Picture of the Perfect Family

Last week, I was talking to someone and she said in all sincerity, that I had "the perfect family." Well, I know what she means because really, we are five blessed individuals. But perfect? Maybe not, but we do try once a year to create and send out our perfect image to friends and family.

I started trying to get everyone together for a family picture about two weeks ago. Dan's been traveling and the girls have been back and forth to Houston for finals. Finally, I set a mandatory time for everyone to be at home, Sunday at 5:30. I went to the store, knowing that Dan and all three children were accounted for and planning on being ready at picture time. I wanted to do it outside since it was a beautiful day and very warm.

Got home at 5:10 and heard the shower running. One of the children was in the shower! I'm not mentioning any names. One of the children, who had gotten ready on time was impatient to get the picture done. There was some yelling. There was maybe a couple of incidents of door pounding. There might have been a glass of wine needed. I realized that it was going to be too dark by the time the shower person got out and was ready.

So, I set up a scene in the living room. The kids had requested to NOT take the picture in front of the tree this year. I set up what I thought would be an adorable set using the loveseat. I brought candles into the room and worked on lighting. It helped pass the time.

It was about 6:30 by the time everyone was ready. The ready-for-over-an-hour child was really grouchy by then. We tried the couch idea and produced a few really bad shots. I had thought having our super cute Christmas mugs in our hands while we were sitting on the couch would be festive looking but that idea got shot down...by everyone. The ready-for-over-an-hour child suggested we move in front of the tree like usual. Everyone agreed and got into the usual formation. At one point, someone grabbed those super cute Christmas mugs and this was the picture.

Then we decided to get really crazy and try a slightly different formation. Then we had our look. We took five shots and this time I let Kathleen pick the one we would use. She has accused me in the past of sending the one that makes me look best and not worrying about anyone else.

If you're on the Christmas card list, that's the one you'll get. (Which are going out soon now that we have our Perfect Family picture.

A First

We added our last cat to the family over ten years ago. Chester, the gray and white cat had been abandoned in the neighborhood. His adventures as a stray are another story but he has been ever grateful to Stacey for rescuing and adopting him. Smokey and Grace had been adopted from the animal shelter about a year before him and the three mostly co-exist in the house, though occasionally there are alliances.

A couple of days ago, Kathleen called me to the living room. When I got there I saw that all three cats were together on the love seat. A week ago, when we got the tree, I had to move the love seat to another place. It has a slipcover and I decided that I would wrap the seat coushins in some foam to improve its appearance. We don't know if it's the new location or the new padding, but the old love seat is the cats' favorite napping spot. There are often two of them on it, one on each side.

Three though, I think that's a first, ever. I ran to get a camera. Kathleen helped me try to get some lighting without disturbing them. Eventually Smokey jumped down. Kathleen scooped her back up and put her on the couch again and the three settled into this pose.

I grouch about having cats sometimes (or a lot) but really they are another part of our family. I liked this picture so much that I framed it and put it next to their couch.

The Perfect Tree.

Last year, our Christmas tree had so much personality that we not only named it, but we devoted a large amount of our Christmas newsletter to describing it. So, I sent Dan and the girls out with great expectations to find the Perfect Tree. In the twenty-two years that Dan and I have been putting up trees, I've always tried to find the perfect tree. Perfect for us that is. Those of you that put up real trees know that as best you try to find the Perfect Tree, once you get it home, it does not always live up to such expectations.

I got one phone call from the tree lot. Dad won't let us get the tree we want. It's perfect, we love it, tell him to get it for us. I talk to Dan and he says that it is horrible. So horrible the tree seller is willing to sell it for cost, $20. I decide to pass on this gem of a tree. Dan knows better than to come home with a really ugly tree. I think the girls have this romantic idea about decorating a Charlie Brown tree.

Eventually they bring The tree home. I can tell right away that it's too small. We have ten foot ceilings. I'm grumpy. They're grumpy. And this poor tree. If this was a good tree, I'd hate to see the bad tree.

