A wonderful week

 Since Thanksgiving we have been in limbo. We were both unemployed without any real idea of what was on the horizon. Bruce attacked the task of finding work with the same diligence he gives to projects it was every day, networking, posting on job boards.  But December is a tough month to become employed.  I picked up a little project that started mid-January but still no bites for hubby.  And then he started getting calls that had possibility.  It seemed to be narrowing down to two.  But after rounds of interviews one was the clear favorite and converted to an 18 month contract offer with a company in Charlotte with very little travel. We still don't know if he has to go into town every day or have a split schedule.  The job didn't start until after the holiday so we took ourselves to West Virginia for the week.  The snow has been perfect for skiing and no one was around at the beginning of the week so Bruce got lots of ski time with no lift lines.  

It has been very peaceful for me. Zed is here and seems to be enjoying the change.  The mountain air has given him an appetite and the new smells brought in by the winds have persuaded him to leave his bed to bark at the door.  

We got new snow all day yesterday along with the rest of the east and high winds last night drifted it up and over the cars. Bruce dug out a path for Zed to get from door to driveway.  True to his old habits Zed cannot poop too close to home.  In desperation he dashes across the street to Amy's garage but today the plow had just come down the road so he got to wander up the road searching for the perfect spot.  Challenge is he will walk until he starts to shiver and if he is too far from home he needs a ride back. We head home on Monday to start our new regular time.  I'll miss being here even though I am going a little stir crazy with nothing to do.  Maybe tomorrow I will be venture out to town in search of parts for dinner.  

Tips to remember

If the door to the bathroom is shut tight, do not put on hand cream before opening the door.  

A good day

Zed is a very sick dog.  He has renal failure.   The future is day by day. At this stage there are some things we can do to make him more comfortable, to extend the number of days that he is here with us.   Today was a good day.  Zed popped up by himself at 8 and wanted to go out.  He is still drinking lots of water and ate some each time we made him a small meal.  He came down to meet us when we came in and actually perked up and barked at a noise in the backyard.  

But I am counting our time together with good and bad days.  Bad days I have to wake him up at 9 and carry him down for the morning walk.  He usually has a drink of water and a sniff of breakfast before going over to the family room sofa, moving next to the den and finally retreating to our room.  We have "his" blankets everywhere but his favorite is an old baby blanket that I keep on my bed.  On a good day he is gently tucked sleeping, on bad days he is curled like a little bug.  

The challenge with proud little dogs is they don't show pain, and they can't tell you how they feel.  I know the end is near, but on good days I see every sign as hopeful.  Nothing will change or reverse the disease.  The treatments are bandaids that temporarily lessen the symptoms and make him more comfortable but they don't reverse the inevitable, they just delay the end.  

He was always the last best dog for us.  Zed. He exceeded all of our expectations and rewarded us daily with his love.  My prayer is that I will have the courage to do what is best for him when the time comes and not what is best for me.  

No fear

My daughters have given their sons the confidence to try. Many years ago when Jon and J were young they came out to WV to learn to snowboard.  And they did. No fear.  They listened to their coaches and practiced and practiced on the mountain and they won!  This year Ashby came over and believed that his coach would take him down the mountain.  His Mom got him ready and was his cheerleader telling him it would be great.  Weekend 1 it was okay.  A few rough patches but he persevered.  Weekend 2 he soared.  He got his groove on.  No more "baby ski wedgies" no more holding his coaches hand.  He skied the course using his edges, sliding his skis for turns.  And then he did the two mile run.  Not only did he ski it, without falling down, but he trusted his coach to take him up the big lift to the top of the mountain, skied off and headed down.  Jay and Jon know what a huge step that is the first time you do the Silver Queen.  No going back, no mid-station.  You are committed to go to the top.   Yeah to the daughters!! Yeah to the grandsons!   

Ja

New Year, New Broom

Evil spirits, gremlins, gloomy days begone.  We woke up on New Years morning having shared a midnight toast (with very yummy champagne and chambord) to a sprinkling of snow.  After sharing good-byes and a quick change of linen, we got to welcome Meagan, Mike and Ashby for several days of winter sports.  Despite a pinched nerve Meagan made the trip to introduce Ashby to skiing. Bruce was back in ski instructor mode and negotiated a trade of work for a lesson for Ashby.  

