Young "Love"

Emile has a very special friend in her life these days. I think she's found someone who is nice this time. His name is David and he's a great young man. He doesn't mind coming to our house to "hang out," he doesn't smoke, chew, drink, swear, etc. He DOES help with meal prep, pick up after himself (help load the dishwasher), put the seat down, etc. I enjoy being around him (which is a first.. her other guys I wanted to choke). Much improved. It doesn't hurt that I knew (and liked) his mom long before we ever met him.

Yesterday, for an early Valentine's Day treat, the kids went to Fiesta Mexico for lunch. I actually went along... how fun is that!! It was cute watching them interact.David is very patient with Emile. He's trying to understand her lack of trust in men... and is trying to help her with that.He has a wonderful sense of humor. He seems to be very motivated. But most of all...He truly seems to respect my daughter. We've had the "talk" on a few occasions and we all know what my expectations are. So far they've both conducted themselves appropriately and I have no reason to not trust them at this point in time. That makes me feel happy. Imagine that!

Well done, Emile. Have fun and always remember who you are.

Valentine's Day Early

With Valentine's Day tomorrow, I got to thinking about some of the fun things I've done on past Valentine's Days. I thought first about the different story books I used to read to the girls.

There was CliffordAnd we had BarneyOf course what Hispanic child doesn't have Dora?A fun "catch all" book.And one of my very favorite story books.

I'm certain there are more books around here but these are the ones that stick out in my head. I also thought about when I was a child. Remember when we used to decorate shoe boxes for our valentine's cards to go in?I loved doing that! I'm not sure I ever caught on to the "less is more" way of thinking. My box was generally a train wreck of sorts... but I still loved making it.The valentine's cards were much "simpler" than they are today. We'd hand out cards and have a party complete with cupcakes, brownies, punch, and of course heart shaped conversation candy.

As I got older I received chocolates on Valentine's Day.

It's been 12 years since I got chocolates now. That's ok though. I get special handmade cards from the girls most years. Sometimes I've gotten breakfast in bed... or some other little treat. I've come to realize that for me Valentine's Day is a day to appreciate the loved ones I have in my life. It's fun to remember, but it's way more fun to put my arms around my daughter's and know how blessed I am to have them in my life. That's totally better than any card, candy or flower. Having said that...

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY....

It's A Wrap

A. Emile and Brie cleaning off the van
B. Mom in action with the snow blower!
C. Piles of snow out front of the house.
D. Home Sweet Home after the blizzard.

So we're finally finished with all the snow clean-up for this round of snowstorms/blizzards. My trusty Toro snow blower handled the snow just wonderfully. I wish I had got it out before today. Emile didn't think it could get through snow as deep as we had. I said let's give it a try. The worse thing that could happen is we'd discover it didn't work and have to return to shoveling by hand.We filled the gas tank and it started on the first pull. I think Emile was shocked when it started so easily. We finished the front walks in less than an hour. It took a little longer out back because we had to dig out the van and clear around it... plus part of the alley way where the plow had gone through. Still it took an hour give or take. It really was much easier doing it with the snow blower. I had a blast with it. Vroommmm Vroommmm! The girls thought I was nuts.Who knows, maybe I am just a little off balance. I'm just glad everything is done for now. I'm also not as apprehensive about more snow now that I see how well the snow blower does. All I have to do is make sure I have plenty of gas and 2-cycle blend for it. After that, we're in business!I no longer feel like a suicidal snowman. Life will be ok.

Feb Blizzard Round 2

Here we go again. There's so much snow I'm not even sure where to begin. It's pretty overwhelming to think of how much shoveling we have left to do.

 

Just for some comparison, here are pictures taken looking east on King St. You can see just how much the snow has piled up.

 

Once again I had to have Emile up on the roof removing snow. Last night she had to shovel the snow off the bay window roof at 11P, 2A, and again at 7:30A. When the snow got lighter and dryer the roof stopped leaking... Thank Goodness!!! On the second floor roof she had to clear the heat exhaust pipe and knock snow off so it doesn't weigh down and fall off the side of the house.You know it's bad when you have this much snow on top of the roof... not on the ground! Keep in mind, she had cleared the roof on Sunday (less than 48 hours ago).