The tree does not endear itself to me once it's up either. Lights don't help. Ornaments don't help. It's still plain. I buy a huge bunch of fake hydrangeas to fill in the holes. There are so many holes at top it begins to look like it has an abnormal growth coming from the top. There isn't a straight top so the angel can't sit there. The decorating and trying to figure out what to do with it takes almost a week.

One of the problems is the foosball table. Believe me, trying to make a foosball table "work" in your living room is tricky. We don't have a family room and the kids insist on having it. They've lost enough over the past five years to force them to give that up too. Even though Canada, Georgia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo don't play often, the foosball table stays.

So, in addition to the tree being homely, there's a foosball table right out in the middle of things because the tree has taken it's place of honor in front of the window. I decide it's going to have to go to the garage but that is met with full out rebellion. The teams will play. I can't ruin the tournament.

I move the tree out and away from the window. Because the tree is small it's not a problem. I move a small couch and table to the corner. The foosball table moves over to where the small couch and table used to be. I do have to move one of the vintage pink asymmetrical chairs out into the entry way.

I am amazed as it all comes together and looks kind of cute. Kathleen steps in to finish decorating the tree. I remove the awful hydrangeas. Dan figures out a way to get the angel to stand up straight. With every single ornament we own on the tree it finally looks okay.

And of course, it is the Perfect Tree, for us.

Painting-A Daring Adventure

One of the things that Dan and I have always agreed on, is that we like color in our house. This house has been our most daring adventure. When we bought it, it was covered in dark serious wallpapers. They were perfect for the family that lived here before us but just didn't fit us. For example, the hallway wallpaper was dark green, brown, and black. For real. The hallway, living room, and dining room are all done and a few months ago we started working on the kitchen.

I have to say that Dan didn't even flinch when I first mentioned I wanted the kitchen to be the colors of watermelon and cantaloupe. Maybe he was too busy cursing the wallpaper in the kitchen that had to be removed small piece by small piece. The wallpaper was finally all down and painting day was here. The painting began on the day after Thanksgiving. I really was excited to see that first stroke of pink go up. As soon as Dan started painting, I started having a panic attack. It was awful! Like someone had puked Pepto all over my wall.

I'm worrying and Dan keeps calmly painting. While he has no problem painting whatever color I want, he DOES have a problem changing gears. You wanted this color, you got it. As he is painting though, some of the paint is drying and getting darker. It doesn't look quite as bad. So, on Friday, the sections I had designated for watermelon, a.k.a Hibiscus Pink were done.

On Saturday, he began painting the orange, a.k.a. cantaloupe sections. That started out much better. I liked that color right from the get-go. By Saturday night though, my eyes were in shock. Who paints their kitchen bright orange and pink? Why did we get a semi-gloss? Why couldn't I have just picked white or something?

Entering my kitchen on Sunday morning, I had my first feeling of hope. It looked okay. Paint is the first layer of a room. Once things were back in place it was going to be fine. At Target I bought some new coffee mugs to celebrate. Later at an antique store I found two crewel works that I just loved for the kitchen.

Now it's Wednesday morning. I'm still putting stuff back in and cleaning. I like it even better. I actually feel a little proud of us that we tried this. Our kitchen holds artwork from my Mom, my children, and me. In its own way, it celebrates our family.

On the Table

This was just my third or fourth year of putting on my own Thanksgiving dinner. Every time I cook this meal, I am filled with appreciation for my Mom who has been doing it for my entire life, without complaint. This year, now that I know what a job it is, I lined up family help. But even with all the help it was still an all-day event with me as the primary kitchen maestro.

11:00 AM: Baked a pan of cornbread. A couple of weeks ago I found a recipe for oyster stuffing that I want to try. Dan's mom always made oyster stuffing and it was my favorite part of her meal. Fortunately the recipe calls for Jiffy Cornbread, so it's not too bad to make. Plus it makes the kitchen smell really nice. Not to worry kids, I'm still making the regular kind. In cleaning out my recipe drawer, I find my hand-written notes about how to make the real stuffing, the kind my Mom makes.

