And Here We Come Back!

So off we went to Baltimore to board the Carnival PRIDE for a 7 day cruise to Florida and the Bahamas. We dragged Larry kicking and screaming.

This is him after one hour. Oh so HAPPY!

This is him after an hour and a half with Miss Kara. Even happier! She was our little shadow for a week.

The seas out of Baltimore were choppy 'cause the wind was so bad.

But once we landed in Florida and went to Cocoa Beach, look what happened! It's LARRY! In the Atlantic Ocean! Waving! Ah....warmth.

Our friends who moved to Port St. Lucie drove to Cocoa Beach to spend the day with us and we had a blast. Robbie and I chased the waves and he built sand castles and trenches with Uncle Larry.

THEN, this........is the closest I got to the Bahamas. Ya know why?

I had another bout of the spastic unmentionables. So while Larry and KayLee went parasailing and shopping in Nassau, I stayed in bed all day.

Literally.

I didn't eat but an apple and a roll the entire day.

I was a little better in Freeport the next day but our glass bottom boat excursion was cancelled due to rough seas. The little kids were very sad not to see the fish. Their family went on a bus tour of Freeport instead.

Friday after we left Freeport, we spent a nice leisurely afternoon on the ship, with a fancy schmancy dress up dinner that night. We took pictures on the deck with the sun setting.

Our little "family" - we all had such a good time!!

This is our last night. Can you stand this? Carter loves Larry. Lookit how cute he is all cuddled up by Brother Locke on the FLOOR!

So, we had a blast.

And now of course I have to go back so I can actually SHOP in Nassau instead of sleep.

Off We Go!

The Sea. Warmth. Reading. Good Food. Parasailing. Much Needed Time Away.

WITH LARRY!!!

And many, many thanks to our friends the Schneiders for their kindness in helping us get away.

Reading on vacation

What do you think of these selections?

I'm bringing with me to read:

Main Street by Sinclair Lewis

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

The May Ensign (conference talks.) I always have such good intentions of reading the talks and never do it. I guess I figure that if I watched conference, reading the talks won't be as good. But last year conference was on Easter weekend so I missed most of it.

So lounging in the sun, reading a classic, a woman book and inspired words should keep me happy!

P.S. Have any of you ever read Main Street???

More snow

I remember the days that all I wanted to do was READ and there was not enough time out there.

Well these past several weeks have been what I had longed for - quiet time enough that I can READ!

These are the books I have read so far this year:

HOME TO HOLLY SPRINGS by Jan Karon

ROOM by Emma Donoghue (I would recommend this one for sure)

IN THE COMPANY OF OTHERS by Jan Karon (this was uncharacteristically terrible.)

I STILL DREAM ABOUT YOU by Fannie Flagg (funny as usual!)

MOTHERS AND OTHER LIARS by Amy Bourret (very, very good)

GOODNIGHT, BEAUTIFUL by Dorothy Koomson (weird and unsatisfying)

DAY AFTER NIGHT by Anita Diamant (quite interesting)

Plus, I finished NEW YORK by Edward Rutherfurd which was absolutely outstanding.

I've reviewed my books on my Shelfari page. Feel free to look!

And by the way, it's snowing again. And cold. And windy. I need some WARMTH!!

Boring is Still Good

This is what has been going on:

Nothing.

I do have an infection in my finger. It hurts.

That's about all.

BUT,

for your viewing pleasure, here is our cat Elbie, age 17, in the upstairs hallway, basking in the sun.

And THIS, this is my mother's kitty Tammy. Mom got her from a rescue shelter here in Greece. She's adorable.

And she is now being squished with love.

Boring is Good

Good days at home.......

Home reading up a storm........

Storm coming..........

Coming with it - wind and snow........

Snow isn't on a cruise ship..........

Ship out to the Bahamas!

Bahamas not quite yet - pretty soon

4 below? What?

If I went outside right now and my nose started to run, it would freeze and my nose would become an icicle.

4 degrees below zero is a ridiculous temperature.

But NOTHING like International Falls Minnesota. The temperature there on Friday was 46 below. Who knows what the wind chill was. The coldest temperature I have ever experienced was up in Potsdam at a Priest/Laurel conference. We left the cozy cabin that morning to go to breakfast in the hall and it was a glorious morning - sunny, cold, crystal clear blue skies, can you picture it? All of a sudden my nose felt funny. It seemed like my nose hairs were freezing! There was a thermometer nailed to one of the posts so I stopped to check it. When what to my wondering eyes should appear but a reading of minus 18 degrees. Crazy.

