Something for everyone

It has been some month. April is known for throwing curveballs and I'm not just talking about the ridiculous weather. This April, my 90 year old Nana passed away. That means family gathered together, road tripping from all over North Carolina, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and who knows where else. Fortunately, it was a beautiful, warm, and dry weekend so there were fewer traveling hassles than there could have been. Though we've been married for 19 years, there were still family members Dada had never met. Some of these were my cousin Ruthie, her husband, and sons. Our boys all hit it off and were quite the sight:  

After a concise service including music that Nana had preselected which had been written by a relative, there was a little bit of time to spend before the lunch would be served. Cousins being cousins and it being way too long between times spent together, some Shenanigans ensued, which may or may not have involved our kids and my cousin's kids, Cora and Blake. 

I remember thinking that it was the perfect kind of spring day: some clouds in a blue sky, a slight breeze, warm sun on our shoulders. I think Nana would have enjoyed all of it except maybe our "monkeying around" at the cemetery. I know there are other pictures on Dada's phone so I will have to see what I can track down to share. 

It's bittersweet that she is gone. I don't think she ever had any desire to be the world's oldest living person, so to make it to 90 is quite an achievement. I'm so glad that we saw her last summer while we vacationed with her in good health; that those memories of sunshine and her interacting with us and the dogs and her nurses are the ones closest to our hearts instead of the ones where she sat wretchedly on the alarm pad of her bed in the nursing home while taking multiple medications. I'm glad she got time with all of our kids and that they'll remember her. 

I'm glad we have fun family that takes advantage of opportunities to get together and make more memories. I'm sorry that we won't get to see Nana at the beach this summer. It will be odd to not have her coming out of her room with her walker to ask us if we've eaten yet or what we're up to that day. I'm glad that she didn't linger a long time through her pneumonia, being miserable. I'm glad that we got to celebrate her life. I know it will be a process, and the kids have already mentioned missing her, and that's how it should be as she held a special place in our hearts and lives. 

Nana Carrie, 1927-2018, we love you.

April sunrise

We've had some gorgeous and hot days already (you will not hear me complain about them) and the sky has been so pretty in the mornings. I love waking up to light instead of the alarm...

I completely understand why people used to worship the sun when it comes up like that. Ta da! Here I am! The day can begin. Go about your business.

Tea and ... snowflakes?

I've drunk enough tea in 2015 to become an honorary Brit. Brit? Briton? British? Hmm. Anyway, hot or cold, I've been going through tea like it's going out of style. I'm not even sure why.

And I've been accused of baking a lot. I can't help it. Now that we're in a cold snap, of course I'M cold, and cold people need comfort food. So I baked a cake. And I baked some cookies. And I might not be finished. Especially if it doesn't warm up.

So where's my cake? It's a chocolate cake with chocolate minty pudding in it and baked in a Bundt pan. Excellent. I shared with my moms' group. I do blame Dada for that one, as I said, "if you don't please put the cake platter away I'll have to bake another cake." He replied, "You better bake a cake then!" See? Totally his fault.

The cookies I blame email for. I got an email about 10 irresistible cookie recipes which of course I had to check out. One of them was cake batter cookies. I'd helped make them at camp before, but never at home, so I thought I'd give it a try. I had a box of confetti cake which happened to be yellow, like the recipe called for, and frozen egg yolks from when I'd made a white cake and needed only egg whites. Anyway, I threw all 5 thawed egg yolks and one fresh egg in there with the cake mix and a stick of unsalted butter. It said to mix in about a 1/4 cup of sprinkles, but confetti cake already has fun stuff in it, so I just dumped it all in there. It also said to use an ice cream scoop but I just used my usual tablespoon to measure them out. They turned out nice and golden and kid-approved. I'm kind of afraid to test out the recipes because of the sweets we already have in the house, hehe!

Yesterday I got a text from sweet Zita: I might have seen snow.

She was right. It was raining tiny snowballs when I went to pick up Damon from preschool. Nobody on Facebook was happy about it, either. There were plenty of "snow!" posts. Fickle Spring and her nofucks. It made me think of 3 Dog Night's "Pieces of April" and hope fervently that I will NOT be having "pieces of April, but it's a morning in May..."

I still haven't forgotten the lightning bug post or our new-to-us park post, but I need to steal pictures from Dada's phone for that, so it might be awhile. Technology, you know.

Have a great rest of your Positive Energy Thursday!