March '09

Last year I was thinking about Grammy being gone for a year. It made me remember the loss I felt when she died, not only of my mother, but also of her mother. Losing loved ones is a difficult life event, and one would think that after much experience with it we would get better at it. Not so... In March I hadn't yet learned that the generations would shift by the end of the year...and of course, I had only 5 more months until I would retire! I thought that would be the big news of the year--I didn't yet know I would have a darling Buttercup. In March I was planning to go to Arizona for Jared and Ragan's graduations.

February '09

Last February was all about Nana's diamond. Daddy brought it up to Norman and I had it mounted in a beautiful setting reminiscent of Nana's ring that I first saw as a little girl on her finger. I was six months away from retirement and wondering if the time would ever arrive.

January '09

Well, what I remember most about last January is that I could finally say, "I'm going to retire this year!" It was music to my ears every time I said it--which was fairly often, as I recall. The winter was mild and I felt as though we had dodged the big cold bullet. Although we had some storms and icy roads, they were generally short-lived. As the month ended and the last of the winter storms had passed, I realized that I would never have to drive to work again in ice and snow. It was a wonderful thing. Bobby turned 67 toward the end of the month, but still didn't really want to retire. He noted that his usual winter maladies--sinus infections, sore and scratchy throat, congested breathing--had not materialized. He felt that it was due to the mild winter. He had started having trouble with sciatic pain running down his left leg. It's a long time ago, and by now not important, but that's what I recall about January 2009.

Wrap-up

So, I read in Jenna's blog that everyone is doing a summary or wrap-up of the year just past. I hadn't thought of that. I'll make an attempt, but really, I barely remember what happened last week... Now, what was I saying? I'll take this up tomorrow for sure.

Christmas Eve Dinner

Well, dinner went off beautifully, except for one thing--we're inundated with snow and sleet (horizontal snow and sleet) high winds, sub-freezing temperatures, and Jennie, Tom, and Alisa are in a motel in Pauls Valley (35 miles south of us). They got as far as they could and ran into white-out so stopped where they were--fortunately they were at a town, and got a motel. They're all good, tucked in and warm for the night. They'll try to finish tomorrow, as the storm should be gone by then. If the highways have re-opened they will make it. In the meantime, Bobby's son, daughter and her family and Mark were here for supper. It was very successful this year. I made the best pork roast in the crock pot--I got the recipe from Amy in Houston. I also roasted a turkey breast with lots of herbs, citrus and aromatics--it had a really good flavor and fine texture. I made parmesan and bacon mashed potatoes (yum!) and roasted veggies (cauliflower, carrots and baby Brussels sprouts). Instead of olive oil, I used the bacon grease with salt and pepper over the veggies--what's not to love about that? Every morsel was eaten of the veggies and the potatoes. I had a really small amount of turkey leftover--maybe enough for a couple of sandwiches, and a few inches of one of the pork tenderloins, with its gravy. Oh yes, and I also made a trifle--angel food cake soaked in simple syrup flavored with vanilla and citrus, strawberries and raspberries, French vanilla pudding and REAL whipped cream. I made a syrup from some strawberries and raspberries and that was served over each individual serving--there is a SMALL amount of that left over--everyone had seconds of that. So, not enough for a repeat tomorrow--when Jennie and her group get here, Calysta is also coming and we'll eat cheesburgers for lunch and aebelskivers for supper. Altogether we had a wonderful day, and expect more tomorrow. Merry Christmas all.

smiling...

Bobby says the most frequent picture of me lately is sitting at my PC smiling. I have pictures (they change daily--sometimes hourly depending on what pictures were posted last) of Avery on my desktop and can't stop smiling at her. What a darling baby! For me, it's like looking down a tube or looking glass--from me to her--it's a long way there, but she's firmly in my heart. I was thinking about my great grandmother and my great granddaughter--such a span--so many generations. I don't have too much to say--too busy smiling--but Merry Christmas to all! Some of my family will be here this year so I'm happy about that, and I'll have a Merry Christmas, also.

New Generation

This is the new generation. Her name is Avery Danielle, and she arrived at 3:55pm CST, weighs 7lb 12oz, and is 19 3/4" long. I heard that Karie was a champ--we're not surprised by that, of course. I see her grandma when I look at her beautiful face. Wow! P.S. -- The word from Austin is that Wilson did a fantastic job supporting Karie during the process. Way to go, Wilson!!

White Wheat

So, I have made a discovery--white wheat! I had a visit from the Relief Society presidency and during our conversation, I had asked about purchasing wheat from the Bishop's Storehouse. She said they bought as a ward frequently, and she mentioned white wheat. As I had never heard of this, I asked about it. The president, Cindy, didn't know a lot, but the counselor she brought with her did, and she liked it. Well, since I wanted to buy some wheat, and it sounded good, I bought 50 pounds of it--besides the price was great--I mean REALLY great--$11.80 for 50 lbs. Well, let me tell you, it's wonderful! The wheat when ground appears about half way between whole wheat flour and white bleached flour in color. The dough it makes is very soft--and I mixed it about half and half to bleached flour. The bread is great--very tender and soft. Bobby's worried because it's very tasty and delightful--he has visions of many pounds added...so, in all, I would recommend this product to anyone who grinds wheat and makes his/her own bread. One more thing. I would like to purchase dried corn next year when I'm in Utah--apparently, here in the heartland where cornbread is the national food, they don't have it! Hopefully someone will help me out and discover where I can buy some.

Day After, or "Nana, why do they call it Black Friday?"

So, on Thanksgiving afternoon, we were watching commercials about "Black Friday" and Calysta thought it should be red and green Friday because it's the beginning of Christmas. Trade, profit and loss, and money-making strategies are difficult to explain to a 6-year old, but she understands shopping. We're going out later today. She is excited to make me something that will go permanently on my Christmas tree, which is about 3 feet tall and covered with stuff my children made me when they were little. She wants to be represented, too. We'll hit the Hobby Lobby first. If we find the right project, we will go directly home to work on it. She's also eager to "put up the tiny tree". I guess we have been making memories and setting traditions without conscious effort. You just never know what memories will stick in your children's heads--or yours either for that matter. Alex called me yesterday to tell me a secret ("I love you, Nana"). Calysta was here and they immediately got on the phone and chattered for about 5 minutes. It was one of the highlights of my day--those two little girls talking and laughing together! I wish all my children and their children a very Merry Christmas season--have fun guys. I also wish this for my other children--those of my brothers--and also their babies--whom I love fiercely and miss terribly.

Thanksgiving prep

Well, I have made the mashed potatoes with bacon and mozzarella and parmesan cheeses (YUM), the dressing with roasted chestnuts (as it turns out they're great--I had never had them before) freshly baked French bread cubes, dried cranberries, sweet Italian sausage and assorted other stuff, both ready for the oven on Thursday after the bird comes out. Mark will be here later to prepare the brine and we'll drown the turkey until Thursday AM when I put it in the oven. Tomorrow I'll prepare the green beans. On Thursday, I'll roast the sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts (quartered long-wise) in the oven with olive oil, salt and pepper. Oh one more thing, I had bought a container of dried cranberries and put about 2/3 of them in the dressing. Then I reconstituted the remaining 1/3 in cranberry juice with orange rind, orange slices and juice. Made a terrific cranberry sauce--maybe the best ever!! Whew! Tonight I also made beef stew so when Mark comes back after delivering Calysta to her mom, we'll have a nice supper. Then I will sleep very well. G'night all!