Wish you were here!
Greetings from the Great Smoky Mountains
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Monthly Archives: December 2008
There Will Be a Five Dollar Charge for Whining
After a long day of driving without a trip to the local grocery store, we decided to grab a bite to eat to celebrate our first night in Waynesville, N.C.
The benefit of traveling with a Tom Tom or a Garmin is the fact that you can locate places of interests or places to dine without any knowledge of the area, which is how we chose stumbled across the destination for our first meal in Waynesville.
Many establishments close for winter, therefore, we called a number of restaurants to verify meals were being served. Since Haywood Café seemed to be the only place open and operating in Waynesville, we set our course for the restaurant diner.
Although I am quite the adventurous eater, my DH often turns his nose up at hole-in-the-wall joints. Upon our arrival to its attached gas station, the Haywood Café was about to suffer the same fate.
The thought of Allan being forced to eat in a local yokel diner made me giggle. Either he would have to admit to our friends his reluctance or simply suffer through it and eat his first last meal there. Knowing how difficult it was to find this place, he swallowed his pride and chose to join our friends for a meal. As we entered the restaurant, I jokingly reminded Allan that his Aciphex would help prevent indigestion.
“You folks can sit anywhere you like. Smoking section on the right and non-smoking is to your left,” greeted the waitress as we entered the diner. Calling her a server would cause this diner to lose its My Cousin Vinny charm.
“Would your girls like some crayons and coloring books?” Do grits need butter? And she handed each girl their own coloring book and pack of crayon.
That’s when I noticed a sign screwed to the wall. There will be a five dollar charge for whining. I read the sign aloud to the girls while adding a quote from Pinkalicious, “You get what you get and you don’t get upset, because I am not paying extra for any whiny behavior.”
With a variety of hot dogs on the menu, each girl could order a different type. Sarah requested a traditional hot dog, Allana wanted a corn dog and Emmalynn chose a cold dog (a hot dog minus the bun).
As for the grown-ups, I believe Allan may have really wanted to whine but was afraid an extra charge would appear on our bill. Breakfast is served all day at the Haywood and a home-cooked southern style breakfast sounded like perfect pairing for this whole experience.
When the food was served, we were pleasantly surprised. Biscuits smothered in a peppery gravy served with bacon, over easy eggs and real chunky potato home fries. John added a side order of grits with his meal and commented on how true Southern grits should always be drowning in butter.
The Haywood Café served up warm friendly smiles along with its sunny side up eggs and a great lesson for my DH. You get what you get and you don’t get upset, because you may miss the best damn breakfast this side of the Smoky Mountains.
Nothing Could Be Finer Than to Be in Carolina
In a few hours, we are leaving for a week long hideaway in North Carlina. This will be our second trip to our secret little cabin near Maggie Valley with our good friends, Erika and John and their little cutie, Sarah.
We had our fingers-crossed for snow but it doesn’t look like any flurries are expected in the forecast. Despite the lack of snow, our girls are still anxious to go sledding, build a snowman and make snow angels again this winter.
But even if there’s no snow, we’ll still have fun drinking hiking and exploring the mountain.
Boxing Day
Most Americans recognize the day after Christmas as a day to box up all the unwanted gifts to return them to the stores and exchange them for other items. Of course, it’s also a day to take advantage of reduced merchandise and after Christmas sales.
Although Boxing Day may sound like a good opportunity to throw an uppercut at an unsuspecting person, it has nothing to do with gloves or punching bags. However, I can think of a few people that deserve a few sucker-punches.
With my DH being a transplant from Scotland, we’ve attempted to capture the true essence of this British holiday and have adopted some of the Boxing Day traditions into our holiday season.
Carb loading typically begins our Boxing Day festivities. Each Boxing Day, Allan prepares a big cooked English breakfast, which includes scrambled eggs, sausage, fried tomatoes and mushrooms, bacon (the American kind unfortunately), Heinz baked beans, warm buttered toast and chunky sautéed potatoes doused in malt vinegar. A traditional, “sweaty” breakfast (as Allan calls it) is absolutely necessary to offer the fuel required for the rest of our Boxing Day festivities.
To honor this British holiday, I provide each of my girls with a box to fill with items to give to the needy. With all the excitement over all their new Christmas toys and clothes, they are usually more willing to part with their old belongings. As they carry their box from room to room, they gather old toys and clothes.
On occasion, new items are added to their boxes as well. Every Christmas, my girls receive a mountain of gifts from family members and some of these gifts remain sealed in cellophane only to suffer the same fate as the inhabitants of the Island of Misfit Toys. Therefore, over the years, we’ve taught our girls to share their extra gifts with children less fortunate. Children in homeless shelters still long for gifts after Christmas and our excessiveness could help make a needy child’s birthday a happier one.
