Scraping up material

Traumatized pet toys. Sorry guys. The look of abject terror on piggie’s face. 

Ok.  It’s been a good week for me. When I read things backwards ( yes it’s a thing) this week was easy. 

Lucy came by and she and Sandy fell in love. I think Sandy wanted to crawl IN her shirt. 

Yay! Almost open. 

Coco putting up with snuggles 

Precious grandog. 

Isn’t he yummy?  

Tribute

We had a lovely party at the Cedars to celebrate Candy’s life. 

I can claim no credit for flowers, food and decor. Matthew organized everything and Anna helped with the beautiful touches. Freshcut catering provided food and flowers. 

The only thing missing was the honoree. Boy she would have loved this. 

The Cedars as always was beautiful. 

These tiny desserts were a big hit. 

Bill’s brother and sister-in-law came as did Chris’s girlfriend, Ally. 

Candy was known for taking in “strays “. Young people who needed a little help on their journey. Brandon’s name tag read Stray #5. 

My Lucy. 

Chris was entertaining. I assume this one is for you Mom. 

It was lovely outside. 

We got to meet her older brother , Jeff. None of us had met him….

…not even Lucy and Chris. He told Lucy that you got your mom’s beauty and brains… thank goodness you didn’t get the Salistein nose. He was very funny and reminded us so much of Candy. 

Matthew the organizer and Ivy. 

Tripp too of course. 

All in all it was a lovely tribute. Now onto the rest of my life without Candy. 

So when Sophie and I showed up to clean up the next morning, we were dressed exactly alike. 

Not much to tell

Well, it’s pouring rain and stormy outside. The dogs were very upset by the wind that ushered in the storm. 

Coco is keeping an eye on the weather for us. Lost power for about an hour right at lunchtime. Seems that Ed had eaten the emergency can of Vienna sausages. I had no bread so we had tuna and crackers. 

Power back on. Made some cookies with a half a box of cake mix. If you like the flavor of cake mix batter, you will love these. 

Personal IT guy. Installing new hard drive. I completely understand what that is. 

A little dad time. 

Showered with love

Bev, Pam, Kathy and I gave a bridal shower for Amy2’s sweet daughter, Kat. She and Ivy Rose have been friends as long as we have. Since they were 2 and 3. 

We had it at Farmers Table Cooking School at Livingston. Such a pretty place and they do all the cooking and cleaning. 

The food was amazing. The even made most of it vegetarian for Kat. 

I did the flowers. 

Pam’s daughter, Carly made this amazing cake. 

Everything was lovely. 

It was a gorgeous sunny day outside. 

The younger women enjoyed some time on the patio. 

Presents were fun. 

Mother of the bride and bride. 

Me and my baby. 

Ok , here is the coincidence of all. Michael, Amy2’s son, has a lovely girlfriend named AMY! Guess she may be Amy3. Liked her so much. 

It was a great day. 

Winter

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to realize that winter may be my favorite season. Now part of that is due to the fact that I am very hot natured. At least in winter I’m not always “bout to burn up”. But this week has had some of the most beautiful, crisp, perfect days that I can remember. 

The sky has been achingly blue. The bare trees in stark contrast. I’ve been struggling with waking up every morning to the ever fresh knowledge that my friend is gone. A whole chunk of my life ripped away. So the tendency to want to “waller “ in my bathrobe until almost noon in my chair is strong. 

But going outside, I realize life is still going on and beauty is  still out there. 

The sun is still coming up every day. 

The wild beasts are still running. 

And this got lost in the shuffle but Mom turned 95 on the day Candy died. How lucky I am to still have her is not lost on me. 

It started with a book…

…and this is it. About 27 years or so a new couple moved into our neighborhood from Chicago. I saw them zipping in and out from work in their sporty cars. I had a 5 year old, a 3 year old and an infant. Oh and a very uncool brown minivan. I thought to myself, I don’t have time for another friend. Well we soon learned she was pregnant and I felt like I needed to step up to the plate. We had a few neighborly interactions and somehow discovered we were both readers. I offered her this book I had just read. It is very quirky about a woman who carries her dead husband’s head around in her car in a Tupperware lettuce container and talks to it. Fair enough test. If she likes it she is friendworthy. 

     We went on to read many books, take crazy trips, raise 5 kids together, raise many a glass and have more laughs than I could count. I could go on and on with anecdotes but for now I’ll end there. I’m so tired, tired to my soul but I’m happy she is out of pain and glad I shared that book. As she and I used to say..,more later.