Category: My Life

First the free vacation contest is still underway. Please remember to go HERE and look for my funny face under Mcewan and vote for me. That would be terrific. And have your friends vote too! I sure could use a vacation! You can vote once per day until September 20th.

Here we are…another Thursday! There are days I feel pressured to try to come up with something that makes sense, and this weeks Thursday Thirteen is no exception. I think I am a little burnt out from the last week and all the writing I have done. So today I am winging it. Here goes!

Thirteen things that have been going on in my little town, and my life.

1. We had the local election primaries on Tuesday.
2. My friend won her primary for State Senate.
3. Now it is on to the election in November!
4. I was down another half a pound at Weight Watchers!
5. The local paper printed a story about Hubby’s Orchard on Tuesday!
6. There was even a picture of my guy holding an apple, with Fritz in the background.
7. That picture is how I will always think of my sweet Hubby!
8. He is truly a man of the land!
9. I’m trying to get caught up with my laundry, but I keep getting side tracked!
10. Today I go to have my tooth measured for a crown.
11. Then Friday I get to go and see my Sweet Savannah Rose!
12. Oh, I can hardly wait for that!
13. Being a Grandma, is the best thing in the world!

I just found out that my entry is in the running for a free Princess Cruise. If you go to this page:

http://photocontest.brandmovers.net/gallery

and look for my funny face under Mcewan and vote for me that would be terrific. And have your friends vote too! I sure could use a vacation! You can vote once per day until September 20th.

Our host is Gattina. Come join us and tell us what YOU did this past weekend! After all, you never know when you will need an alibi!

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The weekend always seems to speed by, and this last one was no exception.

Friday found me at the Dentist again, getting a temporary crown on the “bad” tooth. We are hoping that once the tooth is covered it will stop hurting. As of 11:30 AM on Sunday, it is not going well, and I fear that I may actually lose the tooth.

Saturday was the weirdest of days. It was so humid that you could have cut the air with a knife! I went out to do a few errands, and I saw the most beautiful eggplant at the grocery store for 99¢ a pound!

Since I had thawed my last spaghetti sauce from 2011 to use up, I thought this might be a good day to make Eggplant Lasagna. Only this time I omitted the sausage and just had a ground meat base along with the eggplant. It came out really well, and we will have some for lunch today (Sunday).

Of course on Saturday, we also had the wild weather, when the cold front blew on through. We did not have any Tornadoes, but we did have heavy rain and hard winds. Our lights blinked a few times, but luckily, we did not lose power.

Sunday morning found us waking early, as my face was hurting, and the dogs (read that Miss Greta), wanted to go out. So, up we got, and I grabbed a jacket (the temperature had dropped to 59 F or 15 C. And the air was dry!

Yes, I have opened my windows and I’m enjoying the fresh air!

The week ahead is a busy one. Hubby goes for his physical tomorrow, Tuesday I go to have my retinas checked, and also to vote in our State Primary’s. Wednesday is Weight Watchers, Thursday is back to the Dentist and Friday I go to babysit my darling Savannah Rose!

And then…it will be the weekend again!

My life is flying by!

How about you?

Here is an update on my misbehaving tooth. On Friday I went in and had a temporary crown put on. This is to see if some of my side effects, ie: the sensitivity to hot and cold, to chewing, etc. disappear.

My dentist shot me up with Novocaine, (YAY!) and then finished the prep work. I felt nothing! (Double YAY) They finally put on the temporary crown, and I go back on Thursday, next week to be measured for the permanent crown. That is, if I have no pain between now and then.

Well, last night after the Novocaine wore off, I had a dull ache. It was in the jaw, so I’m thinking that it was from all the drilling and fitting that they did. I had trouble sleeping, but by morning, the pain seemed to be a little better.

Then I brushed my teeth and flossed the way the doctor showed me, and the silly tooth/jaw are not feeling great.

I am determined to keep this darn tooth though, and will do just about anything I can to do that. However, I admit to being a worrier, and I’m afraid this makes me a less than fabulous patient.

My dentist is so patient! In fact, I think he is close to being a saint! His first calling in life was as an Elementary School teacher. However, after a few years of teaching little ones, he went back to school and got his degree in Dentistry and Dental Surgery.

