Today I took a little road trip BY MYSELF, ALONE, WITH NO OTHER PEOPLE IN THE CAR, BECAUSE YOU SEE IT WAS JUST ME AND NO ONE ELSE.

Not that I’d been looking forward to a little solitude or anything.

(A brief aside: you know those personality tests? That determine if you’re an introvert or an extrovert? I’m always right smack dab in the middle. Which pretty much means that I get so energized from being with people that I can’t wait to be by myself and channel that energy into cleaning or writing or catching up on DVR’d programming or whathaveyou. And then I get so energized from alone time that I think, “HEY! WHERE ARE THE PEOPLE? I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THEM NOW!”)

(Oh yes. I am a veritable barrel-o-crazy.)

So I took a little road trip to see some of my oldest and most favoritest friends: Merritt, Liz, Melissa, Tracey and Elise. Tracey and Elise didn’t even know that I was going to be in their neck of the woods today, but they are such good friends that when I called and said, “Hey! I’m in town!” they replied with “Hey! Come on over!”

And so I did.

It was such a great day. Sweet mercy I love those girls.

I won’t bore you by sharing all the things we laughed about that no one else in the free world would find even remotely amusing, but I do want to share about, well, food.

Shocking, I know.

Liz, our own little Martha Stewart in the making, fixed a delicious lunch for Merritt, Melissa and me. She made chicken salads that were absolutely beautiful (and healthy, too), and she made two huge trays of Parmesan Crisps, one of which I’m pretty sure I ate all by myself, because I can always be counted on to negate any benefits of healthy eating by singlehandedly putting away AN ENTIRE TRAY OF CHEESE.

I’m a nutritional inspiration, really.

Anyway, since I’d already eaten that entire tray of cheese, I really didn’t feel too guilty about adding a little sugar to the mix. Liz always has great dessert treats at her house, and today I think I had my very favorite Liz dessert ever: Symphony Brownies.

Do you people know about these?

And if you do, WHY HAVEN’T YOU TOLD ME?

According to Liz, they’re super-simple to make – as I’m sure I will discover the next four or seventy two times that I make them. You prepare your favorite brownie mix, pour half of it in the baking dish, top with Hershey’s Symphony Bars with Almonds and Toffee, pour the other half of the brownie mixture on top of the candy bars, and bake according to package directions.

Then eat, praise Jesus, and repeat.

Also: even though we had a lovely lunch at Liz’s house and I had a large Starbucks once we left Tracey’s, Elise still managed to convince Merritt and me to eat some of her homemade gumbo around, oh, four in the afternoon. Because apparently we felt we needed a light snack.

I mean, it just made good sense to re-fuel after all the talking we’d been doing.

And then, when I got back to Mama and Daddy’s around 7:30, I felt the need to pay tribute to my time with my college friends, so I had Popeye’s for supper.

I even thought about taking my tribute to the next level by lighting some candles around my plate of fried chicken.

But ultimately I decided against it because I didn’t want to risk the grease fire.

I am nothing if not practical.

Hope your Thursday is filled with sweet friends, great conversation, and lots of laughs.

And chocolate.

And Starbucks.

And, well, gumbo.

And maybe even a little fried chicken, too.

Alex and I are at my parents’ house for a few days so that I have a chance to catch up with some of my favorite friends in the whole wide world.

Not to mention that Alex needs to catch up on his caffeine and sugar intake. Which he’ll get to do first thing in the morning when Daddy takes him to McDonald’s for pancakes and Coke.

I believe that’s what people in health and wellness circles refer to as The Breakfast of Champions.

Anyway, Daddy and I are watching the Sugar Bowl, something that we’ve done at least twenty or twenty five times in my life. And as always, we’re cheering for the SEC team, which in this case happens to be the Georgia Bulldogs (not my usual brand of Bulldogs, mind you, but a fine brand of Bulldogs just the same).

But tonight, there has been a Sugar Bowl first in this house: I have uttered the phrase “Bless their hearts” more often than I have cheered for the SEC team.

You see, the game has been a bit of a mismatch; Hawaii has struggled like crazy against a mighty fine Georgia team. And when the Hawaii quarterback was sacked in his own end zone, I kind of wanted to cry a little bit.