It was a strange holiday on the mountain. New Years fell mid week and lots of people had to be back at work the day after so Thursday ended up being an ordinary day with uncrowded slopes and  no lift lines, a perfect day for a beginning skier.  Despite my worries about Ashby being tentative about getting geared up and heading off with a stranger to ride up the lift and stare down the mountain, he was amazing.  His ski instructor is one of the best with kids (who don't whine) and he won Ashby's trust and with 30 minutes he was on the lift heading up to the top of the bunny slope.  Way to go Ashby.  

Home now I have begun to clean out clutter.  We are a tiny house of two with occasional small gatherings of friends but my pantry looked like I was feeding a horde regularly.  So I started reading "best by dates" and tossing expired boxes and cans.  My detective work found that I stopped entertaining, where I put in real effort, when Bruce fell. I have never gone back to doing parties with a theme, researched food, fun drinks ...   How else did I end up with two jars of fluff that had separated.  Who knew fluff could expire?  My goal is to get my basics corralled back to the cupboards in the kitchen, well just the regular basics, the four kinds of sugar, three canisters of flour and oils and vinegars, popcorn, 12 rolls of paper towels (you get the idea) can still have their own shelf (shelves) in the pantry.  Ok the goal is to keep the pantry up to date.  So if you come for dinner in the next 30 days expect to be served couscous or rice, with variations until I can tame the many choices living in my pantry.  

On to resolutions.  1. Pare down, who needs six spare pillows that really need to move on, and those very cute red heels that still hurt my feet, and many, many things that are stuff. 2. Spend more time with family and friends.  Hospitality is the healing oil that brings and keeps families and friends together.  So if I see you know I will ask what you would like to have for dinner and as a good Southerner I will ask what do you drink.  I'll keep you posted on my progress on both.  PS. No you cannot have my six shells for crab imperial, or the Christmas and Thanksgiving plates, or the dessert shot glasses. I need the for a party!

 

A progressive Christmas

Some people have progressive dinners moving from house to house from appetizers to dessert.  We are having a progressive Christmas.  We started in Leesburg sharing an amazing dinner with Kama and her family. Jon was an engaging dinner companion with stories from across the pond with his mates. J willingly shared the limelight with his big brother, and added his thoughts.  Both guys made quick decisions to snap up the last two rockfish and finished off with a hot pumpkin brownie and ice cream topped with s dollop of whip creme.  

Next morning we headed over to see my Mom. The hardest part of visiting is that I can't just pop in for an hour frequently. I try to squeeze in a months worth of conversation into a few hours. The plan for phase three was a visit with Meagan's family that included dinner in Hampden followed by walk on Christmas street to see the lights.  This is where the plan took a detour.  Meagan and I ended up at the ER for ten hours in search of drugs for a painful pinched nerve in her neck.  The guys carried on admirably with dinner and Christmas lights.  Kudos to Mike and Bruce for sending over power plugs for my phone/IPad and a late night snack.  

We are back home for a week to share Christmas dinner with friends and my oldest son before we head to Charleston for a visit with my youngest son and family.  Then a football Saturday to cheer for UNC in the Belk Bowl.  

Our plan is to bring in the new year in West Virginia.  Our superstition is if we wake up on New Years morning to snow in WV it will be a good year.  So hope for snow because we need a good year.  

Hubby has been feeling a little down in his socks without some family in residence to liven up Christmas.  I confess to doing a minimalist job of decorating, feeling a little ho-hum myself.  We will have to give some thought to what to do next year.  

Wonderful wild WV

We haven't been to WV for winter for two years.  Last time we came up right after Thanksgiving to set up the tree and provision the house for a week with the kids at Christmas and then fate intervened.  So here we are today.  We brought up a flat screen tv for the family roon and hubby's first run down the bunny slope. Big question will he get the ski bug again and we will come up and spend time here?   I don't ski, I like being here, low stress, where else can you wear your pj's under your ski pants at the grocery store?   But a bored hubby in 1750 sq ft, with ice on the steps, and snow on the roads is not my idea of fun.  I don't even have enough spices up here to alphabetize.