Memorial Day - Remembering My Dad

Dad was in the Navy and served as a radioman in the Pacific during WWII, and again during the Korean conflict. It was during the Korean war that he was stationed in Adak, Alaska. Mom and I lived in Navy housing there. That was our first introduction to Alaska.

I miss him all the time. I always called him "President of my fan club."

Memorial Day Weekend

On Thursday I used my new mixer for the first time, baking a braided loaf of Cinnamon Tunnel and Cherry Bread. We "taste-tested" it that evening (it passed the test), and then wrapped the rest of the loaf up to take to Katy with us on Friday, to share with the kids and grands.

We spent Friday afternoon, all day Saturday and Sunday until around 1:30 with the family.

The kids' last day of school was Thursday, so they were just starting their summer vacation as we got there. Clara will be going to orchestra camp starting today (Monday). She's still an enthusiastic musician, having received the "most outstanding musician in philharmonic" award for her school. While we were there, she spent a lot of her time practicing and performing for us. We are also really proud that she was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society this year.

Robert scooped up a whole passel of academic awards this year, as well. But what surprised me was seeing some of his art work. I didn't know he was such a good artist. I asked him if I could "buy" one of his works, and he offered me one that reminded me of Van Gogh's style. I told him that I'd be really happy to have it, but that I didn't want to take it if his Mommy wanted to keep it. He decided he'd auction it off between us - ha ha! He started the very competitive bidding at $5.00, and in the end I won with a $7.00 bid. Since I only had two five-dollar bills, and he couldn't make change, he got a $3.00 tip and made $10.00 on his painting. I can't wait to frame and hang it.

After church on Sunday we all went to lunch with some friends of Chris and Kelsey's, who were in town for the day. We have met them before, although they've added child-number-three and child-number-four to their family since we've been with them. So, in all, there were 12 of us at the restaurant. Following lunch we parted, and Dan and I drove back to Temple, arriving home around 4:30.

Losing an Old Friend - My KitchenAid Mixer

FORTY YEARS ago Dan spoiled me by encouraging me to buy a KitchenAid stand mixer. At that time in our lives, that was an extravagant purchase, and it took quite a bit of convincing on his part. But baking has always been a passion of mine, so I gratefully brought my new mixer home.

My "Almond" colored KitchenAid has moved with us from Salem, Oregon; to Newberg, Oregon; to Juneau, Alaska; to Albuquerque, New Mexico; and, finally, to Temple, Texas. It helped me raise our two boys. It was there for me when I baked with my grandkids.

It has has been used to make tasty breads;

It has helped me make ountless cookies of every variety;

It has beaten batter for birthday cakes, potluck cakes and family dinner cakes;  

It has partnered with me in making gingerbread creations;

And it saw me through my happy years with the "Daring Bakers" challenges. Here are a few of them:

Macarons

Nazook

Pavlova

Strudel

Tuiles

But . . . last month I was mixing up the batter for a Southern Caramel Cake to take to a church potluck when my beloved mixer began making a strange noise. I continued beating the batter, but when I turned off the mixer I heard Dan, calling from the other room: "What's wrong with your mixer?" I was in a little bit of denial. "Nothing!" I insisted. But when I tried to use it again, a little later, to make the caramel icing, I knew that I was wrong. The metallic noise and jarring vibrations coming from it now were so bad that I had to turn it off and finish making my icing with a little hand beater.

It's six weeks later, and I've really been missing my old "friend." It has continued to sit on my kitchen counter, but as nothing but a memorial of times past. 

So today Dan and I drove to Sam's Club and bought a brand new, even fancier model of KitchenAid mixer. If this wears out in 40 years, like the old one, I'll be 110 years old and probably won't be needing to buy a replacement. Two KitchenAids in one lifetime. Not bad!

I can't wait to try it out with some of my favorite recipes.

Did I mention the new color is "Aqua Sky?!"

