Since when does spring start in December?

I'm sorry its been so long...been kind of busy, for a change. And lazy. So between my busyness and laziness, I have not found the time nor the energy to blog. So here it is.
On Monday, my mom and I took some friends visiting from Michigan to the Amish areas relatively close to where we live.  Unlike the touristy, if not overly contrived areas in Holmes County, Ohio, Middlefield and Mesopotamia are surrounded by picturesque rolling hills, neat, white farm houses with colorful laundry drying outside and little black buggies parked in the barn--tacky tourism at a minimum.

But we wouldn't be tourists without at least a little cheesiness... Which is why we went to the Middlefield Cheese House factory.  There really wasn't much to do there (they don't give tours anymore, for health and safety reasons) except to buy cheese.  So now we have more Colby-Jack than we can handle.



 In that same day, we made our way to the incredibly charming town of Chagrin Falls.  It's triangular town center, upscale boutiques, delicious restaurants, and location next to the beautiful Chagrin River and Falls makes it a shoppers dream.  If you have money to spend, that is.

Despite these Christmas garlands and red ribbons, it is looking nothing like December in northeast Ohio.  In fact, it looks--and feels--exactly like April.  It has been raining and in the FIFTIES for the past few days. Since when does spring start in December???  Oh well.  I am still trying to get into the Christmas spirit.  I finished up my Christmas shopping on Tuesday with a visit to the mall in Niles, Ohio, and on Wednesday did some more baking--my own yummy version of extra-healthy banana bread. Here is the recipe:
Mix:  1 cup of honey or agave nectar
1/2 cup of margarine, melted
2 tablespoons of flax meal, mixed with six tablespoons water (let sit 2 mins before mixing)
2 mashed bananas
1/4 cup of water (less if you used agave nectar)

In a separate bowl:
1/2 cup of regular flour
1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 tsp. of Baking soda
1/2 tsp. of salt
1/4 cup of oatmeal
1/4 cup of chopped walnuts or almonds.
Mix dry with wet ingredients. Grease bottom of bread pan, pour batter, and bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Enjoy!

One Short Day in the White City!!!!

It's Snowing!

It is snowing!!!!!!!  Finally. The white stuff has been falling all day, though we haven't gotten much accumulation...yet.  But it is infinitely more beautiful than the yucky rain we've been getting all week.
Today, my family and I went into downtown Cleveland--a little part known as Ohio City.  Back before Cleveland was the big booming city it is today, Ohio City was a separate entity from Cleveland, and was incorporated as the city grew.  It has old, eclectic shops and TONS of restaurants.  We had a late lunch at the Great Lakes Brewing Co. (excellent food!) and then shopped the nearby West Side Market.  The Market consisted of an "L" shaped produce market plus a HUGE indoor market with meats, cheeses, pastries, baked goods, coffee, crepes, gyros, sausages....the list of delicious delicacies goes on and on.  We had planned to go to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, but ended up spending the whole afternoon in Ohio City instead, leaving that adventure for another day.

Fresh Pasta at the West Side Market

Fresh produce in December?

Although we (or at least my parents) have lived in NE Ohio for about a year, this was our first real trip to Cleveland.  It was beautiful driving into the city with the snow falling all around us, and the city had a lot to offer--and we only saw a small part of it.  I've never been much of a city person, but I will definitely be spending more time in Cleveland in the future.

Lots of Yumminess :D

When Traditions Change

Nothing much has happened over the past few days...just lots and lots of cooking!!!!! I made yummy beef stew and dumplings with my dad on Wednesday--the perfect cold-weather meal.  And yesterday I made gingerbread cookies with cream-cheese frosting.  Yes, I am definitely getting in the Christmas spirit...if only the weather would cooperate.  It's been raining.  It so sad to think that if it had just been ten or fifteen degrees colder, all this rain would be snow and I'd be living in a sugar-plum forest. Hmmm...I think I shall have to try doing a snow dance tonight.

I feel obligated to apologize for neglecting this blog for two days.  Honestly, I was sad yesterday, and didn't feel up to writing.  I love spending time with my parents--it's fun to see our new house all decorated, but I'm kind of lonely--no matter if I'm here, in Ohio, or in Michigan, I am missing someone.  Or rather, lots of someones.  Why can't all the people I care about live in the same place!!!!!  I miss traditions, like spending time with my dad's side of the family on Christmas Eve--kids running around, laughter the soundtrack to the whole night, the scent of spinach pie, lasagna....tons and tons of food that somehow manages to disappear.  And on Christmas morning in my old house, Grandma and Grandpa Klepinger used to come over for brunch and present opening.  But my grandpa passed away--has it been seven years already?--and we don't live in our old house anymore.  I find comfort in consistency.  I like to plan, and I like to know that some things, at least, will stay the same.  In the past year and a half, everything has changed.  I know we will make new traditions, and that I will come to cherish those as much as the old ones--but we are still in the transition stage.  But it will pass, it will change, as all things do.  So cherish your own traditions this holiday season, and keep them alive for as long as you can.

Shopping...followed by short bursts of creativity

Lots and Lots of Christmas shopping.  I feel kind of like Santa. 
What a great job he has--distributing toys to kids, getting paid with milk and cookies.  Why can't "Santa Clause" be a major?  What am I going to school for?  Well, I'm majoring in Santa Clause and minoring in Toymaking. 
I love wrapping presents too.  My wrapping is ATROCIOUS.  I've never quite mastered the art of tying ribbons without a helper, and scissors are a challenge as well.  Nevertheless, masking gifts with pretty paper and bows is somehow so rewarding.

