My Dad the Veteran

Veterans Day is probably the day I am most filled with memories of my dad, not because I was an army brat. No, he was out of the Army by the time he married my Mom. It is because those years in the Army were a happy time for him and he told us EVERY story there was to tell a few hundred times, and I am being very conservative with those numbers. I know most are thinking, being in the army is a happy time?  I have ponder'd that thought dozens of times over my life. But lets face it, being born during the Great Depression in New York City to a deadbeat dad who dies when you are 14, then add to that a mentally unstable mother, no, it is not the recipe for a happy childhood. 
What I have come to believe is he enjoyed knowing I will always have 3 meals a day, a bed all my own to sleep on and a structured stable "family".  It actually makes me very sad considering the very happy stable childhood he provided for me and my two siblings. Then again the combination of those contrasting lives are what formed him into the man he was to become and the loving family man we all knew and loved and miss so much today.

So, Happy Veterans day to my Dad who LOVED his country and loved serving his country. Thankfully he was lucky enough to do it in one of the few times our country was at peace.
I hope that some day his grandchildren will lovingly pass on to their children Pop-Pop's stories of "The Service" and his love of country, only time will tell....

Tick, tick, tick....

Embarrassingly I have a confession to make. I want to be a grandmother! I am definitely one of those annoying Moms, always begging my MARRIED kids for a grandchild. As I told my daughter-in-law, although her biological clock might not be ticking mine certainly was. I NEEDED a baby in my life.  Who doesn’t love the yummy smells, the sensation of a baby laying on your chest and feeling their heart beat on yours? Those tender moments at feeding time when it’s just you and your baby and she is staring intently into your eyes, my heart is melting just at the memory.

Thankfully my kids always listen to their mom. Happily today is my granddaughter’s due date.  Since little girl has decided not to make an appearance on her own, her beautiful mommy will be induced tomorrow.  It seems baby girl is rather large, and mommy is rather small, not a good combo for natural childbirth.  So today we all sit on pins and needles anxious to meet the newest member of the family.  Will she look like her daddy? Will she be as fussy as he was as a baby? Will she have her mommy’s delicate features? What color will her eyes be?  Only time will tell…..

There's history in those hands.....

I remember when I was a little girl hearing my Mom say she couldn't believe her hands were starting to look just like her mom's. I asked what she meant and she patiently pointed out the large veins, and the many brown "age" spots as she called them. I vaguely remember thinking she was crazy, Grandma is old and she wasn't.  Plus hands can't possibly look alike, they belong just to you. Fast forward, too many years to mention....
I recently removed my acrylics nails. I have had them on for 25 long years! After my 1st manicure I looked down and lo and behold, like my mother before me I saw my mothers hand in my own, large veins, the brown "age" spots, they are all there, even the shape of my fingers. Since I look so much like my Dad I never imagined I would see what I saw. My mind tells me it should make me feel old, but its strangely comforting. Now I am beginning to wonder will my daughter who looks so much like her dad find herself looking down one day and see history in her hands. Only time will tell..

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way-- Charles Dickens

With the new year approaching I find like many that I must put the passing year into prospective.

It was the season of Darkness.... This past year and a half I have felt like I have been living in quicksand, always one second away from going under. There truly were moments of "this is the the worst of times, it can't possibly get worse", and then it did.  Six months after we lost my mom to cancer my dad passed away on their 55th wedding anniversary, two days before Christmas in 2011. It was a year of unbearable heartbreak and loss.

It was the spring of hope.....Just like you read in a novel, in the middle of despair there is always a glimmer of hope. It's that rope extended to you just before the quicksand engulfs you.  On the anniversary of my mom's passing my son and daughter-in-law found out they were expecting their first child.  I will admit I don't have a clear understanding of the afterlife and if I even believe in such but I did feel like it was my parents saying to me enough tears- life goes on...... it was now the season of light. 

So as this year passes I have come to the realization that what I have experienced is just the circle of life. While I have lost my parents I am about to have my first grandchild, a little girl.  I have a husband who I love and who loves me, three incredible children, a daughter-in-law my son was smart enough to marry and we adore, amazing siblings who give me strength, plus great friends. All of whom helped me see the light when I thought I was in total darkness. 

It is a circle full of darkness and light on any given day, and I have to just pray it is more hope and light, only time will tell........ 

