November 30, 2010

This is not an important day per se, but December starts tomorrow, which means 2010 is almost done. This year has gone by very quickly for me. It is still so fresh in my mind, that day in February I spent wondering how my son in Chile had fared during the earthquake, and seems only weeks since Jeff's wedding in August. I guess being busy will help pass the time.

I started the year with a lot of plans. It will be interesting to look back and see what happened, what got adjusted for real life, and what had to be changed or discarded.

I haven't written much beyond what I've been doing in art class over these last couple of months, but life's been very full.  Said class is almost over-today was the last real session. Next week I'll just drop off my portfolio for her to look through. So far I have A's on every assignment, so I feel pretty good about things. The last few assignments have been interesting, but not nearly as photogenic as some of the other ones, however I'll put pics up eventually.

For now I'm finishing up the Christmas decorations, tucking in for the winter, cleaning up the garden and anticipating the holidays.  I felt like I needed a little pause to mark this moment and breathe a bit.

See you in December!

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The Thanking Day

Our Thanksgiving day was simple and fun. We had friends over for dinner, we did a lot of talking and laughing, we went and did a little visiting of other friends, we watched a little LOST, and of course we ate all the good food.  My overnight turkey worked out great and today I've got the leftovers bubbling away on their way to being Sunday night's Turkey soup.  Yum.

In the evening, after my heroic husband and our pal Skip cleared the table and did the dishes, we skyped first with my mom and dad. They hosted for Thanksgiving dinner so I got to see my sister, brother-in-law, niece, nephew, two of my aunts and my grandmother through the electronic eye of the computer. That was fun. I do love it when technology earns its keep and is the bringer of such joy. After that, we skyped with my kids in Colorado. Apparently, they had a pretty hairy trip along the stormy roads from Utah but I'm glad they were able to get there safely to be with some extended family. Thank you to Aaron and Amy for hosting 4 people for the weekend.  So, we got to see my Ashlyn, Jeff, Johnathan and Sam of course, but also my brother, sister-in-law and two more nephews on the magical screen as well.  One particularly memorable moment for me is captured in this fuzzy screen shot of our skype call that shows my three oldest sons all together. It's the first time I've seen them together in over 2 years.  I really loved that.  A sight for a mom to treasure.

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The Cooking Day

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving day. Well, actually, 28 minutes from now is Thanksgiving day. A day all about the food. Food as symbol of bounty. Food as device for gathering. And yes, food for its own sake. Just for the fabulously delicious familiar comfort of it all. 


Tomorrow, we will be celebrating bounty. We are so very fortunate right now. We have a job and a snug home and 5 healthy kids. We have faith and hope for the future. Life is good. 


Tomorrow we will also be gathering. My dear friend Julia and our other dear friends the Yarns are coming over to fill the spaces around our table with laughter and conversation and that other, better kind of bounty-the plenitude of loving relationships.  There will be 9 of us, which sounds just right. 


Much better than 4. 

And lastly, we will be eating fabulous food. Made by me and several others. I have been trying really hard not to nibble today, but I was not terribly successful. So, I already know that everything is really going to be delicious. Fabulously so. I can't wait. I like cooking, and I'm pretty good at organizing and getting a big meal like this on the table, so I'm looking forward to that last rush of getting things ready. I got so much done today however, that tomorrow morning's cooking session is going to be pretty dang relaxed. I may even be able to have a book in my hand while stirring. I always like that. 

Here is what I did today: 

• Brined the turkey
• Made the cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and candied sweet potatoes
• Watched my kids clean the main level of the house and fold laundry while I cooked.
• Cleaned up the front yard
• Did a little final shopping and sent others to the store for the final, final shopping
• Ran the dishwasher 3 times
• Made a batch of banana bread
• Put the turkey in to cook overnight (Yes, for real. Look here, and if you're concerned about slow cooking poultry, be sure to check out the comments. I researched this and I will wake up to a perfectly-DONE turkey, a heavenly-smelling house, a clean kitchen and an empty oven) 

Tomorrow morning, all I have left to do is: 

• Make the rolls, the gravy and a couple of side dishes
• Cook and laugh with my pal Julia while she makes her side dish
• Set a fun, festive table
• Give Thanks

Have a wonderful day!