In addition to toys and clothes, I also weed through my cupboards and pantries to find items to help restock a food bank. We often think of food banks during the holidays, but their need continues through the year.
As I mentioned in a previous post, homeless shelters have seen an increasing number of families in need this year. Yet, donations to charitable organizations in the Tampa Bay area were down nearly 50% this holiday season.
If you choose to shop today, please remember those in need while you hunt for bargains and join us in celebrating Boxing Day the way it was originally intended.
As we assembled our boxes for a photo to record our Boxing Day observation for my blog, I heard a slight jingling sound coming from Allana’s box. This year Allana decided to add a coin purse full of 30 pennies, a 20 pence coin and a 5 pence coin, because she wanted to give money to the needy as well as food, clothing and toys. Though I was deeply moved by Allana’s generosity, it struck me funny to discover a touch of Britain in our American version of Boxing Day.
Merry Christmas from Run DMT
Knowing that people enjoy reading my blog has been a wonderful Christmas gift. Thank you for visiting!
This holiday, may your season be bright and your clothes not become too tight!
Happy Chanukah! Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!
How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You
Last Thursday, Allan and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary at Bern’s Steakhouse. Although I have lived in the Tampa Bay area most of my life, I have never dined there, but have always wanted to experience it. Celebrating our anniversary seemed like the perfect opportunity to give Bern’s a try and I am so thrilled we did.
Bern’s unique décor resembles a brothel on Borboun Street, but don’t let its gaudy ornate French Renaissance décor fool you. Upon entering the dining rooms, the décor changes to a more humble, tavern feel.
Our server explained the menu and the wine book. To call it a list would be an understatement! Housing nearly 7,000 varieties of wines, Bern’s is home to one of the largest wine cellars in the world.
Once considered an overpriced meal, Bern’s seems to be fairly reasonable priced these days. Your meal is priced according to the type of entrée you choose and every entrée includes Bern’s renowned French Onion Soup, salad, baked potato, Bern’s famous onion rings and the vegetable of the day, which are all organically grown on their privately owned local farm.
For dinner, Allan and I shared the Chateaubriand for two, which was cooked perfectly to our specifications and melted in my mouth. All of Bern’s beef is dark aged to offer a more tender cut of meat rich in taste and color.
After dinner, we enjoyed a tour of the restaurant on our way to the Harry Waugh Dessert Room, which are both equally enjoyable experiences in their own right.
In the Dessert Room, we sipped on some tawny and shared a slice of peppermint bark chocolate cake topped with vanilla ice cream. It was a slice of Christmas heaven.
After dinner, we enjoyed a pint at the new International Beer Garten near our house. After thirteen years together, we deserve a drink or two or more.
Our Scottish Wedding
With our wedding anniversary occuring in the same week as Granny Taylor’s passing, it seems like a good time to share some wedding day photos. Granny always loved a good party and she enjoyed our wedding immensely. Therefore, let’s take a little trip down memory lane for our beloved Granny.
Our Wedding Day
I always dreamed of a big, white Catholic wedding at Christimas with my dad walking me down the aisle. My dad doesn’t look too happy in this photo. Maybe he is sad to be losing his daughter. More likely, it was the cost of our wedding that made him miserable. Later at the reception, Allan’s uncles and cousin, Archie, would help drown my dad’s sorrow with some whiskey.
Father David Toups presided over the ceremony at St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church in Spring Hill, Fl on December 18, 1999. (Almost two years later, Fr. Toups would also baptize our first daughter, Allana Rose.)
Allan wanted a traditional Scottish wedding with kilts and a piper. We arranged to have Uncle Robert Taylor pipe us out of the church.
My mother was 45 minutes late to our wedding. I wanted to kill her, but Fr. Toups made me pray and I prayed for patience and understanding. (I am still praying daily for that!) Since I have a really bad reputation for being late, all of our guests thought I was the reason for the delay. (Unfortunately, tardiness runs in the blood.) Inevitably, something always goes wrong at weddings, right? After the ceremony we laughed about it. If I remember correctly, I am pinching her arm and telling her I going to f*cking kill her.
Uncle Andrew Taylor served as an usher. My mom had such a crash on Andrew. I think she would have run away with him to Bonnie Scotland if he asked.
We had a small bridal party. Allan’s brother, Jamie, stood as his Best Man and my sister, Simone, as my Maid of Honor. Simone’s bouquet contained her favorite flowers, daisies and both our bouquets were wrapped in Royal Stewart ribbon to match the kilts. Allan’s boutonniere matched my bouquet. All the other boutonnieres and corsages contained white roses and heather.
My dad looked much happier after the ceremony. Perhaps, he was worried Allan would back out of the deal. No refunds now. Muhahahahahaha!
