Celebrate Another Day of Living

I just looked back at when my last post was… 31^st October, where did the time go?  When I last was here Abate had just qualified for XC Regionals, well he placed 6^th there and went on to place 12^th at the State Meet. He was also named to the KDH All-Area XC Team and took Most Valuable Runner award.

I also had mentioned that Fantu had auditions for All-Region Choir, she was named as an alternate. Super proud for her. 

So you’d think that by now things would have slowed down, but that doesn’t seem to have happened yet, Holiday events, choir concerts, soccer practices, it just never seems to end. It is also going to get totally crazy in about 2 more weeks. Abate’s soccer games will be Tuesday and Thursday nights, Fantu’s on Thursdays. Fantu will have voice lessons on Wednesday evenings and I’m just waiting to see what will pop up on Mondays. I really hope that nothing does, I need one night off to cuddle with the pooches on the sofa.

Two days to Christmas, my shopping is complete; I did 99.9% online this year. I also have everything wrapped and ready to place under the tree. The groceries are bought and I hope I haven’t forgotten anything for that oh so special meal.  It will just be the four of us on Christmas Day as all the kids were home for Thanksgiving.  I’m also working this week (except the 24^th & 25^th), I’m taking the following Monday – Wednesday off so I can celebrate my 55^th birthday, dinner and a movie as has become the tradition.  

Fifty-five, a bit depressing. Ten years ago when we moved to Gatesville I had hoped that by the time I turned 55 we would be financially in a position so I would be able to quit working full time.  But better things came along that we hadn’t planned on, and those better things (Abate and Fantu) came with a high price tag. So, now I hope that in five more years retiring will become a reality.  I can’t believe I am getting so dangerously close to sixty. I thought I just turned fifty a short time ago.  I have always struggled with the fives (25, 35, 45) they feel like a downward slope whereas the big 30, 40, 50 are milestones to be celebrated.

Well if I get time in the next few weeks maybe I’ll reflect on the year past or dream of the year ahead.

Wishing you and yours a brilliant holiday season.

Nollaig shona dhuit

Anticipation

I am full of nervous energy this week. The excitement of recent events and the ones this weekend have left me constantly thinking about the possibilities.

Last week we had Fantu singing her solo at the Autumn Choir Follies show. Nothing like being a Mom sitting there waiting for your child to sing even though you have heard her rehearse her about a million times.  She is the first soloist of the night. She did fantastic! I was about to burst with pride.

The following morning was the District XC meet. Abate needed a top ten finish to advance to regionals. We knew he should place 3^rd as that is how he has been placing in previous meets against these same guys all season. I can’t help but worry about a trip, fall, sprain, cramp that could knock him out of the race. Abate did amazing and had his personal best 5k of 16:56. He qualified as an individual and the team qualified as a whole. Super proud but now I am extremely nervous as he heads to regionals.

If you recall last year at regionals Abate was doing great, he was on the back lap and into his final mile in 12^th place when he was tripped from behind and fell flat on the ground. He finished in 36^th place. He was running at a pace that would have placed him most likely in the top 10. It was devastating.

The internet is a great thing, I have been able to research the other districts and XC runners that will be running in Lubbock on Saturday, scoping out the competition you’d say. From the information I have gathered from race results this season Abate should place easily in the top ten and possibly in the top 5. Top 10 go to the state meet on Nov. 9 in Round Rock. To get him there he has a real chance of finishing in the top 15 and maybe even the top 10. I am going to be optimistic because I know he can do it. He wants it so bad this year. He knows a finish like that and he will get to choose the college he wants to run XC for.  He has already had one Division One school contact him and this was before the district meet.  His coach has already said that it was just the first of many to come. Okay Abate – no pressure at all to do well.  I will be there watching and cheering him in Lubbock. I’m leaving work early tomorrow to head up that direction so that I will just have a 90 minute drive up Saturday morning.  I hate that drive. I will have to go alone this year as Alan will be in Colorado (not by choice) and Fantu will be at Regional Choir auditions in Waco.

Regional Choir auditions; she has been working so hard this past month to learn the music. I think there are 6 songs she has had to learn, several in foreign languages. She has stayed after school to practice and has worked on them with her voice coach. She sounds amazing. The problems with these auditions are that you never know what the judges are looking for.  It will be huge for her to make 9^th/10^th region choir as it will really boost her confidence as she heads into her junior year and the State choir audition process.  It’s hard not being nearby for her as she goes to Waco to audition, but parents don’t get to listen so I will be waiting to get a phone call from her Saturday afternoon. 

I am really hoping that we get to have some big celebrations for the both of them this weekend. No matter what the outcome though I am and always will be so proud of everything these two have accomplished in their 4 years and 5 months in Texas.

Homework?

