Beach Front Sea Side

Yule tide greetings ...

It is now the 2nd week of January, so I figured that it was time for the Christmas post.  Perhaps, if the weekend continues to progress at the nice slow pace in which it has started, I might blog it up with birthday posts as well... Excitement, I'm sure for all of my many readers :-)

We had company for Christmas this year for the first time in a very long time.  My baby brother Lew, and his partner Barb came from Oregon.  So, Lew and Barb have been together for many years, and they have a house together... what am I supposed to call her?  Girlfriend? Significant other?  I'm going with partner, for now. 

They came and stayed for a week. We booted Mitchell out of his room, so he had to bunk with Ellice.  They swapped nights so no one had to sleep on the floor the whole time. 

It took me about 3 weeks, yes 3 weeks to get my Christmas stuff up this year.  In the end, everything was beautiful and I was happy. 

Warning -- this post is full of food!

Lew, Barb, and I spent a lot of time in the kitchen. Usually it's only me so this was really a treat. Even more of a treat was the fact that Barb was the perfect prepping and cleaning kitchen elff-ette, and Lew is an accomplished chef. We started off with chicken soup (made from scratch) for Christmas Eve dinner.  This was just the thing after we went to the service at CPC and came home to drizzling rain. Lew and I ended up the evening making dualing key lime cheesecakes.  I had made a cheesecake for Ellice's boyfriend's birthday in October, and never got the big pan back, so we took the cheesecake recipe and kind of divided it in half and put it into 2 separate pans... It worked ... sort of :-) Let's just say presentation isn't everything.  

Christmas morning we had a big breakfast. My brother Bo sent us a care package from Vermont that contained some apple cinammon pancake mix and real Vermont maple syrup, which we put to good use.  Also, Lew can't get Neeses sausage out in Oregon so we cooked this up.  I must say that I'll never eat any other kind of sausage again! I forgot how good it was.  

The morning moved along slowly with us cooking up squash casserole, roasted potatoes and veggies, butterscotch pies, and green beans. These were the sides for the turkey and leg of lamb that Kevin cooked on the smoker.  

To say that we ate well is an understatement... Complete this sentence "saying we ate well is like saying that ..."

The day went at what can only be called a natural pace.  The parents came over, drinks were poured, food was eaten, presents were opened, and finally desserts and coffee were served. 

I'm pretty sure the sugar plums were dancing in our heads on Christmas night more than Christmas eve. 

Pictures to come, hopefully. Typepad isn't cooperating with picture uploads today... arghhh... 

 

 

Thanksgiving 2012

Just a small post to share more bad pictures and good memories of Thanksgiving 2012!

Another rewarding 50 year celebration

A belated post celebrating the 50th birthday of my dear girlfriend Annie! 

So, I love Annie... like a lot. She was the first person I met on my job 25 years ago. She helped me understand the data step. For those of you who speak SAS, you'll know that this was no small feat.  Ours was and continues to be a great friendship. Two girls, now women, from two different backgrounds who have come together and stayed together for a while. Through marriages and the birth of children.  We've been through a lot.  Like I said, I love her... like a lot.  

An experience with health care and aging parents

You know those movies and books that start with a prologue, and then say "3 weeks earlier..." Well this post is going to be like that.

Prologue: 

I am angry. 

I have learned several lessons recently.

• When your parent talks, you need to listen. Just because you may be in the middle of a thousand things, OK, 10 things, you need to be in the moment.
• Don't just listen, ask questions and try to hear what is really going on.
• Seek out ways to confirm your parents concern. Go visit, talk to a health-care provider directly.
• When there is a request for action, do it. Don't let a request for help from your parent be one of those thousand thoughts or "to do's" that gets lost. 
• Remember that when one parent gets separated from the other, whether it's physical because they can no longer live together; emotional, because they don't have each other to talk to or lean on; or emotional because they don't have that special someone saying "Good morning, Sweetie, how did you sleep" or "You look pretty", or "Let's sit together on the couch"... that separation is real, it is painful, it is draining. 
• The new normal. We use that phrase around our house a lot to describe the new patterns of activity due to growing children. It is a positive thing.  In the case of aging parents, who are separated in some fashion, the new normal is not a positive thing, but rather an inevitability, something they cannot control, something they did not ask for. 

Girls Beach Weekend 2012

So last year we had to do our annual beach trip in September. The first time in I'll say 12 years that this happened. All turned out well except for the rain, all 12 hours of it, on our final day.This year we were happy to resume our normal schedule of going to the beach Mothers Day weekend.  It did not disappoint.

