G is for Grief for Ginger & C is for Celebration

Hello Dear Friends and Family, 

This is a sad email. 

Tonight [5/13/12] we put Ginger, our beloved +14 year old beagle, to sleep. This past week her kidneys and liver were rapidly shutting down, but her heart had a hard time letting go. We have too. 

She couldn't move very well but continued to watch me in the yard, the house, upstairs. I wanted to give her space and some peace and yet wanted to stay with her as she has stayed close to me through happy times, illness and heart ache. The last two nights I spent a lot of time with her outside, where she wanted to be in the 43º mountain air. I don't know how she survived the cold, damp and breezy nights. It must have been hard on her. She returned to the house early Saturday morning only to go out again a few hours later. Dogs often leave their pack when they know it is their time. The bittersweet irony of our yard being more beautiful than ever: it made a heavenly place to try to convalesce. Each child quietly visited her, lay down next to her, sang to her, prayed for her, cried over her and gently pet her incredibly soft fur and velveteen ears. 

Ginger was an unusually sweet, kind, smart, beautiful and patient friend. She was a one dog welcoming committee with a special howl, wag and dance routine. She was a natural vocal coach. I love that she perked up a bit tonight when I sang a beagle version (howl on the Oos) of "Tell Me Why." She was also exceptionally helpful cleaning the kitchen floor and somehow the table tops, even recently! In her prime she was a marvelous, tireless, and curious walking companion -- this last year she loved walking with Christopher almost every day. She helped raise S, K, J, N and M and has taught all of us many lessons of love, service, understanding and compassion. Today we learned about real pain and what a broken heart truly is. 

When I was so busy this past year in the mornings I really missed her. I missed letting her out in all sorts of weather and missed her incredible enchanting eyes lovingly and patiently watching me as I made lunches. Many pieces of sliced turkey or chunks of tuna somehow fell off the counter onto the floor where Ginger enthusiastically cleaned them up. She could tell when I was going to work or going on a walk at -5:00 in the morning and lately chose to stay in her extra comfy bed on the floor by the head of my bed, preferring to wake up later with Christopher. Often I just wanted to be home to be with her, her sweetness and softness. The walks I wanted to go on with her were replaced by tandem naps ... I'd return home and flop onto my favorite chair, then she would jump onto her favorite chair, next to mine, I'd put on my eye shades and we'd both snooze. She has followed me everywhere for years, making a parade when the children were little: Mom + Child + Dog. She loved picking up the kids from school ... she always got "shotgun!" It was touching that she seemed very content in the family van this evening.

She is, and will be, sorely missed. C's and my grief is only compounded by looking at the children's faces at this time. Our memories are full of funny and sweet stories.

This has also been a beautiful time of being together, serving Ginger and each other, talking, holding on, singing hymns, praying and simply loving and remembering Ginger Muffin, our very generous furry sister. Spending time with close family and timely visits from Ginger's favorite people have helped us see connections within the bigger picture.

Today was also S's 20th birthday and Mother's Day -- Ssaid it best: 

Today was a celebration of Life.

Many of you are Ginger's friends so I thought you would want to know. As our friends and family we appreciate your love and understanding.

Onward, with a heavy heart and lots of love, 

Hailey

Positive Influences on J

After less than a week of school I am thinking about the role of a school in a child's life and growth. School is so positive -- the right one can be!

Thinking about the time spent home schooling J... not so great. In the long run, if home school had continued I think the ill-effects would have outweighed the positive, especially for him as a child. I loved being with him, when I was able to be. He benefits from outside influences.

The list is long:

• cleanliness (You keep your desk clean here too?)[I love that our new school has the children vacuum, clean etc.]

• ideas (The Wizard of Oz as an allegory of family, growth and friendship.)

• sunshine & rain!

• beauty (We went on a field-trip today up the canyon. It was so beautiful.)

• projects, beyond what we do at home. Seeing other people's solutions to projects.

• different talents (You can spell? I like math!)

• playgrounds

• friends (!)

• teachers (Mrs. X played an oboe today!)

• habits (You tie your shoes?)

• traditions (Did you know that in India they...?)

• class parties and childhood games

• smells (...)

• tastes (I'll trade you some broccoli for one of my mom's whole wheat chocolate chip amazing cookies! Deal.)

• rigorous work ethic

• technology

• critical thinking and writing, that includes editing and organization and presentation of ideas

• music (You like classical music too? Does your mom like Funk music? Mine does!)

• language & pronunciation, especially for N & M

• attitudes (The world is good place, & not just because my parents tell me it is.)

• and finally kindness.

