we're living a full life

the scoop- a bunch of randomness

2012-02-24T19:44:00.001-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days, you know how it is life gets in the way. I had a boomer of a migraine since my last post. I usually get about one a month but this weather has been so crazy it's been a trigger for more than my usual. My doctor who has worked with me for years to get me to a minimum of headaches joked saying he wanted to bottle me because he's been pleased with my headache health. Anyhoo...this one sent me back to bed and believe you me I haven't done that in years. We had originally planned on starting our painting adventure but add some paint fumes to a horrid migraine and my head probably would have exploded all over the living room.

On Saturday, dragging my ass literally with a headache hangover I removed all the crap from the walls and removed every bit of china and all those neat glasses with the gold from my parents old mid century modern break-front and Bill painted from behind the fridge thru under the balcony. The green is so yummy and although bright it is so serene compared to the yellow that was up before. We've decided not to put the break-front back, I think I'm gonna sell it on Craig's List along with some of the china. Mom gave me the OK to sell the furniture since she and. Dad purchased the piece back in the late 60's maybe early 70's then for about $125.00. Don't know what I'll get for it now but we can't put it in the garage, it's already overflowing with stuff.

there two drawers and the two pieces of sliding glass too!

I confess I have a lot of stuff, I have a huge side board filled to the brim with stuff too, 30+ years of china and glasses and tea sets and things people give me, two sets of silver because heck one isn't enough when you have a family of seven and it's a service of eight! Your not a hoarder if it's stored neatly are you? Because I've had this china for years and I've never used it once? To be honest we inherited these beautiful dishes (some dinner plates are missing from the set) so that kinda makes them rather lacking in function but I hate to part with them for the sentimental value.I think it's time however to see what I can do about selling them.

nice huh?

Now I don't give a darn if I have to stick these babies to the ceiling and space is lacking in my side board but I'm not getting rid of these glasses. I love these things! Bill's uncle left them to us, my parents had ones like this too, all gold and glittery in every different size, stemmed and tall glasses too. How'd ya like to sip your Shirley Temple outa one of these babies?

Today we took Mom shopping and then to lunch, it's Friday so it's fish today, being Lent and all! We had fantastic little shrimp baskets at a local restaurant before hitting the market. Mom was happy to get out of the house and cold weather is not her friend. Remember just the other day when I posted pictures of our first snow? first-snow Today here in Virginia it was 80 degrees, unbelievable and what can only be described as tornado weather.

Oh crap, the thunder is starting to rumble outside now so I better rap this up before we loose power, that's been known to happen here!

from my kitchen- Irish Soda Bread

2012-02-21T10:47:00.001-05:00

St Patty's Day had always been a special day for our family, if there isn't a party then we'll usually find one or go to the parade or a street festival. This year, Bill, Mom and I are going down to Charlotte to my cousin Jeanmarie and her husband Hans house for a party.

Did you all know that I was actually supposed to be born on St Patty's Day, but I came early?

Anyway, when I spoke to my cousin last night we agreed that my contribution to the party would be the Irish Soda bread. You know how I love to bake, and I have such a good recipe anyway, why wouldn't I? Hans will be cooking the corned beef and cabbage, Irish beers will be flowing as this adult only party.

I'd decided to share my recipe for Irish Soda bread with all of you so that you can have it in advance of the holiday. Try it, you'll like it very much it's the best I've ever tried.

And if your looking for the recipe for Corned Beef and Cabbage, go visit my friend Liz over at A NUT IN A NUTSHELL, since apparently great minds think alike!
celtic symbol attribution

Irish Soda Bread

INGREDIENTS:

4 c sifted flour
1 1/2 tsps baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 c sugar
1 c raisins (or cranberries for a nice change)
2 tbsp melted butter
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups buttermilk
1 tbsp caraway seeds

DIRECTIONS:

Mix dry ingredients. Mix butter, eggs and buttermilk. Stir into dry ingredients. Use a 2 qt pan (like a pyrex) because it works the best since this batter is rather moist. (it may be necessary to add more flour). Don't forget to put the cross on top with a knife..

Bake at 350 degrees for 1.25 hours.

picture day - first snow

2012-02-20T16:40:00.001-05:00

We had our first snow of the season Sunday evening! I was so excited that I went running out in the dark with my camera. I guess twenty five plus years in the south will not erase the northerner in me!

My cats followed close behind they were slipping and sliding through the snow like maniacs, it was so funny! They were running around so fast I didn't have a prayer of getting a picture of them, sorry!

So with the camera that I received for Christmas in hand I began my mission to get some photographs of all that white goodness. I found out however, it's not at all easy to take pictures in the dark and snow with a flash. The flash reflects off the flakes, I'll spare you all my pictorial failures.

I probably need to get off my rear end and read about how to take the camera off AUTO so I can change the settings. But hey! I'm having a blast as it is so I'm not going to rush things.

I did get out in the morning, first thing. It was beautiful and pearly white out. And all that snow was melting...so sad :(

Photo Day- birds of a feather feed together

2012-02-18T18:06:00.000-05:00

You know me if the sun's shining and the weather's nice, I'm going to be out there with my camera.

The cats were having a great time lazing around in the yard taking dust baths, I sometimes think they think they are birds.

The birds were in the feeders and pretty hungry today. I have to wonder whether that's a sign of the weather to come. Many of them are pretty skidish of me with the camera and wouldn't even go to the feeder with me on the steps or deck, but I did get a few shots.

So like every other person in our area, Bill went out to the grocery store today and picked up a few things in case the weather turns. They're saying 2-4 inches for our area, I'm ready, there will be soup ( comfort food is a must ) tomorrow whether the rain stays rain or turns into snow. Frankly sixty degree weather is wacky so I guess snow would actually be normal!

Talk about the luck of the Irish! This gorgeous little woodpecker decided to raid our feeder as I was out with my camera today. Isn't he/she just wonderful? Nor very large as woodpeckers go but bursting with character and color and pattern. I gather he decided to fill his belly before the impending storm as well.

He's really to big for the feeder however so he hangs on and picks the feed out with his long beak. We must have a nest in one of our large trees because this one is a daily visitor. We have bigger ones too I can here them tap- tap- tapping on the trees during the day when the windows are open.

I guess we should be happy for the weather coming to our town soon, we can probably use the precipitation. Bill just came in and said the next door neighbor just set a grass fire, by accident. Not good! Thank goodness they were able to put it out without anyone being hurt or any property damage. Bill had the phone in his hand and was about to call 911 but thank the Lord it wasn't necessary.

That's all for now folks.

Enjoy the photo's!

The scoop, what's on my mind today

2012-02-16T20:41:00.001-05:00

Gosh today is one yucky day, and I'm not only talking about how I'm feeling but I'm talking about the weather too! Mine started off with one zinger of a migraine, I hate waking up with them, that's the way it goes with me. I always awaken with them. Then I was off to the doctor for some answers about the sudden onset of that joint pain that started two weeks ago. Well, if you missed it it wasn't Lyme's Disease, good news. My full blood panel came back normal, I'm normal, go figure! Seriously, all levels all organs working as they should and the pee in the cup tests wasn't any more humiliating then it normally is....., more good news. So we're left with the answer; why did Jen have such bad joint pain that made her run to the doctor like a little cowering weenie? And I'm not a little cowering weenie! My doctor's answer is, he doesn't have an answer at least not from any of the tests results! Do I have a condition like arthritis...maybe but that would just be guessing and I don't go to my doctor to guess. Can my joint pain be a symptom of another condition, maybe maybe not! So for now we are both just content to watch and wait.

After the doctor we went to Denny's for a late breakfast, last time we went there the service had a lot to be desired, but we were starving and Mom's a diabetic and she wanted egg's so, Mom rules. Anyway as we waited to be served this lady went up to the register to pay her bill and very loudly yelled at the girl about how long she waited, how bad the food was, how cold the food was, how bad the service was, she thought the bill was incorrect and so on. I really don't know if any of her complaints were warranted but it kind of struck me as this kid behind the counter cowered as this rather large loud woman screamed at her that there's a difference between lodging an appropriate complaint for bad or incompetent service and then there just plain bitching for the sake of being mean. I'm all for the former, the latter is wholly inappropriate, enough said!

Have I mentioned that Bill and I have decided to paint our great room? Last week we went to Home Depot and got a bunch of those little sample paints and put them up all over the wall to see how they looked on the wall at different points of the day.We have windows on the east, south and west so there's lots of sun that affects the color at various points of the day. The color we have now is sort of a maize color, anyway I really really wanted a color in the orange family but it just wasn't going to work in such a large space (living, dining, kitchen and balcony), its just to much color. We also picked a bunch of different bright and fresh greens so that's what we're going with a color called grass something or other.We really like color and are not afraid to use it. I'll put before and after pictures once we get going on the painting, most likely after this weekend.

As if they were lovers...

2012-02-14T16:34:00.000-05:00

Linking up with Bits of Bee today.

I was given two awards! Surprise, I'm giving one to you!

2012-02-13T00:11:00.000-05:00

Two awards in one week! I'm feeling very honored so I thought I'd just spread the love all at once...read on!
Blog awards are so cool! So the other day when I went over to Jenn & Casey's blog

SO THIS IS LOVE to see what was going on and do my daily reading and guess what I found? I found an award with my name on it, how cool is that?! As great as these things are there are a few housekeeping things, rules that need to be taken care of while basking of course!

The Rules for The Versatile Blogger Award

1. Thank the award-giver and link back to them in your post.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Pass this awardalong to 15 recently discovered blogs you enjoy reading.

4. Contact yourchosen bloggers to let them know about the award.

So, I'dlike to thank Jenn and Casey who are so much fun and have a super cool blog fortheir kindness which I happily accept. You should go visit them I'm sure you'llagree with me.

Now before I share the love with some of my new blog friends, I have to share 7 things about myself.

Did you play school or vet or mom maybe teacher when growing up? Not me I played Nun. On the beach of all places; a bit of wet hair and abeach towel and you could be Sister Jennifer Lynn. I won't name names but I wasn't alone Sister Mary Frances!
My first kiss….the slide at the school, third grade, MichaelMartini pinned me down and kissed me on the..... hey this chick doesn't kiss and tell.
I love beer, I don’t abuse it, but if I had to pick myfavorite type of beer I’d have to say I’m partial to Lagers
Every month during my pregnancies I craved different things,for example I had a, watermelon month, bagels month, potatoes, hot fudgesundaes, strawberries. That potato month was a bitch…. I gained ten pounds.
Thelittle corns in Chinese food gross me out, there about the only thing on theplant I won’t eat; they look like little alien vegies! Beam them up Scottie.
Neither of my natural children shares my eye color, brown.Eric had blue, Matthew’s eyes are hazel. Ok so I’m a tiny bit vain don’t youwant your kids to look like you?
Until three years ago I had never in my lifehad a female doctor. I know weird huh!

I am happy to pass the Versatile Blogger Award along to these blogs, enjoy ladies and gents.

The Old Back Porch

One Day at a Time

Bits of Bee

Does Anyone Care What I Write

Leggings Love

Minimalist In The Making

My Mercurial Nature

Ocean Breezes

Square Peg in a Round Hole

Purrpause

Bankerchick's Scratchings

The Rules For The Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award

And because my blog friends are so AWESOME I have been given anotheraward by my new friend Pixie over at PurrPause. This blog awardis especially sweet hee hee! And I want to thank Pixie for being so sweet and generous.

Now I must do two things. Tell my readers 7 things you might not already know about me. Then I get to pass this lovely and sweet award on to 10 of my blog friends.

When I got my first computer I didn’t have aclue how to type. Oh I could look at the keys but that seemed like cheating sooooI sent away for a Mavis Beacon CD and learned how to type. I know I’m a dork!
Kids now a day have cell phones to communicatewith their friends- expensive no?When I was a kid my friend and neighbor Mary ( Sister Mary to you) andI talked to each all the time, we didn’t even use the telephone however we used,two Campbell’s soup cans with a string attached strung from her room to mineacross the yard.
I don’t put milk or sugar in my hot beverages;I drink my coffee and tea black. I actually drink my ice tea without sugarwhich is contrary to the southern way- which is the only way- sweet.
I think ice cube trays were inventedby the devil, I don't have an ice-maker and I hate filling them.
I have a pet cemetery out in our back yard. Iplaced it within a reasonable distance from our vegetable garden so that I canvisit with them when I’m out there. They each have their own grave-markers withtheir names and dates. I have 2 dogs and 4 cats out there.
When I gave birth to my son Matthew my doctor told me he was going toattach a red zipper to my C-section; joking right? Then in noticed thecustodians kept on mopping the floor over and over outside my hospital roomtrying to get a peek every time the nurse checked my bandage…sure enough thereit was, a red zipper attached with two stitches over my incision.
I sleep in the right side of the bed, twopillows-soft- never feathers.

I am happy to pass along this Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award to ten blogger friends.
Enjoy it people and dog!

Ma Me Musings

....So this is love...