Allan and I always admired his mums’s photo of the entire family attending his cousin’s wedding and we tried to recapture it at our wedding.
A friend later asked me, “Why were Allan’s family wearing black to your wedding? Are they trying to say something?” Unfortunately, millennium silver was the trendy color back in 1999, which appears black in the photos. Looking back now, I really do think they were making a statement, but not a fashion-related one. Perhaps now they can get one more use out of their gowns and by wearing them to Granny’s funeral. I think I can hear Granny Taylor scolding me from heaven for that comment. “Ye arenae reit in th’ heed, hen. Ye ur pure wicked, ye lassie.”
Here’s another family photo, which includes the Mestanza clan and hides all the black millennium silver and unfortunately, poor Isobel’s face, too. I was so disppointed by the outcome of this photo.
Several friends and family members traveled miles to share our special day, like my Grandma Nancy…
…my suitemate from England, Suzie (who years later would marry on our anniversary date and ask Allana to be a flower girl in her wedding)…
…and my childhood friend, Randi. We were thankful for every guest that shared our special day.
Once at the reception at the beautiful Belleview Biltmore, we were piped into the Candlelight Ballroom by Uncle Robert…
…which preceded our first dance as newlyweds to the song Crazy Love by Van Morrsion.
At dinner, Jamie gave a hilarious speech, which had everyone greetin’ from laughing so hard.
More dancing followed after dinner. My dad had secretly taken dance lessons to learn how to tear up the dance floor to the song, To Sir, With Love by Lulu. He swung me around like a rag doll.
Then, Allan danced with his mum to Apron Strings by Everything But The Girl. When I first heard the song back in the 80′s as part of the She’s Having a Baby soundtrack, I always thought it was the perfect wedding song.
Of course, there was the obligatory cake cutting ceremony. We chose How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) by James Taylor to accompany our slicing and dicing. Corny, I know, but we are sentimental sappy hippies.
After all the formalities and lots more whiskey, the party and the guests really started rolling.
Many of the guests were not prepared to learn the real answer as to what a true Scotsman has under his kilt.
As the night progressed, rumors spread that men in kilts were crashing other parties in the hotel and roaming the halls playing the bagpipes. It was also reported that a few Scotsman were skinny-dipping in the pool.
There are so many fabulous funny ridiculous pictures and memories to share about our wedding day, but it has taken me hours just to scan and upload these few photos. (Alas, I was married before the digital age.)
Plus, there are so many more details to share, like how we had Christmas wedding crackers at every place setting to help create a fun atmosphere and incorporate an old English Christmas tradition into our wedding. And, how we didn’t have a head table just one big round table for all of our sisters, Allan’s brother, and their significant others to join us.
Or, the controversy I created because I refused to allow any children at our wedding, (I was a teacher for God’s sake and needed a break from kids.), but particularly, I wouldn’t allow Allan’s three year old nephew to be a ring bearer. Now, that I have raised 2 three year year olds, I still think that was the best decision I ever made!
Looking back through the photos and taking this trip down memory lane, I realized how much life has changed 9 years later. Some people have passed away since then. Some couples are now divorced while other couples have grown their family with children.
With Simone’s wedding next year, I am really looking forward to doing this all over again. I love weddings! Perhaps, next Christmas Allan and I will renew our vows to celebrate ten years together.
Cheerio Mah Wee Granny
Allan’s 88 year old Scottish grandmother, Elizabeth Taylor, passed away early Sunday morning in her Edinburgh home. The same home she raised 12 children and 3 grandchildren, including my husband, Allan.
When I married Allan nine years ago, Granny Taylor and several of Allan’s uncles, aunts and cousins made the trip across the big pond to attend our wedding and welcome me into the family. Granny embraced me and loved me like one of her children, mostly because I had the uncanny talent to make an old lassie giggle with my wicked sense of humor and witty outlook on life.
During that visit, she shared with me the story about how Allan was never expected to be carried to full-term. His mother refused to abort the fetus and carried the baby full term, but everyone expected to baby to be still born.
Nine months later, his mother delivered a healthy 9 pound baby boy. However, there was no crib or a cradle for this miracle baby. (When I first heard this story, I called Allan “The Messiah” for the longest time.) This wee bairn slept in a drawer the first few days of his life until his family could find a proper crib. Allan and his mum spent the next few years of his young life in his granny’s home.
I heard this tale of Allan’s miracle birth grow over the years, but the ending was always the same. Granny would start greeting (Scottish for crying) for her wee bairn. Allan had a special place in Granny’s heart and since I was married to her “special boy”, she always made my girls and I feel special, too.
Granny would also love to share the fact that Sean Connery delivered her milk in his days before becoming a famous actor.