Last night Abate brought home English Lit homework. He was having a difficult time making sense of the questions that pertained to the reading assignment. Needless to say after a long day at work, getting a pot of soup made and simmering on the stove before going to a Choir parents meeting that lasted an hour. I finally returned home after 8 pm ready to eat and relax. Well, helping out with homework was the last thing I really wanted to do. Did I have a choice? Not really. So I hoped to make it as painless as possible and read through the questions and just find the paragraph that would contain the answer. The questions even stated where the answers could be found in the story. There was one problem though… the questions really didn’t ask questions that were apparent anywhere in the story. Take this one for example… How did the authors beliefs influence what he wrote in chapter 5 paragraph 2? Ok so I guess we are to assume the author is a Christian and not some worshipper of ancient pagan rituals, so that when he writes that; “ after the perilous journey and landing ashore they knelt down to give thanks to the lord. “ Hmmm, so are we to gather from that statement that we are to know how the author’s beliefs influenced his writing? I was frustrated with how ridiculous this was. Who writes this crap? So then we had to come up with a “suitable” answer which took quite a bit of thought as to how to put into words something I found a bit abstract. Then to top it off Abate thought I was totally off base with the answer and that nearly led to the start of WWIII debating this. And this was only one of eight questions, and one of three that was based on Christian Religious views and teachings (which in order to answer these the authors of the textbook must think that all children have been raised in “Christian “ homes). Now while we were working on the assignment I wasn’t really giving a lot of thought to the Christian based aspect of this assignment as I was more concerned with helping Abate come up with what we thought the answers should be(seeing as there were not any clear answers to any of the questions). My blood pressure had probably reached an all-time high by the time we said enough, we are done.
I went to bed. I lay there thinking about those questions. I saw how the religious right of the Texas State Board of Education had placed their agenda in the schools. Religion was not so separate from the State.
Now I don’t want anyone thinking I’m anti-religion or agnostic, I was raised in a Christian home, and hold many deep and very personal religious beliefs and views. I have also attended churches of many denominations and have studied the beliefs of many others. I have friends and family from many different faiths and accept each and everyone. What I have learned over the years is that I have never found a religion that is perfect. God did not make man to be perfect and we all have faults, so it is okay for each of these religions to have them too. For me I have found the faith that I am most in agreement with. It is where I feel most comfortable. I am sure that you too feel this way about yours. I admire anyone that has deeply rooted beliefs that they can let lead them through life. For me it does not matter if you are Baptist, Catholic, Jewish, Buddhist, Methodist, Muslim etc. I know that there are those out there without religious views and they are quite content with that. Believe. If you do then I am happy for you.
Texas Literature (and yes it says that right on the front of the textbook) seems to be a bit less tolerant than I am. It wants to assume that all these juniors in high school have been raised in Christian homes ( or wants them to be). Is this not a form of prejudice? I know that as I type this that many of you will disagree with me. But I am one that will speak out when I believe that someone has overstepped the boundaries. My opinions may not go further than this page, I have at least voiced what I feel and that makes me feel just a bit better for today.

What a Smashing Time

This family has had a smashing time of late and it has left me feeling totally wrecked (yes that pun was intended). I was planning on writing about Alan’s milestone birthday and how things suddenly start to change once you slip right in to middle age. Oh the joys that come with maturity. Okay, maybe I am being a bit sarcastic but it takes a good sense of humor to get through life after forty.

Humor and laughter, now that’s something I could use a real dose of about now. Ten days ago I stupidly backed into a SUV - a large dark gray one! How could I have missed seeing it? I sure didn’t miss hitting it. SUV bumpers are quite a bit higher than my bumper on my little Honda Fit. My bumper slid easily under it so that her bumper hit my back hatch door. Her bumper dented a bit, my door dented a bit more. Nothing major but both cars require repair. I was so bummed as it was my first ever accident in thirty eight years of driving. Not a good feeling. Luckily my insurance company was really nice and made arrangements for estimate and repairs to be done in just over a week. I luckily had taken out car rental coverage so a rental would be waiting for me at the body shop. I would be dropping it off on Monday the 19th.

Thursday the fifteenth was Alan’s big four-oh. We traveled to San Antonio to a really nice resort. The afternoon was spent going down water slides and floating along the man-made river that wove its way through the resort’s park. Drinks and dinner followed with an early bed time for the boys as they had an early morning tee time for a round of golf on a PGA tournament course – Alan’s birthday wish. While they were golfing Fantu and I were treated to a fabulous breakfast buffet and a few hours shopping. We enjoyed it all so much we are returning for my birthday in December. It ended all too quick and we were soon headed back home. The rest of the weekend was uneventful. I was in fact feeling a bit down in the dumps. I wasn’t sure why, but I was and so I spent most of Sunday hiding out in my bedroom.

All too soon Monday morning was here. I really wanted to remain in bed, hiding in my room. Not an option, so I had to get up and get Abate up and off to XC practice. I then had to take my car to Killeen to the body shop to get my little baby mended. Just as I was approaching the place I get a phone call from Abate, “Mom , I crashed my car”. I’m saying - well sure Abate, don’t you get tired of pulling this joke on me? No Mom, I really did have a wreck. I think at that point about a dozen questions popped out of my mouth at once. He hit the back of Elmer’s mom’s car. They had both just turned a corner when a pedestrian stepped out into Elmer’s path and he had to brake suddenly. Abate braked hard too but his car slid on loose gravel into the back of the SUV. The SUV wasn’t damaged but the trailer hitch on it came right into the radiator on the Toyota. It smashed up the hood and cracked the bumper. The damage will probably mean that the car was totaled. We only carried liability on it. But the good news there is we won’t have to file a claim. Bad news, Abate will be months without a car. For him it will be a bit of an inconvenience, for me it will be major! I relied so much on him to get him and Fantu to appointments, practices and to do errands for me. Now it means I will be the one doing them once again. How is it that punishing the child means punishing the Mom more severely? Abate isn’t even that bothered by it as he was getting tired of being everyone’s taxi service. Well at least he knows how I feel.