Here's the thing

Imperfection Personified

I enjoy reading each and every one of your blogs, enjoy both awards I think you deserve them because you all rock in my book!

photo day- these past few days....the rundown

2012-02-11T18:24:00.001-05:00

Firstly, I wanted to thank each and every one of you for your concern for my health. As it turns out my Lyme's Disease test was negative so that's good news. I have every confidence my doctor will figure out what's going on with all this joint pain and my rash. The pain for the most part seems to have abated, maybe it's the anti-inflammatory medications he has me taking. Hopefully whatever it is; is done......

In any case, you've all been very kind and I promise I'll let you know if I find out anything from my doctor when I do.

This weekend my husband and I went up to Charlottesville, Virginia for a funeral of our friend and neighbors brother. He was a long time police officer on their local police force, his deceased brother was once Commissioner of Police and he was eulogized by no less then three Commissioners of Police. There's something about a funeral of a cop, and the love of his fellow officers was quite evident in the sea of blue uniforms that lined the pews of the church. Quite sad....very moving.

And although it was a sad time and our primary reason for being there was to be with our friends, we did go to the pedestrian mall downtown.... what a nice place. Sometimes you just need to clear your head, get some fresh air, take a walk and then there's this thing called food! So we went to the place where there's restaurants, shopping, theater and local musicians playing in the square, like this gentleman here. Bill and I found time to go there twice once for lunch and once for dinner but mostly we enjoyed walking and chatting with merchants, musicians and soaking in some of the atmosphere.

I wasn't sad to come home however. Have I mentioned how much I hate staying in hotels? Hotels are the most horrible places where I think the air quality is terrible, do you agree? Unless they're on a beach, then I can take it..... Didn't get to do to much with the camera this week, hope you like my pictures.

I'm ticked off

2012-02-07T21:26:00.003-05:00

So I've kept it to myself but I haven't been feeling all that well lately. Yesterday I broke down and went to the doctor. Pain is a great motivator. Joint pain for lack of a better way to describe it is a bitch.

Pain in my knees, shoulders, collarbones, pelvis and hips and they all hurt like the blazes. And then there's my neck which aches and is rather on the stiff side with just a touch of a headache that's dull and nagging.

Did I mention the rash I have under my arm? Been there for four weeks! Just kinda there not doing much, not itching or scratching just there.

My doctor thinks this little bug which can pass a bacteria into your body when it bites is the cause of all of my yuckiness! Ugh! Lymes Disease.

Tick
Photo attribution

Blood test are pending, I don't even want to think what it could be if it isn't Lymes Disease. There are many other not so great condition's that share these symptoms; not all that encouraging; Lupus, Fibromyalgia, some cancers or infections. He has me on something for the inflammation, it's heaven not to be in all that pain. Now I wait for the results....

The cats have been banned from the bedroom for the duration, probably not a bad idea anyway. Will keep you posted on this drama as it unfolds.

to give is to receive

2012-02-07T10:57:00.000-05:00

Picture this......

You go visit a sick friend and as you're leaving you see them smile and your heart just smiles too!

Or you give some much needed support to a friend during a really difficult divorce. Hey, just an ear and a hot cup of coffee but you both walk away feeling a bit lighter if only for a moment or two.

An elderly member of your church is lonely so at the sign of peace you forget the handshake and give her a hug and she tears up with gratitude and your heart swells.

Isn't this so true?
Have you experienced this yourself?

photo attribution

Linking up with Bits of Bee today.

the secret's out, we stink

2012-02-03T19:54:00.000-05:00

It is a serious problem and it's complicated; here's the story. First I should say that the smelly offenders are just me and my hubby, the kids are all grown and gone but their ours so lets for the sake of argument call them smelly too! Hey it's my blog and I can do what I want! I am very sensitive to odors/ fragrances, in fact most of the products that I use have very little fragrance or are fragrance free which has led my dilemma. I like every other person in the planet have tried every laundry detergent, Tide, Cheer, All, Gain, and others and frankly the all are pretty smelly, literally. The fragrance's are just to strong for me plus I would rather not smell like my detergent.

I suffer from migraines and strong scents on my sheets and blankets can mean hours and hours of horrible pain. So I went to the scent free brand of All and scent free Bounce sheets thinking ha, I am so freekin smart my clothes and linens are clean and fresh and there's no fragrance, right? Wrong!! My sheets and blankets are stinky!! They smell like BODY- they do not smell clean or fresh! You know what I mean....they smell like our sweat, sorry there's just no nice way to put it. And I might add we shower daily and I change our sheets twice a week wash my sheets using hot water!

Anyhoo, I was walking down the natural-organic aisle the other day in the grocery store; so desperate was I for a new laundry detergent that I was actually collecting home made laundry detergent recipes as a last resort. Then I heard the angels sing then the clouds parted { do you have clouds in you market?}and a ray of sun shone on a bottle on the shelf.{the angel and sun part didn't really happen but I thought it sounded good so I added it just for a bit of drama} And what was on this shelf you might ask? The answer to my stinky situation.

Biokleen, this stuff is amazing! I purchased a 64 oz bottle of the citrus {grapefruit seed and orange peel}{there are other choices available} and took it home to try. In my grocery store it was just over $11.00 per bottle and it does 64 loads, one ounce per large load. I did my first stinky load of sheets, and they came out smelling like sunshine! Really they smelled like I just pulled them in off the clothes line, no lie. You can be sure I'll never go back to any of the other major brands. And the plus is that this brand is phosphate free, which is better for the environment!

Group Blog Experience

Prompt: A Review
join in at
http://www.word-nerd-speaks.com/

Why should you try this detergent you may be asking yourself ? Well I may be stinky but my opinions are awesome!

photo day- say what Phil?

2012-02-02T19:37:00.000-05:00

No disrespect to Punxsutawney Phil and I may be spitting hairs here but do we get six more weeks of winter if we we really haven't had any winter yet? I think we've used our wood stove for heat for about seven days the whole season, that does not a winter make!

I haven't gotten to spend a lot of time with my camera but the past few days it has been flirting with 70 degrees and above so I went out and took a few shots. Here's the moon today thru a budding tree; yes you heard me right! I have a tree that's budding on February 2nd!...amazing.

I was pretty pleased to get this one of the moon but much closer up, just look at those craters. I'm so darn happy that this camera can focus in that close. What a step up from my last camera! I still have a ton of trouble holding the camera steady, but then I was never gonna be a brain surgeon anyway!

And if you had any darn question about how crazy warm the weather is here in Virginia here's the proof of all proofs. This daffodil is one of many blooming in my front garden today, and Mr bug crawling on its pretty yellow leaf.

I don't know Phil things are looking rather Spring-ish here! Next time pictures of the snow storm, I probably just jinxed the whole Commonwealth with this post!

do write

2012-01-30T22:52:00.000-05:00

Truth be told I was never much of a student. But I acquired a love a writing as I journeyed and journal-ed my way through a personal tragedy. That journey eventually led me to this blog. Mostly I do my writing for personal pleasure and this blog is a doorway to a vast community of people, very nice people.

I'd like to think between my life's experience and my enthusiastic albeit basic abilities with the written word; that I might now and again actually do what good ole Mr. Franklin says......

Linking up with Bits of Bee today.

order in the family & the home

2012-01-29T17:26:00.000-05:00

Keeping order in family is hard to do, believe me I know. I raised five kids- three of which were step children. To be a family I think you have to act like a family, do things as a family unit and one of those things is to be responsible for the space in which you live. How you ask? Chores! Yup you heard me right we made the kids do chores, age appropriate chores, this is something my husband and I were firm believers in.

Did you have chores assigned to you when you were a kid? My Mom and Dad asked me to do things when they needed doing and I was responsible for keeping my room clean but I don't remember having a regular schedule of chores. I remember doing my own laundry from a pretty young age, and we had a huge house with a big yard. We were always doing some type of gardening or bagging leaves. But all and all we- my brothers and I just did what we were told when we were told, you didn't question you just did.

We made our kids do chores, keeping their room tidy, dishes, mowing the grass (we have a riding mower). Then as they got older they helped with other things,firewood, weeding, planting the garden, vacuuming, and laundry. That's not to say they were happy about any of this because they weren't; well... sometimes they were happy to help! Sometimes it was like pulling teeth.

My daughter cracks me up when it comes to this subject; she and her hubby work full time. To deal with this she has a list of chores that the boys have to do every week; vacuuming, tidying up their rooms- their bathroom, putting away their laundry, that kind of stuff. I asked her if she had to keep after them like I did her when she was younger. She replied," the kids get an allowance if they don't do their chores they don't get their allowance that means no spending money." "You don't yell at them or anything?" Thinking back to the knock out drag outs we used to have over dish washing and bathroom cleaning. She just shrugged and replied, "I'm not riding my kids like Seabisquit a trip or two to the store without money and they get the idea!" Problem solved for her, but then my grandsons are little angels, just sayin!

Yesterday Bill and I set off to do a few things on our list of many that need to be done around the house. Might as well get some stuff done while we're stuck in the house in this cold weather, right? I cleaned the oven. It has a cleaning cycle which takes 3 hours and leave ashes that need to be wiped out afterwards. Then we defrosted- cleaned and organized all the food in our chest freezer out in our breezeway and closed down our extra refrigerator which stands right next to it. We only use that over the summer months for beer and extra food since we usually have lots of company.

As hubby and I meet ourselves coming and going bringing order to this house and a huge piece of property without the help of the children I started to think..... I never really gave much thought to how all those things got done after I left my parents house. But I can guarantee like us the did it with a good bit of effort!

How do you do it?

I am so inspired by my friend Melissa over at mamemusings whose word of the month is ORDER or click on this button to find out how you can join in and be inspired too.

from my kitchen- shepard's pie

2012-01-27T17:34:00.000-05:00

My brother Gerard and I have an on going feud about an extremely important issue...for us Irish people, how we like our potatoes! He likes them whipped, I like them mashed. Whipped are WAY to creamy for my taste, kinda pasty if you ask me. You just can't properly make one of those neat little gravy pools in whipped potatoes, so what's the point I ask?

Mashed potatoes on the other hand are firm, they taste like they are one of the vegetables on the plate not soup! They are in my opinion mountains of white goodness with gravy or even plain of course plain's good I like them plain.

Are you a mashed or a whipped person? We disagree all the time about lots of things like meatballs, you can read about it HERE so don't worry it's all in good fun, let us know!

I have another reason for going on and on about potatoes . Actually today I have this super fantastic recipe for Shepard's Pie. If you're familiar with Shepard's Pie you know one of the primary ingredients is "mashed" potatoes. And if you're ever wondered what to do with your left over spuds this is a it!

We had this very meal last night for dinner and it is yummy!

SHEPARD'S PIE

Ingredients

o 1 tablespoon olive oil

o 1 teaspoon blackpepper

o 1 1/4 lb ground beef

o 1 large onions, finelydiced

o 3 -4 large carrots,finely diced

o 1/2 cup frozen peas

o 3 -4 sprigs freshthyme, finely chopped

o 2 tablespoons flour

o 2 tablespoon butter

o 3/4 cup red wine

o 2 tablespoons tomatopaste

o 2 tablespoonsWorcestershire sauce

o 1 cup beef stock

o 1 large quantity mashedpotatoes ( 4 cups or more, fresh or leftover)

o 1 eggs, beaten

Directions

1. Pre-heatoven to 200C/400°F.

2. Sautécarrots in the olive oil until starting to get tender.

3. Addin the onions and sauté for a minute or two then add the meat.

4. Seasonwith black pepper and thyme.

5. Cookuntil browned then drain fat. I poured the mixture in a colander.

6. Addthe butter to pan, melt then put meat back and peas to the meat mixture.

7. Sprinklewith flour and stir through.

8. Addtomato paste, wine and Worcestershire sauce.

9. Letthis reduce slightly then add the beef stock. Allow to reduce down until youhave thick meaty gravy. Season to your taste.

10. Removefrom heat. Grease an oven proof dish (9x13 or an ovalbaker) pour in meat mixture.

11. Spoon or pipe the mashed potatoes over top then brush with egg.

12. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the potato is nice andbrowned on top.

you did what?

2012-01-26T12:49:00.000-05:00

For Mama Kat's Pretty Much World Famous Writer's Workshop this week I chose this prompt: You know the stories that are retold a million times at family gatherings? I call them Life Stories that you just never live down. List your Top 10 Life Stories.

Family stories are most funny to the family that they belong to because we know the people, the personalities. I come for a large family with lots of kids many many cousins.We're all in our thirties, forties, fifties even sixties now and I have to say we never get tired of these stories. There are so many good stories that are swirling around in my head that couldbe told about all of us. Here are some of my favorites!

Once at a holiday dinner, I believe it was Thanksgiving,someone threw a piece of turkey acrossthe table and it landed in my cousin Genevieve’s soda , she sipped it notknowing it was there, then threw up on the table. ( my brother Paul swears it was stuffing not turkey, he had a front row seat, he was sitting next to her) We still don't know who threw the offending object!

