Flowers, Birthdays and Packing!

Yesterday was my 50th birthday! I still can't believe it. I guess I'm officially an adult...well, maybe not. The best part of the day was receiving this beautiful basket of flowers from my daughter, sister and nephew. Aren't they glorious?

Now, you might be thinking I had a great big birthday bash or even a nice romantic dinner out with DH and you would be dead wrong! Yesterday was the culmination of an incredibly hectic and weird few weeks.

It started with a road trip with Julie to San Diego and ended with me spending my B-day unpacking all the moving boxes I had spent the last week packing! I'm tired!

It all started like this...

I'm planning a road trip to San Diego to visit my Mother who is in Hospice. This is around the beginning of February. Julie and I decide to leave on her birthday. Several days prior to our leaving Corky is partially laid off at work. No one saw this coming! But we decide to go through with the trip as Mom is very ill.

Julie and I leave for San Diego on February 19th (her B-day) to visit my Mother whom I hadn't seen in over 10 years. Once we got to San Diego, Julie realized that she wanted to move back and attend school for music production. Great news. Lee-Ann, my sister, offered her the spare bedroom with open arms. Wonderful! Let's plan the return trip.

We head back home to Colorado on the 25th. On the way home, Corky calls me on the cell and tells me his job is gone. That's right, no more work! Bad! So, I continue on home with my mind just whirling.

Once home, we decide that we will move back to Washington and stay with friends until we can regroup. Our Colorado home is a virtual ghost town. Everyone is gone. The oil fields are done! Nothing left for us here. We'll just pack up and leave. But first, we need to bring Julie back to San Diego.

So, with Julie's help we pack up the house and get it ready to go. We bring Roo to our friend Andrea's; Corky, Julie and I head to San Diego. We leave on March 3rd and drive straight through, 14 and 1/2 hours! I'm dying! We visit for one day and leave on the 5th to return home. Can't even think at this point.

We get home on the evening of the 6th after picking Roo up. We spend all day on the 7th finishing the packing and picking up a car dolly to tow my car. This is now Saturday evening. At 10 pm the phone rings...who could it be this late?

Well, it is a job offer for Corky! I can't believe my ears. A wonderful job offer no less. Truck boss, company truck, credit cards, expense accounts. I see the gleam in his eyes! All of the things he's wanted dropped right in his lap. We discuss and discuss. I'm thinking I'll have to unload and unpack all of this stuff!!! What should we do?

Well, of course, he had to take it. Do we continue on our way to Washington, to no jobs and no home? Do we stay in Colorado in our own home with a great job? A no brainer...especially in this time of horrible job prospects.

So, to get back to my B-day story. I spent my 50th birthday unpacking my moving boxes, eating take-out pizza and thanking God for a wonderful day!

My First Loaf of ABin5

Bread, bread, glorious bread! I love bread that has a crispy crust and a soft chewy crumb and I've found it in ABin5. ABin5 stands for Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. This is a great book and I recommend it to anyone who loves bread.

I was raised by a mother who loves the breads from her childhood. This is the bread that came from the local Italian and Jewish bakeries where she grew up in Brooklyn, New York. She has passed this passion on to her children.

I have found this type of bread almost impossible to find. There was one bakery in San Diego where you could buy authentic Italian breads, rolls and cookies, but that was about it. Now, that I live in a rural part of Colorado on the Western Slope it is an impossible task.

Then one day I came across an article in Mother Earth News that outlined how to make delicious artisan bread in five minutes a day without having to allow time for rising or kneading. I thought it couldn't be that easy, but it was! I made my first loaf and couldn't believe the results. The smell, the crunch and the taste were fabulous and all from my own oven! Even factoring in the altitude issues here the result was great.

The biggest surprise of all was DH's response. This is a guy whose idea of good bread is Wonder! I was sure he would hate the crisp crust and the chewiness of the interior, but boy was I wrong. I'm asked almost everyday if I've made anymore of that bread...lol! I even started making it in a loaf pan vs. free-form to make "neater" sandwiches for the big guy.

It also makes great pizza. I make a traditional thin crust for myself and Julie and a thicker Sicilian style for Corky. Everybody is happy!

Now, I just came across another method similar to this one to make an organic, no yeast /no knead sourdough bread. This is also a wet dough that has endless possibilities. I found this recipe in my favorite magazine MaryJanesFarm (www.maryjanesfarm.org). This is a magazine devoted to organic gardening, cooking and living. I just love it and recommend you check it out!

Well, that's probably enough "waxing poetic" about bread for one day. Besides, I have a loaf of bread to bake!

Completed!

