If the campaign comes to town…

Geo and I will be there. And today the John McCain campaign came to South Burlington. Of course, we made our way up to the front. We shook hands with the Senator and he signed not one – but two – of Geo’s McCain cover magazines (Newsweek and US News and World Report).

We were impressed that he makes good eye contact with each person he greets, that he is warm and genuine. In his speech in person, he comes across with more passion than on TV, and that was fun to see. One piece of news he brought with him - the morning edition of the Washington Post noted he has a record of zero dollars of “pork barrel” spending earmarked for Arizona, while Senators Clinton and O’Bama have millions and millions going to their states. Also noteworthy, today is the day Mitt Romney will endorse his candidacy.

This was the fourth time we have seen Senator McCain. Prior times were in Burlington, Hinesburg and Montpelier. We will frame Geo’s covers and add our McCain memorabilia to our collection.

After the rally we headed to Tiny Thai for a valentine celebration. We stopped at Quality Bakery on the way home to buy a cake to share with Adriene.

Jim, This one's for you...

We had a white-out driving home from church today. Cars were slipping and sliding…Glad to be home.

Jenn had knee surgery, repair of torn meniscus. Is recovering nicely. BF Sean is taking good care of her. Today they plan on seeing CHICAGO at the Flynn.

Geo is invited to an overnite conference on Wed and Thurs, near WRJ, on self-employment. He has a telephonic hearing on Tues. And I need to be on the road 2 days this week, post-poned due to hazardous driving last week. Weather has a way of changing plans.

Addie’s working full-time, plus volunteering at ECHO on Saturdays. She’s applied for a residential museum fellowship, so now it’s pray, wait and see. Plan B is in place, so life is good.

Lucy’s loving her romps in the snow, then stretching out in front of our gas heater. Winter has got to be her fave season of the year.

Most of all, we are really looking forward to our trip to visit friends in FLA. We haven’t taken a vacation by plane since 1999! We are soooo happy to have been invited and to share good times.
Thank you, J and K!

Jenn’s Amazing Cookies

Jenn shared a recipe with me, so easy and so very good:

1 box cake mix
2 eggs
scant 1/3 C. oil

Mix into a batter. Spoon onto cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes.
Yields 2 dozen cookies.

She loves these because cookies AND cake are combined for one great homemade treat.
Her favorite variation is using chocolate cake mix, then swirling a little peanut butter on the cookies before baking them.
I just whipped up a batch for Geo using spice cake mix and adding a little molasses to the batter. Perfection.
Next I’d like to try vanilla cake mix, add some almond flavoring, and top each cookie with a slivered almond.
Thank you, Jenn, for another classic!

The Fur Kid

I heard somewhere that pampered pets are known as the fur kids of the household. That would be Lucy. But our fur kid Lucy got into big trouble when we were in church on Sunday. She knocked over one of my potted plants - dirt all over the carpet, reached up to the counter to pull down a few slices of bread, and even managed to bring down a plate of oatmeal cookies to devour them in the living room. (She spit out the raisins.) I was not happy. She and I were not on good terms for the rest of the day. I mostly ignored her. Then Sunday night I started thinking about forgiveness, and that forgiveness is not for people only. I knew I needed to forgive the fur kid. So Lucy is back in my good graces again, the plant is re-potted and the dirt scrubbed out of the carpet. Addie says Lucy had a great time on Sunday, a rowdy party of one.

Tiny Jenna's

One of Jenn’s Christmas gifts to Geo was a home-cooked Thai meal – a gift the whole family enjoyed. She prepared Pad Thai, Chicken and Rice, Sticky Rice with Mango, and a Banana Coconut Milk dessert. Recipes were authentic, those she learned from the Pad Thai Cookery School in Chiang Mai. In the center of the table she was sure to include fresh limes, salt, sugar, and hot sauce that we could add to taste. What a feast! One of our fav restaurants is Tiny Thai; George said we were dining at Tiny Jenna’s. I’d say we need to include a Thai meal as one of our holiday season traditions. Hopefully, Jenn, this was the First Annual. Thank you so very much.

Pajama Packing

A wintry evening last week found Addie and me at the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory, together with over thirty other supporters and members of the Vermont Council of the Blind. This is the time of year when orders are flying out of the factory with help needed to make sure those deliveries are on time. The Teddy Bear Factory invites volunteer groups to help with packing orders, then donates a generous amount of funding to the groups. We were a hard-working crew with even a few guide dogs in tow.

Our assignment was the Pajama-grams, to pull boxes off the assembly line, take pajamas out of packages, check the orders and to repack for shipping. I was amazed at the wide variety of pajamas, the quality, and the personalized way they are folded into “hatboxes” and totes. Personal gift cards were included with many orders – we had a fun time reading them as we packed. I just know that each person who receives one of these gifts will be very happy and very cozy this holiday season. I had so much fun, I know I’ll want to do this again.

Okay, VCB, how about the Valentine’s Day rush? We’ve done it once, and we can do it again!

