Christmas 2014

On By DGThomaIn Family, Humor/Light Hearted, Writing2 Comments

Christmas 2014…. What a crazy and wonderful time we had.  Previously I nicknamed 2014 as the year of the broken bones.  I suffered through a broken toe and my husband Ron is sporting a trendy black cast while he recovers from a break in his wrist.

As we sprinted to the finish line to usher in 2015, I was a bit relieved to see 2014 come to an end.  We are normally very healthy.  We exercise and try to eat right so it is outside of the norm for us to have issues.

In December, we traveled to New York City for a bit of relaxation and rejuvenation before heading to Texas on Christmas Eve for our extended family Christmas celebration.  We were scheduled to fly out of JFK on the 23rd.   After a long busy day of activities on the 22nd, we received a text from my daughter which read “On my way to hospital, probably broken ankle, I’m okay.”  Followed shortly by “Broken on both sides, trying to determine if they will transport to surgery tonight.”20141224_155936

Oh, boy!  We were unable to change our flights due to the Christmas travel, so we headed to the airport to standby for any earlier flights.  No earlier flights materialized.  All things considered, the airport and subsequent travel went relatively smoothly.  We flew into Austin, TX, arriving at 9:30 PM where we grabbed our bags, retrieved our car and set off for Tulsa, OK.  We stopped about half way to Tulsa for the night.  Early the next morning on Christmas Eve we set off again.

While we were trying to get home, my son and daughter had coordinated and moved our Christmas celebration to Tulsa.  My son transported gifts, food and family and himself to Tulsa in support of his sister.  On Christmas Eve the two of them were sitting in the orthopedic surgeon’s office having her ankle reset, surgery scheduled and making everyone laugh.

By the time I arrived, dinner was being prepared, the house had been spruced and gifts were under the tree.  Everyone was smiling, my son-in-law’s parents were dropping by and one of his co-workers was on the way to share in the celebration.

As we gathered around the dinner table, we were all grateful to share a meal and celebrate being together.  So while I may have been pre-emptive to declare this the year of the broken bone ended, this is it!  No more broken bones allowed!

We had a wonderful new celebration of memories to add to our holiday traditions.  Today Christmas is over and we are sitting sipping our coffee and watching the snow fall outside while we were warm and comfortable inside.

Let it Snow
Let it Snow

 

 

Pretending

On By DGThomaIn Family, Humor/Light Hearted, Musings, Travel, WritingLeave a comment

When my children were young, we would often launch into spontaneous nonsensical conversations.  It might be a perfectly innocent comment that became a springboard.  A wondrous adventure would unfold as we each added our own spin. We would slip into role play effortlessly, becoming princesses, elves or ogres depending upon the trigger.

We had fun pretending our way through a diversity of situations without the benefit of any props other than our imagination.

Often, I still go off of imaginative tangents.  When I’m on a road trip anything can become fodder for a rambling conversation that the casual observer would find perplexing.  Recently, heading toward the town of Stephenville I forgot the name of the next town we would pass through.  I asked my husband “Are we almost to Benjamin?”

And my husband replied no, Benjamin is the town we go through on our way to Lubbock.  Undeterred, I replied, “Well if we get to Benjamin we’ve gone too far!”  Considering Benjamin was about 6 hours beyond where we were headed, that may have been a slight understatement.

A few days later we were driving toward the airport after a long weekend and my husband said something about Timbuktu and I said or Kalamazoo, which made no sense at all.  After all Timbuktu is a city in the West African nation of Mali and Kalamazoo is a city in the state of Michigan and there was no reason to discuss either of them.  But for no reason at all it made us laugh and laughter is a wonderful thing.

Our car talk is not always so off the wall, but every road trip is an opportunity for slipping into inane conversations and we rarely pass up the opportunity.

Growing up in a small town…..

On By DGThomaIn Friends, Musings, WritingLeave a comment

Growing up in a small town, I knew everyone and everyone knew me.  There were approximately 3500 people in our town.  As soon as I could, I left in search of excitement and opportunity.  I rarely look back with any regret and have enjoyed my life immensely.  I have come to value my privacy and enjoy living in a bigger city even though “Nobody knows your Name.”

