01.03.2012 Happiness Highlights: Moving Forward, Going Home

The title of this post is interesting because as I hit the button for "new post"  it was there as an option for me to use - evidently I'd typed it once before but didn't write anything.

Moving forward - yep, that's what I"m doing in 2012.  The past will always be in my mind - but I have found myself making little steps here and there into my future.  Moving in with my boyfiend was a BIG step, but until recently, I have to admit that it all seemed very transitory, another huge upheaval.  But now?  I'm settling in.  The shelf my brother Steve made is hung on the wall and my bisque kewpie collection is displayed.   The cat has accepted me and sleeps behind me on my desk chair.  The dog will do what i ask MOST of the time. Last week I went into the Greenwood Public Library and got a card.  Saturday I went over to the Greenwood Community Center and paid $50 for a year's access to treadmills and steppers, an inside walking track, weights, AND if I ever get the nerve, basketball courts!  The weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year's were filled with family - I'm more comfortable with the BF's family and my local boys and girls came to my new place.  So I'm moving forward.  Yep, I am.

Going Home?  I wonder what I meant by that.  Mebbe that where I'm living now feels more and more LIKE home to me.  Driving home at the end of the day means a house where the BF is waiting with a hug.  Having a Home where my children can visit.. Home means so many different things and I feel now that i HAVE a Home again.

anyway - a new year!  I'm striving to shake off all unhappiness and disgruntledness.  I've started another Pic-a-day and posted the first two pictures on Facebook.  I'm GOING to get fit by Eating Naked and working out.  I've sent an inquiring email to the local community band.  2012 IS going to be a good year!  At least, I'm going to strive to make it so.  :)

10.27.2011 Afternoon Musings

November 1 is the 1st anniversary of my divorce.  After being married for 28 years, this first year of NOT being married has been interesting.  After all, I was married to Dan longer than I was NOT married to Dan.

I can't remember the last time I cried over my divorce.  The other day I cried.  But not over my divorce.  My Mom and Sister were in IL for a wedding and for some stupid reason, I never thought once about staying in IL for a few days to enjoy their company.  Not until I was nearly back home here in Indiana.  I was tired, I was happy I'd seen everybody, I was sad I didn't stay longer, and just frustrated in general.

So I cried.  What a relief to realize that I wasn't crying over the divorce!  :)

Monday, October 31st is the last day I'm officially a renter of my Beech Grove apartment.  I'm moving on, sharing a home with a friend.  We've spent the last month working on his house, taking advantage of the emptiness to redo floors and rip out/insulate/wash/paint walls; he's also had some time to sort his stuff out before my stuff showed up, looking for a merge.  Really, Tuesday, November 1, is the first day of my new life.  I've spent an entire year November 1 - November 1 thinking, crying, working things out, coming to grips, and yep, I can honestly say, I'm ready finally to move on.

The entire year of 2011,  I took a picture a day and posted it on Facebook.  I am so happy I have that, because it became a chronicle of my OLD life.  BD.  Before Divorce.  Before the house I'd spent 18 years in was sold, before my children grew up, before I was all befuddled about what to do now.  I took pictures of the birds I saw out my kitchen window as I washed dishes, I took pictures of my flowers and trees and bushes I'd worked on for years, and I took pictures of some of the people in my life.

I think I'm going to make the attempt to do another Pic-a-day, starting with November 1, 2011...the first year of my NEW life.  I'll post them here as well as on FB.  Hmm, I'm heading to Lafayette tomorrow - mebbe I'll start tomorrow..just a few days early.  The Purdue Campus should be pretty and my cousins are meeting up with my son and his wife for a campus tour.  I just might.

10.15.2011 What IS this Really?

All my life I've thought that these types of things were little bundles of warmth put together by squirrels, little nests for them to sleep in at night.  There are two in the tree right outside my sliding glass door...for the first time I can get a fairly decent look at one.  Hmmm...I dunno.  Is it a Squirrel Nest?  It doesn't look very comfy OR very warm.

10.14.2011 Where did the past 26 years go?

A friend of mine posted today on FaceBook today that her son was newly 18 years old - and where had the last 18 years gone?

I countered with "where has the past 26 years gone? 

And where are my little boys?" 

I miss my herd of little boys.  Oh I love the men they've become, but I miss dreadfully my pile of little boys.

