Long time, no write

My friend Lindy, who up and moved all the way from Texas to Wuxi, China, and surprised us all, has pointed out that I haven't blogged in a while. No matter what I write, it would be boring in comparison to her wonderful pictures and commentary about life there. She played with a band one day - a group of women who were wonderfully dressed and wore dashing red hats. They let her play the drums and then the cymbals and put one of the hats on her and took her picture. Well, +Clumber photoshopped the red hat onto several profile pictures on FaceBook. Two of us got different colored hats, though. One was black, and mine is blue.as you can see from the picture. I'm delighted to have the blue hat and have decided that I will be the flag waver since I don't "do" music well.

Speaking of that, I missed Lessons and Carols at church last week because I was getting ready for our annual Tree Trimming Party - our 10th. But, my first tree trimming party was in 1988. This year we had short pork ribs cooked in the oven slowly with Memphis dry rub (my version, very sweet), then slathered lightly with a more tart wet sauce and baked a bit more. Only four were left; so I guess everyone liked them. We also had some almost tasteless shrimp (a round frozen tray that I bought - won't do that again), my own spinach dip, Lisa's Tex-Mex 5 or 7 layer sort of dip, black bean hummus (again my creation with baked onion in it), sugared pecans, cupcakes from Miss Kitty's bakery, and all sorts of non-alcoholic drinks. That non-alcoholic is because some of us are allergic to alcohol. When we drink, we break out in handcuffs.

I've taken leave from my wonderful job at the yarn shop. No, I'm not sure how long, but not permanently. My mornings are not so good lately. I won't go into detail but simply say that fibromyalgia is worse some days than others, or some weeks. I've been reading about XMRV, a retro virus that is thought to "cause" chronic fatigue syndrome. Most of the symptoms fit me, although my partner disagrees slightly. I've thought of getting tested for the virus, which shows up in white blood cells, but no cure or real treatment is available. Giving a name to my pain and problems might help. And, XMRV might be more believable than fibromyalgia.

Here's my recipe for spinach dip:
1 or 2 boxes of frozen chopped spinach (I used 2 Green Giant - all I could find and they are small)
1 package Knorr's vegetable soup mix
1 16 oz carton of reduced fat sour cream
1 package 1/3 less fat cream cheese
1 cup of pecans
1/2 package of dry Ranch Dressing mix
Garlic Salt (about 1 teaspoon for me)
Cayenne Pepper (1/4 teaspoon for me)

Thaw and squeeze the water out of the spinach.
In food processor (mine is more than 20 years old) chop cream cheese into pieces, add pecans and sour cream. Blitz for a bit. Then add the rest of the ingredients. Blitz some more until the texture is grainy but not chunky. Place in refrigerator for some time to let the tastes mix well. Use finger to clean the food processor bowl, place finger in mouth and close lips around finger. Remove clean finger and savor the great taste. Don't chew the finger; that hurts.

Chistmas Past

Let's see; my childhood memories of Christmas are very scarce. The tree was always in the living room, which had no heat; Christmases were cold in Mississippi during my childhood. Santa came fairly early on Christmas Eve; David (My brother) and I waited in the warm kitchen while Mom put out the presents. I don't remember Dad ever being there...not before he went back in the Navy nor after he came home. I remember three presents during my younger years (before age 16) - a blue bicycle, a pair of clip-on skates, and a pair of drum majorette boots (no, I was never in the band, but I loved boots and still do - three pair now and counting - of course, two pair are red). Often during the summer as we cleaned out the two tiny little closets by the chimneys, we found Christmas coloring books and small items that Mom had put away and didn't remember - so we had Christmas again. I know that I received dolls for Christmas because Mom kept them and made clothes for them. She enjoyed them much more than I did. My Aunt Virgie worked in a factory up North that made doll clothes, and so I got boxes of dolls clothes of all sizes and sorts. I still have one little kimono jacket that is pink on one side and blue on the other. Probably fit a small baby doll.

Then, we moved away from the farm to Slate Springs, David was killed in an accident in the Gulf of Mexico, and that Christmas was very strange. Mom and my sister-in-law, Sue, drove to Memphis (about four hours) to buy Christmas presents. I stayed at home. Marty, my nephew, was at his sitter's house. On the way home from Memphis, Sue hit a horse on the interstate and destroyed the car. Mom's head hit the windshield (this was before seat belts) and she had a concussion and a large cut. They were taken to the hospital in Water Valley, MS, and someone either brought them home (a good samaritan) or maybe Mom's cousin went to get them. Anyway, they got home in the early morning hours. None of their purchases were hurt, and most of them were wrapped. I got a swing coat with a "mouton" collar, and inside the box were fragments of the windshield glass from the wreck.

