"If you are depressed you are living in the past.
If you are anxious you are living in the future.
If you are at peace you are living in the present."
Lao Tzu
I can't honestly say that since my last post on November 20th I have been constantly at peace. But I can say that when I am not at peace I try to refocus on living in the present - being grateful for every opportunity to embrace life.
Focusing on living in the present can be a trick. Especially times like this year when Thanksgiving and Christmas came really close together. And then Christmas Day was on a Wednesday. Those mid week holidays always leave me struggling to remember what day it is.
Here's a tip - when you're spinning around trying to remember what day it is, focusing on being grateful for the moment has a way of pointing you in the right direction. I seem to continually need to relearn this tip.
These are pictures of some moments that we have enjoyed so far this holiday season. Some moments we enjoyed so much that I didn't remember to take pictures. As Thomas and Susan like to say, "And this ain't the half of it!"
But we are grateful for all times shared in tears and in laughter and in gratitude for every memory and every moment. Peace to all.
The Don Gibson Theatre in Uptown Shelby is a jewel of a venue to see all kinds of performances. We were lucky enough to watch Jake Shimabukuro who is a 19 year old ukulele master. He got everything out of a ukulele that I could imagine and more. The music was wonderful but what sticks in my mind is the joyful spirit and the amazing energy that he put into every song.
A huge group of Girl Scouts from all over North Carolina came to the warehouse area where the Hunger Games was filmed. They earned their archery badges and channeled their inner Katniss.
We enjoyed setting up the space where "the Hob" scenes were filmed. Scouts made arrows and mockingjay pins and their adult leaders were very well organized. It was fun to be a part of it.
Meanwhile in Texas, David and Justin went duck hunting and shared this beautiful Texas sunrise.
It was cold in Texas during the hunting trip but they persevered.
Back in North Carolina Jay's basketball season started with GWU playing at home with crazy nail biting scores. Shocking. They then took off on a wild 2 week trip to Missouri, Chicago, and Las Vegas. They won the tournament in Las Vegas over Thanksgiving.
David left his hunting trip in Texas to meet David III and me in New York City.
Jay was flying all over the country with basketball.
I had to take this screen shot of my text messages on Nov 24th. I do LOVE technology.
David and I at Times Square after seeing an amazing performance of Carole King's life - "Beautiful". Later we met up with some Shelby friends and with David IV to hear Van Morrison. Van played with his daughter, Shana, and it felt like a concert with a message to her and to all of us.
"You gotta tote that wood, Carry that water!" We would have loved for him to play all of our favorite songs but that would have taken days and days. He chose many of his more spiritual ones this time including one of my all time favorites, "Whenever God Shines His Light".
There is nothing like a Van Morrison concert.
We had a really fast trip to NYC but I loved all the hustle and bustle as always. The Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center was in the process of being set up. We watched the many workmen and electricians and were amazed at all the scaffolding and the way they went about their work. Sadly a few days later one of those workmen was killed in a commuter train accident. We don't know if we actually saw him but it felt like we knew him. Another poignant reminder that every moment of every day is a gift.
It's a touristy thing to do but we went to Ellen's Stardust Diner for breakfast to hear the singing waitstaff. We saw incredible performances and it reminded me again of Leroy Neiman's quote about artists, "For every one of us who makes it there are 100 more who are just as good."
Our waitress, Jordan, sang my request, "I dreamed a dream" from Les Miz.
A super short but magical trip to NYC.
As soon as we returned from our trip we gathered very impromptu for Dad's 91st birthday. Libby sent out a text message at 10 am for anyone who could to come to Dad's birthday party at noon at Wendy's. Dad had decided to take a cake to his favorite lunch spot and serve it to everyone who was there. Somehow this many of us got there with less than 2 hours notice. We laughed because if we had been planning for days we may not have pulled this off!
We served the cake to anyone who wanted a piece and then Wendy's sent over frostys for everyone. It was the perfect 91st birthday party for Dad.
Love it when a plan comes together! Especially a quick plan.
Thanksgiving break brought some of the 20something crowd to our house. Jay was off with the basketball team but David had flown in with us from NY. Loved having them on Fairway Drive.
I brined two turkeys and David worked his magic with the big cooker for Thanksgiving lunch at the cabin.
Yes. We got Turkey.
The blue eyed girls playing around in the cabin kitchen.
Thanksgiving 2013 at the Cabin.
I made Mom's cranberry salad and it is a keeper for the Thanksgiving menu. It's especially easy when David IV is home to grind the fresh cranberries. Crunchy, sweet and make ahead. Recipe posted on November 27, 2010. I also make a fresh cranberry relish the same way except I omit the jello. They are both wonderful.
David and Dad enjoyed swapping hunting stories. David told Dad about his duck hunting experience and Dad told David about quail hunting. Which turned into a discussion about Dad's trained pointers. Bird dogs have always been a fascination for Dad.
