Tuesday, January 29, 2008
An evening with friends
monday evening i accompanied two friends to an art opening at beaujo's wine bar. the artist was friend to both of mine, but i hadn't met her previously. she paints charming oils of children and birds and confided that she came to be an artist late in life, having spent most of it teaching french at the university level. i like what she does and liked her too.....the four of us plan to return to beaujos for lunch before her show ends in march.
we left the opening and proceeded to d'amico's for dinner.....carefully trodding on ever more slippery sidewalks. talking, laughing and eating over a couple of hours was great, and we plan to do it again of course. they had some suggestions for don and i to check out some museum displays and we will do that.
they came to the house prior to the art show, because carol is thinking of a kitchen redo. showing it off and explaining where we started reminded me all over again how much i love the kitchen and enjoy working in it. cooking is so much more fun when there is room to move, places to store things, and appliances that make for good results. i feel very lucky to realize i am using my dream kitchen every single day!
we left the opening and proceeded to d'amico's for dinner.....carefully trodding on ever more slippery sidewalks. talking, laughing and eating over a couple of hours was great, and we plan to do it again of course. they had some suggestions for don and i to check out some museum displays and we will do that.
they came to the house prior to the art show, because carol is thinking of a kitchen redo. showing it off and explaining where we started reminded me all over again how much i love the kitchen and enjoy working in it. cooking is so much more fun when there is room to move, places to store things, and appliances that make for good results. i feel very lucky to realize i am using my dream kitchen every single day!
Labels: dream kitchen, friends
Guests for dinner
the neighbors came for dinner on sunday evening. for some unknown reason i went a little nuts and used 3 new recipes and changed another i hadn't made for several years. i think my kitchen was visited by a crazy person! the appetizer recipes were pretty great.....a parsley hummus that was green with a bit of a bite from tahini, cumin and cayenne that i served with sugar snap peas and caulifloweretes, and blue cheese and caramelized onion squares that were impressive!
a simple romaine and grape tomato salad, my old standby pork tenderloin with cranberry/rosemary sauce, and a new one....roasted sweet potatoes and yams with fingerling potatoes. you could choose the herb seasoning to go with the minced garlic, and i used thyme and sage.....they were good, but a bit mushy as they cooked quicker than expected. next time i will use a slower oven and finish with increased heat to get a little crusty edge, or maybe just cut the taters in bigger pieces than recommended. we had the old stand by trader joe sourdough rolls instead of the popovers i was originally planning. (i do have SOME sense i guess!) for dessert, gary contributed some date bars that were fabulous, and we had some of my pear ginger bread and food for the gods, my grandmother's recipe...little samples of each. when i made it the day before both don and i thought the latter too sweet, but it didn't seem so when served. i substituted dried apricots for the dates and it was a good thing, although i love it with dates too.
we served the appetizers in the kitchen which was fun.....brian had made some key suggestions when the remake was in progress but hadn't seen it with completed back splash tile and wood floor. all in all a really great evening. have to do it again, but next time using familiar recipes for heaven sakes!!
we all had a great time visiting and talking about travel....they've been to paris 3 times and we've been to london twice and so we both learned a lot. we probably need to visit paris with phrase book in hand of course!
a simple romaine and grape tomato salad, my old standby pork tenderloin with cranberry/rosemary sauce, and a new one....roasted sweet potatoes and yams with fingerling potatoes. you could choose the herb seasoning to go with the minced garlic, and i used thyme and sage.....they were good, but a bit mushy as they cooked quicker than expected. next time i will use a slower oven and finish with increased heat to get a little crusty edge, or maybe just cut the taters in bigger pieces than recommended. we had the old stand by trader joe sourdough rolls instead of the popovers i was originally planning. (i do have SOME sense i guess!) for dessert, gary contributed some date bars that were fabulous, and we had some of my pear ginger bread and food for the gods, my grandmother's recipe...little samples of each. when i made it the day before both don and i thought the latter too sweet, but it didn't seem so when served. i substituted dried apricots for the dates and it was a good thing, although i love it with dates too.
we served the appetizers in the kitchen which was fun.....brian had made some key suggestions when the remake was in progress but hadn't seen it with completed back splash tile and wood floor. all in all a really great evening. have to do it again, but next time using familiar recipes for heaven sakes!!
we all had a great time visiting and talking about travel....they've been to paris 3 times and we've been to london twice and so we both learned a lot. we probably need to visit paris with phrase book in hand of course!
