Retrospective: 4 Unforgettable Events in My 2012

By all counts, 2012 has been what I'd call another "banner year." (The last occurrence of such an outstanding period in my life was 1981, the year in which Jim completed his doctorate degree, we bought our dream vacation home on Lake Sherwood, and I got pregnant three weeks after we signed the mortgage on that lake house.)

So, here you go. Here's my list of unforgettable highlights of the year 2012:

1) Techie Stuff

The year started off with two not-so-good happenings. In January, my desktop computer died, and then I slipped on the icy sidewalk just outside our back door and both broke and dislocated the little finger of my left hand. After much online research, and with guidance from my son, I purchased a laptop. You're probably wondering where all of this is going. Well, being the glass-half-full-person that I am, I considered myself lucky to have that laptop to keep me occupied during the recovery time following surgery to repair my finger. I had a reaction to my pain medication which left me "wired" and unable to sleep for a couple of days. Holed up in the master bedroom with pillows supporting my stitched together ice-packed finger, I must have watched ten or fifteen Netflix movies one after the other on my laptop during that first forty-eight hour period at home.

Then, in August after I was paid several hundred dollars for a friend's house cleaning and staging-for-sale, I used most of the money to buy myself an iPad. I really love playing with it and find myself learning more and more about it every day. Now I consider one of my "things" I couldn't live without, right up there with a microwave oven and Post-It Notes!

2) 2nd Annual Moore Ladies Afternoon Tea

Little did I know when I started developing an interest in teacups, teapots, and afternoon tea that I'd be responsible for starting a new tradition among my Moore relatives in Texas! Last year, when I went to visit my cousin Mary Joyce in Blooming Grove, I took her a box of one of my favorite teas, Celestial Seasonings Moroccan Pomegranate. She suggested that we invite her sister-in-law from down the street and two of her daughters who live nearby to share the tea. Then, we decided to have an impromptu tea party. We invited ten of our female relatives that lived nearby and served three kinds tea and homemade scones. Some of us even dressed up and donned hats. I posted pictures on Facebook and called the event "The First Annual Moore Ladies Afternoon Tea." That little gathering was such a success that we decided to have another tea this year, but this time we'd invite every single one of our female Moore relatives.

For the 2nd Annual Moore Ladies Afternoon Tea, thirty-two of us gathered in the Fellowship Room of the Blooming Grove Church of Christ, all decked out in our fancy clothes and frilly hats. We had a full three-course afternoon tea, featuring homemade scones. finger sandwiches, and sweets, along with three kinds of tea. Each of us had brought an inexpensive but pretty teacup for a teacup exchange. Many pictures were taken that day, and a few days later the Corsicana Daily Sun published a nice article about the event.

                                                                      
I already have some ideas about how to make our 3rd Annual Moore Ladies Afternoon Tea even better!

3) Across the Pond Again

My travel buddy Gayle and I traveled to Italy in October on a 12-day tour with a group from Boston. The good part was that we got to visit all the wonderful places in Italy that we've read about and heard about in movies. The bad part was that because we covered so much of the country in ten days, we had early wake-up calls every day and spent a lot of time on the bus. More than once we heard the tour director say, "No stopping, no shopping!"

Nevertheless, we will never forget our first glimpse of Michelangelo's David in Florence or our gondola ride in Venice. Visiting medieval towns like Assissi and Siena and the lunch and wine-tasting at the vineyard in the breath-taking countryside of Tuscany!

                                                                               
Seeing Ancient Rome and throwing a coin into the Trevi Fountain! Visiting Vatican City and craning our necks to marvel at the Sistine Chapel! Walking among the ruins of Pompeii and spending the day on the Isle of Capri and driving along the Amalfi Coast! These are memories to last a lifetime.

4) The Best for Last

When Josh told us at the Thanksgiving table that he had asked Stephanie to marry him, we realized that 2012 would be forever thought of as one of those "banner years." You see, we fell in love with Stephi the first time we met her last year at Thanksgiving. She is a delightfully sweet, charmimgly poised, very intelligent, and extremely pretty young lady who has the same old-fashioned values as our son. In other words, we could not be more pleased to have Stephi as our future daughter-in-law!

