Three Little Words

Not much happening.

Making this cake.

 Found it HERE.

Expected a storm.

 Basically got nothing.

Fred is lost.

Breaks my heart.  :(

Five days ago:

Seventy degrees today.

 

Mother Nature's menopause.  ;)

That is all.  

Half Done

Seems like there are lots of things 

in my life right now 

that are only about half done.

The snow day we're enjoying today?

Only about halfway earned.

We barely have any snow at all!

But it's super cold and I guess 

there is some ice on the roads.

 (The above pic is actually an old one...we don't have quite

that much snow right now.

Can't post a new pic because Photobucket is having issues.)

Cleaning and organizing the kitchen?

About half done.

Sorting/weeding out the junk

in the spare bedroom?

About half done. 

Getting over this upper respiratory infection?
About half done.

Yes, it finally got me.

Made it through the holidays without

falling ill and that was my goal,

but I should have known

something would eventually attack me.

Don't get me wrong...

I've had far worse sickness in the past

than what I'm dealing with at the moment.
I can't really complain because

the worst of it lasted only 

a couple of days.

I got started on an antibiotic

just about the time my ears became 

involved and I think I caught it early enough.

My biggest issue now is an 

annoying cough during the night.

This, too, shall pass.

Hoping to soon be back to full energy

and ready to tackle the other half

of all those tasks that have

been put on hold lately.

I guess half done is better than

not even started, huh?  ;)

Weaving Threads

I have something I want to share with you.  This video is so very precious to me and I wrote this post several months ago  but had issues 
with the video link when I published it.

Unless you are a relative of mine or you have some 

other connection to my family,

I know the video won't mean nearly as much to you  as it does to me,but I feel the need to convey to you  the importance of such family treasures.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It seems I'm feeling quite sentimental here the last few days.

A very dear cousin sent to me a video of a 

family get-together that took place in 1960, 

five years before my birth.  

I have to tell you.

I bawled like a baby.

It opens with my Daddy, smiling and enjoying his birthday celebration

with all the folks he held most dear.

There are many of my aunts and uncles, most of them gone now.

The almost-five-year-old version of my brother 

(he was 10 when I was born)

sitting with an ultra thin, oh-so-young version of my Mom.

It was a pivotal moment for me, seeing these people in this way.

One of those uncles I don't recall ever meeting.

I'm sure I did as a very young child, perhaps even a toddler.

He and his family moved away and then he died rather unexpectedly when I was very young.

Until watching this video, he had been merely a handsome face

in a handful of still photos stored in a cardboard box at my Mom's house.

But this video, this treasure, allowed me to see him 

really LIVING.

Laughing, joking with his siblings, having fun.

It made him so much more real to me.

And most importantly to me, there was my Daddy.

Alive, young, vibrant and happy.

The same with all those aunts and uncles 

who are no longer with us.

It broke my heart...

but in a very good way.

I miss these folks and I wish they were still here.

I wish I could have realized at a much younger age

what a gift it is to have a large and loving extended family.

I wish I had spent more time in their company,

listened more intently to their stories,

paid a little more attention in general.

It's just a few threads in the fabric of my life,

a snippet of time that I'm sure my Uncle Bob (the man with the camera)

never imagined would mean so much
more than 50 years down the road.
 But what an impact it has had on me.

I hope that when you watch this

it will make you stop and think

the next time you have a chance to spend a few minutes

with an aunt or uncle or grandparent...

TAKE IT.

Enjoy it.

Savor it.

REMEMBER IT.

The older I get, the more important

those fond memories become.

When loved ones pass on,

those memories sustain you.

Those little threads we weave in the springs, summers and autumns of our lives create a warm cocoon that will keep us warm even in the coldest of winters.

Recipe for creating S P A C E

The Great American Cookbook Clean-Out has begun! 

Well, it feels like it's that big a deal to me. 

I've been collecting these things for years

but I've finally decided that 

some of them must go.

In all honesty, there are many I haven't

even opened since I first brought them home.

It's just that I have this thing about

books in general...

I have a really tough time parting with them.

NO MORE!

This clutter must go!

I didn't get a 'before' pic

and for that I apologize. 
It was a last-minute thing

and I just didn't think.

But here is what remains:

Top shelf 

 Bottom shelf

15 years worth of  

Taste of Home magazines I must sort through.

The giveaway pile

Brie is going to see what she wants to keep

and the rest will go to the local Resource Center.

I will be spending some time going through 

the ToH mags, choosing which recipes 

I want to keep.

I haven't yet decided if I'm going to 

cut them out and create a binder

or if I'm going to take digital pics of them

and keep them on a disc.

I love having a file of my recipes 

on my computer.  But I suppose I'm also 

an old fashioned girl

because I love having a hard copy, too.

Maybe I'll just do both.  ;)

When it's all organized 

and I consider it a job well done,

I'll post the 'after' pics. 

Until then, tell me....

how do you organize your 

cookbooks and recipes?