I took a walk with my cousins, Gen, Patricia, my brother Pauland cousin Mickey on the boardwalk once, I didn't want to be with the girls Iwanted to be with the boys. They however had different idea, they left me by jumped off the boardwalk. I was eight years old and lost, I walkedto this little beauty parlor which sat off the end of the boardwalk and sat there crying and crying until they cameback later. They got in trouble! (I didn't know my address we were living at a summer house)

We had a party at our house once and my cousin Yvonnemistakenly used a Clorox wipe thinking it was a personal feminine wipe. Ouch!

Poor cousin Lorraine was locked in the car trunk in Brooklynby her sister Yvonne and my brother Paul, my grandfather found her.

My brother Gerard (aka, Gerry berry) stuck a berry in hisear, from the Christmas decorations.

My personal favorite when at a family party my cousins threwmy little shit balls from my diaper out the upstairs window at Uncle Charlie’shead since he didn’t have hair!

While visiting my friends Flora’s Uncle Joe in Brooklyn hewas commenting at the dinner table how beautiful my daughter Heather was, asthe words left his mouth, she threw up on the table.

My son Billy put a clothes pin on our cat Tinkerbelle’s tailonce, needless to say they didn’t like each other very much. Once when stayingwith my parents Billy was sleeping on the couch, and Tinkerbelle who traveled with us decided to gether payback, she climbed on Billy when he was sleeping and peed on his back.

My cousin cut my hair after one lesson in hair cuttingschool; it was a disaster. Mom took me to the beauty parlor after to repair thedamage, can anyone say pixie?

I was walking down the street with my son Matthew and I wasVERY pregnant with Eric, a utility worker was working in a freshly dug hole on somesewer pipes. As we turned the corner I said to my toddler son” look Matthew abig hole.” The man looked up at me and said” not big enough for you lady!”

gems picked up in the bathroom

2012-01-24T09:36:00.000-05:00

I was always very good with time management- still am. I tend to be an organized person- good at getting things done. With a family of seven I'd have to be or I'd have went crazy, right? As each of the kids left the nest our schedules freed up more and more;

there are perks of an empty nester-well sorta!

Going through transitions are not without their challenges especially for us; but we tried to approach it with a touch of humor.

Anyway, Bill - my husband -loves those funny little books with facts or cute little stories, you know the ones

- you keep in the ~~library~~ bathroom!

Well, I was looking through on of them the other day and I came upon this quote and I couldn't help but laugh! Then I thought it was so ridiculous and humorous yet relevant to our lives it worth sharing.

Linking up with Bits of Bee today.

our attempted break in-country style

2012-01-21T22:00:00.000-05:00

Tonight after my husband and I finished our dinner we went off to our respective computers. His is out in the den, it's a desk-top. And mine is a lap-top which I usually use while sitting on the couch while the TV drones on in the back round. Have you noticed how bad TV is lately?

All of the sudden I heard this rustling noise by the deck, my husband went out to investigate.....nothing. It almost sounded as if someone had banged against the furniture on the deck. We were curious but found nothing. Maybe a stray dog or cat? After a quick investigation which resulted in finding nothing we went back all was forgotten.

A few hours later I heard this God awful banging, the den door was closed so Bill didn't hear it but it sounded as if someone was bashing against the duct work under the house. Let's not go into the fact that Bill needs to get his hearing checked, that's another story! Now I'm thinking to myself, if these are burglars they are dumb as dirt since we have a crawl space not a basement! And frankly we have a bazillion guns since hubby's a gun collector so they'd be making a really really big mistake picking this house.

This time however we did find the culprits trying to break into the crawlspace door and making quite the racket doing it. I'm thinking their intention was for a night of romance out of the rain and cold. They had a bit more hair and much sharper teeth than the average criminal! As it turns out it was a pair of Opossums, they are nasty little suckers. And the last thing I need is a mating pair taking up family life under my house.

This type of thing is occurring more and more often since a timber company came in and removed about a square mile of trees on a property closely neighboring ours. I swear I don't understand what people are thinking when they clear cut like that.

Tomorrow Bill will put some type of tasty morsel in our 'have a heart trap' and see what we can do about relocating these two to another location, preferably not near my house or anyone else's for that matter.

defend this family; do it for the children

2012-01-21T13:00:00.000-05:00

Fred, Mark and their children

In my less than one year of blogging I have met some wonderful and interesting people. I must admit there are a few that I consider my favorites, people who touch me with their humor, their life stories, their compassion and their ability to love unconditionally. My friend Mark Himes is one of those people. Mark and his partner Fred have four wonderful children and I'm afraid their family is in danger of being broken apart. You can read all the details of this story on Marks blog Our Simple Lives and to a lesser extent in the letter I sent to The Secretary of Homeland Security on their behalf which I have posted below.

Dear Madam Secretary,

Iam writing to you today to ask for your help. My name is Jennifer Forbes. I'm American, I am a wife, I am a motherof two and step mother of three, and grandmother of four.

Iam also the granddaughter of three immigrants who came to this country marriedand raised their families. They had a dream, a vision of a place where theycould be free, free to work, free to worship, and free to associate. And theychose America because this is the land where differences are respected and diversityis celebrated.

Inmy own family my step-daughter who is white is married to a person of color,prior to the 1967 Supreme Court decision they would have been arrested here in The Commonwealth of Virginia for their union. My beautiful grandsons would have been consideredlittle more than outcasts, but for those who dared to speak up when they sawinjustice being done.

Andit is just such an injustice that has prompted me to write this letter to youtoday. I would like to appeal to you on behalf of my friend Mark Himes and hisFrench born husband Fred Deloizy of Harrisburg Pennsylvania whose green card has recentlyexpired and is in danger of being deported. Fred has resided in this countrywith legal status for the entirety of his 20+ year relationship and marriage to Mark;his love for his family is clear and there is no doubt that he is a lovingspouse and parent. Fred’s ties andrelationship to this country are undisputed; the couple has four beautifuladopted children together; Jonathan, Claire, Jacob and Joshua like all childrenneed their parents to be together. He loves this country and has shown awillingness to work and the fact that he will contribute to our society is beyonddoubt because he has already.

Itis my opinion that the Defense of Marriage Act is a failure as marriages do notneed defining or defending, but families do. Mark and Fred’s family does. We as a societycannot seriously protect a marriage that fails the children. Our children arethe future of this country, they need both parent home and engaged in theirlives. Married straight couples can sponsor their spouses but same sexmarriages remain un-recognized because of this act. You MUST consider making anexception for this couple– for this family- for these CHILDREN. Do not uprootthese children from the only life they’ve ever known, because that may happen. Don’t make Fred leave,please stop these types of deportations!

Fred & Mark

We as a country evolve, attitudes change and we need to change with them; and so must the policies and laws of this government so that they reflect the will of its people. And if there are times Madam Secretary when we find we are bound by laws that are unfair or unjust then we must apply them with common sense and mercy.

I urge you to keep this family together; please reissue a new green card for Fred Deloisy, his children deserve to have both their parents.

Friends, That concludes my letter to the secretary. I just wanted to add that I respect that your opinions may differ from mine about gay marriage or even on issues of immigration. But I ask you to please join me and write your own letter. Help save this family; if for nothing else do it for the children.

With Thanks, Jen

Joshua, Johnathan Claire and Jacob
I hope I got the twins right!

Secretary Janet Napolitano

Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Washington, D.C. 20528

202-282-8000

I was a dog burglar

2012-01-18T23:21:00.000-05:00

For Mama Kat's Pretty Much World Famous Writer's Workshop this week I chose this prompt: Write list the names of five dogs from your lifetime, then write about why one sparks a stronger memory to you than the others.

Major- German Shepard
Smokey-Belgium Shepard
Bane- Mutt
Cosmo- Lab mix
Charlie- Cocker Spaniel

___________________________

The cool water of the hose splashed on my legs and feet as I washed away the beach sand, I could hear the phone ringing in the house. My Mom popped her head out the door and yelled down the steps at me standing in the yard," throw on a t-shirt,"she said, "then go down to the bar, your Dad on the phone he has a surprise for you."

I walked out the gate putting my t-shirt over my head at the same time kicking it closed with my bare foot. Why? I don't know since we didn't have a dog to keep in the fence anymore. It had been a year since Major was put to sleep, old habits I guess, that and a bit of hope my parents would relent and let me get a new dog.

As I walked down the block I glanced at Eddie while passing his house I smiled, he waved. He was most forgiving considering not two years earlier I had broken into his house. I remembered going to my Dad and showing him that puppy I stole; telling him about the neglect being filled with one part self righteous two parts scared shit-less. I was fifteen and I was a dog burglar. First he gave that little girl puppy to his friend Richie, then Dad forever a cop made me tell Eddie what I did, and Eddie forgave.

It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust going from the bright sunshine and into the shade of the bar. I spied my Dad sitting at the bar with his friend Richie, and in Richie's arms was a cute little puppy. Then Richie said, "that adorable puppy you (and he cleared his throat) stole had puppies and I brought one for you." "It's fine your parents said it was OK, take him.

That gate at our house never contained my dog friend Bane (that's what I named him). He was a great dog but he had a mind of his own and he was really strong willed. Must have been his mothers influence; my life of crime and all! Bane lived until he was 18.

do you talk with a fork?

2012-01-17T09:52:00.000-05:00

Some of the most important conversations my husband and I ever had with our children were at the dinner table. Like most families our children were active growing up and time was precious. After school there was homework, school activities, sports and social lives but when it was time for dinner if we were home we were at the table as a family. Back in the day there weren't the added distraction of electronic devices being used like there are today. I couldn't imagine if my five kids were younger and we had to deal were cell phones ringing all through our dinner time meal and I-Pads wars, ugh!

Now the kids are grown and when they come home the table is still at the center of the house. But truthfully we're not picky, it doesn't even have to be my table, it can be a family members table or the table of our favorite restaurant as long as we're together. And you know what? We talk, we share our lives, we laugh or share our concerns, we drink a bit of wine and eat good food. And the most important thing...... we communicate in person - fork in hand...... no electronics necessary.

What about dinner time at you house? Calm or crazy; dinner table daily or only in your dreams?

Linking up with Bits of Bee today.

I lied twice in this post and that's the truth- UPDATED

2012-01-15T17:45:00.000-05:00

Did that title grab ya? Seriously it's all fun really! Instead of the traditional "about me" list I've decided to do something with a bit of a twist today. I was thinking back on my younger days, high school and beyond, believe it or not I had a umm.... wild side back in the day. Here's a glimpse into Jen then and now... with a twist in my list. Out of the dozen things about me, two of them are untrue, want to give it a shot and guess which ones I made up?

I was voted the biggest flirt of my graduating class. The boys had issues because I wouldn't date them!
I broke into a neighbors house (as in burglarized) to steal a puppy that was being abused and neglected. Writing about this on Mama Kat's this week, stay tuned!
I then fessed up to the neighbor breaking into the neighbors house after stealing said puppy. My dad marched me over and made me!
I got so drunk on champagne once, I actually took my pantyhose off on a street corner after leaving a wedding reception. Not my greatest moment!Even now when I smell champagne it makes me sick.
As a student I was never more than average, sad but true; maybe! Sometimes average is good!
I was on the kick line in high school, can you imagine the younger me in saddle shoes and a short uniform showing all that leg? This was fun.
I was born on Friday the 13th. March, I was due on St Patty's day but came early!
Would you believe I'm five foot nine inches tall? Truth or tall tale? Every inch of it! And I'm the shortest member of the seven members of our family!
I love shoes, I have tons of pairs and love wearing all of them. I would sell my sole for shoes! I wish i could be bare foot all year long, I hate shoes, hate wearing them.
I was a singer in a band that played in the local bars in the town I grew up in. Did work in my Dad's bar as a bartender but I don't have much of a voice. Sorry!
My last child was just under 10 pounds at birth. Eric was a big boy, 9lbs 10 oz -22inches
I was a tomboy who loved to play outside and never did really care for dolls. who wants dolls when they have the beach?

Are you able to spot the fabrications in this list? There are only two. Care to make a guess, just comment? Then come back in a few days and I'll highlight the lies in red so you know if you guessed right. Oh and if this bring up any of your memories that you'd like to share, please do! I mean now that you think I'm a burglar and all! ( And family members probably shouldn't participate since it wouldn't be fair OK!)

photo day- the lay of the land

2012-01-13T14:32:00.001-05:00

I got a lot of really nice comments and feedback from my first photo day and that was very encouraging. I also got a lot of hits- the stats don't lie, right? So I made up a new little button thingie just because I roll that way and here I am back again with some more pictures.

This batch of pictures were taken this week around our property. Like our John Deere bird house/condo!? We are a bird friendly household, and this thing is really high up because in addition to being a bird friendly household we are a cat friendly household!

This is Tarzan, he's our alpha cat..or he likes to think he is!

This is Cheetah, he's Tarzan's litter mate. How two brother could be more different I do not know. He is the sweetest little thing who loves to play and get into mischief unlike his brother who is quite aggressive.

This picture is something else isn't it; what a moon!? I wish I could take credit for it, but I'm afraid Bill gets all the credit for taking it the other night while grilling some chicken.

The sun going down through the immature pines..... not really crazy about this picture quite frankly!

The picture below are actually suckers growing under a tree, I don't know the name of the species but the colors are amazing aren't they? During the summer this tree provides shade for one part of my vegetable garden in the mid day so we plant our cucumbers underneath. The only down side to the tree is that it has very large thorns!

