A Monday Project

Usual Monday projects include laundry, bed changing, dusting, and the like. Today we decided to mix it up a bit and make these:



They're Cookie-Store Cat cookies. It's a book by Cynthia Rylant (one of our favorite authors--of Mr. Putter and Tabby fame) about a stray cat adopted by cookie bakers. We didn't have any rum flavoring on hand--probably because we use it so much in hot chocolate?--so we substituted almond. That's cinnamon and sugar you see on top. Tres delicious.

And here is my own personal baker (please note the cat shirt)...

Overall, a nice way to enhance a Monday morning.

What a world, what a world...

This morning before breakfast, I went in the girls' bedroom and made my usual public service announcement: "Get dressed, make your beds, and do.not.talk." The do not talk part might sound mean, but really it's only my feeble attempt to get them down to maybe 300 words per minute rather than 3,000.

Then I heard, from a little blond girl in footie pajamas, "I'm melting, I'm meltingggggg..." >giggle giggle giggle<

I thought about waiting around to hear, "All my bee-yoo-tiful wickedness...what did I ever do to you?" but instead beat a hasty retreat. It's best to know when you're defeated.

One is Gold

A couple of Saturdays ago, I drove down the route along the river with the autumn trees arching above--they looked like Tolkien's tree of gold--for another "last" to experience with my mom. Let me say that I am grateful for every one of these possible lasts because at the beginning of this year, we thought the end was coming much more quickly than it has. Now the doctors are talking about the fact that the time is probably winding up, and I am starting to feel that urgency of watching the sand dwindle down in the hourglass.

But let me back up before talking about this particular last. Approximately 36 years ago, my mom was sitting in church and saw another young woman, dark-haired and tiny just like herself, sitting near her. I'm not sure what prompted them to strike up a conversation other than the fact that my mom thought this other woman (Barbara) was "just darling," which is as good enough reason as any, I guess.

They discovered that they each had daughters about the same age. It was nearing my fourth birthday, so my mom invited Barbara's daughter, Julie, to my party. I don't have a lot of memories from when I was four, but this one is clear to me--answering the door to a little dark-haired girl, holding a box of brightly-colored candy. She explained to me that her grandpa owned a candy factory. Could Mom have picked any better friend for me? I think not.

I could probably fill a lot of space discussing either Barbara and Lois's 36-year friendship or Julie's and mine. Maybe I'll just say that Barbara and Lois's has involved a lot more missionary teas, flower gardens, recipes, and raffia while Julie's and mine has involved a lot more driving, loud music, Magnum, P.I., and Twizzlers. And Julie and I have bonded considerably in dealing with what we affectionately term as our "SSMs" (Small Swiss Mothers).

Either way, there have been close to four decades of unbreakable friendship and yes, always, the lunches. Many times we've gotten together in each other's homes for lunch and tea or gone to the Little Traveler in Geneva--through Julie's and my childhood, teen and college years, and now that we're both married.

And now the time has come for what will most likely be the last lunch with all four of us together. Barbara and Julie brought food over to Mom's house, and we all met there. We sat around the table, just like all the other times, and talked and laughed together--four teachers, which thinking back on Julie's and my completely uninspired educational years, is nothing short of miraculous.

"Our family has never been very good at math," my mom said, "so I tried to understand when Alice came home with a 'D' in algebra. But never, NEVER, has anyone in our family gotten a 'D' in English! I was mortified!" (insert much laughter at my expense)

"And Julie," Barbara took up the daughter annihilation, "every day when I would ask what she did in school would say, 'Nothing.' I'm a teacher! I know you did not do 'nothing' all day!" (insert laughter at Julie's expense)

"And now here they both are," they hooted, "telling high school teachers the best way to teach their students!"

After lunch, we adjourned to the living room to talk and laugh some more and look at some old pictures. Here are Mom, Barbara, and Julie, looking at a picture of all of us (from 10 years ago), at the tea party my mom gave for my 30th birthday.

Then Julie and I got up to take some pictures and leave our moms to talk one more time. I overheard my mom say, "Barbara, I heard Julie was at your side every minute while you were in the hospital and then recuperating,"--because this past summer, Barbara went through breast cancer surgery and recovery, too.

"She was, just like Alice is right here with you. We have been blessed with wonderful daughters, Lois," Barbara answered.

"Just think," Mom went on, "if we could have dreamt up forty years ago what our daughters would be like: this is what we would have wished for."


At the end of our time together, we all gathered by the door to say goodbye.

