Whew!

What a month...I wrote furiously, yelled at everyone, was on Cloud 9 and higher when Love Finds a Way came out, and crashed into a funk which lasted almost an entire week and nearly turned me into a Scrooge befor Thanksgiving! But thankfully, I was able to accomplish my goal. My certificate is being printed out at my Mom's, because I have no color ink in my printer. And I couldn't figure out how to download my 'winner' icon...but I know I've done it. No need to gloat all over cyberspace:) And what a relief to wake up this morning and know that all I had to worry about was the weather behaving for my trip. No deadline to meet; I sipped my coffee in total relaxation this morning:) Now for my 'insightful' post...

SIGNS ONE HAS WATCHED TOO MUCH FOOD NETWORK...

-When you go out to dinner at a new restaurant and you think, "that could have been plated a bit better..."

-You take a bite and notice your ravioli is tough around the edges, but the center has great flavor;

-When preparing the evening meal, you notice you're carrying a running monologue in your head about the spices used and why;

-After the food is prepared, you plate it for everyone and expect applause;

-You ask for a score of 1-20 on taste, appearance, and should this dish be added to the normal lineup?

Yes, I've become somewhat of a Food Network addict...especially the Food Network Challenge, Iron Chef, and certain episodes caught while visiting the MIL...Giada, Paula, Emeril, and Sandra Lee. And love Dinner: Impossible.

And those ArcaMax recipes? Everyone's palate for leftovers wasn't disappointed this year! Made homemade Turkey Tetrazzini, and it is still being raved about! Made a simple Beef Tips over Rice the other day, and since it was Survivor night, I dumped the rice into the beef mixture for easy cleanup. My daughter pouted, but when they started eating, they couldn't get enough of it! How to tell when the meal is good? NO LEFTOVERS! Hubby was disappointed when he came home last night...but finished off the meatloaf from Wednesday:)

Anyway, must get off of here and finish getting ready for the trip north. AJ's got a hilarious story about worms on her site, http://www.amarindajones.blogspot.com/ I laughed so hard, I nearly fell out of my chair! And Anny's got a wonderful Christmas story on hers; http://www.annycook.blogspot.com/ Kell's not posted yet, but check hers out also, http://www.kkirch.blogspot.com/ And Bron, Brynn, and Dakota are battling snow right now. Check out their blogs to the right and send them warm thoughts...esp Dakota...she's with me in the snow-hating department! But she's also relaxing this morning with the knowledge she accomplished her goal in NaNo as well! Way to go any others who did it, and to those who didn't, you tried your best and hopefully you have a good idea started and will continue to write until it's finished! Everyone's a winner in NaNo...it shows you can create something out of the imagination! Next year, I think I'll challenge my daughter...