Thanksgiving in Virginia

By calling in our reservations two years earlier, we were able to get exclusive seats at Chateau de CloverLea in Virginia for the famous Thanksgiving feast. Whoa nellie! What a table!



Chef of the Chateau de CloverLea can be seen below in the picture. She was moving so fast throughout the meal that we were lucky to get this still photo!

Second in Command at the Chateau de CloverLea can be seen below guarding the pantry. If not for him carefully rationing the food, the ding-dongs and oatmeal creme pies would disappear into my belly in a matter of minutes.

For a reasonable sitting fee of only $100, we were able to get our photo taken while we were eating.

After we were finished eating, we graciously left some of our scraps on the table so that grandchildren of the the Chateau de CloverLea Chef could also enjoy Thanksgiving. We enjoyed the idea so much, we are thinking of making it our family tradition (kids don't need to eat that much anyway, right?) Happy thanksgiving! Thank you to Grandma L, Grandpa Ja, Aunt Ja, and Uncle J for their hospitality!

I've been tagged

I, B, have been tagged. Thanks to all of you who gave me the opportunity to shed a little light on my mysterious self. So here are six little known facts about myself:

1) I have driven through, visited, or lived in 35 out of 50 states. My least favorite state was Texas due to the Amarillo smell. This smell was closely mirrored, but not duplicated, by Brunswick, Georgia. My favorite state is Virginia because of the delightful pecan log rolls on the eastern (not leastern shore). The figure below has the states missing from my resume circled in red.

2) I ended up with two dates to Senior prom. The story is too long to tell here but I managed to keep it a secret from both of them throughout the night. The picture below is not from my prom. But it gives an idea of my situation.

3) I have appeared on a talk show. What show? Have you ever heard of the show, Oprah? If you haven't then you're really out of it. The show I was on, however, was Carlos a semi-popular network talk show in Uruguay.

4) I have dated a guy whose name is one of the planets. Can you guess which one? If you guessed Uranus or Neptune you are billions of miles off. Go ahead and guess his name. I included a helpful picture hint.

5) I boycotted Pepsi Co (including Taco Bell) for close to three years during high school because they refused to market a diet Mello-Yello or reply to my many letters asking for a diet version. The boycott ended when I found out that Mello-Yello was owned by Coke. Actually, I boycotted because I was a part of Amnesty International which was against PepsiCo's inappropriate employment practices in Burma (Myanmar).

6) Many of you won't be shocked to know that my obsession with ANTM actually began as a small child when my sister and I were models for my aunt's designer dress line. However, the papparazzi was more than a 3 year old could handle and I decided life would be better as a regular child.

Too many chefs in the kitchen?

Grandma and Grandpa C from northern VA came and visited M before Thanksgiving. They bore several gifts, one of which is pictured below. When given a kitchen with an oven, burner, and sink, M immediately put food into the microwave and pressed the automatic popcorn button!

You can also see below that M's has filled her sink with mish-mash in order to duplicate the real sink she sees everyday!

In addition to the top-shelf kitchen, M also received first rate Disney Crocs. Their snappy red color and roomy toe allow her to wear both socks and shoes all day long! Below, M oooohs and asks, "Are you gellin'?"
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa C!

Growing Up Fast

My dad's student income isn't high enough for me. So I got a job at the local Chick-Fil-A. Not only is the pay great but I get as many of their chicken nugget chunks as I want! Here after a long day working the drive thru, I ate dinner with my hat on until my mom reminded me I was wearing it! Silly me!


Now that I'm the main bread winner a few things have changed in the house. "What's the matter dad?" I ask. "This chair is too small for me!" he said.
So I responded, "I've been on my feet all day and don't want to hear your whining. Now let me read my musical card until bed time." His sad expression didn't change.
Get your head in the game!

Brr...it's getting cold

Oooh...helloooo! I was just reading my fan mail. It's been getting cold outside so I thought I would show off some of my winter fashions.


With the wind getting nippy outside, I usually bundle up in my large pink coat. I comb my hair forward to keep my forehead warm.

I found that my hair does not do a good job of keeping my head warm. So I borrowed my dad's hat so we look like twins. I call this look "riff-raff."
At night I often kick off my blankets. Luckily a Dr. Whitley Denton helped to create footed pajamas which I can wear to keep myself warm at night.
Stay warm everyone!

Halloween Treats

After getting back from trick or treating I took a look at the booty I had collected. Oooh! A Three Musketeers!

Oh snap! Hold the Three Musketeer's. I foung a Snickers!

After indulging in a few of the sweet treats, I had a bit of pent up energy. And this is how I spent it...

Pumpkin Carving

"AAAAH! Dad, you cut a hole in the pumpkin's head!"

After my dad showed me the inside of the pumpkin, I felt much better. Below I can see that the inside of the pumpkin is quite dirty and needs a bit of cleaning.As many of you know, I am a bit OCD with cleaniness (never leave home without a wet-nap in case I get Wagon Wheel crumbs on my face). So I was eager to help clean the pumpkin's head out. Below you can see me sticking my whole arm in the pumpkin.

Somehow, though, I got dirty while the pumpkin was getting cleaner. Ugh, I had too much and needed to come up with a better way to clean the pumpkin.

Mission accomplished! Wooden spoons are not just for banging on pots and pans!

After clearing out the pumpkin, it was snack time. I ate turkey and my mom photographed the occasion. However, instead of looking at the camera, I got caught reprimanding my dad for smiling like a muppet. Oh well...

Happy Halloween

Has anyone seen St. Elmo's Fire? For Halloween I went as Rob Lowe's character minus the saxophone and the earring. Notice my "punk rocker" look!


Another touch added to the costume was the hot pink converse hi-tops. Don't worry we had both shoes, I just put one on to model for this shot.

Halloween night and the tradition is to go over to the Meadows'. There I eat all of my mom's dinner and leave her hungry. A on the left went as a bunny. B in the middle went as a lady bug. A on the right went as an elephant. All moms went as moms.

It got a bit cold out so I borrowed my dad's hat. Here I ask him how many candy bars I can take. He said as many as I could without grabbing any Baby Ruth's.
By the end of the night the concept of Halloween had really set in. Can't wait for next year!