Through the smoke of burning leaves this is an old tobacco barn that is on our property. Years ago when we first lived here it actually was functional and a farmer friend did use it for a few years. I believe there are more efficient ways to dry tobacco now. This barn has three levels and is very large, but without an interested farmer to use it and do the the maintenance plus one to many hurricanes the poor thing....well lets just say its seen better days.

That's this installment of photo day. I hope you enjoyed it, and please let me know what you think.

here's some news- I'm feeling snarky

2012-01-11T21:28:00.002-05:00

Oh my goodness! Have you checked out the news lately? I must admit I don't read it as much as I should. I know terrible me! So the other day I put some local news publications and local tv new stations on my homepage so I can catch up on the local /national news. With the election coming and all I wanted to brush up on my candidates and now that the winter is here I tend to stay more isolated here in the house so reading the news becomes my tether to the outside.

So with my new publications all set up I browsed a bit scanning the headlines from my area and what was happening nationally.

I will repeat myself oh my goodness!

As I looked at the links for the local t.v news then the local news papers- headline after headline was shockingly bad news,highlighting criminal behavior and violence, it is just horrible!

They must have something good to highlight why don't they lead with that? Why does it always have to be the bad stuff, the horror, the tragedy and the suffering? AXPGRTGJ3YWR

Here's a sample from just today:

Virginia gets a failing grade for safe roadways
Police identify man burned to death and left on the side of the road in James City County
Judge says "No Deal" to woman accused of faking cancer - (speechless, I am speechless)
Richmond man given 28 years in abduction, robbery
U.S. Marine Corps to investigate video of Marines urinating on corpses

I don't mean to be snarky,*throat clear* but I will!
If they are going to continue to call this news I have a suggestion.

They might want to consider a name change for the level of negativity they display.

They should call it BAD NEWS.

comfort on a gloomy day

2012-01-09T17:20:00.003-05:00

The past few days we have had some unseasonably warm weather. I've gone out over the property with my camera and Bill has been able to catch up on a lot of long needed leaf burning. We have huge old trees lining our drive and it takes forever to clean up our property. For us being able to throw open windows in January here in Virginia is really unheard of but we get what we get so we might as well make the best of it, right?

Alas today the colder weather is back. Although the thermometer isn't way down there with the humidity up the chill goes right through you. After lunch Bill gathered up some fire wood from the shed and put on our wood-stove. We have one of those lovely cast iron cook stoves from Ireland that's capable of heating the entire house and makes the most awesome pizza's amongst other things.

Then came the most important decision! What to make for dinner. I don't know about you but when it is cold and gloomy I need to eat some comfort food. While Bill napped I went through the usual suspects whether it be soup or stew- pot roast or pasta or mac & cheese generally something home made that will fill the house with wonderful aromas and be satisfying too.

From the comfort of the couch are we getting the theme here? I made my decision, and decided on Chili and rice. The house already smells wonderful as the pot simmers on the regular stove, can you smell it? Sorry there's no such thing as smell- a - blog!

You do crave comfort food on a rainy gloomy day, don't you?
For me its like a hug on a plate or a bowl.
Do you have a favorite?

photo day- look at the birdie

2012-01-07T19:00:00.000-05:00

Hi Folks,

Now that I have my new beautiful camera I am going to start putting some pictures on this blog, as promised.

I admit I haven't the foggiest idea what I'm doing with the darn thing. I still have yet to read the complete instructions on pdf, all 200 + pages...yikes! But hey I am enthusiastically willing to learn.

Nor am I the slightest bit shy about sharing my results both positive and negative with you my friends on my blog. Notice the sucking up going on here!?

What I thought I'd do a post from time to time as I learn to use the camera- become more familiar with how it works. ( I'd love to make a schedule, but that's probably a bit to ambitious for me, maybe later when I know what I'm doing.)

So when you see my posts title Photo Day come see my picture or pictures OK?

And it wouldn't mean a thing if you didn't tell me what you honestly think.

Today I went out with the camera and found a beautiful cardinal in one of our small trees. He sat there as if posing for the camera; ham that he was! Since it's just Bill and I and the kitties in the house this week I was lucky to find such a beautiful subject to try out my new toy.

Here's the problem I had, holding the camera still. My goodness gracious, I had such a difficult time really I did. I was leaning my arms on my boobs to steady my arms but it was SO hard to do. And all I kept thinking about was our perfectly good tripod leaning against the grandfather clock in the dining room.

Anyway I did take a few pictures, get some fresh air and some exercise. Plus, I did learn a thing or two from my little walk in the back yard today.

1. Holding the camera takes practice.
2 Keeping track of the subject takes practice, especially a tiny bird in a tree.
3.Focusing is not easy and takes practice even when the camera does most of the work.

My pictures in the order that I took them!

As you can see I am a beginner!

Write on Edge- an epitaph for my children

2012-01-05T20:59:00.000-05:00

I'm linking up this week for Write on Edge's first writing prompt for 2012. For this week, write a fiction or creative non-fiction piece in which an epitaph features prominently.This can be a short as the epitaph itself, or the epitaph can be part of a longer story.

For my children......

Gretchen Emily 1976-2006
Sweet and innocent
Eric Paul 1984-2006
Bright and curious
Loving and well loved
They were raised together
Sister and brother
They died together
Praise God
They were raised together

I am SO at that point in my life

2012-01-03T15:26:00.000-05:00

Remember when you were a kid and you could sleep till noon? I remember days when my Mom would come into my bedroom and pull up the blinds to try to lure me out of bed using the sunlight. Later when that tactic failed to rouse me from the comfort of my bed she'd pull off my covers; that always worked!

Then as a young adult and old enough to par-tee I would be out all night, sleep for a few hours and then go to work. Oh, those were the days. I don't remember feeling all that tired after those nights.The only down side I can remember was having a hangover to two. And if I didn't go out, I could sleep forever- the advantages of youth right?

Oh, but the kids came and I was tired all the time, I would call it.... perpetual exhaustion. Five kids does that to a person. Mix that with a husband who worked shifts around the clock and you can bet as soon as I put the kids down, my head hit the pillow. Getting up and down all night for feeding and diapers, hugs and illness, nightmares, monsters, peeing and boo boo's.....did I forget anything?As the kids grew and then my husband retired, I finally started to sleep. My husband whose a morning person started to let me sleep in and believe me it was heaven. Eight blissful hours of sleep for days on end. I must admit I really got spoiled because of the whole morning person thing. I must admit I might have taken advantage of that fact just a teensy bit- well more then just a teensy bit!

somebody's getting sleep in
my bed!

Now I'm fifty-two and I cannot remember the last time I slept a complete night. Ugh! This is driving me crazy. It's been said it happens to women my age that we either have trouble falling asleep of difficulty staying asleep. I can seriously vouch for that! I believe on a good night I get four hours without disturbance! Then for the rest of the night I toss and turn and toss some more; I can tell you it's just terrible. I have cousins that take Ambien, but I hate to go there. Sleeping pills worry me, addiction worries the heck out of me.

Maybe it's just the stubborn Irish woman in me hoping that one of these days this problem will just settle down and I'll start to sleep again. Hubris of the not young and very tired!

Can you relate to any of this? Or am I just a so sleep deprived that I actually think I'm the only one?

Misery loves company ya know! So tell me what's going on in your bedroom, but keep it G rated.

ending the old year and beginning the new

2012-01-01T11:40:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year!

The days following Christmas for us have been busy for us here in our house. My cousin Colleen called from Charlotte and made plans to come up with her friend Jim for a few days to ring in the New Year with us here in Virginia.

Colleen and Jim

One of my three grandsons, Xavier decided to come stay with us for a few days of his vacation. It was actually his first time alone without his older brothers and he did wonderfully. He hung out with us and played with my cousins dogs Doodle and Stitch. And he really enjoyed playing with his Christmas present that Grandma and Poppa (that's us) got him. It only took me forever to register the darn thing, but it was worth it! Encouraging reading was my plan so it seems to have worked, we spent a bit of cuddle time reading a Percy Jackson book while he was here. Yippee!

Xavier playing with his new Kindle

We were blessed with some beautiful weather here in Virginia that we were able to throw some ribs on the grill one of the days our company was here. I would have much preferred a white Christmas; it's the northerner in me, but I know my cousin would have never come and that would have been a big let down! I continue to hope for some white stuff before winter ends however.

And on another day while they were here, we went out for some chicken wings and a few beers and gave Jim a tour since it was his first time here visiting our home and our neck of the woods. Having company at the house is great but with such beautiful weather we just really needed to get out of the house for a drive and enjoy the sunshine while it lasted.

One night in honor of my beloved Aunt Frances I cooked my almost famous meatballs and spaghetti. Even though my Aunt - Godmother is no longer with us, her children and Colleen is the youngest of the four girls; are so used to me cooking them for her they've come to expect a meatball or two from their cousin Jen when she's has a kitchen within her reach.

Now Bill and I didn't make it to midnight, we were exhausted. Jim and Colleen awoke to texts from their respective sons which was nice. But Bill and I were blissfully cutting logs by then, dreaming of what the new year might bring.

As far as the New Year goes; I'm not big on making resolutions, for me its just is a big list of probable failures for the year that will end up making me feel badly about myself. But I would like to make an effort this year to get moving, be more active and to eat more healthfully. And if that resulted in some weight loss that would be GREAT because I could benefit from that. These past five years I have acquired some lazy habits both regarding diet and my activity level all of which I am not blind to or unwilling or unable to change. All of these areas of my life could use some work and for 2012 I plan on focusing on them.

How do you feel about making resolutions in the New Year?

What if any changes are you planning in your life in 2012?

walk with me down memory lane

2011-12-28T20:05:00.000-05:00

Mama Kat's Pretty Much World Famous Writers Workshop prompt this week is to...choose a favorite post from each month of 2011 and share...
I've only been blogging for eleven months and I've evolved my way through two blogs in my short blog life so far. My first "Its all about me-Jen" then my now and fairly new blog called "We're living a full life". I hope you have a bit of time to take a walk down memory lane with me.
Here are my favorite posts for 2011, enjoy!

Jan 2011 things that bring me joy - take a little glimpse a what makes me happy
Feb 2011- the letter said " please forgive me"- would you like to know how I came to forgive the man who took the life of my two children?
April 2011- being with my peeps on Easter- a bit of what it's like in my house when the cousins and my kids-grand-kids descend for the holiday's, chaos and fun.
May 2011- solace - a very personal reflection of my experience coming first face to face with another mother/friend who lost a her child.
June 2011- girls and indians & June 2011- breathing in freedom - two pieces I wrote for RemembeRed, and I just couldn't decide between the two. (since I've only been blogging for eleven months I included two for June)
July 2011- loyalty - this is another RemembeRed piece, a meme revealing a personal dilemma and the lengths I went to right a wrong.
Aug 2011- party hats and other silly things we do- does you family have funny family rituals, we like to make the kids feel ~~special~~ like jerks for their birthdays!
Sept 2011- blog and release- there are some things that are so painful to a mother they cut right to the core, this post is about one such experience.
Oct 2011- la la la la la- at this point I write about finding my voice in my blogging life, read about it here.
Nov 2011- thanksgiving plans & a peek at the past- thanksgiving with my family- pictures too.
Dec 2011- santa's been reading my blog - a short post about my super fantastic early Christmas gift- say cheese.

I don't expect you to read each and every one (not that I'd mind) but I'd love to hear if you have one that you especially liked.

the pain of the holiday's

2011-12-27T15:30:00.000-05:00

I had to keep myself from writing some really terribly gloomy posts this Christmas season. I tend to find myself being drawn to the past, getting very reflective as the year draws to a close and that can be both good and bad.

I know all of you would be very supportive but frankly I didn't want to be a Debby Downer for the holiday's. I found it becomes easy to fall into the negative pattern so I thought I'd attempt to keep a mostly positive attitude on the blog and in my personal life. I'd say it worked....sorta! Except when the migraines come.

How'd you like to spend most every holiday with a migraine? I have just come out of a three day migraine. It is the most horrible feeling; but I'm a trooper so I tend to push through them. And there comes a point when I max out on my meds and I have no other choice!

Gretchen Christmas 2005

Eric Christmas 2005

When you've been through what I've been through the holiday's are hard enough without physical pain added to the emotional. And I remember their last Christmas and the death of my precious children a few months later and I am SO grateful to God for all the Christmases we had together before they went home to be with You.

my neighbor with the gun- a Christmas story

2011-12-26T11:40:00.000-05:00

The day before Christmas the neighbors that live next door came over for a visit. We thought it was the typical Christmas visit but it turned out to be that and more, much more!

They're a nice couple, she works as a produce manager in a local grocery chain store and he's disabled due to an injury and they come and visit fairly frequently since they moved in about a year ago. Their house is a small modest house and from what I've seen their furnishings are simple but the house is clean and neat. They have six cats with the most original names like tool box and velcro, their cats and our cats are buddies and play frequently . And although I would guess them to be somewhere in the forty range, they each have grown kids from previous marriages so they may be older.