My father tells the story of when he was in the Army up at Fort Drum near Watertown. One night dad said it was cold but not terribly cold so he and his buddy went for a walk. A little while later a jeep comes up to them and the driver is yelling, "you **** fools what are you doing out in this weather?"

My father asks, "What weather? We're fine."

Driver says, "Get in the jeep. It's 30 below zero."

Dad said they had no idea it was that cold.

So I guess the moral of this story is - don't join the army. No, no!! Just kidding.

Maybe it's - don't tell your kids dumb things you did. No, no!

Maybe there IS no moral. I don't know.

I think I'm WAY ready for our cruise to The Bahamas!!

Spastic Unmentionables

I have been down and out.

A long time ago my friend Sheri told me that the contraction-like pain from irritable bowel syndrome is the closest thing to labor that there is.

Well then I was in labor for three days.

YIKES. This IBS stuff has been an issue for me since I was a teenager. MONTHS can go by without an attack, then WHAMO. I must admit though that this one was the worst of my whole life.

Yesterday I could barely walk. It hurt so bad I wanted to, you know, fro up.

After sleeping on and off most of yesterday, and then sleeping last night from 11pm to 8:00 this morning, things got a bit better.

I feel like singing The Battle Hymn of the Republic. "Glory, Glory Hallelujah!"

Hope you are all fine. REALLY.

Time Flies When You're........

.......getting old and seeing the days go by too quickly.

(Not grumpy, just reflective.)

Already it's the second week of the new year.

Remember when I was taking a picture every day? It was very fun, sometimes hard to find interesting shots but I liked doing it. A couple of weeks ago I thought, "Hey! I want to take a picture every day again! I can do that! Joy! Hooray!"

So January 1, 2011 comes along and,

I forgot.

And January 2, 2011 etc..etc..etc..

So don't hold your breath looking for a daily photo because there ain't one.

And of course since today is the NINTH for goodness sakes, I can't start today can I?

I'll let you know.

Okay so here is my week coming up:

Monday, my mom has to go to the dentist twice. In one day.

Tuesday I 'm home. We'll see how long THAT lasts!

Wednesday, Gail and I are going to help Linda take down her Christmas stuff.

Thursday, I'm going to the temple.

Friday I'm home.

Did you hear that? It was me. *Sighing*

Goodnight!

Or as my father and I used to do when I was a little kid, after he tucked me in,

Dad, "Goodnight!"

Me, " Goooood night!"

Dad, "GooooodNIGHT!"

Me, "GOOOOOOD NIGHT!"

Everybody Loves Larry

My husband goes by many different names -

1. Larry

2. Laurence

3. Hon

4. Lare

5. Brother Locke

6. Uncle Larry

Well, the other day THIS little peanut right here.............

.......informed her mother that from now on she was going to call Brother Locke, Uncle Larry.

I love it.

And another little person at church was learning about her upcoming baptism from her mother. Mom said, "Grandma and Grandpa will be coming and your friends and family too!"

Paige asks all serious, "And Brother Locke?"

Mother answers, "Yes, Brother Locke too."

Paige, "Okay."

I mean, can you stand how cute that is?

Lovely morning

When I woke up this morning at 6:30 (Larry was snoring so loud he woke me AND himself up!) there was a glorious vision in the southeast sky. It was the crescent moon and a brilliant Venus. I didn't take a picture, but I SHOULD have. It was just so beautiful. Maybe tomorrow morning.

Have a wonderful, happy, friends and family-filled new year!

Thank you for being there to read this. It means a lot.

Bless you all.

New Leaves

WELL.

I just decided something. You all get to hear it!

Blogs are supposed to be uplifting, right? Well at least not depressing.

So I've decided that I won't be complaining and whining any longer on this blog.

Lucky readers!!

Instead, I will be HAPPY! And CHEERFUL! And post HAPPY pictures!

Like THESE!

At Yankee Stadium with my cousin Joe. HAPPY!

I'm the flower girl. Happy!

And our Wedding! Happy! (scared too)

And this is the day I came home from Italy! Happy to be home, sad to not be in Italy any longer. Happy with our lilacs!

