Some Days Are Sad ...

Yup,

Some days are sad!

Today after 15-1/2 years we said our final Goodbyes to our pup Raisin.

Morgan, Patrick and I are heart broken!

She was a good dog!

We got her from a breeder in Georgia because Morgan had a Dachshund named Winnie that ended up staying with my mom when Morgan and I married Brian.

She was sad and missed her dog, and even though Brian had Gwillem it wasn't the same.

Morgan needed her own dog.

Enter Rum Raisin Cream Pie or Raisin for short.

She was a beautiful cream colored dog with rum colored heart shapes on her back.

She was quiet once she got to know you, but she would bark and bark until she felt comfortable.

Raisin never learned any real tricks, but gosh she could give paws like no other dog.

She didn't sit, but she begged a lot (that was untrained of course), she loved human food.

She loved to roll in the grass on a warm sunny day, and after we moved to California she liked to lay on the hot cement patio.

She was the best dog for our family.

We will miss her so very much and I cannot even imagine not having her greet us at the door.

I know she's with lots of good dogs in Heaven and people who love her greeted her there,

but our hearts will be missing her for the rest of our lives.

We loved you Raisin and we hope that we made you as happy as you made us.

We will think of you often and smile.
One this is for sure our precious girl, you have left little tiny paw prints all over our hearts.

💔💔

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As The World Turns ...

As The World Turns ...

My mom used to watch soap opera's every day, Monday through Friday.

While we kids were at school, she would rush in the morning to get all her house work done,

so that she could sit down at noon and watch her soaps. 

She watched As the World Turns, and the Guiding Light.

Mom knew those characters like the back of her hand,

 she knew their names, and who was dating who,

 who was having babies, who was cheating and who had died.

The funny thing is, she always had time to get the house cleaned,

 and we always had a delicious breakfast, lunch and dinner.  

The reason I bring this up is because I swear try as I might, 

I am really bad at getting everything done like she did.  

Now don't get me wrong, I'm a clean person, but I don't think I'm as particular as my mom was.

I felt very accomplished today when I was able to get my sheets washed, dried and back on the bed before noon.

I also made a fresh homemade blueberry cobbler, and it smells delicious.

Then feeling another short burst of energy I decided to use up some of the fresh veggies and I threw together a homemade, from scratch, no recipe at all, chicken tortilla soup.

  It came together nicely with chicken breast, fire roasted tomatoes, sweet maui onion, yellow and orange bell peppers, a fresh serrano chili, fresh corn cut off the cob, fresh lime juice, corn tortillas, and a can of black beans.

  It will be topped with cilantro, tortilla chips and grated cheddar jack.

For me ... that's a lot in one morning.

Now I'm perusing You Tube and checking out some video's for hand stamping greeting cards.

That's one of my favorite past times, no soap operas for me, just give me some ink and paper and I'm a happy girl.

I truly never thought I would craft again after Brian died, in fact I gave away all of my crafting supplies.

Now here I am totally in love with stamping.

I have accumulated a nice little collection of stamping supplies,

 and though I don't do it every day, it is becoming a favorite hobby.

I always thought I'd grow up and be just like my mama.

I'm not ... but I strive to do things like her.

I love cooking ... and I believe I have picked up much of her way of cooking.

I think I'm a good mom just as she was, she'd be proud of me.

Crafting was not her thing, though she could sew a bit and crochet.

To me my mom was perfect,

a perfect wife to my dad,

a perfect mom to her 3 daughters ...

a spectacular memere to her grand kids,

and as the world turns,

she proved that you can do just about anything,

if you have a bit of energy to just get started.

Thanks for all the lessons you taught me without even planning on it mom.

I miss you!

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Delicious Broccoli Salad - yum, yum, yum ...

Delicious Broccoli Salad

*This is not my recipe and I do not take any credit for it, I found it while browsing Pinterest and thought I would share it here, you can find this recipe at momontimeout.com along with many more amazing recipes.

Ingredients

• 1 cup light mayonnaise
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp celery seed
• 2 heads of broccoli broken down into small florets
• ¾ lb bacon, cooked and chopped into small pieces
• ½ cup toasted slivered almonds
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1½ cups red seedless grapes, halved

Instructions

1. Whisk together mayonnaise, sugar, red wine vinegar, and celery seed in a small bowl. Place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
2. Combine broccoli, bacon, toasted almonds, green onions, celery and grapes in a large serving dish.
3. (To toast almonds, place on a large baking sheet and bake at 350F for 3-5 minutes stirring in between. Do not walk away! They will burn easily. The almonds are toasted when they turn light brown.)
4. Toss the dressing with the rest of the salad ingredients and stir.
5. Dressing can be added at the last minute if desired.

I don't know about you, but I never seem to get enough veggies in to my diet, so when I come across recipes like this I save them and try them out.  This one sounds so good, I can't wait to give it a try, I think my family is going to love this one.

It's a New Year and a New Day!

2016

It's here finally, not that I was rushing it, I wasn't, 

but it seemed like I was waiting for it from the start of 2015.

Time has flown by for me since I've been back in California.

That can be good, and that can be bad, but truly I think it is what we make of it,

only time will tell what is to come.

I'm trying harder to be a more "positive" person, 

I've been a half glass empty kind of girl for a very long time.

Patrick and I closed out 2015 by attending a New Years Eve dinner at Malarkey's.

While waiting for our dinners to be served,

Patrick expressed his love for me and asked me if I would marry him.

I of course said "Yes".

We'd been talking about marriage for awhile now and had planned on tying the knot

in December, but things kept getting in our way,

first it was the clean out of Pat's moms house as we were under time constraints

due to the sale of the house.

Then when we thought we were all set to just get married, no fuss, no frills,

just us and our kids, another set back with the guy who was going to marry us.

Things happen you know, so here we are with a marriage license

that must be used within 90 days or we start at the beginning again.

We think we'll do it soon, we hope to anyway.

So keep your fingers crossed for us that we'll decide on a day

and everyone who wants to be there will find a way to work it in to their schedule.

Marriage, we've waited a long time for this, technically since we were little kids.

Yup, we've known each other since we met at church in 1970.

I had a crush on him from that day forward, Patrick was in fact my first date.

I moved to Connecticut within months of our date and we both led our own lives

for the next 33 years.

Time and circumstances brought us back together

and here we are ready to start where we left off.

Patrick has been working a lot lately, for that we are grateful.

Morgan is teaching in an after school program that she very much enjoys.

She has her own classroom and her own class of kids,

she's hoping to get back to school for her masters eventually,

until then she will be studying to take her CSET tests so that she can apply to be a full time teacher.

She is also substitute teaching and hopes to get more of that in before summer.

Me on the other hand, well I have not yet found work.

It's so hard when you have been out of the work world for 15 almost 16 years.

I never really realized that by staying home with my daughter and just being a mom

was actually handicapping me for the future.  

It seems I no longer have the skills that used to be so helpful and handy for the type of work I desired.

I don't know what I'll end up doing,

but do something I must.

Once again … wish me luck.

So many things to come, hopefully new adventures,

new friends, new travels and new experiences to write about.

Chances are there will be losses,

there will be surprises,

there will be disappointments,

and there will be many reasons to smile and laugh.

I wish you all a wonderful New Year,

may it bring you all your hearts desires.