The Pioneer Woman Comes to Town

Pioneer Woman Shirt

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go the Pioneer Woman‘s book signing. It was originally going to be at a tiny bookshop (Blue Willow Bookshop) but the they weren’t going to have space in their 1200 sq ft store for all the ladies that came out to see the Pioneer Woman. It was moved to Georgia’s Farm to Market. It was an adorable local grocers that had dining room tables all over the place and teas, coffees, snacks, and foods to consume.

We got there a little after 11:00 and got our cookbooks and found our seats. The PW answered questions at 1:00 and then the cattle call began. The 500 or so women were broken into color groups and we were called by color. Mrs. Oswalt and I were part of the “PETAL” group.

Barbara and Meg

While we waited our turn, we drank coffee and looked around at all the interesting teas, coffees, herbs and foods to see. We also talked to these ladies. They were in the “LIME” group.

Sandra and Monica at the PW Signing

Sandra and Monica were on hand to converse with us. We talked about which recipes we thought we might try. Monica brought sticky notes and tabs so we could mark recipes.

Barbara, PW, and Meg

Then (several enjoyable hours later) Mrs. Oswalt and I met the Pioneer Woman. I told her about the dark chocolate cranberries we ate and she seemed genuinely interested. She truly was friendly and sweet and made an effort to speak to every single person who came. She also gave everyone who came to see her a T-shirt.

We got our cookbooks signed and then he seemed strange to leave after being there for so many hours. The cookbook has pictures of every step of the way, which makes me want to give some of the recipes a chance. The food looks delicious and the photos in the entire book are of her ranch and family. You should probably buy it.

P.S. Sandra and I made the enchiladas and guacamole in the book. It was hard work and my fingers burned from all the cutting. They were tasty!.

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The Pickerts Take New York

This past week my entire family flew to New York and my brother took the train down to meet us in NYC. We stayed at a little vacation rental house in Brooklyn and took the train into Manhattan. Here are just a few of the things we did….

The Pickert Family

We ate at Lombardi’s Pizza, the first pizzeria in America. I’ve eaten here with JMO before but it was a fun place to share with my family. The day we went my friend Bonnie was with us, so we were able to get a picture of the entire family.

Mike and Meg on Ferry

We took the ferry from Battery Park to Liberty and Ellis Island. It was VERY COLD.

Emily and Lady Liberty

Emily looks adorable on the ferry. She took close to a million pictures of everything New York had to see. Our family only makes it into about 5 of her pictures. Check out her Facebook to see how little she cares about us.

Octopus and Me

We walked around Chinatown and SOHO. Michael found some spicy sauce he likes to put on all his foods. He thinks it will spice up the bland food on the farm. In this pic I am holding up a dried octopus. I have no idea what these are used for.

Bull and Parents

We walked around downtown, Wall Street, saw the NY Stock Exchange and fought other tourists to take a picture with the bull.

Black and White cookie - Emily

We ate black and white cookies, Emily was the only person who would let me photograph them eating it.

Overall, it was a fun trip. We were exhausted from walking everywhere, but we saw a lot on the four days we were there and not a lot on the days we traveled to and from the city. Michael is back at his farm and the rest of us have made it home safely.

If you are interested in the complete collection of our vacation photos, check them out on Flickr!

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Giving Thanks

I may have spent my entire day traveling from New York to San Antonio, but I traveled with my dad and we ate hamburgers in an airport and it was quite enjoyable. I live a pretty great life and I am truly truly thankful for all my blessings.

So, in no particular order, these are the things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving.

1. I got to spend time with my family this week. All of us. We are all healthy, together, and we don’t want to kill each other. The more people I meet, the more I realize that what I have is precious.

2. I am thankful for my job. I get to laugh at work and hang out with a 7 year old who says he wants to turn the school to cheese. It is a much happier existence than my former life of financial communications.

3. I am thankful for all that I learned in my first job from college and for the good friends was able to keep from that career. I am grateful for the people in my life who made me realize that I needed a change and wouldn’t be content until I made it.

4. Teaching English has taught me a lot about what a “real problem” actually is. I don’t have any of these real problems. I am truly appreciative of how grounding this experience has been for me. It has also stretched my days and showed me what it is like to truly work to exhaustion.

5. PEOPLE. I have the best people ever in my life. I watched some Golden Girls episodes over the past few days and the theme song has been in my head, “Thank you for being a friend!”

I have been lucky in life and I am thankful for it.

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I am what I eat.

Last summer, JMO and I went to see Food, Inc. It was thought provoking and a conversation starter. We stopped eating meat for a few months (JMO lasted longer than I did) and we started eating a lot more fruits and vegetables. I think about what I put in my grocery cart more than I did before and I read the ingredients more. I can choose the option with half as many ingredients and I just feel better about it. For me, it is a psychological fix, I feel like I’m doing something to better myself and protect my body.

Lately, I have started to slack again. Working and and teaching a night class has made packing lunch and waiting to eat dinner at home difficult. The movie Food Matters came up on my Wowbrary list and I wanted to see if they had a different take. This film was geared a lot more toward the health aspect, it was about how vitamins can heal and we truly are what we eat.

I would highly recommend either or both of these movies. They make you think about what you put in your mouth. I struggle with eating right. I like cheeseburgers and pizza and giant burritos. I also like fruit and vegetables and the more I eat, the more I like. I don’t get that same feeling with cheeseburgers/pizza/burritos- the more I consume, the less I like.

Watching Food Matters has reminded me of my excitement to eat well when I first saw Food Inc. Please wish my luck on my journey to choose the right foods to put in my body!

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Learning More than I am Teaching

Today was my first day teaching English as second language. I learned that I was wrong about a lot of things.

1. I have no real problems. You have problems if you’ve had to flee Congo.

2. I should not assume people know how to use tape.

3. If I choose to speak louder, they still will not understand the word.

4. If I choose to use body language, they may laugh, then they may or may not understand the word.

5. Again, my life is a walk in the park.

A few years ago I spent a summer in a language school in Mexico, with other middle class people from around the world. This is what I envisioned teaching English would be like. I have a whole new respect for our teachers. I did not realize the frustration of speaking to a room full of people and not a soul understanding. The people in my class were far more excited than I could have ever expected, they WANT to learn English and they are HAPPY to be here. The pressure to deliver is on. Bringing English to 11 students from Congo is going to provide one hell of an adventure and learning experience over the next 8 weeks.

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