Labels: food, friends, good conversation, new recipes
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
The pampered mother
postings have been sparse since the first of the year. i was just so tired, so totally exhausted after a schizophrenic fall, that i couldn't even think of anything to say. now that is amazing in itself!!
i am on the upside now having accomplished a lot of the busy stuff that is necessary following a death. in some ways, there was not a lot to do, well some bills to be paid, some insurance to be dealt with and checking on some other items....that is all done as far as i can tell. there is still the sadness and the awareness of someone important missing from my daily life. that will be there for a long time to come.
the middle child became concerned about my failure to snap back into shape and contacted the father figure, discussions were held and she decided to come to the rescue and do some pampering. at first i was overwhelmed by the idea of just one more thing on my plate, but by the time the weekend arrived i was sufficiently recovered to be looking forward.
it was an amazing treat. i was stunned by thinking how long it had been since someone had asked what i wanted to do and i had answered honestly instead of weighing and measuring how it would impact on someone else. i really couldn't remember another instance! that is scary, and i guess i need to make some subtle changes. i'm never going to be the person who declares "it's my time now!", but i need to believe that i am worth some treats now and then.
and treats there were. we went shopping and had fun doing it then had a good lunch at a nice restaurant. next there was a movie.....the first for me in several years, and we saw juno. it was a delight....laughs and tears, all the good stuff. we made dinner together that evening and it was a darn good meal too! it was such fun, and a nice way of bonding with a grown up daughter.
the next day, sunday, was the ultimate.......i was gifted with a massage, my first, and hopefully not the last. it was totally wonderful and luxurious and just perfect. the place was great, and altho our signals got a bit mixed due to misinformation from the receptionist, i enjoyed reading in front of the fireplace and sarah had a nice conversation with another client while we supposedly waited for eachother's "therapy" to be completed.
the next day the 3 of us went out for bagels and coffee and spent some pleasant time visiting and enjoying the atmosphere. before she left we hung pictures in the living, dining, kitchen areas, and finally the place looks warm and lived in. it's wonderful to have some of my favorite things on the walls again, and i feel it's a great improvement.
all together it gave me such a huge boost, and i hope that i will remember how great it felt to me and be able to pass on the same feeling to others when they need it. i plan to indulge myself now and then too.....that may take some doing, but i hope i can get to that place and just do it!
i am on the upside now having accomplished a lot of the busy stuff that is necessary following a death. in some ways, there was not a lot to do, well some bills to be paid, some insurance to be dealt with and checking on some other items....that is all done as far as i can tell. there is still the sadness and the awareness of someone important missing from my daily life. that will be there for a long time to come.
the middle child became concerned about my failure to snap back into shape and contacted the father figure, discussions were held and she decided to come to the rescue and do some pampering. at first i was overwhelmed by the idea of just one more thing on my plate, but by the time the weekend arrived i was sufficiently recovered to be looking forward.
it was an amazing treat. i was stunned by thinking how long it had been since someone had asked what i wanted to do and i had answered honestly instead of weighing and measuring how it would impact on someone else. i really couldn't remember another instance! that is scary, and i guess i need to make some subtle changes. i'm never going to be the person who declares "it's my time now!", but i need to believe that i am worth some treats now and then.
and treats there were. we went shopping and had fun doing it then had a good lunch at a nice restaurant. next there was a movie.....the first for me in several years, and we saw juno. it was a delight....laughs and tears, all the good stuff. we made dinner together that evening and it was a darn good meal too! it was such fun, and a nice way of bonding with a grown up daughter.
the next day, sunday, was the ultimate.......i was gifted with a massage, my first, and hopefully not the last. it was totally wonderful and luxurious and just perfect. the place was great, and altho our signals got a bit mixed due to misinformation from the receptionist, i enjoyed reading in front of the fireplace and sarah had a nice conversation with another client while we supposedly waited for eachother's "therapy" to be completed.
the next day the 3 of us went out for bagels and coffee and spent some pleasant time visiting and enjoying the atmosphere. before she left we hung pictures in the living, dining, kitchen areas, and finally the place looks warm and lived in. it's wonderful to have some of my favorite things on the walls again, and i feel it's a great improvement.
all together it gave me such a huge boost, and i hope that i will remember how great it felt to me and be able to pass on the same feeling to others when they need it. i plan to indulge myself now and then too.....that may take some doing, but i hope i can get to that place and just do it!
Labels: daughters, pampering, sarah
Monday, January 07, 2008
A bit more accomplished!
today i made two phone calls and there are now two checks in the mail, one accompanied by a copy of the death certificate. i think i am done with this portion of things, but then again it's hard to know when you are really done. i may get another letter that tells me something completely different.
so, the business part may be done, but the emotional part is still a work in progress. tomorrow we drive back to nebraska to attend the funeral of a good friend. one of the good guys for sure.
so, the business part may be done, but the emotional part is still a work in progress. tomorrow we drive back to nebraska to attend the funeral of a good friend. one of the good guys for sure.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Getting there
i can hardly believe it's been a month between postings! i think it's been a busy month, so i will hang the blame right there!
