Today is my daughter’s birthday. A special day for her, but in the beginning, it was a very special day for her father and me.
Amanda was the first child born to us. She was healthy and happy and amazingly beautiful! We both immediately fell in love with our girl.
She was a bright and alert baby, who seemed to grow up very quickly. Always sweet and loving, yet determined to set the world on fire.
Whatever she sets her mind to, she accomplishes, but perhaps her greatest accomplishment is the fact that she is a wonderful mother to her two kids and their 2 dogs and a cat!
I am so proud of the woman she has become. She is a self-made woman who continues to tackle challenges that many would run from.
So on this, her special birthday, I wish her, good health, much happiness, and a fulfillment of all her dreams.
In a week we will celebrate Christmas. It doesn’t seem possible. This year is ending, and the darn Virus is still wreaking havoc with my family and friends. Oh well, here is this week’s list.
We’d been wondering if we would have a “White Christmas”. Well, Mother Nature is laughing loudly at us, as we have over 3 feet of snow, (and as I write, it is still snowing!) It is well past “pretty snow”, and now it is tough. I have been out twice to clear out the satellite dish. This means shoveling my pathway, using the roof rake to get some of the snow down (usually on top of me and my face!) and then climbing a ladder with a long-handled broom to sweep off the satellite dish. The second time I did this I thought I was having a heart attack! It’s hard work.
Then at noon, I brought out the two dackels. Jack had shoveled a little path, but here is the sad thing. My little blind Anneliese was completely disoriented. She couldn’t smell anything familiar, everything is white and bright, and she was totally lost. She kept walking in a circle.
I brought her in and into my bathroom where I could blow her fur dry, but she was so upset, she went into the corner of the room and wouldn’t come back. I stood up, and went and got her, dried her a bit more, and then brought her into the family room and put her in her bed. I wish I could say that this helped calm her, but she is still very upset.
I did not see that coming, however, and I am angry with myself for not having thought out a plan on dealing with snow and a blind doggy. I will be leashing her and taking her out from now on, so she knows she is not alone.
This weekend is wrapping weekend. I think I will open up my kitchen table to its full size, lay-out the gifts and paper, and have at it.
When béchamel is ready, stir in the cream, wine, and salt and pepper to taste, blend thoroughly and remove the sauce from the heat.
** Use 1 cup of milk for the sauce in the seafood lasagna because heavy cream and wine will thin the sauce. This will result in the sauce being thicker than usual, but that’s ok!
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste cooks and bubbles a bit, but don’t let it brown — about 2 minutes.
Add the hot milk, continuing to stir as the sauce thickens.
Bring it to a boil.
Add salt and pepper to taste, lower the heat, and cook, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes more.
Remove from the heat.
To cool this sauce for later use, cover it with wax paper or pour a film of milk over it to prevent a skin from forming.
Makes about 1 cup.
PS. I ALWAYS use more cheese than a recipe calls for. It’s always your call to use more or less…
On Monday I woke with renewed energy. I cleaned out the fridge, a long-overdue task, and made a list of the things I actually needed at the store. I think the best thing about the fridge cleaning was I identified exactly where the turkey cutlets I cooked two days ago were, as well as the mashed potatoes and green beans. Ta-da! Dinner for Monday night!
If I buy anything more for Christmas it will be for myself. Here we are on the 15th of December and I am done with shopping! Oh, thank you, Amazon and a few other stores I shopped at online!
With all that done early on, I turned to the laundry, which never seems to be really done in this house. It was bed changing day and I wanted to also run my leggings and tops that all need to be dried in my bathroom by hanging them up. No dryer for them.
The groceries needed to be purchased and off I went just before lunch. I breezed through the store and was back in plenty of time to make and eat lunch with Jack.
All in all, I was very busy and, it felt good to be back on my feet and getting things done. As I said, it was just a little cold!
I have big plans for Tuesday. I want to clean out my refrigerator freezer and begin work on my pantry organization!
And of course, there is the need to start wrapping. But I may put that off until Wednesday. I have a few more days to get that done.
I’ve been thinking a lot about life, people, love, and where we each have come from to get us to this moment in time.
There was a saying I saw recently, it said:
And this is so true. In fact, Some days I almost don’t know who that woman was, the one who was so lost and confused.
There are many people who just knew me at different times and ages. Thankfully, I did not stop growing and changing. I wish I could sit down with a few people and they could see the person I have become.