Noon--got the turkey out. Rinsed it, patted it dry, removed the giblets and neck. Said yuck about a hundred times. Would normally throw the giblets and neck out but have been convinced by Mom, older sister, and daughter Kathleen to cook them for the gravy. Put them in water with some celery and onion. Put some seasoning on turkey and put in the roaster.

Make the stuffings. A few more yucks with the oysters. It looks like I've bought the biggest oysters in the ocean. Lose all desire for oyster stuffing but carry on and finish the project. I cook up double onions and celery to use for both stuffings. That stuffing is going to be cooked in a glass dish. I also make Mom's stuffing using Pepperage Farm cornbread stuffing mix. I mix up the crumbs, cooked veggies, sausage, eggs, chicken broth, etc. I find some fresh sage in the fridge and add that to both along with dry. I think the stuffings both look awesome.

1:00: Stuff turkey and put in the oven. It's in a roasting bag, so it's only supposed to take 3 1/2 hours.

Start the sweet potato casserole. Cook sweet potatoes in the microwave. I also start the homemade rolls at this time. Had previously talked to the family about what is essential to the meal. Sweet potato casserole and homemade rolls. It took me almost twenty years to learn how to make the rolls. No kidding. But once I "got it" I have been a roll-making genius. The kids also like them to be clover-leaf. My grandmother made the clover leaf rolls and we use her recipe. I like the rolls that are single balls all stuck in a pan together. But at this point, I'm just mixing up the dough. Have to interrupt the sweet potatoes to melt butter and warm milk for the dough. I use my huge yellow Pyrex mixing bowl. I think making rolls is the only time I pull that baby out. Make the dough and cover it with plastic. That's it for about an hour and a half.

Stacey is making a special non-dairy pumpkin pie. I am baking a frozen pumpkin pie. Hers goes in the bottom oven first. Turkey is in top oven. Frozen pie goes in when hers comes out. I don't like pumpkin pie but at this point, I know that I have way more to cook for dinner and don't even think about making anything else.

2:30 PM: Time to form the rolls. Melt some more butter. I make twelve cloverleaf and a big pan of singles. I cover both pans with plastic and they are good to go for another hour and a half. People, a.k.a. Danny, Kathleen, and Dan (also known as the clean-up crew) are enquiring when dinner will be served. I estimate at 4:30. I ask whether they would mind if I didn't do mashed potatoes. They would mind.

I have Stacey trim the green beans while I start peeling potatoes. I put the potatoes on the stove and let them do their thing.

Time to cook the sweet potato casserole and oyster stuffing.

4:00: Lots of stuff happening. Turkey looks good and is browning. Got to get it out soon so I can get at it's drippings.

4:30: Turkey out. Drippings in pan. Stuff cooking. Rolls have risen fast and need to go in an oven. Potatoes are boiling. Oh yeah, giblets are done and cooled. Those need to be pulverized in the food processor. Pour drippings into a container thing that is supposed to separate the grease out. Put back the degreased drippings into the pan. Add pulverized giblets. Add some milk and flour that's all been shook up in a jar. Add a little chicken bullion. Stir in the roaster that covers two burners. I'm impressed it looks like real gravy--a first for me.

Put the green beans on and rolls in the oven. Time to take the potatoes off, drain, and put back on burner. Let dry a little bit, then add milk, butter, and salt. Mash with the masher. I'm not a fan of mixer mashed potatoes. I like them mashed!

Over-cook the cloverleaf rolls a little but the singles are fine. Kathleen sets the table. We decide to use the colored Fiesta, clear crackle Blenko, and the fun cloth napkins. I light the candles. We are using the dining room which I had cleared and cleaned before all the cooking began. As always I get the chartreuse plate, my favorite. It all looks pretty. While Stacey and I finish up food, Kathleen empties dishwasher and washes dishes in the sink. We lock the cats up. Since kitchen is in different room than the dining room, we want to be sure there is no unauthorized turkey snatching. We line the food up on the counter. We always do it buffet style.

