Family | A Thankfully Imperfect Woman

Sep 3

Father and Daughter, Off to School

This is my favorite ‘First Day of School’ picture.

I actually didn’t plan this shot at all. I said my ‘Have a good day(s)!!!’, they left via the back of the house, and I headed out the front to put a card in the mailbox. I looked up as I turned to go back in and there they were.

{Sigh}

Doesn’t this tug at your heart?

It’s especially sweet when you consider the fact that Gabi is 13. I love the fact that she still likes walking to school with her Dad. Well…most days. Once winter comes, she’s not as inclined to head out as early as Tim does (when it’s -20). I think she holds out hope that either we’ll have a heatwave in that 1/2 an hour that she waits, or that Mom will feel sorry for her and give her a ride.

Right.

We only live 3 blocks from the school.

Not happening.

There are moments that I do give her a ride. The days that are colder than -20. Like -30…-40, or if it’s pouring rain outside.

I know…I’m up for Mother-of-the-Year.

Hmmm…

Maybe that’s part of the reason she likes walking with her Dad. Well…that and I’m sure they talk math and athletics on the way to school. She is his Mini-Me after all.

{Sigh}

I sure love those two.

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I had planned on ending my blog there, however, Gabi just sent me a text from her CC Running practice…here’s the conversation:

Gabi…Mum?

Me…Yessssss?

Gabi…Can you pick me up when we’re done?

Me…Why? (I know, I’m such a loving mother aren’t I?)

Gabi…Cause I don’t want to walk home in the rain and cause you are an amazing mother.

Me…Hahahahaha! (That was for the buttering up.) It’s not raining now!

Gabi…Yeah, but I will call you when we are done and then we can decide

Me…Ok

…..guess who’ll be walking home if it’s not raining! 😉

Patty O

ps…for those of you who are new to my blog…my husband is an advanced math teacher and athletic director at our high school.

Aug 19

Rewind to Day One: 219 Blog Posts and 410 Followers Ago

Just for fun…and, well, because Gabi wanted to see it, I pulled up my first blog post.

As I re-read it I laughed at myself and thought maybe I should re-post it for those of you that started following recently. Read more

Apr 1

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Dear God…Sometimes Life Just Kinda Stinks

Today was one of those days, and no, this is NOT an April Fool’s Day joke.

We’ve been dealing with anger issues with Motzy lately. He would do really well…and then suddenly snarl at one of us.

We tried everything…reprimanding him, putting him in his kennel for a timeout, and anything else you can imagine. We even had our own private Veterinary advisor Jen – the daycare baby’s Mom. She talked us through many ideas for training and disciplining him.

But today we had to say goodbye.

He went after Gabi last Thursday night when she was doing nothing more than snuggling with him – like they had every night for the past 7 months. He left 8 indents on her hands along with a couple scrapes. He didn’t break skin, but she froze in fear. Motzy was immediately put in his kennel where we didn’t hear a peep from him until morning.

Today he went after me twice. This morning leaving a few teeth indents on my hand and this afternoon I was saved by his cone. He has snarled at us before and had attempted to bite but hadn’t connected. We had him neutered on Friday with the hope that it might help things. Unfortunately it didn’t, he actually was worse.

We had to make the decision today, and even though we knew we absolutely couldn’t have a dog that snapped at any of us or the two little daycare babies, it was still hard to say goodbye. He was the sweetest dog 95% of the time. But we couldn’t take a chance on the other 5%, especially with his episodes escalating.

I told Gabi before we left that maybe this was just all part of God’s plan. Maybe Motzy has a wonderful new home to go to where he’ll be able to do all the things English Setters are supposed to do – go bird hunting and get lots of exercise each day. Maybe that owner wouldn’t have been able to take him when he was a pup. Maybe we were supposed to give him lots of love for 7 months so that he could eventually meet up with his permanent owner.

For now Jen was able to find a foster home. She’s hoping to find him a permanent home soon. I imagine a farm where maybe he could live in a barn and run free.

But for today, we kissed him goodbye and told him how much we loved him. He’s spending the night at the Vet Clinic awaiting his ride.

Whatever God’s plan may be for Motzy, or for us…

Sometimes life just kinda stinks.

Patty O

Mar 30

2 Comments

When Something Touches Your Soul

Have you ever had a smell, a touch, a sight, a sound, or even a taste touch your soul? Such a poignant touch that tears start to fall, or you revel in a sweet memory this sense brings back to your mind? I’ve experienced this before, and I had it happen again on Saturday.

Let me explain and share my moment…

I was sitting with my morning cup of coffee, listening to Sirius XM – The Message and the song ‘You Raise Me Up‘ by Selah came on. My husband and I were in the middle of a conversation and tears just started to flow down my cheeks. He looked at me with a questioning look on his face, as we weren’t having any kind of earth shattering conversation, and all I could do was shrug my shoulders. “It’s the song”, was all I could say. Why? I have no idea. I don’t remember when I last heard it or why it was so poignant to me. But sometimes we don’t have all the answers, do we?

In His hands…we’re all in His hands. And what a comfort that is.

Good times or bad, He’s with us. Whether we feel Him there or not…He’s there.

May God bless all of you on this Sunday.

He sure has blessed me.

Patty O

Mar 29

Best Snack EVER: Frosting & Graham Crackers

This post comes courtesy of Miss Gabi and Mr. Lah’s Speech Class. Her assignment was to do a demonstration speech and she chose ‘How to Frost a Cupcake’. Can I just say YUM?

I had to write a note to her teacher so that he knew she made them without any help. Of course, I couldn’t just leave it at ‘Yes, she did it all herself’. Me? No. I also added ‘Feel free to give her another food assignment’!

The inventor of this Best Snack EVER is my sister Carol. She is a woman of many talents; cake decorator, painter of pictures, stained glass art creator, house and yard decorator, baker of amazing cookies, caregiver, great Mom, and yes, everyone loves her. I hate her. Just kidding. I admire her – always have and always will!

It was in her cake decorating that she came up with the idea of using the extra frosting by putting some between graham crackers. Her sons and I thoroughly enjoyed her extra frosting creations. And now you can too!

For the frosting for Gabi’s cupcakes, she used a fantastic recipe courtesy of the Food Network’s website and creator Gale Gand. I hope you like it as much as we did:

Quick Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream

Directions:

In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter.

Mix on low-speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.

Now for the tough part…to frost a cake or a use it all as snacks. Hmmm…

I vote for the snacks.

Set up your station with your bowl of frosting and your pack of graham crackers, now grab your graham crackers, break them in half and slather (technical term) some frosting on half. Use the other half to top off your creation.

We’ve discovered that the best beverage selections to complement your creation are either a glass of milk (our choice of beverage when her sons and I were younger), or a glass of wine (for us now in the ‘over 21’ category).

Ready, set, EAT! Yummmmmmmy!

I hope you enjoy your treats as much as we did!

Patty O

ps…As you can see Miss Gabi added food coloring and made rainbow frosting. I wish I’d taken a picture of her cupcakes, they were beautiful!