I’m so grateful, really. I have learned so much along the way, and despite the year from hell, also known as the Covid Pandemic, I’ve somehow made it without totally losing my mind.
There are times in one’s life when you are going along, and all is well, and then in a matter of a couple of hours, your body scares the daylights out of you. Such is my life, as I write on Friday night.
Late in the afternoon on Friday, I started feeling off. The following symptoms occurred.
Fever of 99.9.
Sore throat.
Stuffy.
Not feeling hungry,
Very tired.
Still achy.
I think it is just a cold, but I am taking it easy and staying quiet and warm.
So, I am going to bed and I hope I wake in the morning and I feel 100%. I’ll even take 75% at this point. I do not want to be feeling worse. Because then I’d have to think about getting a test. Our Covid numbers have been exploding in New Hampshire, and though I try to be careful, one just does not know where those crappy little germs are lurking.
Have I mentioned recently how much I hate you? I am looking at this holiday season and I am thinking that the chances are I will not be able to see my grandbabies for the holiday.
I’ve never been one to over-react to this Pandemic, But we are averaging over 500 new cases every day and my little town has nearly 50 active cases. My daughters’ town has over 130.
I know, it is not safe for me to be out in this world right now. And my heart is breaking because I will not see my grandchildren this Christmas Day.
My plan currently is to wrap their gifts, drive them down, and drop them off. Then I will drive home, in tears I am sure, and spend Christmas watching the TV.
Yes, Covid, I hate you. You have taken all that I hold dear and kept me from them. This year it seems, my holiday will be very sadly spent without my daughter and my grands.
So, this is my Friday Five. I am feeling sad, angry, and a bit forlorn. This will be one year I hope I can forget very soon!
Fourteen years ago, in the early morning hours, Greta went into labor. I was so excited to welcome her first litter of puppies, and I sat with her as she began the long journey to motherhood.
A few hours later, Arnie, Anneliese, and three of their sisters made their debut.
This was the start of something neither Jack nor I had ever experienced. Having two pups, brother and sister, from the moment of their birth, for their entire life.
It’s pretty amazing. Watching these two grow and emerge as two sweet, yet very different pups.
It’s Magic!
We knew we were keeping Anneliese. I loved the look of her and felt that she would carry on the Dackel Princess line, in her time. She had a great nose (scent wise), and such personality and spunk!
Arnie, who is so sweet, loving, and laid back. Here he is at a month old. A handsome boy then and now.
Arnie was actually sold to a woman from New York State. On the day she was due to pick him up, she called and canceled as her life was falling apart. She explained it all to me on the phone. I listened and gently told her she needed this dog. But she said no.
Arnie was 12 weeks old and I was really crazy about him. So was Jack and so was our young neighbor Emily. He was due to leave on that Saturday and by Monday morning we knew that Arnie was staying with us.
Here they are the first year of their life together. Anneliese and Arnie. Best friends always.
Below is a short montage of their life together, with us. I feel so blessed to have had these two pups in my life every single day of their life. In many ways, although Greta was their biological Mom, I have been their forever Mom all these years. And now that Greta has passed away, her children help me to not miss her too much.
They both are one of my life’s greatest blessings. The years of faithful love and companionship are truly priceless.
Now that they are fourteen, I know their time on this earth is slowly coming to an end. But I think, this phrase sums it up pretty well.
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!”
I started my Monday by attempting to sleep in just a little bit! But between Lili and Anneliese, I was up at 6:30.
Long ago when I was a teenager and lived with my grandparents, I often slept until nearly noon. My grandmother would only laugh at me and she said, “One day, when you are older, you will not be able to sleep in. Life has a way of tossing responsibilities at you!” And she laughed. “You will see!”
And of course, I did. It started with children and now, at the ripe old age of 62, it is my dogs.
They’re wonderful though. I wouldn’t trade any of them in, despite the early morning call of the wild! For they give far more to me than I could ever give to them. So what’s an early morning?
I was thinking today about the two dackels. Thursday is their 14th birthday. How did that happen?
They’ve been such a big part of my life for so long. I’m not sure who needs who at this point in time. I still think I need them more!
Anneliese in the green collar and Arnie in the blue. Best friends and siblings all these years!
Well, I’m just waiting for the Direct TV repairman to arrive. I am not sure what he can do in the dark of night! Oh well.
I love you so much, Amanda!
