Since we get hungry playing wow and since the people in the guild have been talking non-stop about recipes and since we have several chefs, cooks, and kitchen literate people in the guild:  Its about time to have a cookbook area to share our combined knowledge and vent our favorites for the consumption and digestion of our fellow guildies.  No implied good taste or safety measures are in effect so if you explode or puke while attempting one of these recipes its your own damn fault for exploding and puking and therefore not the fault of the recipe writers.  Use at your own disgression.

This yuletide season started off a little hairy for us...money was tight bills were due.  We managed to some how pull it off and the kids had a great day.  I don't think the joy in their eyes on Dec. 25th could even compare to the joy that I received yesterday.

For those of you who have talked to me at length may know that I have a 16 year old daughter that I gave up for adoption at birth.  If you weren't aware, it's just because it's something that hasn't come up in conversations, as it's not something I've ever hide.  I had contact with the family that I chose to raise my baby for almost 10 years.  Due to some staffing changes in the South Carolina office, we lost touch about 6 years ago.  While this broke my heart...I moved on and kept reminding myself her 18th birthday is coming soon...and I had all the hope in the world that she will want to find me when she is able.

I was a complete slacker and didn't touch my email much over the holiday and the following weekend.  On Sunday I noticed I had a new friend request and an message.  I just looked over as I do most myspace things at first.  I figured I'd check it later.  I walk into work yesterday morning, open my Outlook (work email) and then open Yahoo Messenger....which reminds me I have mail...so I open that bad boy up and see the myspace reminder...ok let's see who this is....

If you haven't already guessed...yes the add and message were from my daughter!!!!!!!!  I spent most of my day yesterday chatting with her on instant messanger then a good 3-4 hours last night on the phone with her.  I can't even begin to tell you how much joy this has brought me...Xmas 2008 will go down in the history books for me.

Here are a few pictures of my first born I'd like to share with my second family...

https://www.n1gallery.com/g2/v/cpatterson/taryn/

She has grown into such a wonderful young lady.  She's smart, she's beautiful..and a bit of proof heredity can sometimes outweigh environment she has the EXACT same personality as Mia, and I.  The connection between us and the connection with her little sister were instant.

So that my friends was my xmas miracle, no it wasn't a chain saw...nor a fishing pole...but the gift of a complete heart, having all 3 of my children in my life.

Edit by Grasen: You spelt amazing wrong.

Edit by Aidin : This from the king of spelling himself? gahhh...

Let's see: We had planned to go to Palm Springs and Yuma to visit family for the holiday.  We left on Dec 20 went to Palm Springs had a great time at a resort and hanging around there with my brother and his wife.  This is where things started to get weird.  When we arrived at Yuma late on Dec 22 it was dark and the lights were not working properly at my In-laws.  Since my youngest son (17 yrs) was asleep we left him at the In-laws with my hubby's aunt and uncle there as well, then my hubby, older son and I went over to the house that we were staying at; it was just a couple blocks away.  At 2 am on Dec 23 my youngest son called my cell phone. 

There was a house fire at my In-laws.  My mother in law is a light sleeper and woke up smelling smoke.  The fire alarms never did go off.  Everyone got out ok but the place was destroyed.  My youngest son called 911 and the firefighters responded quickly and were very good at what they did. The structure is still standing but the inside is gutted.  We spent the rest of the vacation helping them recover from their losses.

It gave new meaning to the season of renewal for all of us.  I am very thankful for the life of my son and that of my In Laws (all jokes aside for the moment).  Nothing else matters...go hug your loved ones. I have been spending more time just enjoying my children's company this last week and we are all glad to be home safe and sound.

So we are back from the south, I had more excitement there than I was expecting and did a few things I was surprised by;

I dune buggied for a day in the desert with my family and a guide...Intense fun exploring an old abandoned mine, my first time in a dune buggy (luckily no one could hear me screaming when we were doing scary things or my sons would've made fun of me).  This was our gift from my hubby's parents for xmas.

I did not eat snake or squirrel (which were on one of the menus) but I did eat 'grits' and cornbread and I drank a milkshake made from dates.

I recieved a proposal of marriage from a guy who looked to be aprox. 90 years old...and had to turn him down.

Though we got lost on the way back to Palm Springs from Yuma and found an interesting wind farm in the process we did make our plane (cause it was delayed a couple of hrs) and no harm was done there.

All in all though the weather is dangerous here (-30C today) I prefer the safety of the north (though they sure cook ribs well in Arizona)

the last two weeks have been really hard on me as far as work goes.  i've now slept a total of 4 times at my store, 4 times at my parents house in the last 14 days.  my parents asked me to come over for christmas eve when it poured snow into our area and my car has become an inert clump of metal the last four days as people randomly abandon stranded vehicles near our driveway and walk home.  I don't think I'd mind nearly as much if the computers in my family's house actually ran wow, but they're all archaic and don't accept any of the installs. so, here I am on the one working internet computer after working 50 hours this week telling you all how much I'd rather be at home and online.  QQ for epat, QQ.

Atar and Friends: From left to right: Dierk(Coley), Alprazalam(Zak), Closer(Cindy), Delirium(Matthew), Ataraxia(Austin), Felsteel(Geno)

From left to right:

Dierk(Coley), Alprazalam(Zak), Closer(Cindy), Delirium(Matthew), Ataraxia(Austin), Felsteel(Geno)

I had a Christmas party and I had to post a picture with all my WoW friends.

 Hey everyone. Just stopping by to say hello. I havn't signed on Afton in a long while simply because no time. i just recently hit 80 on my Horde and now whenever I have time to actually play I'm doing heroics. So, this would be the best way to keep in touch with you all. I hope you guys didn't forget me because you're all a really great group of friends to me. Anyway. 

Best wishes, happy holidays, fuck shit up!

<3 It'sa me.