He is so wonderful to worry warts like me. I have never felt pain when sitting in his chair, nerves, yes, but pain, no.

So that is the latest!

When I was growing up and thinking about what I wanted in life, I knew first and foremost, I wanted to be a mother. I loved children, and more than anything, I wanted children of my own.

I knew I wanted to be a stay at home Mom, as I didn’t really have any aspirations career wise. Just being a Mom, and raising our kids, was what I wanted.

But then, when I started looking further down the road, I began to think about what I wanted to do in life.

I’d always enjoyed gardening. Not flowers and such, but vegetables. When I was a teenager, I helped my Mom with her vegetable garden and really had enjoyed it. I wanted to learn all about gardening, and about canning the vegetables and fruits.

When we settled in our house here in New Hampshire I began to learn all about canning. I make my own jellies, and I also make my own tomato sauces.

Granted, it is a lot of work, but it’s happy work!

I think of my Grandmother when I cook. She loved to cook and she always made it happy work. Grandma Honey was one of those amazing women that had both a career and family, and made it all work.

So now, in my midlife, I enjoy the cooking and canning, the fruits of my labor. Best of all, I look forward to next years garden!

And…here we go!

1. I am feeling really happy tonight. I spent the afternoon on Thursday making one of our favorite meals. Julia Child’s BOEUF BOURGUIGNON. It came out so well, and while I was cooking it, I felt really good! I realized then, that I do love to cook!!!
2. It seems that so many people do not stop to enjoy something as simple as a beautiful sunset. Tonight’s sunset was just amazing!
3. My dogs, makes me laugh.
4. Did you know that I am truly blessed in my life. I have the love of my family and friends, and my health is good. Yes, I am blessed!
5. I looked more closely and I saw a little face, with a pointy nose looking out at me. It seems that Anneliese enjoys waking me up doing the commando crawl from her spot under the covers, up to my face.
6. I’m so glad That my daughter and I have found a wonderful close place in each other’s lives. I like her, as much as LOVE her and now we have sweet Savannah Rose and a future of watching her grow!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to spending some time preparing for my appointment with my Retinal Surgeon on Tuesday, tomorrow my plans include cooking a rotisserie chicken and Sunday, I want to watch the last matches of Tennis for this years US Open!!!

Here we are again. Already it is Thursday and there is truly a lot going on. Here is what I find myself involved with.

1. I remembered to stop by the Veterinarian’s Office and get Greta’s pain medication.
2. She has a disc in her neck that slips out from time to time, and one dose of Meticam and a good night sleep and she is back to normal the next day.
3. I came home to find that Hubby was still watching the TV in his robe.
4. I swear that HD TV makes you lazy! All you want to do is watch it!
5. I found that there is a DVD of Carly Simon’s Concert on Martha’s Vineyard! So I ordered it!
6. Next week if you hear singing coming from my house, that’s me singing along with Carly!
7. The humidity returned on Wednesday afternoon. I feel so sticky!
8. I decided to make a pot roast for tomorrow. So I pulled out the roast to thaw.
9. I seldom make pot roasts in the summer, but I sure have a hankering for one!
10. Friday I go in to have my tooth reexamined. It is still bothering me, but I am doing my best to save it.
11. My Mom broke her foot and really is not able to take care of herself.
12. Thankfully, my sister was able to get her into a rehabilitation facility.
13. Does 2012 seem to be flying by for you too?

1. In your opinion what’s the most important job in the world? Oh, and parenting is a given so besides parenting, what’s the most important job in the world?

I take great pride in being a good homemaker. Not just raising kids, but making a home for them and for my husband. I spent the past weekend canning jelly for the winter. I have canned 8 cases of jellies, and frozen gallons of tomato sauce for the winter. In this day and age, where food prices are rising, the fact that I provide for my family in this way fills me with pride. I also cook 99% of our meals from scratch. I enjoy it, and my husband tells me how important it is for him.

Nourishing the mind and the soul and the stomach!

