Christmas with Great Friends

Tonight Aaron and I hosted our "gourmet group" as we celebrated Christmas early. Our group is a little more scattered than Cheryl's. We don't get together as regularly as they do, something we need to work on, and our food isn't really gourmet. We don't care if it's take out Chinese or pizza, we just love catching up with old, dear friends. Our group consists of Aaron and I, Betsy and Sted Seavey, who have been best friends since high school (over 35 years!), Joanne and Hank Metz, and Debie and Mickey Chabot, from Wells. I first met them when Kit went to be babysat in their neighborhood in 1979! We shared a lot of good times as our children grow up together. They were my support during my divorce, and more recently as I travel on my cancer journey, and Kit's "other adoptive families". Hank and Mickey were also my "go to guys" when I needed something fixed or had an emergency as a single Mom.
Tonight we decided to make it an English Christmas dinner. It was a lot of work, but a great time. We decorated the table places with ornaments with each guest's name in glitter, and had English "crackers" on each plate.

For those who haven't ever popped a cracker, you pull the two ends, it makes a loud noise, and a sprinkle of confetti and treats fly out. Everyone gets a paper crown, a small toy, and a fortune or riddle.Here are a few shots of us in our fine crowns.






For dinner we served roast beef and gravy with Yorkshire pudding, an English and family favorite,which reminded me of the fun we had when Hilda visited from England and give me a lesson in preparing "authentic" Yorkshire pudding (miss you, Hilda). We also had potato, and corn. It was great!
For dessert I made a Mint Mountain White Chocolate bundt cake. It is a recipe I got this fall, and Hank made for us to try for Thanksgiving. Thanks, Hank, for sharing. He bought a bundt pan that makes it in the shape of mountain peaks/trees. We also had vanilla ice cream with homemade hot fudge sauce.

It was a great night. It really reminded me of the true meaning of this season of giving. We get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of buying, wrapping and decorating that we sometimes forget to celebrate whats really the best gift...the gift of support and life-long friendship. I hope you all receive these "gifts" this holiday season. Merry Christmas! Nancy

Kristen did great today!

Kristen had ankle surgery today (fractured tibia) at MMC and did a great job! She is a lot braver than her mother...I needed Hank and Nancy there to hold me up while Kristen just smiled right through it. Her blue teddy bear got a hospital ID bracelet just like hers and, when we met Kristen back in the recovery room, her bear's left leg had been bandaged up in the operating room, just like hers. Thanks to Dr. Barr, Julie from Casa, and everyone at the MMC Surgical Center for a job well done!

Mom is home!

After five weeks and 2 days in the hospital, Mom came home today...just in time for Christmas! After a nice dinner - prepared by Nancy - she is sound asleep on her new mattress with Tabby cuddled up by her side. Finally!

Here's the picture, Joanne

I think this may be the photo Joanne mentioned in her comment to the "Hilda" post below.

Mom, Joanne and Hilda in front of Joanne's house, July 2007.

In memory of Hilda

Hilda Boocock Ritchie
1927 - 2009

We love you, Hilda...Godspeed

Penny Rugs

I finally finished some holiday embroidery projects, thanks in part to time spent in waiting rooms at MMC while Mom has been sick. These are called "penny rugs" because they are made from scraps of felted wool, some only the size of a penny. They are not really "rugs" either...most are made as table runners or candle mats. The one above was the rug I learned on at Fiber College at Searsport Shores in 2008. The plan was to get it finished by Thanksgiving of 2008...that didn't happen... but it was done just in time for Thanksgiving this year.

The "rugs" below are really candle mats and will be gifts for special friends on my Christmas list this year. Mom watched me work on one of them in the hospital so I thought she would like to see the finished products before I wrap them.

Wouldn't it be great if we didn't have to work and could have more time to "play" with craft projects?

Tree Hunt 2009

Every year (20+), Hank and I drive up to Scott's Tree Farm in Waldoboro to cut down our Christmas Tree. Saturday was the "big day" this year.

Here's our tree "before"...that's Scott holding the tree while Hank does the honors with the saw.