This post is long over due. I actually sent these hats off to Save The Children's Knit One, Save One drive back in December. I was so proud of myself and just making this contribution gave me such a lift. What a wonderful holiday project. I did include a letter to President-Elect Obama and I hope that the flood of letters he will be receiving really can make a positive impact. Seems to me we can spend our dollars on better things than sending our sons and daughters off to be slaughtered!

Anyway, no preaching here. I'm just so glad that I had the chance to contribute something so much larger than myself! I hope that there's an opportunity to continue to make these type of charity drives possible.

Julie's Coming Home Today!!

Just a quick note. Julie's coming home today. We're on our way to Denver to fetch her. I'm soooo excited. She's coming home for good and we couldn't be happier.

This will be the first Thanksgiving and Christmas in 6 years that we get to spend together. There couldn't be a better Christmas present under the sun!

Tony and Mauss were supposed to come along, but after much agonizing and soul searching it was decided that Mauss should be adopted out. It was just too much to try and get her on a plane. Poor kitty... I know that it is better this way. So, Tony is going to find her a new home and then he'll be on his way too! We should all be together for Christmas! I can't wait. Corky is so excited!

Well, I had better get myself in gear. We're stopping to see some friends outside of Denver then it is off to DIA... We've about a 4 hour drive ahead of us and then have to turn right around and come home. A long day, but more than worth it!

Knit One, Save One

I just taught myself how to knit! I have been searching for a new "passion" since having to give up Counted Cross Stitch due to a severe lack of cooperation from aging eyes! I have dabbled a little bit in Scrapbooking, and while I enjoyed it I just didn't get that "feeling" one gets when they're doing something they love.

I loved Cross Stitch. It was relaxing. I made beautiful gifts for people. It made me feel creative and was certainly time well spent. Well, guess what? I get the same feeling from knitting! I love it! I'm always thinking of what I want to make next. I'm addicted to yarn, much the same way I was to floss! It just feels right.

Now for the icing on the cake.... I found the perfect charity to knit for this season! It lets me contribute even though I lack any real skill at knitting just yet. It is through http://www.savethechilrden.org and is called "Knit One, Save One". We're all knitting hats for new born babies in third world countries that will be included in kits given out to new mothers. This small gift gives these babies a fighting chance at survival. All donations are going to a central donation center (Brooklyn, New York) with a gift tag attached to each hate. We're also including a letter to President-Elect Obama. This is a wonderful, non-partisan cause, that is inexpensive, easy to do and has the potential to save a life!!

I made my first hat for this project and was so surprised at how easy it was. I hope anyone who can knit or crochet will give donating to this cause some serious thought! I know that I will be making many more of these little hats and sending them on their way to warm those tiny little ones who need all the help they can get.

Tag!

Charlee... you're in sooooooooo much trouble! ~grin~

Okay, my Sis-n-law, Charlee, has tagged me for this excruciating exercise for which I will never forgive her! But, being a good sport I'm going to play along to the best of my limited abilities. So now I have to mentally weed through all my eccentricities and narrow them down to 7. That in and of itself will be quite a task, but here goes.

**Rules first: #1) If you are tagged, you must first post the rules. #2) You must then write 7 strange characteristics about yourself. They interest us all! #3) Tag 5 other people at the end of your Post. And lastly #4) Visit everyone that you have tagged and leave a comment on their blog to let them know that they have been tagged.

Quirk #1) I love to go for long car rides with no particular destination necessary, but I absolutely hate to drive! I have a dread of being the driver that probably borders on a phobia. I just love being a passenger and watching the countryside go by. We live in such a beautiful country and I just love looking at the wildlife, the homes and anything else that happens to whiz by my window! The beauty of all of this is I married a man who loves to drive! No kidding, we just love to get in the car and go. We are definitely an example of two halves making a whole. And if there's some ice cream at the end of our journey so much the better. Hmmmm ice cream, that could almost be quirk #2!

Quirk #2) I'm an Anglophile! Yup. A true blue, died in the wool Anglophile. I love anything English. I love reading about their history, especially the Tudors. I love, love drinking tea. I love English mysteries. Biscuits for cookies, chips for fries, a fry-up for breakfast. I could go on forever, but luckily for you I won't :) I have been this way since I was a young girl reading all of those classic novels. See what reading can do to a young mind? Anyway, my dream is to someday visit our cousins across the big drink but then I would have to get over my phobia of flying! I told you this list would be hard to limit to 7!

Quirk #3) Okay, I do have to include my love of ice cream. I'm almost sure it borders on the abnormal. For some people it is drink and others drugs. For me it is truly ice cream. I consider it as being a major food group. If I designed the FDA's food pyramid ice cream would have it's own slice! There have been many times when I've sworn off the stuff in a futile effort to lose weight, but it is always there in the freezer calling my name. I have eaten it for lunch, dinner and of course dessert. Although, I can honestly say I have yet to succumb to enjoying it for breakfast! I feel so ashamed!

