Staying Positive
06/12/14 08:22
Sometimes in life things just don't work out. Sometimes for good reason and sometimes not. We'll never know when it comes to the Ev man because he simply isn't saying. Pace is now in the rear view mirror and he is exploring his options. Some type of gainful employment might be nice. He is not there just yet and he is not alone in that assessment. It is clearly difficult to know what he can or cannot do or what he is or is not capable of so we leave that sort of thing to the professionals. But he is an adult so any and all such conversations are held in confidence. All we can do is sit, watch and wait. Days come and go and we see little change although we take some comfort in any and all telltale signs that while he may be in the grips of something largely beyond his control he is not otherwise in a death spiral of one sort or another. What role we as his parents have in this drama is not clear. The lines are also not clearly drawn when it comes to our interactions with him. We’ll need to decisively avoid that which is enabling and decisively embrace that which is supportive. In other words, it is a little like walking on eggshells. You just can’t do that without breaking a few yolks.
But Thanksgiving was a hoot. We did what we usually do and went across town to Mrs G's for dinner. I decided that we would have a Trader Joe's (TJ's) Thanksgiving this year and that is what we did. That is to say, we bought most of our ingredients at Trader Joe's for the meal. As is usually the case, we prepared the meal and carrried it across town once everything was ready. I think the biggest surprise was the cranberry sauce. It was terrific right out of the jar and it was one less thing that Nan had to prepare. Who wants to have to fiddle with real cranberries and all that entails when you can chill a jar of sauce and serve it up as-is. We almost bought a pumpkin pie but did not. Nancy has this pumpkin pie recipe from her grandmother that has served us well over the years and buying a pie just didn't feel right so that was that. We picked up a kosher turkey at TJ's and that was a first. All of the other birds sitting in the display chest were saline induced and I figured that we didn't need the extra salt no matter what the experts say. I was right. It was delicious. I put a little vegetable oil on the bird and threw it in the oven at 325 degrees until it browned up. What I didn't know is that kosher birds do not come with the usual pouch of innards and that was a dissapointment. Maybe I'll buy those separately next year. Mrs G set a nice table and prepared the mashed potatoes and boiled onions. Last but not least, the weather was cool and in the 40's so a delightful day for a nice Thanksgiving meal.
Nancy finally picked up a small Christmas tree for our front window. She has always wanted one and this year it just seemed to come together for her. It's a dandy to be sure. The price was right and we've seen other trees not nearly as nice for twice the price since we made the purchase. I suggested that we pass on buying our usual 6 footer this year and just use the tree already purchased and Nancy was having none of it. I guess it doesn't matter to me one way or another so I am going with the flow. Our bird feeders are up and the usual contingent of Chicadees and Finches are ever present. We've seen a couple of Bluebirds around but none on the feeders despite having their seed of choice available (meaties.) We had snow on the ground for a period of time around Thanksgiving but most of it has melted away and yet the birds come and go as though there were several feet of snow on the ground. I guess a free meal is hard to pass up. All else is good. We have firewood stacked in several areas including a wall of firewood in the garage for those particularly nasty days when stepping outside to gather wood for the fire is less than advisable. Since Evan is likely to be home for a while now we can charge him with keeping an ample supply of firewoood in and around the hearth.
But Thanksgiving was a hoot. We did what we usually do and went across town to Mrs G's for dinner. I decided that we would have a Trader Joe's (TJ's) Thanksgiving this year and that is what we did. That is to say, we bought most of our ingredients at Trader Joe's for the meal. As is usually the case, we prepared the meal and carrried it across town once everything was ready. I think the biggest surprise was the cranberry sauce. It was terrific right out of the jar and it was one less thing that Nan had to prepare. Who wants to have to fiddle with real cranberries and all that entails when you can chill a jar of sauce and serve it up as-is. We almost bought a pumpkin pie but did not. Nancy has this pumpkin pie recipe from her grandmother that has served us well over the years and buying a pie just didn't feel right so that was that. We picked up a kosher turkey at TJ's and that was a first. All of the other birds sitting in the display chest were saline induced and I figured that we didn't need the extra salt no matter what the experts say. I was right. It was delicious. I put a little vegetable oil on the bird and threw it in the oven at 325 degrees until it browned up. What I didn't know is that kosher birds do not come with the usual pouch of innards and that was a dissapointment. Maybe I'll buy those separately next year. Mrs G set a nice table and prepared the mashed potatoes and boiled onions. Last but not least, the weather was cool and in the 40's so a delightful day for a nice Thanksgiving meal.
Nancy finally picked up a small Christmas tree for our front window. She has always wanted one and this year it just seemed to come together for her. It's a dandy to be sure. The price was right and we've seen other trees not nearly as nice for twice the price since we made the purchase. I suggested that we pass on buying our usual 6 footer this year and just use the tree already purchased and Nancy was having none of it. I guess it doesn't matter to me one way or another so I am going with the flow. Our bird feeders are up and the usual contingent of Chicadees and Finches are ever present. We've seen a couple of Bluebirds around but none on the feeders despite having their seed of choice available (meaties.) We had snow on the ground for a period of time around Thanksgiving but most of it has melted away and yet the birds come and go as though there were several feet of snow on the ground. I guess a free meal is hard to pass up. All else is good. We have firewood stacked in several areas including a wall of firewood in the garage for those particularly nasty days when stepping outside to gather wood for the fire is less than advisable. Since Evan is likely to be home for a while now we can charge him with keeping an ample supply of firewoood in and around the hearth.