Backwards in the mirror. Happy at Time Out For Women

Eating pizza in Salerno. VERRRRY Happy!

Me on the left, my cousin Joe and my cousin Mary - 1969. Happy with my family.

On a cruise ship somewhere between Ketchikan Alaska and Vancouver BC. Most happily sailing on the sea.

Juneau Alaska, happily holding a sweet puppy.

This is Alaska, too. Doesn't it look FAKE? It wasn't. This was REALLY the sunset on that HAPPY, chilly, windy night!

As a doula. I really miss birth. But I think I have to retire. My energy is shot. But happy that day!

With the handsome eternal companion. Happy together forever!



And one of my favorites. This is 1959 and I am happy in my dad and mom's lap, with my cousins surrounding us.

So there you have it.

You have permission to yell at me if this gets depressing again.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! May God bless this year 2011.

And to All a Goodnight

So I was like 8 years old and my cousin was 6. That's my new Betsy Wetsy doll. Life was good.

Today, life was good as well. My mother and I spent our first Christmas together since 1995.

It's 5pm and I'm still in my toasty nightgown! That's our tradition Larry and I. We stay wrapped up, eat leftovers and watch videos. Today so far we have watched Julie and Julia and The Nannie Diaries. Now we'll read and then a little later watch another movie, and then make sure I am ready for my class tomorrow. It will be Sunday!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU WITH LOVE

Snow 'n Slush

Okay, so I live in Rochester, New York.

And it snows here.

It's not even officially WINTER yet and we have already had 48" of snow. People, that is FOUR FEET.

C'mon.

I must be getting old. If I can stay home and enjoy the prettiness of it from in the HOUSE, that is a happy day.

Anyway, Larry and I stayed up last night until past midnight talking about stress and stuff. It affects me big time.

I figured out that since my father died fifteen years ago and September 11 happened nearly ten years ago, my life and anxiety level changed. I am more fearful. Walking around with my brain would drive anyone out of their cotton pickin' minds. I drives ME out of my mind!

I've always been kind of a worrier but NOW, good grief, you'd think I was personally in charge of world peace and everyone's well-being.

Well to be fair, there has been a whole lot of sadness with friends and family in the past couple of years. For one, Larry lost his job. Two of my aunts died, my cousin died, four of my dearest friends lost their husband - three to death and one to divorce. And they were YOUNG. You kind of expect this when you are 80, but one of these guys was 30, with four little kids. Another dear friend is moving to Florida this weekend.

AND, I'm losing my hair. Hormones you know.

It goes on and on.

ENOUGH already! I told Larry that we need to get away from everything for a while. No phones. No Sunday school lessons. No trouble. No sadness. I want to walk in warm water on a secluded beach with white sand and did I say WARM water? It must be warm. Our cruise to the Bahamas is coming up in two months and maybe I can wait that long.

These last few posts have been miserable. To you dear friends who get to read this sorry blog, forgive me for dumping. This apparently is a journal of sorts.

But to make you laugh (and me too,) here are two pictures from the fifties. It's my cousin Mike and me with our grandparents. I'm the one wearing the funky overalls and saddle shoes.

It's Christmas time! I must remember to celebrate the birth of He who was born to help us deal with all this nonsense.

Breathe......nice and easy........

Love you!

Mother in Training

I believe God is teaching me how mothers feel. I can't begin to tell you how much of my mental energy both my mother and Larry's mother use up. Not to mention physical energy. My mother has 8 doctor appointments this month. Eight. So it's like when I am actually home, I want to be alone. Just give me a book and leave me alone. I don't know what's going on in the news, don't watch television hardly at all, rarely talk on the phone.

Then one of my very dear friends fell and broke her hip and she is young, not elderly. They have needed visits and meals 'cause she's going out of her mind sitting all day long.

Another close friend has oral cancer for the second time. She had surgery Monday to remove part of her jaw and another 1/3 of her tongue. Her husband died a couple of years ago at 55 and she is raising her granddaughter. All of us friends are pitching in to stay with her at the hospital now.

Is this how moms feel when they are struggling to keep their sanity?

And Larry and I are both looking for work!

So all you moms out there - consider yourself hugged.

Thanksgiving Review

Before the chaos of 5 children, 11 adults and 1 cat - not all at once though....

.....including the mother who is anxiously awaiting turkey.

