Normal Thanksgiving

Now that Christmas is fast approaching, I think I'll reflect on Thanksgiving. Yeah, I'm a bit behind again - oh well. It really is true that everything is relative. In the past it seemed a bit lonely at Thanksgiving when it was just the four of us, when there were no grandparents joining us. However, after last year when it was just the two of us, going back to four seemed like a much fuller table.

Our son-in-law, Ian, was supposed to come, too, but since he had a new job with no vacation yet, he was unable to be here. Laura doesn't get paid vacation with her job so she just told her boss she was leaving for about 10 days (although she really wanted to say she was leaving forever). It was so nice to have her here for that long. We really didn't want to fly Erin out here for just a few days for such a high cost. However, when we found it was going to cost almost as much to fly her to her grandmother's in Florida as it would to bring her home, we pulled out the well worn credit card and bought her a ticket. She said she really wanted a "normal" Thanksgiving.

I have learned that a normal Thanksgiving requires that I fix exactly the same dishes that I've been making for years. The turkey is always stuffed with a bread dressing and barbequed on our Weber. We started this when we first moved here and discovered that the oven was too small. Now we wouldn't have it any other way. The meal also includes mashed potatoes, gravy (if I can get it right), green bean casserole, cranberry jello salad, bisquits, and pumpkin pie.

It was wonderful to be together, if only for a few days. On Friday evening the four of us went to our local Festival of Trees, a great way to get into the Christmas spirit.

A Different Halloween

For years at least one of us has stayed home on Halloween to answer the door for trick or treaters. This year Bob stated that he wanted to attend an Air Force band concert being given at a local high school. On Halloween? He pointed out that we don't get many trick or treaters. True. I relented but decided to put out a bowl of candy for the one large family of kids in our neighborhood. I grew a few great jack o' lantern size pumpkins this year so I convinced Bob to carve pumpkins with me the night before. The concert was great. Of course, it included some wonderful military marches but they played other types of music as well. The Singing Sargeants also performed and they were a lot of fun. My favorite section was the tribute to three singer/songwriters, three of my favorite: Elton John, Paul Simon, and Billy Joel. The two hours flew by and ended with a tribute to the different branches of the armed services. As each branch's song was played, members of the audience were asked to stand if they or a family member served or are serving in that military branch. We returned home to find the jack o' lanterns, still lit, and way too much candy left in the bowl. I'm doing my best to get rid of it (especially my favorite - Milky Ways).

It's Quiet Once Again

Wow, It's been a busy summer. My last post was just before Erin returned from her first year of college. Then there was the trip to Savannah for Laura's college graduation. And, oh yes, the wedding. Busy. Then suddenly everyone was gone. How strange. It's especially quiet this weekend because Bob went to San Luis Obispo for his "guys outing". While it is rather nice to have the place to myself, the four animals aren't exactly great conversationalists. I have been working on putting the last of the wedding stuff away and putting the photos onto an online share site, along with the laundry, dishes, etc.

Last weekend I went on the annual women's retreat with nine other women from our church. We went to a new spot this year, The Depot. The building is an old train depot that was moved to a scenic spot by the Payette River. They had added on a wonderful big deck but unfortunately the weather was a bit cool. For a relatively small fee, the staff fixed most of our meals for us which was a very nice change. This year some of us went for a hike along the Cascade Reservoir; we enjoyed some colorful fall displays. Our study this year was women of the Bible which honestly didn't excite me - for one thing we had used that subject before. However, one of the reflections on Sarah mentioned her dream (she wanted a child) and asked us to write down our dreams. That's not very easy for me. I did a little journaling on the subject (complete with cutouts from magazines). It is definitely a subject that I need to reflect on - now that I have more time.

Disturbing Times

The last two days have been difficult. I can't imagine what the families and friends of those killed and injured in the massacre at Virginia Tech are going through. As a parent of two college students, my heart goes out to those parents. I can only imagine the frantic calls on cell phones, trying to get through, hoping your child answers, that he or she is okay. On a more personal level, my husband is an alumnus of Virginia Tech. On many levels, this has been hard for him to watch. While being shocked at the carnage, he also grieves for his school. He doesn't want his alma mater to be remembered this way. As we watch the story unfold, so many questions arise. Of course, the issue of gun control will come up later. Although I don't even want to get into that now, I have a hard time listening to the people who say "guns don't kill people, people kill people" or the idiot who suggested that all of the students should be carrying guns for safety(????????). This young man was obviously seriously disturbed. A teacher tried to get him help; university administration and police knew about him. However, unless a person seeks help, there is little authorities can do until they actually do something. We are seeing more and more disturbed young men committing murder. The signs are there but people around them seem helpless to do anything. Two murders were committed recently in my state by another mentally ill young man. In a letter to our paper written by this man's parents, they alluded to having difficulty getting help for him. What can we do to prevent more of these horrible shootings? In a free society, that is a difficult question. At what point do we commit a mentally disturbed individual to an institution (hopefully to get help) when they haven't committed any crimes or indicated that they are planning any? How do we balance their rights and freedom with the protection of the rest of society? Does the right to bear arms really include automatic weapons or even handguns whose only purpose is to kill people? Should a mentally disturbed person have the right to buy a gun? Why don't we have more treatment facilities and funding for the mentally ill? These are questions that we citizens of the US will need to answer in the near future. Will anyone in Congress have the guts to deal with these questions honestly? I certainly hope so but I won't hold my breath.

