New World Chili

New World Chili with pumpkin

As I didn't get to carve my pumpkin I decided I would cook it. I've looked up some recipes and found one for new world chili, which has pumpkin in it. It took me a long time to cut up all of the ingredients and when I was done the underside of my right thumb nail was burning. I thought maybe it was onion or garlic that was hurting my thumb but when I stuck it in my mouth it was hot and then like a light bulb going off I knew it was the jalapeno peppers I had cut up for the chili. I washed my hands for the third time and it still burned. Even as I write this I can still feel the fire under my thumb nail.

Chocolate Chip and Cherry Cookies

As I had already spent a lot of time in the kitchen, and I needed to watch the chili, I decided to make some really yummy chocolate chip cookies. I added dried cherries and they are amazing. I'm really quit proud of myself. It was just a normal chocolate chip recipe and I made it something special. They smell so good. They look lovely too.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was at my grandfather's in Spruce Pine this year. It was odd not being at my parents house. With my grandfather back in North Carolina we are spending much more time with him. It is hard sometimes to spend time with him as he is not really as aware of his surroundings as he used to be. Sometimes though he notices things that no one would notice. Yesterday he asked why we were all wearing socks and not our shoes? In not as many words. Why would he notice something like that and not so many other things. Sometimes I think that it would almost be better if I wasn't there as I look like my grandmother. Particularly with my hair long as I wear it in a bun and that is how she wore her hair.

The dinner/lunch was good. We cooked way to much food. Well, I should say, my parents cooked way to much food. I'm not complaining though. As always I ate way to much. After lunch Ruff, who we brought along, wanted to go for a walk so Jonpaul, Tadayoshi and I walked him down the driveway. Tadayoshi, my cousin, arrived late to the lunch. Currently he has not figured out how to be polite or make himself pleasant company. Everything is about him. I wouldn't mind if he was more interesting but he is the typical college student. It was so cold outside we didn't walk far as we really needed more layers.

The Mushroom on the tree

Mom and dad thought it would be nice to hike some of the trails that are by my grandparents. Carol joined us which was nice. We walked one that goes to the Spruce Pine mineral museum. It was really chilly and we had to borrow coats from the house. I wore a jacket of my grandmothers and Jonpaul got a coat of Papa's. That really helped make the hike pleasant. A little way down the trail we saw a mushroom hanging from a tree. It was like little tendrils growing down. We made it to the end of the trail and decided that we would like to get warm so we walked back on the Parkway as it was faster than wandering through the woods. When we got back everyone headed home except for my family. We stayed for dinner with Papa as it was our night to stay with him. Mom, Jonpaul, and I went home after dinner. When we got home it was snowing. The first snow which I've seen this year. It didn't last very long or stick to the ground. Mom and I worked on drilling my books and getting them ready to photograph.

Hawk's Bill

Matthew and I came up to Bakersville last night. We had dinner at my Grandfather's as my parents are caregivers some nights of the week. It was really foggy when we were driving. I probably should have followed the advice of the sign for the Parkway and used a different route but I didn't. I thought that it wouldn't get any worse but when we were leaving it was even more foggy than when we arrived.

Today mom headed over to Papa's in the morning and Jonpaul and dad went to get Jonpaul his driver's license. He got it. My little brother has his driver's license.

At noon we set out on the Parkway for Hawk's Bill. It was really sunny and as we were driving I could see Hawk's Bill from the overlooks and it looked sunny and nice but right before we got to the road that goes up we drove into the clouds. The clouds were really cool. On one side it was cloudy and the other side was sunny. We hiked up in the clouds and when we got to the top the clouds were blowing over the top. We sat and watched the clouds blowing over. I always thought it would feel wet against my skin. It didn't. I could see the cloud coming at us like a solid object and then I was inside it, breathing in the chilly air. I'm upset that my camera was in the car with dead batteries but that is what happens when you have old rechargeable batteries that don't stay charged. My brother and dad took pictures on their cell phones so maybe I'll get some of them.

Clouds blowing over the top of Hawk's Bill

It was a nice hike and it was nice getting out with my family although hiking up made me realize just how lazy I've been recently. I need to get out hiking more and not spend as much time sleeping after work. The early mornings really wear me out and I don't go out and do as much as I would like to. After the hike I was really tired and couldn't do much more than sit in the kitchen and drink hot cider.

Firethorn

I have been drawn into the world of fiction, my thoughts over flow with the story. I just finished reading Firethorn by Sarah Micklem. The world was different and yet similar to enough that I could imagine visiting and seeing the plants I read about. I am a reader drawn in from the first word and I follow every step not questioning even though the text may stumble and if I do question it is more for myself my desire to know more, to become the character which I am reading. Firethorn was easy to love even though she was a tough person in the book. I read and read and still I want the book to continue as the end wasn't really an ending. I have the next book and am waiting to pick it up, yet I want the first book to continue I'm not ready for a second yet. I have to wait for the story to drift out of my mind and stop pestering me before I start the next book.

