The moon and Venus

A New Year's Eve gift from the heavens. This is the crescent moon and Venus, giving us a lovely show this evening.

Happy New Year!

The good, the bad and the ugly

The ugly: I helped out at yet another fire yesterday; this one caused by a candle. Two families are homeless. Monroe County Fire Wire has posted some pictures here.

The bad: The dog died in the fire. A fireman carried him out to his owner.

The good: When I got home, I found these presents under our tree. Larry had taken his mother grocery shopping and saw these marked down 75% in the Christmas clearance aisle. He knows I love Santas, and he thought the ornaments were so pretty. He said they reminded him of ornaments his grandmother used to have. That Larry. I am blessed.

Teaching in the dark

Whenever a weather front comes through with temperature changes, wind usually comes with it. Well a front came through yesterday so there was this big wind storm here in Rochester. The winds were so strong that trees and power lines came down. So there we were in Sacrament meeting, having a lovely program by the youth when the lights went out! So we continued on as we normally would but with the curtains opened in the chapel to give a little more light. It was quite nice!

 But then it was Sunday School time. Some of the classrooms don't have windows which meant they were pitch dark. So they combined classes. And what ended up happening was that I had about DOUBLE the people in my class, in the dark, teaching by the light of the windows! For adults, we are a rowdy bunch so we had a blast ( a reverent blast!) as we finished up The Book of Mormon.

Our power at home was out for four hours.

Quite the day.

One stoned cat

So the cat got this cool pillow like thing from Grandma Locke for Christmas. It has catnip in it. 

Well.

All I can tell you is that the cat needed therapy after that play session. She could barely move. It was hilarious. She drooled all over the thing and hugged it and then finally used it as a pillow. We'll probably get arrested for giving drugs to a minor.

Here is the Un-mailed Christmas Card

To all of you,

If we were on the ball and you were getting a Christmas card this year, it would look like this:


and it would say:

"Thank you all for being part of our lives. Have a lovely Christmas season and a very Happy New Year 2009!"

It would also tell you about Larry's new friend, the neighbor dog named Harley.

Larry and Harley are best pals and spend lots of time together playing in the leaves and now romping in the snow. I would not forget to say that Larry is serving as the Hill Cumorah Pageant secretary and the ward employment specialist, and is still working from home for ThermoFisher Scientific.

I would mention my great calling as Gospel Doctrine teacher, fun trips to see family in NYC, seeing a Yankees game with them which was the highlight of the year,



and then about my cruise to Alaska

which actually ties for my highlight of the year. Then I would tell you about my shoulder surgery which went extremely well with more surgery coming up on the 12th of February. There goes my Valentine's Day dinner.....

We would send our love and best wishes and tell you of the love and gratitude we have for our Savior Jesus Christ.

It would be just the best Christmas card ever.

But since we're NOT on the ball, forget it.

We send our love anyway.

Mary Ann and Larry

Greatest cake place in Rochester

Our anniversary cake came from Premier Pastry and you can go here to see the best, most beautiful cakes you ever saw!

Bad day at work

There was a fatal fire yesterday, and a resident of the high rise fire on Sunday perished on Monday. I am stressed beyond words with all the fires going on and the sadness that people are experiencing. I don't know why there are so many fires but we've been hit hard lately. Please, all of you, be careful. NEVER leave a candle or a space heater unattended. Have fire extinguishers on all floors of your home and especially, make sure your smoke detectors work. Thank you. I love you. 

This week has been crazy

Monday - met my friend for lunch and then went to physical therapy for the shoulder

Tuesday - met another friend for an afternoon of Christmas shopping and then came home to have the sister missionaries over for dinner, then Larry and I went to Lowes to look for new lights and bulbs

Wednesday - took my mother-in-law grocery shopping, then made cookies for the cookie exchange that night which was WAY fun

Thursday - went to the temple and church bookstore, then met with a new doula client in the evening

Friday (today) - worked at Red Cross. Now I'm baking two cakes for the ward Christmas party tomorrow night and doing laundry. Larry is at the ward helping to set up for the party. I also need to finish my Gospel Doctrine lesson for Sunday

Tomorrow we have to go back to Lowes to return fluorescent light bulbs which were TERRIBLE. Then I have to iron. And go to the Christmas party.