They're all so grown up; two have wives and the youngest has a girlfiend.  Any apron string that attached them to me has long frayed away.  How has time passed so quickly that my Josh, Tim, and Sam are all grown up and gone?  On nights like this - when it's dark, windy and rainy outside, when I'm alone, and the laundry is sloshing and tumbling, I certainly wish I had a boy or two or three about, wanting some cookies or banana bread, fighting over who got to be my couch pal for the night. 

10.14.2011 SHEPHERD'S PIE

When chatting with my Favorite Third Son Sam yesterday, the subject of Pot Pie came up.  He'd bought a few of those Banquet Pot Pies ("Only 88 cents each!")   I remember having those when I was a kid.  I don't remember if it was the novelty of having my own little pie that made them so good to my young self, or mebbe the actual pie really did reflect the picture on the box 40 years ago. ... because they certainly don't reflect that picture now. 

Anyway - I told him the 5 bucks he spent for 5 little pies of bad crust, thin gravy and the occasional piece of chicken would be better spent on creating his own pot pie that would feed him for quite a few days...if he was lucky and the neighbors somehow missed the wonderful smell wafting from his kitchen window and they didn't come drooooling to his door begging.

Hanging up, I was overcome with longing for my own pot pie and so headed to the store for what i needed.

SIDE NOTE:  A Facebook Friend of Mine is currently walking down the path (in looser shoes!) of Eating Naked   (http://yearofeatingnaked.blogspot.com/)   That  is to say, she is eating as close to the basics as she can - fresh food without a myriad of ingredients on the label.  I've been a label reader for quite a few years and those who know me agree that I eat fairly "naked" anyway...but Susan's journey has inspired me to be even more on the lookout for nasty on the label AND perhaps even passing by those cans and bottles and boxes completely.

So there I was, at Wal Mart (yah, I know..but it's on the way home) picking up stuff for my own Quick Pot Pie.

1.  Crust - hmmm, trying to steer clear of having to make a crust i decided to instead put cornbread on the top.  JIFFY CORNBREAD has been around for decades - and soo inexpensive!  50 cents gets you a yum pan of cornbread!  YAY ... OH NO, I read the label.   Sadly, i put the box back on the shelf and picked up a small bag of yellow cornbread.  May not be as easy as simply adding an egg and some milk, but durn it, follow the program! 

2. Frozen Veggies - yep, decided to do this route. (I AM sick with a chest cold after all.)  a huge bag of frozen veggies for 6 bucks.  I chose the squash, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. bag. 

3. Can of soup for broth - oh ugh.  UGH UGH UGH.  should never look at the ingredients of a can of campbell's soup.  Hmm.  I'll make my own somehow out of .. something.

4. Cooked Chicken - WHAT?  The Deli guy was apologetic, but nope, no chickens.  Ok.  So I'll boil my own, usually I would anyway, but i was hoping to eat before midnight.  But that solves my broth dilemma.  I'll have a whole pot of broth after boiling chunks of chicken!  Off to grab a tray of fresh chicken breasts...which are better anyway if I'm following the Naked Path.

5, Butter, Milk, and home.

Into the kitchen with little counter space. 

Chunk up half the chicken and throw them into a pot of water.  Boil! 

Grab 5 white potatoes and 1 sweet potato and start peeling.  Hey, SHEPHERD'S PIE sounds better than Pot pie - yum mashed taters on top!  Chop up the white and put on to boil. 

Get out my veggie steamer - get that going.  Put the chopped sweet potato on the bottom, cover that with a load of frozen veggies.

Three pots on the stove, bubbling away.  This better be good! 

Whoa...it's all coming together at the same time.  How did i manage this? 

Chicken boiled to a nice texture, veggies steamed - TOSS TOGETHER!

Scott shows up and gets put to work - he makes a yum broth with 2 cups of the chicken broth, some milk, butter and cornstarch. 

Toss that onto the veggies!  Make the mashed with some butter and milk! 

Dump the filling into my big casserole dish and then layer with the mashed potatoes - throw into the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

DUMP THE POTATO WATER INTO THE CHICKEN BROTH!  SAVE FOR ANOTHER DAY!  WASH ALL THE PANS!  THROW AWAY ALL THE PEELINGS!  CLEAN UP THE FLOOR! 

Buzzer goes off!  The aroma is wonderful!

I dish up 2 big bowls of Shepherd's Pie.

