My Dad

I just realized a couple of days ago that I have not given an update on my father in quite a while.  The picture above is his graduation picture from high school.  He was and continues to be a handsome guy in my opinion but that's because he is my dad.

So far so good.  His cancer treatment continues and he is in a "remission" state.  Which is interesting in itself because this was never supposed to happen.  Right now his treatment is every 6 months.  So he goes  for treatment every six months and he does 1 treatment every week for 4 weeks.  Then at the end of treatment he has a couple of scans to see how the tumors are responding to treatment. 

He is also at the end of the protocol for his treatment.  What that means is that this particular drug has only been studied for a 3 year span.  ***(Interesting note here....this much of my post was published and I swear  did not click on the publish button)  As I was saying.....the particular drug that my dad is taking has only been studied with people taking it for 3 years.  But it appears to be working so his Dr. is recommending that he continue to take it every 6 months...for the rest of his life I imagine.  There shouldn't be any trouble with this unless his medical insurance doesn't want to pay for it because it has not been studied beyond the 3 year mark.  His Dr. is hopeful that insurance will pay because he is recommending it.  So fingers crossed.

His heart issues remain the same...there is no option for surgery because he is "too old" and he would probably expire on the table.  He can't run a 5K but he manages to keep house, run errands and go out to dinner with friends.  For 83 I think that's just fine.  He still drives and his eyesight is good and the longer he is able to take care of himself then the happier he will remain.  I'm fairly certain if we had to put him in assisted living that he would not last a fortnight. 

So there's the update.  I remain hopeful that the cancer will remain in remission for however long he wants it to.  And that his health remains in the state that it is in currently so that he continues to want to live on this earth.  I know that he misses my mother terribly but he is a practical guy and he knows that there is no amount of love that would bring her back.  He's faced the unthinkable and walked through the door and there is no looking back. 

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today would have been my mother's 83rd Birthday.  Time does indeed march on. 

This picture was taken at my wedding.  And she was 49 years old..her 50th birthday was just a month away.  I just knew that she would live forever.

"Now there is one thing I can tell you; you will enjoy certain pleasures you would not fathom now.  When you still had your mother you often thought of the days when you would have her no longer.  Now you will often think of days past when you had her.  When you are used to this horrible lthing that they will forever be cast into the past, then you will gently feel her revive, returning to take her place, her entire place, beside you.  At the present time, this is not yet possible.  Let yourself be inert, wait till the incomprehensible power..that has broken you restores you a little, I say a little, for henceforth you will always keep something broken about you.  Tell yourself this, too, for it is a kind of pleasure to know that you will never love less, that you will never be consoled, that you will constantly remember more and more."
-------Marcel Proust

Front and Backyard Update

I've been delaying the update on the front and backyard because I wanted to be able to show the before and after photos.  That way it would make more sense and you would be able to see the tremendous difference it has made.
So without further ado,

This is what the yard looked like originally, dull, dull and dull.  We always wanted to "do" something to it but it took us a long time to figure it out.

So much improved.

The planting is coming along, although we are in the midst of the hottest part of the summer and so planting will come to a stop for now.  It's just too darn hot and sometimes there is no amount of water that you can put to a new planting and make it live.  We are water misers as it is so we don't want to use any more than necessary.  

This next picture shows a real good before and after from relatively the same spot.  With the new path you can see more of the pond system and with the glider in place it temps you to stop and set a spell.
This is before.

And this is after.

I'm so happy with the way things have turned out and sometimes it's just hard to believe that it ever looked the way it did and it looked that way for such a long time.
The backyard before:

After:

 

Before:

 

After:

I think that we have a lot to be proud of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Anniversary

36 years ago today, a first date for diner and a movie led to 33 years ago I married not only the man I could live with but I married the man I could not live without.  He's my best friend, my soft place to fall, my biggest cheerleader, my champion and my hunka', hunka' burning love.  Nobody can make me laugh like he can, understands me better or is the person that I would rather spend time with.  We are a team together and with him by my side there is nothing that we cannot accomplish once we set our minds to it. One of our most favorite things to do is still dinner and a movie. My, my how time flies when you are having a good time.  I love you Bob Pool and happy 33rd Anniversary. 

Fresh Strawberry Pie

 It's not "officially" summer by the calendar but the temps here in Central Texas are telling me it's summer so I've decided to make something cool and surprising light for dessert.  And of course to take advantage of the lovely strawberries that are fairly plentiful right now. 

So first off we'll start with the pie crust.  This is not your regular pie crust.  This pie crust would not hold up for an apple, peach, pumpkin, cherry or pecan pie.  This pie crust would be best for anything light and fluffy like a chiffon or Jello and Cool Whip mixture.  It's called "Pat-a-Pie Oil Pastry and that will become reasonably clear once we get further into the recipe. 

So lets assemble our ingredients.  We have flour, sugar, salt, milk and vegetable or canola oil.

 Sift the flour, sugar and salt together.

 Then measure out your oil

 Add the milk to the oil

 And whisk like crazy till it's all lovely and completely combined.

 Then just add the wet to the dry.

 And mix it all together with a fork till it's too hard to mix anymore and then go in with your hand or hands. Till you have everything combined together.

See how that all works together.  Now get out a 9 inch pie pan and start breaking off pieces of dough and patting them into place.

That picture is a little blurry, must have gotten something in my contact.  But you get the idea.  Just keep working with little pieces and soon you will have the pie plate completely covered.  Keep pushing till you have the "crust" up and over the rim and then you can crimp in your favorite style.

Once you get it all crimped, put in a preheated 425 degree oven and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cool completely before you fill it.