So if I wasn’t feeling wrecked before, I know I will as we go forward into the autumn minus one driver.

The Crazy Days of Summer

I was just looking back over me last few posts and I realized I have been pretty lazy of late at not keeping this updated with all the happenings in our house.  So I guess I really have some catching up to do.

I guess I need to start with the kitchen.  I am still working on a few little things to really have it complete I can get away with saying it is as those things are all pretty minor. I’ll let the video say the rest.

http://youtu.be/GEcCSR8A0kQ

Fantu began her summer by attending the UMHB State Choir Music Camp. They spent three very intensive days learning 8 pieces of music. She loved the camp and this autumn will be taking private voice lessons there weekly. Here is a video of the high schoolers that attended singing my favorite of the four they performed.

http://youtu.be/Ewp9VqXobgk

After our vacation she and Abate went to the Boys and Girls club teen music camp in Kerrville. Fantu never misses going to this one. She loves it. She gets to hone her songwriting skills and stage performances. She is totally in her element for the week.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200397442606368
This was her final performance for the week, her own composition.

Next our East coast trip

 

9/11 Memorial

With the Hennessy’s - NYC

WIth an old friend of the kids from when they were in Ethiopia.

White House Lincoln Memorial MLK Memorial

Ocean City Md.



Just a few of the highlights of our summer vacation.

 

So now August has arrived and the countdown to school has begun. Abate has early morning practices so my lazy summer days of sleeping in until 6:15 are over and I am now back to my 5:45 alarm. He’s out the door at 6 for XC practice, followed by football practice until 10 am and then again in the afternoon.  Some days he is working in between them delivering furniture for a local Furniture store.

School starts on the 26^th along with a crazy schedule of football games and XC meets for Abate and soccer and voice lessons for Fantu.   I am not quite sure how I am going to juggle everything including a couple of birthdays and a weekend trip to Chicago all in September. It will be well into November before we will even begin to get a break.

So if you don’t hear from me you will know the reason why.  I’ll be wearing my Hornet black and gold heading down the road.

Now what?

I rarely address current events here in this blog, I usually try to keep the news closer to home. There has been however an event that makes me scared for my kids. I think everyone by now has heard about the Trayvon Martin murder and the not guilty verdict for his accused killer George Zimmerman. His defense used the “Stand Your Ground” defense based on a law passed in Florida in 2005. Zimmerman claimed that he feared for his life, but how did he get himself in that position? Trayvon hadn’t broken into his home, he hadn’t made any threats to Mr. Zimmerman, Mr. Zimmerman’s family, or any of his property. Trayvon was walking down the street returning home after going to the store. He hadn’t been spotted committing a crime, he was minding his own business. George Zimmerman should have never approached him. He was told by the police not to. George took the law into his own hands and now a young man is dead.


Texas is one of the states that have a stand your ground law. We live in a town where nearly every home has at least one gun. This town like so many other small towns in the south has more than its fair share of confederate flag flying ignorant … well I’ll stop there before I get off on a vicious rant. I see the looks we get when we are out, from a questioning glance to a stare filled with distaste and loathing. Don’t get this town wrong though as there are so many more kind and good people here than there are bad. There are many that just love these two kids. They are popular beyond measure with kids and adults alike. I would love to think that because of this they would be safe. But I cannot fool myself.

Abate runs. Abate loves to run. He has been running all summer with the hope of making it all the way to State XC. Summer days however are scorching hot, so he runs late in the evening near sunset. He runs through the neighborhoods sometimes alone, other times with friends (that are as ethnically diverse as you’d see in a city). They sometimes run at the golf course which winds its way through a more upscale part of town (as they usually do). I worry. All it takes is one gun toting yahoo to see a black teen running to assume the worst. Hey, George Zimmerman got away with it, I will too.

I’m scared.

Muse-less

Did you ever have one of those days that you just can’t (or maybe just don’t want to) put into words all the things that have been going on in your life. It’s not like anyone is forcing me to write. Those days of having a teacher handing out writing assignments is ancient history for me. Yet I feel compelled to write something because I have been absent from this page for a bit longer than I like to be.


Vacation, I could write about that. But which part do I write about? It was all too short. It all went too quick.

Birthdays, anniversaries, the roller coaster of emotion that these bring. 6/25 eleven years since Trevor died. 6/30 would have been his 32nd birthday. 7/1 Carries 30th birthday, quite the milestone! 7/5 and Alan and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary. 7/6 a year since my mom died. It’s hard to write about the happy occasions without including the solemn ones. I do not wish to write about them this year so I will move on to something else.

Abate and Fantu busy as always. They are teenagers. Enough said.

Dang! Alan and I married seventeen years. Guess we proved the skeptics wrong. We should have made some bets, might be a few quid richer now.

Kitchen, love it. Still need to post about the finished project.

Work, would rather be elsewhere.

Life, worth living.

Goodnight.

It's All About the Girl

It’s all about the girl


Fantu has been the focus lately of all our energy. Good, bad, ups and downs. We have been through the entire spectrum of emotion. This is however is the norm for teenage girls.