The platter above, which is holding the turkey, actually DID hold a real live turkey bird a very long time ago - ME!

See, the year after I was born, which was the week before Thanksgiving she placed me on the turkey platter and brought me to the table! Apparently my grandfather had a fit, claiming she was going to drop me.

She didn't.

I survived.

And now the story is legend. I do love the platter and the plates. My parents bought the set for my grandparents 25th wedding anniversary in 1953. I have them now. They really are beautiful.

Now continuing....

I lost the wishbone war.

We had a wonderful day. It was LOUD.

This was our menu:

Turkey of course

Dressing

Mashed potatoes

Gravy

Butternut squash (from our garden!)

Cranberry sauce from our family recipe

Cranberry chutney from P. Allen Smith's recipe

My cousin's cranberry pear dish

Olives

KayLee's homemade rolls

FOUR pies - 2 pumpkin, an apple and a grape

Real whipped cream

Chestnuts

Clementines

There was nothing green. Oh wait, anise. You know the celery that tastes like licorice.

Family, friends, good food, good conversation, singing children and my sweet husband who cleaned up the WHOLE MESS. The kitchen was spotless when we went to bed.

He really should teach husband classes.

Excuse me while I go decorate the tree.

Catching up a bit

Well if this isn't the yummiest hamburger you ever saw......

And guess what? It's made of glass!

Yep, and it's at the Corning Museum of Glass. Larry and I took our young friend Erik down to Corning for the day (no school) and we all had the best time! The boys are standing in front of this glorious glass mural.

It's a marvelous place with lots of exhibits, things to do and awesome demonstrations.

Erik was chosen to help out with this cool glass breaking demonstration. We learned how different kinds of glass are designed to break, or not to break and he got to do it!

Then Erik got to make glass himself! He made a beautiful glass pendant with colors he chose himself. He actually got to work with the glass and flame to fashion his treasure.

I don't have a picture of the pendant because after he made it, it had to cool for a day. Then they sent it to him in the mail. Rumor has it he wears it all the time! Maybe today he will wear it to our house and I can get a picture of it.

I helped Erik's mom give birth to him over ten years ago. It still amazes me that they grow so quickly.

Then a few days later, we celebrated my birthday. Larry is a good lighter of candles.

I had help blowing them out from Robbie, our young four year old friend!

And here is a picture I never thought would happen. It's my mother and Larry and me on my birthday at our house. She made me a cake, which was just the yummiest cake ever and put the candles on it. It truly is a miracle.

Robbie is one of my doula "babies" from four years ago. His mom Lisa and I became close very quickly. It was one of those connections that don't happen often. She is a sweetheart and I love her.

So Robbie and his parents came over to celebrate. Sometimes it's hard to believe that I helped these kiddos come into the world.
And here is Robbie signing the guest book.

Well today is Thanksgiving, one of my favorite days of the year. It's 5:30 in the morning and I have been up since 3:23am. I couldn't go back to sleep, one of those things. But I want to get the turkey in the oven by 8:00, so I don't think going back to bed is in my future.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Larry is MINE! All MINE!

That man I married.

Ya know. Larry?

Today for my birthday he gave me a gift certificate for FIVE, count 'em FIVE massages.

There is this wonderful massage therapist named Kristen Pata and I love her and now I get to go to her FIVE times!!!

He also gave me the biography of Thomas S. Monson. I am thrilled beyond words.

AND, he took my mother and me out to dinner. I had my first ever bouillabaisse at Bernard's Grove House. He had prime rib. He was so happy he couldn't even talk. Mom had the most beautiful lamb chops.

The whole thing was wonderful.

AND my mother made me a birthday cake. Imagine.

More coming, and with pictures.

Remember Calgon?

There was this great commercial MANY years ago where the stressed woman cried, "Calgon, take me away!"

She would then sink into a tub, full of luxurious, sweet-smelling bubbles and soak away her woes.

That is what I need .

Someone!! Take me away!!

Better

The weeks haven't been quite so bad as that last post, whew!

It's really cold here this morning, frost is everywhere. It's like 28 degrees.

And the time change messes me up so badly. It's much easier for me to lose the hour than to gain it. Go figure.

I put a pot roast in the slow cooker this morning and now I have to go study a little more for my lesson. Teaching Isaiah has actually been pretty cool.

Later........

Thanks for visiting!