RECIPE:

2 Cups sifted all purpose flour

2 teaspoons sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

2/3 cups salad or canola oil

3 tablespoons milk

 

 

Now let's assemble our ingredients for the filling.  This is also called mise en place (MEEZ ahn plahs) A French term referring to having all the ingredients necessary for a dish prepared and ready to combine up to the point of cooking.

 

 So we have Cool Whip, Strawberry Jell-O or Strawberry-Banana Jell-O, fresh strawberries and sugar.  See how simple that is!

Add boiling water to the Jell-O.

Then take out 1/2 cup of the Jell-O and chill it until slightly thickened.

Cut about 1 1/2 cups of strawberries in 1/2 all the while keeping aside about 8 perfect berries for decorating.

 Once the 1/2 cup of Jell-0 is slightly thickened. you want to fold in the sugar and whipped topping.  If it's not pink enough then add a couple of drops of red food coloring.  I have never found this necessary but go ahead if you want it pinker.   

 

Put this mixture back into the fridge and let it set until it will mound.   Put the other Jell-O into the fridge and let it get cold enough until it resembles runny jelly.

Once the Cool Whip/Jell-O mixture mounds then you can begin assembly.  So first take some of the mixture and spread some on the bottom of the cooled pie crust.

Then place your halved strawberries on top of that mixture. 

Then spoon your jelly like mixture on top of the strawberries.  Just spoon it over until all the berries are covered. 

 Finally take the rest of the Cool Whip/Jell-O mixture and put it into a piping bag and pipe it around the sides and add your perfect berries to complete the assembly.  Wa-la....beautiful,. perfect, light summer dessert. 

RECIPE:

1 pkg. (3 oz.) Jell-O Strawberry or Strawberry-Banana Gelatin

1 2/3 cups boiling water

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 cups (or one 4 1/2 oz. container) Cool Whip Non Dairy Whipped Topping, thawed*

Red Food coloring (optional)

1 baked 9-inch pie crust

1 1/2 cups fresh strawberry halves

*I have never found a 4 /12 oz. container of Cool Whip and we can always use it so I just buy the 8 oz. and measure out what I need. 

 

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water.  Remove 1/2 cup and chill until slightly thickened.  Fold the slightly thickened gelatin and sugar into the whipped topping.  Add a few drops of food coloring. (optional). Chill again, if necessary, until mixture will mound.  Line bottom and sides of crumb crust with the whipped topping mixture, mounding high around edge.  Chill.  Meanwhile, chill remaining gelatin until thickened.  Stir in the strawberries or just place the strawberries on the Cool Whip mixture and spoon the runny jelly Jell-O mixture over the berries.  Add the rest of the Cool Whip by piping the mixture around the pie and then decorate with the perfect berries.  Chill until firm...3 hours or overnight.  

 

The Statue

No, I have not found religion.  But the above picture is a representation of a statue that belonged to my mother.  It is the Blessed Virgin Mary.
 My mother was Catholic.  I was raised Catholic but quit practicing once I got out of the house because it just didn't make sense to me in so many areas but we won't get into that.  This is a story of a statue.
It's very interesting to me that sometimes the smallest of items can make the biggest of impressions on you.
For as long as I can remember and this is going way, way back to 4 or 5 years old, my mother had a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary somewhere near her kitchen sink.  I have no idea why and I'm sorry now that she's gone that I never asked her why. I can remember playing with this statue and being fascinated by Mary's lovely long and wavy hair. 
The statue is not made of fine china rather it's plastic but really, really lovely in it's own right.
As we moved from duty station to duty station our house didn't seem complete until the Blessed Virgin took her place near the sink.  Once that was done...we were Home.
Saturday my sister and I were at my dad's home helping him get organized and happened to notice that the Blessed Virgin was not in her rightful place.  I actually think she was held to the area behind the sink with some sort of putty.
I asked my father if he had moved her and he said "No, I didn't".  My sister came into the room and said that it must have fallen somehow into a drawer.  So we stopped right then and there and started to look for the statue.  We looked in the drawers, we looked under the sink, we looked in the pantry, cabinets, refrigerator, freezer and everyplace in between. 
Where or where has Mary gotten to?   We are perplexed and a little bit freaked out. 
The statue is not worth anything but memories to anyone but us.  My father doesn't have that many visitors and I can't imagine anyone taking it.  He has a housekeeper that comes in once a month but I cannot imagine that she would move it without mentioning it to him. 
The statue is sorta symbolic for the home being whole even though my mother is gone.  It's like a little piece of her still remains. 
My sister and I have quizzed the whole family and no one has taken it.   It's certainly a mystery. 
I suppose if I was a praying person I would pray to St. Anthony who is the patron saint of lost things. 
We will continue to look for it until we either find it or decide that somehow mother decided that she needed it more and was able to take it.  I have seen it since she died so I know that no one put it in the casket.    Yes, it's a mystery...

One year ago....

One year ago today my beautiful mother passed away after a valiant battle with breast cancer.  She was 82 years young, just 2 months shy of her 83rd birthday. 
I miss her so very much but I miss her most when I look at my nieces and see all the things that she is missing.  Christine is in her 4th year of Vet school and having so many wonderful and interesting experiences.  Hannah has her first grown up job and is living in Houston.  I know that my mother would be on the phone with each of the girls every night and peppering them with questions about their days.  Both girls will probably be married within the next couple of years and oh how my mother would love the wedding planning. 
Time does not heal this wound, this wound will never be healed....it's easier to live with but it will never be healed.
I love and miss you so much mom.