Tuesday, April 17, 2007

God Bless VaTech!

I don't understand it.
I can't imagine being those students, the families, the friends, the faculty....
I pray for them even though I don't understand.

I spend many vacations in Blacksburg as a little kid. My father and grandmother attended Continuing Education classes at VaTech. and we would stay the week. It was a treat for us, a little college town where my brother and I were 'free to roam because it was safe.' I don't understand any of this.

I pray for all of them.
May God bless them.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Surgery

The biggest thing happening right now is my mother-in-law's surgery. Wednesday she is going in the hospital for surgery to remove a a mass and a piece of her lung, they will test it on the spot if it's benign, then they sew her up and that's it. If it's malignant, then they will remove a little more lung to be sure "they got it all" and then we'll see - I guess. She will be in the hospital for 4 or 5 days. She is the primary caregiver for her mom that lives with them. Her brother (against his wife's wishes) will be picking her up the night before the surgery. It's a difficult situation but he needs to impress upon his wife that it's his mom too! and he needs to step up and help out. For goodness sake it's not like she's going on a 3-month cruise around the world! But I digress.
Back to Wednesday, hubby is taking the day off from work to be at the hospital with his parents, the boys conveniently get out of school early that day and want me to take them to the hospital after school.

I am putting together a basket of things to cheer her up. I'm thinking....a couple of magazines in Spanish, a couple of books, some hand lotion, and maybe a couple of pictures to put on the "nightstand" in the room. I couldn't think of anything else, I still have tomorrow to work on it. I'll buy the lotion on my way home from work, I already bought the books and magazines and will put the basket together tonight and see how it looks.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Me, Myself and I

We had the house to ourselves on Saturday morning. Technically I was stranded at home with no car. 17 had practice and hubby and 14 went to the Hurricane Spring game.

So, I set the TV to watch some old movies, I don't know if it was TNT or TBS or AMC but someone was running a Shirley Temple marathon. Fine, non-thinking movies. I would have preferred Doris Day because at least I chuckle once in a while but fine.

Then I set to baking and cooking. I made a Red Velvet Cake. I hadn't had that since I was a kid and a few weeks (read months) ago there was an article in the paper. Apparently it's back in fashion and they had a recipe for the one from the Waldorf Astoria. My co-worker who showed me the article instantly gave it to me when I said WOW, I'd love to make that. So, I finally did. It came out really good! It's a two layer cake, with a hint of chocolate, red (duh) with an AMAZING frosting made of cream cheese, marscapone cheese, whipping cream and confectioner's sugar - DELISH! Of course, I brought about a quarter of the cake to the office and everyone noshed on it all day.

I also made mini-loaves of banana bread because I had lots of overripe bananas. For this I also tried a new recipe that calls to make a banana cream prior to adding the dry ingredients. That came out very nice too.

I also made one heck of a marinade for a roast for dinner. I probably won't ever be able to duplicate it because it was just a mix of things that struck my fancy when I searched the cupboard and fridge. But the roast was a hit with the family. It was fall apart with a fork soft and had soooo much flavor. I did all of that with Shirley tapping in the background. Lovely!

By the time the boys came home I was taking out the banana bread and the cake was cooling waiting to be frosted. They changed the channel to watch the Masters Tournament, started bringing out piles of laundry that they needed for that night and the next day, the phones (their cell phones) started ringing with their friends making plans, requests for gas money etc. Oh, well it was a relaxing morning.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Easter

This is the first Easter in forever that we didn't go to mass. We haven't been going lately and we thought it would be hypocritical to show up on Easter not having gone in so long plus Easter is a terrible day to go to mass because all those people who never go decide to go on that day and Palm Sunday and Christmas. So, we slept in.

Easter was different this year. I didn't dye eggs with any kids, I didn't make baskets, I didn't bake, I didn't cook, I didn't put together little gifts for the nephews and cousins but just wrapped in cellophane no baskets this year. I didn't stuff plastic Easter eggs with candy, or hide them. 14 did help hide them and kept walking around the yard yelling "I see some eggs over here!" and all the kids would come charging over.

I just showed up with my family and a dozen bagels, cream cheese, champagne (for mimosas) and supplies for a chocolate fountain - all store bought. That's what I was asked to bring and I followed instructions. :) Odd for me :)

We spent it with my husband's extended family. It was at his aunt's house. There was quite a turn out. Let's see at least 35 people ranging in age from 3-83. My boys are too big for Easter, I miss that. I like doing the crafts and activities for each holiday but I guess that's over now. I'll have to recruit others. One young cousin who's 9, commented that she's never dyed real eggs. Her mom has never done that and doesn't know how (yes, she could read the directions but whatever!) So, we have a date for next Easter to dye real eggs. I hope she still wants to next year, that will be nice.

Lately, I'm thinking that the holidays are for the young who enjoy them and the old to remember when they were young and I'm in this in between stage. It's like another version of adolescence. I guess this is mid-life. WOW, that sounds terrible.

It was nice seeing everyone, it had been a while.

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

NCAA Tournament

Well, it's over and I've got KP duty.

Hubby and I had a bet on whoever did better had to do the dishes for a week. That would be me. See usually, I cook and he cleans it up. The boys were joking at dinner that this would be the last homemade meal for a week because now that I had to clean up after myself we'd have drive-thru for a week. HAHAHA They are such smarty pants! I wouldn't do that! Honest!

I think I did pretty well, considering I had 3 out of the four teams in the final four. I had Georgetown winning it all and alas they didn't make it past the final four. Oh, well! It was fun doing the brackets with them. Maybe I'll do again next year.

But for now, I will be stopping at the grocery store on the way home to buy some paper plates and plastic cups! LOL!

Monday, April 02, 2007

Who's in your front row?

A friend sent this to me and I liked it!

Everyone Can't Be in Your FRONT ROW.

Life is a theater so invite your audiences carefully. Not everyone is holy enough and healthy enough to have a FRONT ROW seat in our lives. There are some people in your life that need to be loved from a distance. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you let go, or at least minimize your time with draining, negative, incompatible, not-going-anywhere relationships, friendships, fellowships, and family!

Everyone Can't Be in Your FRONT ROW.

Observe the relationships around you. Pay attention to: Which ones lift and which ones lean? Which ones encourage and which ones discourage? Which ones are on a path of growth uphill and which ones are just going downhill? When you leave certain people, do you feel better or feel worse? Which ones always have drama or don't really understand, know and appreciate you and the gift that lies within you?

Everyone Can't Be in Your FRONT ROW.

The more you seek God and the things of God, the more you seek quality, the more you seek not just the hand of God but the face of God, the more you seek things honorable, the more you seek growth, peace of mind, love and truth around you, the easier it will become for you to decide who gets to sit in the FRONT ROW and who should be moved to the BALCONY of your life.

Everyone Can't Be in Your FRONT ROW.

You cannot change the people around you...but you can change the people you are around! Ask God for wisdom and discernment and choose wisely the people who sit in the FRONT ROW of your life. Remember that FRONT ROW seats are for special and deserving people and those who sit in Your FRONT ROW should be chosen carefully.

Everyone Cannot Be in Your FRONT ROW!

Sometimes I think I need to be more selective on who I give tickets to and where their seats are located. I tend to leave the door open and its a free for all. Sometimes that's fun but not always. HMmm.