Here it is, almost 9:30 P.M. on January 1, 2009, and I have not even THOUGHT of New Year’s Resolutions until about ten minutes ago when I saw an online story about them. Wow! Talk about how life changes! Every other year of my life - at least since I was old enough to know the difference between January 1st and July 1st - I’ve had at least one list of New Year’s Resolutions written out by this time on January 1st.

So what are my resolutions? There’s really only one: To get through this first year of little Lily’s chemotherapy for leukemia with our family and relationships intact and to provide her with as much support and love as I possibly can. At the end of 2009, we will not even be half way through this journey.

For the past two years I have written about what I make for a New Year’s Day meal. I don’t plan on cooking the meal this year. Somehow, with all that’s going on with Lily, I just don’t have the drive to do a bunch of cooking today. It will mostly be a day to get caught up on some housework.

However, the meal IS delicious - and fun to do. The meal is filled with tradition and symbolism. I thought I would re-print that menu and description of symbolism here. Enjoy!

Here’s the menu, the recipes and the symbolism - some serious and some definitely tongue-in-cheek:

Hoppin’ John

1 can mild tomato/jalopena mixture (RoTel) If you like things a little spicier, use regular RoTel.
2 cans black-eyed peas
1 can diced tomatoes (optional - I love tomatoes)
1/2 lb link of turkey sausage

Cut the turkey sausage into bite-size pieces - dump everything together and cook. You can serve this over rice or mix some rice in it, or eat it by itself with no rice. It’s delicious riceless or not.

Tossed Salad

Lots of lettuce, sliced tomatoes, grated carrots, diced bell peppers with grated cheddar cheese on top.

Cornbread Sticks

2 cups cornmeal MIX
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg, well-beaten
buttermilk (enough to make a good batter)

Pour into cast iron cornstick pans that have been sprayed with Pam and pre-heated in a 425 oven. The batter should sizzle when you pour it into the pans. Bake until golden brown. Serve hot. I like to crumble a cornstick or two into my hoppin’ john.

Sweet Iced Tea

4 family-size tea bags
1 gallon distilled water (You don’t HAVE to use distilled water, but that’s what I always use).
1 cup Splenda

Put the tea bags in a 4-cup measuring cup, fill with some of the water and microwave on high for about 6 minutes. Let it sit (steep) for about 5 minutes. Pour into a pitcher and add the remaining water to make one gallon. Add the Splenda and stir. DELICIOUS and refreshing!

The blackeyed peas in the Hoppin’ John symbolize coins - a sign of prosperity for the new year. May there be lots of that in 2009. The turkey sausage symbolizes my American heritage - the wild turkeys from the first Thanksgiving. For me, it also reminds me of the land where RT and I live - dozens of wild turkeys reside here. The tomatoes and jalopenas symbolize good taste and spiciness. May I never grow too old to be spicy.

The leaves of lettuce in the salad are a symbol of folding money - currency. Again, may there be lots of that in 2009. The tomatoes remind me of the fruits of summer, the carrots for year-round bounty, and the cheese for the perfection of aging (I wish!).

The corn in the cornsticks is another symbol of my American heritage. Enough corn for good health (and we want to eat LOTS of corn this year!), enough oil to smooth out the rough places in life, an egg to remind me of the newness of life, and the buttermilk to remind me that the sour places in life make the good places all the more sweet. Baking the cornsticks in cast-iron pans reminds me of what the American pioneers used in their travels cross country to explore new lands.

The iced tea is symbolic of my Southern roots. Sweet iced tea is pure Southern! The Splenda makes it something I can drink without worrying about calories. RT and I go through a gallon of this tea about every two or three days. I make several gallons every single week. I have to admit that I almost always used decaf tea so I can drink it in the evenings without worrying about it affecting my sleep.

There you have it! A New Year’s day feast with some traditional and some Carol-grown symbolism attached.

My Cotillion sister, Cat, over at Cat House Chat will be hosting a “Carnival of Christmas.” If you have a Christmas related post, give Cat a yell.

Carnival of Christmas

Last Christmas Eve we had our two children, their spouses and our two granddaughters over for a Christmas Eve celebration. RT’s mother was here, too. We exchanged gifts and had a wonderful time together. Since RT and I were heading to his mother’s house in Georgia soon after Christmas, our son and his wife gave us the gifts they had bought for our two nieces there.

“Will you take these gifts to London and Laney?” they asked.

“Sure,” we replied, “Well deliver the Christmas gifts. They’ll have them within a couple days.”

Undelivered Christmas Gifts

Approximately eleven months later, I just took those gifts off the shelf in the pantry where they’ve sat since we forgot them last Christmas, and put them on the sofa so that I will remember THIS TIME to take them with us on our trip to Georgia. Better late than never - right?

After writing the Advent devotion in the previous post, I saw a Christmas poem my mother had written, and I thought it made a MUCH better devotion. So I used it in the following devotion. However, I didn’t get my mother’s permission first. (Mother, is it okay???):

Advent Wreath

Scripture: For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:34 (New Revised Standard)

One Christmas when my younger brother, David, was four years old, he asked my mother, “Are we going to sing ‘Happy Birthday, Dear Jesus’?”