Anyway they went on to tell and then show us how some truck had damaged their car (hit and run) in a parking lot just days before and spoke about how anxious they were to get estimates for the cost of the repairs. I was picking up undertones of emotions in the conversation and could tell that something other than the accident was on their minds. So I poured them each a tall glass of tea and we sat back for a visit to see whether my intuition was right.

He seemed a bit shaky and emotional to me so I guessed whatever the reason for the visit would soon be revealed and it was soon after when he asked my husband to step outside for a minute.

They both came back into the house and tearfully he ask for money, as it turns out they needed money for unpaid bills. His plan was to bring over something to sell my husband, something he thought my husband would want to buy; a gun.( hubby's a collector) The sad thing was this particular gun was dear to him, given to him by someone special, and he was still willing to sell it, he needed money so badly.

My husband and I exchanged glances, that's all you need after thirty plus years of marriage. Bill pulled out his wallet took out the money and offered to give him the money he needed outright, but he refused.The fact of the matter is the mans pride was so heavily involved that we suggested that we'd hold the gun and he pay back the money, no time limit and this he agreed to. He was quite emotional, it was really very sad.

The people right next door were living without electric and here we are in our cozy house, you just never know do you?

I can't wait to give them this gift...

2011-12-24T09:41:00.002-05:00

When Bill and I were in Barbados we spent our last evening at a street fair of sorts, there were some VERY talented artisans there. As we strolled up and down looking through the shacks and the tents we came upon a man was selling art on canvas; just the type of art my son in law and daughter collect. With Christmas coming it was perfect!

They particularly love that Afro-Caribbean- Jazz vibe smokey room- art; it's usually has one or more people, musical instruments and vibrant colors. Bill and I were both drawn to many of the pieces that the man had in his booth but one in particular spoke to us as perfect for our daughter and her hubby. Luckily for us it was the perfect size to put in our luggage so we made a deal for a price and we had a perfect Christmas gift.... almost!

We then made our way to the framer when we returned. How can I describe picking the perfect frame? The process is in itself an art and here is where the professionals are really helpful. It was a quite difficult process plus there was the fact that we were fending off offers from other patrons to buy the art piece, we could have made a hefty profit! There wasn't a person on line who wasn't oooh-ing and aaah-ing at this painting. Anyhoo, we found the PERFECT frame!

I sure hope Heather and Bo like this gift as much as we do.

My Mom says if this picture was fruit she'd want to eat it!

What do you think? You like?

santa's been reading my blog

2011-12-22T16:24:00.000-05:00

Santa decided to come early this year! And luckily for me he's been reading my blog ~~listening to me gripe~~ about how really horrible my digital camera is.

I got a new one woohoo! And it isn't even Christmas yet.

Now my crappy photo's will be clearer and brighter than ever!

I doubt this new camera will ever be switched off auto, that is unless my husband give me some instruction. He's really good with cameras specifically and technical stuff generally.

Instructions books and I, well never the twain shall meet if you know what I mean.

I've never claimed to be a photographer but this dumb camera I have now would try the patience of a saint. I take 6-8 pictures with the flash on I will use up two double A batteries. And the pictures just were always uneven, no matter what light I was in.

I have missed a few important photographic moments due to battery loss or memory loss - that would be me forgetting to bring a dozen batteries to an event.

But no more.

Now miraculously this old thing....

has now has been transformed into this....

I will try to refrain from getting to photo crazy on this blog!

But I SO excited!

PYHO -a blended families christmas dinner recipe - patience, love with a dash of chaos -

2011-12-21T13:35:00.000-05:00

We have yet to decide what we're going to eat for dinner and it's yet to be decided whose going to be here for dinner on Christmas Day for that matter.

We actually don't have a traditional dinner that we eat every year and whose going to be here from year to year fluctuates. We usually just eat what ever we want when we want, things are pretty free and easy around here lately. As long as I can use my Christmas china I'm happy.

Sometimes the menu might be decided by how many people I'm cooking for. With a lot of people we might have turkey or ham, maybe even both. My grandchildren like that meal so if they're here and my daughter and son in law aren't working then that would usually be the menu. We've even had Italian one year, oh my goodness it was a feast! We stuffed our face with several different types of pasta, talk about carb heaven.

My daughter , her husband and my grandsons a Christmas past,
it was the Italian Christmas.

If my husband's ex comes to town and visits our daughter then that usually changes everything. Confusing right? She gave birth to her I raised her so we share that's why if you knew us you'd find us both calling her our daughter. Anyhoo... then we - Bill, Matthew, Mom and I might be munching on prime rib or lobster. Forget the pasta and pass me a bib and a shovel for this meal! My Mom loves lobster, so this is really a favorite meal for her. She won't even touch the beef, not a single bite.

Matthew (red)and his older brother Bill (grey) doing the Christmas dishes, oh yeah!

This year I don't think the ex is coming but I believe with their crazy schedules,(she works days ,he nights so one parent's home with the kids) they've decided to stay home; maybe. This is one thing I've learned about blended families; everything is always fluid and emotions are usually pretty high around the holidays for the kids, even when they're adults.

Things between the ex and us are fine and we're great friends. But the kids and her, well it's hard on all of them, her too, but circumstances were what they were. So that left many thing unsaid and undone. And as good a relationship as mine was with them growing up, its just not the same. Our other son Bill and our granddaughter is now living with his mother and trying to get his life in order. His adult life has been one poor choice after another. To be perfectly honest my relationship with him is rather strained because of it. Family relationships can be rather complicated; all our efforts long ago exhausted we'll have to see how things work out with this new situation.

But regardless of the ex and the kids and whose living where or working when we still have to decide what to eat. Seriously, despite all the Christmas bah humbug that seems to rear it's ugly head like, "you didn't raise me" every holiday and causes everyone to be ~~freaks~~ emotional, we really are an OK family who loves each other.

In the mean time we're living on patience love with a dash of chaos!

So what's cooking at your house, something yummy I trust? Do tell!

sharing gifts at christmastime- a guest post & cookies

2011-12-19T21:34:00.000-05:00

There is no sweeter gift during the holidays then being with family and friends; so when my blog friend Melissa asked me to do a guest post over at blog her blog MaMe Musings I jumped at the chance. She is a great person, a wife and mother of twins Drew and Emily and I know if you visit you'll just love her, her blog and her wonderful sense of humor.

Writing this post for her and getting a chance to meet new people is such a big treat for me.Today I get to share some what goes on at Christmastime with my family and friends. So please pop over and say hi and show Melissa and I some love.

And speaking of sweeter....the recipe I'm sharing with you today is one of my favorite holiday treats. Not only are they fun to make but they are yummy to eat. A big plus is they keep for as long as a week so those of you who'd like to be baking and are short of time and crazy busy ( sound familiar ) then you might want to try these out. I promise you'll love them!

Christmas Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

· 3 c. all-purposeflour

· 3/4 tsp. baking powder

· 1/4 tsp salt

· 1 c. unsalted butter,softened

· 1 c.sugar

· 1 egg, beaten

· 1 tbsp. milk

· Powdered sugar, forrolling

Directions

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer andbeat until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer onlow speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the sideof the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Sprinkle surface where you will roll out doughwith powdered sugar. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at atime, sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out dough to 1/4-inchthick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it isnot sticking. If the dough has warmed during rolling you can place it back inthe fridge for 10 minutes to chill.

Cutinto desired shape,( I usually do rounds) place at least 1-inch apart ongreased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat, and bake for 7 to 9minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges,rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time. (I even stack two with alittle cut out filled with jam and nuts for a little extra something somethingduring the holidays.)

Let siton baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to completecooling on wire rack. Serve with a sprinkle of powdered sugar or ice asdesired. These cookies will store in airtight container for up to 1 week.

Did you come visit me and read my guest post? Don't forget!

And enjoy the cookies, they're the best.

now I have a huge pile of.......

2011-12-19T09:30:00.000-05:00

Those of you who read this blog know that my son Matthew came home for a visit on is days off, and he was sick. He went home last night, all better. His mother is happy about that but she wishes he'd get a flu shot so he wouldn't pick up these dumb bugs at work. It's just my opinion but I found when I worked with the public I thought over time the shots helped build immunity to all these crappy little viruses you get exposed to.

Him being home and sick got me to remembering quite fondly the days when the kids were little and they were vomiting, had the runs, had fevers and the chills. See Jen running around the house like a chicken without a head back and forth to the laundry room doing loads and loads of wash in between making chicken soup. Now my son is a grown man who obviously can take care of himself but having him here still stirs the memories.

I know, I know call me crazy! And you may wonder why any mother should fondly remember vomit and crap? Actually it's the bodies spewing said bodily fluids that I miss having home most of the time.

You wait, a nest that is empty has a very different view!

And here is the view of my laundry room floor after Matthew had left. My husband had stacked his linens up on the floor so that they could be washed! I had to laugh, ya know some things never change.

Well actually some things do change.

I'm older now and I won't be running to the washer and dryer.

Now I'll walk!

that afghan was a wedding present from my aunt gen over 30 years ago

santa, remember this story

2011-12-18T16:09:00.001-05:00

Our friends invited us to their church Christmas concert the other evening, their church choir was doing a little Christmas concert. They sang a really nice selection of Christmas music accompanied by piano and violin. It is a rather small country church and for a small group their voices were strong and filled with holiday spirit. Many from our community came out to support them. This event however had a duel purpose the second being it also served as a fund raiser for the local battered women's home called Madeline's House, where my friends daughter serves as outreach coordinater. We were so proud to see her get up in front of us all and speak such compassion about those she helps on a daily basis. It is so great to see our young people fresh out of college all filled with such passion for their work.What a blessing!

Being in the south, there was of course a dinner to follow the festivities! Far be it for all of us to come out on a Saturday night and not get in some proper socializing.

The church also set up a room off the dining area where many of those who belong there donated their nativity sets for display.There were so many unique sets on display, big and small, old and new, hand made and store purchased. We hear so much around this time of year about Santa so as I entered this room and saw the many many different interpretations of our Lords birth it was a solemn reminder of what this season is really about. So next time you take a glimpse at that manger under your Christmas tree pull out your bible or bring up this post and remember this story.....

The Gospel of Luke 2:1-20

2In those days a decree went out from EmperorAugustus that all the world should be registered. ²This was the first registration and was taken while Quiriniuswas governor of Syria. ³All went to their owntowns to be registered. ⁴Joseph also went fromthe town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David calledBethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. ⁵He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged andwho was expecting a child. ⁶While they were there,the time came for her to deliver her child. ⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bandsof cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in theinn.

8 In that region there were shepherdsliving in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory ofthe Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.¹⁰But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I ambringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who isthe Messiah, the Lord. ¹²This will be a signfor you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in amanger.’ ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel amultitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
¹⁴ ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, andon earth peace among those whom he favours!’

15 When the angels had left them and goneinto heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem andsee this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known tous.’ ¹⁶So they went with haste and found Mary andJoseph, and the child lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they saw this, they made known what had been told themabout this child; ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what theshepherds told them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured all these words andpondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherdsreturned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as ithad been told them.

coming home sick and a movie

2011-12-17T07:00:00.005-05:00

My son Matthew came home on his swing days off of work, he was sick. Some type of virus was going around work and unfortunately he was on of the people to get it. So, I put a chicken in the pot so he can have some soup to eat and hopefully give him some relief.

I suspect his roommate was secretly glad he came home and wasn't vomiting and other things we will not mention in their bathrooms and spread germs all over their townhouse. My son did say he caught a glimpse of Trey while saying goodbye with bleach and Lysol in hand! One can never be to clean!

I'll take my kids home anyway I can get them whenever they want; grandchildren too. For me the holidays are quite difficult, it's hard not to reflect on my losses and not to miss my children. I suspect he knows that and that's why he's here. That and the soup!

It's been two days since he's been here and his stomach is back to normal pretty much. He's finished all his chicken soup and is feeling somewhat better. He ate a normal dinner and we're both enjoying some time together. And even under the weather there's always something to do in our house.

We are huge movie hounds in our family. Since we live in a rural area we tend to buy our movies after they've been released. I am not a big theater goer. That would be due to my restless leg syndrome. I find it really difficult to sit still for long periods of time during the movie; I'm that person, you know, the one whose moving and getting up throughout the movie. The one you want to strangle!

After Gretchen and Eric died in 2006 Matthew and I got into this habit of watching movies together it was a great relief from the stress and grief. It's something that we still do from time to time when he comes home to visit and I must say we have our favorites. We tend to like the same types of movies but not every single movie; I am never going to warm up to the Fight Club, not in a million years. But there is this quirky little Christmas family (adult) movie we are drawn to every year.

Have you ever seen The Family Stone? This family's holiday has equal parts joy and dread add a lot of comedy, and even some sad bits; such is life, right? But what draws me to this movie in particular and what I love about the characters and this family is no matter what there is loyalty and love, lots of love.

If you get some time you should try to see it. We just spent last evening watching it....again! My daughter is gonna be mad at us that she wasn't here with us but she's home at her house with the kids, and they wouldn't appreciate the germs, we'll just do it again on Christmas with her!