Then came Christmas Eve when Stephi opened the final gift from Josh. . .a big box containing a smaller box, containing a smaller box, containing a smaller box, etc. And then, there it was. . .the diamond solitaire engagement ring! Pictures with Diana's "flat camera" and pictures with Stephi's, and more pictures.

                                                                        
It was a couple of days later before Stephi could Skype with her family in Germany. Then came the Facebook announcement with pictures of the ring and the "I said yes!" sign and my email blast. What fun!

2013 promises to bring more joy and fun times. . . first the civil ceremony in Lawrence KS in January and then the church wedding in Germany in July! I can hardly wait!!!

WEDDING BELLS

Wedding bells will ring this week-end when my 88-year-old cousin Mary Joyce Johnson is joined in matrimony with her 90-year-old sweetheart Elwood Ferrell.  The double-ring wedding ceremony will take place at the Blooming Grove Church of Christ at 5:00 PM Sunday, with a reception immediately following in the Fellowship Room of the church..

When Mary Joyce called me a few minutes ago to tell me the good news, the happiness in her voice made her sound more like an 18-year-old than an 88-year-old.  The invitations and wedding announcements are being sent by word of mouth rather than by the traditional engraved or printed form...because, you see, the decision to go forward with the marriage was just made earlier this week.

Mary Joyce told me that when they went to the county court house today to get the marriage license, they created quite a storm.  Imagine...a 90-year-old and an 88-year-old applying for a license to get married! Several people took pictures of the happy couple, and Mary Joyce promised she'd send me a picture of Elwood signing the marriage license application.

Refreshments at the wedding reception will be provided by the members of Mary Joyce's Young at Heart Club.

Young at heart.  We hear that expression used frequently, but in this case, it is a reality. Mary Joyce and Elwood only recently rekindled their pre-World War II relationship.  (See my earlier post dated October 23, 2012, for the first half of this story.)  If they had listened to some of their children or some of the care-givers at Elwood's retirement home, they would have resigned themselves to behaving like other "old people."  But Mary Joyce and Elwood are not like other "old people."  They figure that they deserve to spend whatever time they have left on this good earth together.  I say, good for them!

My only regret is that I won't be able to attend the wedding.

                                                                                                 
                                                     

My Own Gratitude Log Blog

                                                                           
Less than a week from now we will be celebrating Thanksgiving, and I've noticed that many of my Facebook friends have been posting daily comments about aspects of their lives for which they are thankful. Not wanting to go entirely public with my own gratitude log, I've decided to post my thoughts here.  Please note that my list is not in any particular order of importance, but rather an off-the top-of- my-head stream of consciousness (that's redundant, I know).  Also, I may add to my list from time to time.

I am thankful for. . .

. . . my amazing husband of almost fifty years (my soul-mate through thick and thin, good times and bad).

. . . my truly remarkable thirty-year-old son (our gift from God when we least expected it).

. . . my overall excellent health at age sixty-nine (no medical problems and no daily prescriptions).

. . . being born in a free and prosperous country.

. . . growing up in a home in which I knew beyond a doubt that I was loved.

. . . having the opportunity to pursue a college education.

. . . being able to become a teacher and enjoying that profession for over twenty years.

. . . my glass-half-full attitude about life.

. . . my kind and gentle father.

. . . my loving and supporting mother.

. . . growing up in the 50s, when life was simpler and the music was a lot better than it is today.

. . . having re-connected with the Moores, my mother's side of the family.

. . . having a younger brother that I'm close to.

. . . friends that have come and gone over the years, but mostly for the ones that I enjoy today.

. . . locating and re-connecting with my long lost forty-something nephew.

. . . having a "sousin" (that's a coined word for my first cousin who is more like a sister to me).

. . . my son's sweet girlfriend.

. . . the fact that winter lasts only six months in Wisconsin!

. . . the opportunity to travel the world (France, England, Ireland, and Italy . . . so far!)

. . . having discovered yoga.

. . . having developed an interest in afternoon tea and scone-baking.

. . . being a native of Texas (and holding out hope that we'll move back there some day).

. . . the beautiful sunsets on Lake Sherwood.

                                                                         

Post-Election Depression

That's it!  I'm done! As a confirmed political junkie for the past nine years, I have finally made the decision to cut the cord!

