arrive in one piece this time)

Scroll down to see what we've been up to lately.

Last week's adventure

Godma and Uncle Andrew left this morning for L.A. I can't believe they've been here almost 2 weeks and gone. Although we spent most of the time in Myrtle Beach, having close family around just makes it feel like I was back home again. We laughed and talked and talked and played ginrummy till late in the night. So good to hear all the familiar Malaysian slang of "Lahs" and "Lors".

A brief update on what we've been up to last week :

Myrtle Beach was more fun than I expected. We only spent less than 30 minutes on Surfside Beach as there were too many other fun things on the agenda to see and do. We visited the Ripleys Believe or Not Museum, the Ripleys Aquarium, Broadway on the Beach, shopped at outlet malls, fed ducks and fishes, shook hands with a Mime, stuffed our faces at Golden Coral and ate ribs at Sticky Fingers, contemplated going into the Ripleys Haunted House but they only open on weekends and we didnt have time to go back there on the weekend, and watched the Christmas Show at the Carolina Opry theatre (Jason and I were the only "non-senior citizens" in the whole theatre).


Create Your Own

On Friday, we drove another 2 hours down to Charleston. Rode the tram/trolley around the city, stopped at the Market downtown and walked along the shops looking at handmade crafts and the Gullah weaving baskets out of sweetgrass, admired all the horsedrawn carriages and pitying the poor horses ferrying all the silly tourists. Then we hopped on the Grayline for a guided bus tour to see all the historical sights and houses (boring) and made a stop at the Waterfront where we got to see a pool of dolphins (that was nice)
Then we drove back to Myrtle Beach in the evening.

Back in Charlotte, we went to the Southern Christmas Show in town on Monday. It's a a huge exhibit of crafts and everything Christmassy. There were 3 halls of lots of booths which were all very prettily decorated and it brought out the Christmas mood in us.

Why so busy?

We'll be leaving for Myrtle Beach in a few hours. It is a 5 hours drive. My mom, mother-in-law, Uncle and Godma left for the beach on Sunday. Jason, my dad and I will join them there today and stay till Sunday.
I have a ton of things on my list to do before we go and I'm just sitting here not doing anything on the "list". Why? Because I'm supposed to be putting in extra hours of work so that I can make up for Friday's hours.
So, technically, I should be working and running errands and packing my luggage but noooo....instead, I am typing this post. Letting my "list of things to do" get untouched and pile up just drives me crazy... as you can probably tell by my nonsensical rambling.
I'll stop now. Laundry, dishes, luggage, vacuuming and cat beckons me. And I have just a few hours to do all that.
Ohh.. and the cat just puked. Great!

A little too early.. but what the heck

We have been looking around for a suitable artificial Christmas tree that is not too fat, has to be taller than me (that's easy to find because I am a shorty), packs small, green... and preferably less than a hundred dollars.
We found one today at Value City for $40. Bought it.
Let box sit in the hallway.
Looked at it again.
Looked at Jason, nodded our heads..and said at the same time "let's put the tree up"
So put the tree up we did.

It's a little too early, no?
I know,I know.. shake your head at us all you want. Crazy people we are.. but heck care.
We have a tree!!!
So, where art thou, Christmas? I think we are ready.

A Happy Full House

Godma and Uncle Andrew just arrived late tonight after a flight delay from L.A and Chicago. They were welcomed by our NC cold (33F / 1C). We will have to wrap everyone up properly when we go to the Metrolina Expo tomorrow morning for the big monthly flea market exhibit.

Trouble is confused seeing so many people in the house for once.

The boys in their Halloween costumes

Superman

Mickey Mouse

Superman gets a smooch from Mickey Mouse

And they come a-knocking on our door

Our first halloween in this house.
Jason put on his artistic skills and carved out a Blues Brothers pumpkin a few days ago.

We had Brian, Sophie and little Elise over and enjoyed their company as always. Elise was a joy and was constantly babbling and trying to join in the conversation. We all loved her.The kids started knocking on our door as early as 6pm (it gets dark by 5.45pm). They were dressed in various costumes and looked real cute. We kinda underestimated the number of kids in our neighborhood and ran out of chocolate bars and candies by 8pm. There were atleast 50 kids that came by.
Perhaps next year I'll don a costume too! What do you think... a geisha, an elf or Gollum?