Do you have a favorite movie that you'd like to share, we'd love to give it a look see. Who know's maybe it will become part of our yearly ritual like this movie.

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Barbados vacation Part 2 the good and the not so good!

2011-12-12T20:49:00.000-05:00

The weather in Virginia since returning from Barbados has been cool to cold to say the least; you know where I'd rather be right? Writing about Barbados is fun, being in Barbados...more fun.

Here's a bit of what I thought about our vacation experience.

The Food:
I found the food at the Almond resort to be good. Breakfast and lunch were buffet and dinner was off the menu, there were three restaurants on the resort but I suspect it all came from the same kitchen. There was mainly Caribbean fare, there was fish and lamb, chicken and lots of curry and sweet potatoes.I had lots of fun ordering dinner each night choosing all the things I'd never heard of or couldn't pronounce. To be honest I liked it all, really I did! And who can complain when they bring lunch to you by doing an occasional barbecue on the beach. And there was the rum and the beer! It was just to much of the same type food over and over again that kind of got to me after a number of days. And that number would be four!!

By the forth day we were craving a little variety soooo, we did what any self respecting foodie would do. Ran to the Italian place to hang out with Luigi at his Italian Restaurant; it was across the street from the resort. I was dying for some pasta; really my craving was bad. Luigi even made me two different kinds of pasta when he saw I was having difficulty making a choice! I inhaled that pasta, ate desert, had espresso and even had some grappa, it was heaven!

The Clocks:
There weren't any clocks on the resort, nor were there any in our room. Now call me crazy but if I have to be at dinner for a reservation, and it is required then why no clocks? I now have $250.00 in roaming charges on my cell phone bill because I kept on checking the darn phone so we wouldn't be late for dinner every night. Which then led to our shopping trip to buy the turtle clock and our encounter with the Aloe Vera guy! (l'll explain about him next)

St Lawrence Gap:
This is an area outside the resort which I had imagined was a beautiful area filled with shops, restaurants, clubs a casino or two. When I researched it on line I saw this stretch along the beach that was touted as an area tourists want to visit. So here's me, the foolish American thinking it's like Port Jeff in NY or maybe even like Duck NC; a quaint area to stroll in and out the shops. Yeh sure! What we got was the creepy Aloe Vera guy who spotted the dumb scar on the back of my leg and hounded us every time he saw us walk up that dumb street, trying to sell me Aloe Vera for my healing. And the Gap was seedy in my opinion to say the least, but we did visit the Casino there.

The Casino:
It was about the size of a bathroom stall in a Trump Casino. One neon sign in the window said "Slot Machine" so unbelievable to me that I actually went back to the resort to confirm that it was a legitimate casino. The perimeter of the room had an assortment of poker machines and slot machines maybe 18 in all. I thought to myself I can't believe they call this place a Casino. Then I heard a ringing in my head! Mr lucky, my husband won $1,200.00 Barbados that's $600.00 American in the slots, somehow then that little casino didn't seem so bad after all! We took our winnings and left. You got it Mr Aloe Vera guy was waiting outside wanting to sell us his Aloe and he wanted beer money too!

The Staff and The Other Tourists:
My favorite staff personnel was our housekeeper/maid, she was adorable and liked to chat. Honestly maybe it had it little to do with the fact she put the most fabulous fresh smelling sheets on our big and comfortable bed every day! All the other staff were very nice, but it seemed to me that the wait staff at the restaurants might have been slightly understaffed, and sometimes the bar was out of supplies and under stocked.

I have some observations about the other tourists too. British men are very friendly, more friendly then most other men. Canadian men love to talk about sports especially hockey. We met a German man who could barely speak English but loved to laugh, had a infectious smile and enjoyed beer. And not that I'm prejudiced (my grandmothers were Irish off the boat ) Irish woman are very lovely and like to chat and the older Irish ladies I met also liked to tell jokes too!

Canadian women ROCK!! We met two younger both coincidentally from Toronto (in early 30's ) traveling alone....how cool is that? I have always fantasized about that, going someplace alone! I was green with envy.

Shopping:
One day when rain was the full day forecast we took a taxi to Bridgetown to shop for things to bring home for our loved ones. Duty free is pretty neat, we purchased perfume, rum, Tommy Hilfiger clothes and liquor for a fraction of what we would pay here. Then we went to some of the stores that line Broad Street and the discount markets that line Swan Street. We literally had to buy and extra piece of carry on luggage to get all our stuff home.

Entertainment:
The resort had a lot of different activities that you could sign up for(for a fee), tours of the island, of churches and so on. We didn't do any of these, but we did sign up for one thing and that was for transportation to go to Oisten's Fish Fry.All the locals open up these shacks and tents and cook local food on Friday night and it's a chance for the tourist to mingle with them. They have a big stage where they play music and you can dance and socialize. There are tents set up in one section where local crafts people show and sell their wares. I could easily say this was our favorite thing that we did while we were here. We strolled up and down endless rows of food, crafts, art and the like listening to the music sipping cold beer soaking in the aromas of freshly cooked local food and the local vibe.

This place was so cool, I loved loved loved it.

I hope you've enjoyed hearing about our vacation.

Barbados vacation part 1- do you have a vacation type?

2011-12-12T14:07:00.000-05:00

There's so much to tell about our vacation that I've decided to break it down into a few different posts. The first one will be about the resort where we stayed, and the all inclusive experience and I'll share a few pictures I took.

Did I mention my camera really sucks? Santa are you listening?

The second one will be about the people we met and some of the things we did; my lips are sealed!

I am finally learning that I actually have a particular "vacation type" and I should probably stick to it.

I went on a cruise with my family in 2007. Pretty fresh after the kids death I didn't really expect to have a good time but being with 15 of my cousins and my Aunts and Uncles and my Mom was what the doctor ordered, so away we went. Cruising was nice, I didn't not enjoy it; but I knew when it was over I probably wouldn't ever do it again. The problem, there wasn't enough time on the beach for me when we got to each port.

We went to St Marten a year after that, stayed at a resort where we had a small kitchen. We'd have coffee and breakfast there every day. We rented a small car and did our own thing which consisted of going to a different beach every day, we would choose daily. Eating a very late lunch on the way home from the beach, restaurants were dotted all over the island. Nap time after the beach was a daily ritual, then we'd go to the French side of the island for a late dinner and drinks. Heineken was pretty free flowing on the island, have I mentioned how much I like that beer?

We decided for this vacation in Barbados to try an all inclusive resort. The resort we stayed at was an Almond Resort and it was lovely. It was roughly ten acres on the beach with beautiful foliage lined paths leading to different pools, bars and restaurants which are all out doors. The rooms are spacious and air conditioned and house keeping changes the sheets every day, that I have to say is really a treat.

There were several buildings all four levels high arranged over the property, ours was building four and of course as luck would have it we were on the forth floor. Did I mention the balcony? Pretty nice place to sit and watch the birds or the other tourists pass by on the paths below.

Dinning was usually by reservation for dinner. As you can see in the picture above the chairs are outside on a deck, this restaurant was called The Dover Restaurant, right on the beach their specialty was fish dishes. Tucked in between the pool and the beach we dined here to delicious fish dinners under the moonlight as the surf crashed just feet away. Pretty nice stuff!

There are many British tourists and as you know Barbados shares many British customs so there is afternoon tea at four. Many tourists would congregate for tea, sandwiches and biscuits and the place in the picture above and below. Many others would just be there because of the bar. Bill and I would hang out to socialize and to catch the afternoon breeze and you can see the bar towards the back of the picture which for some is a good enough reason to be there! We however being American's did afternoon tea and sandwiches with a twist we would have Rum and sandwiches. We were on vacation after all!

After hours on the beach and a nice lunch we'd sit here under the fan and chat with other tourists sometimes for hours. Drinking rum drinks or cold beer; it should be said that Barbados has a really great beer called Banks beer, yummy. We'd snuggle up on one of those upholstered couches and read or play cards while enjoying said Banks beer!

Of course every single picture I took of the amazing beach turned out blurry and not fit for posting, ya hear that Santa? The place looks nice right? The food was pretty good too, but I'll get into that in my next post.

Remember when I started I mentioned about a "vacation type"?

All inclusive was nice and I enjoyed it, but like the cruise I'd probably never do it again. Nothing against the resort because it was really nice and I don't regret going, but I'm not the "vacation type" for all inclusive, it's just to structured.

What about you? Do you have a vacation type?

trying to get back in the grove of blogging

2011-12-11T09:10:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone!

I'm back from vacation; actually I've been back for almost a week. When I left for New York and then Barbados my husband and I agreed that I would leave my computer and there would be no blogging. Vacation would be for relaxing and alone time, not for me writing and socializing with my blog friends. I have to be honest as much as I needed a vacation and time alone with hubby, I kinda worried about how being away from my blog would feel. How was I going to survive without my laptop without the interaction. I think I was really heading towards a bit of an addiction problem. It was time to step away from the computer!

Getting back to this blog has been a lot harder than I though it would be and I am really surprised. Maybe it's just that things have been busy here. Driving back from NY is tiring, then there's the unpacking, grocery shopping, social obligations- I had a Christmas dinner party this Friday night for my girl-friends. (you'll be able to read about it soon in a guest post I'm doing for Melissa over at MaMe Musings)

We headed up to NY for Thanksgiving and had a very nice time there with my family, my brother and my sister in law do such a wonderful Thanksgiving. The night after some of our cousins and my Aunts Gen and Marie and Uncle Doug came over for a little get together since we hardly ever get to see them no that we live out of NY.

My camera was acting really crazy for some reason and I didn't get many pictures; Santa needs to bring me a new one especially since I put pictures on my blog on a regular basis. But here are a few pictures of us hanging around my cousin Mickey at the kitchen table. (This picture is some cousins a few friends who are like cousins, my Mom and my aunt Marie towards the back.) He's been doing a genealogical search on our grandfather who died when I was about seven. Frankly we didn't know very much about him other than he was from PEI Canada and French. My cousin has now traced the family back to the 1600's. We were all really fascinated by what he found, I just wonder WHO we'll find when we take this further!

Aunt Gen & Uncle Doug

My Uncle Doug and my Aunt Marie who was sitting on the other side of the table are preparing to celebrate their 5oth wedding anniversary next year, isn't that great? Marie is my fathers (he passed almost 20 years ago) and my Aunt Gen's youngest sister. I was informed by my cousin Barbara that there's a party in the works. The two options for the happy couple are a small intimate party and a large one, part of me hopes the kids choose to have a large celebration so that we can travel up and share in their special day. Scratch that; as much as I'd love to spend the day with them since I was only three when they had their first wedding and didn't get to go, I hope the kids give them a perfect day- whatever they want.

After a late night hanging with the family Bill and I got up at the crack of dawn and headed to Barbados. My brother Gerard it should be said was a real sport and drove us up at JFK at the crack of dawn!

What to hear about my Barbados vacation? Check back in a day or two,OK!

I missed reading all your blogs while I was gone. I promise to try to catch up. Let me know if I missed anything important or earth shattering. Glad to be back!

everyday is a gift

2011-11-25T15:06:00.001-05:00

Its pretty hard to explain all that happened on Thanksgiving, my guess is it's pretty much the same as you all did at your houses.

Food, more food, wine, beer, desert, more food, coffee then tons of laughs singing, music and I am so full I'm about to burst.

Then we got up today and started it all over again, that is in between naps.

So I thought I'd just share some pictures of us yesterday. It was a small group of us only fifteen at my brothers and sister in law's house. Her side was here, her mom, dad, brother and his family, their three kids and me mom and my husband and one dog.

Here was the star of our day, mr. twenty two pound turkey was very delicious!

The grown up table, my sister in law does such a nice job doesn't she?

I love the whole autumn color theme it is just so warm and inviting.

The dining room table has a great spread of hors devours, we do it every year, we say we're not going to eat before dinner then we stuff our faces on stuffed mushrooms and other yummy things before dinner.

All the Grandparents, my mom and my sister in law's parents having a chat with my sister in law over some snacks before dinner in the living room.

Suzie arriving for the day! She is my sister in law's mother and one the very nicest people I have ever met in my life. She is a wonderful mother and grandmother and the most devoted wife.

These are my lovely niece (from right to left) Alex, Sydney and Julia.

This is my sister in law Denise and her Dad Nick who was celebrating his birthday this Thanksgiving with all of us family. Although you may not see it Nick is in a wheel chair because of the advanced stages of MS for which he has suffered for over forty years.

I told you there was beer! This is my brother Gerard and my niece Alex being silly.

There ya go! Here's the birthday granddad with most of his grandchildren ( Samantha and Christian are missing but there in spirit we know ) with his birthday cake aglow enjoying the love.

Alex took a half day on Wednesday and Aunt Jen picked her up at school and we did some baking. This is one of our creations. Alex decorated this pumpkin pie with these beautiful letters and leaves made out of pie crust.

The table is starting to fill in this picture, here we see Nick Denise's brother , his wife Joanne there son, Nick and Mom Sue and a bit of my niece Syd on the end. I swear you'd think we were wino's because I'm counting seven bottles of wine on the table, jeez!