However, occasionally I am reminded that there are trade-offs.  If you stand in the center of my hometown you could walk a mile in any direction and likely be on the edge of town.  Getting anywhere is a matter of minutes not hours.

Photo Courtesy of Barclay Gibson Photography

Photo Courtesy of Barclay Gibson Photography

Currently, I commute an hour to an hour and a half to get work each day.  I am grateful that my husband and I work in close proximity and are able to ride in one car.  That’s great until something happens.

Recently I was working a little late and waiting for my husband to pick me up.  He had called to say he would be there in about 10 minutes, so I was surprised when he called back within a couple of minutes.  Assuming he was warning me he was stuck in traffic, I grabbed the phone.  Nope, he was stuck but not due to traffic.  His car was dead in the middle of a fairly heavily trafficked street.  We decided to call our roadside service and began to reach out to friends for a ride to pick up my car.

After several phone calls, we determined that it was just too complicated to find someone to pick each of us up and drive an hour to get us to my car and then spend another hour returning back to their homes. We also had to find a way to get to our car and talk to the service department where it had been towed.   I have great friends and they would have been willing, but it was too much to ask.  Instead, several kind strangers helped push the car off the road and the tow truck dropped my husband near a rental car agency.  Half an hour later, he was at my office to pick me up and we were able to head to the dealer.

It reminded me that in my home town, I could have walked to my house to get my car, someone I knew well or was related to would have given me a ride and if someone I barely knew happened by, it would have been safe to accept a ride.

It’s a good reminder that living in a community of any size, you still need to have strong relationships and that commuting is not much fun.  I do love my life and wouldn’t change it but maybe I’m a little more grateful for growing up  with a wonderfully established community and I remember that sometimes it’s good to go where “Everybody Knows Your Name!”

Rocking the Streets of San Antonio Texas

On By DGThomaIn Exercise, Family, Friends, Travel, Writing2 Comments

The Humana Rock and Roll Marathon was the weekend of December 6th through December 7th in San Antonio, Texas.  This is the 7th year l  have participated in the San Antonio Rock and Roll marathon. I signed up months ago before this became the year of broken bones.  In August, I broke my toe and the healing outlasted my patience!    Not to be left out, my husband Ron fell and broke his wrist a few weeks ago.  And then, just because we are a little insane we signed up for the Remix challenge which means we ran a 10K on Saturday and a half marathon on Sunday.

San Antonio is a beautiful, magical city and one of my favorite places to visit.  The expo in the downtown convention center was as entertaining and chaotic as always.  I never seem to leave without purchasing something.  This time it was new socks and some GU gel blocks.  Leaving the expo, we stopped to enjoy the twinkling Christmas lights along the Riverwalk and the Tower of the Americas.  It was lovely in the soft evening light.

San Antonio Christmas LIghts

We didn’t stay in a downtown hotel for this trip, so we had to get up a little earlier to ensure we could find parking.  On Saturday, the 10K didn’t start until 9:00 AM and there were only 2500 or so competitors.  The parking was easier to find and it turns out it was considerably cheaper.  Sunday morning, the official start was 7:30 AM, so we left the comfort of our warm beds a bit early to head back to our parking garage from the previous day.  Supply and demand was definitely in play as we had to pay double the fee we had paid on Saturday.

I should clarify that I am not an elite athlete and I enjoy the fun and camaraderie found by those of us crossing the start line 30 minutes after the sprinters in the first corral.  When you run slower you can see all sorts of sights along the course.

Sunday morning, we all lined up; the elves, the tutu wearing competitors, the old, the young, and all other 12,000 plus runners, walkers and wheel chair participants.  The music was pounding and the weather was just a little chilly.

As expected, I crossed the starting line about 30 minutes after the gun sounded.  The course was a bit downhill in the beginning, heading from the Alamodome toward downtown.  As we passed the Alamo, many runners, stopped for selfies with the façade and spirits of the Alamo.  Leaving downtown took us through Trinity University and hills.  The spectators lined the road through Trinity, cheering us up the hills.  The enthusiasm was wonderful, but it didn’t really make up for all those hills.

