walk to work

Okay, okay. . .what a storm!  Today John left for work at the ususal 6:30am ish, and I stayed behind tossing about the idea;  to dig or not to dig, that is the question.  Well, the answer is. . .no digging.  I walked to work.  In this crazy mess.  I just wish I had the time and the gumption to ask people, "Where are you going, and why are you on your cell phone driving in these conditions?"  But instead I just walked on the main road, ye old Bridge Avenue, and got to work in 15 minutes.  It takes me 8 minutes to drive and I leave a carbon footprint behind.  Hmmmm.....

But I was rewarded at the end of the day with a beautiful sunset.  God is good, and so I just

let it be.

after Christmas sigh

I am home alone, except for Ginny the wonder dog.  She is such a good companion.  I have yet to begin the big dig from the storm. . .

This is her going out area.  Ugh.  But the silver lining to this snow fall is the shoveling should help remove some of the cookie weight from the last few days!

Or, maybe I'll just let it be.

the almost finished products.

Megan drove down from Lake Hopatcong to help me get motivated, and to spend some quality time with Auntie M. . .and this is what we did.

 remember I said I was doing some different things this year, and that includes my cookie baking.  Usually Dawn does the Viennese crescent cookies.  Well I had pecans in the freezer.  They are delicious.  Kind of like a shortbread only better.

And there you see our three kinds of cookies.  Traditional Toll House chocolate chip cookies, only because Meg needed a little schooling with those, the pecan crescents, and peanut butter cookies.  hmmmmm, not very different you say?  Well, wait until you see what we did with the peanut butter cookies.

we stuffed them

and then we dipped them in chocolate.

don't eat 'em.  They're awful.  Ok, I might just be saying that because we don't want to share. 

and we finally dusted the crescents with some snow.  I packed the young sous chef/baker up and sent her home with some samples.  We'll see how they are received next week when the family comes for celebration.  Until then, I've GOT to let 'em be.

guess what I'm doing today.

more hints to follow. 

let me help you

We're living in a different, post 9/11, world and we've had to adapt to different things like security measures that we've never had to endure before.  So let me give you a few tips to getting through the court house security that will help speed the process.

1.  We cannot allow lighters or matches or any other fire-starting equipment in the courtroom, including firecrackers.
2.  We cannot allow you to bring your illegal drugs into the courtroom, including the "prescription" you don't have in your prescription bottle, or the joint in your cigarette pack.
 3.  We also cannot allow you to bring in your shot glass, or your flask, or your Vodka bottle into the courtroom.
4.  In addition to #2, we cannot allow you to bring in your razor blades or hypodermic needles.
5.  All forms of weapons . . . not allowed, that includes box cutters folks.
6.  As to #3, it's best not to come under the influence of alcohol or any other intoxicant.  You tend to make errors in judgment such as shouting out "Shakespeare" or "all rise" or other nonsense things that get you escorted back out of the courtroom.  Also, falling asleep in the courtroom as a result of your intoxication can lead to falling off your seat and smacking your head. 
7.  Yes, the baby stroller has to be searched.  So does the diaper bag.
8.  That overnight bag you call a purse will be searched also.
9.  If you wear your pants in  current hip-hop fashion with your blingy metal-studded belt we may have to ask you to remove it because you are lighting up the metal detector like a fireworks display.  Please remember to hold on to your pants when we ask you to do that.  Your pants falling to the floor is not our responsibility.
 10.  Yes we have to ask you to remove your hat before going into the courtroom.  We realize this may lead to the exposure to a bad hair day, but it's for the safety of all; it also is the polite thing to do.

These may seem common sense to some of you, but as you can imagine, these are all real life scenarios I have shared with you today.  I love my job.  Wait until next season's parking wars start. . . then you're really going to hear some stories.

There are times when we just can't . . .let it be.

I have an bit of an obsession

well, I have more than one, but this one is so specific and pronounced and few will be surprised.  But, I finally figured out what it's about.  You see, I have a snowman obsession. . .these are a few on the tree.