I don't know about your grandma's but ours do shots! How cool is that?

Then there was singing...our childhood friend Lisa stopped by for some tequila and song.

This is me and my godson Gerard catching a hug on the couch before everyone arrived.

My mom, Sydney and my husband in the den doing a bit of bonding before the madness.

The littlest Nick, ya think? And his godmother Denise posing for the camera.

So that was our Thanksgiving; part two is tonight staring.....the cousins, the Aunts and one Uncle who are coming over to my brother and sister in laws for a cocktails a little bite to eat at about seven so I gotta go....

decorating, shopping and packing oh my!

2011-11-17T21:37:00.001-05:00

I'm going to NY for Thanksgiving and after that a weeks vacation so there's a ton of stuff to be done before or there won't be time when I get back.

Needless to say.....

My house is currently littered with boxes of Christmas decorations, crazy right? I have never in my life put up Christmas decorations before the tenth of December. Doing it before Thanksgiving is something department stores do! There getting out of hand by the way have you noticed? Christmas was up before Halloween this year in some stores, really they need to get a grip.

We did last minute thing today like refilling our prescriptions; you know your getting old when that's on your to do list before a trip. Gift card for the cat sitter, cat food so our roommates get fed while we're gone, extension cords for decorating- they seem to disappear like socks in the dryer in this house, and buying sun tan lotion for our Barbados trip. I will not even go into how much I need this vacation after the long summer I had with my leg wound.

But we do what we have to do and I'm running out of days before I leave to be with my New York family on Tuesday. Of course there are sacrifices, I can't spend Thanksgiving with my children, but work schedules don't allow that anyway.

And my Godson and nieces are expecting my for some good ole fashioned baking! Isn't it great when kids enjoy the simple pleasures?

There will be pies, pumpkin, and most likely apple and pumpkin roll and on Thanksgiving Day home made rolls. These rolls from scratch only take and hour and are yummy. Believe me when I tell you, roll making is an art form here in the south. I got the recipe below from my friend Susan whose family has been here in the south forever. They've simplified another family recipe so that it's easier for those days when you're in a rush or you just would rather be with your loved ones and not in the kitchen.

Why not try it out this Thanksgiving? They have never failed for me!

SIXTY MINUTE ROLLS

2 pkg of yeast

1 tbsp sugar to 4 tbsp (depending on the level of sweetness you like, I like the least amount)

1 1/2 c. milk (warm)

1/4 c. butter, melted

4 c. flour

1tsp. salt

In a large mixing bowl, add yeast and sugar to warm milk, to dissolve yeast. Let stand for 15 minutes. Mix the dry ingredients together to the milk mixture along with the melted butter. Mix well. Cover and let stand for 20 minutes in a warm place. Form 24 rolls, each the size of an egg ( you can make them bigger if you want).Place them on a greased cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

I'll be checking in after Tuesday and thru Friday and might squeeze in one more post by Thanksgiving but I'll be taking a break from blogging while I'm in Barbados, ya think!

So, just in case I don't get another chance to say it, I hope everyone of you has a wonderful Thanksgiving; may it be filled with Gods blessings, bounties of food and wine and plenty of togetherness with those you love.

Gotta go pack!

love letter- love of my nights

2011-11-16T15:52:00.001-05:00

This week for Mama Kat's Pretty Much World Famous Writer's Work Shop I picked the prompt in which I have to write a love letter to an inanimate object.

So here goes....

Dear,

Love of my nights.

I love your softness.

The way you feel against my skin.

You caress my face as I breathe in your freshness.

The pain I feel when you're not near is physical.

We're a perfect fit.

I cannot imagine getting thru a single night without you....

How I long to wrap my arms around you as I drift off to sleep.

I hurt without you.

I ache without you.

Especially my back and neck!

My dear soft lovely pillow.

was the attitude included with my order for no charge?

2011-11-15T12:42:00.001-05:00

I place on the internet back on October 5th.

Here's the story...

Back in October, I ordered compression stockings for my mothers "kankles." Kankles for those of you who are not familiar with the term are-very swollen ankles

The order was two items one pair of compression knee highs and a single toe-less compression anklet .

Two weeks later I received 1/2 of the order, the anklet, but the knee highs were on back order so began the wait.

The other day I called and inquired as to where the other half of my order was, he checked, apologized for the six week delay and said they'd be mailed to me by the end of the week.

Well needless to say I had to call back today......

Now here's how I imagine my conversation with customer service should have gone in a perfect world!

Me, "h i my name is Jen my order number is blah blah blah I was wondering if you can assist me with my order?"

Worker lady, " sure what can I help you with?"

Me, " I called last week and was told that the item that I order that was on back order would be on it's way soon. I'm afraid there was a problem with the order."

Worker Lady, " What was the problem?"

Me, " My order was for two things, you sent me the same thing twice, and the other thing I never got at all."

Worker Lady, " Now that won't do will it! Let's fix that. I see they did send you a duplicate by mistake. Now we'll get you your correct order as soon as possible along with an envelope to return the other item for return. Sorry for the mix up and the delay.

Me, " Thanks so much, I appreciate it.

Worker Lady. " Can I help you with anything else?"

Me, " No thanks for you help"

Then we hang up.....

This is the part where I've already waited six weeks for a back order then they sent me a duplicate item. Then to add insult they try to blame it on me! So this is how the conversation really went!

Me, "hi my name is Jen my order number is blah blah blah I was wondering if you can assist me with my order?"

Worker lady, " order number?"

Me, " I called last week and was told that a back ordered item would be on it's way soon. I'm afraid there was a problem with that order."

Worker Lady with a sigh, " Whhhat was the problem?"

Me, " My order was for two things, you sent me the same thing (anklet) twice , and I never got the knee socks."

Snotty Worker Lady, "When you called last week and we spoke you asked that it be sent so we did."

Me, " I'm sorry you must be mistaken because I know we've never spoken, in fact last week when I called I spoke to a man.

Snotty Worker Lady, " Uhh...what I meant was...according to the notes I'm looking at, when you called and spoke to the man (said dripping with sarcasm at this point) it says that you requested that the item be sent.

Me pissed off, " Since you were not a party to that conversation, I inquired about the status of my order that I've been waiting six weeks for. Why would I want you to send me an item I already have, that makes no sense at all!"

Snotty Worker Lady, You requested the we.....

Me pissed off, "Can you just please send me the knee socks to complete my order?" "That's what I wanted last time that's what I want now."

Very Snotty Worker Lady, " With a return envelope to return that duplicate item."

Click.
Then she hung up on me!

Am I the only one who deals with this?

make me laugh monday- we'll sleep anywhere!

2011-11-14T09:58:00.001-05:00

Today I'm linking up with my friend Kristen at a little something for me for her Make Me Laugh Monday Meme.

If you have a funny photo(s) link up and share it!

With our traveling to NY for Thanksgiving and then going directly on our vacation to Barbados. When I return I'm having a dinner party so the house needs to be ready. So we decided to decorate for Christmas early this year- really early. The nativity on the table amongst a bunch of other decorations and I went off to do some decorating around the house.

This is what I found when I returned to the room!

My cat Linus, comfortable with about 1/4 of his large cat body squeezed into the manger; snoozing!

Apparently my cat's will sleep anywhere. My husband went into the downstairs bathroom the other day. He was saying that he kept on feeling as if someone was watching him when he was doing his business. We're empty nester's who could it be??

This is what we found; or I should say who we found! This is Cheetah, he decided to make a bed out of the hammered metal bin that I keep my hand towels in next to the sink. He's apparently stealthy (notice how he blends) not to mention how he's a tiny bit curious about peoples potty habits!

Do you have pets and do they do funny things too?

Give -be charitable

2011-11-12T19:57:00.001-05:00

My husbands club had a dinner the other night. They usually have one every month but then in November, the men bring their wives, it's sort of a pre holiday get together before things get to hectic. It really is a nice opportunity to catch up with some of my friends and to see some others that I hardly get to see but for this dinner.

Usually a portion of the dinner ( because his club is a community organization ) is dedicated to hearing guest speaker give a presentation. It might be a local politician, our Sheriff or and educator speaking about what is going on within our community.

This time the guest speaker was the Christmas Mother. She is the representative of a private foundation who brings attention to the needs in our community, with emphasis on the kids at Christmastime. There are funds, toys, food and clothing for local families that need to be gathered and distributed and she goes about our community and puts a voice to this situation.This particular Christmas Mother happens to be my friend and neighbor and it was no surprise that this Christmas with the economy as it is there are many in need.

I have never kept it a secret that for many years before the accident I worked with the poor so their cause is something close to my heart; enough to mention on my blog. But I don't want to come across as preachie for when it comes down to it we can only do what we can afford or what's truly in our hearts.

There are many kids who will not get Christmas if not for the charity of others because they belong to low income ( poor ) families. There is also another type of family who is has difficulties this season, they're called the working poor, they have almost enough to squeak by but not enough to provide extra's like Christmas for their kids.

We've tried to teach our children the importance of charity, it is part of how we practice our faith. Are you doing something special in your community this Christmas for the less fortunate? How about at your place of worship?

Have you been touched by the generosity of others and want to share it with us?

I hope you'll consider giving this Christmas, I know I will be!

If you do you'll be surly blessed.

fessing up friday

2011-11-11T19:30:00.000-05:00

Fessing up isn't all that hard to do. I'll be doing it most every Friday on this blog.

This week I'm fessing up to:

1 .I'm fessing up to forgetting to vote for the first time in my life on this election day.

2. I'm fessing up to cancelling attending our regular ladies dinner this Friday night, no reason, just not feeling it!

3. I'm fessing up to watching way to much TV when my husband was away on his trip. Can anyone say Burn Notice marathon?

4 .I'm fessing up to going to bed really early while my husband was gone so I could hog the whole bed!

5. I'm fessing up to the fact that we don't recycle regularly in our house, we're responsible for transporting our own garbage to the dump we kinda do it when the mood strikes. I know, terrible!

6. I'm fessing up serious outrage at the adults that turn a blind eye to abuse of children.

7. My husband gave permission for someone to hunt on our land. I'm fessing up; hate it!

If you need to unburden yourself, just fess up in the form of a comment.

someone else's worst day

2011-11-11T15:06:00.001-05:00

I hate when this happens.

It breaks my heart and turns my inside out every time.

Then I get transported back to the day; a day I'd rather not remember.

My husband ran out to the grocery store for a few things earlier.

And Mom always has a list.

He called from the store to explain he'd be late returning home.

There was a serious accident on the Interstate; multiple fatalities.

A pick-up rear ended a log truck and was then rear ended by a bus filled with college kids.

Med flights were transporting the injured to MCV.

The college kids were being cared for by the local fire department personnel at the fire station.

There are a lot of very scared kids in that station.

I can imagine that their parents are crazy with worry.

And the poor people in the pick-up.

They didn't survive.

We know their loved ones will soon be visited by State Troopers.

That's how it happened with us with our kids accident.

The knock on the door to tell you the news.

And a perfectly ordinary day ends.

That moment never forgotten.

The worst day ever.

I used to dream

2011-11-09T14:17:00.000-05:00

I'm linking up with Shell at Things I can't say for her PYHO meme.

When the kids were young I used to dream of the day when the house would be quiet and I could be alone with my husband.

Then the kids grew and we became empty nesters.

We enjoy the time we have alone together.

The dinners, the shopping, the vacations, the last minute weekends away and the privacy.

The stimulating conversation that doesn't center around the kids, we sacrificed a lot to get to this place.

But the grass is always greener.

Isn't it?

I started to wonder.

What it would be like to spend some time by myself, maybe just a few days.

I know I would never do something so daring as vacation alone but.....

What would I do?

If I were truly alone for a day or two.

Would I stay in bed all day, read a great book, take a long bath, lunch with my gal pals?

My husband decided to take a last minute trip with our son yesterday.

And what have I done?

My house is spotless!

And how have I done?

I'm taking my Mom to dinner tonight.

I'm lonely.

And I used to dream!

Sex-ed, Is that what they're calling it?

2011-11-07T20:34:00.000-05:00

Pushing thru the milestones but not rushing thru them I entered my teen years bright eyed and without a clue of what was going on with boys. My discussions of sexuality with my Mom went as far as her handing me a bag with some sanitary napkins in them and we reviewed some booklets the school nurse gave us after the basic sex- ed offered in our local public school system.

It wasn't until I was older, grown in fact that I realized just how innocent I really was and just how little I really knew; but was it enough? I ask myself this as I ponder the facts laid out in the article I just read about the proposed sex-ed programs for NY city schools- the link is below.

I could only imagine in my mind now if a form came home and my dear mother was asked to sign it giving permission for me as a teenage child to be exposed to sexual information such as, how to find a store to buy condoms, sexual positions, type of sex that don't include intercourse or subjects such as mutual masturbation.

Clearly things have changed for kids since I was a teen. The decisions on what tell kids and who is telling them today must be daunting. I am so grateful that I am not raising my kids now. I can only imagine that we would be having open discussions with our children since there is no substitute for the love, guidance and wisdom of parents.