Two weeks ago we were flying high with lots of positive energy. We (parents and Fantu) were happy and very excited and proud that she would be performing a song she had written at the Spring Choir Concert. She wrote the lyrics and melody just for this show which had a water theme. Her song included both English and Amharic. I ordered her a dress from an online Ethiopian retailer to wear just for the night. She was going to be the lone solo performer that evening. I was bursting with excitement and pride. It turns out I was way more nervous than she was. There really wasn’t any need to be either, she did an amazing job.

http://youtu.be/hiUhpi6mGJ0


As that week closed out things stayed on a high note into the following week. The kids headed into the final week of school. A few final exams, class parties, and farewells to friends that were graduating would dominate the week. I was making plans with Fantu regarding her summer holiday plans. She would be starting off the break with four days of State Choir Camp at UMHB (University of Mary Harding Baylor). We were making plans too for her to attend a second choir camp with several other members of the Gatesville H.S. choir. She would also be attending (as she does every year) the Teen Music Camp in Kerrville. In between all that she is hoping to work three days a week at the Boys and Girls Club. Everything was looking great until Tuesday morning, the choir director posted the choir list for next year. We had been very optimistic that Fantu would be placed in the Varsity Choir. She did not make it. Her director phoned me because Fantu reacted very negatively. Saying she was done with choir and singing. I was so discouraged myself. I wasn’t sure what to do. I knew Fantu didn’t want to be in the Women’s choir another year. We had discussed it. I had even agreed with her earlier in the year that if she did not make varsity she could quit ( so confident was I that she would). That really bit me on the butt! I now had to tell her that I had only said that because I was so sure she would move up I didn’t think I had to worry about it. I talked and begged her for over an hour to please reconsider. Reminded her about how much she had enjoyed the recent months and how far she had come. Talked to her about all the fun things that were planned for the 2013-14 school year, but no, she was done. I knew I couldn’t let her quit, it would be a decision she would later regret. She was showing a stubborn streak that would challenge a red-headed Irishman (and that includes me). So my red-headed Irish temper snapped. I didn’t say a word, I just got up and walked away. I went out and sat by myself. I cried tears of anger, frustration and sadness. I tried to think if there was possibly anything else I could do or say. Nothing reasonable came to mind ( I must admit there were a few ideas but they probably would’ve qualified me as the worst parent ever). I finally went in and went straight to bed. I didn’t even bother with dinner.

The next morning when I woke up I noticed a new posting by Fantu on Facebook “I guess I’ll be taking choir next year”. I don’t know what changed but I smiled a small smile of relief at that moment.

Thursday was the final day of school, her busy summer break had started.

Friday was dominated by dental appointments. Abate first to the orthodontist at 11:15, he finally got his braces off his upper teeth and had to pick up his retainer. He’s been smiling big ever since. Fantu was next at 2:00, she was getting braces on her upper teeth. As soon as we were done there we had to drive to Killeen to the Oral Surgeon for a consult on getting the four molars out so she would have the space to straighten her teeth. We were also going to talk about the possibility of pulling her lower wisdom teeth as they were impacted. By the time we left arrangements had been made for her to get the four molars and all four wisdom teeth removed at once. An appointment was made for this coming Monday, June 17th. I am cringing at the thought of her having eight teeth out. I don’t even want to think about how painful it will be for her for a few days. My poor baby girl.

So I mentioned earlier that Fantu would be attending State choir camp at UMHB this week. I am happy to report that she just loves it! I dropped her off on Tuesday morning and will pick her up Friday at noon. She was nervous when she arrived as she wouldn’t know any of the other campers, but this is Fantu we are talking about – she wasn’t there 2 hours before she had made a friend. As the hours and another day passed she had loads of new friends. Her first worry was that most of the songs are in a foreign language. Spanish, German, French, Latin and it was all very classical which is something she has had little experience with. I assured her she would do great as she has the vocal tone that would be really suited to that style. By the end of the second day her confidence had soared as she learned the music. We were getting texts from her saying – “best day ever” or “I love it here, I could actually go all the way to state”. Smiles and happiness reigned once again.

Well at least for a few days.

The Tortoise and the Hare

Four years ago tomorrow, May 18th we celebrate physically becoming a family. It was the day Alan and I arrived at the Kidane Mehret Childrens home in Addis Ababa Ethiopia to bring home our two amazing siblings Abate and Fantu. They were according to their newly issued birth certificates 12 and 10 years old. They were tiny though as they both fit snugly under my arm when draped around them. Now four years later at 16 and 14 years of age, Abate is taller than me by nearly two inches and outweighs me by about 8 pounds. Fantu is only slightly shorter than me and outweighs me by a few pounds.

This past year has seen so many changes with them and our relationship with them. Abate received his drivers license and a car back in September, he has asserted his independence and matured so much. I struggle to cope with the loss of my little boy. But as with most teenagers we have at times a battle of wills as he tries to grow up too quickly and forgets the boundaries that we have set. It has at time put stress on a (sometimes) tenuous relationship. It takes a determined effort to keep the parent child bond secure. When things are good they are great, when they are bad we are all just a bit miserable. His behaviors are pretty normal for a teen, but since the parent –child relationship has been built on a different foundation other than birth the emotions are stretched a bit higher.

Fantu on the other hand has grown in confidence and beauty. She has become even closer and more loving towards us and truly considers us as her parents. I even get the unexpected “I love you” from her sometimes said other times written. She enjoys spending time with me and I her. She opens up in private conversations and shares many of her innermost thoughts with me. She keeps us laughing and dancing with her humor and joy. She still sings all the time and is seeing success with the school choir. She even has a solo in the spring program on the 30th of May.