The course in a Rock and Roll marathon is always alive with music and excitement.  It is also lined with coaches, family members and complete strangers.  Sunday was no exception.  Signs along the course proclaimed, “Worst parade ever”; “Run like a Zombie is chasing you” and my favorite, “I’m proud of you complete stranger.”

I think my favorite coach along the course was the gladiator wielding his sword, his face encased in a metal helmet in the parking lot of a Cross fit gym shouting encouragement as we passed.  My most memorable athlete was the young man I passed at mile 12, limping to the finish line, carrying his shoes and socks because of blisters on his feet.  Dedicated or stubborn I’m not sure but he finished!

At the end, I was so relieved it was over!   It was the slowest I’ve ever finished a half marathon, but I felt quite proud to have survived. Heavy Medals

We ended our San Antonio trip with a wonderful meal at Canyon Café, a southwestern grill in the Quarry Market.  I am never disappointed with the food or service.  It was a great meal to end a great trip.

Crab legs, Lobster and Family Traditions

On By DGThomaIn Family, Food, Humor/Light Hearted, Writing1 Comment

My father’s birthday is October 31st.  This year he is 81 years young.  In spite of typical aging issues, he is remarkably healthy and fit. He has avoided most chronic health conditions.  He still drives well, mows his lawn and manages his daily activities with little assistance.

My grandson, Alex’s birthday is October 5th.  This year he is 13 years old.  They both live in the same town about 5 hours from where I live.

My husband and I drove down to take them out to dinner to celebrate their respective birthdays.  We picked up my Dad first and then drove over to pick up my two grandsons, Alex and James.

Finding ourselves at a chain seafood restaurant, a lively discussion regarding what food to order ensued.  Neither my grandson, Alex nor my father (Papa) had ever eaten crab legs or lobster.  They both share a love of shrimp.Alex

Debating the merits of al a carte vs platters, Alex and my dad ended up with a plate of food that would have been three meals for me.   They had crab legs, lobster tail, fried shrimp, shrimp scampi and rice.  My grandson James opted for a traditional steak meal.

Watching my dad and his 13 year old great grandson side by side, cracking the hard shell of the crab was priceless.  They each experimented with different techniques to get to the delicious pieces of crab inside.  Butter dripped, shells cracked and tall tales flowed.  Everyone was smiling!

The lobster dripping in butter was no match for Alex.  It was one of his favorite things on the plate.  My dad didn’t enjoy the flavor nearly as much, but Alex helped him out and finished his lobster as well his own.  Neither my dad nor Alex took home a significant amount of leftovers.Crab

The service wasn’t great.  No one served us for quite some time and when everyone else’s food was coming out, the server let me know they were out of what I had ordered.  The sides we received were not what we ordered.  Even with the issues of service, the memories were priceless.

 

The Healing Power of Texas Tamales

On By DGThomaIn Family, Food, Humor/Light Hearted, WritingLeave a comment

Thanksgiving 2007 is now a wonderful memory.  However, at the time my daughter was struggling with life a bit, something she rarely does.  As a single mom she was attending law school and had moved many miles and hours away from her support system.  Law school is grueling at best but for just that moment in time, I think she was trying to stay afloat and hanging on by a thread.

She was home for Thanksgiving and the kitchen was alive with the sound of laughter, spoons scraping pans and stories of past escapades.  My children had taken over my kitchen and I was standing outside the door, loving the scene in front of me.

Kat had asked for tamales to round out our normal Thanksgiving fare and we had not been able to find any.  Although tamales are a staple over the holidays in much of Texas, we had waited too late to order them.Texas Tamales

My son, Rich proclaimed we would just make our own tamales.  In our family, we tend to think we can tackle anything, even though none of us had ever attempted to make homemade tamales.  So after a trip to the grocery store we were ready to get started.  The plan was to get things ready the night before Thanksgiving and then assemble them on Thanksgiving Day.  Making tamales is a lot of work! While we didn’t follow a recipe for making the tamales, we did look up how long they should be cooked.

Up at 6:00 AM on Thanksgiving morning, we set up an assembly line.  Richie made all the fillings and was in charge of preparing the husks and spreading them with masa.  The rest of us assisted with the actual assembly.  We made traditional pork tamales for the kids and black bean for me.

