The First Goodbyes

My mother joined us for the boy’s birthday this year. This was her final trip to Atlanta as the impending move to Tampa draws closer. While she was here we visited Zoo Atlanta for the last time. We have had a membership for about 5-6 years and since my mother got us the first 3-4 years of our membership, it seemed fitting that she be there for the last. We visited the brand new baby panda, Xi Lan (Atlanta’s Joy), and his sister Mei Lan (Beautiful Atlanta) and of course their parents Lun Lun and Yang Yang. We paid our respects to the Elephant house where Dottie used to roam. We saw the elusive leopard. We only saw it one other time in the 5-6 years we were members! The children climbed the rock wall one last time and we all rode the train… one last time… We were sad to hear that 2 days after our membership was due to expire, the Parakeet Adventure was due to open.

Another goodbye (more like a “see you later”) was to our best friends who moved to New Jersey. Their whole life is being flipped around right now and I wish I could help. I keep them in my thoughts every day and hope the dust settles soon for them.

Our realtor for our Atlanta home suggested that we write a blurb with some memories and what we will miss about the home. An hour and many tears later this is what was made:

“Nine years ago the man of my dreams built me the house of my dreams. He was literally here for every day of construction. The first memory I have was meeting a neighbor while we signed the contract to purchase. She and her husband still live in our cul-de-sac. She was pregnant with her first child who is now 9 years old. We have been able to watch him grow right along with his little sister who is now 7. We met our best friends at a backyard Cinco de Mayo party that we hosted. They have since moved 3 times but are as close to us as any family members. I remember coming home from our wedding reception and parading around in the cul-de-sac in our wedding attire and being greeted by our neighbors with hugs and congratulations. Both of our children were born while we were here and the neighbors in our cul-de-sac greeted us immediately when we came home from the hospital. I will miss the love and kindness by our neighbors who not only threw us a baby shower and decorated our front door for the arrivals of our newborns, but also brought us a meal every night for 2 weeks each time we grew our family. I will miss the original “playgroup” of which 5 of the 8 children still remain. I will miss the annual 4th of July parade that we have participated in the last 8 years and will also miss later in the day when every neighbor comes out of their homes at dusk and congregates their chairs in the streets to see the fireworks at Wills Park. I will miss the Association BBQ to kick off the opening of the pool every summer and the monthly “Girl’s Night Out” dates. I will miss having the babysitter 2 homes down who we watched grow from elementary school. As our first home, it holds many endearing memories and my only wish is it will hold many more to come.”

I sent this to many of my family and friends that I thought would enjoy it. What I got back was a flood of responses with THEIR memories and what they will miss. And the tears came again.

There will be many more goodbyes before our departure and I do not pretend it will be easy. But as I sit here at my new Honda dealership in Tampa waiting for my car to be finished I know this is my new home and I am happy. I will enjoy being close to family once again. I will LOVE being near the beach…. Again… I will soon fall in love with my new kitchen, and pool, and I will make new friends AND get to keep the ones I have already. Now, someone buy my Atlanta house ;)

I have a 7 year old....

Tomorrow is the boy's birthday. How did I get to be a woman with a 7 year old? It seems like just yesterday he was teething and now he is losing his second tooth! For those of you that do not know already, the time goes by too quickly. Do not put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Make sure you hug your child(ren) every day, more than 5 times, and make sure they know how very special they are. They are your legacy. They are the most perfect extension of you in the flesh. Treat them as such, even when it is the most difficult to do so.

Destiny...

I got into a conversation with an old friend of mine the other day. This person isn't just any friend. He took me to my Senior Ball (which was one of the romantic things I can remember from my life). My WHOLE family considered him to be part of their family for a long time and I broke his heart because I was young and stupid. My whole family expected me to marry him someday... Little did they know...

This story starts about 10 years ago. My boyfriend, who is now my husband, moved away to Georgia while I stayed behind in California. He could not bear to move me away from my family (who were all in California) solely for him. He worried that I would resent him if our relationship did not work out so we decided to break up and remain friends. While he was gone, he and I both dated other people. I decided to revisit the affection I had for my old friend mentioned above. He and I had gotten close, again, after Ed left for Georgia. One night, we went to a club with my boss. My boss at the time was a very cool guy... Still is :) My friend danced with another girl and I spent the whole night upset and crying to my boss. In my mind, I remembered the night I broke his heart. I could remember it so vividly. I will never, ever, forget the look on his face that night. The night at the club I "knew" he would never let me in his heart again so I stopped trying. The next day my friend and I had a fight about the night before and I didn't speak to him again until after I eventually moved to Georgia. We never talked about that night, though, and until a few days ago I assumed everything was as I saw it. Come to find out it was not. In movies, there is usually a point where a decision is made or where the plot becomes definitive. The night at the club was that for me, but I did not see that until the other day. Had clear lines of communications been had, destiny would have played out very differently for my life and the lives of those now in mine.