Dan had gone outside to do a little yardwork. He comes in making funny faces and asking for the bug-bite lotion. We look at him and see he has several HUGE red swellings on his face. That's MY dinner date. His face looks normal by the end of the evening.

We eat sometime between 5 and 5:30. The food is good and everyone seems happy. We have enough leftovers to feed us for a few more days.

Autumn

I did get to enjoy a little real fall weather. I have to admit, I am enjoying the cooler here in Texas. But there is little color change and something seems to be missing. Thanksgiving is just around the corner but it doesn't feel like it. Without the weather cues, it just doesn't feel right. However, all the stores are giving away turkeys so I do KNOW it's time to get into the mood.




Made it to New England. It was a little early for the leaves to be in their peak color change. I did get glimpses though. Got to see my adorable little great nephew and niece. We took a few pictures outside and you can see some color.

For those of you in places with color that may be no big deal. It is for me! I have to borrow color. Last year I had Mom send me pictures of fall which I still have on my desktop.

It rained through the night. I would wake up, hear the rain, say a prayer it cleared by morning, and fall back asleep. Then in the morning, I woke up again and started to roll back over to sleep some more. But I got that gentle, subtle nudge to go ahead and walk the dogs. So, I quickly got dressed, put on shoes, set the coffee machine and took the dogs out.

It was a great morning. Not even a sprinkle was falling though everything was damp. It was cool but not too cool. Just perfect for walking. The dogs and I enjoyed it very much.

As we reached the end of our walk and were waiting to cross the street I felt the first drop of rain and could hear the approaching downpour. We quick stepped it across the street and onto our porch, just as the rain came crashing down behind us. It was fairly dramatic.

Wow.

It was one of those little but powerful things that remind me all the time, that help abounds as long as I listen for it. It would have been just as easy to go back to sleep and miss out on the perfect opportunity to get the dogs out for their walk.

So, this morning, Millie, Riley, and I are all very happy.

I've always enjoyed the season of Fall with the changing colors, cooler weather, and the signs of harvest all around. I've missed that these past three years in Texas. As we begin October, I'm simply hoping that it will cool down soon. Today it's supposed to be about 92.

This year, I decided that I was going to treat myself to a few days of Autumn in New England. I don't know if it will be as beautiful as West Virginia in the fall, but I'm sure it will be lovely in its own way.

So, I'll just be following this Autumn sprite to where the leaves are golden, orange, and red and the air is a little cooler.

Treasures

I was looking at one of my work tables last night. I'm up to four pen/marker containers on it. Two of them always make me smile. My daughter made them a few years ago. She worked with polymer clay and was very productive. I still have at least twenty of the bottles and jars she covered during that time. Relatives have her one of a kind Christmas ornaments. She has since moved on to other interests but I pulled out some of my favorite containers. One of the things that made many of them so interesting was that she added other materials to the clay such as flower petals and homemade papers. She would test hundreds of pieces of clay to perfect a color or effect. Anyway they are just beautiful and something I treasure.

Nothing is Lost

I have a phrase that I say to myself whenever I have misplaced something. "Nothing is lost in the eyes of God." It gives me the perspective that while I may not know where something is, it IS somewhere. I've found also, that given time, just about everything does reappear.

Way back during the early years of making my girls, I created a Garska Girl at the request of my Mom. She wanted to make an invitation for a party she was hosting. I made a special girl for her and she scanned it and made her invitations. The girl came back home and was a part of the collection for a long time.

Then a couple of years ago, I realized that she was missing. We had been through two moves by then. I'm organized as far as pictures, memorabilia, and of course the girls. I know where all my "stuff" is. I searched all over and checked with Mom. I even checked our old scanner to see if I had left it in there before we upgraded. I couldn't find her anywhere. It was puzzling but I knew that she really must be somewhere in the house. I also would say my special phrase whenever I thought of her, Nothing is lost in the eyes of God to myself.