When I think back to what it was like "back then" I surly know my mother would have had a heart attack if she had know I was being exposed to such graphic information as a teen! But that was another time and things have changed dramatically since then. Clearly our children must be given some type of instruction about sex and sexually transmitted diseases. But I have to wonder; who really thinks making it more graphic makes it better or makes our children safer? I for one don't.

Parents certainly are the best judges of their children's needs and can best protect their families cultural and religious sensibilities. I admit that basic sex ed in schools has it's merits and always has, but when it borders on porn then it's gone to far.

New York City School's are currently implementing a sex ed program, read about it here at The Blaze. Just look at photograph with the article, the children's faces are priceless.

Did your experience as a child help form what you did or plan to do with your kids when educating them about sex?

make me laugh monday- butt really??

2011-11-06T19:57:00.000-05:00

Kristen over at a little something for me is doing her Make Me Laugh Monday Meme today, as always I'm happy to participate and hope you'll stop by for a visit.

These lovely ladies are my mother Mary and my aunt Gen, they're celebrating their 80th birthday in this picture. This was not your average every day party. I was a riot! Not the call the police type of riot but the laugh riot kind of riot.

Read on....

We the children, Gen's kids Mickey, Pat and little Genevieve, Paul , Gerard and myself, Jen gave them a party, about 100 of our friends and family attended.

This is my Aunt and my cousins.

Mom , my brothers Paul and Gerard and me, Jen.

As I was gathering pictures for the party to display of their lives I found this picture of a woman at the beach, my mother, my Dad and all my Aunts and Uncles spent tons of time when they were younger. The picture showed a women bending over and all you could see was her butt.

I will say it was (either Mom or Aunt Gen , I'm not telling!). It came to me that it would be REALLY funny if we did something at the party with the picture so I had it made into a poster and my brother printed these words on it.....

ASS-K YOURSELF THIS ???

MARY OR GEN?

Our guests examined the picture of the bending woman in the picture trying to decide 50+ years later whether it was Mary or Gen's good side. They giggled, they howled with laughter, twisted and turned they critiqued their figures in attempt to decide who it was, anything to get an edge. Then each person filled out one entry for the gift basket choosing either the Mary or Gen basket.

This is my cousin Mickey guiding the guests thru the butt selection process, note my cousin Pat off to the side with the "Gen" butt basket.

My husband took care of the prize for the winning guest, it was a gag of course, it was a basket of "Tired old ass cream", "Ass kisser lip balm", and "Tired old ass soak".

By the way, the bathing beauty bending over in the picture was my Mom Mary.

Butt of course.....

Thanksgiving plans & a peek at the past

2011-11-05T17:26:00.001-04:00

I received my yearly nosy cousin e-mail today from Kathleen, who is obviously my....cousin. duh! She sends it out every year to friends and family to find out where we'll all be for Thanksgiving. She loves to know what we'll be eating and who we'll be eating it with, because she loves us and because ...she's nosy!

We ( my husband, my mom and me) are taking a road trip to NY to my brother and sister-in-law's for Thanksgiving. I'm not sure what we'll be eating there this Thanksgiving but I know it's gonna be great. My brother is some cook!

I have Thanksgiving at my house usually every other year- sometimes more! Here's a few pictures that I dug up from a few years ago that I thought I'd share. I know I have tons more from other Thanksgiving's but to keep it simple I've decided to stick with showing you one year.

1.Matthew and his Aunt Denise 2.my nieces Sydney, Alex and my granddaughter Jillian in the leaves
3. Matthew and my godson's Gerard modeling their butts 4. Me (Jen) and my brother Gerard getting ready to carve the turkey.

1. Me (Jen) and my son Matthew on the phone. 2. Mom ( Mary ) and my niece Alex having a hug. 3 Matthew and little Gerard playing Frisbee in the driveway. 4 Bill and our niece Alex enjoying the day out on the deck.

So my friends, in honor of my dear cousin Kathleen I going to ask because I'm nosy too, it runs in the family! What are you doing for Thanksgiving? Are you staying home and cooking or are you going out? What special people will you be spending your holiday with this year?

fessing up friday

2011-11-04T13:44:00.000-04:00

Ever since my friend Kristen over at a little something for me ended her Confession Booth linky things have been building up for me. So although my new blog as of today has 4 followers (and one of them is me) they'll be no linky, I'm thinking it wouldn't exactly be a hit.

So on Friday's when the mood stikes I'll be "fessing up" to whatever is weighing me down with a twist of humor.

This week I'm fessing up to:

I was given a half a large bag of Halloween candy from my Mom and we didn't get a single Trick or Treat-er at our house; guess whose been in that darn bag of candy all week?

I'm annoyed and in a bit of a rut or maybe just to comfortable cooking the same things over and over again and just a tiny bit lazy to find and experiment with new recipes.

I'm to being a bit bummed out that grilling season is just about over and now I have to do all the cooking.

I fess up to being really out of shape, I was in pain from walking when we toured DC two weeks ago. I also confess I haven't a thing to get into shape, to rectify the situation.

I spoil my cat Cheetah and let him sleep in my bed but not the other cats.

I am fessing up that my neighbors cats are trying to come through our kitty doors to get the cat food in our house, and causing problems with our cats. But I'm too polite to say something even when they asked if their cats were a problem. I don't want bad feelings with the neighbors- they're kinda nice people.

I am fessing up in a yucky way that my toe nails are long and my feet are like sand paper, I could probably climb a telephone poll with my bare feet. I need to give myself a pedicure.

Need to get fess up to something? Feel free to tell us in a comment.....

welcome to - we're living a full life

2011-11-03T11:01:00.000-04:00

Welcome,

I hope that if you're coming over to take a peek from my old blog that you'll consider leaving a comment to let me know you've visited. I would also love to know what you think about the new name!

If you're a new visitor to either this blog or my old blog, I hope you enjoy what you see here and will come back again some time soon.

This will be my blog home from now on, so you know where to find me! Don't forget to sign up as a follower or subscribe by e-mail so we can continue to stay connected.

yes, I really did #22

2011-11-02T22:02:00.002-04:00

Last weeks writing prompt with Mama Kat's writer's workshop was to write a list of the 22 THINGS I had done. This week I can take one of those things and elaborate. The choice was easy, because I really did # 22 and a few people commented on it!

Here's what they said.

ARIANA said, "now # 22 is just crazy!!!" in her comment. An my friend MARK said in his "#22!" " Seriously?" " Were you strapped in?" "That's craziness!!!"

Let me explain since not only am I not crazy, I am actually the most normal person I know. I plead tired step-mother with a touch I didn't have a clue! What to know what #22 is, read on?!

You see I married young and my husband had three little kids, they lived with him so I became an instant Mom, I was barely 22 at the time. Full of myself I jumped in head on into the step-mom thing. Some people might think that's crazy but that's not #22, continue reading.

When their Mom picked them up it was alone time for my husband. After all most married couples get years of privacy before kids but not us, alone time was weekends only.

So here's the story, we had only been married for a few months but on this particular weekend we decided to get away. I cuddled up next to my husbands warm body while he was driving and fell asleep, it was a short distance to our destination but I went out like a light. I should say at this point I am not normally a napper.

A few months later on weekend afternoon after a romantic encounter hubby came back into the bedroom and sat on the bed eating a cold piece of pizza and drinking a beer. Being a big lover of pizza and beer I was rather surprised when I felt a rather strong urge to jump out of the bed, run to the bathroom and throw up. Dizzy and in a cold sweat I sat on the camode and just knew that I was pregnant. Then the light went on for the reason my lights went out and I.... fell asleep on the back of a motorcycle.# 22

I received one more comment about #22, it was from JACKIE and she asked, "Oh my goodness, how do you fall asleep on the back of a motorcycle?"

My answer to her would be; I was at the time an exhausted step-mother who didn't have a clue she was pregnant, and apparently that meant I could sleep anywhere; even on a motorcycle!

there's frost on my pumpkin

2011-10-31T23:12:00.000-04:00

I can hardly believe that November is upon us. How is it that time has flown by so fast?

With the change of the seasons comes so many glorious things.
There was a lovely frost across our land this morning, it glistened in the morning sun like the ocean.

Why don't you take a minute to breathe in the cool fall air, chat with your neighbor over the fence when your raking your leaves? Heck rake you pile and then jump in them, go wild for a change. Cuddle up with someone you love in front of your fireplace on a chilly day, maybe with a glass of wine or some cocoa.

Think of your favorite knit and wool sweaters your boots, your comfy robe and slippers and your most favorite comforter, don't they always seem so much better this time of year? Kinda like old friends.

Bake a pie out of that pumpkin that's sitting on your porch, believe me it isn't that hard. I've even done it! Put on a pot of soup or stew, bake a loaf of bread, the aroma in the house....it can't be beat.

Enjoy the falling leaves or maybe chop some fire wood.

When was the last time you were apple picking or went on a hay ride? Have you visited a pumpkin farm recently? Did you go trick or treating yesterday with your kiddies? I didn't get one single trick or treater at my house due to our rural location- boo hoo!

Enjoy your fall my friends, because before you know it, it will be winter!

make me laugh monday - cats

2011-10-31T10:37:00.000-04:00

My blog buddy and sister in spirit Kristen over at

A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR ME

had decided to brighten our Mondays by injecting them with bit of fun.

She's beginning today a photo linky with a twist.

Why not write a bit of fiction with your photo- non fiction-

-or-

just link your photo wordless?

The idea is to have fun with it. That's why she's calling it

"Make Me Laugh Monday"

I'm doing it, why don't you?

Now....meet Cheetah and Tarzan. I have a feeling they are going to be Monday regulars!

from my kitchen - home made pizza

2011-10-29T20:35:00.000-04:00

To think last week end we were walking around Washington DC and the weather was beautiful, spring like even! Today one week later it is cool and nasty out, last night it dipped down into the thirties here. In some parts of Northern Virginia today they say...SNOW! wow.

So what to do?

I say make home made dough, fire up the kitchen's oven, break out the pizza stone and make some pizza!

There is NOTHING better then the aroma of fresh dough rising in the kitchen on a cold rainy day, let me tell you! It brings back wonderful memories of my grandparents. Have I every mentioned that my Popa was a baker and that Nana loved to bake pies and bread after he passed?

It is one of my fondest memories of childhood. Mmmm, I can close my eyes and just conjure up that smell in my brain and the feel of the dough and my grandmothers hands in mine teaching me how to kneed and work the dough.

But now things have changed. I have my trusty Kitchen-aid mixer with dough hook to do most of my work for me! All I have to do is choose the right flour ( King Arthur Flour- my personal preference and I have not been compensated for the shout out to the King ) and make sure I add the right amount of water, yeast and salt and in the right order. The amount of flour when it comes down to it really is a feel thing I might add...

PIZZA DOUGH
1. 1 cup warm water
2. 1 pack yeast
3. 1/2 tsp. salt
4. 21/2 to 3 cups flour

5. 1tbsp. olive oil (for the bowl)

Put the warm water in your mixer with your dough hooks attached, add the packet of yeast and let it proof until it gets bubbly like this. (this could take 5-10 minutes)

Turn on the mixer and add one cup of the flour, mix on low for about a minute then add the salt. Be sure not to add the salt before the flour is mixed well or it will kill the yeast.

Then add the flour bit by bit. It may hold the whole three cups or somewhat less so be sure to add a little at a time towards the end. The dough will take a while but be patient it will form a ball that will be moist but won't stick to your fingers. It will look like this on the dough hook.

Now it can be removed from the mixer and prepared for rising. Smooth out the dough ball and place it in a clean bowl which has been oiled with olive oil. Be sure to coat the dough with a bit of the oil too. This is what it should look like.

Now below I'm giving you a peek but remember the dough should be completely covered until it's doubled it's size. This should take about 11/2 hours but as little as an hour if the conditions in your kitchen are warm.

While we're waiting for the dough to do it's stuff lets go over what ingredients we'll need to put the pizza together.

1. mozzarella cheese 4 oz per pizza
2. pizza sauce 1/4 c per pizza
3 fresh basil or parsley (optional)
4. oregano or Italian seasoning mix
5 crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
6. olive oil

The dough has risen and this is what it looks like. At this point the dough can be turned out on a floured surface and separated into three equal parts. Kneed each ball for a few minutes then let them rest while you grate the cheese and chop the herbs.

The three dough balls need to rest for 10 minutes after kneading briefly. Each dough ball will roll out after resting into a 10 inch pizza. If you have trouble with the dough not stretching, let it rest under a towel for an additional 5 and try again.

I usually put a drizzle of olive oil and spread it over my formed pizza before putting on the other ingredients. This is how it looks and then I go on to do the next steps....

then add the sauce......

then add the cheese and herbs ...

Place your pizza stone on the bottom of your oven after removing the racks. The oven needs to be set on 500 degrees and preheated well. Each oven is different so I can't say how long your pizza will take so keep an eye on yours!

And when your pizza is done, this is what it will look like...

My family enjoys this home made pizza and of course there are endless toppings that you can put on these pizza's; tons of different cheeses too! I might add, the kids love love love creating their own individual pizza's and it's a nifty way of getting the little ones to eat their veggies!