For me these four years have had the speed of the hare rushing through his race. But I know for the kids it has been a long four years as they have struggled to adjust to this new life. For them they have been creeping through like the tortoise. This is a race though that I think we all will win.

I hope to write more this weekend and post some pic’s. But for now I just wanted to acknowledge the day while I have a few minutes. A busy day tomorrow celebrating Gotcha day #4.

Crawling Ashore

I know we have all seen a movie about someone getting lost at sea and the struggle to survive. When after a fierce storm he crawls ashore exhausted and ragged. That’s about how I feel after the craziness of oh let’s say… the past eight months.

Since school started it has been one sport following another with a short break (if any) between them. Cross Country went simultaneously with football. Football went into December with playoffs. Soccer started over the Christmas holiday, it too went into playoffs which by that time track season had started. Then just as Abate and Fantu’s school soccer season ended , she started club soccer. Finally this past weekend track season ended with a defeat at the regional meet and Fantu’s last two soccer games were played. It was an insane final weekend. I left Thursday after work and drove as far as Abilene and stayed the night. I awakened early on Friday and drove the rest of the way to Lubbock arriving about an hour before Abate’s race. He ran at 11:15 finished at 11:25. I met up with him briefly after the race then climbed back into my car and headed home, a five and a half hour drive. In the meantime Alan and Fantu were headed up to Dallas on Friday for a father-daughter date to go see Wicked (the musical) at Fair Park. They stayed the night, which was quite short as they had to hit the road to be in Hutto (Austin suburb) by 9:30 for her soccer game. I stayed home to get the laundry and shopping done before going in to work (big event with all hands on deck). I worked until 9:15 then headed home and to bed. Sunday morning came to soon and we were back on the road to Austin. First a stop at IKEA to pick up a few finishing touches for the kitchen (more on that in a minute) then continue all the way down to south Austin for her game which kicked off at 4:00. They played great and won 2-1. Carrie and Caleb had come out to watch and then went with us to Aster’s Ethiopian restaurant for dinner. We arrived home around 8:15. I had survived!

The Kitchen, I think it has become frozen in time for the past month. Nothing more has been done. I can cook in there but I can’t clean. I still don’t have countertops. 6 weeks today since the cabinets were installed. 6 weeks waiting for them. 6 weeks when I was told 2-3. I was beginning to think this would be my life – fetching water from the bathroom, dirty dishes in the bath, and more than double the weekly trash because of all the disposable dinnerware we have been using (I never buy paper plates, cups etc.). Would the end ever be in sight? YES!!! Today they are set to arrive within the next 2 hours to install them. I can’t wait to get home after work. I still won’t have operable plumbing until Monday but the end is near. Maybe, just maybe – this will be totally complete in 3 more weeks.

So not only have I managed to crawl ashore, I am starting to relax and feel the stress melt away. Tonight I can relax on my own little island… my kitchen island that is!

I honestly can't think of a title...

This week the inconveniences of the kitchen remodel started wearing on me. We have been at a standstill for over a week while waiting for the countertop people to come and measure the template so that they can accurately make the solid surface counters. They have been incredibly frustrating as they were contacted as soon as we knew the install date for the cabinets. They are scheduled to be here on Friday, a full 12 days after we were ready for them. They then take 2 to 3 weeks to make, and I hope come back and install. So while waiting on them I had scheduled the electrician to come back in this week and finish up his work. We were all scheduled for Monday but due to a serious family emergency he was called out of town. I did manage though to get the plumber in to hook up the gas range, but since it is an electric ignition with sealed burners it needs electricity to work. Maybe next week.


Going in to work has become a chore recently. I wake up and it’s just … ugh, another day. While I’m there I just want to be home and I think of all the stuff I could be doing if I was. It’s Spring and I would love to be working in the garden. The house always seems to need cleaning and the garage is a complete disaster. I get stressed when I walk into a dirty room. I find it so difficult to sit and relax if the floors need sweeping and the furniture needs dusting. I can’t help it but I love a clean house. My weekends are so busy I never get a moment to relax. I would really love to just sit and read a book. I have one I started last summer on vacation, I have managed to pick it up once since and read a few pages. It sits by my bedside accumulating dust, the very same dust that drives me nuts screaming at me to clean it away. I never finished the wood floors in the kitchen and there are places where I still need to finish painting in the hallway and living room. I think the City of temple needs to expand the number of vacation days it offers city workers, instead to the 12 days a year I currently receive, maybe expand it to 12 weeks? Wouldn’t that be grand!

Oh but hopefully by May the kitchen will be complete and I can return to normal food preparation. Fantu is really missing spaghetti. There too will come a day when I can retire from my job, and spend my days in the garden digging in the dirt or in my house cleaning it away.

28 days later....