I am happy to report that she did resurface. I must also admit that now, just a mere month later I can't exactly remember where I did find her. I do remember the feeling of awe when I saw her though. Confirmation again, that nothing is lost.

Letting Go

Letting Go is the title of one of my favorite girls. I have her in my livingroom. Just a sec, I'm going to go take a picture. I picked her for her colors but really the theme of Letting Go has been a prominent one this summer. Okay, here she is:
That's a little blurry but you can get the general idea for now. I forgot to set the camera to have it work better for the web. So many of my favorite things also are in this picture.

This summer there was so much change. Both my parents and Dan's mom moved from the family homes into homes that better fit their current needs. Their timing was perfect. They had wonderful buyers and easy transactions. It WAS all good. Yet, it's still sad to say goodbye to the homes where you've celebrated the last twenty or so Christmases, birthdays, and other holidays and family gatherings. Every time I did something, I was also saying to myself, "This is the last time I'll..."

I did feel good that I had so many good memories of the time our families spent in these places. My children spent so much time with their grandparents there. I'm such a homebody, I was at both homes every week while I still lived in West Virginia. Even after I moved to Michigan, I still managed once a month. Texas has been more of a challenge. I like this picture of the farm. It's always beautiful but in this picture I can see my Dad's truck reflected in the pool room window.

I also sent both girls to college this summer. This has not been the most drastic letting go situation since I've seen at least one of them every week since they moved. Still, they are gone most of the time and that's been a big change. I'm sure I miss them more than they miss me at this point.

The older I get the more convinced I become that accepting change and letting go gracefully are among the secrets of happiness.

Clare's Angel

I still have a few of my limited edition of Clare's Angel. If you would like one, feel free to drop me an email. The printer did these on a fine art paper that I really liked, but that he discontinued. The color and clarity are amazing. I don't know how he does it but they are as pretty in their own way as the original.

New Picture of Clare

Teresa sent me this picture to update the website. But I couldn't wait for the webMaster to share how cute my great-niece looks here. To see her sitting up and smiling is truly to see a miracle! Teresa does such an excellent job of keeping up with her blog that I feel like I know Clare more than I would have otherwise. I can't wait to see her again. Really, as beautiful as she is in pictures, in person she is totally captivating.

The Mothership of Love

Last week the Mothership of Love set sail to Orange Beach Alabama. I had the immense joy of spending a week with my mom, her sisters and one of my sisters. My mom and her sisters make this trip almost every year. I invited myself along this year. Now that I live in Texas, they just came close enough that I couldn't resist. I'm so glad they welcomed me into their getaway. My sister named the group, the Mothership of Love, because, well, they are so loving.

I can't remember having ever been on a trip with people who were so easy to be with. They made zero demands, were always pleasant, and were just a lot of fun to be with at any time. Every morning we had coffee out on the balcony. For hours. There just was no hurry to do anything at all. That's what I call perfect.

They were also inspirational. They didn't let anything get them down. We shared so many laughs during the week. There was no pressure to do anything. Yet, no matter what I wanted to do, someone was always up for it. It was the perfect combination of activity and lolling around. As the sisters made clear at the beginning, lolling was what it was all about.

lolling and love that is.

Texas, Weather, and Gratitude

Meeting Clare

If you've visited my website, you'll have read about my great-niece Clare. Last weekend, I had the opportunity to finally meet her when I visited New England. I spent a delightful day with the newest member of our family. And I have to tell you, she is absolutely adorable. Her brother Jamie is wonderful as well. I had so much fun getting to know them. Clare was very "talkative" that day and we all enjoyed hearing her new sounds. Having only seen pictures of Clare, it was fun to finally hold her and see the beautiful expressions on her face. She is so aware of all that is going on around her and watches everyone intently. Jamie is full of fun and is so smart. My niece Teresa and her husband Shawn are awesome parents. I really appreciate that I was able to spend time with all of them.

Happiness

I found this quote this morning.

Happiness isn't a crop that you harvest when your dreams come true.

It's more like the fertilizer that makes them come true, faster!