Even the less than great teachers have taught my children some important life lessons, and make the truly great shine even brighter.

J's needs are finally being addressed. I appreciated his teacher's insight today. I am anxious to see how we meet his needs and how he grows, learns, writes, reads and expresses his brilliance in the future. He is a marvelous sweet, bright, happy, generous, grateful, energetic and loving boy.

If YOU have, are, will, or want to home school: GREAT. A school setting might not be for every child for every year, but then again homeschool might not be either.

B is for Big Brother...

If only all Big Brothers were this nice. K looks rather Orwellian here, not his true character. Menacing, prying, you know, evil.

He is at Birch Creek Service Ranch with J and we are missing him, them. And yet, the house is strangely quiet... which is appreciated!

K will be in 9th grade taking Drama 2, Adv. Orchestra, Adv. Choir. Oh, and Girls 101.

J will be in 6th, at a new school full of projects and field trips. He wants to volunteer at a dog kennel, maybe the pound. So sweet.

G is for Gunk in the the Garage, also for Gone.

CLICK ON TUB TO LINK TO MORE INFO

I can almost park in the Garage!!! Hung bikes, moved type trays (?!), tie-dye gunk, boxes for DI, pool toys, camping hullabaloo, fixed an antique-ish chair, dealt with tools, sorted 30+ egg cartons for pal with chickens, fired up the shop-vac.
Anyone available to help me move a cast iron bathtub? Better yet: Buy it!

I've heard that the Garage is a very important room in the house. It is often neglected but a lot of time is spent there. That is the case here -- especially since last February-April ('08) when +10 years of monkey business landed there. (We've listed some things on Craig's List to sell. It takes work+time to sell stuff, especially the odd antiques.)

