Pow!

Trying to find a neutral way to write about this... On Friday, my Son #1 socked his best friend in the face.  He has to face the consequences, but they're pretty minor.  There are a lot of complications to this situation.  Son #1 is highly supported by the school in his friendship with this kid, because this kid is dealing with unspeakable and extremely unfortunate events in his own life, and of course none of those things are his fault.  The only piece of this I'm interested in commemorating, however, is that Son #1 first exhibited patience for, in his words, THREE YEARS.  He has done his level best to meet this kid's needs in the friendship, but on this day, he had had enough and he lashed out.

Now we are raising the children to be peacemakers as best we can.  We attend the annual peace parade in our town on Martin Luther King Day.  When they play video games we always are asking them to think about the "bad" guy in any scenario... WHY is he the bad guy?  What made him that way?  Did no one love him when he was young?  Did he get kicked around and so now he wants to kick others around?  Are the so-called "good" guys actually just stealing resources from characters who only want to preserve what they believe belongs to them?  Always, we suggest another way to see the story being told.

But at the same time, in THIS situation, we step back and re-live our own childhoods for a moment.  Would his father or his mother have ever responded this way?  Or would we have gone the doormat route?  And which is the right thing?  So, we hug our kid, we tell him we love him, and we encourage him to try and have just that little tiny bit more patience the next time so he can not violate the school rules.  And quietly, in our hearts, we are delighted that he had the strength to stand up for himself when he felt enough-was-enough.

Recreational To-Do List...

Three recipes to try...  I'm always wishing for ways to showcase my cousin's amazing maple syrup although I hate to mess with the brilliance and simplicity of homemade waffles or vanilla ice cream... However, here is a recipe for Maple Cookies I'd like to try.

Then I followed somebody's Pinterest, one click led to another and I found Baked Cinnamon Roll Pancakes.  They look so good you could probably enjoy them just by reading the recipe.

And here's some bread I'd like to try... Amish White Bread.  This weekend, I made a recipe off the King Arthur Flour website for Hearth Bread.  It rose well, but I think another time I would try it as a single loaf rather than a double, and do the version where you let it rise a second time.

I just finished reading the 19th in a series of books by Janet Evanovich... I'm just finishing up the "in between" ones which appear to combine characters from two different series.  But somehow I tripped over a movie titled after the first book in the series, "One for the Money," on Netflix.  So some night I want to watch that.

Anyway, just wanted to store those links somewhere so I could close all these tabs in my browser!

Bon Voyage, Casco... Rest easy, old friend.

This morning I received an email from the Maine island cousins telling me that their very sick dog may finally be done with her fight for life...  They wrote:

Hi Elizabeth,

Have been meaning to write you to let you know Casco is checking out. She is here with us, comfy on the couch at the end of a week of not eating...her liver started to refuse food and she had to go with it. We are hoping she will journey off via sleep so cancelled a vet appointment today as we felt it would be stressful and hopefully nature can take its course. She has wakeful moments, like "I cannot leave this world...who will guard the yard..And you?" As ever though, we are following her lead here, hoping not to see her in any pain, or we will have to head the mainland route. We have all said goodbye, even Linda our [local to me] neighbor by phone, and let her know it is ok to go, even though we will miss her, we will stiver on...but Hanna said she wonders if Cass might also be waiting for you to give the ok, just via brain waves...so I thought—good idea, I had been meaning to let you know anyway. So, please send her some send offs if you can...it would be so much more her if she can go from here.

And so I sat down and wrote the following...

Hi, all... Thank you for letting me know.  Casco has certainly fought a long and brave fight, having lived so many years with fullness despite her various adversities.  She has been such a personality.  As her spirit winds its way heavenward, Casco may find the perfect comrade to whisper her guardian secrets to, to send your way, as Ptolli sent us Amanda, completely unexpected but exactly what we needed.

And so we will pray for endless sleep and rest, which she so deserves, and light a candle for her tonight at church, that she might see a beautiful light in her dreams, and follow it... And when she awakes it will be in a meadow of tall green grass under a huge shade tree with squirrels racing through its branches, by a brook... And when she goes to drag herself forward, it is suddenly no trouble at all, as she is light and strong and with four perfect legs she was always meant to have... Oh the riotous barking then!  And here comes Ceile with her tail wagging so hard and fast, as it touches both sides of her body, to show her all the best spots, to give Casco a quick lick on her face and assure her that Abby will look after "our girls" and it's okay to rest and be happy.

Godspeed, dear Casco.  You are a very brave dog, you have worked so very hard, and it is indeed okay to rest and let go now.  You are very loved and that love will go on and on.

Love, Elizabeth

John and I have escorted four dogs into the-life-to-come... I wish allowing any of them to pass in their own time at home had been an option.  And I really hope Casco can slip away in her sleep soon.

You may have seen this before...

... but it's worth repeating.  And current for me, since I made this tonight:

Carrot Cake (which people who don't even like carrot cake will like)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a cookie sheet or 9X13 pan with spray.

In a large bowl, blend with a whisk:

4 eggs (or 1 c. Eggbeaters)
2 cups of sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil (canola)
3 X 4 oz. jars of carrot baby food or
     1 1/2 cups cooked carrots, pureed with minimal water

In a smaller bowl, whisk together:

2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking SODA
1 tsp. salt
3 tsp. cinnamon

Add the whisked dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk all together until well blended.  Pour into prepared cookie sheet or pan.  Bake 20-25 minutes, longer for the 9X13 pan, until the center springs back when touched.  Cool before frosting.

Cream cheese frosting:

4 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar.

Blend all ingredients in your dry ingredients bowl until smooth.  Spread on cake.

I made this tonight after attending Vespers where I learned that tomorrow's Italian-themed charity brunch could use more desserts.  I'm not a fan of Italian pastries since I don't care for anise (although I do like ricotta pie from Virgilio's).  So, I figured I could make my carrot cake quickly and then decorate the frosting with red, white and green frosting to make an Italian flag.  Voila!  Dessert is in the fridge, ready for tomorrow.