I do not believe in soul mates in the traditional sense, if at all. If soul mates exist, I think it is our children who are our soul mates. The powers at be would have the ability to "plant the seed" so to speak rather than letting destiny guide you towards a single, solitary love. Let's examine the traditional idea of a soul mate, one person for each person. What if your soul mate dies? What if that person is halfway across the world and doesn't know how to communicate with you? The concept is flawed. But, destiny? I can see destiny being a reality. I cannot believe that the cosmic world we live in has no plan for humanity. I believe we have a direction but not a clear-cut answer. I do believe things happen for a reason, even the horrible. Had things been different that night at the club with my friend, my life might be drastically different. The 2 beautiful beings I helped create would not exist. I would not have the best mother-in-law in the whole world (though I would still have the best mother ;)). I would not have a man with whom I laugh at the stupidest things like an 18k gold plated feeyokioke. (That was an inside joke that no one will get but us LOL) I would not have my Muppet, nor would he have his Peege. I love my life. I love being Ed's wife. I love my children. I love every molecule of our quirky little family. I am truly happy. Thank you GOD for destiny!

Bring on Y2K9!

This past week or so has been wonderful! Ed has been off work and the kids have been home from school. We have been tinkering with new toys and games together. We got replacement couch cushions for my couch (oh so needed). We celebrated every night of Hanukkah with excitement and joy and love and FUN!

We have been going out to dinner a little more than usually for the last couple months. Still not what we used to (which is good), but it is a little break. The girl and I broke out the easy bake yesterday. She insisted on baking a cake to take to the Denneen’s house for the NYE party we were invited to. She insisted her very first layer of the cake be blue in honor of her brother. I only wish they both share that love through the years and beyond. It is so sweet to see. We actually cut into the cake at the party. I wish we took a picture of the mini slices. They were cool with the colors! And the cake was surprisingly good! I mean… REALLY good!

The kids got all dressed up and we headed out to the Denneen’s for a wonderful dinner party. Jeff cooked an incredible dinner of roasted veggies, asparagus, green beans, mashed potatoes, lamb, beef tenderloin, salad, and I am sure I am missing at least one thing but that about sums it up. The kids were all incredible. I cannot believe how well behaved they all were considering we were there about 5 hours. There was an assortment of wines and such. I, of course, brought Voyant which wasn’t opened until the coffee came out and I put some in mine. I encouraged Anne to try some and she loved it! It was the first time I put it in coffee and have to say, it is YUMMY!

We were supposed to go to the Zazzaro’s for a party today. There is no way. We are beat. We were one of 2 families (besides the hosting family, of course) out of 6 families to make it until midnight and we paid for it today! We didn’t wake until 11 and didn’t eat breakfast until noon. We are going to take it easy and watch some Survivorman on the HD Science channel which the kids love. We may even go to a restaurant that was suggested to us by a woman at the party last night. I am sure my wonderful husband will give a review if we go. If he leaves anything out, I will be sure to chime in ;)

As for Y2K9, I am looking forward to the move to Tampa. We have a lot of big changes coming up and I am getting very excited!

Extended warranty? No thanks…

My 2006 Honda Odyssey Touring is JUST out of warranty… by like 2k miles. I took it in today to Honda Carland for a minor appointment. We bought our car there. We have never taken our car ANYwhere else to get it serviced. Within the last year or so they have become so large (they really are the biggest, baddest sales/service dealership around) that they have outsourced their service scheduling to a call center. The call center people do not know their head from an elephant’s rear. I called them 3 weeks ago to tell them I had a sticker in my car stating I was due for my 40k servicing. First, the woman could not find me by my phone #. She said my phone # returned a list of 74 people or something… THEN, after hearing my name 5 times prior, she asked if I was Angela… No lady… I am not Angela. She said my car is not due for a servicing and that the Odyssey has a 45k servicing which should be my next one but I could bring in my car for that servicing. It was only just over 40k. No thank you… 1 week later, when my car is about 40,600 miles, I get “SERVICE DUE SOON” from my car… Wonderful! I love it when I deal with competent people! It makes my day. So I call back and explain to them what happened and they blew it off, of course. I also let them know about the coupon booklet I had from when I purchased my car that gave me the minor services (every other one) free. They told me to bring it in with me when I came. Today was the appointment. I brought the car in at 9:45 and was told it would take 60-90 mins for the service and a little longer to determine the chronic brake noise issue. I sat back and was entertained by the laptop I decided to bring (though the genius in me forgot the power cable) for about 1 hour and 45 mins and then was called up. I could see on the screen the total price was going to be over $1200. I nearly choked, seriously. I told them about the coupon (that I forgot at home, DOH) which would have knocked off the $110 for the service thus far and she said that wasn’t valid for this service but that I should have a $10 coupon for this one that she’d honor though I didn’t have it with me. I told her the conversation with the woman at the call center. She explained in a more detailed fashion why this coupon was not valid for THIS service and I accepted it though I was not very happy about it. Then she said I needed a steering pump (over $300), brakes and resurfaced rotors ($400) and some sort of rear shock thing that had fluid leaking from it ($400). I was ticked, noticeably. I asked her why when I brought my car in September (when it was FULLY COVERED) was a leak not detected. And before she could answer I asked her why was the steering pump failing NOW when I have documented complaining about noises from the steering going back a year. We went back and forth and she said she would talk to her manager about getting these covered under warranty and getting me a rental car (which is unheard of at this place) to get everything done. Needless to say, all was done under warranty except the standard service and the brakes/rotors which we will get priced elsewhere. On a side note, thank you to Patrick who was going to pick up the girl if I was unable to because of this mess. They got it done in time (3.5 hours at this place today) for me to pick her up though, barely. What a mess… I am leasing next time!

