Yesterday, I had the time of my life when I traveled to NYC and had a chance to meet my all-time favorite blogger, Ree Drummond, aka The Pioneer Woman, in person! 

She’s even nicer, more down-to-earth, sweeter—and even taller—than I expected!

My daughter, Abbie, aka The Farmer’s Daughter, and I went by train, and then taxi to Chelsea Market to meet up with Ree.  Anyone who knows Ree, knows how much she LOVES babies, and she was all over the fact that Abbie’s pregnant and was quite chatty.  She wanted to know when the baby is due, if it’s a first, etc., etc.  (March and yes!)

Abbie wore a top that left no doubt as to whether she was indeed expecting, or not.  Here’s a closeup:

P-dub was all over that!

She was quite gracious, too.  When someone asked for her expertise with a camera . . .

. . . of course, she obliged . . .

When we first arrived at Chelsea Market, we found it to be a magical place.  It’s a huge building, which was orginally a Nabisco Factory, but which is now filled with shops, stores, eateries, and tons of Christmas Decorations.  We saw. . .

Upside-down Christmas trees. . .

and lots of decorations from recycled products . . .

A CD-tree, for instance . . .

. . . and fabulous creations from old plastic cups . . .

As we joined the queue to meet Ree, we had no idea how long the wait would be, as the first people in line had arrived at 8 am for the 11:00 book signing!

We chatted it up with those around us.  There was a couple behind us who traveled from Massachusetts, a little bit further than us, coming in from Connecticut.  The woman, a food blogger known as This Week’s Menu, gave me a great idea, which you’ll see at the end of the post.

With all the visiting and comparing notes about blogs and other interests, the line moved quickly, but it continued to grow and grow and grow . . . behind us!

When it was our turn to meet Ree, I felt I had to ‘fess up to something . . . remember when my hubbie and son were in Oklahoma and they wanted to surprise me with Ree’s just-released cookbook?  Well, they arrived home with a bright, shiny, colorful Pioneer Woman Cooks book, all full of wonderful “cowboy food,” as Ree calls it, but with a suspicious signature . . .

Ree laughed and quickly added her own, authentic signature!

Like I said, Ree is incredibly gracious!

Thanks for an fabulously fun day, Ree!

So . . . in the spirit of this giving season, I’m giving away an AUTOGRAPHED copy of Ree’s famous cookbook, which is currently on the New York Times Bestseller List, as a gift to one of my readers.  (Andrea~thanks so much for the idea!)

This book is oh-so-much-more than a cookbook!  It is a storybook of Ree’s family and adventures on her Oklahoma ranch, bursting with wonderful pictures and stories of her family, both the human kind and the animal kind!  You will surely adore it! 

It also has wonderful recipes, too.  Our daughter, Abbie, recently made us Ree’s Sticky Buns and they are to die for!

So . . . if you’re interested in entering a random drawing for this fabulous book, just leave a comment telling why you’d like it, why you like Ree, or both!

DRAWING TO BE HELD CHRISTMAS EVE, DECEMBER 24th, AND THE WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED THEN, SO PLEASE ENTER AND CHECK BACK!!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM EVERYDAY WOMAN!

Hugs,

Ruth

My “Aloha Friday” question this Friday  is . . .

Do you have any big plans this weekend?

As for me, I’m heading into NYC with my daughter to meet our all-time,  favorite  blogger, Ree Drummond, aka The Pioneer Woman, at her book signing.

I’ll also be addressing baby shower invitations, Christmas shopping, and doing schoolwork.  I’m sure there won’t be enough hours for everything!  What about you?

Whatever you’re doing  this weekend, ENJOY!

 If you’d like to participate in more Aloha Friday questions, click on over to  An Island Life for Kailani’s  “Aloha Friday

OK, I just have to admit it, as much as I hate to.  I just love “Pioneer Woman,” aka “P-Dub,” aka “Ree Drummond.”  She is a successful, talented blogger, who as she says, “turned in her black heels for tractor wheels,” when she left the “big city” to raise a family on an Oklahoma ranch.

Anyone who can be so self-deprecatingly funny, how can you not love them?  Check out her nagging questions about her high-school photo . . .

“Six Plaguing Questions I Have About This Photo, Ca. 1986 (alternate title: “Hell“)

1. Why the hell are my bangs that short?
2. What the hell am I looking at?
3. How the hell many hours did I spend in the tanning booth to get my skin that color? (hint: ask my dermatologist.)
4. How the hell many layers of blush am I wearing?
5. Why…why…why the…why the hell did I feel compelled to match my eyeshadow to my clothes?
6. Why the hell didn’t anyone tell me?”

How many of US have high-school pix that we could ask these same questions about?

If you haven’t checked out P-Dub yet, visit www.thepioneerwoman.com

You might just love her, too!  Why should we keep good blogs to ourselves?  I actually just bought two of her cookbooks for Christmas presents!  (One for myself!)