Guys'- and Girls'-Night-Out

Since Dan's heart attack, we've been sort of tied at the hip. It was time for some "apart-time" tonight! Dan went with some guy-friends to a baseball game at Round Rock. The Round Rock Express played Oklahoma City, and won 5 to 2.

While our husbands enjoyed a night out at the ball field, Kay, Trish, Twilla and I had a girls' night out. We all agreed that we had more fun than any of us had had in a long time. We went to dinner at the Backporch, and then walked next door to the theater to see Poms, starring Diane Keaton, Rhea Pearlman and a slew of other female stars from "our era." We loved it, and saw ourselves in so many of the antics of these "senior ladies." Trish sat to my right, and laughed so hard at times that she could hardly catch her breath. I had almost as much fun watching her as I did watching the movie!

As much as we love our husbands (and we DO), there's just something so special about a night out with the girls! 

The Best Laid Plans . . . (you know the rest)

I don't like to advertise that our house will be empty by posting upcoming travel plans on my blog, so I usually wait until I get back home to share away-from-home adventures and photos with my readers. Ever since we booked our European river cruise, way back on June 7, 2018, I've been restraining my urge to post that exciting news. We were due to leave, flying out of Austin to Heathrow and on to Amsterdam, on Sunday, April 28. Our tour would have taken us 15 days, and would have gone from Amsterdam to Budapest. It was to be in celebration of our 50th wedding anniversary, coming up in June.

But on Friday morning, around 4:00 - two days before our anticipated departure - Dan woke me saying he didn't feel well. He was in a great deal of pain, mostly in his teeth, upper jaw, back of his neck and down his back. He was feeling nauseated, and was sweating profusely. It took me about five minutes to determine that he needed to get to the emergency room, so I told him to throw some clothes on and get in the car. Luckily Baylor Scott & White Hospital is about seven minutes from our house, and at 4:00 in the morning, I may have gotten him there even faster.

Once we were in the ER, things moved very quickly. I sat in a corner of the examining room, trying to stay out of the way of the 16 medical professionals diagnosing and caring for Dan. The EKG confirmed what I feared ... he was having a heart attack! He was immediately whisked into a surgical room, where they fed a catheter from his right wrist up to his heart and placed a stent to open the artery. Dan tells me that as soon as that stent was in place, the pain ceased. By 5:30 or 6:00, he was being taken to a room, and he spent two nights in the hospital, coming home after lunch on Sunday.

Tests confirmed that, because of the speed with which he came in, was diagnosed and treated, there was little to no damage to his heart. None the less, he will be on a regimen of various medications for at least a year, and some of them for longer. He is feeling good, and resuming most of his normal activities already. He'll be seeing our primary care physician today, and has a long list of questions for her.

This morning, at breakfast, feeling fine and looking like normal again!

I can't begin to express my thankfulness - first to our son, Chris, who drove from Houston and was at my side all day Friday and until Saturday morning; and secondly to our church family who outdid themselves with prayers, visits, gifts and taking care of not only Dan, but me. If my memory serves me right, 19 folks came to see him in his hospital room over those two-plus days. Some of them took me to lunch or dinner. Some brought books and snacks to help pass the time as I sat by Dan's bedside. They all asked what they could do once we got home, offering to mow the lawn, shop for groceries or help with anything else we might need. Three more, plus a neighbor, dropped by the house yesterday to check on us. It has humbled me and made me so grateful for these amazing friends. I don't know how people face trials like this without faith, prayer and the support of God's people.

On Monday I went to see the travel agent to begin the process of making a claim against our trip insurance. That is in process now and, hopefully, we'll get back our money and be able to re-book a trip, sometime in the near future. We're not thinking of it as having been canceled ... just postponed.

Many have expressed sympathy that we didn't get to go on our big European adventure, but all I can see is God's providential care. If Dan was going to have a heart attack, it was a huge blessing that it happened BEFORE we left. I shudder to think what the outcome might have been if we were stuck on that 9-1/2 hour flight, over the Atlantic, when this hit him!