"Oh, Lois," said Barbara, with her hand on my mom's arm, not wanting to tell her goodbye.

Mom reached out to touch her, too. "There are worse things than dying of cancer," she laughed, "I could be going of Alzheimer's--that would be awful. Now I lie awake at night, remembering verses I learned as a child, verses that didn't mean much to me then, but now their truth is so real to me and sustains me as I go. I think--it won't be that long before I see my husband again. And you too! We'll be reunited again soon."

"What a reunion it's going to be!" answered Barbara through her tears.

Mom reached out to Julie and me with a benediction. "It'll probably be longer before we see you girls," she smiled. "I'm so glad both of you have each other to walk through life."

After we wiped our tears, said our last goodbyes, and Barbara and Julie left, Mom and I put the dishes away. "Now there are two remarkable women," she sighed, and I agreed.

As I drove home under those golden trees I thought of those remarkable women and that old adage, "Make new friends, but keep the old--one is silver, the other is gold." Maybe one of those verses that comes back to Mom at night says it better though: "Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the Lord, saying, 'The Lord is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants...forever.'" (1 Samuel 20:42)

It may have been a last for the time being, but I know that particular gold will last forever.

What a reunion it's going to be!

The Weekend in Pictures

This (long) weekend was intense. Lucy's school gets around the whole Halloween-450-kids-hyped-up-on-sugar-and-fun mayhem by cancelling school on the 29th and 30th and scheduling parent-teacher conferences instead.

Elaine's pre-school, however, had a Halloween parade on Thursday morning, which we all attended. (I don't have pictures of that because I took video instead.) It was somewhat surprising to me to discover that Elaine is very shy and low-key at school. She seems to fade in the background and not get noticed very much.

After that, I went over to church to meet Sarah and set up for the Family Fun Fair, which we do together every year.

Then on Friday morning, I went to Lucy's parent-teacher conference. She had just brought home a great report card, so I knew there wasn't any bad news coming. We did talk about how we could work together to get her more organized. Her teacher said that instead of pulling her stuff together at the beginning and end of the day, she tends to just "wander." Imagine that. I told her that I fully expect to have "Make your bed/brush your teeth/fasten your seatbelt/do you have your lunchbox?" engraved on my tombstone (either that or, "She was tired.")

On Friday night, we all headed to the family fun fair (oh, and I have no pictures of that either--begging the question of why I entitled this post "the weekend in pictures.") We all had a great time at the ring toss, duck pond, face-painting booth, cookie-decorating table, cakewalk, etc. etc. Lucy won best costume, which I was happy about, since Elaine won last year. Since they usually dress alike, I'm glad they've both won something. They also scored bags of candy and at least two plates of cakes each from the cakewalk.

Darren rushed them home, showered them, and got them into bed because early on Saturday morning the girls and I, Sarah and Isabella, and Isabella's abuelita headed to Chicago to the American Girl store for Isabella's birthday.

Lucy has been to the store once, but it was a couple of years ago and she had forgotten it. Elaine has never even been to Chicago, so she was pretty pumped about everything. We entered the store by the Bitty Baby department, and she was absolutely overwhelmed. She could have stayed in there all day.

We went into the historical displays (Lucy's and my favorite) and then headed upstairs to the Just Like Me department. Isabella's doll is one of those, and she had birthday money to buy some outfits. She and Lucy had a great time running around and choosing things. Elaine got a little bored during that part so I took her over to some benches. She started to roll around, but I stopped her and said, "That's behaving like a rowdy boy, when in fact, you are a nice lady." She replied, "I'm not really a nice lady. I'm a naughty cat!"

Then we went to the cafe for lunch--pardon the pink overcast of this next picture...I think it's because there was no natural light, and the walls are red.

When we got inside the cafe, the waiter gave each girl a highchair plus a birthday tiara for their dolls...



Here are the three friends (Lucy is excited about the napkin because the napkin ring is a hair scrunchie that they also got to keep)...



First, they brought us little cinnamon rolls and an appetizer platter of cheese rolls, strawberries and cheese, and vegetables and dip. Then all the girls ordered the American Girl picnic lunch, which was a mini-hotdog, mini-hamburger, and little cup of mac-n-cheese, plus a fruit skewer. The moms and grandma ordered adult food (which was delicious).

Here is the sweet birthday girl, blowing out her candles...



Two best friends...



After Isabella blew out her candles, they took the cake away to slice it and brought it back like this (that's peppermint stick ice cream in a little flowerpot w/ a silk daisy):



Then came the gift bags with little notes, a book, stickers, and a necklace for each...