Mother thought about David’s question and wrote this poem for Jesus’ birthday:

Happy Birthday, Dear Jesus

Happy Birthday, Dear Jesus
Today with festive fare
We celebrate Your birthday,
With music in the air!

Cakes are baked and waiting
Candles light the tree
Gifts are wrapped and ribboned
Is there no gift for Thee?

Jesus, on Thy birthday morning
I kneel before Thy creche and see
Love incarnate, God’s gift
And bring myself to Thee

~Ruth Baird Shaw~

Prayer: Our Heavenly Father, in the hustle and bustle of the holidays, help us focus on the real treasure in our lives - the gift of your Son. Help us to be quiet and to kneel and bring ourselves to you. Amen.

Advent starts next Sunday. Our church is putting together an Advent devotion book. Each church member will receive a copy, and we will put a copy in each of the soldier boxes we’ll pack next week. Each church member was asked to submit a devotion. It had to be brief and include a Bible verse, a devotion and a prayer.

Advent Wreath

I wrote two devotionals. First I wrote the one below. I read the scripture verse, and then I wrote what I thought of as I read it. Now that I’ve already submitted it to the person doing the devotion booklet, I’m second guessing myself - wondering whether I may have stretched my thinking a little too far. For what it’s worth, here is my devotion:

Scripture: When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” Luke 2:15 (New Revised Standard)

When I read this scripture, it makes me think of curiosity. The shepherds hurried away immediately so they could see the baby Jesus for themselves. Sure, the angels sent them to Bethlehem, but they weren’t just blindly following directions. They were curious, and they wanted to go.

Have you ever noticed how children are so openly curious? They ask the obvious questions that adults are often hesitant to ask. They thoroughly explore their world. No small detail escapes their notice. Sometimes they can overwhelm us with their questions. Curiosity is innate in us. It’s is a gift from God. However it is a gift that we too often overlook and even suppress as we get older. After all, it’s not considered “cool” or “mature” to be too curious.

Curiosity is a good thing to develop - especially at Christmas. We need to be curious about what we can do for the people and the world around us - about what God can say to us through the Scriptures - and about what the Christmas story means to us personally. Let’s commit ourselves to a curious Advent.

Prayer: Our Heavenly Father, help us to be curious - to read and study the Word that you have provided to guide us. Help us to be curious - to learn about the needs of others so that we can serve you through serving them. Help us to be curious - to open our hearts and minds to the gift of your Son. Amen.

God bless all our veterans who know first hand the sacrifice and hardship of serving in the armed forces of our great nation. They protect not only our freedoms but the freedoms of others arond the world everyday.

God bless the memory of my father:

Charles Shaw, United States Marine Corps

God bless my nephew, Joshua, currently serving in the United States Army overseas.

Joshua, United States Army

Here’s the perfect recipe for a 4th of July Blueberry Cobbler - and it’s ridiculously easy!

1 cup sugar
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup milk
1 stick butter

2 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup water
1/2 sugar

Place the blueberries, 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar in a saucepan and cook on medium high for a few minutes until the blueberries are tender. Set aside.

Put the stick of butter in a 9 - 13 baking dish and place in a 350 degree oven.

Meanwhile mix the sugar, flour and milk to make a thin batter. When the butter in the baking pans is melted and the pan is hot, remove it from the oven and immediately pour in the batter. Pour the blueberry mixture on top of the batter. Don’t stir - just pour the blueberry mixture throughout the batter.

Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown. WONDERFUL!

What are you planning on getting your mother for Mother’s Day? On most Mother’s Days I send my mother flowers. I probably send flowers because I love receiving them so much myself. I love beautiful flowers. One of my favorite flower arrangements is a rainbow rose bouquet. Click this link to see a really pretty arrangement. I think it’s perfect. Colorful and vibrant - but classy with the classic white vase that makes the variety of floral colors even more striking. 1800flowers.com is the place to call for flowers, plants and other Mother’s Day gifts. I have personally used them numerous times when I’ve sent flowers for birthdays and other special occasiona. They provide Mothers Day delivery which is pretty impressive.

Tomorrow is Take Our Daughters And Sons To WorkDay. This is a yearly celebration that takes place the fourth Thursday of April each year. Many call it “Take Your Child To Work” day - which means the same thing anyway.

Here is a little of the purpose and philosophy from the official website:

Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work® encourages girls and boys across the country to dream without gender limitations and to think imaginatively about their family, work and community lives. This national, public education program connects what children learn at school with the actual working world. Children learn that a family-friendly work environment is an employer and family issue and not just a woman’s issue. Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work helps girls and boys across the nation discover the power and possibilities associated with a balanced work and family life.

I would take my son and daughter to work tomorrow. However, they will both already be working at their own jobs, and my daughter coud take her own daughter to work.

However, if you can, I think it would be a good thing to take your child to work one day and let your child see what you do at work.