Blogger I have obviously abandoned you! Blame it on a super fun and busy summer and fall (and maybe a little bit on Facebook!)

I can be found there :)

'Cause I Just Can't Help Myself....

I just HAVE to post some pictures of my 'babies'! Luckily for you, Blogger is a huge pain to me to upload photos so I really had to limit myself! :D
The first one is my youngest, Steven. He will be 20 in July...how did that happen?? That's his summer car - a '93 Mazda Rx-7. Yes it's almost as old as he is but it's his pride and joy! It scares me to death as it's so small but he is super careful with it. And no tickets yet LOL!


The next 2 are of my son Rick. He is 22. The top one is Rick with his gf Brooke. She is a super girl and I really like her! The next one is Rick, the first time he ever held a baby! Neither one is very happy about the situation but I love this pic!


These two are of my daughter Patti. She will be 26 in just a few months but if you mention that to her she gets really mad lol! I don't know how she can be almost 26 when I am hardly that old myself! The top one was taken in Lockport NY, on a Erie Canal tour. We are both huge fans of the Erie Canal. The bridge behind her is the Upside Down RailRoad Bridge. The bottom one was taken this month at her bf's graduation from UB. He received his doctorate in Physical Therapy. Patti is a travel nurse and he is going to be a travelling PT.
I know I say this all the time, but I really can't beleive how fast the years went by. Luckily I can say that I really enjoyed every moment of it. They will all be close by this summer and we are going to have a great time!

A Gift From "Cooking for Seven"

Recently on TasteSpotting I spotted a recipe for Maple Cornbread, posted by Erica of Cooking for Seven. The recipe looked amazing, as did others on her site. Erica loves to cook for her Mom, Dad, 4 sisters and 1 brother, and it shows!
Erica was also having a contest, giving away 2 dishcloths she had knitted. They are knitted with a single strand of crochet thread! They looked interesting and I entered the contest. And guess what...I won! I received these the other day, and I have to say I am really impressed!

They are just beautiful! They look so delicate, but are deceivingly strong. I wish you could see the edging on these, it reminds me of the tatting my Grandmother used to do.

Thank you so much, Erica! These are definitely going to the Cottage!

Cottage Season!!

When I start to think about the Cottage, I get so excited I just want to dance around! We haven't been there since October when we closed it up for the winter, and I can't wait to open it up!
Here is a link to the area http://www.alexbay.org
The cottage is 'home' to me, like no other place. It has so much meaning, and is filled with all the things that are closest to our hearts. Things that aren't really worth anything, except to us emotionally. It has all sorts of quirks and charm and I get so homesick for it! We would have already opened it, but it doesn't have a furnace and even I have to admit that it's no fun there when its freezing!
This years marks our 11th year in the Bay. The early years were spent camping there - it has the most beautiful State Parks!. We first went the summer Steven turned 10, because I just HAD to see the Castle! I had read about it, and wanted to see it more than anything. Because that was back in the poor as dirt days, camping was the only vacation option. That was also when we fell in love with camping (something I swore I would NEVER do!) and we still love it.
Also in that picture is our 14 year old 'pup'! She loves the cottage too and gets excited when we pull out the suitcases. We are grateful for every summer we still have her. She has been the BEST family dog.
We leave tomorrow morning to open it up for the season! Memorial Day is coming and that marks the 'official' start of the Cottage Season! This year is going to be the best ever!

On Losing A Brother

Dan and I, circa 1963

Recently, a girl whose blog I read, Jenna, lost her brother unexpectedly.
I'm so sorry for your loss, Jenna. I understand what a shock it was to you. This has brought up so many thoughts and emotions for me. Thoughts and emotions that most of the time, I suppress. If I feel them bubbling up, I try and push them back down. After 19 years, they are still too painful to think about.
In January 1990, just two weeks after Christmas, my brother died. My only brother, my only sibling. Leaving me, at 28, an only child. When he died, he took with him all our childhood memories. Who else remembers things the way a sibling can? I have no one else to say "Hey remember when'" to. No one else that recalls our childhood. And now, no one else to help me care for our elderly parents. No one to share the joy and the pain and the responsibility with. And God knows, I was never the responsible one.
Dan was in the Navy, and had been stationed in Bahrain, a place that few had heard of at that time. This was before the Gulf War, and he had been there for some time. Being a Navy incident, we never got many details, and being family isn't enough reason for the military to tell us everything they know. We have had to accept that. All we know is that it started with a phone call, telling us he had been killed. He had been home that year for the Holidays, something that was very rare, as anyone in the military knows. It was one of the best Christmases we have ever had.
New Year's Eve was awesome too.

Before he was sent to the Middle East, he was stationed in Pensacola Florida. He was a Search And Rescue Instructor, and received many awards for Air Sea Rescues.

Pensacola was where he bought his home, and we loved to go visit him there. He loved it too! My children were very young when he was killed - Steven was only 6 months, Rick was 2 and Patti was 6. So Patti is the one who remembers him best. Dan was really close with her, always taking her for rides in his convertible, buying her HUGE stuffed animals, and he always told her that when he retired, he was going to open a restaurant and call it Hamburger Patti's. Dan never had children of his own, and loved mine, spoiling them and treating them as though they were his own. When my son John Michael died, Dan was right there for me, my big brother who could fix everything except the unbelievable agony and pain of losing a child.

So many memories of Dan are tied up in things in my life, which makes it even more difficult to think about him. Our birthdays were 2 years and one week apart (his was the 9th and mine a week later on the 16th) and we always celebrated them on the Sunday in between. So even my birthdays have the cloud of sadness, celebrating one birthday instead of two.


So Jenna, I understand your pain, now and in the future. Because your future pain will come and go, unexpectedly, brought on by a memory or seeing something, or even a scent.


I miss my Brother. Love you Dan!

Really Sephora??

After I spent $100 bucks in your store, did you REALLY have to drop this sample in my bag??
:(
Meh

It Really Is Spring!

I know it's Spring when I see the woodies out! Yes, he's there...
Take a closer look...

I think Abby thought I was joking when I said my wildlife would eat her not so successful raw cookie experiment, but I have woodchucks, squirrels and chipmunks in my yard. That might not sound unusual, but I live in the village, on Main Street!
Click on the photo for a closer look!