Voyages in Parenthood

And, no, this is not a rant about the Eagles - although pretty darn mad about them too, but pretty much resigned to rooting for da Bears this year! No, this is about the freaking heron that has been hanging out around our pond for the past several days. Yes, we have a heron that has come by to hang out around our pond on occasion. Yesterday I actually saw him (no, I didn't take any pictures, sorry). He's huge - stands probably as tall as about 3 or 4 feet. Know why he's huge? Remember my fish? (If you click there you will learn all about my fish) Yeah, well, good thing I took a picture of my fish to remember them by because that darn heron ATE EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM! Yesterday, when Brock came in to tell me the heron was back, we went out and he was standing at the middle pond (end of the creek just before it goes into the big pond) where we had had some fish hanging out - the heron flew away (low enough that he stopped traffic on the road) and I found NO FISH. I checked o...

You can't wait for the 5th year reunion because you want to see how everyone is out of college. The 10th year you wonder who got married and who has kids. The 20th, you are just hoping you look as good or better than everyone else. And, you hope that people remember you! And, that you can remember a few, too! Turns out, we all look pretty darn good and we all pretty much remembered each other, if not right away, after a few minutes or so! The name tags came in handy a few times! My 20th high school class reunion was this past Saturday. I was wondering to myself earlier that day how I was going to be able to spend 5 hours on a Saturday night hanging out with people I hadn't seen in 20 years since, well, I hadn't seen them in 20 years and, well, my bed time is a lot earlier on Saturday nights than it used to be! The idea that I might be up later than 10pm was daunting enough, but the reunion was scheduled to go until midnight, so I was wondering how I was gonna stay up 2 extr...

We had a wonderful thanksgiving this year. We had planned to be at home, just the three of us. Brock planned to make a 17 pound turkey that would keep us in leftover heaven for weeks. Our wonderful next door neighbor invited us to spend the day with her family and bring our turkey, so we did. Leda in her Thanksgiving outfit - her Grandma bought it for her! It was really nice. We had a wonderful time. And my pies, they went over really well. They actually tasted really good! If I do say so myself! Leda had fun playing with Connor and Katlyn (her sometime babysitters!) and eating lots of crackers and apple sauce , not so much room left for turkey. But she had some of Mommy's Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie and she LOVED it! Oh, and the chocolate covered almonds weren't bad either... Today we hung out, cleaned the living room, took a nap and Mommy went shopping - yes, I ventured near to a store on the one day of the year that I shun going shopping. But I went late in the afternoon (arou...

I didn't mention it this year because, well, you all know how bad I am at birthdays and I just didn't want to rub it in. But, I forgot my niece's birthday. Again! Yes, Sami's 2nd birthday was last Friday. When did I remember it? That's right, Saturday morning! I was just reviewing the November2005 archive because I wanted to see what I wrote about Leda a year ago and I saw this post . It was such a sense of deja vu because, well, I DID THE SAME THING LAST YEAR! I guess that means we have to fly to Florida next year for Sami's birthday! ;-)

Apple Butter Pumpkin pie with pecan streusel topping: Grandma's Apple Pie: Hopefully the taste as good as they look. The best part - I didn't have to share the left over pie crust dough! ;-) But, I did, share it, with my husband (it was either that or eat it all myself!)

What a busy day today will be - not only do I have work to do (I mean, I am actually working today) but we will be going over to friends for dinner, then I have to figure out how to make two pies for tomorrow when we get home! And, I have a slight case of walking pneumonia thrown in for good measure! Yes, the hacking cough that has been persistant the past two weeks of my life turns out to be walking pneumonia - not serious enough to kill me, just keep me from getting any sleep and being a real pain in the you know what! But the great thing about the diagnosis is the DRUGS! Yes, that's right, I said DRUGS. I have never been so happy to get a prescription for drugs before. I think I almost hugged the doctor! I have had very little good sleep the past two weeks and my doctor, the wonderful woman that she is, perscribe me some cough medicine with Codeine so that I could sleep! Ah, how nice it was to wake up at 7 this morning knowing that the last time I was awake was about 12:30 when ...

Yes, we have recovered (mostly - I am the lucky one to have continued with a cough that won't go away, but other than that...) Work is busy and I have promised two pies (yes - don't laugh!) for Thanksgiving dinner at our neighbor's house on Thursday. And, I have a slide show I have to complete for our reunion on Saturday night (yes, 20th high school reunion - how scary is that?). So, can you understand why I am SO looking forward to four complete days at home doing no work? Besides, I get to spend it with her: I mean, wouldn't that be SO worth it? Pictures will be forth coming - I mean, really, do you think I'd go to my 20th reunion without my camera??

Well, all of us are on the road to recovery - I hope! Let's see, recap of the sickness - Brock had a nasty cough that kept him (and I) awake most nights for the past two weeks. I caught the cold not to long after Brock did, which meant Brock AND I were up most nights coughing away. I subsequently lost my voice on Wed. It did come back (barely) on Thur and I was sounding like Brenda Vaccaro on Friday! Leda seemed to only get the runny nose, but then we noticed that she had gunk coming out of her eyes. So, for a few days, we were keeping an eye out for pink eye, which, luckily, never appeared and she seems much better now (except for the look like she went ten rounds with Muhammad Ali). We figure it was a sinus infection that just worked its way out. Anyway, we all seem to be better today. Brock and I did venture out last night for a concert - our first in MONTHS! We went to see Arlo Guthrie and Friends at a small local theater. We had great seats (about 6th row center - awesome!) Ar...

We are all sick here...well, some more than others, some less than others. Leda had a cold, I got it, Brock got it, Brock never really got over it, got bad again, gave it back to me and subsequently Leda seems to be getting it now, too! Can't wait until Spring. Seems that might be when the cold season is over. Yuck! Got pictures from my Mother of all the girls together when we were in Florida...sucks my arm is in the picture, but it's pretty good non-the-less. Leda kept trying to take Abby's hand off her shoulder, thus the reason for my hand! Then there are the set of Leda and Sami eating birthday cake...two of my favs: The best one...love the look on Sami's face! Hopefully we will all be back to normal here soon.