We had a wonderful time stirring, mixing, rolling and wrapping tamales, but most of all, we laughed and talked and made unforgettable memories.  All because a sister wanted tamales and a brother was determined she would have them.   We haven’t had a Thanksgiving without tamales since that year.

We skipped the Black Friday sales and opted for family time all weekend.   That is a tradition, I hope we can continue always and forever.

Memories of A Middle Child

On By DGThomaIn Family, Food, Writing4 Comments

Growing up in a family of 5 children is lovely and maddening.  As family position goes, I am right in the middle. To my older sister and brother, I was the baby.  To my two younger sisters, I was one of the big kids.  Honestly I was probably more the baby since we three older siblings were so close in age.  My oldest sister was born on July 6th, 18 months later in January my brother was born.  Queue forward to July 6th 18 months after my brother was born; I was born.  Yes I was born on my sister’s third birthday.  How I love to remind her, I am wonderful gift!

Whichever I am, one of the oldest or the baby, I was very shy and terribly dependent on my mother when I was young.  So when my grandparents invited me to spend a week with them in Rush Springs, OK, no one thought I would go.  Especially not my mother, who assured me no one, would be able to come pick me up before the next weekend.

Hello world!
Hello world!

But I did go and I had the time of my young life.  For just one week, I went from being the middle child with four siblings to becoming an only child.  For one entire week, I had my grandparents completely to myself and was allowed to wander around the farm on my own.  I named each chicken and watched them pecking the ground for hours.  I climbed the apple tree and I talked to my grandparents.  I felt like a princess.

My two favorite memories of the week were the weekly trip to the grocery store and my grandmother making lemon pudding.

The grocery store was unlike any grocery store you would find today.  It was a small locally owned store crowded with shelves of canned goods, dry goods and fresh produce.  But my most vivid memory was the “drawing”.  We had been wandering the narrow aisles, mostly window shopping, but a few things made their way into the cart.

Suddenly, it got quiet in the store and Mr. Teal, the grocery store owner called out, “Who wants a ticket.  One dollar for a chance at this week’s basket of groceries.”  A current of excitement moved through the crowd.  Understanding my grandparents were extremely conservative with their money, I was shocked when my grandfather was one of the first people to pay a dollar for a ticket.

What a wondrous thing it was.  It was my first experience with the pure joy of chance and anticipation.  For only a dollar, there was a chance to take all those groceries home for free.  Mr. Teal drew numbers from a cup and called a few numbers.  I watched my grandfather’s face.  With the complete faith of youth, I waited for him to go collect the groceries.  Of course our number wasn’t drawn and we left without the groceries.

Even though I was disappointed when we didn’t win, I remember vividly, how I felt waiting with my grandparents for the “drawing.”  It still makes me smile.

My other favorite memory was of my grandmother making a lemon pudding in the large country kitchen.  She stirred fresh milk into a sugary mixture in a pot on the stove-top.  She was making a pudding and I asked if she was making a banana pudding.  My mother often made wonderful banana pudding with vanilla wafers.  She said she was making a lemon pudding and we were going to put lemon cookies on top!  Then she explained she always put sugar cookies on vanilla pudding and lemon cookies on lemon pudding!  I have no idea why that was so remarkable to me but I always thought it was extremely creative!

There were so many good memories from than that week but these two memories transport me back to my grandparents farm and a wonderful week with two of my favorite people.

Good Friends and Fresh Vegetables

On By DGThomaIn Food, Friends, Writing2 Comments

I participate in our local Farm to Work, a program of the Sustainable Food Center in Austin, TX.  As defined on their website, Farm to Work is an employee wellness and Farm Direct marketing program that delivers farm-fresh, locally grown produce right to employees at partner worksites.Fresh Vegetables

Every two weeks on Monday, we receive an email reminding us it’s time to order our produce.  Last week, my email was delivered, but my reminder notification didn’t display.  At 7:00 PM I was leaving the office for the day and remembered it was the week I needed to place my order.