Oh wow.  Soooo good on a chilly day!  Scott looks at me and says "YUM... I love it!" 

We eat our Pie slowly...

Back to the Kitchen!  Wash up the dishes!  Put the kitchen to rights!  Put the leftovers into little dishes for lunches! 

Collapse on the couch. 

Two hours from Start to Finish.

I was tired. 

But wow, that bowl of Shepherd's Pie?  Blew a frozen Pot Pie from the freezer case outta the kitchen!

09.17.2011 Elegance By Providence

When my Mom and Dad were married, my Uncle Bill and Aunt Flo gave them a set of flatware.  I've always called them the Candy Cane forks and spoons but it turns out, the actual NAME of this pattern is Elegance..by Providence.  It says so right on the back!

We used them for years - and as there were four of us kids, I imagine they were WELL used.  Over the years, somehow pieces were lost and eventually Mom got a new set of flatware to use.  What the heck happens to the forks and knives that reside in a kitchen drawer? How does a full set of silverware dwindle to just a few pieces?  Did we take them camping?  Were they thrown out by accident by kids pressed into kitchen service?  Did Steve use them to torture my Raggedy Ann? 

Does This Doll look tortured to you?

Anyway - When I went to Illinois State University, I took a setting with me to use in the dorm..a fork, a knife, a teaspoon and a big spoon...and then took them to my apartment in Sacramento, CA.  And believe it or not, they have become treasured pieces of "MY stuff."  In the morning, I root through the silverware drawer to use a Candy Cane spoon for my oatmeal.  If a boy is visiting, I'll set his place with the Candy Cane setting.  I dunno - to me it makes my his dinner with me that much more special.  Silly I know, but I'm a sentimental twit.

At garage sales and in GoodWill Stores I've always looked for more Candy Cane pieces, but have never EVER found any. EVER!  My brother Steve found a knife once, and sent it to me.  But I've never come across any.  I found a place online that will sell new settings, intending to fill in missing pieces...but at nearly $40 bucks a place setting,  well, I may be sentimental but I'm also a cheapskate!  :)  I decided to just treasure my few pieces.

UNTIL!  a few weeks ago, my friend Scott was over for supper and I handed him his plate of food ALONG with a CANDY CANE FORK!  And i told him of my Candy Cane cravings.  He suggested I search on Craig's list.

So I wandered over to the computer, and typed in "Elegance by Providence" and HOLY MOLY !!!!!  A woman was selling an ENTIRE SET on CRAIG's LIST IN DAYTON OHIO!!!!  WHOOO HOOOOOO!!!!!   I was Beside Myself with EXCITEMENT! I emailed her immediately "I HOPE you still have this set because i WANT IT!"

And luckily, it had not sold to anyone else.  I don't know if I could have recovered from the disappointment..honestly.

The VERY next weekend, Scottie and I drove to Kettering OHIO, and met this WONDERFUL woman Debbie McCoy!  In exchange for a paltry sum, she handed me a bag full of shiny metal pieces of my childhood!  I was so happy I babbled!  I'm sure Debbie thought I'd lost my mind!

It's silly, but those pieces of silverware make me very happy!  I smiled alllll the way to the Air Force Museum.   And I enjoyed the museum, but not one of the shiny metal pieces there made me smile like that ziplock bag of Elegance by Providence!

04.01.2011 Backroading in Arizona!

Last week my BRPal Scott and I went to Arizona and did some wandering there.  I'd been in AZ twice before YEARS ago - a quick looksee at the Grand Canyon with my sister Carol while on the way to Durango, Colorado (huh.  wow...that's a BIG HOLE in the ground!  Back to the car!) and a Memorial Day Weekend in Tucson when the boys were really little (Sam was what...10 months old) 

Anyway - Scott's brother Tony is the Mayor of Maricopa, AZ..he and his wife Nancy were very involved in the Relay for Life held on March 25 - so we took this opportunity to see a bit of the world as well as to walk for a good cause. 

We drove northeast of Maricopa to the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert - we both uttered "wow" and "would you look at THAT!" alot.  BEAUTIFUL country.  Also traveled to Winslow Arizona to stand on the corner...

anyway - a good five days.

I'm seriously thinking of starting a collection of little cactus... saw LOTS of those - all types..seriously thought about trying to get one home on the airplane, and oh yah - got some pictures of a ROAD RUNNER!!!! 

no wile. e. coyote tho.

:)