Tagged by houseofestrogen.com

Back in April, yes April, I was tagged by my girlfriend at www.houseofestrogen.com to do this post. She had the excuse that she was in the middle of Girl Scout cookie madness, which is why she couldn't do her post. Sadly, I have no such excuse, only a long unexplanable absence from my blog.  Anyway, with a fresh latte in hand, and a lazy Saturday morning before me, I'm goinig to try to answer these questions.  Note that I can't tag anyone else to participate becuase I'm not well-known (or even known <grin>) in the blog-o-sphere.  But if anyone reads this and wants to give it a go, here are the rules:

The Rules

1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions set for you in the post you were tagged in
4. Create 11 new questions for your tagees to answer
5. Tag them on Twitter, Facebook or your blog

11 Random Facts about me

1. I am a Christian who loves her God.
2. My favorite color is green.
3. I wore POW/MIA bracelets during the Vietnam War. 
4. I do not like okra in any shape or form.
5. I learned to ski in Europe.
6. I don't do math.
7. I miss playing tennis.
8. I don't play the lottery, but wouldn't mind winning it.
9. I prefer sour to sweet... give me anything with lemon in it.
10. I really want to learn how to play the guitar.
11. I don't really have a middle name.

Questions I was asked to answer

1. What is your favorite movie? Tie between the English Patient and Dirty Dancing. 
2. If you could go back and give your 16 year old self one piece of advice, what would it be? Don't start smoking.
3. Why do you blog? Mostly to reserve special moments that I have with my friends and family.
4. What did you want to be when you grew up? Are you doing that? Doing something with horses. No, I haven't been near a horse in over a decade.  
5. M&M's - plain or peanut? Peanut.
6. What was your first car? The first car I drove was a lime green VW rabbit, which I named Rex. The first car I was given was a Chrysler Omni / Horizon. The first car I bought was a Subaru. My dad had to co-sign on the loan of $9k. 
7. What is your favorite Halloween costume you've ever worn? Halloween's not my thing.  Kevin and I dressed up in gear from the Australian Outback one year after our trip there. 
8. What are your favorite blogs to read? houseofestrogen.com and whatever she's got linked to there. I'm not well versed or well read in the blog scene. 
9. If you were to have a boy and a girl tomorrow, what would you name them? Boy: Miles, Girl: Ruby.
10. What was your favorite class in college? Something in International Studies. 
11. What celebrity do you think it would be fun to be friends with? All the women in the movie Bridesmaids... Funny!

11 Questons for the next person to answer

1. What's the last dream you remember?
2. Have you ever walked out of a movie? Which one and why.
3. What is the best thinkg you've ever eaten? 
4. What was the last chance you took?
5. What gives you joy?
6. Do you prefer hot or cold?
7. What is the most thought provoking thing you've heard in the last week, at work, play, TV, newspaper, blog, etc.?
8. Do you participate in social media, e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc?
9. Do you give $ to homeless people on the street?
10. Can you actually cook a 30 mnute meal in 30 minutes?
11. Do you watch reality TV?

 

 

Prom for my girl...

I wrote 2 prom posts for Emery, and I never thought much about what Ellice's prom would look like, but having lived through it, I can tell you it was 100% different from the planning through the execution.

The planning started about 2 months before the prom when Ellice started talking about who wanted to have the party. Party? Wait, what? Yes, some luck family would host the before-prom picture & dinner party, and some other luck family would host the after-prom party.  I volunteered our house, but new immediately that it would be too small, and not fancy enough.  Even though it's 3600 square feet, our house was not the glamour destination that Ellice had in mind. Conversation (and drama) about the party house continued until it was decided that one family would do both the before and after party. I guess a 8000 square foot home with pool and theatre room was just what the occasion called for.  Party? Check.

Now for the guest list.  The next stream of conversations had to do with who was being invited to the party.  Ellice is lucky enough to have all kinds of friends.  Some of her friends would be invited to "her" party, while others would go to other parties.  It was like if you were part of one group, you stayed with that group.  I don't even think they strayed out of their respective groups when they actually got to the prom.  In the end, Ellice's "group" was made up of about 20 couples.  Crazy, eh? Guestlist? Check?

Now the dress... Kevin took Ellice on the first dress hunt. It did not go well.  It was a rush job through a very crowded mall and she ended up in tears thinking she was fat and that she'd never find a dress.  Oh wo was her :-) We made a strategic assault on the prom dress store the next weekend and hit pay dirt. After much discussion (urging by the momma) about trying on all kinds of dresses, looking at styles that complimented her figure, ignoring what size rack they came off of, we landed on a beautiful fairy princess type short sparkly dress.  Dress? Check.

About that prom date.  Even though Ellice has a boyfriend, and they'd already been talking about prom, even paying for it, there had been no formal invitation. Wait, what?  Yes,  while I was just assuming it was a done deal, that she'd go with Jon, apparently there needed to be some formal invitation. Not just a "Will you go to prom with me?", but something much grander.  One girl had "Will you go to prom with me?" written on her car, another had been taken on a scavenger hunt through her house ending with an invitation on stickie notes, another had some whacky invitation by a security guard at school... the list goes on.  Anyway, about 2 weeks before the prom, Jon showed up and put together an outdoor scavenger hunt for Ellice, ending up with a basket of goodies on the back porch with the formal invitation.  Prom date? Check.