After walking through the woods in the cold, we stopped for the traditional lunch at Moody's diner.

And here is the tree all decorated and ready for another Christmas. Now it's on to getting the cards written, the gifts wrapped, the house picked up, the cookies baked...does the fun ever end?

p.s. Today marks four weeks since Mom was first admitted to MMC. All of the cards she has received have really cheered her up. Mom is getting stronger every day with all of the physical and occupational therapy she is receiving at New England Rehab. Hospital. She looks so much better than she did! After all she has been through, I know she is really looking forward to being in her own home for Christmas.

Always Something but Getting Better

Just a quick update...Mom was discharged from MMC today after 22 days in the hospital, 5 of them in intensive care. She looks and feels much better but now has to regain her strength. To that end, this afternoon she was transferred to New England Rehabilitation Hospital, Rm. 112, 335 Brighton Ave. Portland, ME 04102. After the move, she is tired but comfortable and ready to begin the rehab. that will prepare her to go home. The CDC has identified the ground beef that made her sick as part of the September Fairbank Farm recall throughout New England and New York. She purchased it at Shaw's and froze it until just before she became ill. Mom has been a real fighter through this thing and we are all really proud of her. We put up her little Christmas tree at the condo and can't wait for her to get home to enjoy it.


p.s. Kristen is still recovering from her broken ankle and being very patient with not being able to walk at all. She sees the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow and we should know more about the prognosis at that time. In the meantime, she LOVES to get mail (hint!). If you would like to send her a card, her address is: Kristen Underwood, 29 Wall St., Portland, ME 04103.

More Thanksgiving

Thought I'd drop in a few more shots of Thanksgiving that I took--including Mom enjoying her "feast" at Maine Medical! Probably the most expensive Thanksgiving dinner of them all!

Oops!

What a windy day! The power went out as I was finishing my last blog entry so a few of the photos did not get posted. Here they are... Hank frying our Thanksgiving turkey outside...

What's a movie without a large butter popcorn???

I walked into the bathroom to find Toshi combing his hair in front of the mirror...too cute!

Giving Thanks

Well, another Thanksgiving is over and I'm exhausted...but thankful in spite of all the craziness of the past few weeks. Hank is out in the woods on this last day of hunting season (I'm on Bambi's side), Rob and family are on their way back to NYC, and the house is unusually quiet. Before I vacuum up the remnants of Thanksgiving dinner and start unpacking the Christmas decorations, I thought I'd take advantage of these few quiet moments to remember all I am thankful for at this time of year. So...here goes...I'm thankful that Mom's health is improving after her bout with e coli. This is her third week in MMC but she is now well enough to be out of ICU and seems to be feeling better every day. She is anxious to get home, sleep in her own bed, and be back with Tabby.

I'm thankful that Kristen was able to join us for Thanksgiving in spite of her broken ankle. And I'm especially thankful for her wonderful caregivers at Casa, without whom I don't know how we would be managing all this. Did I say I'm also thankful for Kristen's ability to smile through every challenge she faces???

I'm thankful for a husband who cooks...and who has stuck by me through it all.

And I'll always be thankful for our family...

...and my amazing sisters...

Nancy...who can always make me laugh...

Andi...who cares if you can cook??? Joanne...who reminds me that it's OK to take a break once in a while and have fun...

and my "adopted" sister (my "little sister" at Russell Sage College and former sister-in-law), Carolyn...who has found her calling with the UCC church and been a source of spiritual support to Mom in the hospital...

And I'm thankful for old friends...

happy memories of simpler times...

and our home at Winn Farm.

I'm thankful that Taka and Toshi could be here for Thanksgiving...

and for the best Dad in the world. Daddy passed four years ago on Thanksgiving and we miss him every single day. Andi placed this arrangement on his grave and Nancy left the rose.

And I'm especially thankful for the good times...like a rainy afternoon eating popcorn at the movies with our grandsons Toshi and Taka...

I'm not very thankful that I've put off the vacumming so it's time to end and get to it. Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and that a much healthier holiday season awaits for Mom, Kristen and Aunt Barbara. Love to all...