Like my shades?  So hipsterrrr

Anywhooooo shopping was a great success today.  My mom and I went to Beachwood Place Mall, as well as all the major "Big Box" stores, finding almost everything on our list, and some...except socks for my grandma.  Oops...I think it's an automatic expulsion from the Santa Program for revealing Christmas presents online.  Oh well, my grandma doesn't know how to use the internet, so if you don't tell her, I won't.
After a long day of shopping, upon arriving at home, I was struck with a sudden urge to do something creative.  SHAKESPEARE.  No, I didn't re-enact my favorite scenes from my favorite plays--I'm not that much of a lit nerd -__- .....okay maybe I am, but that's still not what I did.  I ripped out two pages from an extra copy of  King Lear I had lying around, added some watercolors, and VOILA! A masterpiece.  But that's not all--I'm quite accomplished at modern art as well.  I know it looks like it only took five seconds to make, but you are wrong, my friends, it only took two seconds.

"Shakespeare Artwork"

Since I have problems with doing what I'm supposed to do when I have creative urges (write my book...) here is a random short rambling of mine:

My take on Modern Art

"She just concentrated on breathing.  She pictured the air swirling in her lungs; she pictured snow, leaves, swirling in the wind.  'It is a sunny day,' she told herself.  Why was it so easy to lie?  It seemed to her that it was easiest of all to lie to yourself. 
'I will not die,' she told herself.
It was almost a prayer, but she did not believe in God.  So she said it to herself, to the world.  Words were her god. 
'I will not die.'  A whisper.  Words had more power when spoken out loud, even if, so arranged, they formed a lie. 
'I will not die,' she breathed.  Snow, leaves in the wind. 
It was a sunny day, the day she died. 
So sunny, so bright, it was as if she hadn't died at all." 
I don't really know what it means--but that's how my writing usually is.  Its therapeutic for me, even if it means nothing, or means everything, or means something I can only understand by not understanding.  Yay for post-modernism.
And here's a poem, inspired by my experiences with the hardships of life, both mine and others.

Pain
Makes Poetry and
Prayer.
It makes me
Cry,
Like a child
And sing,
Like a harp off pitch. 

Can you see the Scars
And Fears
Inside of me?
Can you tell that it is hard
For me
To Breathe?

Yes, Pain
Makes Poetry and
Prayer;
Like the words will somehow
Save me. 

On that cheery note, I bid you adieu! Till later, peeps.

Where Venison Comes From

Yesterday, after church, I saw my first real, up-close, hunted-not-roadkill deer.  A buck. 
It really wasn't that bad.  I thought I would be kind of grossed out (I always HATED dissections in school), but it was already gutted when I got there, and honestly, it looked A LOT less gruesome than most other dead deer I have seen from the safety of a moving vehicle.
It was killed with an arrow, which, to me somehow seems more humane than a gun.  I know that doesn't really make sense, since guns are probably more likely to hit their mark and result in a quick, painless death, but a bow and arrow seems to level the playing field a little bit.  But maybe that's just me.
As for today, my goal was to finish the second chapter of this book I'm writing. And I failed. I managed to crank out around 1000 words and then I got the sudden inspiration to make Ricotta Cookies (pretty sure I ate more dough than I baked...) and then when that was done, it was time to make dinner!  Chicken Marsala over noodles with peas and acorn squash.  MMMMMmmmmm. Take that, dorm food!

 Four mile run too!  Was I avoiding writing because that was what I was supposed to do?  No....Okay, yes.  But I know I will succeed in tomorrow's task--CHRISTMAS SHOPPING. And make it snow...still no sign of the white stuff...

BBQ is the BEST Boredom Killer

I hate to admit it, but the most exciting thing I did over the past two days is eat. A lot. And, yes, you have to hear about it (whoever "you" are...). Don't judge. College food is mediocre at best, and the difference is outstanding.
12/9: Dinner: Spaetzle ( DELICIOUS, homemade German noodles) with pork medallions smothered in a peppercorn gravy with mashed butternut squash and snickerdoodles for dessert.
12/10: Breakfast: Chocolate chip and cinnamon sugar crepes with my dad's super-strong coffee.
Lunch/Dinner: Pulled pork sandwich with sweet & tangy bbq and maple mustard sauce, mac'n'cheese with paprika, pork and beans, and jalapeno cornbread--all from this AMAZING barbeque joint in Ashtabula Harbor:  http://www.briquettessmokehouse.com/Briquettes-Home.html.  It used to be this meat market, and still has an antique tin ceiling, this retro tile floor, and these old-fashioned freezer doors--not to mention the best barbeque in the world. YUM.

My cat has been glued to my side since I've been home :)

What else did I do?  Watched lots of netflix, worked out, knitted, made a bracelet, and cuddled with my kitty--but hey, I deserve at least one day to recover from the craziness of college, right?  Right.  Keeping myself busy starts: TOMORROW.

 

Two Weeks in...The Snow Belt?

While all of my friends from college travel less than an hour to go home for the holidays, I must traverse through Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, all the way to the northeast corner of Ohio--a 4 1/2 hour trek with good traffic.  My parents moved here when I graduated from high school--meaning that I do not have much of a social life here.  Not that I don't enjoy the holidays in the "snow belt"--that area of the Midwest that gets plundered with lake-effect snow from November to April.   I love the crisp, white snow that makes the world look like a candy forest, the candlelit midnight church service on Christmas Eve--"magical" perfectly describes the winter atmosphere here.

A look at last year's winter...

But what to do when one tires of looking at this pretty sight?  Why not make a blog to record my (I hope) creative answers to this question.  Well, after that brief intro, I think its about time I give you a small sample of the magic and get to brainstorming what I will do tomorrow....