In fact, I’m very tempted to go into the kitchen and make a big ole batch of brownies. Not that the brownies really have anything to do with the Sugar Bowl, of course. But nonetheless, I am very tempted to go into the kitchen and make a big ole batch of brownies. Because they would be delicious.

And saying “Bless their hearts” is much more effective when one’s mouth is filled with delicious chocolate-y goodness.

So.

Somehow I’ve managed to turn a post about the Sugar Bowl into a post about, well, sugar.

Totally planned, of course.

Ahem.

I do hope you’re not blinded by the rays of my blogging brilliance.

And when I say “blogging brilliance,” what I mean, of course, is “food issues.”

Happy New Year, y’all.

I keep thinking that at some point today I’m going to get to sit down and reflect and write something Deeply Meaningful about 2007, something that will eloquently summarize all that I’ve learned over the course of the last twelve months, something that will Gently Encourage you to DREAM BIG! and FOLLOW YOUR HEART! and REACH FOR THE STARS! in 2008.

But the fact of the matter is that it’s 3:38 in the afternoon, I’m still in my pajamas, and I’m holding on to hope that I’ll be able to take a shower before the sun goes down because I BELIEVE IN GOALS, people.

So all that to say: I am smack dab in the middle of the ordinary right now. And here’s what I keep thinking about.

Last night I met my friend Traci at a Mexican restaurant. We drank diet Cokes and ate chips and queso until the people who worked there started to RATTLE THEIR KEYS to remind us that it was closing time, and then we sat in Traci’s car for the next hour and a half so that we could finish our conversation. As you can tell, we are some wild, crazy women who like to live on the edge.

Today I’ve been thinking a lot about some of the stuff Traci and I talked about. And while I haven’t had any big insights, really, I’ve most definitely been reminded of the blessing and necessity of friends. Not acquaintances. Friends. The people you can trust with your heart.

This past year has been the most surprising, incredible year of my life so far. A big part of that incredibleness (which is totally a word, by the way) has been this little blawg. The privilege of being able to “write” here blows me away every single day – and I am so thankful that I have such great readers. Y’all never fail to make me smile.

But the main thing I’ve been thinking about after my chips and queso extravaganza with Traci is that, incredible or no, I would have never made it through this last year without my girlfriends. There’s been a lot of change around our house in 2007, and my friends have been my sounding boards and my prayer warriors through every single bit of it. They have made me laugh until I wheezed, and they have spurred me on when I have been discouraged.

More than anything, they have listened patiently and loved unconditionally. I would be lost as a goose without them.

[cue Natalie Merchant singing “Kind & Generous” softly in the background]

[then sway gently from side to side]

[go ahead and flip open your cell phones, too – because we want to create a mood here, people]

So thanks, my sweet friends (and family – especially my family), for everything you’ve done in 2007. And whatever 2008 may bring, I’m more grateful than you know that I get to walk through it with such a precious group of people.

I love every single one of you to pieces.

Happy 2008, y’all.

Last night after our Christmas Feast I silently vowed that I would not eat anything at all today. And I’ll have you know that I kept that vow until approximately 8:30 this morning when I devoured two pieces of fried Jimmy Dean sausage. Because obviously I like to start my day with a healthy, low-fat breakfast.

But as it turned out, I needed the protein. Mama, Sister and I shopped for most of the day, and even when Mama decided she’d had enough, Sister and I persevered. In fact, I think we broke our previous record for time spent shopping in TJ Maxx (we clocked in right at three hours), and we went to Steinmart(s) not once but twice. You should expect no less.

My best deal of the day was a pair of shoes that were 80% off – I paid a whopping $9.99 for them. I was so excited when I found them that I stood right there in the Steinmart(s) shoe department and proclaimed, “IT’S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!”

The woman standing next to us started to laugh and said that she was also hoping to find a Christmas miracle on the clearance rack, but she didn’t think she was going to get one since they didn’t seem to have her size.

In retrospect, I believe that Sister and I should have joined hands with that sweet woman right there in the shoe department and prayed for her miracle. We missed a real opportunity for ministry. And the Lord will hold us accountable for that.

Also, as a brief aside: total number of times Sister and I have sung “O Holy Night” in a key that defies the laws of music: 74. We have also done a good bit of dancing.

Anyhoo, I must go now. If their maniacal laughter is any indication, my hubby and Sister’s hubby are waging a top-notch campaign against some rogue alien armies on the Xbox, and I would hate to miss history in the making. It is sure to be a tender Christmas memory.

