Too Much to Do Tuesday

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We certainly enjoyed the visit with my folks and I'm now ready to greet the New Year. Well, that's not entirely true, but ready or not - here it comes! I have always heard "things will slow down after the holidays". Hmph. I must have jumped on the wrong train because I feel like one of those cartoon characters that is holding on to the end of a caboose attached to the train that is speeding down the mountain. See that little blur flapping in the wind? That's me.

Suddenly, my list of things to do seems to have grown much too quickly and being up at 3 in the morning is not even on there! Argh!

My folks left on Saturday. 4 hours later my brother-in-law pulled in with his 3 little rascals. They were on their way to visit Granny and Grandpa and stopped in to stretch their legs for about 4 hours. They'll be back this evening for 3 or 4 days. I spent Sunday cleaning up the post-Christmas mess, catching up on laundry, and taking a much needed nap before hitting town yesterday to run errands. The boys were gone helping the neighbors work cattle so DD and I didn't worry about getting back for dinner. We came home with a truck filled to the brim with groceries - hopefully enough to keep us from making another trip into town for a good, long while!

While we were knocking things off of our list, the hired hand's wife called.
She's coming over this morning to pick up some beef so we'll get to enjoy some time to visit although I hope she doesn't mind if I'm multitasking.
Then DH phones and says that a friend is coming from Texas to pick up a couple of horses.
Is he bringing his wife and daughter?
Who knows?
When are they coming?
They'll be here for dinner.
My brother-in-law will be pulling in this evening with his 6, 8, and 10 yr olds.
Oh, and tomorrow is DH's birthday.

So here's my list for today:
1.Make Sopapilla Cheesecake for dessert and hope there's enough left for Friday.
2.Make Smothered Steak, rolls, potatoes, and salad for dinner.
3.Kick DS out of his room-again- sorry Bud - and make it up for BIL and 3 children for 3 or 4 days
4.Bake Auntie's Chocolate Cake for DH's birthday
5.Wrap DH's gifts (pick up the TV tomorrow morning)
6.Bake a batch of gingerbread cowboys because they're DH's favorite and I didn't get around to making them for Christmas
7.Write a letter and mail a friend's birthday card
8.Order Christmas pictures (this one might have to wait)
9.Make spinach dip for New Year's
10.Make Guacamole for New Year's Eve (DH loves this)
11.Oil dining room table
12.Mail check for DD's Driver's Ed
13. Mail 8x10 Christmas card photo my parents requested
14. Search for a snowflake cookie cutter on the Internet
15. Order subscription for quilting magazine
16. Clean up the 'sure to be chaotic' kitchen
17. Haul out the Christmas tree and clean up the pine needles for the next 6 months
18. Make Wednesday's list and hope it's shorter than today's
19. Collapse from exhaustion and wonder how people do this on a regular basis.
20. Dig a longer dirt road - this one is getting too short - the craziness is getting too close for comfort

Merry Christmas From the End of the Dirt Road!

Just a quick note to wish all of y'all a very Merry Christmas! May your holiday be blessed with the beautiful gift of God's love as we celebrate the birth of our Savior.

Prayers for safe travels for everyone on the road and in the air. Sounds like many of you will be enjoying a white Christmas! Hope the good Lord send a little of that this way!

DD and I were pretty sick for a couple of days, but we've recovered and by God's hand, everything that needed to be done, is done. I didn't think we would get a Christmas Photo taken to include in the cards this year, but that too, finally, worked out. This one is a bit different, but I love it.

So as per, tradition, here's the final product along with the silly Christmas poem I keep getting requests for:

2008 Holiday Greetings from the End of the Dirt Road

Don’t blink – the year has come and gone;

Each year it only moves faster.
Didn’t I just write one of these -

Seems last week instantly morphed into last year.

Even so, we happily greet you this season,

With our update on family news.
The kids are still growing and we’re getting older,

With ranch life there’s no time to snooze.

We’re busy baking Christmas goodies that quickly disappear;

must hide them when they leave the range -
Too many eager hands always sneaking a taste -

some things never change!

Tyler is 18 and reaching 6’4;

his guitar never far from his side and it shows.
He just joined a band and plays day and night;

Where he got his talent –nobody knows!

