Raising Hands

I love Thanksgiving and Advent and Christmas. I love cooking and baking. Going to church and quietly preparing for the celebration of our Lord's birth. Sometimes in the quiet sweet memories become bitter when my thoughts turn to loved ones I've lost. My grandmother in particular. This December 23 will mark the tenth anniversary of her passing.  This morning as I got a head start preparing our Thanksgiving meal I made a cranberry relish from her instructions and a Texas Sheet Cake that was her favorite. She's been on my mind all morning and I miss her just as much as ever.  Fair is fair Lauren. Here I am (at 13) in a blaze of bangs and braces glory.  I'd love to share the sheet cake recipe with you too:-) Texas Sheet Cake  2 cups unsifted flour 2 cups granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 4 tablespoons butter 1 cup water 6 tablespoons cocoa  1/2 cup sour cream  2 eggs 1teaspoon vanilla  1 teaspoon baking soda Combine flour, sugar, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Heat but

In the car on the way home from the pool Jacob noticed we were headed North on the road. He commented that if we kept going we could go to the North Pole. I said that I didn't have enough gas to make the trip and it would take too long since we were expected at Mom Mom's house later this morning. William offered up a most sincere solution to our problem. "Mom, what you need is a sled and some reindeer. Then we could get there fast AND still go to Mom Mom's!"  Truth

On Wednesday I met my new endocrinologist. All I can say is what a difference good communication skills can make! The good news is that my old Endo had ordered the tests that I thought he had not. He just never communicated the results to me. My new doctor confirmed my Hoshimoto's diagnosis and took the time to explain what that diagnosis means for the rest of my life. I'm much more upbeat about my overall prognosis after hearing all the facts. He also took the time to listen and answer all of my questions about things I've been reading about this disease and Thyroid disorders in general. My biggest take away is that there is a lot of junk on the internet and having a trusted healthcare provider is crucial.  My last blood test showed that my tsh is down to 3. (Normal tsh is between 1-2 and high numbers are bad. Numbers lower than that are bad too but a different problem all together.) Considering my baseline (taking no hormone) is 14! I'm definitely on the right track.

We're back! We all survived. I didn't take any pictures!  The bride was flawless. Her sisters were beautiful. It was wonderful to see you all even for only a few hours. I had a ball meeting ladies that I feel like I've known for years via the interwebs. It made the small talk at dinner so much easier:-)  I did manage to have someone take  a picture of Stephen and me.  We clean up pretty well:-) 

We have left our kids for afternoons and quick overnights countless times. With grandparents in town who love to have little ones around we are blessed with opportunities to be child free for an hour or two every once in a while.  What I've not done is prepare to leave them for a whole week and travel eight states away from them. This post is not about how desperately I'll miss them (To be sure I'll miss them but let's face it. Mama needs a break) and how I can't stand to leave them. No, this is about the daunting task and unbelievable amount of preparation it takes to leave three children for a week.  Health care waivers for my in laws to seek treatment in case someone becomes ill. Return ALL the library books. Make lesson plans, and more lesson plans. Write notes for every contingency I can think of. Medicine dosage charts incase someone gets a fever. All things that I keep stored in my head that a Mom just knows.  I'm in the weeds here. Just 24 hours to go! T

Steve's Dad got stuck spending the end of the week in Allentown (commence humming a Billy Joel song now;-) He's still trying to wrap things up with his brother's estate (make a will folks! Your loved ones deserve it.) We're celebrating his birthday today (it was Thursday) and I'm bring the cake.  My Mother in law gave me a couple old (vintage?) recipe flyers from 1977. One was for Baker's chocolate. I shared them on IG.  A recipe for cream cheese chocolate frosting caught my eye and that's what I made. I'm also leaving in five days for a whole week! So I used a box yellow cake mix I had in my pantry (for shame!) I did sub coconut oil for vegetable oil to tszuj it up a bit. I also frosted it in the pan because I'm taking it to Mom and Dad's later. And because I'm never going to be the woman who makes three tier cakes for family birthdays.  It's a pretty pan though:-) Here's how to make the frosting.  Ingredients: 8oz semi sweet chocola