OH! One more thing! Yesterday morning when the little man walked into our living room and saw his presents, he paused for a second at the top of the steps and then said, “WELL MY WORD.”

We’re thinking of changing his name to Papaw.

I’m going to take a little bloggy hiatus during the holidays, and while I’ll probably be posting some-ish, I’m giving myself the gift of taking at least a week off, because really, nobody in my family wants to spend the Christmas season with someone who says, “OH! GOOD POINT ABOUT BABY JESUS! HOLD THAT THOUGHT WHILE I BLOG ABOUT IT!”

So I believe a bit of a break is in order.

But before I go, I thought I’d answer a few of the questions that have made their way to my inbox over the last few days.

Clearly this is going to be the most fun thing you have ever experienced in your WHOLE LIFE EVER.

Do you really read all of your comments?

I do. I read every single comment and every single email. I even read emails sent from made-up people like Goran Czuelaske that say, “Many moons have shone to your heart lit candle one millions. I friend to you! I bank account money send for trouble!”

Oh, Goran. You do amuse me.

But unfortunately, I have come to grips with the fact that I can’t answer all my comments and emails. I try – but the email alone can get a little overwhelming. Actually, one of my favorite things in the world is to go to a coffee shop with my computer and do nothing but answer email and respond to comments for a couple of hours.

The problem is that I get to do that approximately once a month, and it’s just not enough to keep me up-to-speed. So many thanks to you sweet people who email me and don’t say mean things when I don’t answer you for, like, two months. You are very gracious and kind.

I want to start a blog. How do I do that?

Until you know you’re going to stick with the blogging thing, I’d start off with one of the free blogging services. Originally my blog was on Blogger, and it was a great way to get my bloggy feet wet.

When I changed my domain to boomama.net, I switched to WordPress, and I am a huge fan.

Of WordPress. Not of BooMama. Because that would be tacky.

Anyway, there is lots of great information about starting a blog right here. My biggest piece of advice is that once you settle on a blogging platform, you also need to settle on how much of your real life you’re going to share on your blog…because once you publish that info (last name, kids’ names, information about where you live, etc.), you can never, ever take it back.

Which is why I never blog about all the trillions of dollars we keep stored underneath the flower pot by our garage. Because I would hate for a Ring of Thieves^TM to steal that small portion of our vast fortune.

Ahem.

How do you get so much traffic on your blog?

I probably get this question more than any other, and the truth of the matter is that it makes me terribly uncomfortable, so much so that every single time I see it I want to cover my eyes and run away from the computer and crouch down in a corner and rock back and forth and shout “LALALANOIDEAWHATYOUARETALKINGABOUTLALALA.”

I am very mature.

But the bottom line is that traffic takes time. And also: traffic is TOTALLY RELATIVE. I may have a good bit of traffic for this little corner of the interweb, but the tech blogs that my husband reads get more traffic in an hour than I get in a whole day.

And honestly? Some of the most fun I’ve ever had in my life was when I had less than 100 page views a day, my friends from college were talking back and forth in the comments, and I had absolutely no idea that anyone other than those sweet friends would ever read. It was a blast.

In conclusion comma I really do think that if you focus more on building relationships than on building traffic, you’ll be a much happier blogger.

The end.

What does your Christmas Card Tree look like when you have lots of cards on it?

Okay. I totally made up this question. But we’ve gotten a ton of cards (Don’t worry. I am not being literal. That is what the writer-people refer to as hyperbole. If we had gotten a literal ton of cards, they would not all fit on the tree. Needless to say.) over the last two days, and OH, the fun that is the Christmas Card Tree right now.

If you happen to be at a day-after-Christmas sale and see an inexpensive Christmas tree, you should absolutely buy it for this very reason. You will heart it deeply.

Do you have any ideas for a kid-friendly Christmas breakfast?

Well, I don’t know how kid-friendly it is, but I can most definitely tell you what I’ll be cooking for Christmas breakfast. I did ask the little man for his input, but seeing as how his reply was, “CHRISTMAS BACON, MAMA!,” I figured I’d better add a couple of extra items to the menu.

