Jake and Sue Wyatt

When I was a young teenager - probably back in '69 or '70, I met and became friends with a boy from church, Johnny Wyatt. We were close for several years, spending a good amount of time together. An offshoot of being Johnny's friend was that I also became friends with his parents, Jake and Sue Wyatt.

Mrs. Wyatt died several years ago, and Mr. Wyatt recently joined her. I have lots of memories of them, and I thought I'd share a few of this couple that have a piece of my heart.

When I think of Mr. Wyatt, I see a man with a big smile on his face. I remember him happy, laughing and joking, and with a twinkle in his eye. He was a fan of music, and I remember him enjoying being with his friend Coy Moses, playing on their guitars. I remember Jake as a generous and sincere man. He worked hard at his job with the newspaper, and he liked sports.

I was closer to Mrs. Wyatt - it was probably a girl thing. She lived in a house of men (even the dog, if I remember that right!) and she enjoyed my girl company. I don't remember her loving to toil in the kitchen, but I do remember her making crunchy bread sticks out of hot dog buns, putting butter and garlic on them and baking them in the oven. Yum! I also remember she made really good iced tea. And it was instant! I've not had good instant tea since I had it at her house.

I credit the Wyatt's with my love of going out to eat! My family didn't eat out much, but the Wyatt's did, and I was often invited to go with them. I enjoyed being included with their family, and loved going out to lots of different restaurants!

As the years went by, Johnny and I went in different directions to different locations, and I didn't see his parents again. Mom kept me up-to-date from her visiting with the Wyatt's at church.

The news of Johnny getting married was fun to hear. There were lots of reasons that I liked the idea of Johnny marrying Kathy Hall, and one of them was because I could easily see Johnny's parents loving her as much as Johnny did. I never talked to Mrs. Wyatt about it, but I just know that she loved having Kathy as her daughter-in-law.

And I just know that when their grandbabies began coming, they had love in their hearts that they never could have dreamed of.

Mom told me several years ago that she had seen Mr. Wyatt at church. She said he asked about me and told her he'd love to see me sometime. It breaks my heart that I didn't go by to see him on one of my visits back to San Angelo.

I'm sad that I missed an opportunity that will never come again.

Are you missing one right now?

(In loving memory of Jake and Sue Wyatt)

Currently

Current guilty pleasure: The Daily on my ipad
Current nail color: hot pink toes!
Current playlist: Leanne Womack mix on Pandora
Current read: Cutting for Stone
Current drink: water!
Current food: fruits and vegetables ~ especially avocado
Current favorite show: Damages
Current wish list: warm days
Current needs: strength
Current triumphs: I'm living a healthy lifestyle.
Current bane of my existence: I won't name names.
Current celebrity crush: Well, I think Ryan Reynolds is cute...
Current indulgence: brown rice macaroni
Current blessing: new opportunities
Current outfit: blue jeans, purple shirt, blue sweater
Current excitement: Noah's basketball team played a super first game
Current mood: good
Current link: www.pintrist.com

Want to Look Better?

Noah: Grammie, what's that black around your eyes?

Me: It's eyeliner. Do you like it or do you think it looks weird?

Noah: It's fine. But if you put more of it on, you would look like a skeleton. That would be really cool!

Herbs and the Queen

The appropriate number of days have passed for my basil and rosemary to dry.

Today I crushed the leaves and am a proud owner of some freshly dried herbs! The basil:

The rosemary:

What should I cook first? When I decide, I'll cook it in this pot. It's my go-to pot right now.

Mitch's mom gave it to me several years ago. Before that, it belonged to his grandmother. There's a lot of history in that pot.

Can you see that it's called Range Queen! Don't you just love that name? I've been wanting to buy a Le Creuset Dutch Oven but the $$$ scares me away. I ask myself why cook with Le Creuset when you can be a Range Queen?!!

Plus I can't pick a color.

Family, by the numbers

A friend commented the other day that I came from a small family. Well, I didn't argue but I certainly don't consider that to be true. Here's the count:

1 husband

2 parents

2 parents-in-law

2 daughters

1 son-in-law

3 grandchildren

1 sister

5 brothers-in-law

4 sisters-in-law

8 nephews

3 nieces

3 aunts

3 uncles

13 cousins

That's 49 family members that I see and/or correspond with, most quite often.

Then there are spouses, children, and grandchildren of my cousins. And many of them have spouses and children. And on it goes.

So, I have a small family?

I don't think so.

Childhood Memory

I was recently asked two questions about Christmas past. The first was about a favorite memory and the second about a favorite carol. The answers are wrapped up in one memory.

On Christmas Eve, the family would load in the car and drive to Eola to celebrate the holiday with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. We all had eyes to the sky, on the lookout for Santa and his sleigh. We would sing most of the way there, and we always sang Up on the Housetop. When we came to the chorus, Dad sang Santa's Ho Ho Ho in his beautiful bass voice. We LOVED it. And him.

Still do.

Christmas Entertaining

It was my year to host the neighbors for our annual Christmas Party. Christmas Cheer at our house, then Christmas Dinner at a local Italian restaurant. Here's what the cheer part looked like -- without people. I didn't take any people pictures. Sorry, because everyone knows that the people are the most interesting part.

Anyway, here goes.

Welcome! Come in!

Entry. Notice the Winter Rose Poinsettia.

Dining room. (Unused for the evening.)

Bar. (Also unused. What? A party with no bar? Can it really be called a party?) Yes.

Living area with rearranged furniture.

More poinsettias. Isn't the green one pretty?

Chairs. The only seating used.

And now for the food!

Appetizer: Honey, Walnut and Brie Tartlets. Easy. And delicious. This was my favorite. You can make it, too: http://joelens.blogspot.com/2010/11/10-holiday-appetizers-to-whet-your.html

Appetizer: Pepperoni Pizza Puffs. Also easy. And delicious. They were the group favorite. Could have been served with pizza sauce on the side, but they were good without it. And I didn't want spilled pizza sauce anywhere. :) Go here for the recipe: http://lickthebowlgood.blogspot.com/2010/07/annoying-habits.html

Drinks: Reindeer Bubbles. This was my favorite part for two reasons: 1) lots of compliments and 2) they were delicious! It's green sugar on the rim with pomegranate seeds and pomegranate syrup in the bottom. When the champagne was poured in, the pomegranate seeds would bounce up and down with the bubbles. Recipe here: http://www.hgtv.com/holidays-and-entertaining/celebrity-holiday-homes-recipes-reindeer-bubbles-festive-cocktail/index.html

I have no more entertaining planned until Christmas Eve. Warning: if you are here (and you are always welcome) you may see some of this again!

And it will be delicious!