Thursday, October 28, 2010

Sunrise at the Beach

Went to the beach the other morning to watch the sunrise. There were only one or two people there and they were far down the beach so it felt like a private showing.



Couldn't aim the camera right at the sunrise so I took this "reflected sunrise" photo.






When I headed back to my car I turned around one more time and saw this view:

Friday, October 22, 2010

Memories

This photo was taken on a camping trip we went on with friends in upstate NY.


Alex loved his four daughters - he was always singing "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" from the movie GiGi in a fake French accent:
I guess this was a serious moment for me!:



We knew each other in high school and we both went to the same church. He was friends with my older brother and would come over to our home all the time and hang out there. He dated all my friends and I took his photo with me away to college. Yes, I had a "crush" on him - I smile as I write the old-fashioned word.

When he came back from Viet Nam I was working for Eastman Kodak in New York City - I was a blond by then and when he came over to our house he finally noticed me - smile. We starting dating in October and he asked me to marry him in January and we were married in May.

We had a lot of really good times and good experiences and a lot of really really hard times but through it all I always knew that Alex loved me and only me and I will always treasure that knowledge.

In memory of Alex Adare who died six years ago today.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

In Case of Accident Please Go to My Home and Turn Off the Oven

Today is my sister's birthday and she likes Pineapple Upside Down Cake. I decided to make her her favortie cake. Sounds simple doesn't it?

I needed to go to the grocery store to get some of the ingredients - I was using a recipe from a Duncan Hines Cookbook that required DH Pineapple Supreme Cake Mix, a 20 ounce can of pineapple rings, a bottle of maraschino cherries and I needed more eggs and some other things. Drove to the store which is really five minutes away and came back home to start the cake.

Melted the butter in the bottom of the 9 x 13 pan, sprinkled the brown sugar over the melted butter and then began to put the drained pineapple rings on the cake in an orderly fashion. I needed 12 rings and there were only 10 in the can - the recipe promised me that there would be 12 rings in a 20 ounce can so I had only purchased one can. The cake batter was all mixed - the pan was already but lacking 2 rings - and the oven was all ready to go at 350 degrees. So back in the car I went tearing over to the grocery store - running in (the checker sees me and smiles and calls out to me asking if I forgot something) - I get the second can of pineapple rings and get in line to pay.

This whole time I am worrying about leaving the oven going and what if I am in a car accident and no one knows about the oven being left on and I'm wondering if in situations like this if I should pin a note to myself saying, "In case of accident please go to my house and turn off the oven" - sorry but this is the way my brain works.

Got back home and successfully got the cake in the oven with all the required pineapple rings and maraschino cherries and it came out just fine!!!

Oh - I like to collect pigs so I threw in a photo of some of my pigs!



Thursday, October 7, 2010

"i Pacifiers????"

"People are reading less. They may buy Kindles or iPads, but I venture that they're just showcasing their ability to buy the latest gadgets rather than reading much on them.

I encourage you to attend a class in which I attempt to teach college students raised on texting, the internet, video games (which their ignorant parents tell them are educational or intelligence boosters), and various other iPacifiers. My students are thoroughly distracted. They tell me that it is physically painful for them to sit and read for more than ten minutes. They are always looking for the next text, the next google search, the next hit. They're like addicts who can't control themselves. Their brains are not like the brains of students I had only five years ago.

They also think that they don't need to know anything, because they can just use google--something they treat as a collective brain. God help them when they're told that being an educated person means going a lot deeper than the dubious entries in wikipedia.

The drop in the literacy levels of my middle-class, largely white, suburban students in the last 2 years alone is staggering. Don't tell me that people are switching to e-reading. They're not. People are reading less and if my students are any indication, many of them are not reading books at all."

This was written by an anonymous college professor in reply to an article in the NY Times about why people aren't buying books. I thought the comment was pretty relevant to what is really happening - especially with students.

Heather's Birth Day - Oct. 6th

Today is your birthday and on each one of my daughter’s birthdays I am always remembering – remembering that very special day in our lives.

I had a lot of fun being pregnant with you – in August I was swimming in the ocean off LI (Robert Moses/Fire Island) and I remember one day the lifeguard asked me to please not go in the water – what? He didn’t want to rescue and eight months pregnant woman??? I promised him I wouldn’t body surf . . .