It's a fun time and our Christmas tree looks Be you te ful!

Just for fun, I will pretend I was tagged by Carol. Here are the rules:

1. Choose the 4th picture folder on your computer

2. Choose the 4th picture

3. Explain the picture

4. Choose 4 people to do the same

My 4th folder was our anniversary party. The 4th picture is our cake which was so lovely I cried. And it was the most delicious thing ever. The top was peach melba and the bottom was chocolate raspberry. I just think it is so pretty.

Let's see, who shall I tag........

1. Amberly

2. Debbie

3. Joy

4. Crystal

Have fun!

Tagged by Crystal!

Favorite Person (outside of family?)  -  Neil Diamond, no question. :)

Favorite Food? -  That's a tough one. Probably bread.

Quirks about me? - I can write backwards and forwards with a pen in each hand.

Any regrets? - Are you kidding? Every day.

Favorite Charity/Cause? - Other the the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it's both the American Red Cross and the Humane Society.

Favorite blog recently? - http://blog.cjanerun.com/

Something I can't get enough of? - Neil Diamond concerts, baseball games and cruises

Worst job I've ever had? - Store detective

What job would I pay not to have? -  Those famous guards who have to stand at attention all day and not smile or talk or look at anybody.

Guilty pleasure? - Baklava

Got any confessions? - If I had the money and the time I would go to every Neil Diamond concert and every Rochester Red Wings game. 

If I had $1000 to spend on myself, how would I spend it? - Just for me? I would redecorate the family room. Or clothes.

Favorite thing about our house? - Our dining room curtains

Least favorite thing about our house? - The family room carpet

One thing I am bad at? - Sports. I am all clumsy.

One thing I am good at? - Listening

If I could change one thing about my circumstances, what would it be? - I would LOVE it if Larry wanted to travel.

Who would I like to meet someday? - My grandfather Cardella. He died when I was three months old. To the day.

What makes me feel sexy? - Feeling pretty

Who is my real life hero? - My grandmother Cardella. She was the best example of unconditional love and was loved by all.

What is the hardest part of my job? - Which job? 

1. Homemaker and wife? Finding time to do it all. 

2. Doula? Dealing with stupid medical staff. 

3. Red Cross? Working with an atheist. She drives me out of my mind.

When am I most relaxed? - When the house is spotless and I am reading an excellent book. Or when I'm on a cruise ship watching the water.

What can I not live without? - Other than Larry, food, clothing and shelter, it would have to be books and music.

Are blogs authored by narcissists? - WHAT? Well, maybe......

Why do I blog? - It's a great way for me to keep a journal!

Turkey etc....

Since I was so mad that Thanksgiving dinner didn't turn out so great, I made another batch of dressing, cranberry sauce and then threw some turkey thighs in the oven. MUCH, MUCH better. I am happy again.

Achy shoulder

Today it's very achy. I think I did too much or something. Ibuprofen to the rescue!

Yesterday was the MRI for the other shoulder, then I find out Dec. 19 if I will have surgery on that one. After the scan, I asked the VERY CUTE technician whether or not the pictures were any good. He said they were great and that I was the first person all day that hadn't moved during the procedure. It was 4:30PM!!! Imagine. I just closed my eyes and fell asleep amid all the noise and banging that is the MRI, with earplugs thankfully.

What do you call a boomerang that doesn't work?

A stick.

Birdies

Yesterday I took this cool picture of the sparrows hanging out in the tree. It's kind of neat how stark it looks. It looks better enlarged. What do you all think? Is it cool or just bo-wing?

Everything else, well,

The good -

The turkey was not dry.

The mashed potatoes were good.

The pumpkin pie was great.

The bad - 

The gravy tasted very weird.

The turkey was done almost an hour before I anticipated.

The dressing was definitely not my best.

The squash was watery.

The cranberry sauce had too much grated orange peel.

The ugly - 

My mood right now. I hate it when my favorite meal of the year is not the best. Larry and his mother thought everything was fine, but I know when things aren't right. Why should it matter this much?????  AARRGGGHHHHH.