Toots

A & J keep introducing me to new music, new sounds.
J seems to like the reggae beat and lyrics. I’ve been a James Brown fan, and so I’m recently drawn to reggae Toots and the Maytals – and where it all began in the 60’s – a great mix of Jamaican soul, rock and gospel. Toots “invented” the genre and gave it its name.
What I appreciate is that an artist of another generation is current, like Tony Bennett and Paul McCartney. I’m not familiar with much reggae, but this is one artist I want to be hearing more of.
For the official check it out here: http://www.tootsandthemaytals.com/

Mini-vacation

Ok, it wasn’t an official day off, but Saturday evening was Pinochle night at the Richmans’. Partner Michael and I took all three games - a first for me.
Sunday eve Geo, Addie and I drove to The Black Sheep for dinner - another first - and it was excellent.
Monday was spent up at the Kamp on the Lake where Geo and I finished closing for the season. First time I can recall closing when the weather was mild enough to pull up a beach chair to the shore, stay awhile and enjoy the wave action and the late afternoon sun. Peace.
Geo gave a talk on Tuesday at the Community College of VT, so Tuesday was a day for me to amble around Burlington. I didn’t shop for anything, but it was nice being downtown without needing to rush around, and that does not happen too often.
On Wednesday Geo and I took in an event at UVM on health issues of Vermont farmers. Very informative. Many of the talks touched on farmworker disabilities and on the unique problems of migrant farmers. I learned a lot, and Geo did some networking, especially with a contact who could speak at the Gov’s Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities.
Best of all, I've got lots of vacation hours left. Am looking ahead to much more time off and many more firsts.

What I’ve Seen the Past Few Days

A red fox - Yes! Directly in front of our Kamp on the Lake.

A coconut curry potato crepe at the Skinny Pancake, not only seen, but
savored.

A Dunder Miflin bright blue t-shirt. A & J, you know I’d like one.

Archer Mayor AND Joyce Carole Oates, in person - what a literary treat!

My checkbook and a load of laundry at 4AM. (Me, needing to catch up on
household chores.)

A Bit of Trivia

Question: How did the Skinny Pancake get it’s name?
Answer: Seems that the restaurant was originally a Church St. pushcart business selling crepes. This was around the time of the start of the war in Iraq when the French were not very popular with Americans. French fries became the politically correct “freedom fries,” and the French crepe became the “skinny pancake.” When the restaurant opened at College and Lake, it was named the Skinny Pancake. And now you know...

Vacation Days

Nice having time off. Tues, however, Geo needed oral surgery - he is recovering slowly and hopefully he'll be back to his ol’ self by next week.
I've been driving Addie back and forth from work - good spending time together that we would not otherwise have.
Yesterday was Kamp time. Phil came up for the day and put wheels on our foot valve (all you lake campers know what that means). Also did some painting (where are ya, Jenn, when I need ya?) and Phil rebuilt the pump cover. Super improvements. After driving him home, I returned to Kamp for an overnite.
Swimming was the best, water like velvet. After sundown I spent time with Benedict XVI’s book on Jesus. More about that later.
On Saturday the hours went by so quickly. I was determined to finish the book (I did), and delighted in the warm breeze off the Lake while relaxing on the deck. I still believe that Sept is the best laketime. As Mrs. Murphy would say, “The tourists are gone.”

Labor Day at the Museum

Addie has a new job at the Shelburne Museum, and she loves it. One of the perks with her first paycheck was the benefit of free passes to the museum for her guests. So she invited the ‘rents. Very generous of her to spend her first day off at her place of work.

It was an absolutely delightful day. The weather was sunny, in the 70's and low 80's, with a light breeze. It had been some time since we had enjoyed the museum, but today it was even better, because we could see it with her enthusiasm. She planned an easy pace for us with her favorite highlights.

I was blown away with the colorful chandelier exhibit along with quilts in the main entrance. Next was the Shaker furniture exhibit. We not only viewed the furniture, but we also learned more of Shaker culture. (Inspired me to pare down and clear out the clutter!) Apparently their furniture was of very high quality and made to last, because eternity is forever, and the Shakers wished to express that during their lifetime. I loved the intricate Shaker “gift” drawings based on Scriptural prophecy; “Every good gift and every perfect gift comes from above...” Just to see this alone would have been more than enough, but there was more...

We went on to see the period houses, the Monets and Degas paintings, the dolls and miniature doll houses, and - of course - the 50's house. Not only were the exhibits so wonderfully presented, but we enjoyed the gardens, the views, and the hospitality of the staff. Addie truly has a fabulous place to work with many areas and collections to explore, to research, and to share with all the Museum visitors. Thank you, Addie!

In the Puddle

Mom called the other nite. She had a great story. Seems she went grocery shopping with $26 in her purse. She had planned to stop at Wendy’s for a $1 shake on the way home. However, when she was at the check-out, she was disappointed to discover that her groceries came to just over $25, not enough money left over for that shake. She went to her car to load the groceries. She noticed that in front of her car was a puddle. Floating in the puddle was what looked like a dollar bill. Must be play money, she thought. She bent over to pick it up, but - sure enough - it was a real dollar bill. She looked across the parking lot and saw that there were no other puddles anywhere. The one puddle was directly in front of her car, and this was the puddle with the dollar bill. “It was a miracle,” she said. She now had enough cash to enjoy that shake before she returned home. I love this story because it tells me what a joyful woman of faith my mother is. Miracles can be found even in the nearest rain puddle.