These are some around the house.  I kept some in storage this year!  whoa!  Again, I realized why I favor the snowman so much.  It's because my best memories with my children growing up have to do with snow.  When we moved from southern Florida back to New Jersey the children were ages 5, 3, and 1.  That Thanksgiving it snowed enough to build a snowman.  I bundled my babies up in snowsuits and boots, hats and mittens and took them to the front door, opened it to the blast of cold air and they all froze in their tracks!  At first I thought they really froze.  Then I realized they were just terrified.  They have never felt anything so cold and wet.  They just didn't know what to do.  So trying to be a good mom and show them there was nothing to fear I left them inside the front door and I went outside.  I started to make the snowman by myself to show them it was fun.  Then I threw a snowball at the door and when it hit the glass and make a racket the girls started to cry, but I started to laugh.  I finally woke up to the fact that they had NO idea what was happening.  So one at a time I brought them outside and taught them about snow.  Soon we were making snow angels and snow balls and were having a really great adventure. 

Years later we started skiing and skating and snowboarding.  Our treks to the White Mountains of New Hampshire remain legendary.  We relive them when we want, but I still remember skiing (well, I bunny sloped as Diana went double black diamond skiing)  and then sledding down steep hills and hot cocoa and warm fires.  Falling dead asleep by 9:00 pm and waking again before 7:00 am to do it all over again.  Those were special times and made even more special memories.

So I recognize my obsession, and isn't that the first step to recovery?

You know what?  I think I'm just gonna let it be.

getting in the spirit

I know we all say time flies, and we all know it really doesn't.  It's scientifically the same the day I was born as it is today.  But, I look at my grown women offspring, my baby girls, and I think the time did fly.  For sure it did fly by and now we have Christmas coming again.  My 52nd Christmas celebration on this planet.  Yikes!  I shall not get caught up in the nostalgia.  I shall plan and plan, and schedule and list and relist and Christmas Eve will get here and I will be stressing about something I believe I forgot.  Then John will remind me that whatever it is, it's too late, and Christmas will come and go and we will all be just fine.  That said I am happy that while I was out on Wednesday night, he got all the decorations out of the attic, and they await the festooning that I hope to complete this weekend.

With Camille Steiner and her beau Nic coming from France, and Alexis flying in from Boston on Christmas Eve, and planning the Sargent family annual gathering on the 19th, cards to send, cookies to bake, gifts to buy and wrap I know I have a great deal to do, but I truly want to enjoy this season.  So I'm going to take it as it comes, plan the best I can, and believe we will all be happy and have fun, and appreciate each other and the Savior that brings us together for this yearly tribute to his birth. Is that too much to ask?  Oh and one more thing. . .I need to breathe.  Just breathe.  And let it be.

Thanksgiving eve

I now have 52 Thanksgiving eve's under my belt.  Of course, I only remember the last 40 or so, but I have many great ones.  Be prepared to be lulled to sleep, or maybe even laugh, or say, hmmmm. . . that's what happened that time.

My pumpkin pie is in the oven.  When I make pumpkin pie, I make it from my roasted pumpkin that was a tribute to harvest, and Halloween before it hit the oven @400 degrees F until soft and able to be peeled.  Then I make sure it's drained, like yogurt, add a bunch of ingredients, etc.  But let me tell you, confessing that I cannot seem to make a decent pie crust was crushing.  Aunt Janet called me one day to get my recipe.  She said mine was like her mother's.  Oh nuts!  It's confession time for sure. . . it's Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust. Why struggle when experts have perfected this art, and my filling can be showcased as heavenly, and beyond compare?  Well, that's one of my secrets.  Another family sharing is my original apple pie.  Harriet Lea taught me how to make my pie.  Use Rome apples.  They get soft during baking.  You only need about a 1/2 cup of sugar, some cinnamon, some nutmeg, some lemon juice, a little salt, and some flour.  Then you pile in the apples.  Use too many so there is a big pile in the plate. Another confession. . .  I usually forget to put the butter pats on the filling and I wind up trying to stick them thru the steam slices in the top crust.  It's become a ritual, forgetting the butter.  After you put the top crust on and seal the edges and cut slits for steam on the top, use either an egg wash, or a milk bath on the top crust and put it in a 400F oven for 15 minutes, letting the top "set".  Turn the oven down to 350F and bake for another 45-50 minutes.  Don't forget to put foil around the edges if it gets too brown, and make sure you put foil on the bottom of the oven 'cause this baby is going over, I guarantee that!  Now, isn't that an easy recipe to follow?  But I have pie stories to beat the band, don't I?  Oh you might not know, or remember. . .