Christmases didn't make a big impression on me again until Mom bought her house in Columbus, MS. It was a rambling 9 room house, and she invited her step-sister and family each year for dinner - and anyone one else who wanted to come. Huge meals and lots of games were the order of the day. The two step-nephews were a bit younger than me - though it doesn't seem so much so now - and I watched them grow from boys to men through the Christmases at that house. One year, Mom bought Santa Claus gifts for my ex-husband's new family, and I watched those girls enjoy their presents in front of her fireplace. Each year, Mom bought a dozen little wind-up toys for each place at the table - and we had races and much laughter after the pecan and chocolate pies were finished.

My second husband and I split our Christmas times between our Moms, but we always spent some time at my Mom's house and that's when the family gathered. One year, we elected to stay in New Haven while I was in seminary. Our friend Donna came to visit. We went to New York City and played all day and into the night. Driving down the street with the sunroof open, taking pictures as we stopped at traffic lights; dashing across streets to the big Christmas tree while Loftin drove around blocks. Sadly, when we arrived back in New Haven, Donna found that her mother had died that day. Judith, who was just returning from the midnight service, brought us communion and did prayers for her mother.

This Christmastime, Donna is burying her father - some 17 years later. Please remember Donna and her family in your prayers. Her father really missed his wife, and I am glad they are reunited - and with the Westies that he loved so much. May we also find that joy after death.

In 1988, our neighbors gathered for a tree-trimming party - the first one. And, I realized that we'd be going to seminary the following year; so I bought my first miniature Christmas tree and Hallmark miniature ornaments. I have a miracle story about that little tree's ornaments, but I'll save that for the day after Christmas.

Since I've been with my partner, celebrating 10 Christmases now, we've had a tree trimming party each year - with lots of good food and friends. Our family now is "chosen family", those friends that we would call sisters and brothers - except for our delightful - well, actually her delightful son, who will be here in a few days. Homemade Chicken Soup was at the other end of the table. um um good.

Thanksgiving and Christmas

I've already given thanks for my many friends, virtual, at a distance and up close. So, partner and I celebrated Thanksgiving by making 53 jars of apple butter. We bought the apples as we passed through Virginia on the way home from Cleveland. Um, um, good. This stuff is dark and tasty and well stirred - we spent three days getting it all done. And, other than being tired, we had lots of fun doing it together.

The letter from the doctor summarizing my visit to Cleveland Clinic said exactly what I expected, and I'll be making an appointment with my primary care physician here to sort out all the details of follow-up. However, the Requip XL seems to be working well. I tried taking the Cymbalta at the same time and slept all the time; so we'll have to work out a lower dosage or a different schedule.

But, Christmas is officially on the way. Tomorrow is the first Sunday of Advent. Next Sunday, the second Sunday of Advent is our tree trimming party - I've been doing it for 20 years - minus the three Christmases at Yale when we didn't have room for anything but a miniature tree. I think this is the 9th one that we've had together.

We'll have homemade chicken/vegetable soup - well, stew really - with garlic bread, cheese dip, spinach dip, fresh veggies and chips for dipping, cupcakes from the best baker in town, salted and praline pecans and other nuts (besides our guests), shrimp platter, and probably some other things as well. We invite the guests and provide the food; they decorate the tree. Usually everyone leaves with a goodie bag, but this year they are getting white crocheted stars about 2 inches in diameter - my design and my handiwork. In years past I have made hot chocolate mix, but everyone's on a diet or diabetic or something; so I'm not doing that this year either. Traditions change as we grow and change ourselves.

This year, I'll have to go through the ornaments and put away some that aren't as special - just so we'll have room on the tree for them. Partner has some from her childhood, and I've collected many from my special friends over the years; so we have far too many for one tree even if it is seven feet tall. Jimmy always helps put on the lights, and Laura's birthday is always near the party date - right on this time. We've invited some newer friends from partner's various activities.

Partner has been practicing her piano playing and made up a songbook of carols for us to sing. One of the church's good singers will be here; so we'll have someone to help lead the singing.
Paige plays while friends sing in 2004















Christmas Tree 2004 with Stuart still decorating it.




















As I write this, I remember the many years of tree trimming parties and think of all the friends who helped put up the many decorations. Godson John in Chattanooga and his friend at the time, Libby. My student worker Andrea. Other college students. And, before that were high school students whose faces I still see in my mind and pray for when I do. Neighbors and co-workers, church friends, volunteers in the non-profit where I worked. And, Mom's 75th Christmas when all the family and friends crowded into her home for the last gathering in that house - the tree was so big that we had to walk around it in the living room. We laughed and told family stories, ate good food, opened many presents, went outside and played frisbee in the street, played cards and ate some more.

We'll have an interesting mix this year of friends from many areas of our lives: church, gays and lesbians, boating, 12 step program, and kite flying. Should be interesting.