when i returned from lincoln, i had busy-ness. notes to write, and bills to pay as well as trying to interpret the insurance world. the latter is one curvy road after another, and rarely is the news of good cheer. i am particularly irritated with one company that continued to take money way beyond the possible pay out allowed. the pay out was totally inadequate in today's world EVEN IF they deigned to pay fifteen cents. most of the others with whom i've dealt have been really nice, extremely cooperative and sympathetic to my loss. the latter is always a nice touch when dealing with this situation, and it's amazing to me how few people really get it even tho they deal in this area all the time.
i still have one bill to settle and then i think it's pretty well taken care of for now. there are always many things that need to be discontinued or people notified often accompanied by a death certificate. it's just a continuation of a journey i guess. i have spent a couple of days recently shredding papers. i think many people have difficulty deciding just what needs saving. in the last years of her life auntie dealt with doctors, prescriptions and illness, things she had avoided for over 90 years. she did an amazing job in figuring out what things meant, and asked pointed questions when she didn't understand. she'd never used her medicare or supplement benefits before and certainly never considered needing a medicare d policy. so many things new to her and definitely NOT the fun part. anyway, back to my ramble about shredding.....all the papers have critical info like her social security number, birthdate etc, so all those parts seemed worthy of meeting the shredder. i still have two or three boxes to go, but progress has been made.
it does help to feel that i am accomplishing something. i try to get something DONE each day.....figuring out what exactly a bill means may take several hours, but i do it! emptying the boxes, going back over bank statements to find any insurance policies or potential billing agencies i may have missed takes more time. i just found something in a bank statement that i need to check on in the morning.
the memorial still is not scheduled and i would like to get that settled very soon. the details are all in place, we just lack the date.....oh to be able to predict the weather in the midwest!!
of course the part i left out, was that when i returned from lincoln, i had christmas to plan, gifts to purchase and prepare for usps or whatever. i think i got that handled too and even mailed christmas cards before the holiday happened. patrick was here for christmas and that was a delight. we were all pretty lazy, ready, watching tv, visiting or whatever. very easy and just what the doctor ordered for don and i anyway. we were feeling decidedly pooped, so relaxation was a gift! we did manage to get out to dinner one evening and also went to see a georgia o'keefe show that was very interesting. it wasn't HUGE, just 42 pieces, but it was concerning her early experiments about abstraction, and was lovely as well as educational.
when i returned from lincoln, i had busy-ness. notes to write, and bills to pay as well as trying to interpret the insurance world. the latter is one curvy road after another, and rarely is the news of good cheer. i am particularly irritated with one company that continued to take money way beyond the possible pay out allowed. the pay out was totally inadequate in today's world EVEN IF they deigned to pay fifteen cents. most of the others with whom i've dealt have been really nice, extremely cooperative and sympathetic to my loss. the latter is always a nice touch when dealing with this situation, and it's amazing to me how few people really get it even tho they deal in this area all the time.
i still have one bill to settle and then i think it's pretty well taken care of for now. there are always many things that need to be discontinued or people notified often accompanied by a death certificate. it's just a continuation of a journey i guess. i have spent a couple of days recently shredding papers. i think many people have difficulty deciding just what needs saving. in the last years of her life auntie dealt with doctors, prescriptions and illness, things she had avoided for over 90 years. she did an amazing job in figuring out what things meant, and asked pointed questions when she didn't understand. she'd never used her medicare or supplement benefits before and certainly never considered needing a medicare d policy. so many things new to her and definitely NOT the fun part. anyway, back to my ramble about shredding.....all the papers have critical info like her social security number, birthdate etc, so all those parts seemed worthy of meeting the shredder. i still have two or three boxes to go, but progress has been made.
it does help to feel that i am accomplishing something. i try to get something DONE each day.....figuring out what exactly a bill means may take several hours, but i do it! emptying the boxes, going back over bank statements to find any insurance policies or potential billing agencies i may have missed takes more time. i just found something in a bank statement that i need to check on in the morning.
the memorial still is not scheduled and i would like to get that settled very soon. the details are all in place, we just lack the date.....oh to be able to predict the weather in the midwest!!
of course the part i left out, was that when i returned from lincoln, i had christmas to plan, gifts to purchase and prepare for usps or whatever. i think i got that handled too and even mailed christmas cards before the holiday happened. patrick was here for christmas and that was a delight. we were all pretty lazy, ready, watching tv, visiting or whatever. very easy and just what the doctor ordered for don and i anyway. we were feeling decidedly pooped, so relaxation was a gift! we did manage to get out to dinner one evening and also went to see a georgia o'keefe show that was very interesting. it wasn't HUGE, just 42 pieces, but it was concerning her early experiments about abstraction, and was lovely as well as educational.
Labels: auntie lee, christmas, georgia o