No more

No more

                                                                                   
                   
No more

                                                                   

And, no more

                                                     

When I think of how much time and energy I have wasted keeping up with all the political pollution, it makes me heart-sick!

Let's see, I'd usually start my day by checking my inbox and reading all the forwarded anti-Obama articles and political cartoons.  (I'd even forward a few my self to like-minded souls.)  Then, I'd read USA Today online, where most of the paper was devoted to poll results (and the absence of Benghazi news).  While I got dressed and put on my make-up or if I was going anywhere in the car by myself, I was tuned into 99.9 FM, the local Fox affiliate radio station out of Wausau, and listened to Jerry Bader give us his take on how the election was shaping up.  This was just a time-killer until the main event...Rush Limbaugh.  Then, of course, our evening entertainment consisted of a solid diet of Fox News:  Bill O'Reilly (I really can't stand this arrogant, verbally abusive man!), Shawn Hannity (he's really turned into a rude pit-bull!), and Greta Van Susteren (basically a re-hash of all the "news flashes" that we'd already heard).

I threatened to become apolitical after the 2008 election, but after last night's sad and disappointing election results, I am now adamant about divorcing myself from anything to to with politics.  I will not watch BHO on TV or listen to any pundits rant and rave about him.  I will not listen to any of the president's press conferences, nor will I listen to any more State of the Union Addresses.  I don't want to know how he's continuing on his mission of fundamentally changing this county into a socialist nation.  I don't want to see any pictures of him smirking and Cheshire-grinning.  I don't want to see Michelle or the two daughters.  I don't want to know!

Instead I will get back to what I used to do before I became so infected with the political bug....I will catch up on my fiction reading and devote more time to creative projects that I have on my mental to-do list.  I will walk on the treadmill and listen to music on my iPod to drown out the sounds of Fox News coming from the other room.

I have deleted CNN and Fox News from my iPad.  I'm still debating about whether to delete USA Today from my laptop and my iPad.

For once, I think that ignorance may just be BLISS!                                                                                  

A Love Story

Joyce and Elwood were high school sweethearts in the early years before World War II broke out.  They had known each other for as long as they could remember, and their two families had always been close.  In the rural area where the two young people had grown up, the innocent culture of pre-war times involved church picnics, family get-togethers, and ice cream socials.  When Elwood was called into service of his country, he and Joyce made a pact that they would be married after the war was over.  While Elwood was away, they wrote letters to each other, sometimes three or four times a week, in which they continued to declare their love for one another.

After a couple of years, letters from Elwood began to dwindle.  Joyce assumed that it was because Elwood was unable to keep up his letter-writing due to the demands of war.  She continued to write faithfully to Elwood anyway.  Then, the letters from him stopped altogether.  Joyce was dismayed but never lost sight of the promise that she and Elwood had forged together.

Finally, one day a letter arrived from Elwood.  He wrote about having met another girl, Mary.  He wrote that Mary would never, however, mean as much to him as Joyce did.  And then, there were no more letters from Elwood.  Joyce kept busy on her family's farm and helped cook the farmhand meals for the brothers too young to go to war.  Her two oldest brothers, Sidney and Alvin, like so many young men, were away at war like Elwood.

One day when Joyce's parents had to make a trip into town to buy supplies, Joyce was left in charge of firing up the wood cook stove and starting the big mid-day meal.  She was just about to light the fire when one of her younger brothers who had returned from an errand in town announced to Joyce that he knew why she had not heard any more from Elwood.  The news was that Elwood had gotten married!

Joyce was totally devastated by this revelation.  She had assumed that Elwood's new friend Mary was just that...a friend.  She assumed that one day she and Elwood would be reunited and finally be married.  She was hurt.  She was angry.  She was beside herself with grief.

Joyce called to her younger sister Frances to come into the kitchen and help her.  Joyce told her to help her gather up everything that she had been given by Elwood.   Pictures, gifts, stacks and stacks of letters from Elwood, even one of those silk pillows that so many of the servicemen sent home to their families, were put into a pile on the big kitchen table.  Then Joyce said, "Help me put all of this stuff into the open fire."  She wanted to rid herself of every memory associated with that scoundrel! Frances tried to dissuade her, but Joyce's mind was made up.  She was done with Elwood forever!