28 days later and not a zombie in sight, neither does there seem to be an end to the kitchen remodel.  The cabinets have been installed but the trim-out has not been completed as there were a few missing parts from the delivery. The appliances have been delivered but they have not yet been installed. The electrician needs to come by and connect the new wiring to the outlets, switches and lights, and also install a new breaker box. He has to meet the Electric co. here to raise the power lines to the house. I am also waiting for the countertop manufacturers to come measure the template for the countertops, then make them and return to install them. They are scheduled to be here on Friday April 5 to draw the template, oh and then it takes about three weeks for them to make them, then return and install. Will that be the final bit... well no. Backsplash to be tiled after, and faucet, drain, dishwasher to be hooked up, and then the final trim work and then maybe, just maybe I will have a beautiful new kitchen. So by my estimate we are halfway there.

This weekend we planning on building the deck - or at least get it started. I know the dogs will be happy as they are now having to walk up and down a very steep temporary ramp to get in and out of the house. I am looking forward to having a nice place to sit out. The backyard will still need loads of work but that will be a project for 2014.

Alan hasn't had any more problems with his heart. He got the all-clear just one day after they had thought he had a heart attack. I don't know if we will ever know what happened to cause his heart to go a bit crazy, but at least for now he is doing well.

The kids have once again proven to me that it is impossible for them both to be in great loving form at the same time. Abate after several months of being a withdrawn, angry, and moody teen suddenly returned to his formerly sweet loving funny self. Then about a week or so later Fantu has decided that we all must hate her ( because I posted on FB about how proud I was of Abate making 1st Team All-district soccer). She decided she's not interested in being a part of this family.  Why can't they both be in good form at the same time? AUGH, some days it just gets so exhausting and frustrating. It has not been an easy month with the remodel taking so much of my attention and energy and trying to give the kids the attention they crave. I know that once this is all complete it will have been worth it. we will have a home that encourages interaction, conversation, and great times to be shared over many meals to come.

Sirens and Flashing Lights

This family never seems to have a typical Saturday. I awoke with a full day of "must do's" on my list. The first arrived at 7:30 am when the electrician and his crew of 4 took over the house to replace and add new wiring to the kitchen. Once they got stuck in I dashed out to the store to get the weeks supply of feed for the teens that will be home all week on spring break. Less than an hour later I return with bags of food that would surely impress the dogs with my great hunter/gatherer skills. It is unfortunately much harder to impress the teens living under my roof. The electrician finished this part of his job far earlier than I had anticipated so I would be able to get stuck in restoring the floor in the kitchen. I venetured out once again to get the supplies I would require for this insane DIY task.
I returned as the boys were just emerging from their cave, they were already dressed and grabbed a bag of donuts as they headed out. They were off to Temple to the Childrens Hospital where Elmer's baby sister had been taken the night before.
I went to work. I received a text from Alan saying he was feeling ill and would stop in Childress until he felt better, he was going to try to get some rest. I continued into the middle of the afternoon scraping old tile off the floors. I was really wishing Abate and Elmer would hurry back as it was a much more difficilt job than I had imagined. No sign of them so I struggled on. Finally the last tile and of course thats when the boys returned. Abate jumped right in and removed that last one so heroicly. He then tells me about something that happened while he was in Temple.
It seems that as they were heading out Abate was driving his own car and Elmer was driving his Mom's. They became separated so Abate pulled over into the far right lane and was driving slow with the hopes that Elmer would soon catch up. Within minutes a policeman pulled up behind him turned on his lights and pulled him over. He was perplexed as to why but he remembeed everything we taught him on how to sit, be polite and cooperate. And if you are wondering, we have talked extensively about how he will be mis-judged and at times pulled over for no reason except that he is black. This it seems may have ben one of those times. The policeman approached him and asked him if he knew anything about a robbery at the nearby Kohls store the evening before. Abate replied that no, he was from Gatesville and had just been visiting a friend that was in the hospital. The policeman was polite and thanked him and went on his way. The strangest thing about this story is that the cop was black too. Abate luckily was able to have a bit of a laugh about the whole thing.
I went back to work on the floors. It was time to start sanding.It is a dirty, noisey, messy, dusty job that had to be done. The oak boards had such a buld up of glues and other crap you could ony faintly see that they were in fact wood. The sander is noisey - I missed a call from Alan. I called him back but he did not answer.I took a break from the sander to sweep up some of the dust. He called back about half an hour after I had called him. He was in the hospital in Childress Texas, something was wrong with his heart. They didn't think it was a heart attack, but they knew there was something wrong with it. I stopped what I was doing. I started cleaning up all my mess. I waited for another call. After another test they were starting to think that maybe it wa a heart attack, he was going to be transferred to a larger hospital in Wichita Falls  he was going by helocopter. I would have a 3.5 hour drive rom Gatesville. I started packing, giving instructions to the kids, ordered them a pizza for dinner and checked the weather as thunderstorms were forecast for later and I thought I had already heard thunder (plus Sadie was already shaking like a leaf and was glued to my side). Well one look at the radar and I knew I wouldn't be going anywhere for several hours, a massive storm was right in my path. So I joined the kids eating pizza and decided to get some sleep and head up early Sunday morning.

Sunday morning at 1:00 am the clocks jumped forward to 2 am. The USA went back on Daylight Savings Time, so we lost an hour of sleep. I had hoped to be on the road by 4 am, instead it was after 5 am. I got to the hospital just after 8:30 am. When I found his room the nurse was drawing blood and checking his vitals. The doctors were back to thinking it wasn't a heart attach but he has an enlarged heart possibly caused by an infection. There would be more doctors and more test to come. He is currently on a liquid diet, no caffeine (poor man is miserable  with out his morning cuppa joe). I ventured out for lunch while he went down to have a stress test done. I am back in his room, he is not. So I wait.

