A Very White Christmas!

Flannery and Ryan ventured off to Canada for the holidays, to visit his family. Thoughtful as she always is, Flannery offered to stop at Lake Louise, which is located in the beautiful Banff National Forest, and take a photo for me, knowing that Lake Louise is one of my most favorite spots in the world. Wow! It sure looks different in the winter! Apparently, it was sooooo cold, the rest of their party stayed in the car while this photo was shot. They were headed to Vernon from Calgary, and the trip was a beautiful one, albeit a very chilly one. Thanks, guys!

Photo credits: Title photo for blog - Ryan May/Flannery; Photo of R & F - Steve May

O Tannenbaum

As I was watering, decorating, ooohing and aaaawing, and generally primping over my beautiful Christmas tree this weekend (and wondering how long it will take the cats to destroy it), I thought about all the Christmas trees I've welcomed into my home over the years. Sorry, folks. We're about to take a trip down memory lane and you'll just have to get over it, or stop reading right now and either check your facebook account or pour yourself a drink, or both.

Anyhoo, my very first Christmas as an adult I remember well (don't worry, I'm getting to the tree part of the story eventually), because my then-boyfriend worked at night guarding a Christmas tree lot, so he could buy me an engagement ring. Isn't that just so sweet? This was back when the dinasours roamed the earth and people didn't have cell phones. They had regular, plug-it-in-to-the-wall type phones (quaintly referred to as "land lines" now). Well, because we were just so much in love, we spent the majority of each night, all night, talking to each other on the phone while he was supposed to be "guarding" these trees. So, just so you get the visual here, the trees are outside and he's inside this trailer with the heater cranked up. I remember one conversation we had went something like this: Him: "Hold on. I hear something." Me: "Be careful!" Him: "I'm not going outside. Hell, no. It's too cold out there and I can see the guys stealing the trees. They are about twice my size!". So much for hiring someone to "guard" the trees. We did get engaged that Christmas Eve, and my ring was very simple, and very lovely.

The first actual tree I remember buying as an adult cost me all of $5.00. We were very broke and waited until Christmas Eve to buy our tree, when most of the lots would practically give the trees away. We truly had a "Charlie Brown" tree that year, for a whopping $5.00, but we excitedly hauled it home to our little apartment and decorated it. It was a real beauty!

Large and majestic, or small and sweet, all trees are great to me. The fact that you get to bring one into your home for a little while just sweetens the deal.

Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Santa Baby

Happy (burp) belated Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

My favorite holiday of the year, Thanksgiving, flew by faster than the food disappeared at the bountiful table, filled with family and friends and savory treats. It started early, 4:00 a.m. By 8:00 a.m., four pies (two pumpkin, one apple, and one chocolate), made entirely from scratch, I might add, had been baked and were cooling on the windowsill in the kitchen. Krus came out to the kitchen and asked Maeg if the goal was to eat the 23 lb. turkey all in one day!

The day sped on as the turkey roasted, stuffing was made, potatoes boiled and mashed, etc., etc. As family and friends arrived, activity in the kitchen reached a fevered pitch (controlled chaos, I assure you), and viola! By 8:00 p.m., we were strolling around the neighborhood, trying to make room for dessert, enjoying the fresh autumn evening air, burping and farting, and just generally enjoying ourselves.

It was a very lovely day. I am most grateful for my family and friends that were able to come. I missed Taylor and Racquel, and thoughts of them popped up in my head many, many times, despite the hectic antics in the kitchen. Grateful for all the help in the kitchen and the unconventional clean up later. (Thanks, Cathy!)

The priceless scene? Watching little Johnny use a pressure washer in the backyard, in the dark, to rinse all the dishes after dinner, as our plumbing/pipes decided to take a very leisurely trip to "You are soooo screwed now", "Go ahead, just try to unclog me", and "You'll never get these pipes unclogged".

Of course, being the handyman extraordinaire, little Johnny handyman did get the sink and pipes unclogged, eventually. The picture above is little Johnny, enjoying the cranberry sauce as a little one. Cranberry sauce has always been his favorite part of the Thanksgiving dinner.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there, biological or otherwise! Although I tend to view this day as sort of a "Hallmark Holiday", most of America celebrates it, so I extend my best to each and every mother or anyone who nurtures and cares for us all.

I am of the opinion that my children should be kind to me every day, and celebrate my existence on a regular basis, not just on a day that happens to fall on this particular day of the year. Actually, they do! I should be celebrating their existence, thankful that my children are exactly who they are: individuals in their own right, brainy, thoughtful, beautiful, well read, kind, creative, divergent thinkers, and all around really great humans. Not particularly easy to raise, but worth every second of it. Really. They have taught me so much about myself, people in general, and life. I am so lucky!

Thank you, Taylor, Flannery, and Megan. Please don't read anything into the order I listed your names (youngest to oldest). I love you (don't ask who is the favorite, you know who you are)! Loving you this much has nothing to do with who got the window seat (shot gun), the biggest scoop of ice cream, or an extra story at bedtime. Don't make me come back there!

Of all the motherly things I have done in my life, one of my favorites is baking cookies. Since I have been baking chocolate chip cookies since I was ten, and I just happened to be baking cookies when Taylor arrived, he felt obligated to enjoy a few of them, just to make my day complete!

It's GOOD to be GREEN

"You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give."
Winston Churchill

To My Wee Lad and Lassies:
(Maeg, Flannery, and Taylor, my children)

Beannachtai na Feile Padraig
(Happy St. Patrick's Day!)