So, here’s what we’re having:

Granite Steps Coffee Cake
Breakfast Casserole (made with sausage and no crescent rolls since the coffee cake has biscuit dough in it)
CHRISTMAS BACON, MAMA (known in culinary circles as, well, bacon)
Fresh Fruit

And nobody asked, but since I tend to overshare, here’s what I’m cooking for Christmas supper:

Asian Pork Tenderloin
Big Mama’s Dressing
Squash Supreme
Sweet Potato Casserole (Except I use butter. Go big or go home.)
Asparagus Casserole
Baby Lima Beans
Strawberry Pretzel Salad (Except I use real cream cheese and real Cool Whip. Go big or go home.)
Rolls
Pumpkin Rum Cake with Brown Sugar Icing
Slap Yo Mama Chocolate Pudding Pie (Make the pudding. Put it in a pre-baked pie crust. Make merengue. Put in oven until merengue browns. Find yo mama. But don’t you dare slap her. Just hug her real big.)

So.

I have a little cooking to do.

I hope each one of you sweet internets spends Christmas surrounded by the people you love the most. And more than anything, I pray you experience the joy of the One who loves you more than you can ever imagine.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Why, hello, internets!

How are you?

I’ve missed you terribly.

And even though I haven’t written a post because I knew lots of you were visiting the houses on the Tour of Homes and I didn’t want to interrupt the festivities, all of the boring information that rattles around my feeble mind has reached some sort of critical mass, and unfortunately, I have to post again or else my head will explode.

I’m sure you understand.

So today I snuck off while Alex was resting and went to the grocery store.

(Do not worry. I did not leave him home alone. His daddy was here. We are not planning to leave him by himself until he’s at least five. We are quite protective.)

We have all manner of family and friends coming to visit over the holidays, and one of the greatest joys in my life is figuring out what to cook for big, festive occasions and making a list of all the necessary ingredients and then organizing the list and then typing the list and then taking my list to the store and crossing off every single item (WITH A BLACK SHARPIE! IT MUST BE CROSSED OFF WITH A BLACK SHARPIE OR CHRISTMAS IS RUINED!) as I put it in the cart.

It’s a very loose, flexible process for me, as you can clearly tell.

Today I actually went into the store with my list ON A CLIPBOARD, and before you think I’ve lost my mind, I have to tell you that a clipboard? In the grocery store? IT IS HANDY. I really feel like I was able to take my grocery shopping game up to the next level, and if you’re thinking to yourself, “Um, missy? I didn’t know that grocery shopping was a contest,” then let me just assure you that OH, IT TOTALLY IS.

(And today? I was surrounded by amateurs. But that is another tale for another time.)

Anyway, when I was finally in the checkout line and unloading my cart, I heard the woman behind me say “WOW!” And when I turned around to see what was going on, do you know what she was doing, y’all? Do you know?

She was looking at my grocery list! With a look of awe on her face!

Or perhaps it was horror. But still. We’ll pretend like it was FOR SURE a look of awe. Because that is a much more pleasing scenario.

And I confess right here before the whole wide world interweb that it tickled me to death.

I think that I might have some grocery list pride issues.

But, I mean, LOOK. IT’S BEAUTIFUL.

I got every single thing on my list except for dark rum. And that is because I am Baptist so obviously I have to wait until the Episcopalian side of the family gets to town so that I can make them go to the liquor store for me.

Or at the very least the Methodist side. The Methodists will do just fine in a pinch, but the Episcopalians, well, they are professionals.

OH, I DO KID.

I’m actually going to the liquor store tomorrow. I’ll be wearing large, dark sunglasses and a t-shirt that says, “HELLO, I’M NOT BAPTIST.”

OH, I DO KID. AGAIN! I AM A KIDDER!

And in a surprising development, I only had three blocks of cream cheese on my list. I for one feel that this demonstrates remarkable restraint on my part.

Also – because you know that I have to share grocery bargains when I run across a particularly good one – you can buy a carton of Land O Lakes butter for two dollars in Walmart right now.

Which means that there are currently sixteen sticks of butter in my refrigerator.

In addition to a few other items that had to be put away.

And I don’t know if you realize this, but all those groceries? HAVE TO BE COOKED AND STUFF.

So we’re going to be spending the next few days getting everything ready for our company. I’m going to start on a few things for Christmas dinner and bake this cake and listen to James Taylor and wrap presents and pretty much just soak up the season.

I really do adore this time of year.

Make it merry, y’all.

*It’s Pioneer Woman’s recipe. And it is very delicious. You should try it.