Frantically searching I found my email and immediately realized I was too late.  The stated deadline to order was 5:00 PM.

Not willing to give up quite so easily, I replied to the email with a message asking if it was too late to order and included the explanation of how I missed the deadline.  I’m sure the order email is only monitored for payments and orders, so I received no response.

On Wednesday when the produce was delivered to our office building, I was feeling sad to have missed my vegetable delivery.  My sweet friend Nena stopped by my office.  She often has to remind me it’s time to pick up the order, so she asked me if I had picked up my vegetables.  Of course I had to share the whole story of how and why I missed the deadline.

Smiling she said, “I’ll share. I have extra.”  Responding that it was okay,  I explained I was going out-of-town and it was probably better that I hadn’t placed my order.

“No”, she explained, “I really have extras.  I was the last one to pick up and they gave me extra produce.   I told them I would share.”    Feeling blessed, I said, “Okay, I’ll take a bell pepper and maybe one zucchini.”

She sat her bag of vegetables on my desk and pulled out a zucchini and a pepper.  But then asked, “Do you like potatoes?”  When I replied yes, potatoes were added to my pile of veggies.  At this point the pile was getting large enough to require a bag to carry it.  As I searched for a bag, she added peaches, okra and a butternut squash.

I have to clarify.  When Nena said she got extra veggies, she actually picked up a few extra pieces of produce but not more of everything.

At this point, I have as many vegetables as she does if not more.  Honestly, it was like the biblical story of thee fishes and the loaves multiplying.

Although she did pick up a few extra vegetables, in truth she is really a dear friend who decided to share her vegetables with an absent-minded, forgetful friend who forgot to order timely.   Good friends and vegetables what a lovely way to brighten a day.

Pinot’s Palette – Painting and so much more!

On By DGThomaIn Family, Food, Humor/Light Hearted, WritingLeave a comment

I’ve wanted to try one of those instructor led classes where you paint a picture in a couple of hours that is advertised as something “you aren’t embarrassed to hang on your wall”.  I just haven’t made the effort to find out more information.

Thankfully, it wasn’t left up to me to follow through.  My granddaughter, Jillian recently surprised me with registration to a class at Pinot’s Palette .  She registered us for a class to paint a picture called “Rain Kisses”.  I was completely on board for the class but I assured her, my picture wouldn’t look anything like the example in the email.

All I had to do was make flight arrangements and pack a bag.  It was lovely that she made the effort to plan a weekend together for just the two of us.  Jillian picked me up at the airport and after a wonderful lunch, we headed to the store to pick up snacks for our class.  Our beverage of choice was sparkling water.  They do offer a stocked bar, but we are too young for alcohol.  Okay, at least Jillian is too young.   We made it to the class and were immediately greeted by lively music and a smiling hostess/artist.  We were directed to our seats where our names had been written in chalk by our canvases.   Our paints were already out and a canvas sat on an easel waiting for our creativity to complete it.  Jillian and I discussed grabbing our snacks early on, but I suggested we wait until half-time.  Jillian indulgently explained it’s a painting class, there is no half-time.

The instructor was wonderful and did a great job guiding us through the process.  Our first step was to paint the entire canvas gray.  I believe I excelled at this point.

In the Beginning

We laughed and joked and had an amazing time.  There were two young ladies sitting beside us discussing the female figure and how one of her legs was raised as she kissed her guy under the umbrella.  One of them said, who was it that started that leg thing?  Wasn’t it in Princess Diaries?  I smiled and said, “Actually, I believe it was Doris Day.”  The girl smiled tolerantly and said, “Well yes, but we were talking about the 90’s.”  I’m thinking she had never heard of Doris Day.  Jillian on the other hand smiled and nodded her agreement.  I should add that her favorite animation at around the age of three was Betty Boop!

The instructors are actual artists.  They lead you through the process step by step and while it isn’t without a bit of effort and maybe some skill, it was much easier than I anticipated.

Since we were going to be out late, (after 10:00 PM) I suggested to Jillian we go for breakfast instead of a late dinner.  We chose the  Village Inn for our late night breakfast of omelets, waffles, chocolate chip pancakes and hash browns.  It was delicious and we had leftovers for breakfast the next morning.

