Happy New Year - 1/1/11 !!!

As the sun peeks over the ridge on the first day of 2011, I hope you have your black-eyed peas and hog jowl for good luck, as well as collard greens to put money in your pockets. . . or that you have the necessary accouterments for whatever tradition you follow -- be it first footers, Christmas tree bonfires, picnics on the beach, fireworks . . .

May it be a good New Year for all of us on Spaceship Earth!!!

 

The First Bird you see today will determine what kind of year it will be.

I'm not so sure about this.
One of my favorite authors, Laurell K. Hamilton, is someone I follow on Twitter as well.
She tweeted that the first bird you see today can determine what kind of year it will be.

The first bird I saw this year was a tiny, little bird flying...and it looked fiesty.

However, I don't KNOW birds.
I say the it means that I'm going to FLY this year.
Because I'm going to determine MY response to the new year and all it brings.
Because I'm going into 2010 with a fiesty attitude.
That's how it's gonna be.

Starting the New Year Out Right - A Texas Word Tangle Giveaway

In my mind, there's only one way to bring in the New Year...

besides rocketing in a space ship from NASA up into outer space to look for aliens...

ahem.


and, that's with a fabulous giveaway!!!

The gift package will include three books:

When her plane en route from Glasgow to London experiences horrible turbulence, Emma Corrigan is convinced she is going to die. She babbles all of her most intimate thoughts and secrets to the handsome American man sitting next to her. But the plane lands safely, and Emma bids him an awkward good-bye. When she enters the office on Monday and learns the CEO of the company, Jack Harper, is in for a visit, Emma is horrified to learn Jack is actually the man in whom she confided on the flight. He knows everything, including that she hates her job and that she is not quite sure she loves her boyfriend. But Jack does not fire her on the spot; instead, he quietly replaces the office coffeemaker she hates and gives her advice about her personal life, which she finds infuriating. So why can't she stop thinking about him?

Something Borrowed is as much about the meaning and value of friendship as it is about love, and it takes some risky chances that pay off. Rachel is celebrating her thirtieth birthday with her friends, including her lifelong best friend, Darcy, and Dex, Rachel's handsome friend from law school and Darcy's fiance. One thing leads to another and Rachel ends up in bed with Dex.

Goodnight Nobody stars Kate Klein is a feisty, charmingly insecure Connecticut housewife who trades in a life of late-night karaoke sing-a-longs and West Village brunches with her best friend Janie for a world of mini-vans and Mommy and Me pilates classes. Life in Upchurch, Connecticut, heats up when Kate discovers picture-perfect wife and mother Kitty Cavanaugh dead on the pickled maple hardwood floor of her recently remodeled kitchen. A former chronicler of celebrity gossip, Kate takes it upon herself to solve the mystery of Kitty's murder and the disappearance of Lexi Hagen-Holdt, another Upchurch supermom. Along the way, the mysteries and disappointments in Kate's personal life begin to unravel, including her marriage to the kind-yet-uptight Ben, and her unresolved crush on Evan McKenna, a former neighbor with whom a one-night tryst ended in disaster.

So, I'm giving away those three books
as well as:

this 11" Thomas Stir Fry Pan free from my grocery store.
(and since I have plenty of pans) I've decided to pass on to you.

It's dishwasher safe, oven safe, comes with a glass lid and is $70 in value.

And with this fabulous piece of cookware I am including
a package of Cajun Magic Jambalaya mix.




And this yummy chocolate brownie mix.







I might throw in some more stuff as a surprise, like a picture frame or a photo album...

But only the winner will know for sure.

Leave me a comment a day to earn an entry each day,
Tweet about it for 5 extra entries,
blog about it for five more.

Giveaway ends Tuesday, January 6th at midnight U.S. central time.

Pause

This time of year, from Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Year's, is an important time of year.
We're so busy and on the go;
partying, wrapping, contacting loved ones.

It's the time of year we send holiday cards to those who are dear to us.
The time of year we give gifts to those we love.
It's the time of year we enjoy life to the fullest with good food and parties.
A time to let go, have fun, and enjoy life to the fullest, while most worries are put on hold.

And it's important to take a moment during this time.

To appreciate what's important.




What IS important, Rhea?

Why, dear reader, I'm so glad you asked.

To me, what's important beyond all else, is family and friends

and figuring out my place in this world.

Helping my boys get a good start on their life,
and finding the way to make the most of mine.


Today is my moment to pause, to take stock of my life, to plan ahead, and to make decisions.

And I plan to take on the New Year head on.

with my family.
with my plan.


Bring it on, 2009, bring it on.


Tomorrow I will hit the "play" button with purpose.

New Year's Day

And time to cook the traditional collards, black-eyed peas, and smoked hog jowl -- another of my Alabama-bred grandmother's traditions. The collards, simmered in chicken broth with onion, hot pepper, and slices of the smoked pork, are eaten "to put green money in your pocket" in the coming year. The fatty hog jowl is for good fortune, probably coming from a time when any sort of meat was scarce and fat was a source of energy, not a scary taboo.

The black-eyed peas, also cooked with the hog jowl, bring good luck. Some folks say you need to eat 365 peas (366 on Leap Years), to ensure luck each and every day. We make ours into Hoppin' John , a savory mixture of rice and onions and peas, whose name may derive from a creole dish made with pigeon peas -- thus au pigeon.

May your New Year be full of good things, whatever tradition you follow!