Noodle and the Goose Again

WHY???

You might be asking yourself, if you were to drive past our house or to see us tooling down the road somewhere, WHY IN THE WORLD has this:

 

 

very large and very sporty and very white Jeep become part of the Noodle/Goose family?  Have we become Cowboys? Vaqueros? Too cool for words? or (of all things) SPORTY people who have need for a 4 X 4, 4 wheel drive Sport Utility Vehicle with big old tires and attitude?

Worry not, gentle readers. Big White Jeep is only a temporary blip in the life of this mini-van family.

It all began a while back, when we zipped up to Ohio for a quick weekend surprise wing-ding to celebrate Opa's 80th Birthday. Happy Birthday Opa!!!!! It was a splendid quick weekend, chock full of games and astonishing food and dogs running pell mell in the woods  and snuggling the littlest cousin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Really, when the curry and gado/gado and waffles and satay and peanut sauce and carrot cake and cookies and 'garbage' sandwiches and everything else we managed to stuff down in very short order was that yummy AND the cousin that SO freaking adorable, one might not remember to get photos of other things we did).

It was all good and Sunday afternoon we struck out for home - 7 hours away. And then. Right - and I do mean right - before we crossed the river out of Ohio the mini-van died. Just died. Right there on the interstate highway. Which could have been so so so so so much worse than it was, because we were right by an exit (#1) and were able to coast all the way down the exit ramp and pull over onto the wide shoulder of the road before all movement stopped within a short stroll to a service station. From which we discovered that within a mile of where we were there was a) a towing company/repair shop, b) a car rental place and c) a dog friendly hotel. The latter being necessary because the car rental place would not open until the next morning and the news on the mini-van required us to make use of both b and c.

So we overnighted in Ohio and the next morning, rented the only available car - the big, white, rental Jeep and headed home. Since then, we've been bouncing around town in our alter-egos and to tell the truth, it's kinda fun, in an 'oh, if only gas weren't so crazy expensive and I so hopelessly nerdy' way.

Don't you think it looks rather well in our rapidly 'springing' front yard?

 

 

Yeah, probably not. So later this week we'll zip back up to Ohio (just barely) and retrieve our resuscitated mini-van and give back the big, white, rental Jeep.

Fun while it lasts.

In other, completely non-related news, we seem to have a hostage situation developing in the bathroom here. Zora has discovered that Maizie can't jump into the bathtub after her and Maizie has discovered that Zora can't jump back out of the bathtub if closely monitored. For hours.

 

 

As if my life wasn't complicated enough already.

Why yes, we did do Christmas.

For the most part it was quite merry.

Filled with presents at home.

Presents in Ohio.

And family, family, family.

We got to sing with Oma.

And hang out watching football with Opa

and Cousin Hengree.

Goose went flying in the back yard.

And we snuggled the newest member of the family.

Dogs and kids ran amock.

And my family all got together to eat. And talk. And eat. And talk.

We came back home to yet another fun, fun package of gifts, which made everyone very happy.

Especially Miss Zora who both lost her mind and forgave us for our absence over a cat-nip filled jingle ball.

Merry, merry, merry.

Noodle Hits Double Digits

Noodle celebrated her birthday while we were in Florida. This makes her, as I noted she wrote recently, "Currently 10" and chomping at the bit to grow older (despite my pleas to the contrary).

The birthday was celebrated, of course, with dinner. N requested Grandma's Noodles, of course. Between my sister, myself and my Mom's actual noodle kettle, we did pretty darn well at replicating this delicious family favorite. Eaten with apple sauce, of course.

Cake-wise, the girl wanted "White cake with strawberry frosting and strawberries on top".  Which became a Lady Baltimore Cake swirled wtih Strawberry Jam topped with Fresh Strawberry Icing (basically butter, powdered sugar and strawberries) and fresh strawberries - the first of the Florida season and 10 candles.

It kinda cracked down the middle, but it was Good, Good, Good.

There were presents for Noodle and for cousin N, hitting 23 (I think) a few days later and lots of family silly time.

A Birthday Party So Glorious that some refused to lose the lei for days after.

Thanksgiving of Legends

When I was a child, Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday.  What wasn't there to love? My sister home from college, waking the wafting scent of Mom toasting bread cubes for her dressing, watching large cartoon balloons floating down NY streets (TV in the morning!!!! amazing), everyone - Mom's side of the family - gathering at Grandma and Pa's house, cousins to play with, Uncles and Aunts to admire, Grandma's clove studded, brown sugar covered ham (oh my!!) and heavenly pumpkin pies, watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in the evening. A day of wonder and grace - even those few years where I forced my cousins into performing plays (written and directed by me, of course), one un-named masterpiece, A Thanksgiving Dream and the unforgettable Turkey Feathers: A Thanksgiving Farce.

Good times.

This Thanksgiving?

Was awesome as well.

Noodle, Goose, Maizie and I drove 12 hours (in one day, okay, that part wasn't so awesome since I was the only driver) to be with my sister's family including daughters home from the Northlands, with bonus Niece and Nephew-in-Law from Ohio, in Florida. It was epic. Legendary. And lots of fun.

We played.

We cooked.

Indonesian Coconut Curry & Sambal Tempe Goring (aka Peanut Brittle of the Gods).

With very little left over, after eating (and eating and eating)

We bonded.

And played some more.

We hung out in our jammies all day long.

Ran like crazy around the back yard.

Conspiring together.

We cooked even more.

And ate such a Thanksgiving meal (note esp. the pumpkin pies, Grandma's recipe, my niece's rendition - so good!)

That we had to lay in the back yard sun to re-coop.

