I hate to say, "It can't possibly get any worse," because 2017 might hear me and say HOLD MY BEER! But I will say this: 2016, you suck. We cannot wait to see the backside of you. However you celebrate tonight, my friends, stay safe and well. We need you back here tomorrow. Love you all.
You are appreciated and loved, friends. Thank you for hanging out with me. Thanks for talking with me about books, cocktails, and recipes. Thank you for being my people. Whatever you celebrate, I hope it's filled with joy and peace and happiness. If you are not celebrating anything today, I still wish you joy and peace and happiness, today and all days.
I hope your turkey wasn’t undercooked. I hope you didn’t give anyone food poisoning. If you did, I hope it wasn't too serious. I hope it wasn't to someone you liked. I hope your pie didn’t burn and I hope you had more than one slice. I hoped you skipped over the green bean casserole and doubled up on the gravy. I hope you didn’t have to do the dishes. If you had to do the dishes, I hope you blasted some groovy music while you did them (I’m fond of The Commitments Soundtrack to accompany dishwashing), and I hope…
"True hope dwells on the possible, even when life seems to be a plot written by someone who wants to see how much adversity we can overcome. True hope responds to the real world, to real life; It is an active effort." Walter Anderson photo via Unsplash
Friends, the news last week from Paris and Beirut was soul-sucking. I couldn't think of anything to write that wasn't trite, ridiculous, and useless. I coped the only way I knew how: by watching the news until I simply couldn't anymore. Then I turned it off and watched Disney's Monkey Kingdom with my kids. Prayed a lot. Talked to a neighbor who makes me laugh every day. And then my son made a pie. He and his buddies had planned a "Pie Day" at school, and each of them made a different kind of pie and had a buffet during lunch break.…