Meghan's Musings

How's everyone been lo these past few months? If you follow me on FB or Twitter, I haven't been completely silent! The ups and downs of life's roller coaster keep things interesting, to say the least. Something I'm looking forward to immensely, is the trip Isaac is going on this summer. Ben's parents have an RV, and are taking him on an adventure! Since a six-week, country-exploring excursion is nowhere in our immediate future, I was thrilled when my mother-in-law said they wanted to do this. He's going to see a lot, get unplugged, gain maturity by having to live up to new expectations - oh my heart is aglow! Ms. Shiloh is a bit jealous. I told her we'll go on our own adventures. We'll go see Gammy and Grandpa, and find fun things to do. She was so thrilled that we'd be going to visit Gammy and Grandpa, she taunted Isaac, " We're going to see Gammy, and you're not." After hiding a chuckle, I told her she didn't need to be m...

This week has seen the loss of two great talents. First David Bowie, and yesterday Alan Rickman. I was saddened by David Bowie's death, as his contribution to society at large was immeasurable. But since he was "before my time" for lack of a better phrase, my sorrow is somewhat detached. The same isn't true for Alan Rickman. The first time I remember seeing Alan Rickman was in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves . Since I wasn't a discerning observer of film in my early teens, I have Mumsy and Daddy to thank for understanding that his was a superior performance. The particular phrases: "Locksley, I'm gonna cut your heart our with a spoon!" and "Call off Christmas!" brought from them the heartiest guffaws. This made me pay attention to nuance, since all I saw was a bad guy needing some killing. The Sheriff of Nottingham is a reprehensible, vile, cunning buffoon. One to be feared, yet laughed at. Rickman embodied each characteristic with flawle...

2016 Back to the grind today - how is everyone?? I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Our trek to Upstate NY to visit Mumsy and Daddy was brief, but wonderful. The week off with the chirruns wasn't as chock-full of arguing as I'd expected. We played their games, and Shiloh watched The Santa Clause enough times that she can nearly recite it from beginning to end. I let them stay up past their bedtimes on New Year's Eve, and I even made it to after midnight! We watched Ray . Excellent movie! (Probably why it won a bunch of awards.) When it was over, 20 minutes remained until midnight. We watched whatever "party" they were showing on a local affiliate. As I beheld whoever it was singing, and all the hooting-and-hollering partiers, I realized I was old. And okay with that. Because vacation week was largely pleasant, I was more happy for Isaac and Shiloh to be returning to school this morning (they were excited) than I was for me. But I'm definitely ...

According to a study I made up for this post, completely inundating oneself with only current events can induce a severe case of jam-fingers-in-ears-and-run-away-whilst-yelling-lalalalalala-itis. A FB friend closed her FB & Twitter accounts just after the Paris tragedy because of the severity of her aforementioned affliction. I applaud her decision, and admire the strength it took for her to do that - considering how heavily vested she was in the medium.  I don't have it in me to go cold turkey. So stave off the affliction, I've made copious use of the "Delete From Feed" and "Don't Show Posts From xxx" options on my feed. And to amp up the Christmas cheer, especially while baking, I added Lite Rock 105 out of Providence to my radio diet the day after Thanksgiving - that's when they go all Christmas songs 24-7, until the New Year. My fingers are no longer poised outside my ears. I just need to decide on other radio stations after Christmas is...

Anyone else in a state of perma-shock that ole St. Nick will be squeezing his portly frame down chimneys in three days?! Looks like I'll be doubling up on cookie recipes. And while one isn't a cookie, I make it every to have Christmas morning, and will share. We are trekking out to Upstate NY to share the holiday with Mumsy, Daddy, Barbie and the twins and I'm wicked psyched! (That's right - I'm letting my New England vernacular flag fly!) Will you be travelling to, or hosting a gathering, great or small? On to Buche de Noel cookies. Buche de Noel is French for Christmas Log. No wonder we don't translate it - Christmas Log is positively gauche! (Is there nothing that the French language can fancy up?) Anyway - a Buche de Noel is a log-shaped cake, and can be very time-consuming to make. See pic: The mushroom, while cute, don't seem Christmassy... Since I tend to go straight to DEFCON 1 if something I attempt on the first try doesn't come out pe...

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend! We didn't make it to the Festival of Lights, but they're doing it again this coming weekend, so hopefully we'll make it over there after the Pats take care of the Titans. (Was very happy to see they returned to form for Sunday' s game! I had faith.) Errands, laundry and cleaning with a swing by the salon for a long-overdue shearing of my shaggy head comprised most of the activities this weekend. And baking, of course! True to form, I had a grandiose schedule of six or seven cookie recipes I wanted to prepare. But after the hours shopping, scrubbing and straightening, I took an axe to the list, and settled with two recipes. This was a wise decision all around. Not only is it inadvisable to have 10 dozen cookies just lying around, I would have no baking to keep me busy during the week! PEANUT BUTTER BLOSSOMS A Happy Tray! Peanut Butter Blossoms have been my favorite Christmas cookie since ever. No marriage of fla...

Happy Friday! You no doubt have noticed, I reverted back to the old template. I did receive a thumbs up with regards to the other one - but it was just too messy for me. Not just the background, but the whole thing was too chaotic for my poor linear brain to handle. But not everything is the same! A little font change here, splash of color there - voila! Change I can handle. Any festive plans for the wee ke nd? There's a Festival of Lights a t the local KOA this weekend that I'd like to take the kiddos to. Shhh! They don't know yet.  I will a lso be baking, of course! It's eleven days into the month, and I have y e t to m ake a single batch of the quintessential Ch ristmas cookie. The peanut blossom. I purposely put off procuring the ingredients because of this clean eating challenge. That is one cooki e that I can't resist. My sister put a mouth-watering pic of her blossoms on FB last weekend and it's been haunting my dreams since. And today is th...