I am passionate about "landing" our entire house before school starts. Make it work for everyone and make everyone work to keep it neat and tidy. Recently I've visited some friends, every single one of them has an immaculate house, these are creative people with busy lives. Every single room of my house is a mess. Today we are staying in until parts (hopefully many parts) of this place SHINE. Officer Mom is on duty, armed with Zipfizz. Look out.
~~~
Later in the day... spoke to C about this tub. If we move it to the other side I will indeed be able to park in the garage. (Has it been over a year?) Anyway, I thought we could save all 350 pounds of it for the pavilion/studio I would like to build someday OR if it doesn't sell by December we could donate it to Provo's Habitat for Humanity's ReStore ...deduct it from our taxes.

Since I use this blog as a note book as well as a "Howdedoo!" here is the info I found:

Provo Utah County ReStore, HFH Of

626 N Freedom Blvd Provo, UT 84601

Phone: (801) 373-7867 Fax: (801) 373-9965 restore@habitatuc.org

G is for a Garden Gate.

G is for a Garden Gate.

These pictures are from our recent, brief trip to Seattle on our way to Alaska. I went on a long walk and found this garden and met a very friendly gardener.
Loved the gate/fence. The conversation started when I took some pictures to remember how it was built.

G is for GINGERBREAD!

Gingerbread.
This is the best, most simple, most consistent and yummiest recipe, ever. Also, it has a lovely texture. I've tried a lot. We have been making it for over 10 years. I'm thinking that we just had our last Gingerbread party though... feel as though I've run an extra mile after running a marathon. Here is the recipe.

• Preheat oven to 350ºf Cover cookie sheets with parchment paper. It is reusable and fat free.

Heat to boiling point:
1 cup MOLASSES
Add: 1/2 cup SUGAR
6 tablespoons BUTTER
2 tablespoons MILK

Mix: 4 cups FLOUR
1 teaspoon BAKING SODA
1 teaspoon SALT Maybe a little less
1 teaspoon NUTMEG
1 teaspoon CINNAMON
1 teaspoon ground CLOVES
1 teaspoon GINGER, powered
Add molasses mixture to flour mixture.
Blend well. If the dough isn’t holding together, or you like it more malleable add a few tablespoons of warm water or milk.
Roll out the dough about 1/4 inch thick and cut into large and small gingerbread men, using special cookie cutters or very sharp knife.
• Bake for 5–7 minutes.
• Decorate when cool with frosting, candies, etc.
• If it gets too dry or crumbly put it in the microwave for abou 20 seconds, or less. Don't handle the dough too much.

H 1997

B is for Bratwurst.

This is from an email from Gama, H's mother. I can hear her laughing as she typed:

Last night in Lindon, H and her gang gave me a birthday dinner (we also celebrated the first night of Hanukkah). Besides Latkes we bought bratwurst from Seigfried's Deli in Salt Lake City. Little N went into the deli with me and spotted some of his mom's favorite German chocolates. He insisted on buying them. We put the bratwurst and the chocolate package into a plastic bag and went to their home. [N went with H, and the bratwurst, ahead.]
At dinner after the potato pancakes, H asked me why I wasn't frying the bratwurst. I said I thought she or C were doing that. No one knew where the bratwurst was. H put two and two together. Either they were still in the van or N knew where they were.

"Oh. Yes." he said, "They're in my closet." They could have stayed there until Christmas. My oh my - what a stink that would have been. He went to his room; found them, and H fried them up. Delicious!

G is for Glitter... the drawer.

What if everyone liked glitter as much as I do? Cleaning out this drawer of the empty bottles? No way. They are so pretty!

For our 17th anniversary C gave me some lovely glitter. A bracelet, broach and earrings. All vintage crystals, an E__?__ set from the 40s . Pink and shinny, perfect for my "inner raccoon." (Raccoons love sparkly things.)

G is for Great Gifts, ahhhh.

Recently we were invited to a wedding of a very clever, funny, young man (who likes to ski, a lot). We have known him for a long time and are happy that he has found and married the wonderful young lady of his dreams. Hearing that he was engaged I kept my antennae out for a perfect gift for him/them. His word is "spatical". This is what I found, the "free-loader fork". A simple invention to help yourself get more of the good stuff, on the other person's plate, where you know it tastes better. It is a fork with a telescoping handle, dishwasher safe.

Could there be a more perfect wedding gift? The first thing you learn as a married person is that your plate is not your own. I gave them two so that they could steal more equally.

G is for Gnome, ah ah ah.

Since I replaced the little gold balls, with pink and white paper hearts on thin Midori ribbon, on the Christmas tree in the spin room at Gold's Gym, last FEBRUARY, I have been expected to spruce up the place.

Playing with glitter, glue and lights is not hard for me... The gnome entered the scene when Rona, the instructor, "like no other," as S would say, told me (she doesn't ask) to bring in something for Spring. Naturally I brought a lovely fake fake fake flower arrangement, a bright pink watering can and the gnome, with some glitter. Then I added more glitter since he was hard to see in the dark room. Rona went nuts! She really loved it. The echo of her tattoo (a crown); the "Team Rona" shirt, some of her devotees had actual shirts made--the glittered garden gnome, just for Rona, seemed to please her.

Now, after a year of classes, legs of iron and zero weight loss, I realize that all of that is normal. What is not is that someone would bring goofy things into the spin room to decorate. So uncool it's cool? That's a stretch. I try to fly under the radar of the uber-cool advanced riders on Tuesday mornings...spooky gnomes are probably not their idea of cool anywhere, anytime or anyhow, to boot.

At the end of Summer I grew tired of the flowers and took it all away. After I asked, S gave me an American Girl doll-size chalk board to use for the start of school. Then I took all that away for a long while.

Several people were asking about the gnome, including Rona ... so while sweating to Rona's stories of celebrity chasing, gossip and the latest hip-hop-ish/dance music, the evil alter-ego occurred to me. Something like: Dr. Gnome and Mr. Mugwumps...

Since I took the picture the silhouette has been "disappeared." The cape and lights are menacing enough and most importantly distracting from the pain.

G is for Gorgeous Ginger.

G the most lovely, beautiful, fun and smart beagle. Here she is looking a little spooky for the season! As she would say, "Aaaaaaahhh Ooooooooohhhhhh!"

G is for Glitter.

Glitter: we can't get enough of it. I have a drawer of bottles of glitter. We painted a large wall with glitter (Benjamin Moore Studio Finishes™ Glitter Effect 311) over grey metallic paint. Our kitchen counter is by CaesarStone (www.caesarstoneus.com). The color is Ebony Reflections. Our kitchen floor is also glittered.

The floor is gray and teal checkerboard, with black "grout." It is by Amtico. I love it, however it is not really appropriate for home use, no matter what the company says. If you decide you want to create a floor that might be appropriate in a teen clothing store, or accessory outlet, check out Amtico's glitter. Avoid white and be sure to hire a trained Amtico installer.

G is for Glitter and Gift bags

Found the book: 1000 Decorated Initials by The Pepin Press many many fun letters, none contemporary or hand lettered. Gabby if you are reading this, this G is for you. Curly headed and thoughtful. :)

G is for Ginger, Garamond and Gill Sans

Ginger is our wonderful 9 year old beagle. The poster pup for gentility and sweetness.

Garamond and Gill Sans are favorite fonts... more samples and pictures to follow.

G is also for GRIME, as in, "The grime rate in this house is outta control!" said Officer H.