Monday, December 29, 2008

that was fun



sunset Sunday 12-28-08
This shot out my back window caught some of that sun slipping under the clouds that have been in the sky much of the past week. I love the silhouette of the trees against the vibrant sky as the sun goes down in our back yard here in DC. 

One of Keith's gifts, upon departing for his home, is to bring flowers for my Mom and this year he got some golden simbidiums that were gorgeous.

My best gift for mom was this photograph finally matted and framed. You can't see it very well because the shinny surface of the C-print and the glass make it very hard to photograph this type of photograph. It is a collection of objects that includes a lot of my father's medals, his portrait and his army hat, that I styled back in 1990 and was taken by Valerie Brown. With Valerie I had a show of about 20 photos like this at Addison Ripley Gallery in 1991 which opened the same night as the 1st Gulf War began. It was all paid for by Valerie and she gave me this print for my work with her creating the collection, I chose it especially for mom since Dad wasn't a well man, even back then.

This holiday was a little sad without Dad this year but we had a good time in spite of our losses. The gifts were plentiful and the weather mild, even nice, on Christmas day. I was in Manassas for four days and nursed my cold and enjoyed visiting with Mom. Christmas Day we took a nice stroll around the court while waiting for my brother to get out of bed and open presents. When he did get up, I got everything I wanted for Christmas and more. I now have a great over night bag to carry back and forth to visit home or other close by friends.  I am excited to try publishing the Blurb book which is a gift from my sister.  Keith has already taken a live online "web-inar" (like seminar) training him how to layout a book on Blurb's free software.  I will enjoy making photography books of my own photographs. I want to say thanks to Jenny and Frank for this cool gift. They also sent a Nike watch, which is great it lights up for old eyes in the dark! The headless gingerbread cookie cutters they sent are a curious gift. I suspect it has something to do with how I  bite off the head and feet and generally devour gingerbread men with no regard for the person in them. Some people (my sister?) are squeamish about eating things shaped like people so these will provide decapitated cookies for her right out of the oven. Mom and I tried a new recipe for Cornish Game Hens with ginger and orange that was good only the hens take a darn long time to roast for such small birds. We each had a hen with wild rice, bread stuffing, peas, spinach salad and warm rolls which made a fine Christmas day feast. Dessert: home made cookies! 
Keith will be home in Washington DC on New Year's Eve when we will  have our gift exchange with a bottle of sparkling cider, exchange gifts, and watch the ball drop on CNN with Anderson Cooper.  I can't wait to see Keith's face when he opens a few of the goodies we have for him. I feel really lucky and happy with my life right now. It seems a bit odd to be so fortunate with the financial crisis that the world is in this year. I can remember other times like this, that didn't last, so I am grateful for what I have and say thanks for it daily. Happy Holidays to you all!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The headless, armless, legless cookie cutters were a joke! I found them while shopping the afternoon after reading your blog about what a perfectionist you were trying to be in the cookie making process! With these new cookie cutters, you can not be perfect, so what the heck; relax and throw some dough araound!
Love, JENNY