Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Last night I made a Romasco favorite for dinner - stuffed cabbage rolls. Can you guess where I'm going with this? Tonight's dinner will be corned beef and cabbage of course. That's right, it's St. Patrick's day. I hope you're all wearin' a bit 'o the green so you don't get pinched while you're out and about. Tonight we will a raise a glass to you all. I hope you all will have a happy (and safe) St. Pat's day.

Welcome to the Family

Well, you knew it was just a matter of time before Andy and I would need to add to the family. Some people might have been betting on small human, they obviously haven't met Lexi. Meet Kirby (the name's 4 hours old so we'll see how it sticks). Kirby is a Kerry Blue Terrier. They are believed to be derived from Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers (Lexi-types). Kirby was rescued from a puppy mill in Pennsylvania. He spent the first 6 months of his life there. Today we went to Philadelphia to bring him home. So far he's getting along with all the creatures in the house.

Cake for the 100th Post

Hey! It's our 100th EwingUniverse post. That deserves some celebration. This is the chocolate cake I made from scratch thankyouverymuch today. Go ahead, devour it with your eyes, no calories!

We had a quiet weekend in the city. Actually, not that quiet. We went to the Penzey's Spices store, had lunch at Coastal Flats, I fixed our home network which was acting up, Andy went to a comic & pop culture thing with a friend, and I made cake!

Oh, and I watched a certain OOOOOOO presidential candidate give a speech in Richmond. Gobama!

Headed SOUTH!

Just a quick update on what's going on with me...

I have a new beau and have fallen very much in LOVE... his name is Steve and he is absolutely awesome even if I do say so myself :) Here is a pic... I know yess he is a hottie!! Ha ha



Well he got a great job offer in the Charlotte area and so we are moving down south. I do not have a job just yet but the market down there is very good. I think I'll stick with boating since I have really enjoyed it and am doing very well. The kids are very excited about the move. We have rented a beautiful townhouse in Lake Wylie, SC- just over the border- excellent neighborhood and THE BEST schools in the state. I am very much looking forward to the move... packing sucks but it is worth it :0) Anyway, my new email is julia.colleen@yahoo.com. Please email me for my new address and cell number. I miss everybody and I'm really excited about the location... 4 hours from Atlanta, 4 from Savannah and Tybee!, close to Lee & Dottie.... okay guys gotta go- LOVE YOU ALL

Reunion Photos

Maybe it's a good thing it took me so long to post these reunion pix. They sure do bring back some great memories. I'm not sure how many to post here, though. I think I'll do a few every once in a while, so there will be new pix for people frequently. I can send them all to anybody who wants. Laura, maybe for archiving purposes. But I would think there are plenty of photos already. Now, let me do a few instead of blathering on.

Burns Night: A Scottish Rite

It's Burns Night when Scotland remembers it's poet Robert Burns. What better time to claim a relation (hey, we're Burnses!) and chow down on haggis?

Back to reality

Hey everyone!! Ricky and I had a fabulous time in the Dominican Republic! We lounged on the beach, swam, ate, gambled, drank, ate, danced and ate some more! It was amazing! I'm going to try to post some pictures...Laura got all of the technology genes and I didn't so we'll see how it goes! :)



Ricky get a hot Dominican chick...
I got parrots...

New York checking in

Howdy, Y'all. Laura, thanks for the new E favicon. Now I can open the website and take an eye exam at the same time! It IS an E, isn't it?

New York is finally cold, but I think a lot of you got quite a chill, too. I miss spring.

I'm continuing to adjust to my life at work in a "factory" cubicle. Our building is in the fashion district and there used to be somebody sitting at a sewing machine where my desk is. It's much more a group atmosphere. Gossippy. Mostly female, which I'm sure is pure coincidence...

It is a fun group, though. Rebekah, who sits about a foot and a half away from me, is from South Carolina and sounds just like a Pate, I just love it. We finally all got our first raise in about six years, so morale has improved.

The idiotic McDonalds lawsuit is still progressing. Next, I'll be getting to look at the surveillance tape, so that should be interesting.

Cookie and I continue to work on my show and it's a lot of fun right now. You will all definitely want to change your names and deny ever knowing me before too long.

I haven't had much luck downloading pictures, or I would have. But I'll keep trying. Meanwhile, I continue to enjoy all the pix already posted by our Fearless Leader.

It's so late, I have to get to bed. Max is about ready to crash, too.

Oooh Something New

Hey, what's that little thing before the address of EwingUniverse up there in my browser? Oh cool, it's the EwingUniverse favicon! A little something to make EU stand out on your bookmarks bar so that maybe, just maybe you'll make the treacherous climb all the way up there to post about what is going on in, oh, I dunno - Florida, New York, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland or North Carolina.

Things have finally settled down here in Arlington. I had two allergic reactions to the wonder drugs prescribed to knock out the crazy supergerm MRSA. Now I am definitely on the mend. We stayed in the city a couple of weekends and pretended to be city folk. I've been cooking up a storm, but everything I make seems to have caramelized onions in it.

And of course - Happy New Year! We spent ours at the river. I made raclette and fondue and it was decadent. We watched Dick Clark and willed in a healthy, wealthy and wise 2008. How about you?

Merry Christmas to All!!

Hi Everyone! Rick and I leave Thursday for 8 fabulous days in the Dominican Republic! I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a rockin' New Year!
xoxo
Shannon

Feelin' Groovy

Hello everyone! Sorry to leave you hanging. I just talked with Charlie and that spurred me to update the web. Finally my doctor thinks I had kidney stones plus a virus which is what landed me in the hospital Thanksgiving Eve. I am feeling SO much better now. Thank you for all of your thoughts and well wishes!