OK, so I finally buckled under the pressure and joined Facebook.  As an educator, it’s important to maintain an appropriate distance from students and families, but you can pretty much accept or ignore “Friend” requests . . . and since I NEVER post anything objectionnable, I think it’s really OK.

What I’ve found out is:

• Facebook is so much easier and quicker than blogging, which I hate to admit, but you’re just posting quick “tweets,” and connecting with so many people.
• Speaking of “tweets,” I actually like it better than Twitter, because it’s easier to add web links, pix, and videos (at least for me!)

So if you’re not on Facebook  yet (is anyone out there NOT on Facebook?) I’d encourage you to try it.  Go to:  http://www.facebook.com  You can search for me as “Ruth Rose” in case you want to send a friend request.  Happy “Facebooking!”  Is that accepted as a verb yet?

Although I still consider myself somewhat of a “virgin” in the blogging world, I realized recently that I’ve racked up an incredible 10,000+ hits on my “Everydaywoman” blog . . . thanks to all who have been following, reading, and commenting!

So . . . if you’ve been one of those quiet, “behind-the-scenes” reader and haven’t yet left a comment, why not do that now?  I’d LOVE to hear from you.

It’s  ironic, too, as I’m noticing this 10,000-hit blogging milestone, that I also find out that Farmer’s Daughter has hit me up in another way.  She’s awarded me the “Kreativ Blogger” award for managing my three blogs (personal, educational, and family farm).  Aw, shucks, Abbie, you’re my real inspiration!  Thank you!

Here’s the deal.  I need to list 7 things I LOVE and then send this award onto to a few more creative bloggers.  So, here goes . . .

I love:

1. My family, for putting up with me (most of the time!)
2. My DH for challenging me to follow my dream by changing my career course in my 4th decade of life!
3. My daughter, who has grown up to be my friend. . . who I learn so much from on a daily basis!
4. My rewarding, challenging, totally-consuming career, working with elementary school children.
5. My candy-apple red, “ragtop” ’stang, especially on a day like today, when I feel the breeze in my hair!
6. Country music, which makes me smile, sing out loud, laugh, and cry!
7. Hot, sultry summer, which is right about the bend!

I pass this “Kreativ Blogger” Award on to:

1. Lisa at Retro Housewife Goes Green, who’s hip, creative, and green.
2. Kayla at My Polychrome Life who’s been blogging from Italy while studying fashion there.
3. Imelda at Greenish Lady, whose “green” take on things comes from the green land of Ireland.
4. Aisling of The Quiet Country House,  who organizes  a “Sunday Stroll” for fellow bloggers each week.

Congrats, ladies, and ENJOY!  You deserve it!

It’s Friday again, so that means it’s time for . . .

I just LOVE what Kailani  is doing over at An Island Life with “Aloha Friday.”

In Hawaii, she says, “Aloha Friday is the day when we take it easy and look forward to the weekend.  So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.”

I can’t really say that Friday is any less frantic than any other day of the week here, but I like the idea.  Wouldn’t you love to be on “island time?”

I’m participating in Kailani’s  Aloha Friday and I thought I’d bring a bit of the islands to Everydaywoman.  I’ll be posting a simple question to stir up a little conversation before the weekend.  If you’d like to participate, please respond to the question in a comment, and feel free to post your own question on your blog and leave your link below.  Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

My “Aloha Friday” question this week is: 

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT ADS ON BLOGS?

What am I doing on Earth Day 2009?  I’m actually taking public transportation with a group of people (NOT burning fossil fuel in my own vehicle) and I’m on my way to D.C. for a national educational conference.  I’m enjoying the view along the way from the train, blogging, reading, and napping a bit.  How nice NOT to be the driver (especially since I was up all night packing and taking care of last minute details!)

I agree with the Farmer’s Daughter that Earth Day should be EVERY day, not just ONE day a year!

What little kindness have you  done for the Earth lately?

One of my all-time favorite bloggers, Chile,  got me thinking with her “Half Empty or Half Full?” post.

I’ve always seen my glass as “half full,” I think, and a couple of recent events really convinced me of this.  I think I’m a pretty positive person, at least that what everyone tells me . . .

A couple of weeks ago, I was involved in a very minor head-on accident.  (Minor and head-on are oxymorons, don’t they?)  Anyway, an elderly woman hit me as we were both pulling out of driveways across from each other, onto a very busy state road.  I saw her coming into my lane and I braked and she was just crawling, so we really barely hit.  It was a beautiful, sunny day and I had just popped the top down on my convertible that my family had given me for Mother’s Day.  All I could think of was my little ’stang would be crushed and my wonderful family’s feelings would be crushed, too.  I certainly didn’t want to be the first one to put a dent or ding in it.