Caitlin is 15 and taller than I

She’s still happiest on the back of a horse.
She’s starting young colts, still playing music

And writing cowboy poetry of course.

Both kids are still shooting alongside their Dad;

They can often be found at the range.
Its family time we all enjoy;

That’s one thing that will never change.

Gary still logs in lots of long hours;

Always working in 5th gear.
With prices sky high and fuel out of sight;

Ranching has been quite a challenge this year.

I’ve recently discovered a passion for quilting,

And can often be found with needle and thread.
Just completed my very first quilt,

But already have numerous others gathered in my head.

We are simply, abundantly blessed,

With family and friends we adore.
We’re happy and healthy and enjoy time together;

We couldn’t ask for anything more.

So that concludes my dirt road ramblings,

To friends both far and near.
We’re sending along prayers for a joyous Christmas;

May you be blessed in the coming New Year!

My First Quilt!

Yes - the quilt is finished! Hurrah! Yippee! WaHoo! I'm so excited! It has been a long journey. The fabric has been patiently waiting on a shelf for some time now - 3 1/2 years to be exact. The curtains have been made for years and were quite lonely waiting for their companion piece to grace the bed, but the little family is now complete.

The process of making and completing a quilt can be compared to giving birth. It may not be quite as painful, but it takes a really long time before you are able to gaze lovingly at the finished product! LOL!

It took some finagling, but I am quite proud of the fact that DD's quilt sports 4 very clean mitered corners! Wahoo! I am so excited - I feel an acceptance speech coming on. There are so many people to thank!

~I must thank google for the video that showed me how to miter those pretty corners.
~The NFR, for televising 10 days of rodeo that gave me an excuse to sit for hours and quilt.
~My Scrapshare quilting buddies, who patiently answered my never ending questions about batting.
~My DD, who patiently, and sometimes not so patiently(grin) waited for the final stitch.
~DS and DH for enduring endless days and weeks without freshly baked cookies.
~The various and numerous quilt store personnel who patiently waited as I fretted and toiled and struggled over fabric selections.
~Cottonpicker, who without her generosity, this quilt would not be possible (thank you for lending me a sewing machine when mine took an early retirement)
~Ranch Wife, who went above and beyond the call of duty and held my hand throughout this lengthy process and still remained my friend. You can now breathe a sigh of relief. I feel as if I have sprouted quilting wings and you can now safely shove me out of the nest! Aren't you glad?!I think you created a monster. Oh - and I will one day learn to step away from the browns!

I feel a strong desire for a trip to a quilt store coming on...

Love, Dirt Road Scrapper - who is off to start another quilt and continue her search for a sewing machine!

Sopapilla Cheesecake

Oh my! We went to a friend's house for Thanksgiving and dined on lots of wonderful, yummy things. This cheesecake was the best and she graciously sent us home with the little that was left. DH said it made the best breakfast the next morning! LOL! I have been so blessed by her friendship...and her recipes!

I visited with Ranch Wife this week to see what I could bring for our Cowboy Fellowship Christmas Service and I told her I had just discoved a great new dessert. She said she had one as well and it made me laugh when we both said "Sopapilla Cheesecake"! Just goes to show that great minds really do think alike! I know that this will be gracing our table during Spring Works - I'm pretty certain that the crew will give it a thumbs up!

Sopapilla Cheesecake

2 cans crescent rolls
2 (8 oz) cream cheese, softened - not low fat - go for the good stuff!
2 C sugar (divided)
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 C butter
ground cinnamon

*Roll one can crescent dough into bottom of greased 9x13 baking pan.
*Stretch dough and pinch seams together to form crust.
*Blend together cream cheese, 1 C sugar and 1 tsp vanilla
*Spread over dough - not too close to edge
* Stretch second can of crescent rolls over cream cheese layer to form top crust
*Melt butter and 1 C sugar and 1 tsp vanilla and pour over crust
*Sprinkle with cinnamon
*Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

This same friend once had a restaraunt in Houston and now has a catering business here. We're helping her with a couple of parties next week so it'll be fun to see what else she has up her sleeve! I love to cook so I'm really looking forward to this! Be sure and remind me of that when I come back here later this week and complain about how much my feet hurt! It'll be hard to keep up with S! Maybe some of her energy will rub off on me. I can hope, can't I?

Y'all enjoy!