2. Share a favorite or not so favorite memory from a childhood birthday.

My birthday is in November and I don’t recall any big birthdays because we would celebrate with family a week later at Thanksgiving. But as an adult, my sister gave me a surprise party with my parents, (Dad was still living) and my Uncle George (he also was still with us), cooked my favorite meal, and my daughter, Mandy and cousin Janet all showed up! Great birthday!

3. Peanut butter-crunchy or smooth?

Either way is just fine. I love peanut butter!!!

4. William Butler Yeats is credited as saying, “Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that but simply growth, We are happy when we are growing.” Your thoughts?

I don’t agree. I cannot believe how happy being a grandmother had made me. It’s such a pleasure! Perhaps personal growth can make us happy, but not solely so.

5. What’s something that makes you cringe?

When I see a parent being cruel to their child. I want to rush over to them and tell them to take 5. Step back and then think about what they are trying to accomplish. I have only stepped in once, and that was in a grocery store where a grown woman was slapping a three year old!

Having lost a child, I think I’m more appreciative of children and their needs then a lot of parents. Some of these people feel like their kids are a burden, rather than a gift!

6. Name a song that always puts you in a good mood?

I love this song because Carley Simon and I share the same vocal range!

7. The answer is yes. What’s the question?

Do you want to: go on a cruise? out to dinner? or shopping?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I woke up today (Tuesday) to rain. The remnants of Hurricane Ivan. I love rainy weather. Since all the operations on my eyes bright sunlight is painful. So I really love my rainy days!

Twenty four jars of Concord Grape Jelly!

Monday, that’s what I spent my day doing. After cleaning the grapes on Saturday and pressing them on Sunday, I found myself on Monday actually making the jelly! I started at 9:30 and didn’t stop until 3 PM! All that time spent on my feet, stirring the jelly.

I learned the hard way, years ago, what happened when you didn’t follow the recipe and stir constantly. The mixture would quickly bubble up, overflow the pot and then set like candy on the top of my cook stove! What a mess!

So, today I made sure I stirred the juice, while it cooked into the tastiest batch of jelly I have made in many a year!

I’d been worried that I would not have too many jars, but 24 is great. I like to make up baskets of jelly and bread, for gifts at Christmas and birthdays! Needless to say, my family is thrilled, as the Grape Jelly is their favorite!

Later in the afternoon I made a nice fresh spaghetti sauce with a lot of vegetables for our supper. I still need to do the dishes and then, my day is done! Thank goodness!

Our host is Gattina. Come join us and tell us what YOU did this past weekend! After all, you never know when you will need an alibi!

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The weekend began with my back still out. This made for a very quiet Friday and Saturday, that I filled with movies. I’m afraid that when we unlocked the HD in our TV, we unleashed a monster! Both Hubby and I are really enjoying watching every program we can, which is broadcast in HD. Even movies we have seen a million times before. Let’s just say, it’s wonderful.

On Saturday I cleaned Concord Grapes so that on Sunday I could cook them down and start preparations for Grape Jelly. We have enough Grapes for two and a half batches of Jelly. Not nearly enough for my family. They would eat this jam daily if I could produce it. Sadly, this year is a small year for our grapes. Like almost everything in our garden, the grapes did not fare well.

I have really been enjoying watching the US Open Tennis! Thank you Direct TV for getting me set up so quickly. It has been a joy!

Sunday, I woke up and my back was actually feeling better. I’m able to move, breath and bend without pain. Thus showing me that the doctor was right, all those years ago, when he told me that occasionally I would have those two discs slip a bit, but to avoid surgery at all costs. Which I have. Lord knows, I do not need any more surgeries, if I can possibly help it!

Oh yes, on Friday afternoon, when I was walking Arnie and Anneliese outside, I suddenly heard a loud crack! The top of the nearest Peach tree had literally cracked from the tree, under the weight of the peaches it carried.

We were heart broken, but what can you do? Nothing.

Hubby has been picking the peaches from the tree this weekend, and then he will have to prune away the broken wood. Sad…so sad.

Today we will take all the grape juice and get it cooked up into jelly. Hubby always helps with the canning. It’s one of the things we really enjoy doing together.

Happy Labor Day Everyone!!!