"It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones afterall." ~Laura Ingalls Wilder

What Next???

Welcome to our home away from home...Maine
Medical Center. It's said that bad things come in
threes but it seems that we must be up to four or five by now.
Most important right now is Mom. This is her fourth day in the Special Care Unit at MMC. She was admitted to MMC 2 weeks ago (Nov. 9)with e-coli which she got from eating ground beef she had purchased at Shaw's. The e-coli made her very very sick and has affected her kidneys, heart and lungs. Today she looks a little better and we are hoping that she will regain her strength and be able to move back to a regular hospital room soon. She is still critical so we hope everyone will continue to keep her in their prayers.
On my way home from the hospital last night, I got a message on my cell phone that Kristen was being treated at another MMC branch, Brighton Medical Center, with what has turned out to be a broken ankle. Immediate turn around of car...back to MMC. Kristen fractured her tibia and can not bear any weight so she is in a wheelchair. Tomorrow I have to take her to an orthopedist to have her leg cast. Thankfully, Joanne was in town because of Mom's condition, so she was able to come to the hospital, take a look at the x-rays, and help us transfer Kristen home. I now really appreciate having a sister who is a physical therapist.
As if all this were not enough, on Thursday night when I got back from the ICU, there was a message from my cousin, Kathy, that our aunt, Barbara Smith, was in UCONN medical Center in Farmington, CT. Growing up in Connecticut, we were very close with Aunt Barbara and Uncle Ed (Dad's brother) and hearing this news is very sad. Needless to say, we are all praying for Aunt Barb, Uncle Ed and family as well.
And finally, to add just a bit more stress, the results of our genetic testing for the BRCA 2 gene came back this week. BRCA 1 and 2 are the genes that are know to cause an increased risk for ovarian and breast cancer. Mom, who has breast cancer, tested positive for a BRCA 2 mutation in October so Andi, Nancy, Joanne and I had to be tested. It took 2 weeks to get the results and the wait was mind-numbing. It is an autosomal dominant gene so there was a 50% chance that Mom's children would be positive. And that is exactly how we came out...two of us are BRCA positive and carry the mutation and two are not. My sisters who are BRCA positive will now have to make some difficult medical decisions of their own...not really the news they needed this week.

So...at this point our family is due for some good luck. In the meantime, we all appreciate how supportive everyone has been...from Mom's neighbors to our colleagues at work to the staff at Kristen's group home...thanks to all. We still hope to salvage a Thanksgiving dinner out of all this...although even that has needed to change. Nancy had invited everyone for Thanksgiving but her house has stairs and Kristen needs a wheelchair so it looks as if Hank and I will have whoever is left in one piece to dinner here. Everyone will bring something and we'll keep it simple but family traditions live on. Rob, Tomomi, Taka and Toshi will be here for Thanksgiving so that will add some much-needed fun to the day. And if we can round up a few other healthy people to share the turkey with us, we'll be all set!


“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

Photos

Rob wore a teal ribbon for Nancy in yesterday's NYC Marathon...

Taka made a sign to cheer Daddy on as he ran through Brooklyn...

Rob, Toshi, Tomomi, and Taka in Park Slope. (Taka just lost his first tooth...take a look!)

Taka was a knight for Halloween...
Toshi goes Trick or Treating in Brooklyn:

And in other news...Andi, Nancy and I just got back from our genetic counseling at Maine Medical Center...almost four hours of fun. Now we have to wait two weeks for the results.

Still hoping for your comments on the blog...

Anybody out there???

Is anyone still reading this blog? Very few comments for a LONG time now . Just wondering whether to keep it going.

I notice that most of the family now communicates on Facebook and I see that most of you are commenting frequently there. Maybe Facebook is now accomplishing what we set out to do on this blog? (The downside of Facebook is that I would be reluctant to put family/ medical information out there.)

What do YOU think? Please hit the Comment button below and let us know (if you don't want to open a free Google account, you can just post as "Anonymous" and put your name in the text of your comment).