The Martins may be the only people I know who own a theramin and they are definitely the only people I know who can play one. On Thanksgiving, Jackson played Happy Birthday to Dad.
Beth and Marley came to my rescue when I couldn't figure out how to decorate some vacant store windows in Uptown Shelby. After seeing all the beautiful windows in NYC, I was kind of at a loss for what to do. But these girls made it happen and I loved it!
GWU came back to North Carolina to play basketball at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium. What an experience that was. There is nothing like seeing a game at Cameron. We had some great seats and Paul and Will met us for the game. Here's Jay taking notes on Dukes lineup.
The coaches were all business and so were the players. GWU held their own against Duke and we were really proud of all of them.
We visited Steve and Kathe one night recently. Auggie, Stella and Keisha invited Simba.
While David and Steve watched the Panther's game Rhett's dog, Stella, snuggled up between them.
A sweet moment.
Jay completed his Master's in Business Administration from Gardner Webb and we couldn't be more proud of him. As focused as he has been on basketball, he has worked hard to finish his MBA in record time.
To celebrate Jay's MBA we threw a Merry Graduation Party complete with Christmas Carols with the family. Mr. and Mrs. Claus appeared as did many family and friends.
It really was two parties because the December temperature was in the mid 60s. So we had inside and outside rocking with food and music. Seriously rocking.
We were thrilled that so many of Jay's friends and family were with us to celebrate.
It was Mary Eden's birthday so Jim lead us in singing Happy Birthday. This was kind of a crazy party and somehow I didn't get a pic of the rest of the Roach family who had arrived from Raleigh. It is always a treat to have a houseful of Roaches. And it was a joy to welcome Ian and Katherine's sweet 3 week old Gracie to the family.
Jackson played sax, Thomas played guitar and John played piano. How great to have 3 talented nephews like this. But wait...see next pic....
.....John switches to guitar, Thomas sings and Jackson switches to piano... love it!
Mom and Dad were the perfect Partridge in a Pear Tree with our all time favorite "12 Days of Christmas" crazy mixed up group song. We had 12 great groups this time from the Partridge to the 12 Drummers Drumming. A shout out to 4 calling birds, 5 golden rings and Jim Rose's NIINNNE LAAADIES DANNNNCCCCING.
Jay's Merry Graduation Surprise was for David IV and Elliott to arrive.
Christmas morning 2013.
On Christmas morning several friends asked David to prepare their beef tenderloins to cook at their own celebrations. He trims the tenderloin then puts on his special spices. He has this down. Yum.
Also on Christmas morning, David IV cooked lots of bacon for the Hunt Christmas brunch.
Hunt Family Christmas 2013. Believe it or not we had this picture done in record time this year. A little over 3 minutes! Thanks to Gary for being there to capture this special moment.
Brycen opens a gift of Reece cups.
Melia plays with what Mom and Dad call "the perfect toy". A Fisher Price toy house that has been around the Peachtree Road den for a couple of generations now.
During the crazy Hunt gift exchange Rachel stole the show when she loved on a soft cushy puppy. Later Elizabeth stole the puppy from Judy (to give to Rachel). Ruthless? I think not.
Rachel and the soft cuddly puppy = Sweetness.
More sweetness. I posted this pic of David IV, Simba and Jay on Christmas morning. Lori posted back with the perfect caption. Simba Claus
The yard is looking fairly barren but there is always something natural to bring inside for an arrangement. Here is some Winter Beauty.
Looking at the drab garden recently I nearly missed this beautiful point by Rumi. Thankfully someone posted it on facebook to remind me that nature is always, always working it's magic.
We enjoyed shrimp cocktail recently and had a few leftovers so I decided to make Sister's Shrimp Salad. It's colorful, flavorful, crunchy and fairly light.
Shrimp salad is quick and easy especially if you have leftover ingredients on hand.
Living in the Moment. Peace and Love to all!
Sister's Shrimp Salad
Warning: Recipes from Mawmaw are like most of our family recipes in that they don't offer exact amounts. Like when making her famous layered salad she says to "use more sugar than you think." We always laugh remembering how Kathie asked, "and how do you know how much sugar I'm thinking?"
(Sister's Layered Salad recipe posted on April 21, 2011).
As far as I know Sister doesn't put sugar in her shrimp salad. However all of the following ingredients are adjusted by how it looks and by how much you happen to have on hand.
Finely dice into equal sized pieces:
Green pepper
Red pepper
Red onion
Celery
Add Cooked Shrimp. Shrimp should be in larger pieces than the veggies. Depending on what size shrimp you may not want to cut it at all.
Add a little lemon juice, a tiny bit of mayo, salt, pepper and a generous amount of Jodie's Kitchen herb and spice blend. (It's a blend of onion, dill, salt parsley, sugar and other spices also known as Dip-idy-Dill original. Sister orders it by the case and uses it in her awesome chicken salad too.)
Mix together and serve as a salad or in a croissant as a sandwich. Enjoy!