Firethorn is light fantasy. Not the fantasy where you have to try and believe in dragons and time travel, which I have nothing against. I like this kind of fantasy because it is easy to read without questions. Firethorn the main character in the book has been given a gifts by the god of fire, Ardor, after she survives eating the fruit of the firethorn. When she returns from her time in the Kingswood she finds that the kingdom is going to war, and when the troops come through the town she is spotted for her red hair by one of the Blood, descendant of the Gods, and he takes her for his lover, but instead of leaving her in the town he takes her with him. Most of the novel takes place on the Marchfield while they are waiting to go to war across the sea. As there is little physical movement and they never get to war in the story, the book could have easily dragged but it didn't. I did start to feel impatient and want them to leave for war but I never was sorry as the more I read the more I got to know the characters and the more I want to read the next in the series, Wildfire. I have to say that I was really drawn to the cover of Wildfire and would probably not have read Firethorn if I hadn't realized it was a series. I am not sorry that I did though and would recommend the novel. I do think it will appeal more to female readers as it is in first person and Firethorn is not a female character who would easily be liked by male readers.

Saturday I went to the library and picked out books and then I started reading. Sunday it was rainy so I read, I took a break and went to a movie with my parents, we saw Julie and Julia, I really enjoyed the movie. It made me wish I was eating good French food instead of the pizza I had in front of me. Brew and View theater was cold and even though I had hot chocolate my nose and feet were freezing by the time the movie was over. After the movie Mom, Dad, Jonpaul, and I went and got way to much desert at Greenlife. It was good. I needed a break from reading and it was good to see my family.

Today even though it wasn't raining it was gray out and it seems as though winter is really coming and the snow will soon follow. I'm like a little child waiting for the first snow to fall so I can stand glued to the window and watch the flakes fall, like it is the first snow I've seen. It hasn't come yet but the air smells different and I can feel it coming. I'm waiting.

Rotary Dinner

The Flag ceremony line up.
I was confused as to what to wear to the Rotary District 7670 annual dinner, so I spent some time looking for something that would work. I found a dress which I really liked at TJ Maxx but it didn't fit me, it was too big. After failing to find anything, even with help from Teel who I work with, I realized that I could wear a long sleeve shirt under the dress and then it would fit me. That is what I ended up doing and I have to say I am glad that is what I did because it is a nice black dress and it doesn't look like it would be that difficult to take in.

This morning I drove up to my parents. Mom has been altering my Navy Jacket for Rotary and I needed to pick it up from her so I could have it at the dinner. It was really very nice in Bakersville and I got there in time for a walk with Ruff. It is always really nice to walk around the property on a sunny day and now that the leaves have all fallen the views are amazing. After the walk and lunch mom and dad took an impression of my hand for a piece they are making. I didn't want to go to the dinner smelling like alginate so I showered, but I still smelled like a dentists office. We decided that since it was so nice we should go and walk around Swiss Pine Lake before I had to leave. It was a nice walk, but in the shade I could feel the cold air moving back in. Ruff was really excited about getting a second walk. Now that he isn't getting car sick as much we take him places. After the walk I headed out to the Rotary Dinner. I stopped and changed at Papa's and then drove down to Hickory.

Me and the Guatemala Flag before the introduction of the Flags

I got to the event on time which I thought at first that I might not. The place where the event was held was not as nice as where I work, but it was bigger. As soon as I got into the main room someone came up to me and asked me if I would be part of the flag ceremony. Each one of the flags in the ceremony represents a country in which the Rotary district 7670 has a tie either they have a scholar from there, a scholar studying in the country or they have a project which they are working on in the country. I was originally going to carry Australia but there wasn't a flag for Australia, so I ended up carrying Guatemala. Everyone kept asking me if I was from Guatemala, which I am not. I had to keep telling people that no I was not from Guatemala and I didn't know where I was going to be studying yet. I ended up sitting with a group of people I didn't know from Marion. They were all very nice. We talked about Lenard Cohen and Doc Watson. It was an interesting dinner as I think they were all surprised that I knew who they were talking about. The food at the event was not all that great and it really wasn't very filling. The speaker spoke mostly about Rotary and I found it hard to follow what he was talking about and to remain interested as it really seemed like he was just talking about his books and not as much his experiences which would have been better. He was a good speaker but not the most interesting one from my perspective. I think it was good for me to go to the dinner but the drive back to Asheville was long and I'm just really glad to be back and ready to go to bed.

The Banquet room