Twenty three years ago on this day I had thirty-some staples in my abdomen, a horrific spinal headache, and a brand new baby girl. Today we celebrated Brooke’s 23rd birthday. As is the case with most everything involving Brooke, how she chose to spend her birthday was somewhat atypical. The day began by her making a batch of molasses cookies – not for herself, but for the rest of us. I learned that the last thing that a pastry chef…
As I sit down to write this, I realize that there are no words powerful enough to describe the magnitude of grief that the families of those who lost loved ones in Newtown, Connecticut last Friday or those of us watching the continual news coverage are feeling. I have listened throughout the weekend as journalists have tried to find appropriate words as they speak to family and friends who are preparing to bury their sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews,…
Just to state the obvious, photography is my new passion. I am definitely an amateur, but I dream about getting better. I dream about what it would be like to be really good at taking pictures. I dream about what the life of a professional photographer might be like – the people you’d meet, the beautiful scenery you’d visit, the gift of looking at every day with new eyes. I will never be a professional. I will keep studying and…
The Cat Is Out Of The Bag “Do I look like I care that you are not supposed to peek in shopping bags during this time of year?”
This is the closest thing to a Christmas tree around our house. Hopefully I will get things cleaned up in the next couple days so that we can put up our tree.
I took this photo purely for fun . . .and to play with a whimsical photography technique. It makes me smile. The fact that this semester is almost over also makes me smile. I hope that you have something to smile about today.
Brooke and Frankie have had a special relationship since Frankie was just a wee little kitten. Yarn should be a big “no-no” for kittens unless of course your big sister thinks it is funny for you to have a mouth full of mom’s yarn. While Brooke was home over Thanksgiving, their bond became even stronger. They worked the crossword puzzle together every morning, cooked together (I know, the health department might have a problem with this), watched movies and surfed…
When the girls were little, we went to the park several times a week. (That was back when it was OK for kids to play in the dirt and before there were hand sanitizer dispensers on every corner and .) It has been a long time since I have spent an afternoon playing at the park with one of the girls. “I want to go play. Am I too old to go swing and slide? “Nope. I just look like I’m too old to…
1. Smoked Cheese In October’s Five Fabulous Finds I mentioned Michelle Obama’s recipe for macaroni and cheese made with cauliflower that I had slightly modified. One of those modifications was that I used smoked Gouda. In the past month I have come to the realization that I love smoked cheese. – any kind of smoked cheese. We made butternut squash and crispy kale pizza the other night and used smoked mozzarella. It was awesome! Brooke then made leak bread pudding…
Wednesdays are my long day. I teach later than any other day and then have choir rehearsal in the evening. If we eat an evening meal out during the week, it is usually on Wednesday. Since we have run out of Thanksgiving leftovers and I didn’t have time to cook tonight, we decided to eat at Panera Bread. It is on the way to church, is generally quiet and they have the best selection of soup, which seemed a nice…