After the war, Elwood returned to the little farming community with his new bride, and in time Joyce learned to put aside her feelings for Elwood and move on with her life.  She eventually met and married Johnny, a handsome sailor from the Midwest.

Elwood and Mary and Joyce and Johnny blended into the community, each raising several children, and  remained friends and acquaintances for six decades.  They even went to the same church and saw each other socially on a regular basis.  Johnny passed away a few years ago, and Joyce relied on her strong Christian faith to sustain her.  She sold the country home that she and Johnny had lived in for so many years and moved into the small town where her church was just a few minutes' drive away.

Several years ago, Mary was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and had to be placed into an assisted living facility.  Elwood, who was then in his 80s, wanted to be near to her, so he moved in as well. For eight years, they lived there together, until earlier this year, when Mary passed away.  It was naturally difficult for Elwood to loose his wife of sixty something years.  The community and the church, as well as his children, rallied around him and gave him comfort.

Then, two strange things happened.  One day after church, Elwood told Joyce's younger sister Frances that he had always carried a torch for Joyce.  When Joyce heard this, she was furious.  How dare he say something like that!  It made her feel cheap! But Joyce has a forgiving heart, and she chalked it up to the ramblings of an old man.  But then, a couple of months ago, at a meeting to plan the 90th birthday celebration for Elwood, he told Joyce that he was pleased to be honored in this way, but that the best part of it was that he'd get to spend time with the sweetest, prettiest gal he ever knew.

That did it!  Joyce called Elwood's oldest son and told him that he needed to do something with his father.  She was highly offended by Elwood's remarks and wished that he'd keep his mouth shut.  But, then, when Joyce told her children and siblings about what had transpired, they were all happy that Elwood was attempting to open his heart to Joyce.  After all, they said, he's an old man and he's really trying to reach out to her.

Joyce prayed about this and thought about this and talked again to all of her children and brothers and sisters.  They unanimously encouraged her to go forward with this rekindled love affair.

So, Joyce went to visit Elwood at the assisted living facility.  They sat and talked for hours.  He poured his heart out to her. He apologized for breaking her heart all those years ago.  They held hands, they cried together, and they reformed the bond that they had once shared.

Now, Joyce is 88 years old, and Elwood is 90.  They sit together every Sunday at church, and Joyce drives into the nearby town to visit him at the assisted living facility at least three times a week, sometimes more often.  Joyce told me that she hasn't been this happy in years, that she feels like she's floating on air. Joyce and Elwood are in love!  She actually said that they hold hands, but that's as far as it's gone. (Oh, my!)  I jokingly said that I'd be looking for a wedding invitation in the mail, and Joyce said that actually, she and Elwood would love to get married, but it would mean that his Medicaid would be affected, and who knows what it would do to Johnny's pension that she was receiving. She said that they would move in together but that they're worried about how that would look! (I had to suppress another chuckle when I heard this part.)

So, there you go.........Love conquers all.   True story.

Eating My Mistake

The recipe for Roasted Banana Scones with Peanut Butter Glaze that I found on Pinterest sounded so interesting.  My husband's love of bananas and peanut butter would pretty well assure the possibility that I could get him to try them if I baked them. Note that heretofore, he had turned up his nose at my scones.

I had some over-ripe bananas that needed to be used up and some left-over part-skim ricotta cheese that I had no other use for.  So, it sounded like this venture would be promising.

My first clue of impending disaster occurred when the sliced bananas topped with melted butter and brown sugar did NOT emerge from the oven "caramelized."  They were "bubbly" all right but not "caramelized."

Now, I've baked my share of scones for about two years, and if there's anything I've learned it's that parchment paper is the way to go.  None of that greasing the baking sheets for me.  So, since this recipe called for spraying two large baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray, I promptly ignored that step and used parchment paper instead.  Second foreshadowing clue, as it turned out.

The recipe called for dropping the dough into 12 equal mounds on the baking sheets and baking the scones for 25-30 minutes.  Did that. Then, five minutes before the scones came out of the oven, the "glaze" was to have been prepared (peanut butter, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla). Did that.