AWESOME DAY!

Today, the boy lost his very first tooth! It has been a long time coming since his adult tooth grew in behind but it is finally OUT! We sang "La Tooth-a-racha" in the car on the way home while rattling the tooth in it's case like a maraca!! WHAT FUN! He also did not get any steps at school today which is a big accomplishment. We have been struggling with him getting steps (behavioral marks) almost on a daily basis. For his good behavior he gets to choose tonights dinner. He chose Taco Bell. Whatever works, eh? Finally, he made a hanukkiah (a menorah for Hanukkah) at school and I got to help. It came out AWESOME. I will post a picture when we get to take it home. He is obsessed with games... like his mommy... so it is a game hanukkiah made with parts of many different games! Martha has nothin on me! ;)

On the GIRL side, she began reading "If You Give a Pig a Pancake"! The boy said she could do it. I thought it was a little much for her. We got through about 5 pages! We will read 5 more tomorrow night. Not bad for my ALMOST 5 year old in pre-k!!

Fast Forward!

My life seems like it is in fast forward lately. First, for those of you that do not know (which is almost everyone), my family is moving to Florida (Tampa) in the summer of 09. I could not be more excited! This started when Bubby got very ill and we thought we were going to lose her. This made me think of how much family we have in town… none. I told my husband that I wanted to be closer to family so here we are! We signed on a house 2 weeks ago and signed up the kids for school. The plan is to get this house ready to put on the market soon so we have a LOT of work to do.

Because of the pending move, we have needed to make (and really have needed to make for a while) a change in our spending habits. We have wanted for nothing in the last several years. We would eat out most nights, get the most current toys and baubles and not think about spending. We have been very lucky, VERY. In today’s economy that is just not possible. I am starting to cook every meal and really taking a look at how much I spend on the meals. A friend told me about 5 dollar meals. This woman is amazing with her thriftiness! I cannot say that I will be able to be as good as she is, but it really helps me with MY spending. Cooking at home will also help keep the family healthier in the long run.

Thanksgiving was this week. We spent it with the same people we spent the 4th of July with, the Altwargs. We had a blast! They are such a great family. The cranberry sauce was GREAT! See below for the recipe. I will never EVER buy canned again! Elizabeth also made cranberry bread that was by far the star of the meal. The recipe is below. I made a Semi-Homemade meal with some of the leftovers we had but I tweaked the recipe a little. See below for the modified recipe.

Spiced Cranberry Sauce

zest and juice from 1 orange
1/2 cups water
1 tart apple, such as Granny Smith, pippin or
McIntosh
3 cups fresh cranberries
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

In a small saucepan over high heat, combine the zest, juice and the water and bring to a
boil.. Peel, core and quarter the apple. Cut into 1/2-inch dice and place in a saucepan with the cranberries, sugar, and spices. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to low and cover the pan partially. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, the apple is tender and the cranberries have burst, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer the cranberry sauce to a heatproof bowl and let cool for 1 hour before serving. Or cover and refrigerate; bring to room temperature before serving.

Pot Pie Casserole

Preheat oven to 350.

-4 cups of chopped up cooked turkey (or chicken if you prefer)
-2 cans of condensed cream soup (I used healthy request broccoli cheese and chicken)
-4 cups of veggies such as: leftover steamed green beans or fzn), raw white corn cut from 2 cobs, 2 large raw carrots sliced, 2 small raw red potatoes cubed, half a chopped sweet onion, 1 celery rib chopped... you could also add fzn peas but I didn't have any.

Stir all above in a large bowl. Add to a large baking dish and cook TIGHTLY covered in foil for 1 hour and 45 mins. Take out of the oven and on top add a single layer of:-16 oz can of refrig. biscuits (I used pilsbury grands). Brush with 4 TBSP of melted butter and sprinkle pepper over the top. Bake for an add'l 18 mins until the biscuits are done.

Cranberry Fruit Nut Bread
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of Ocean Spray fresh or frozen cranberries – coarsely chopped
- ½ cup chopped nuts (walnuts)
- 1 tbsp. Grated orange peel
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
- 1 tsp. Salt
- ½ tsp. Baking soda
- 2 Tbsl. Shortening (margerine/butter)
- ¾ cup orange juice
- 1 egg well beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Generously grease & lightly flour a baking pan
Prepare cranberries, nuts & orange peel – set aside
Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda
Cut in shortening (make it look like pebbles and mix into the flour mixture)
Stir in orange juice, egg and orange peel, mixing just to moisten
Fold in cranberries and nuts
Spoon into prepared pan
Bake 60 minutes or until wooden toothpick comes out clean
Cool on rack for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool more.