Stephanie says

Had plans with my daughter’s family to attend an anniversary party.   Got a phone call on the road asking how far out I was?   “20 minutes.” “Okay.   There’s a birthday party for Grandma Muriel today.   I said we’d come.” “Alright.   We’ll go there first.” This being my former (?) mother-in-law.   I was married a very long time to her son and divorced many, many years ago but still consider this lovely woman to be my MIL.   We celebrated her 93 rd birthday yesterday.   It will her last.   Tyler commented “This is kind of weird.   I’m going to be with both my parents together in a social situation for the first time in 20 years.”   “This impacts me how?   This is your deal, not mine.”   Subtext:   It’s not always about you.   Deal with it. My boy Jason, my nephew, arrived same time as us.   Here he is now, pushing 40, unloading his family of three + another baby due soon, fro...

Hey Bets, I’ve just watched the first ten minutes of “The Graduate” and thought about you.   We saw so many thought-provoking late 60s movies on the big screen – damn they were good.   Butch Cassidy, Richard the Lion Heart, Midnight Cowboy to name a few.   An oldie: Gone With The Wind – you just sobbed through that screening - the only reason I didn’t.   Thanks for that.   The Killing of Sister George.   I’m laughing at our mutual discomfort with that movie.   That was when the penny dropped on female homosexuality -  I had no clue.   We drove home from that movie; you driving Uncle Jim’s Nova, and both of us hugging the most opposite sides of the car possible, repelled by the implications of that awful movie.   Maybe it wasn’t awful.   The irony is we shared a double bed.   I remember hugging the far, far side.   You did too – on the far opposite side.   Glad we shared those times.   Love you co...

She’d dropped off the car for servicing one fall morning and foregoing the courtesy ride, walked through Pringle Park enjoying the autumn leaf show.    A young man, a tall blond young man approached, flashed a bright smile and said, “Hello.”   She smiled, said hello back and proceeded on her now merrier way, thinking, “You’ve still got it, girl.”   A couple blocks later the penny dropped.   That was Craig Jordan, son of her camping buddy, whom she hadn’t seen for most of his adolescence.   Camping was a serious party so as the kids grew, they were left at home to allow the parents unfettered adult fun.   That and the group began divorcing like mad.   Maybe due in part to unfettered adult fun.   Maybe not.   She’s not one to say.   Anyway, so there was Craig, walking to his high school, recognizing her when she passed by, saying hello.   It wasn’t a Mrs. Robinson moment after all.   Damn.   She burst out l...

A wickedly delicious cake baked for Ryan's birthday.  Serves 16 so I took 1/4 of the cake to the neighbors, an act we three later regretted...  The recipe called for more crushed cookies than I had on hand - as Tyler and Ryan got into the package while I was away from home.  Brats. Ingredients Cake:   1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 2/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3 large eggs, at room temperature 1 1/4 cups buttermilk   Filling: 4 ounces cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 1 box (16 ounces) confectioner's sugar 3 - 4 tablespoons milk   Frosting: 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3 cups crushed Oreos Directions Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat two 8-inch round cake pan...

I installed a dryer in my laundry room over the weekend.   Lest this seem insignificant, my last dryer fizzled out in an unspectacular electrical death eight or nine years ago.   Yep, close to a decade.   Since then, I’ve line dried.   I am a medal-placing procrastinator in matters that are of completely no interest to me.   So it’s been no big deal.   I love the smell and feel of line dried sheets and towels.   Okay, the towels while scratchy, also exfoliate those flaky skin cells that die off daily.     And right here is where I can’t resist (sanctimoniously) mentioning the environmental card about all the electricity I didn’t consume.   Oh, sue me. But those days are over.   In only two trips to the hardware store, (one for dryer vent, the next approximately 30 minutes later for the "other" type electrical pigtail.   If you know what I’m saying, you’ve done this too) the install was complete and successful. ...

That is a bushel basket filled with typically sized vegetables. Dwarfing the basket is a mammoth cabbage, weighing in at 17+ lbs.  The head is tight and slated to be shredded this afternoon and fermented into sauerkraut.  Sharpen the knives. Old fashioned green grapes ripened on the vine.  The fig tree produced the largest ever crop resulting in lots of dried fruit and fig syrup. My new favorite is rhubarb syrup.  The stalks cut today are macerating in sugar for a couple days.  The syrup has the flavorful tang of rhubarb.  A refreshing drink mix with club soda. 

Late at night, fast asleep in my bed, Rosie growls and wakes me.   I rouse enough to recognize two men and a woman speaking.   Speaking is not the right word.   “Confessing” better serves.   My neighbors, suffering a horrible time.   One man is so distraught; he is sobbing broken-heartedly, and issues a heart-rending outraged roar of suffering.   It tears me to the core.   My windows are closed but enough sound comes through to recognize another man speaking to soothe, passing through the glass.   To no avail.   The woman spoke too.   Murmured really.   I couldn’t make out the words.   I didn’t want to make them out. The outrage seemed directed at her.   Draw your own conclusions.   Matters of the heart.   Who knows besides the participants? This morning I leave very, very early to walk the dog.   I need to get outside and reclaim my wa on this beautiful morning; dawn is barely breaking; the hor...