So it was a Saturday of flashing lights and sirens for the two men in my life. It was one of firsts - Alan's first helicopter ride and Abates first time being pulled over by a cop because of the color of his skin.It was two firsts we could have done without. It was another weekend that reminds us that plans and schedules are not meant to be kept. Life has it's own plan no matter how we might protest. I guess the only way to avoid having a change in plans is not to make any. But I don't like that because to me plans are a bit like our dreams, and without them what would life be?

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as Alan recovers and we travel between home and the hospital.
I will try to post an update as we know more.

Old Memories Remembered, New Ones to be Made

One week away from demolition. We' re slowly emptying out the kitchen and adjacent areas that are in the path of the sledgehammers. Things on the walls are coming down. pictures clocks, curtains, and shelves. Cabinets have been nearly emptied except for the things I will use up to the last minute. I've been testing paint samples on the walls while trying to imagine just how it will all come together in the next six weeks.
Today though I stopped and remembered moving my grandparents into this house 29 years ago. My grandfathers health had declined quite a bit and it was getting difficult for my grandmother to look after him on her own. So they sold their house in Dallas and moved in this house just down the street from my parents. I helped her unpack the kitchen and place all her beautiful things in the cabinet. This kitchen was much smaller than her one in Dallas and she didn't have room for everything. She gave me her china and crystal that she had bought for special occasions. I never recall her using it as she preferred her Franciscan Desert Rose dinnerware. Last weekend I packed away that very same china and crystal very carefully as it is all so delicate. I guess I am very much like her as I never seem to use it. I am always fearful of a piece being dropped. Each piece is so thin, it almost seems translucent. It is of a design from days long past. Cream with delicate tiny pink rose border. Lined around the edge with a thin gold border. The crystal is even more delicate. Almost artistic in the swirls that spiral up so delicately from the base. While I may not ever bring them out to use I only have to look up at the cabinet where they were stored and remember them and the day she gave them to me.
This kitchen will soon become history as saws and sledgehammers clear away 59 years of memories. I can imagine a family moving into this brand new home in 1954, the excitement they would have felt putting things away in that tiny kitchen. Family meals, hurried breakfasts, and holiday feasts that were celebrated over these many years by many different families. This summer will be 10 years since we moved in. The kitchen was dirty, walls were damaged and I spent many days cleaning and painting to make it and inviting place. For those first six years it was just Alan and I, we managed just fine but always planned on re-doing it someday. Well that someday has come, and we are completely changing not just how the kitchen looks but also how we will use it. It is a kitchen that will allow big family dinners with all of the kids and partners and more to gather comfortably. It will allow interaction between the living spaces as I will no longer be cut-off behind walls. It is a kitchen designed for all the modern demands that we demand in out kitchens that didn't even exist in the 1950's. It will also be a kitchen to take me well into my senior years with lots of drawers and pull out shelving. It is being designed for easy access and easy cleaning. I am excited to see it come to life.
Now I know that looking back on all the memories in the old kitchen will never fade (at least I hope not) there will be so many more years ahead to create many new memories in the new one. And hopefully with this better use of space and design I will be an even happier cook. But for now I have one last Sunday dinner to prepare before it all gets packed away and I'm even going to make cake pops for dessert!
Now some pictures one last time before it all bites the dust.

Construction Zone Ahead

I am a nervous wreck. Stressed, frazzled and exhausted some days. I would love to put myself in a nice quiet time out for a few days, but instead I find myself making a scheduled to-do list so I can hopefully get everything done without creating a disaster of epic proportions. What has me in so much distress? The new kitchen I have been dreaming about will soon be a reality. A budget busting, major construction, dirty messy dealing with contractors nightmare of a dream.

This past summer I saw the cabinets of my dream online.  I ooh'd and ahh'd and came up with a new kitchen design that would involve knocking down walls ,relocating doors, new wiring, new plumbing and a budget that I was hopeful I could stay within. As the new year started I decided it was time to start planning. I met with the kitchen designer and got my design on paper (really on a computer with  neat 3d software). I spent hours looking online at appliances and soon realized I would have to make a few concessions to keep from blowing the budget. The price came back on the cabinets - just the cabinets, no installation, no countertops, just the cabinets and they were over 50% of my budget. The designer was already prepared and had a more affordable option to show me. They were nice and still  very high quality. Just not that really sleek smooth modern surface I wanted. It took me a few days but I knew I would be very happy with these and I could live with the price. We slowly inched back down towards our budget.

Purchasing the cabinets, countertops etc. is only part of the equation. I had thought going in I would use the suppliers contractors for everything, but the designer warned me that would cost more than hiring my own. They also had a policy that an adult had to be on site at all times. I don't think Alan or my employers would be happy with that. So I luckily knew of some good reliable contractors and I am slowly getting quotes together and getting booked in with them to do the work required. Looking at my overall budget I had what I thought would be a sufficient amount to cover the contractors fees. Well I have my quote from the carpenter and plumber and we have already blown that budget. Fingers crossed the electrician won't shock me (pun intended) with yet another bid totally over my expectations.