Dad and I were so excited to be having another baby and were looking forward to your birth towards the end of September. Your older sister started nursery school and still no baby! Day after day was going by and nothing was happening so I finally called the doctor because I was now like two weeks overdue – I mentioned this to him and he acts surprised and schedules me to be induced on Oct. 6th – 16 days past your due date!

We got everything scheduled and Dad took me to North Shore University Hospital where everything got started – the mechanics – but not the delivery! Hour after hour went by with nothing really happening and finally the doctor came to talk with us about 2 p.m. and told us he felt he should deliver you by C-Section and then things really started to happen. They asked if they could give me an epidural and I agreed (I later learned when I had April that it must have still been in the experimental stage). One of things I remembered was they asked me to bring my knees up under my chin and I replied that I hadn’t seen my feet in three months let alone my knees (my friends said I looked as though I had the largest beach ball in the world under my shirt – nice).

After they administered the epidural I went into shock – shaking or I should say violently vibrating all over and getting cold and clammy. The nurse came in to wrap me in warm blankets and elevate my feet and I asked her if I was in shock and she wanted to know why I was asking and I told her I had read enough Reader’s Digest articles to know what the symptoms of shock were. She laughed nervously.

They were rolling me down the corridor to the operation room (still vibrating) and I realized that with everything happening I had never even prayed – and I was really concerned how they were going to start the surgery with me shaking all over. I closed my eyes and said, “Jesus,” and whoosh this amazing feeling of peace, calmness and joy just washed over me and the shaking disappeared. I have never forgotten that moment.

The operating room was freezing cold and everyone was ready to start once the guest of honor arrived – they started my pricking my legs asking me if I felt that and I kept saying yes – yes – yes – and my doctor says that he’ll start – and I say something about the fact that I felt all of those and that I was six feet tall and shouldn’t we wait until that numbing stuff takes affect? They started and I mentioned to them that I could feel the surgical knife!!!! I could see their eyes and the doctor said they would wait a moment (I’m sure they put something in the IV to keep me quiet!).

The best part was that I got to see you right after the delivery and all I could say was how beautiful you were – over and over again. You weighed 11 lbs. 14 oz. and you were 23 inches long!!!!! And the doctor had said he wanted to do the C-Section before you got too big!!! HAH!

Everyone loved you in the hospital. The nursery nurses asked Dad to bring in one of his T-shirts as they didn’t have anything big enough for you and anytime I went down to the nursery to see you one of the nurses would be carrying you around. I was breast feeding you and had absolutely no problems though I would let you fall asleep nestled on my shoulder (no I didn’t do rooming in – that would happen soon enough when I got home).

When it was time to go home the doctor gave me instructions not to lift anything over 10 lbs. and I looked at him and said that that would leave Heather out!!! Really!!! Arriving home we began the tradition of the last sibling holding the newest for the first time and how special that was to let Kristen hold her brand new sister - sitting down with lots of pillows around!!!

And now we celebrate Heather – who is so much to so many people -wife, mother, daughter, sister, granddaughter, daughter-in-law, cousin, aunt – involved in church, school, soccer, tennis, bike riding, scrapbooking (that are truly works of art), decorating, mural painting, warm welcoming parties, camping and the list goes on. Heather has the wonderful character quality of friendship and hospitality – she truly knows how to be a really good friend by encouraging, speaking truth in love and always being there for you and combines that with a home that always welcomes you. I have to mention her sense of humor because she was the daughter who called me after having her first baby and said, “Mom, this is the worst baby sitting job I have ever had! The parent’s still haven’t come back!!! What am I going to do?” – I still laugh over that one! And Heather the artist – her imagination, talent and design ability have been proven and when she finds the right direction to go with it all – watch out!

What a blessing to have Heather in our lives – what a blessing to have a daughter whose faith is a real daily walk and who can call me and ask me if she can pray for me. What a precious gift – a daughter, a friend and a kindred spirit.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Out of Commission

Last Sunday night I started feeling really sick during the night and ended up calling my sister who lives nearby to come over and help me - I was really sick to my stomach and at first I thought it was food poisoning but now I think it was some kind of "bug." It felt as though a hurricane hit me.

My daughter, who also lives nearby, came over to help and even my 90 yr old Mom came over and sat with me so I wasn't alone. Today is Saturday and I'm still taking it easy - I might go to the beach later and just sit and soak up some vitamin D - the sound and sight of the ocean is always good medicine for me.