Quirk #4) I'm incredibly shy. I would rather take a beating than meet new people, go to large parties, be in a crowd. The first time I met my husband's family was at a 4 of July party at his sister, Shirley's house. He asked me to go on ahead and take his Mom with me. Okay, I'm thinking a family BBQ I can do this. After all I come from a family of 9. Well, we get there and there must be half of California in the backyard! Okay, maybe just 100 people! I felt my knees weaken, my stomach lurch and the cold sweat start. The only thing that kept my legs moving forward was the plan forming in my mind to KILL him the minute I saw him. Obviously I lived through it. Married him instead of ending his life and the rest is history!

Quirk #5) I like things to be in their place. I'm forever "putting stuff away". I just like things to look ordered. I have more "stuff" than the average bear, but it all has it's place. As I child I just loved things like ledger books and graphing paper with all of the "neat" little lines! Pretty bad huh? I'm still that way, but do my best to temper it and not impose my obsession on others. Honest! Which leads me to #6

Quirk #6) I love stuff! I hate barren walls, corners, counters, tables....it goes on. It has been a family joke for years that Peggy loves "stuff". As a child when asked what I wanted for Christmas I apparently would reply "oh, just stuff!". Well, it hasn't changed. A vacant corner in my house will drive me crazy until I find the perfect "thing" to fill it. Imagine my delight as a young wife when I spied my first corner cabinet!

Quirk #7) I hate to talk on the phone. I hate phones. Swore I would never have a cell phone! But then my daughter decided to move to Florida and I had to have one for her and myself! It is all Julie's fault ~grin~ I think everyone should have email. I love to talk through writing. Weird I guess but, true. Now, I enjoy talking with my family occasionally on the phone of course, catch up on all the news and such. But as an everyday means of communicating all the minutiae of life, no thanks! And calling businesses and being put on hold, pushing buttons and then getting someone who just learned English last week....pleeeeez! I love to receive and read emails. In the days before email I loved to receive and write letters. What a shame it is a lost art! You can get so much more out of a letter (email). I have laughed and cried out loud reading those written messages. To me it is so much more personal. Someone taking the time and making the effort to express their feelings, thoughts and ideas just for you!

So, there you have it. A few well chosen quirks about me! Now the sad part is I don't have 5 bloggers to send it to! That's something else that could be probably be one of my quirks. I'm a very self-contained person. I have a small network of family and friends who mean everything in the world to me, but am not part of a larger social circle. I will send an email to my daughter, son, hubby, my wonderful sisters~n~law and let them know they need to visit my blog. Who knows, maybe it will inspire them to start their own blogs? Maybe I can start a "written" word revolution....dreams for a mere mortal I'm afraid!

Anyway Charlee, just remember.... I won't forget this one!

The Visit

Well, my little girl has gone home! What a wonderful time we had. I never really realize just how much I miss her until I see her again. I don't think I could have put in a custom order for a better daughter. She is so funny, intelligent and empathetic. She also plays a mean game of Canasta!

This time I noticed that Julie is no longer a little girl. It seems that she has grown up in the 18 months since our last visit. She is truly an adult now...when did that happen?? I must not have been paying enough attention. Of course, she will always and forever be my baby girl. Nothing will ever change that.

We had so much fun. We took a ride out to Rifle Falls. What an absolutely gorgeous setting! I was busily taking pictures with my new digital camera when it died mid-pic! The batteries quit after only a few pictures. I was so mad I could have spit! Oh well, such is life. But Corky, Julie and I had a really good time. We walked up behind the falls and it is just breath taking.

We did quite a bit of clothes shopping too. It was so much fun to buy her some real "girly girl" things. I remember a time when I couldn't buy her anything if there was a flower or piece of lace anywhere near it. I really enjoyed our shopping and lunch dates.

One of the things I enjoyed the most was cooking for her. Living in Florida for the past 6 years she never gets to eat Mexican food and having grown up in San Diego it is her absolute favorite food to eat. I have quasi-mastered making soft tacos, pico de gallo and rice, which is her favorite. So, if I wasn't making Mexican we were dining out at the fabulous little Mexican place here in town. Then we topped it all off with Sonic Java Chillers. Life just doesn't get much better than that.

So, now the plan is for her, Toneh! and Mauss to come to Colorado to live. It is just too expensive for them in Florida on their fixed incomes. I can't wait. I know it won't happen immediately because they both have "planning" issues but I know it is coming. Yeah! It's Jully!

Corky was so sweet when she left. I didn't know if I should laugh or cry. The night she left he turned to me and said, "I think I have empty nest syndrome. I just miss Julie so much!" God, I just love that man!

Okay Julie hurry up and pack! Your Mummy misses you!