Hi there. It's been a LONG time since I posted here. Much has changed in the last 9 months. We have two new grandchildren, but I have not personally met either one of them, so I can't officially introduce you to either of them here yet. Hopefully that will get remedied in the coming week or so, at which point I will introduce you to the latest A-man and K-man. (We now have two of each - two A-men, two O-man and two K-men....I am going to have to figure out how to distinguish them here IF I keep blogging!) But I digress. G acquired his CDL, so he is now driving a truck. And I've been working more hours than I like to think about on the new job with MP. MP is now live on SAP, but I would not say it's "pretty and smooth sailing from here on out." I don't think we are quite the Titanic, but we are still sailing some rough seas and working long hours to avoid icebergs.
All of that to say, I haven't had the brain power or time to try and share anything here with anyone. Nor have I been baking. At. All. I get it if you've given up on me ever being a "real" blogger much less a "real" food blogger. You would probably be right about that. I haven't really even taken many pictures lately, so obviously, I will never "think" like a "real" blogger. Sigh...
Other than a few days around Christmas, this weekend has been the first time "off" I've had. My sister, J, came in town for the first time in at least two years, since she hadn't gotten to meet Lady L before now. So A, B and C also came in town. But did I get a whole bunch of pictures? Nope. All I got was this one...at least there are three cuties in this pic, and you can see a couple of Mickey Mouse pancakes on plates, so I can still recognize "cuteness" when I see it, and I almost "baked" again this weekend, right? And yes, Lady L made sure that the pic was all about her shoe. Her daddy and her Auntie PK would be so proud.
But then everyone left a little while ago. After three rainy days in this rather small house with two to three toddlers, not much sleep, lots of new experiences with cousins, a few toddler meltdowns and a whole lot of hugs and kisses, everyone left. And the house was quiet again. Back to too quiet again perhaps.
Which takes me to linen therapy. I bought some new towels a couple of days ago. I like new towels, soft, thick towels - the nicest I feel like I can afford. Plus I bought some new kitchen linens. I'd put all of the new towels through laundry, but I had not necessarily put the kitchen towels away. I'd just laid them around on the sides of baskets for the weekend, but with everyone gone, I sat down in front of the kitchen cabinet where I keep kitchen linens and sorted things out.
And it was therapeutic.
I saw the Christmas kitchen towels and hot pads that came from Grandma N when she broke up housekeeping to move into the retirement villa.
I saw the old trivet that used to be on my mom's table.
I saw the hot pads that were made for us by Grandpa R's father, both of whom are now gone.
I saw the dish cloths crocheted for us by the widow of one of G's cousins. J is a sweet lady, who loves to make these cloths and give them to people. The last ones she gave us, she handed to us at the end of Aunt M's memorial service. Since we lost G's Aunt M a couple of years ago, we haven't been back to Southern Illinois, so I'm not sure if/when we will see J again. But I have a few linens to make me think of her when we use them.
I saw the towel that a friend from VJ embroidered for me with "Deb's Kitchen" on it along with the sweet card she gave me at the time. I know I'm supposed to use this towel, but it's so pretty, I can't quite bring myself to use it for anything other than decorating a basket or something like that.
I, of course, also saw cloths that needed to be turned into dust rags or whatever, and there is a certain therapy that comes from just straightening a cabinet or closet, But the real therapy came from holding and touching things given to me/us through the years by others who have either passed on or that I do not see regularly any more. And I cried a little. I cry again as I type this.
Cause time moves on. Life doesn't last forever this side of heaven. And visits are short. And people are the best gifts we get here on earth.
Crazy what a few linens can make a lady think about....