How about the time I didn't make apple pie because Carl wouldn't go to the store for me to buy Rome apples?  He said he wasn't falling for that trick.  He'd get to the store and there would be 4 kinds of Romes and he'd for sure get the wrong ones.  Not totally unreasonable after the great "wet mozzarella" debacle and the clam sauce drama, but he could have asked.  And I was out of time.  So, no apple pie that year.

What about the time I did make the pies and someone broke a glass right over them as they cooled on the counter?  No apple pie that year either.

Then there was the time Daddy hid the pie, and I didn't find it until it was growing on top of my China closet. . .. oh joy.

But I'm making pie this year.  Pumpkin for John and the "Apple Pie of Emeril's eye" recipe winner of 2001.  It has a crumb topping with pecans and caramel.  It's deadly good.

And I'm going to miss my family this year as I have opted to stay home with just my husband, but I need some quiet this year.  I am searching for my blessings.  And I hope my baby grandson Dominic is watching over us all, and wishing he could be with us too, but realizes that basking in the glory of God is way better than any pie Grandma can make.

Let it be.

oh the shame

Off to work I go at 8:54 AM.  Spoiled by my new surroundings and being one short mile from work, I climb in my Mercedes Benz CLK500 and off to the office I sped.  

It occurred to me as I pulled back into the driveway this evening at 4:45 PM, that I should have WALKED to work.  I should be ashamed of myself.  But I can't seem to get a rhythm in the morning that gives me the freedom of those 20 little minutes it would take me to hoof it down the street, make a right and keep going until I hit Borough Hall!  AAAUUUUGGGGHHHHHHH!  I have become a truly, lazy, American.  That said, I look at the weather forecast for tomorrow and it says cloudy, possible rain.  Whew.  Saved for another day.  What would I do if I lived in a city and had no car you ask?  I am a truly, lazy, American.  I would call a cab.  Oh the shame.

the passage of time and information

Blogging. . . the sharing of ideas or random thoughts, or truly important information.  Call it what you will, but I see a gift here somewhere.  One of my coworkers, Cheryl, keeps saying, "we all  have to share this Earth".  I believe she is correct, and her heart is pure in it's desire.  So I'm thinking, I need to share with my children for perpetuity my random thoughts and gifts etc.  There will be a time when I am no longer here, on this plane of existence, so I now accept the mortality of my body, but not my heart and mind.  So the blog begins. 

My life has been an unending series of choices that have lead me to each and every moment, place or other choice.  I may not have made their childhoods easy, but I hope to have made them interesting, and exciting, and informative.  Maybe even life changing from time to time for them; for me. . .always. . .life changing.

My babies, I have made mistakes.  And I am sorry for all your hurts and trials due to them.  But my choices have helped weave the fabric of who you are, and you my girls,  are better for them.  You have, by and large, faced them, and learned from them.  Your brother has not.  He suffers a darkness and pain I pray you will never know.  But this journey, so far, has made my girls strong, and able.  And I am proud of you.  Remember that the glory of God exists wherever we are, no matter what.  That will carry you through your darkest hours, and your brightest, greatest victories.

No matter what, no matter where, no matter why. . . I am with you.  To support you, to encourage you, to remind you, to cheer you, to comfort you.   I am your mother.  I hope that will always mean something to you. 

Let it be.