Here's a naughty cat (who was actually very good), enjoying her ice cream...



Before leaving, we said goodbye to the Bitty Babies.



Here's the birthday girl with her mama and abuelita:



...and mama/auntie Alice with all the girls and dolls...



After getting home, I quickly changed the girls into their costumes in order to head over to my parents' for dinner. We checked our messages first though, and one of our neighbors said to be sure that the girls stopped by to trick-or-treat because their little cat Emily had just had kittens. So we went over there first (also no pictures!) to see the tiniest little kitties imaginable. They had just been born on Thursday, so they can't hear and their eyes are still closed. Emily wasn't too sure about two costumed girls reaching for her babies, so she jumped in the box with them. She soon realized no one was going to harm them though, and she let them each gently pet a kitten.

After that, we went to Mom and Dad's so they could see their girls. This last picture pretty much sums up three days of late bedtimes and unbridled sugar consumption:



And that is it! Tomorrow is back to school and the ordinary world where we don't wear costumes or party with our dolls or get a mini-Twix every few minutes. And we have to be organized. How sad.

Random Happy Things

I'll start my post of random things that are making me happy lately with this soundtrack music that I've been playing non-stop, so you can click on it and listen too while you read this post (isn't that thoughtful of me?)



I'm a Masterpiece fan on facebook, and it surprises me when they put their updates how many people say they don't want to waste their time on contemporary drama, they just want "more bonnets." I love the classics just as much as the next person, but they have got some fantastic contemporary pieces, such as this one from last night. If you're interested at all in some fairly recent South African history and the apartheid struggle, this was gripping. Excellent acting. It's available for awhile to watch online if you missed it.


This is what I can see outside my kitchen window. I'm not good with a camera like Julie Kittredge or Alysa are, but even I can't mess up these gorgeous colors.


Here's a close-up of my little curly willow tree. The fact that I have a tree with curly hair makes me super happy.


And here's a close-up of the maple. Amazing color--not altogether red or gold or orange--a mixture of all...a sunset color.


These ponytails are making me happy...


As are these vintage signs I just picked up from TJMaxx to go in my kitchen...


...especially this one...


...since it matches this one that I already have, which I got on ebay a few years ago--how cool and random...


And last, but certainly not least, this plate of pumpkin scones still warm from the oven. Darren said, "What mix are you using?" Excuse me? I made these completely from scratch. And do you like my photographic styling job?


So, lovely music, well-done small screen drama, breathtaking nature, new kitchen decorations, ponytails, and warm scones. That's what I call a pretty good day.

A Perfect Friday Morning

It's cold, dark, and rainy out this morning. Elaine and I are tucked up in my bed while Lucy is at school. We're drinking tea and eating donut holes. I'm finishing up some work, and Elaine is watching "101 Dalmatians" or, as she calls it, "Roger and All the Puppies."

This was her second choice. Through an elaborate ritual of eenie, meenie, meinie, mo, she first selected "Cinderella." When I opened the case, I saw that the only disc in there was the one with the extras (typical). I tried to explain to her that that one wasn't the actual movie.

"What is it?" she asked.

"It's where they get all the people who drew Cinderella together and they talk about how they made the movie."

She thought for a moment and said, "Well, that's trashy and horrible. I DON'T want that. Let me start all over again."

So, Roger and All the Puppies it is. Elaine usually assigns us all parts when she watches, so I better wrap this up if I want to be Perdita, my usual pick. Otherwise, she tells me I can be Cruela, and I'm not sure I like the implications of that.

In the Middle...a Deep Breath

I am in the middle of these busy, busy two weeks and also found out just yesterday that Lucy is the Star of the Week in first grade and there are all sorts of things I should have been doing for that, including now bringing in treats for everyone tomorrow. I woke up yesterday being absolutely positive that it was Friday and thinking most of this was past me, but it was only old Wednesday with still miles to go before I sleep.

But while I'm racing around doing everything, I'm also driving alone good portions of the time on I-90, which despite the maniacs who tailgate you even though you're driving 84 miles per hour, is actually lovely on long stretches of it--fields and farms and horses and big trees, shedding their leaves, which seem to have made their way right out of a Robert Frost poem.

And speaking of poetry, I came across this beautiful one by Mary Oliver (love her), which is so lovely and true that I read it several times and got at least one tear in my eye. If you'll forgive this hippie literary-dork phrase, it speaks to my soul right now...enjoy.

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting --
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.