But Granny’s favorite tale to tell was the day Allan, his mum, his new step-dad and his baby brother, Jamie, left for their new home in America. When boarding the plane, Allan called, “Mon Gaia” (Scottish toddlerese for “C’mon Grandma”) beckoning his Granny to follow him onto the plane. As Granny told the story, her eyes would fill with tears barely being able to utter the words. Now, that I have children of my own, I know the pain she felt each time she told the story.
We last saw Granny 4 years ago on our trip to the U.K. and she was completely smitten with her wee American granddaughter. Allana still talks about the time she met her Great-Granny Taylor.
Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to afford a trip back to the U.K. since then and it saddens me that Emmalynn will never have the opportunity to meet her Great-Granny Taylor.
Each Christmas, Granny would send us chocolate buttons, rock candy and a kilt for Allana. “A wee Scottish bairn has got to wear a proper kilt”, she would say in brogue. Once her health started failing, her trips into town became less frequent as well as the Christmas parcels. Although chatting with Granny on Christmas was a wonderful gift in itself.
From time to time, we would phone Granny to tell her about our latest accomplishments. She was always so proud of Allan. Through a long distance wire, we could hear her beaming with pride for her wee laddie and it tickled her to hear the girls’ voices.
When Allan graduated from the University of Tampa, she apologized for not being able to attend the ceremony, but with her failing health, she would never be able to make the trip. I believe if her health was in a better state, she would have made the trip for Allan.
I regret not speaking to Granny before she passed, but I couldn’t find the right words. It also broke my heart to know she wouldn’t live to see another Christmas. Fortunately, she was surrounded by loved ones during her last days, including Allan’s mum, who returned home in time to be by her mother’s side before she passed away.
Now that Granny Taylor is gone, I realized I wanted to thank her for always making my family and I feel so loved.
I will miss chatting with Granny Taylor this Christmas.
The Big Twenty
“It’s the BIG ONE tomorrow!” read Tiffany’s Saturday night reminder e-mail. “What time are we meeting?”
Realizing it would take approximately 4 hours to run 20 miles, 6:00 a.m. seemed like a reasonable starting time.
At the start of our run, a thick blanket of fog hung in the dark morning air, which it made it difficult to see anything, particularly the cars to avoid as we ran in the road. Condensation saturated our eyelashes and caused us to periodically wipe away our fog tears.
Besides Lori, Tiffany and I, there were no other runners this morning, except for the deer. I suppose other runners don’t like thick fog, but the deer enjoy frolicking through it. And yes, we did sing again.
Last week on the way to the Moms on the Go Christmas party, Lori said she spotted three female runners running along our usual route, who looked similar to us. It seemed odd to Lori that we’ve never bumped into these other runners.
I replied, “That’s because they are the Bizzaro World Us.”
After Lori finished 12 miles, we parted our ways and Tiffany and I continued on our Big 20 mile path. Running on the road seems to be one of our saving graces when getting into the double digits. I even prefer running on grass rather than the sidewalk.
When Lori ran with us, our average pace sat at 12 minute miles. Tiffany and I kept a steady pace at 10 minute miles.
At 14 miles we stopped for a power bar and Gatorade break walk, which carried us through the remaining distance. I didn’t hit any walls and felt pretty good during the entire run. At the end of my run, I could still walk. There was no need to crawl home or hitch a ride from a neighbor. Plus, I could climb the stairs in my home without any agonizing pain.
End Time: 4:20:42 (Not too shabby!) 
Even walking at water breaks and stopping to stretch occasionally, I was pleased with my BIG 20 finish time. Like Tiffany said, “Some people can’t even walk 20 miles!”
‘Tis the Season
I apologize for my absent, but my life is a whirlwind of Christmas chaos at the moment. Perhaps, you share the same sentiment as me. Between baking cookies, hosting Christmas events, and trying to finish my Christmas cards and last minute shopping, I can barely squeeze in my marathon training. Mostly, because I am too hung over and tired to get up out of bed.
On Sunday morning, my family and I attended the Moms on the Go Christmas party. There was no time in the morning to fit in a 14 mile, so I had planned to run that evening. Well, even the best laid plans get axed. After the party, we spent the afternoon shopping and I was simply too tired from fighting the crowds.
So, Monday morning, I ran my 14 miles and ran 5 miles on Wednesday morning. Unfortunately, that was the last time I ran this week.
All is not lost, though. After I post this training, update, I will dash out the door for a 10 mile run. Hopefully, I won’t collapse halfway through the run.
Tomorrow (Sunday), I face my greatest distance yet: 20 miles. I am a little nervous about it, simply because I have slacked off so much with the shorter runs. The upside is that I still love my new shoes.