When the oven timer went off, I was ready with my "glaze," which in reality was not a glaze at all, but rather a thick sweet peanut butter spread. Oh, well, that would have been okay if it weren't for the fact that the scones were both BURNT and STUCK to the parchment paper!

So much for parchment paper. Now I had to eat my mistake.  So, I decapitated the scones, leaving the burnt undercarriage stuck to the parchment, which was also stuck to the baking sheets.

What I had here tasted like banana bread cookies with peanut butter spread on the tops.  I should have just baked the old faithful Banana Bread.  Oh, well, you win some and you lose some.  Not the end of the world.  "Just the end of Roasted Banana Scones with Peanut Butter Glaze,"  she said as she pitched the recipe into the circular file.

Bane of My Existence

To say that something is the "bane of my existence" means that something is a constant irritant, something that makes life unpleasant.


Here are my banes for the month of July:


Back when I was teaching, I looked forward to the three-month summer vacation each year to enjoy time with my family and to recharge my battery so that when the new school year began, I'd be eager to return to the new crop of middle-schoolers that awaited me.  


However, the appearance of school supplies on the store shelves right after Fourth of July always irritated me. My summer vacation wasn't even half over, and there was the reminder that the clock had started ticking. Now that I'm retired, the sight of those spiral notebooks, pens, and book bags still gets me going!  Pavlov's Theory.


I'm going to have to write a letter to Dollar Tree, currently one of my favorite stores, because of what I saw there about two weeks ago.  Right there behind the summer picnic supplies was an entire aisle devoted to Halloween costumes and decorations!  Come on now!  It's JULY!  Halloween is three months away!


But this next one really blew my mind.......In the week following the appearance of pumpkins, witches, and ghouls at Dollar Tree, what to my wondering eyes should appear but CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS!!!  I kid you not!


Why can't we just enjoy our current season?  Why must we always be subjected to retail merchants reminding us that Halloween's just around the corner (NOT!) or that there are only 150 shopping days left before Christmas?


With that in mind, I bid you Happy Halloween and Merry Christmas. LOL 

I Could Write a Book

I had thought of naming my blog, "I Could Write a Book," as sort of an homage to my mother.  That's what she used to say to emphasize the fact that whatever she was complaining about at the time, she had enough material, in fact, to write a book about it.  However, for my blog, that title seemed a little ostentatious. After all, I'll be lucky to write a few blog posts, much less write a book!


Then, I came up with "Scone With the Wind," which I thought was truly a very clever and original title that would reference my affinity for scones, afternoon tea, teacups, and teapots while at the same time, pay tribute to my favorite book and movie of all time.  (Notice that I even capitalized "With," a la GWTW.) But, woe was me when I discovered that I was not the first person on the planet to coin that clever title!  


So, there you go.  "Scone With the Wind and More" was born.  It's probably a better title, anyway, since I'd like to spout off (pardon the pun!) about a lot of things, not just tea and GWTW.

                                                  


And, speaking of GWTW, the first time I read the book I was about 12 years old.  I say "the first time," because at last count I have read it 13 times. Yes, 13 times!  (And I should probably think about reading it again sometime soon.)  Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara took me by storm!  I couldn't put the book down, partly because the story was so captivating and partly because I was riding in the back seat of my family's 1953 Oldsmobile on our way to Dallas to visit relatives, and if I put the book down and looked out the window, I would be immediately CAR SICK!!!


NOTE:  In reviewing this post, I can't figure out why this NOTE and the previous paragraph appear to be highlighted.  Oh, well, I'll worry about that tomorrow. 

So, I kept my head down all the way to Dallas and back, continuing to read Gone With the Wind while the visit took place, and finished all 1,037 pages after returning home a few days later.


Why would I want to read and re-read a book 13 times and counting?  Why would my 5-year-old son watch "ET" over and over and over and. . . Same reason.  When you first discover something that really grabs you and takes you away to a different time and place and it does it for you EVERY time you experience it, then it's worth repeating.  Right? 

My Maiden Blog Post

Well, here goes nothing!  Since I've been reading and following a number of blogs over the last couple of years, I decided that I should try writing a blog myself.  Not that anyone will read it, of course, other than my son and a couple of close friends who will promise not to laugh.