Something Creative » holidays

Memorial Day 2011

Nil17 — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 18:33:54 +0000

This post is a little late but I have had a sick baby and other things going on. Thankfully Magnus is starting to feel better and sleep at night again.

Memorial weekend was fairly uneventful. We celebrated a nephew’s first birthday on Saturday. Magnus was too fussy to stay very long. Sunday we rented a couple movies and took turns trying to sooth Magnus. His teeth were bothering him & also causing an earache. Thankfully he would sleep if one of us sat in the rocking chair so we alternated that duty. Monday was spent working around the house. Magnus was so exhausted he managed some long naps. Abe did yard work & I hung clothes on our little retractable clothesline. We also did some major furniture rearranging.

Why we celebrate (that’s not quite the right term but you know what I mean) Memorial Day was not lost on us. We have a long tradition of military service in both families. Both of Abe’s grandfathers were in the military as was my Grandpa B. Their service to our country during WWII is remembered gratefully. In the midst of remembering our fallen heros we also said a long-distance goodbye to Abe’s brother Pete.

Pete left his wife, two sons & infant daughter to prepare for a deployment to Iraq. He has about a month here in the States before shipping to Kuwait. We are proud of Pete & thankful for his service. Our prayers are with him and his family. Hopefully his sacrifice for our country will only be time away from his loved ones.

To all the men & women who gave everything for us - your sacrifice will never be forgotten. We are thankful for what you did.

Happy Easter! Have Some Expired Mayo

Nil17 — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 06:48:45 +0000

Easter weekend found us traveling. We spent a large portion of the weekend visiting family near Duluth. It was SO good to see them & the time was far too short. Still it was fun & Easter Sunday was a warm, sunny day. Indeed a day to celebrate life.

Our time up north had to end so we said our goodbyes to the niece & nephews and headed for home. We decided that it was early enough in the day that we could take the time to stop & visit Abe’s mom. Originally we had not planned on a trip to the Cities but travel was going well & I’m not supposed to sit for too long (Dr’s orders). Abe’s mom was pleasantly surprised when we stopped by. Magnus was all dressed up in his Easter shirt & a bunny hat. Being the charming little boy that he is Magnus crawled around & showed off all his best tricks.

As we were getting ready to leave my MIL mentioned that she had something for us. Thinking that it was some small Easter trinket for Magnus I happily accepted the plastic sack. Then came the explanation.

“Here’s the jar of alfredo sauce that we’ll never eat. Mike bought it but I don’t like this brand so you can have it. Also, here are the vanilla beans we bought in Mexico” (side note: I won’t even go into why I got beans rather than pure extract.)

I thanked MIL for the vanilla beans as I will find a use for them. I was very pleased to have the beans…I’m experimenting with being an actual cook after all. So I’m thinking this is it when MIL pipes up again.

“Oh and there’s also a jar of mayonnaise…it’s a little out of date but I’m sure it will be fine. It hasn’t even been opened yet so just be sure to use it up quickly.”

I stood there, mouth agape for a minute while I searched for the words that would allow me to decline the mayonnaise. After opening & closing my mouth a couple times (without making any intelligible sounds), I weakly said “Ummm, thanks”.

Seriously how do you politely decline the unexpected gift of expired mayo? I could really have used Emily Post’s advice on the matter. Unfortunately she isn’t around to help me out.

Too bad I don’t have some slightly questionable Easter eggs that need to be used…I could make egg salad or deviled eggs. Anybody want to play salmonella roulette this weekend? Party is at my house.

Thanksgiving Leftovers

Nil17 — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 03:13:37 +0000

Well it is the first weekend in December & there is just a touch of snow on the ground here. The fields are still pretty bare though there are a couple inches of the white stuff in the yard. It has been cold here but we haven’t gotten the snows storms yet. I’m sure that will change with the coming of 2011…after all January & February can be fierce here on the prairie.

Thanksgiving was our first official holiday with Magnus. We traveled almost every day from Wednesday to Sunday. On Wednesday we drove to the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area (the Cities as they are known around here). We spent the night & Thanksgiving morning with Abe’s aunt & uncle. It was fantastic to see them & Magnus was his charming self.

Magnus & Great Aunt ML

Thanksgiving day we left the Cities & headed for Cloquet to see Aunt SA & other family. Magnus spent his first Thanksgiving (which was also his 5 month mark) riding in his car seat. He was rather non-plussed with the situation at times but overall was very good. He got to visit Uncle at the fire station & even got to sit in the heavy rescue truck. Then we drove over to Aunt SA’s house & introduced Magnus. It was SO good to see her & Magnus gave some excellent snuggles. In the evening it was back in the car & off to Grandma & Grandpa Erickson’s house. This was Magnus’ first time meeting them & there were many snuggles & giggles.

Sitting on the front of the ladder truck with Dad

Where's the keys for the heavy rescue truck?

