Saturday, November 29, 2008

Thanksgiving, and the goings on afterward...

Thanksgiving has come and gone rather quickly. Christmas is just around the corner. The kids keep lamenting how slow it is in coming, but I'm lamenting on how fast the time is flying and hoping that I'll be ready in time.

Our week was off to a rather sad start. My mother-in-law, who has Alzheimer's, was moved to a care facility on Monday. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's about 2 years ago (as I was writing this, I asked my husband how long ago it was that she had been diagnosed, and his reply was "I forgot". Yes, we did have a brief chuckle about that). We've tried to help my father-in-law out by staying with her on Fridays. My husband and I took turns, so every other Friday, she was with one of us. Now it looks like we'll be visiting her on Fridays, and another other day that we can.

For Thanksgiving, we went to my dad's, as we have for at least 11 or 12 years. My little nephew was there too. He's walking now, which means that he's more interested in everything that my dad has around the house and wants to touch it. His parents were saying "No" alot because my dad's house isn't baby/toddler proofed. Eventually, my nephew was frustrated with the limitations, not having anything to play with really and he was due for a nap. So my sister and brother-in-law rushed through their dessert and left. They were going to the other grandparents' house and fortunately for them, my nephew had mellowed out by the time they got there. Plus there were little cousins for him to play with there. Hearing all of his fussing at my dad's house though, made my husband very glad that our kids were not that age and no longer in that stage of life.

After leaving my dad's, we came back into town and visited my mother-in-law at her new home. She was really happy to see us (especially my husband). We visited for about an hour. We were able to check out the facility and see her room and the courtyard. It's a really nice place. The kids drew some pictures for their grandma so she could hang them in her room. The ladies that worked there brought out a game for the kids to play with so they wouldn't be bored. So it was a good visit, yet a difficult one. No one wants to see this happen to their parents and it's hard when it does happen, and in this way. I can't really understand what my husband is dealing with, really. When my own mother died (from cancer), I had less two weeks notice really that it was going to happen, and when it did, it was sudden. Alzheimer's is just cruel and slow. For now, we're grateful that my mother-in-law remembers us (not our names, but she knows who we are), and we plan to visit as often as we can with the kids (though I think that my husband plans to visit daily).

Anyway, on Friday, I did not get up before the sun to catch the sales. The tradition we have is to put away the fall decorations and get out the Christmas ones (I think that I have about 9 Rubbermaid containters of them now.....time to purge them maybe?). My husband cleans up the front yard, and gets all of the lights (I think we counted about 8 containers of them) and starts planning the "outdoor illumination". Today, he spent most of the day outside and was even up on the roof. He'll probably be out putting up lights tomorrow too. Yes, it's that time of year, where the lights will come on at dusk, and during that time, we won't be able to use any hairdryers or vacuum cleaners (we know our limitations during the Christmas season, from experience).

So that is all for now,
Lp

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Well I thought that I'd take advantage of the time that the house is quiet to blog again. Kevin and the kids are out in the garage at the moment. Kevin is practicing his drums, Kylin is playing with the model train set, and Heather is videotaping everything that is going on out there. There is also the possibility that a cat or two has joined them and will be in Heather's "movie"

My daughter has a job for next week cat "sitting". The cat will stay in her own house and I'll drive Heather over every day to make sure that she has food and water and that anything needing cleaning up will be taken care of. This is one of those perfect jobs for her as she loves cats!

Yesterday, the kids and I went with my grandma to Shari's restaurant for lunch. I was in the mood for soup and their menu showed this very delicious looking baked potato soup. So I ordered that, without the bacon bits on top (we don't eat meat). The waitress said that there were bacon bits in the soup too. So I switched to the soup of the day which was Wisconsin Cheddar. Well they didn't have that either because they had forgotten to order it and were replacing it with a chicken & dumpling soup. Well that just wouldn't do......so I ordered a veggie omelet with hashbrowns (I still had a potato in some form!). Still having a craving for potato soup, I made a batch when I arrived home. I blended a little sour cream into it too. It was soooooo good! I did eat too much of it, but I got the craving out of my system. I have about a cup of it left, in the freezer.

Tonight, I thought that I'd make chili, which is what Kevin likes. I also chose a cornbread recipe that I hadn't made for my family before. It was called Cheesy Corn Spoon Bread. It was alright. I guess we're used to the Marie Callender's sweet corn bread (really it's more like cake). The chili was declared delicious, the cornbread will take some getting used to. Kylin declared that he liked Marie Callender's cornbread best.

The kids are getting anxious for Thanksgiving to arrive next week. The Macy's parade is something the kids will get up early to watch. Then we'll go to my dad's for dinner. My sister has been telling me that my nephew walks and has started saying a few words. So Thanksgiving at my dad's may have some extra entertainment this year! The kids are also excited about the day after Thanksgiving as that is when we put away the Fall decorations and get out all of the Christmas decor. Kylin has a singing snowman that he's looking forward to seeing again. We usually put fresh batteries in it when we get it out and then let them run out of power. It only takes a few days. While I'm inside with the indoor decorations, Kevin will spend most of the day (and into the evening) putting up the Christmas lights. By Christmas day, aircraft flying overhead will know where we live. :) Maybe next time I blog I can post some pictures of the goings on during "decoration day".

Lp

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

General Update (because I really don't have a title for this one)



The rainy weather seems to be in full swing these days. I don't mind too much. I like to hear the rain when I first start to wake up in the morning. I wouldn't mind having my cup of coffee in my cozy bed on those mornings. However, the sound of kids in the living room indicate that I really can't do that for several more years Rainy days also bring more regular hot cocoa days for the kids.

Two weeks ago we also went on our annual drive through Cheshire, Veneta, Crow and Lorane (very rural areas near where we live). We've been taking this drive every year at this time since we started dating (so about 14 years now I guess), and every year, we are just so fascinated with the pretty colors of the fall leaves, and at the end of each drive, we comment on how we should have brought the camera. So this year, we brought it, and took about 64 pictures (one of which is the picture at the upper left of this post). Some of them I actually tried to take while the car was in motion (I had read the blog of someone else who was traveling by motorcycle and had taken pictures while still in motion, so I thought I'd try it as well, just in the safer car). A couple of years ago, Kevin bought me a really nice camera for my birthday and it takes fabulous pictures. I just love it! Anyway, some of my pictures in motion (or "drive-by-shootings") don't look half bad (note the picture at the upper right). Maybe just a hint of a blur in one area but not too bad. We took the kids on this trip too. They've been going with us ever since they arrived, and when they were little, all we had to do was buy a basket of French fries and a soda for them and they thought it was a great trip. Not so anymore. Hopefully one day when they're our age, they'll actually have fond memories of it.........maybe.........I hope so. They are both very artistic and only one is currently interested in drawing pictures of scenery.

It seems that a cold that has been going around has made a visit to our house as well. Just as my husband is starting to feel better after a week of having a cold, my daughter has the beginnings of one. Hopefully it won't last long. Thanksgiving is coming up and I'd really hope that our extended family will be giving thanks that we didn't give the cold to them.

So that's just about all there is to report. It's evening, the kids are in bed, and it seems like a good time for a cup of tea.

Lp