HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR SISTER!!

Today is my little sister's birthday. I am reprinting here what I wrote last year on her birthday.

The older we get, the closer we get. I wish that you, dear bloggers, could have a relationship like this in your lives with one of your siblings. I can remember when I was a very little girl and Linda was born. I stayed with our Nana while Mom was in the hospital. In those days, people didn't have babies and come home in two days. I remember that Mom had to come home without Linda because my new sister had a life-threatening problem. She was born -Rh factor and had to have blood transfusions. I remember clearly Mom sitting on Nana's sofa crying. I was four years old. Dad was frantically looking for blood donors. I don't remember more details, but the new precious baby in our lives pulled through. I remember being allowed to go to the hospital and see her in her little incubator.

Linda was the one who knew everyone in the neighborhood. She organized backyard fairs, had coffee with the older neighbors (she was then about 7) and loved to perform her dance routines for us in front of the television. Where was I? Mom would say, "Tina get your nose out of that book, and go outside and get some fresh air." As you can see, Linda was the outgoing one and I was the introvert. She was also the one who would cry if Mom or Dad yelled at her. I was the one who refused to shed a tear.

Unfortunately, looking back I remember being a brat to my little sister. I think she forgives me. There were adult years when we had disagreements and didn't see each other often, but thank heavens these always resolved themselves. I could go on and on, but I will end with this: Linda is so precious to me now. I cherish all of our memories and time together. Happy Birthday dear little sister!

Look on my sidebar and you will see a picture of Linda and me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LINDA!!!

Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah

What a crummy day here in coastal Delaware - cold, rainy, yucky. Why couldn't it be snow? My daughter is in Massachusetts and they had a foot of snow on Friday and more expected.


Four days until Christmas and I guess I am ready. Actually, Christmas is very low key this year since I won't be seeing my daughter and the grandchildren (they were here at Thanksgiving and will travel to Tennessee for Christmas). I have lights outside and a little tree and decorations up in the house and it looks pretty festive. The packages have been mailed and we will visit my husband's daughter and grandchildren on Saturday. Since it will only be the two of us for Christmas dinner I thought we would go to a wonderful restaurant in Rehoboth which is very Victorian and oceanfront. They have a big Christmas buffet, but when I called for reservations they were all booked. What a bummer. I guess I will make a small turkey with all the trimmings, but I am disappointed. Christmas Eve we will go to church. We are having friends over for dinner on Tuesday night. I will be making my cherry tomato/capers/shrimp pasta recipe. My husband loves this dish and I hope our friends do also.


I hope all of you have a beautiful Christmas. Today is the first day of winter and also the beginning of Hanukkah. Happy Hanukkah!

TODAY ON BEECH DRIVE

I know I haven't written for awhile. In a nutshell: there was Thanksgiving, a real estate class, several doctor's appointments, a funeral and....and....is that all?? I feel like I have been SO busy.

My daughter and son-in-law and grandsons and my granddog came down from Massachusetts for the holiday. How wonderful it was to spend some time with them. The boys are growing so fast, but are still my little boys -- the same with my daughter. She will always be my little girl. I was in a funk for a few days after they left because I missed them so much. I think the older we get the more we miss our children if they aren't close to us. For those of you who have your family close by, treasure this because you are very, very lucky.

I am now recuperating from something -- the flu, bronchitis - something. I went to the doctor and am on antibiotics. I came down with it on Wednesday and am just now starting to feel better.

We attended a funeral on Saturday for one of my husband's very close friends. He was only 58. It was a graveside service -- very cold. I was bundled up and I hope I don't have a relapse. There was a bagpiper which only added to the sadness of the occasion. We just can't believe the friend is gone.

This is what happened to my Sunday dinner:

Since I haven't had much appetite I had made a beautiful chicken noodle soup and was planning to have it for dinner. I had chunks of chicken in it, along with pastina and some corn. I had a cup of it this afternoon and was really looking forward to it at dinner. My husband wanted stuffed green peppers and he had brought home the peppers and the ground beef last night so for his dinner I went to some bit of trouble and attention to make the stuffed peppers along with some creamed corn. I don't like stuffed peppers or creamed corn. He had been out working on his boat all day and when he came home he was in the kitchen and I called to him that the peppers were in the oven and would be finished in thirty minutes. He didn't answer so I yelled out "THE PEPPERS ARE IN THE OVEN"!!. Did you hear me? Yes, he said. He proceeded to come into the family room with bowl after bowl of chicken soup. I said, "Aren't you going to ruin your dinner with all that soup?" He said, "Isn't this dinner?" To make matters worse, he had dumped the entire pan of creamed corn into the soup and declared, "This is delicious!" So - gone was my chicken noodle soup and after he ate one of the stuffed peppers I asked him how it was. "Uh, so-so." MEN!!!!