I hear they're calling for more snow next Monday. Can't wait to see what this one brings. Hopefully it's just a little less.

When it Snows it Pours

Brie came up to me a few minutes ago and said "It's snowing in your bedroom, Mom." Huh. Say what??? "What do you mean it's snowing in my room?" "I hear water dripping in your plant." Grrrrr!!! That can't be good news.When what to my wondering eyes should appear... yep, water dripping from the top of my bay window. Lovely.I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by any of these unpleasant happenings. Such is the price you pay when you purchase a 100+ year old home with "character." Don't get me wrong, I love my house, I just wish I didn't have leaks to fix at this time of the year.

Funnel Cakes

What would life be like without funnel cakes? Just smelling them while they cook reminds you of going to the fair/carnival in early fall... Standing at the vendor's window waiting for your piping hot cake to come up... covered with powdered sugar...Oh, that first delicious bite! Life is instantly good.

Since it's the middle of winter and the ground is covered with snow, I decided to surprise the girls last evening and make funnel cakes. They love it when I do so. It's a special treat when least expected. For those who love funnel cake as much as we do, here's the recipe I use. Have fun bringing the carnival home to you!
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Funnel Cake
1 Egg
2/3 C Milk
1/4 t Salt
2 T Sugar
1 1/3 C Sifted Flour
3/4 t Baking Powder

Oil
Powdered Sugar
Cinnamon & Sugar

Blend dry ingredients together. Beat egg, add milk. Pour into dry mixture. Mix well, adding more milk as needed to make batter pour easily (thin but not too runny). Using a funnel (or Ziploc bag with a corner cut off) pour batter into hot grease (375°) in circular motion. Fry until golden brown. Carefully turn over using tongs; fry approximately 1 more minute. Remove from grease; place on a plate covered with paper towel to drain.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar (or topping of your choice).
Enjoy!

A Little Bit of Snow

 

Oh the weather outside is frightful.... You can say that again! What a day it turned out to be. We knew we had a pretty big storm coming, but I was truly surprised at just how big it turned out to be. The snow started flying around 1PM on Friday but didn't stick to the roads badly until around 7:30ish. After that it started piling up fast! By this morning it was crazy. Governor Rendell even declared a State of Emergency for PA. The total accumulation in our area was 27". While the girls shoveled, Samantha had a ball running through the paths... or leaping through the snow.She loved every moment of it!Brie seemed to be enjoying herself somewhat too.Just for a perspective, today this chair is buried somewhere under all that snow Brie is sitting on. In fact, the snow is almost even with the porch. Amazing!As the day drew to a close... and the sun was beginning to peek out from behind the clouds, this is what we were left with. I'm thankful for Emile, Brie and Tara (Em's friend) for all the hard work they did today. They really were troopers. Just so everyone knows, their reward was homemade chicken corn soup (which was super yummy if I say so myself) and for dessert I made them funnel cakes. A little spoiling for all their efforts today.

Now we'll wait for the next storm... which is forecast to hit on Wednesday. Oh snap!

Just Breathe

I decided that since so many of my friends have spent time in the hospital lately, it would be cool to have a turn. Of course everyone loves the super cool hospital gowns... including yours truly. So I picked the most opportune time I could think of (1:30AM) to start having trouble breathing. Really smart of me, right? One problem, most people are asleep at that hour. I thought it would be rude to call for help... and tried to hang on as long as I could... which turned out to be more like 5AM. Now was the time to strike!!

Emile got up and called my sister, Cindy, who came immediately and took me to the ER. After a few theories (including a pulmonary embolism, heart attack, and/or congestive heart failure), the diagnosis is Interstitial Pneumonitis. Simply put it means there is an inflammation of the lung tissue. It is not asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia or that type of respiratory condition. It is a condition/sickness of the lung tissue itself.

Quick wrap up.... the chest X-ray on Monday was much better than the Sat baseline one. There was the possibility of having to have a lung biopsy, but that is on hold now since I'm responding to meds instead. I'm grateful for that. We'll see what the next couple of days/weeks brings. After 3 days in the hospital, I'm home and breathing better... although still very tired. I've had lots of help from friends and family. What would I do without everyone??? If anything changes, I'll post more later. For now, all is well.