Thank Goodness that’s over with… Now on with the Quest

            So I had wanted to continue my post from last time about the craft room. I wanted to gloat about how proud I was of myself that I got it cleaned up and organized…then Christmas happened. No gloating here, the room is a mess! It was clean for about 2 hours though. So I guess there is some hope that I could get it straight again. So moving on.

What it looked like almost clean. Then
Christmas threw up in here. It's still
a freaking mess! One day it will be clean.

One of the many shadow boxes I made
for Christmas presents.

            

Now I am not a total scrooge but I am happy that Christmas is over. Well may be relieved a better word. It was a handmade Christmas for the most part so I have been a busy elf over the past few weeks. A lot of it revolved around the wedding; various shadow boxes and photo albums, and some of it food. Have to say I am kind of tired of looking at wedding photos. There are amazing but there were a lot. I am hoping that next year it will be more about food.

            This brings me to my latest obsession, Julia Child. A few months ago I broke down and bought myself a kindle, and the first book that I purchased, well the only one I bought, I'm cheap, was a biography on Julia Child “Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child” by Bob Spitz. I highly recommend this book. It could be life changing for me. Growing up I would catch her on PBS and always thought that she was pretty cool. I mean this huge woman and that voice. How could you not get sucked in? After watching her I would then run into the kitchen to then host my own cooking show that mostly involved pulling a bunch of pots, pans, spoons, and canned goods out and clanging them around. Thank goodness I couldn’t reach the knives.

            I never really appreciated cooking good food until I got older. And now there is no stopping me. This book is totally enthralling and has inspired me. She had such an amazing life. If this firefighter thing doesn’t work out I’m running away to Paris and devoting my life to food. The hubby is totally enabling this new and growing obsession. For Christmas he got me both volumes of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” Game on. Now I can’t say that I have lofty goals of cooking my way through the entirety both volumes but I do plan on reading them both cover to cover and giving it a go. Charlie isn’t the only enabler. My aunt and uncle sent me a cookbook filled with recipes from Maine. I also received some great pickling and canning cookbooks from my in-laws that will get put to great use, especially when we get the garden fired back up. The collection is growing, and I am running out of room in the kitchen to keep them. I am going to have to get creative in my storage or just add on to the house.

Here's our baby!

Inside needs updated.
But I can handle that 

            Now that Christmas is over and things have settled a little bit, Charlie and I have out pet project to work on. We bought a camper! A 1972 Serro Scotty pull behind camper. It is official! We’re now camping snobs. This is going to be like staying at the Hilton for us. Running water, a bed, and electricity! A big change from dehydrated food and sleeping pads. Now don’t think for a second that we are going to forget where we came from and not use those sleeping pads! This is a game changer for us though. Once we get her up and running, a lot more camping opportunities open up for us. Now there will be no more excuses of it’s going to rain, or it’s too cold, or it’s too hot. No excuses, except for maybe snow and ice, but those are only for safe traveling purposes. Though I am sure that Mr. Holland will push that limit too if given the chance.  I can’t wait to get it on the road. There are a few things that need to be done to it, but nothing too major that has to be done to it for us to start enjoying it. The 1972 interior is on the list to be updated. Surprisingly this thing is in really good condition. Some cleaning up and a few touches here and there and we are in business. Which brings me to “The Quest.” Now this was Charlie’s idea but I was on board immediately. So “The Quest” is to visit all, and camp in as many as possible of the state parks in VA next year. There are 35 of them. It’s gonna be a long year. I’m up for it though because it is going to be great fun. Especially since we can take the pups with us, to liven up the campground if it needs it. We all know they are good at that.

            Our first trip is coming up mid January. I’ll let you know how it goes…