So as I inch closer to a start date - 31 days (OMG) the time for second guessing, comparison shopping and cold feet about spending so much money has to move aside because I have to get my butt in gear and get to work clearing out the garage and making room to relocate everything that is in my kitchen and try to set up some type of temporary one. I have floor tile to rip up and hardwood floors to refinish. I still need to decide on a new back door and get it ordered along with a replacement window. Oh and since we are relocating the back door I have to move the doggie door to the laundry room and since there isn't a porch where the new dog door or new back door are being installed (a 30 in. drop to the ground) I have to build a deck. I should say we have to build a deck - I've already told Alan that he will be helping me with this. Am I crazy - most definitely, it is the middle of soccer season, games every Tuesday and Friday evenings. Track season begins in two weeks will also run throughout the duration of this project. Oh and to add to the chaos we delivered an eviction notice to the tenants in our rent house and we will be trying to sell it once they have vacated the property.  If insanity didn't run in the family in previous generations I will be the one responsible for it in all future ones.
Let the construction begin!

Looking from the sitting room towards the dining and teh kitchen (behind the wall).

The original 1954 Kitchen

It's old, worn out and way too small for this family. I can't wait until I can post pictures of the finished room.

Siga Wot?

A FB friend requested my Siga Wot recipe. It is an Ethiopian Beef Stew type dish. It is wonderfully fragrant and spicy. It is traditionally served on injera - an Ethiopian bread (think sourdough pancake).
Cooking in our house is multi-cultural, Texas BBQ, Irish meats, potatoes and yes sometimes cabbage. We all love Mexican food and I try to add it to special occasions now with Elmer staying with us most of the time.
Ethiopian food made it’s way onto our table when Abate and Fantu joined us 3½ years ago. It has been a learning process to familiarize myself with the dishes and techniques used to prepare the many variations of a Wot. Homemade Injera is still a work in progress. I do keep trying though. Now I’m not much at following recipes after the first time or so that I make something. I tend to tweak them a bit. I have found with many of the Ethiopian dishes the recipes aren’t anything near to what we have when we eat out or what the kids remember. So that always leads to adjustments. Fantu and I also talk about how she learned to cook some of them and we create from there. This is our version of Siga Wot that was an all-around hit with both them and Elmer (he loves Ethiopian food) on Sunday. Abate said it was just like he remembers and is close to what we get at A Taste of Ethiopia restaurant.
Siga Wot
1 -1.5 lbs. lean stew beef
1 small finely chopped onion (I have to chop onions really fine as Elmer can’t stand them in recognizable chunks).
1-2 tsp. minced garlic
2 tbs. Berbere (an Ethiopian spice mix sold dry or sometimes as a paste – I use the dry)
½ teaspoon Spanish paprika (a hot paprika powder)
½ teaspoon ground ginger or 2 tsp. minced fresh ginger
2 chopped roma tomatoes
Vegetable oil ¼ - ½ cup or so, (enough to cover the onions)
In a heavy bottom pan (I prefer a dutch oven) with a lid add the onions and garlic, cook over a medium heat until translucent, about 10 minutes add oil just to cover the onions. Add the Berbere , stir in well and cook on medium to low heat until the aroma changes to a slightly sweeter one – this can take 20 – 30 minutes. I was told by an Ethiopian woman that runs one of the restaurants in Austin to just cook, cook, cook it. This can take a bit of practice to get the berbere cooked just right but you’ll know when you get it because the aroma becomes so fragrant. At this point add the paprika, ginger, chopped tomatoes and beef. Cook for about 10 more minutes then add about a ¼- ½ cup of water. Reduce heat to low and let simmer until the beef is tender and the sauce has thickened. You could at this point transfer to a Crockpot and let it slow cook for several hours but I find an hour simmering on the stove works quite nicely. Serve on Injera. A hint if you’d like some Mesir Wot to serve with this, increase slightly the ingredients up to adding the beef – remove a few tablespoons worth and place into a saucepan, add lentils and water to cover by an inch and let simmer until done.

It's about living wise not beautiful

We live in a small house, it's not quite so small as to be called a tiny house but it is very cozy. In it's small 900 square feet it features 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, Living, Kitchen, Dining and a laundry room. So as you can imagine the rooms are all small and there is a total lack of storage, and you can add to that like so many 1950's homes it is a completely dysfunctional living space.
We have lived here for 9 years. Our family has grown quite a bit during that time. We had to rethink how we use our space and design it for how we live.
We started with our bedroom. It is only nine feet wide, it was eleven feet long excluding the closets. They were dark, cramped and poorly designed. The placement of the doors was awkward and made furniture choices and placement in the room difficult.  So we knocked them out and opened that space up. We hit the nearest IKEA and purchased a new closet system, a wardrobe cabinet, new storage bed and shelving.
What we have now is a wide open clothes storage and dressing area with a cozy sleeping nook tucked behind. we have so much storage that many of the bins and drawers are empty.  We have a private quiet sleeping area with a small tv hanging on the back side of the wardrobe. The bulky noisy ceiling fan was replaced with functional track lighting that lights up our entire dressing area. A new wall mounted fan keeps us cool on those warm muggy nights that are so common in this part of Texas (even in the dead of winter).
This is not a bedroom that would be featured in any design magazines, it is not beautiful. It is practical, it solved many of the problems and issues we had before. You walk into the bedroom and you are basically entering the closet.  I love it. For us it is perfect.
Click on this link to see the before and after..

http://youtu.be/2Oz9IOuwTgA

or view here..