Happy Valentine's Day (a day late)

No explanation needed.

Forgot my faithful readers that do not have Facebook. I will make this short and sweet (for Valentine's Day). Created some pics of Bandit for the day. My day was wonderful. It included candy, flowers and a card from my favorite man (not Bandit). We were going to go out for dinner but since both of us hate crowds we opted for a meal at home and some Olympic coverage. Nice ending to a busy day.

A little shredded cheese always helps

Snow Dogs

getting to know you (musical note here)

Bandit getting to know the new neighbor dog, Kate.

I've got my eye on you

frozen toes (sounds of chattering teeth here, or toes)

the standoff (drum roll here)

Will you be my valentine?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

My husband is an awesome cook. We were discussing this with a couple that came over last night for dinner. He went on to explain that his mother was a very good cook. At Christmas she would spend all of one day baking 4-5 different kinds of cookies, along with other confections. He watched her and learned throughout the years. He said it was also kind of a "learn or starve" method as his mother worked full-time and he had no sisters that normally would take on the dinner making tasks during his elementary and high school years. Many times when we entertain he likes to try new or different recipes. Last night it was a lemon cheesecake. Not having a love of cooking I told him "why do you want to complicate things? Just make a cake from a box mix. Everyone likes cake don't they??" A picture is worth a thousand words so here it is.

Michael's Lemon Cheesecake with real whipped crème topping

Since the title of this post is "a picture is worth a thousand words" I am adding a lovely picture of my "soon to have a daughter daughter-in-law, Hannah. I include this because I thought it turned out so nice of her; her smile, her dress and the fact that her 3-yr-old son took it with my fairly expensive camera that he can hardly hold much less push the right button. Maybe he will be a future photo journalist, portraits a specialty! Way to go, Aiden!



Hannah

12 Ways to Stay Warm

Michael as a kid back in Wisconsin. We all smiled over the weather back then

I am on a roll with my blog posts. Trying to make them more interesting and fun to do as well. In honor of the frigid weather I thought I would post my 12 Top Ways To Stay Warm list. Here they are however not in any order:

1. Wash dishes by hand. I still do, however I use the dishwasher somewhat as well. Great way to get  warm though.
2. Iron, which combined with sewing is a great way to lead to cleaning out the sewing pile which also adds to energy, which adds to warmth, which leads to;
3. Cleaning house: vacuum, dust, add #1
4. Exercise to our lovely Jane Fonda cd's or whomever gets you moving 
5. hug someone; anyone!
6. Take a last minute vacation to a warmer climate.
7. Join a gym and hibernate in the Jacuzzi.
8. Shovel snow except that leads to getting cold and going inside which leads to warmth
9. Snuggle with your dog, cat, significant other (see #5),
10. Make a pot of tea. This would require you to have some in order to meet the rules of staying warm. Stay away from the caffeine though. It opens our corpuscles which makes us cold.
11. Have a glass of wine (being in front of a fireplace preferably with a fire going would be good)
12. Give up, climb under the covers and take a nap or read a good book. Maybe the one "Staying Warm in Winter in the North Central United States" could be a good first step.

This is my list. Feel free to add more if you so desire, especially if it keeps you warm. Also if you have time while trying to stay warm wish the guy in the pic a happy 65th. His birthday is tomorrow!

Skipping to Christmas

Sorry to all my blog readers out there. I have basically been in a "funk" and haven't been motivated to even do my favorite thing which is writing on this blog site. Nothing really happened in November anyway except turkey day.
Moving on to December, I hosted a cooking baking day with my two daughter-in-laws and my daughter. Venessa couldn't come as she was out of town but Hannah (Daniel's wife) and Karen came.
I was a little nervous due to never having a cookie baking day but we all did fine. I worked on cookies on the stove and the girls did oven baking. It was fun to see them work on their relationship building as well as their cookies. We fought Michael for the TV so we could tune in some Christmas carol listening but to no avail. Dumb football. Then I remembered my little speaker that can hook up to my phone and got some carols streaming throughout the kitchen while we cooked. The day was a success and we shared 3 different kinds of treats for a productive day together.

Hannah and Karen rolling out some delicious treats!

Fall trip

Went on the annual fall trip this past weekend. Same old, same old except we found a new place that was soooo much better than the others. Plan on hitting it next year. They also had the rare raspberry turnovers (everything is apple this or apple that) so Michael was in "heaven". Lots of color amid the orchards and farmers markets. Pecks is an annual event. They have everything and every year it seems they add more stuff; train rides, live animals, play area and tons of candy, cheese curds, popcorn and of course, apples of every size, shape and variety, not to mention cabbage.

cabbage at $3.00 a piece

Couldn't get but one or two pictures since no one would cooperate. Found a cardboard stand in Westby, Wisconsin where you stick your head through and pretend your Ole and Ingrid but no one wanted to be a fool for me (I guess just a fool for Christ). Anyway I have to admit it was kind of fun especially since Venessa and David joined us on the trip and I didn't have to drive for most of it since David helped while he pointed out all the deer stands he could find along the way.

Pecks Farm

Rah, Rah sis boom ba!

Michael, Ed, the teacher they honored (sorry, couldn't remember his name)

I recently attended Michael's homecoming and alumni celebration at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. If you have followed my posts for a year or more I put in a blip about it a couple years ago since we go every year. Michael is on the Alumni Chapter Board of Directors in the area of BILSA (Business, Industry, Life Science and Agriculture majors) and we go down there about 3 times a year. I hate the drive but it's worth it watching him rub elbows with old classmates and teachers he had and I have to admit I've made a few friends through my time with him there. High school is the same experience. Small town life brings with it some benefits at least for me as I wouldn't know a soul from high school. It's always fun as well to hear the classmates of these schools relate experiences that they remember about Michael that he hasn't shared with me.
Anyway the university experience is larger but interesting too. Upon arriving we attended an alumni luncheon where there were about 30 of us, 9 of whom were accepting awards for their work and contributions to the UW-P. Most had PHD's or Dr's degrees and their award came from an enormous amount of years with tons of money and time contributions to the school. I wondered at the time how they had the time to rack up so many accolades. Some even had buildings or scholarships named after them. It was truly amazing. One couple had bought a restaurant and a Dairy Queen in town. They made it their life goal to specifically hire the young students at the school. Then they mentored them through their college experience.  
Michael and one of his buddy's from college nominated one of their former teachers for his contribution in the field of media and television.  They said he was way ahead of his time. Ed composed a speech to share with the group.



Michael, the Chancellor Dennis Shields, Ed and the former teacher

I always enjoy seeing Michael with his friend Ed and the teacher was so touched by their honor of his work and as their teacher. I guess there is still time to at least make a dent in the lives of those around us.
The day ended with a huge luncheon that is supported by the Alumni committees for the school. Even though Karen went to the rival school (University of Wisc - Eau Claire) the Platteville experience is wonderful as well. They're strong suit is Engineering but they cover all majors. Talking with the teachers and staff members along with alumni I always get the impression that the students are of utmost importance to them. They care very deeply about their success and continuing their life after graduation.