We soaked up a lot of that back yard sun.

And even did a bit of landscaping.

Until we were all just too, too pooped to party.

Especially Ms. Maizie.

So we went to the beach for sunset.

And dug our toes into the sweet white sand.

Legendary Thanksgiving.

Not yet.

So what I learned in our fast and furious trip to Ohio was none of us (us = my family) is quite ready yet to let my Daddy go and to go through all the stuff that death brings. We would much rather be dealing with nursing homes and retirement homes and emptying and selling our parent's home than funeral homes. Not yet.

Dad continues to get stronger, though lives with the fact of blood clots and blood thinners.

It will be okay.

One of the gifts of aging parents (and aging siblings) is getting to know my brothers again and in new ways. My oldest brother is 15 years older than me - I'm closer in age (and everything else but temperament) to his oldest daughter, my niece.  Because we both inherited my Dad's awful stubbornness and quick, hot anger and because we couldn't be more different in politics and theology (unless I actually did become the godless radical communist I suspect he's suspected me of being!) we've had our clashes in the past. But it hardly matters. He's a good soul and his quick hot anger (in our family we call it "Schpunk" said with a spitty low German accent and attribute it to a particular genetic strain, that, because of the tangled roots of our family tree [yeah, my parents were cousins, 2nd cousins], we got a double dose of) came in handy when dealing with hospital bueracracy. Though, I hasten to add, as did my years of conflict resolution/peace building reading and training (as my friend said, "thank you MCC").  Formidable, we were.

And it was/is always just good to spend time with family. My other brothers and their families, my sister, my Aunt. Capitalized. Aunt B. Mom's youngest sister who my girls are learning to love as much as I do. This makes me very happy.

A few days after we returned to NC,  the dregs and vestiges of stuff left at my parent's house were taken away by an estate service. My niece posted photos of the empty rooms. Sigh. But I can turn from my desk here and see Mom's rocking chair, the loveseat from her 'study', the afghan I made her, the picture of a mountain cabin with cows (no doubt the origin of my desire to live in such a place in Switzerland) that hung on our living room wall - and my grandmother's end table, the duck where they (Grandma and Pa) hid their house key - and the reproduction of an art quilt that T got me for my birthday long ago, photos of Cambodia, our handmade wood clock from MCC Indonesia, photos of Bali and the silver Wayang puppet my work colleagues gave me (yeah, we go for eclectic, if not eccentric, in our decor).  Life stumbles on.

Also while I was gone my new camera lens arrived in the mail. My old one finally stopped working entirely. It was time. The choices were overwhelming, so I went for something simple and not too expensive. For now. I've been playing with it.

Sleeping Kitty.

Deigning to be scratched under the chin.

Funny Pet Faces.

Mazie and her Puppy.

Love in Puppy Jail.

Reading Girls.

Outer Banks 2011

I'm not even going to talk about how COLD it has gotten the last few days here. Just to say, thank goodness the furnace is currently being serviced and heating oil set to arrive today.

To give me the illusion of heat,  I'm finally posting photos of our trip to the Outer Banks last month.

It was warm. It was sunny. It was a lovely, lovely week.

On the way we stopped by the Aquarium to say hey to the gators and other slimy creatures,

watch the sharks being fed,

practice  a little lesson on sea turtle rescue,

check out the gift shop (as a companion piece to the Panda Hat from Beijing? What do you think? Too much?)

dig for some shark's teeth,

and just hang out in the sunshine.

Then we were off to meet up with T's family at our oceanside house with a boardwalk to a gazebo (or as the oratorically gifted Uncle D called it "the pagoda") right to the beach.

Score.

Much sand was moved, many, many waves battled and boogie boarded.  Books were read. Lemon-aide consumed. Gossip exchanged. 

Plus, there was this cuteness to marvel over - our (currently) littlest nephew/cousin who was just a wee babe last time we saw him.

When the beach got tiresome, we retired to our pool.

Or hung out in the house enjoying family time.

Part of Noodle's educational activities - helping Auntie J with the NYT Sunday crossword. (And yes, that is one of Oma's Cinnamon Rolls with pecans on her plate - the food? was exquisite as always - this is a family that loves to cook).

The Atlantic was glorious.

The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival fell on Monday night. Goose and I made mooncakes for all and glow sticks were employed.

And the moon rose full and bright  over the ocean before disappearing behind some clouds.

More beach days,

 

And family nights.

Oma's Ice Cream.

Auntie J's Shrimp Feast.

  Danger Boy - The oldest nephew. 8 months younger than Goose and totally on the job keeping us from calamity.

A family stroll thorough the evening light,

Cousins.

Even Opa came along, on his zippy little go-go cart.

Ably assisted by grandchildren, of course.

And this is my favorite photo of my in-laws. Go-go cart on the sand. Got a little stuck? Who would have guessed? But the W family is on the job !

And we're on our way back to the house.

In time to watch another moonrise from the Pagoda.

We tried to visit the Lighthouse (actually leaving the house for something other than grocery store runs? What?!! Crazy), but it was closed. Little Boy was quite annoyed making a fine cousin photo op.

Noodle and the Goose mobile? Oh my.

The rest of the family had to leave early on Friday morning and with them went the perfect beach weather. Storms rolled in across the ocean, the temps fell and we spent most of the day snuggled in the house, watching.

Except for a jaunt to the lighthouse (stormy windy day? perfect to climb the light house).

Way up to the top!!!

A tad gusty up there.

Anon, we too have to make the long trek home again. Good thing we had our in-car entertainment system to keep the little ones occupied.

(This photo? Could be entitled, "how I spent most of my childhood - without the seat belt".)