Less Hustle More Coffee

How could I have possibly left out this pic yesterday of George’s smiley face cracker at Black Abbey?

Well, here is the dessert I talked about. George mentioned “this would be good at Christmas” and “can I take the rest of it to work?” So, I take it as a compliment. And the Ireland clan ate and enjoyed it. It’s simple with ingredients. I made it harder than it had to be by blanching the almonds and peeling off the almond skins. Might would try it with just almond flour next time? It’s the zest of the navel orange and the lemon that gave this a unique flavor. If I can find the time to make it for the holidays I will. But no one should hold their breath for it. My schedule usually doesn’t allow for much baking or cooking time anyway – especially these days. And will have to be working on the weekends around the Christmas holidays this year. So we’ll see.

Here are a lot of the dishes we had for our Spain weekend with friends Don and Lisa. We arrived, and had what I call a Spanish Splash – lol – yes I made that up.

After we settled in and caught up a bit, Lisa and I sprinkled on the confectioner’s sugar for the cake. It said to wait til serving but we were almost there, so we sprinkled it around the cross. Lisa had a nice dish waiting for the cake, knowing it would be transported in tupperware to get across town. The cake and it’s cook were so honored. Also I had a lot of compliments on the pic above with me and the cake – how happy I was. I’ve always had a serious face and composure b/c I’m always “on the agenda” until a few people pull me off of it. A few can. Not many. But I’ve chosen to be myself most of the time and let life be. If I feel like laughing I do, if I don’t- I don’t. But was honored that people liked the pic and the cake! I talked about this weekend so much and making this dessert. lol

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We ate salads right away as everyone was hungry, lol. Everyone did a great job on these wonderful dishes. And then we set in to making the Paella as a group effort with Chef Don at the helm. I chopped. (Better Crocker commercial? – “and I heeeeeelllllppped”. We all had a job and brought it together really quick.

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WE ALL had a FAB time and enjoyed ourselves and catching up and eating and laughing and watching the Auburn game for those that wanted to. Dogs were also happy to have so much attention and completely at home. And were good (for the most part).

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We ate our breakfast by the fire pit as the temps were mild, but a little chill in the air. We also got in the hot tub and then we got dressed and headed out back home. We had about an hour before we had to be back to pick up George’s new car so back to Nashville to trade the van in and get new car.

I think I have the blog up to date for the most part.

Was able to get all four plants payrolls done in one day yesterday and now I’m now I am at the tail end of finishing all the quarterly filings today for the Transport side. Have to go to the store tonight for the fixings of my breakfast casserole so I won’t be able to stay late tonight. So hopefully all will get accomplished today. I think I have tomorrow too but maybe not if something needs to be paid. Sometimes if it is afternoon it goes into the next date. I don’t want any late filing fees. Anyway hopefully I will be able to finish everything on time.

And that said, I need to scoot on in after I get another cup of joe and get the face and hair done.

Ya’ll have a spectacular day. Tomorrow is the current “To Do List” with holiday time for Thanksgiving coming – and our time is going to be crunched a bit. I said yesterday I wasn’t looking forward to the holidays – I didn’t mean it really. I thought about that later and I AM always looking forward to the holiday time with family. I think what I meant was just not looking forward to having to figure out how to decorate and get done the things I really enjoy doing at the holidays. It is also a time where you mourn not getting to see those you miss. So I guess that was running through my mind, but mainly just feeling a little anxiety over knowing how busy our schedule is and when we will get time to get things done when you are at work or gone 24-7. I guess this is the part of the year I always look forward to hibernation in January but who am I kidding? It’s year end, quarter end, and month end, all in a big whammie and my first tripple delight and another learning curve, lol. It’s all good though- at least I can snuggle up and hibernate in my office in warm clothes and camp out and get her done! And by then we will have scheduled our Spring vacay to Amelia Island. So yeah, To Do List coming up tomorrow. This helps me stay focused.

Ya’ll have a splendid day? What you doing this week? Anything special? Special projects? And what do you do for a living? I’d love to hear from you.