"She got the way to move me, Cherry Baby!"

My sweet friend, Sue, generously gives me some of the sour cherries from her tree, every year.

I know it is not easy for Sue to reach the cherries on the high branches of her tree and this act of service is one that is truly selfless.
Sue's husband passed away on Sunday morning and Sue was on my mind, all day.

After church, Aaron and I were talking about her and Jim, and Aaron thought about our own cherry tree and walked around the fence to check on the cherries.  They were ripe!

15 mintues later, we had 4 cups of perfect cherries.

Aaron suggested that I go over to Sue's to visit, then offer to pick her cherries for her and bake her a pie. 
After the kids went to bed, I made a card and some cookies, then picked up Kasey and a couple ladders and we headed over to Sue's to hopefully do a little service and cheer her up.

   She got home right when we were unloading the ladders in the driveway.
The first thing she said when she got out of the car was a tearful,

"I'm so sorry to tell you this, girls, but the cherry tree died!"

Oh. man. Did I feel like a jerk. 

I'd thought I was going to visit my friend and offer some comfort, company, and bring a little distraction and normal-ness to her day, by doing something we do together every year.

Instead, poor Sue was left feeling sad about one more loss in her life, that day.

Regardless, we still had a really nice visit, and I am so glad we were there right when she got home from dinner so she didn't come home to an empty house.  I'm headed back over there today to plant her geraniums and help her get ready for the arrival of her children who will be coming in from all over for the funeral in the next few days. 

Last night, I realized I still have 4 cups of my own cherries in the fridge.

So to honor Sue and Jim, (and also Neil Diamond, because I just can't eat cherry pie without a little "Cherry Cherry") I made mini cherry pies.
 

 +

this recipe and 5 ramekins

=

midnight mini cherry pies at the Willy's.

Or Pie Babies.
a Che-rry Bay-bay! (said in Neil Diamond's voice)

When you eat it, you automatically start singing, "Baby loves me, yes yes she does!"

bap-bap! ba-da-bap-bap-ba-dap! 

Sue's cherry tree may have died, but luckily, her friends now have cherries to spare and we will be bringing her pie every year to let her know how just loved and appreciated she is by everyone who knows her. She is humble, cheerful, wonderful, and definitely sweet as pie.

Not Awesome

Things on tv that make me throw a shoe (or fuzzy pink slipper) at the screen:

1) Sing Off
This is the reason choir gets a bad wrap. I had to leave the room when Ben Folds stood up on that beautiful piano and started beat boxing to "Why Can't We Be Friends".
Listen up, Benny. You had me with Annie Waits and we were down until you pulled that stunt. I'll tell you "why we can't be friends." Your lil' A Capella show has semi-talented people singing a lame selection of music in ugly sweaters that aren't quite ugly enough to pass as "SO ugly that they're cool" sweaters.

2) the new Gap commercial
I usually love the yuppie holiday Gap commercials where they take some catchy classic song and have pretty people dancing around in denim and stripey sweaters. Hello? Love Train? That was a snappy commercial. I even bought me a crazy stripe sweater that matched the scarf in the commercial. (which can be seen on my cute neice here) And remember the Kate Beckinsale commercial...with that one guy in it? Oh, come on, you know....this one. Catchy, right? Pretty people, pretty jeans.
This year, however, the commercial comes on, and I feel like I'm at the end of a drum line at a marching band competition. I'm not all caught up with the controversey over it being "non Christmasy" or whatever...I mean, it's a retailer, not a nativity store. What do people expect? I just miss the catchy songs. This year it's just a rhymey chant about holiday shopping that makes you get the word "whateveryouwannakuh" stuck in your head. I feel like the tv is yelling at me.

This next one isn't even on tv anymore, but it fits the television category, and I've been meaning to blog about it for some time.

3) The Reunion.
This was a show that aired in 2005 on Fox about 6 friends that graduated in 1986.
The unique thing about the show is that each episode was a flashback to one of the years since their graduation, giving clues to who murdered one of the 6 main characters. This show is the reason I don't start a tv series that requires you to catch each episode. If you miss an episode of The Office or Modern Family, that sucks because both shows are hilarious, but life goes on. Well I TOTALLY got sucked into this Reunion show on the first episode, and 9 episodes in, the show got cancelled.