I got out to see how the other woman was.  Neither of us was hurt, physically, thankfully.  We both just shook our heads, so sorry that it had happened.  I encouraged her to pull into our farm market driveway (that’s where it happened) and I called our local police, because that’s what you’re supposed to do.  Since it wasn’t an emergency, we must have waited 20 minutes or so.  In that time, we chatted and she said that she used to sell bread to my mother-in-law at our farm market and what respect she always had for farmers.  We then talked about organic gardening, insurance rates, and how she was afraid her rates might go up or she might lose her license.  She was really a very nice woman.

What really surpised me was that the damage to my little red ride was very minimal, perhaps  nonexistent.  How is that possible with a head-on collision?  When the cop finally arrived, he asked, “Where is the damage to your car?  Do you really want me to fill out a police report?”

Wow!  There really wasn’t any visible damage.  Then, the young cop (young enough to be my son) told me what a nice car I have . . .and if I ever got tired of driving it . . .

Back to the 1/2 full . . . I was a little “gun shy” the next few days when I was pulling out, always looking left, right, and straight ahead, a few extra times . . . and all I could feel was thankful.  I took this minor accident as a wake-up call.  It could have been a lot worse and I really should pay more attention to the job at hand when driving instead of thinking of all the things I have on my “to-do” list.

I felt so lucky that this woman and I were both fine, really no damage to our vehicles, and we both had another chance to be more careful next time.  Some people don’t get a second chance.

OK, there’s something else too, but this is really gross . . . I don’t think I’ll post a picture just yet.  I had to go through a very ugly procedure recently to take care of pre-cancerous cells on my forehead.  It was actually a chemotherapy cream that BURNS your skin–all layers—and then forms these VERY UGLY scabs that take forever to fall off before the new skin forms.  All I could think was THANK GOODNESS for bangs (which I had cut to hide the ugliness, because I felt like a leper!) . . . and now thank goodness for the new, baby-like skin which I have now. . . and that I have a second chance to take care of it, to be smart enough to wear sunscreen and cover up, so it won’t get worse!  (More on that later. . . as I do have pix, that my own kids are threatening to break out when they see me in the sun again!)

I was also concerned about scaring the children at school because I really did look like a leper.  My doctor said I should use it as a Science lesson, but I really didn’t want 8- and 9-year olds to think their teacher was dying or something, so I hid it the best I could.   A colleague suggested I should make up a good story to explain the scabs to the kids.  I really wasn’t into story telling until this happened . . .

8-yr-old girl, looking at me, kind of strange.  (I realized my bangs must have opened to reveal the crusty scabs on my forehead.)

Me:  “Oh, don’t let that distract you.  Just a little snowboarding accident.”

Girl:  “How OLD are you?”

Me:  “Old enough to know better.  I should have been skiing instead of snowboarding.  I’m a much better skiier!”

And that was that . . .

OK, so I’m pretty much a “half-full” kind of person, but what about you?

IS YOUR GLASS HALF-EMPTY OR HALF-FULL????

As much as I love blogging, I’m finding it challenging to keep up with 3 blogs!

Besides Musings of an Everyday Woman, which I just started last summer, I’m also posting on:

• Marvelous Math with Mrs. Rose, my educational/school blog, and
• Rose Orchards Farm Market, our family’s farm blog, that I’m co-authoring with Abbie from Farmer’s Daughter.

It seems the only time I have to blog is in the middle of the night (instead of sleeping!) and other moments stolen on weekends.

When and how do YOU  make time to blog?

Inspired by Green Mamma and Imelda/Greenish Lady, I’ve decided to do a “Gratitude Sunday” post instead of a Sunday Stroll today.  I’ve gotten away from my “Thankful Thursday” posts a bit too long.

On this gray, rainy, Sunday at the end of March, I’m extremely thankful for:

• My wonderful family who seems seems to understand and support me, even when they question why I would want to start a Doctoral Program at this point in my life!?!
• GREAT friends, who also support me and push me to think about doing some even crazier things, like doing a mini-marathon (more on that another time!)

• A job/career that I love!  Working as a Math Specialist/Teacher in elementary schools, I have the opportunity to support children who are struggling; extend students who need enrichment; and provide training and collaboration to fellow teachers.
• A lifestyle that is continually evolving, as I attempt to live “mindfully” each day, thanks in large part of my daughter Abbie, at Farmer’s Daughter, and all my GREEN blogging friends out there, including you!  You all make me think so much!
• Electronics that make my life so much easier—and more difficult at the same time!  Now that I’m so dependent on the Internet, my Blackberry, digital camera, etc., I don’t think I could live without them!
• That the hope of spring is in the air, as the snow melts and warmer temps envelope us, new life emerges, in the green of plants and within animals on the farm.

For big things and small, I am so grateful.  Thanks for allowing me to count my blessings!

What are YOU feeling especially thankful for today?