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Finally, A New Assignment for Art

I really like this one. It was fun to do and I love how it turned out. It is scrapbooking paper, torn, cut and glued down on illustration board. The image is 10x16.  At my instructor's request, it is based on this assignment. and it was fun to reinterpret the same image. The requirements were to use at least 3 cool colors and at least 3 warm colors to add depth and complexity to a repeating image. My repeating image is the wave shape. Plus, there is a repeat of the triangle. She gave me dispensation to use some license on the placement of the colors. It was actually supposed to be a completely cool background with a warm foreground. I did mostly the opposite. I swear on my knitting needles that I never knew I had this sort of thing in me. That's why we should never give up learning.  This makes me happy and if I hadn't taken the leap to take the class, I would never have tried it.

Where to go from here has become a mystery because HCC did away with the photography certificate. A certificate is 30 hours of just the fun classes, intended for those going into the workplace rather than transferring to another university. Now they only have a 60 hour Associate Degree in photography. That mean's I'd have to take all the core classes-English 121, Math for People Who Wish They Didn't Have to Take Math and all that. It seems a bit silly to see if I could transfer my 60 or so core credits from two different 4-year universities down to a community college, just so I can get an AA. So, now I have to decide whether to start from scratch, get my online Bachelor of General Studies from BYU because they'll still honor all my credits from 25 years ago, or just keep taking the fun classes and not worry about the credentials.  In the meantime, I'll look at my pretty picture and smile.

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Special Guests

I know what it is like to consider having someone else take care of your children for more than an hour, and especially for an extended stay. It is a complicated combination of figuring out just who you can trust with these irreplaceable beings who own your heart but also coming to terms with who you can impose on in such an intimate way. I've asked myself if it is actually reasonable for someone who is not genetically mandated to do so to to deal with ALL the vagaries of MY daily life as well as theirs.  I get that. I've been there. 

So, I was thrilled once again when a dear friend took that leap and brought her precious children to my house for nearly a week. This was the whole nine yards-suitcases, lunches for school, picky eating, homework, everything. I'm completely over-emotional and tender about it because not only do I love my friends here who trust and love me so much, but of course for me it was another opportunity to do for someone nearby what I can't do for my siblings and nieces and nephews right now. I like to think that this will spin the Karmic wheel and that all my family far away will be able to find their local "family" to step in when they need it. I loved feeling that easy routine that comes from familiarity-to hear them say, "my room" and "my spot at the table." Of course, hearing them all cheer out loud when I said I'd come jump on the trampoline was a nice bonus as well.

So really friend, it was great. Really really. We had so much fun. There was much of laughter and coziness. My kids loved it.  Bring them back and let us play again soon.

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12 Days and 8 Photos

Since my last post: 

Saturday:
Teaching, soccer, so proud of my kids, sewing, packing, getting sick.

Sunday: 

Church, Young Women, Personal Progress Recognition, still sick.

Monday: 

Time with friends, packing, shopping for concessions, printing, making phone calls, Eric home at last, still sick but too occupied to notice.

Tuesday: 

Skipping class, still sick, driving to West Point, gorgeous foliage, Erin, Sue, baby bumble bee, yummy stir-fry.

Wednesday: 

Erin, mommy-errands, darling children, talking, laughing, pretzel m&m's, McDonalds, feeling better, driving to Hartford.

Thursday:  

Hartford, teaching, meetings, two dinners, one dessert, wonderful pals from all over. 

Friday: 

Teaching, fashion show, shopping, friends, tired, no pajama party for me.

Saturday: 

Still teaching, banquet, wishing I was home, Sara at Homecoming, Evan winning soccer, missing Halloween fun. 

Sunday: 

Still teaching, great conference, driving home from Hartford, NJ Turnpike, beautiful bridges, friend driving with me (thank goodness), talking to darling far away friend, home at last. 

Monday: 

Back to the routine, tutoring, art assignments, book club, Bonaparte bread, yummy food, very, very tired. 

Tuesday: 

A phone call from Germany, class, assignments all wrong (thus no photos this week), doing them over, quiet evening (of all things), daughter making brownies, voting, very tired. 

Today, Wednesday again: 

Ford's Theater with Corinne, perfect outing, metro, audio tour rocked, fun youth activity, feeling like myself again. 

And now the Photos: 

Young Womanhood Personal Progress Recognition

 

The foliage on the drive to NY.

Me and one cute baby on post at the USMA at West Point.

Me and my friend Erin and two of her kids.

Beth, Gwen and Sarah, 3 reasons why I love to teach at Stitches.

Sara in the yellow dress at Homecoming. I love these smiles.

Here we are by the box where Lincoln was shot.  You'd think we'd be a bit more sober, but it was a lovely day and will get its own post, complete with a funny story or two. 

We had a variety show tonight and the kids did great. It was really fun. Here they are applauding their friends.

 

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