Winter Blahs

Here it is, the beginning of March, and it snowed today!! Enough already! The Saturday before last we got a hint of spring - just enough to spoil us. Late morning Bob and I decided to walk over to our local coffee shop. The sun was shining and I even unzipped my light jacket. We met some neighbors, a woman and her elderly mother, heading out to their mailbox. We stood and chatted about the nearby commercial buildings (and resulting problems) going in and other neighborhood business. Several neighbors drove by and waved. Eventually one then two other neighbors came by on their walks. It took us over an hour to get our coffee but we enjoyed the time. Our spring-like weather was short lived. The snow came down fairly heavily for a while today then the sun came out, as if it had never snowed at all. Some time later we looked out the window and it was snowing again. It was a very wet snow and only stuck to the grass, not the pavement. Sigh. I long for T-shirts, short, and sandals (and sun).

Empty Nest Again

Our nest is now empty again. On Sunday our youngest flew back to Boston for her second semester of college. I kept track of her progress - or lack thereof. Her flight from Boise was almost an hour late leaving. The flight from Denver to Boston was over 2 hours late and it had nothing to do with weather. I'm not too impressed with United. My husband attributes their maintenance problems to an old fleet. Not too reassuring.

So, the house is quiet again and I'm spending more time on my cell phone. I've deposited money into accounts several times for food, medication, books, etc. The Christmas stuff is all boxed but hasn't made it to the garage yet (it's very cold out there). I'm trying to get the house back to normal - whatever that is. I guess that's one of the challenges of becoming an empty nester - determining what normal means now.

Mother of the Bride

About a week and a half ago I attended a "Bridal Extravaganza". Since the bride was on the other side of the country, I went with her sister, the maid of honor. We took our duties seriously, picking up brochures and business cards and sampling entrees and cake. We breezed by the wedding dress displays since we already have one but we did watch the fashion show. We spent several hours there and couldn't eat another bite as we waddled out. I think it was the cake that did it - lots of sugar. We even left with samples of cake in our bag, enough for the father of the bride, too!

Actually, I think we're doing well. Not only do we have the dress, we have a seamstress for the bridesmaid dresses and the pattern and fabric have been chosen. I still need to go and purchase the material and get it to the seamstress. We just signed the contract and made a deposit for the reception and I have spoken to the manager of a band who is making up a contract. The bride and groom have made a decision on the caterer although I still have to call them. We have a photographer lined up. The guest list is coming along and the happy couple is working on "save the date" postcards. Just may need to go sample some more cake, though - before I start back on my diet!

Go Broncos!

What an incredible game! The Boise State Broncos played an amazing game and beat Oklahoma 43-42 in overtime in the Fiesta Bowl tonight. We aren't big football fans but we couldn't miss this game - it's a really big deal here in Boise. We have been seeing orange and blue all over town for the past month. There are somewhere between 20,000 and 25,000 Boise fans in Arizona for the big game. I look forward to hearing the stories from the fans when they return. Boise State sure proved themselves to all the people who questioned whether they belonged with the big guys. Go Broncos!

Full House

What happened to December? With the hustle bustle of the Christmas season, work, illness, home projects, etc. the month just flew by. We had to push to get everything cleaned up for the arrival of our daughter, Laura, her fiance, and their little dog on Friday, Dec. 15th (my birthday!) - well, actually they arrived late, after midnight, so it was the 16th. We had an enjoyable weekend, attending the Nutcracker on Saturday night and a church Christmas music program on Sunday night. Our younger daughter, Erin, arrived at the Boise airport Monday night. We were back to juggling bathroom schedules just like old times. Our pets were quite interested in our canine visitor. The cats were just plain puzzled; they had never seen a Chihuahua before and were not quite sure what he was. The dogs knew what he was and in between running around they began marking their territory. Just great! Somehow we managed to finish shopping, wrapping and packing by Friday afternoon and hit the road. It is not easy to squeeze 5 adults and a dog into a minivan, even with a top carrier but with the help of Ian's (the fiance) superior packing skills, we did it. A day later we arrived at my parents' home in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was so great to see everyone; it had been a long time. On Christmas Day we had 18 people packed into their not so big house for dinner. Other highlights included a rather rainy trip to the city (SF) which included a boat ride to Alcatraz plus another day trip to Placerville to see my parents' almost ready new house. It was a great holiday.