Snuggling with Grandpa Bob

Cuddles with Grandma Trudy

Friday morning we took a quick trip to Minnestalgia Winery where we said hello to our friends & again showed off our sweetie baby. Magnus had no issue being held by all these new people & he kept his pleasant disposition in spite of having a very nasty cold. Then Friday afternoon evening was spent with the Erickson aunts, uncles & cousins. There was lots of food (all very tasty), wine & of course everybody chatting. We had originally planned on traveling back to the Cities on Friday night to stay with Abe’s mom but due to both of my guys having such bad colds I made the Mommy/Wifey decision to stay put for one night so they could get some extra rest.

Talking & laughing with Aunt SA

The cousins: A (5), E (2) & Magnus (5 months)

A serious discussion with cousin A

Thanksgiving Pimp

Saturday we were up at the crack of dawn (okay it was still pretty dark…I was up before the sun which is rare) to pack the Jeep & get ready to head south again. We got to Grandma & Grandpa Wolf’s about noon (Grandpa Bob wouldn’t let us leave without having some of his tasty pancakes first). After a quick lunch Abe went to work (he had a few little pieces of trim to put on in the living room) while Magnus & I napped. I won’t talk about Saturday evening other than to say from there on my weekend went to hell on a greased pole. Even thinking about it now sets my blood to boiling…it doesn’t help that the offending persons don’t seem to care. Needless to say I was ready to head home but first we had to get through Sunday.

In the morning Abe & I went to Wolf’s church for a pancake breakfast. We left Magnus at the house….this was a HUGE deal for me. Fortunately we were only gone about 30 minutes. I was relieved to see that the house wasn’t burned down or anything like that. We had a wonderfully prepared lunch in celebration of Abe’s 35th birthday (which was Monday the 29th) & shortly thereafter we packed up & headed for home.

Overall it was so amazing to see family & introduce Magnus around. We miss the northlanders & seeing them as often as we did. I have many pictures of Magnus with them so he will be able to see how much fun we all had.

Thanksgiving & Being Grateful

Nil17 — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 04:00:09 +0000

So I’m going to pull out my English geek for this post & put her on full display. I’ve been thinking about Thanksgiving (like everybody else in the US) & how at this time of year we focus on being thankful. I am thankful for a great many things in spite of the very hard year we’ve had. However, I was talking to the divine Ms. Davis & she said not only was she thankful for me (wow, I like that people feel that way about me) but also grateful. It made me think about the two words & how they seem to be very similar. So I fired up my google & checked Merriam-Webster online for the “official” definitons. What I found gave me reason to do some serious thinking….

Main Entry: grate·ful

Pronunciation: \?gr?t-f?l\

Function: adjective

Etymology: obsolete grate pleasing, thankful, from Latin gratus — more at grace

Date: 1552 1 a : appreciative of benefits received b : expressing gratitude 2 a : affording pleasure or contentment : pleasing b : pleasing by reason of comfort supplied or discomfort alleviated

Main Entry: thank·ful

Pronunciation: \?tha?k-f?l\

Function: adjective

Date: before 12th century 1 : conscious of benefit received 2 : expressive of thanks 3 : well pleased : glad

I’m going with definition 1 in each case. The first thing that struck me was the way benefits are recognized. In being grateful there is an appreciation of benefits received while with thankful there is conciousness of benefits received. That difference pulled me up short. So many times people say they are thankful for their family, job, house, food etc. (there are always things for which to be thankful) but how many people are grateful for these same things? Being grateful means that you appreciate the benefits & not just merely recognize that they exist (thankful).

Main Entry: ap·pre·ci·ate

Pronunciation: \?-?pr?-sh?-??t, -?pri- also -?pr?-s?-\

Function: verb

Inflected Form(s): ap·pre·ci·at·ed; ap·pre·ci·at·ing

Etymology: Late Latin appretiatus, past participle of appretiare, from Latin ad- + pretium price — more at price

Date: 1655 transitive verb 1 a : to grasp the nature, worth, quality, or significance of b : to value or admire highly s our work> c : to judge with heightened perception or understanding : be fully aware of d : to recognize with gratitude s your kindness> 2 : to increase the value of

synonyms appreciate, value, prize, treasure, cherish mean to hold in high estimation. appreciate often connotes sufficient understanding to enjoy or admire a thing’s excellence <appreciates fine wine>. value implies rating a thing highly for its intrinsic worth <values our friendship>. prize implies taking a deep pride in something one possesses prize their freedom>. treasure emphasizes jealously safeguarding something considered precious treasured memento>. cherish implies a special love and care for something <cherishes her children above all>.

Now I suppose you are wondering exactly what my point in all this is…after all thankful & grateful are tied together pretty closely. Well mostly my point is that while I have certainly been conscious of the benefits in my life I haven’t necessarily been terribly appreciative. After all I’m certainly thankful for my family, friends, house etc etc etc…but I have failed (sometimes miserably) in expressing that attitude.

I’m not being critical of myself like I tend to be normally when I have fallen short of a mark (whether it is one of my own making or not) although I am adding it to my list of things to be more aware of doing in the future. With the horror of 2009 coming to a close & the big big changes of 2010 speeding toward me I am grateful, thankful & blessed for my life, my husband & my dear friends who are close in spirit if not actual distance. Please remember to be active in showing your thankfulness not only now but also every day of the year.