Making Limoncello Step 1

The first time I tried and feel in love with Limoncello was not in Italy but in Delray Beach Florida. My late father-in-law was a true renaissance man. He cooked, made furniture, and was an amazing artist, I never heard him utter the words, "I don't think I can do that". Having access to beautiful lemons he turned cheap vodka into a flavorful after dinner drink that for me was love at first sip. I myself didn't try my first batch until about 2 years ago when my friend Justine was complaining she had a over abundance of lemons on her tree and was concerned they would go to waste. I took a bagful thinking I'd make a dessert of some kind. I then searched through cook books and anything lemon based just seemed way over my very below basic cooking skills. Then it hit me make Limoncello. Sadly my father-in-law had passed by then and I couldn't get his recipe so I searched google with the term "easiest Limoncello recipe". It was so easy that I made my first batch and it was a great success! I have since experimented with ginger infused Limoncello to not so great results, so I am back to my basic recipe and looking forward to that first frozen sip. 

 Start with 15 lemons...I always double my recipe so I have started with 30 lemons generously provided by my friends Justine & Joe

 Give the lemons a good wash, you only want the peels

 Zest the lemons so there is no white pith on the peels, easier said then done! I would like to share that I now have 2 raw blisters from doing 30 of these aromatic lemons

 Have a generously sized glass container to pour your contents into, I bought mine at Cost Plus World Market. Way bigger than needed but I just loved how it looked and isn't that what matters?

 Since I doubled the recipe I used 2 bottles of 750 ml of vodka. No need to purchase the good stuff it's all about the lemon infusion. I paid $5.99 a bottle at my local middle eastern market.

Pour all the vodka into the jar and as you zest add the lemon peels to the vodka. Cover and place in a dark place where it can sit undisturbed for 10-40 days. DO NOT STIR! Now normally I would let it sit for the full 40 days but I want this for the holiday so I will begin part 2 of the recipe in 15 days.
Stay tuned for part 2........

Old Friends Become New Again....

So many people pass through our lives on a daily basis. Most are just casual acquaintances, the ones you work with or see every morning at your local coffee house. You sit and make small talk, people who you know you could never rely on if you needed them but are fun for a daily laugh. Then every once in a while if you are really lucky and the cosmos align you meet that one person who becomes like family, the bond so strong, the connection so great you feel the friendship will pass the test of time. But what happens when that bond is severed?  Sadly I have opened my heart to a few people who have hurt me greatly and whose friendship loss I still mourn.

Lately something strange has begun to happen, friends lost are reaching out and trying to become friends once again, and we too are reaching out to people we haven't spoken to in 20+ years. I am guessing it's that connection these old friends have to our youth, they remind us of a place in time now passed. As you get older and the realization that life is too short creeps in you begin to think differently, maybe it's that mid-life crisis thing rearing it's ugly head.  That said my husband is a much more forgiving person than I, at first my guard was up, why do they want to rekindle what once was? What do they want from us? How do I fit them into the here and now? Casting doubt aside I have embraced the reunions.

Surprising myself,  I have enjoyed this journey thus far, it has brought back fun memories long forgotten. Sometimes you block out how much of your life you shared with these friends. As an added bonus now at least my kids can put faces to names they have only heard about plus they now know we didn't make up those crazy stories we have been telling them for years.

There is that little voice in the back of my head, you threw me aside once will you do it again? Only time will tell.....

Our Mid-Century Mid-Life Crisis...

Our 1950's dream home.....

My husband has reached that time in his life that I have been dreading. I read it was coming, I heard horror stories about it, frankly I was a bit scared of it truth be told. I'm talking about the dreaded male mid-life crisis. Then an amazing thing happened, turns out his mid-life crisis wasn't an over priced sports car or a younger bustier trophy wife- no his desire and mine are in total sinc. We have each developed an obsession for Mid-Century Modern design. We have even taken our obsession a step further and purchased a 1955 Post & Beam weekend home in Palm Springs CA, it's OUR little red sports car.
This un-crisis has brought us closer together as we make daily decisions on such large matters as the purchase of our dream home, to landscaping, to what color we should paint our walls. OK so I have to confess that after 30 years of pretty much always making the decorating decisions it's a little hard to share that job.  I wasn't aware my husband had really strong opinions on such matters but I must admit I like this part of him. I love that he is enjoying leisurely antiquing as we search for just the right piece of furniture and rediscovering the furniture and accessories of our youth.
Hopefully this puts to bed my fears of "the crisis" but who knows, I overheard him say yesterday he would like to buy a 1950's sports car to leave in the Palm Springs garage. Only time will tell........