Preferring Smoke Haus to Outhouse

As dawn breaks over Akron, Ohio, allow me to give a summary of yesterday's travel. Items of note about our departure: We were on time, there were no dishes in the sink and Atira, loaded down with three bags and a blanket, stated that she felt like Mimi, as we walked out the door. If you have traveled with my mom, you know exactly what she means.

By lunchtime we were in East Fishkill, NY and stopped for gas. Eager to empty our bladders, we were greeted by a contender for "Worst Bathrooms Ever". With graffiti-filled walls, a poorly flushing toilet, and a wad of green gum in the  sink, the poor lighting may have been a blessing. Our visit also required a family member outside to guard and open the door since the lock did not work and the inside handle was missing. If I had closed my eyes I might have thought that I was in the outhouse of RPH, my favorite AT Shelter, about 20 minutes away. It would have been preferable. When a 10-year old Gilbert boy remarks, "That was gross.", you KNOW it was. Hours down the road, Atira and I were appreciative when the next bathroom had this sign posted:

Up the road from the virtual outhouse was the Smoke Haus & Deli where we had lunch and were waited on by a very friendly lady. Since we were in New York, I thought that was worth mentioning. 

As the sun set, semi trucks and swirling snow accompanied us to the Ohio border and a good night's rest.

Yum Yum Boxes: Turkey and France

A few months ago Atira was excited to discover the website universalyums.com and convinced me to sign up for us to receive their monthly box of international snacks. She is hugely interested in all things Japanese and was hoping that our first box would be from the island that currently hosts our Marine, who is training under the shadow of Mt. Fuji.

Unfortunately we missed it by one month and our January box contained goodies from Turkey.

My two favorites were a sweet sesame bar and Turkish Delight containing real rose petals.

 Each box also contains a booklet describing each snack, sharing trivia about the country of origin and giving clues to guess the next month's country.

We guessed correctly: France

We waited to open this one until the beginning of our trip this morning. We've eaten the chocolate and are saving the stinky cheese to share with the Indiana Romanos.

17 Years Ago

This day, seventeen years ago, brought us Nolan. A few weeks premature, his lungs lacking the necessary surfactant, he struggled to breathe and spent the first weeks of his life in the NICU at Maine Med where, as the nurses' favorite resident, he never lacked for arms to hold him. 

He has been curious and experimenting from the beginning. In toddlerhood it would manifest itself in things such as eating the cat's food, unrolling an entire roll of aluminium foil or pulling every plastic sandwich bag from its box one by one. What could be more exciting than that?

These days his fascination is with things that I am less familiar with, such as the Fluke brand multimeter he received from us today after we indulged in some birthday ice cream cake.

 "Feel it, just feel it," he said as he passed it across the table to Jim. "Norwegian engineering at its best." I'll have to take his word for it. 

The oscilloscope he got for Christmas garnered a similar reaction. He held it in his hands, gazing at it, as he proclaimed, "It looks beautiful."

Our Nolan is lovably quirky and so easy.

As I wrote in his card, he is one of those kids that makes a parent look good.

I'm so, so thankful that the Lord gave him to us all those years ago.

Happy Birthday, Nolan!

Looking Like Christmas

With no snow on the ground and extremely mild temperatures it has been difficult to imagine that Christmas is just around the corner here in Midcoast Maine. Getting our Christmas tree has made the imagining a bit easier.

We stopped at a lot, less than a couple miles from the house, and located one we could all agree on in less than five minutes. I think the fact that it was sprinkling accelerated the choosing process and made us more agreeable to compromise. Tell stood near it and made sure we didn't lose "the one" when Jim went to get the seller.

   

He gave himself this job a few years ago and takes it very seriously.

Nolan had stayed home but helped steady the tree during setup, which also happened in less than five minutes. 

It only took about twenty years of experience and replacing our less expensive stands for an L.L. Bean cast iron one but Jim and I have finally mastered quickly setting up, and KEEPING up, a straight sturdy tree. 

With "A Charlie Brown Christmas"  playing and eggnog to sip we enjoyed the memories that so many of the ornaments brought back as we placed them on the tree. 

We missed Jubal just a little bit as we placed his special ornaments on the boughs in his place. Some reminded us of the little toddler of a thousand faces.

And some reminded us of the man he has become.

When the tree was decorated I put on one of my favorite Christmas albums, Bryan Duncan's "Christmas Is Jesus", and sat on the couch with Jim enjoying the peacefulness.

 No snow. No Jubal. Picking our tree out in 50 degree weather....It's a little melancholy to be sure, but these things don't make Christmas, they only enhance the celebration of the One who was born to bridge the gap between God and us. Christmas is Jesus.

Sampling

We occasionally enjoy sampling new foods as part of our school day. Havarti cheese from Denmark and Korean pears were on the plate today. The Havarti reminded us of a cheddar taste but the texture was much softer. The Korean pear had a high water content with a texture closer to an apple than our local pears. Both items received a thumbs up from Atira, Tell and I.

No Vegemite for Me

Atira and Tell are currently indulging in some melted cheese on toast with a thin underlying layer of Genuine Vegemite from the beautiful land of Oz. I will take Atira's word for it when the words "Mmmm. This is SO good!" roll off her tongue. I have no desire to verify her statement. Australia has many wonderful culinary delights to partake of: lamingtons, meat pies, roast lamb and pumpkin, pavlova, Tim Tams, Cherry Ripe and crumpets......but notice Vegemite is absent from this list.

When Atira queries, "Why don't you like Vegemite?", the answer is simple. Because I've tasted it.

2015 Wreaths

Thanks to the hard work of Terry Safford, the nearly 40 year tradition of our wreath-making night at WWBC continued this evening. Our front door, now encircled with boughs of evergreen and a pine cone bow, shouts "Merry Christmas!" to those passing over the threshold. 

Atira attempted a chocolate truffle candy wreath this year and it turned out delicious. I mean divine. She has hung it on the inside of her door away from any wandering fingers that may pass by.

The accomplishment of the evening may have been making Sue Johnston's lovingly lopsided wreath door-worthy but I never doubted it could be done. Some scissors, a bow and well-placed Christmas bling goes a long way. I may have also filled in with some greenery here and there but that's all hush hush. What matters is in the end the Johnston's wreath was worthy of the porch spotlight.