The biggest drama surrounding our prom preparation was the after-prom party.  The family throwing the party decided it would be a good idea for the party to be co-ed.  Wait, what? I found this out the Thursday before the prom. Ellice swore she was going to tell me and I believe her.  Regardless, I did just what she thought I'd do... I ruined her life... yes, I said No to the coed sleepover. There was weeping and wailing for a bit.  She even made a call to Emery at UNCW, for reinforcements.  In the end, I held my ground (something that is not always easy to do as a parent). My compromise was that I'd come get her from the party at 2:00.  I mean, the before party started at 6:00 pm... how much time could those kids need to spend together?  Ah, youth.  

Beauty treatements were up next.  She needed nails, make-up, hair and a tan.  Yes, a spray tan.  I told her I'd foot the bill for everything but the tan.  I hate those spray jobs.  We did a trial-run on the hair a few weeks before the prom, to decide on the style.  Hair down, long hollywood curls.  We did nails the day of the prom, which was lots of fun.  It took trips to 3 make-up places before Ellice deicded she could do her make-up just as well as the other places. Of course, I felt compelled to purshcase something at each of the stops... Chaching...

The day of the prom was beautiful and everything was in place.  We started our weekend of thunderstorms (read "down pours") at approximately 5 minutes before Jon was to arrive for pictures.   

Here are some pictures I am sharing.  They were all indeed beautiful. Ellice looked like a princess. I think it was everything she wanted it to be, except for the rain.  

And of course the farewell picture as they left the house... in rain pouring out of the sky and just a few tears rolling down my cheeks...

And that after prom party?  When I picked up Ellice and Jon, I asked them how it was. Jon's response sticks in my head "Best day ever Mrs. J"

 

50, Right?

Mitchell: Mom, you're 50, right?

Me: Yep. I wonder when I'll have to start acting like it.

Mitchell: Never!

Me: Good answer.

Mitchell: What does "acting like 50 even look like?" 

I'm thinking "I have no idea..." 

:-)

Christmas Diary

I'm am fortunate that my company shuts down for the week after or around Christmas. I spend a bit of time thinking about how I'm going to spend that time, rechard, re-do, get organized, re-visit my Bible, and and all sorts of other things...This holiday has been like others where my days seem to blend ... one into the other...

I liked it when I believed in Santa Clause...

Mitchell: I liked it better when I  believed in Santa Clause

Me: Yea? Why's that?

Mitchell: The thought that some total stranger would come to my house and give me gifts is pretty cool.

Smiley...

4 hours? OK

Today I told Kevin I'd need 4 hours to do some cooking. He said "4 hours! Nothing can be worth that! What are you making?" I said "My Keylime Cheesecake." He said "Uh, actually that's worth it...!" 

I want to start reading...

Sitting at Barry's waiting for breakfast, Emery, who is visitng from UNCW announces "I think I want to start reading" and has a grin on his face like he's just discovered something marvelous.  I say "For the first time, or just in general?" Seems he's decided that actually reading books will help him do better in school.  You think?  Keep it up Moms and Dads, they do get it at some point! 

Websters dictionary, by Ellice Johnson... continued...

Me: What do you think Jon wants for Christmas?

Ellice: I don't know. We'll have to conversate on that one.

As much as she wants it to be a word, Webster does not agree... <smile>

Turkey Day 2011

What a nice Thanksgiving day we had.  If we have a tradition, it is to gather at my house around mid-afternoon where we drink a few mimosas while the food is finishing, then we move onto food food food, before everyone tries to get home before that turkey triptopan kicks in! 

Making pesto...

My sister and I went into last-minute-pesto-making maneuvers a couple of months ago. She was able to post her pics to Facebook, but for some reason, I can't get pictures uploaded to FB right now, so here's my little photo log of my pesto making...

There are things you cannot describe...

Even though you know them, you know that certain experiences are for experiencing and not for learning from others.  Like...

Words do matter

Words, we use them all the time. We use them for work - to communicate ideas, for home - to communicate love and instruction, for fun - to make jokes. Yes, we use them all the time.  Do you ever wonder about the power of words? Do you wonder if they, well, if they really matter?

Emery comes home..

So it goes like this...

Girls Beach Weekend 2011

Yes, we did manage to make our annual trek to the beach. This time, for the first in about 14 years, we went in September.  As we get older, life has a way of interrupting long-standing traditions. This year, my dad broke his hip in May which put our May beach plans on hold.  We all agreed that we'd make it somehow and perhaps September would be a good time.  MJ headed up the call-to-arms at the end of August, and thus, a September beach plan was hatched.

Ellice'ism

Ellice called to tell me that a friend of hers had torn her ACL and needed surgery.  Then she says "I feel like crying, but my eyes are dry!".