Ah roma

The turkey smells SO GOOD!

Craziness and Contentment

Today I went for my post-op appointment and I'm doing great. He says I can do whatever I want. The only limitation is pain. Awesome! The craziness comes in because I'm getting another MRI, this time for the left shoulder. We are figuring to just get them both repaired close together and be done with it. As Trisha would say, "WhatEVer." I feel like I'm nuts. Scared. You name it. I DO NOT want to be sick again, or have that awful rash.

The contentment comes in because of this afternoon. Larry and I worked together in the kitchen. We cooked up the butternut squash from the garden for Thanksgiving dinner. He grated the orange peels and squeezed the juice so I could make the cranberry sauce. Cooking those cranberries and smelling those oranges was just the best thing in the world. I LOVE the smell of oranges. Then the windows steamed up which is the epitome of contentment for me. It means that it's cold outside and warm inside. It means that someone is cooking in my kitchen, probably me! I wanted to just plop down on the floor an enjoy the JOY!

Here are the cranberries all cooked up in the bowl my mother-in-law gave me. It was one of her wedding presents in 1945 and it's just the perfect bowl for cranberry sauce.

We went out to lunch today, at that little place I went to last week with Lisa and Robbie. I had tripe again! Here is Larry looking over all the delicious Italian desserts.

This is my bowl of tripe, along with some little bread with the best olive oil I ever had, and an arincini that was better than the one I had in Rome. Larry had a roast beef sandwich that had cranberries and blue cheese on it. He loved it.

Our plates are clean!

ISS

The International Space Station is making a series of evening flybys over North America over the next few days and it is so very cool to see! Even Larry was impressed. It appears right near where Venus and Jupiter are converging.

We went outside tonight at 5:30 and could see it quite clearly for about two minutes as it raced across the sky, up, up and finally AWAY!

If you go here, and put in your zip code, it will tell you exactly what days and time to look for it. You just may feel awe-struck.

Ramblings

The weather is a funny thing. Last week was so nice, kind of warm and still pretty. THEN bingo, it changed and there's snow and cold and wind and traffic accidents and limited visibility. What in the world. I'm freezing my buns off. But, no wait. I'm not freezing. The pioneers? THEY froze. Literally. 

Two more days of prednisone. The rash is gone. The itch is mostly gone.

My shoulder is amazingly good. I worried and stewed and fretted over nuthin'.  It just couldn't have been that extensive to feel this good after a week. Monday I go for my post-op appointment, then apparently, physical therapy. 

What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?

FROSTBITE!!!

Then Thanksgiving!  One of my favorite days of the year. I made the dressing last week before the surgery. Larry will have to grate the orange peel and squeeze the oranges for juice but I can finish making the cranberry orange relish after he does that. He'll probably have to peel the potatoes too, and put the turkey in the oven but he's a good sport and won't mind. He says he would eat white hots if it were up to him. That Larry. He knows this is my favorite meal so he humors me.

God Bless America.

Gratitude

What would we do without the Savior? Most days I can't begin to understand how much he loves us. But he does. I am grateful. I see his goodness and his creations and his care for us every day. It makes me feel small and great at the same time.

With friends like this.....

...how can I not feel better!

She makes me laugh, my friend since 1976. I have just the best friends a girl could ask for. You all know who you are and I am grateful every day for you.

Today the shoulder hurts a little more than it has. Really, I haven't taken any ibuprofen since Sunday but today it hurts. I probably did too much or something.

Do I have enough nerve to get the other shoulder repaired????

Could it be as easy as this one has been?

And the doctor says....

"take Prednisone for five days and the rash should be better." He was duly impressed by the extent and severity of it.

But really, this shoulder is getting better so fast. I have better range of motion every day and it only hurts if I overuse it or touch it. And NO MORE SLING!! Happy, happy, joy, joy!

Now, as you can see by the pictures, winter has arrived. Larry had to shovel today, although he really didn't have to because it all melted anyway. He just gets all worried.

And Pam, my best and eternal friend in all the world (and her family) sent this Edible Arrangement full of just the loveliest and yummiest fruit ever! Thank you my friend!