Uh, Question:

Sooooo....WHO THE HECK KILLED SAM?

Ok, I know it's been 4 years, but I just can't get over it. The show wasn't even THAT great, I just wanted know who killed the girl. But Fox left everyone hanging and the murder will remain a mystery for-ev-er.

4) Vampire diaries
I know I'll get flame for this one, but I can't resist. This show is just terrible.
Ironically, the show stars Sean Faris...who played Craig on The Reunion!

Nice try, Craig. I will not watch your show. You will probably send your best friend (that slept with your girlfriend) to jail to cover your drunk driving mishap, then your girlfriend will die and none of us will know if it was you who did it because your stupid show will get cancelled after 9 episodes, and 4 years later I will still be losing sleep over it.

5) Tiger Coverage
over it. The guy is a loser who cheated on his wife. Sorry PGA, but it looks like golf will once again be portrayed to be as boring as it actually is.
And Tiger, you don't get a picture on my blog, because you don't deserve one for being unfaithful to your wife and 10 girlfriends.

This SNL skit was awesome.

This concludes Meg's rant on tv and explains why I don't have cable, and why I do other stuff in the evening, and watch the shows I like online, after my kids have gone to bed. This way, I can multitask and blog during the little 29 second commercials....which thankfully are not Gap commercials or I would have to break my computer.

That was a whiny post.
But I feel better.
Enjoy things that are awesome, here and here.

If there was a 24/7 Neil Channel, I would so tune in for that.

Stop and Stare...

The evening began with a nice, quiet, ceremony that my mom's coworkers put together for her. She was shocked by how many people were there to congratulate her, but none of us were surprised at all. My mom puts her whole heart into everything she does. Then she goes the extra mile to make it pretty and fun. Well...FUN we had...


So... WHAT happens when you mix Elvis, a Mexican Restaurant, and a Retirement Party?

Answer...


Click the link below to get a taste of our evening entertainment..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejJ6FiuB0kY

The added bonus was that on Thursday nights, Elvis interrupts his performance every few songs for a little KARAOKE!

Tonight's performances: Aside from Elvis, of course

"Shoop Shoop" by HolleeAnn ...Amy and I were great backup girls

Followed by Eric Clapton's "Change the World" by Josh and

"Some country song I've never heard" by Big Daddy Paul

I dragged Amy up there with me to sing "Take a Chance On Me". Mostly for moral/vocal support... Don't worry about help with the sweet dance moves, I handled those all on my own.

I finally understand how people on shows like Big Brother and Real World can say they "forgot about the cameras watching" because after awhile, I zeroed in on my cheering and laughing family members, and honestly became totally unaware of the others in the crowd. Hopefully there were enough margaritas in their system that they will forget the events of the evening.

Then Josh ROCKED Neil Diamond's "Forever In Blue Jeans"...Amy looked a little scared when he started movin' her way during the "Baby tonight, baby tonight by the fire all alone you and I" part.

No need to worry though...Amy and Josh got a standing ovation. (seriously... who does that for Karaoke? and why didn't they stand for me after Dancing Queen?) They blew us away with their "Summer Lovin" from Grease. Amy I KNOW you two practiced that choreography...

We even got our very own Mama Mia to get up and show us how it's really done. I only wish we could have seen Mom get on the floor and do the worm one more time. I might have to look through my VHS archives and find that home video from 1983...

And finally...
A special gift for those who also read my sister, Hollee Ann's blog.

The missing photo.
She came.
She danced.
We stared.

The Braless Wonder.

We just couldn't look away.

The best part?

Upon closer inspection (since I had to move in to get a better shot...I realized that I went to High School with this beauty. Yes, that's right....Dancing Queen and I go all the way back to Kindergarten. Congratulations, City of Gilroy, you have produced a fine specimen.

Ha! Like I have any room to judge when there were plenty of photos taken that evening of me, like this...


Congrats on your retirement, Mom! We are so proud of all the accomplishments you made in your career. Unfortunately, you'll be stuck with the role of keeping your kids under control for the rest of your life.
We love you!