As we ate and discussed our mutual pictures, I pointed out that Jillian had painted a much better “booty” for her guy than I had.  Laughing at/with me, she informed me I was a “hoot!”

20141016_212417

Friday was spent running errands and getting ready for a garage sale on Saturday. After purchasing a new shelving unit we spent several hours working on putting it together.  Normally I’m pretty good at assembling modular furniture but this shelf was becoming quite a challenge.  Maybe I was tired but I put the top piece on backwards and had to start over about halfway through the assembly.  Finally I was ready to put the doors on only to discover the bottom was backwards, so maybe the sides were the actual problem, but we took it back apart and started over again.  By now our hands were sore from the screwdriver and we couldn’t get the small screws to the doors to turn.  Giving up temporarily we went to bed leaving the shelf to be tackled another day.

Early Saturday morning we went to my daughter’s to start the garage sale.  It was a beautiful day for a sale and while we didn’t have a landslide of customers, we had a wonderful morning together and a freshly organized and cleaned garage!  We also met some lovely people.

Saturday night was shelving unit round two.  After a nice dinner with my son-in-law and daughter, Jillian and I went shopping for an electric screwdriver.  What we came away with was a nice soft handled manual version with various sized ends.  It is absolutely amazing what a night’s rest, good food and the right tool can accomplish.  Jillian and Nana 1, shelving unit 0!  It went together like peanut butter and jelly.

Blue 2

The weekend flew by and Sunday morning arrived way too soon.  I am amazed at how much Jillian has grown up and what a caring responsible young lady she has become.  I was encouraged that she is still my sweet little girl.  She drove me to the airport in her sleep shirt and fuzzy Minnie Mouse sleep pants with the sound of Boston’s Greatest Hits playing in the background.

20141019_090402

Spaghetti Squash – the Fun Vegetable

On By DGThomaIn Food, WritingLeave a comment

“Spaghetti squash is a slightly oblong variety of winter squash.  When raw, the flesh is solid and similar to other raw squash; when cooked, the flesh falls away from the fruit in ribbons or strands like spaghetti.”

Spaghetti squash defined courtesy of Wikipedia.  It’s the “strands like spaghetti”  that make it fun!

The first time I was introduced to spaghetti squash was about 30 years ago.  My dad, who loves to garden, was intrigued enough by the concept to pick up some seeds and plant them alongside his zucchini.  Like most things my dad grows, the spaghetti squash flourished.Spaghetti-Squash Whole

Having no idea how to prepare spaghetti squash, I stuck it in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes and starting poking it with a fork every 15 minutes or so until it was somewhat tender.  We didn’t cut it in half until it was finished cooking.

Once we cut it, we scraped and discarded the seeds.  My kids had a blast shredding the inside.  However, shredding it was more fun than eating it.  The flavor of a spaghetti squash is pretty bland and my preparation didn’t include any seasoning.

Now when I make spaghetti squash for dinner there is no comparison to the version I served 30 years ago.  I like to cook the spaghetti squash a day or so in advance and store it in the refrigerator until I need it.

My “recipe” follows but I have to say, on this one, I don’t worry about exact measurements.

Slice  a medium size squash in half and place the squash cut down side down in a baking dish. Add water to about one inch over the side of the squash and bake at 450°  about 20 minutes,  You should be able to pierce the skin with a fork relatively easily when done.Scooping!

When the squash is cooked, scoop out the seeds and refrigerate if you plan on using it later.

Instruction for preparing:

Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a skillet.  I prefer coconut oil.  Saute ½ of an onion chopped for about 5 minutes or until tender.  Stir in a clove of garlic.   While the onion and garlic are cooking, pull the squash from the fridge and use a fork to scrape the flesh into a bowl.

Stir the squash and a cup of tomatoes into the onions and garlic to warm them.  Remove the mixture from the skillet, add ¼ cup of black olives and ¾ cup of feta cheese tossing lightly.  Fresh basil leaves add a nice flavor if you have any on hand.

Delicious!  For our meal, I paired it with some freshly baked sweet potato fries, lentils and a quinoa vegetable medley for a wonderfully fresh meal.

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