Key Discoveries About Hospital Life:
* If you are your doctor's 8th sickest patient out of 8 patients, you might as well go home and start over.
* "A virus" is doctor speak for "I have no idea what is wrong with you."
* Sonograms on tv are as genuine as wrestling.
* When you are entering a CT machine, there is no way to avoid thinking of last week's episode of House where the woman went into v-fib the moment they started sliding her in there. Actually, pretty much everything seems like it's ripped from an episode of House.
* Drugs, when administered properly by trained medical professional, are magic.

Laura!

OMG! I'm really going to start coming here much more frequently now that I missed this news on Laura! I'm calling her right now, but I will be back with much more, including many pictures including our antics in GA, my antics in Las Vegas, Grand Canyon. I must call Laura before it gets too late. Well, here, anyway...see if this video works----

By George, I think it worked.

Just talked to Laura and glad to hear things have stabilized, but I have to admit I'm not too crazy about the one remaining kidney stone just lurking there with a smirk on it's face...so smug. Probably named Mordred or something.

Update: Laura Hospitalized

Just heard from Mom that Laura has been admitted to a hospital in Arlington, VA. No details yet. Will try to post as soon as I hear something more. Please post if you have news!

Another Update:
Good news! Laura was released from the hospital on Thursday.
I don't have the full story as everything I hear is 4th hand, but I hope she's well on her way to feeling great. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving day. I've been thinking of all of you.

Poor Laura!

Keeping all in the loop (as best I can):
It's my understanding that poor Laura has been twice to the ER in the last week or so. First they determined that she had kidney stones in both kidneys and sent her home to pass them - eek. Now I hear from my mom that Laura went back to the ER with a fever, chills and feeling nauseated. It appears she passed at least one of the stones. They seem to think the fever is unrelated to the stone(s) and that she may have the flu. Laura has spread herself pretty thin in taking care of her mother (who is still struggling with her own recovery), planning the Tybee reunion and maintaining her career. Please keep her in your positive thoughts and prayers.

If you have any new info. please keep us posted!

Cranberry Contribution from the Cocke Clan

Here's a recipe from Andy's family that quickly became one of my favorite Thanksgiving treats:

Pauline's Cranberry Conserve

1 package Cranberries raw
1 Orange including rind
1/4 cup Honey
3/4 cup Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Ginger
1 cup Golden raisins

In a food processor, first chop cranberries and orange. Add raisins and nuts then the rest of the ingredients. Store in a jar in the refrigerator.

Happy Birthday Dottie and Ewing Universe Site Updates

Happy Birthday Dottie! We hope it's wonderful!

Hello all! The weather in Washington has finally turned and I'm enjoying autumn. Andy and I are crazy about pumpkin flavored anything and I think we may even be reaching our limit with pumkin beer and the pumpkin tortellini I got at Whole Foods yesterday.

I have just updated the birthdays and anniversaries on the Ewing Universe Google calendar down there on the lower right hand side. If your special day is missing or incorrect, please let me know. Also, it's membership drive time here at Ewing Universe - who else should we invite?? Email me the email address for anyone you think would like to visit EwingUniverse.

What are you most looking forward to over the holidays?

French Fries and Fridays

Hello all! Happy Friday! I think I may actually have a genuine weekend ahead. An autumn weekend at that. Unfortunately the Hokies played yesterday. Fortunately they trounced GATech.

Last night we went to dinner with Dad & Dottie and Shannon & Rick and got a surprise visit from Nanny, Dottie's mom. It was great to see her. We went to Bistro 123 in Tysons Corner. It's a funny little French place. It is quite a nice little place that looks like it crash landed in the side of that large mall. Mall dining is not usually haute cuisine, but then again Bistro 123 is not really mall dining. We had some ultra rich French food, including a seafood flan for Andy and Armagnac ice cream for me. Mmmmmmmmm.

Happy Birthday Uncle Jerry

Everybody wish Uncle Jerry a very Happy Birthday!!

With Love

Happy birthday Laura!

Thanks and Praise

We are now safely back home in Maryland, missing you all. We are also missing the glorious weather we experienced in Georgia. It's a bit chilly here and we're expecting an even colder turn any day now.
The reunion went better than I ever hoped it would. I loved seeing those of you I've known all of my life, and meeting those of you who are new to me. What an incredible family we have!

Thank you to each and every one who were able to make it to the reunion. I hope that someday we'll have an even bigger reunion with more family members in attendance. Thank you all for helping to watch over Joseph, allowing me some rest. It helped immensely. Dad, thank you so much for coordinating the Tybee shuttle. I cannot imagine us trying to caravan all over Savannah in separate cars - the shuttle was a great idea. Thank you to William for settling Margaret's affairs and for lugging all of those boxes to Tybee. To all the cooks and cook's helpers, thank you for preparing the many superb meals we enjoyed and thanks to all of the grocery shoppers and cleanup helpers too. HUGE thanks to Laura for taking on the task of rounding us all up, getting us in line and accomplishing this reunion. Thank you for keeping our family history alive and for organizing it. You are an amazing woman! I love the DVD you presented and hope that you will send me a copy. We had such a long drive ahead, we left in a bit of a hurry.
I'm sorry that I missed saying my goodbyes to some of you. Gosh, I hope to be able to get to know you better in the future. We barely had a chance to talk. I will try to get my pictures online this week. You will be able to look at them via the album located on my blog. Well, I'm sure there's a lot more I should be saying, but you've all met Joe. Back to motherhood.