Stasia's Place Of Grace

Saturday, November 23, 2002

 

Grateful For...

Homemade hot chocolate with fresh cocoa and cinnamon from Penzey's Spices, located nearby in Brookfield, WI. Their stuff is amazing, and even I am a relatively acceptable cook when I use their products! The gingerbread and gingersnaps I made this week were awesome! We're making bison sauerbraten tonight... will let you know how it turns out!

If you get on their mailing list, their catalog features many wonderful recipes each edition.

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Today it was crisp and sunny. I drove through farmland and little villages to get to charming Cedarburg to shop at Downtown Dough. Their cookie cutters (well, cookies made from their cutters!) were featured on a recent cover of "Good Housekeeping" magazine, and the local TV news did a spot on them last night. They have litterally hundreds of cookie cutters, in every shape imagineable. I'm talking teeth and toothbrushes, even, for your favorite dentist!

Here are my new cookie cutters!

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Fiona and her brother, Val, had a little spat this week. I am grateful for a wonderful emergency veterinarian who fixed her up (again). I am grateful that they used pink vet wrap bandages which made her look very cute. I am grateful that she is healing well. Val is grateful he still lives here. I am grateful Val is so cute so that Jeff isn't mad at him anymore for hurting Jeff's beloved Fi. I am grateful we know what caused the spat and can take steps to prevent it in the future.

I am really grateful that our new Visa card, (on which we put our new water softener and recent car repairs and holiday gifts) has 0% interest for six months (and Amazon book points) because that's about how long it's going to take us to pay off this vet bill! But it was worth every penny.

Fiona had the drain tubes taken out today and is now receiving hot compresses. She is loving all the attention and is actually quite spunky when she thinks nobody is looking.

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I am grateful for humor that comes out of nowhere sometimes.

Occasionally when I am very stressed (read: in the ER with the dog), the Hail Mary will come into my mind. I am not a Catholic, but I like prayers and chants from all different faiths, and find them soothing in times of trouble.

But I often find myself having to keep from laughing out loud when I realize I have just said (in my head), "...blessed art though amongst women, and blessed is the Fruit Of Thy Loom..."

I once knew a Lutheran minister who had grown up as a Catholic and who was an altar boy in his youth. There was some hymn about Communion that went, "Eat thy body, drink thy blood..." and he told the story of how he and his altar boy cohorts thought it great fun to sing the words as if they were Bela Lugosi. I still laugh about that.

There's a song by the band Journey called "Open Arms" and for some reason, whenever it's on, I'll be singing away in the car and will come to the chorus and, without thinking, will sing, "So now I turn to you, with broken arms..." and realize what I did, crack up, and then look around to make sure no other drivers are watching me giggling.

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Here is the latest addition to the Boyd's holiday tableau:

You have to love a little hootie owl in an old-fashioned hunting cap with an acorn-embroidered backpack! He's from the JCPenney's website. I couldn't resist when I saw him - I love owls and acorns and Boyd's animals!

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I am grateful that the vest for Jeff's grandfather is coming along well; I'm finished with the back and almost finished with one side of the front. Here is the back:

I found a yarmulke pattern and some variegated blue and white crochet cotton and am set to make Jeff a kippah for Hanukkah. (I have dreidel and star of David cookie cutters too, by the way!)

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I'm grateful that I found the dogs singing menorah, star of David, and dreidel toys from J. B. Pet Supply for Hanukkah gifts. They also are getting a Santa, a singing wreath, and a talking gingerbread man for when Christmas comes around.

My "present room" is a big mess - I'd better get wrapping!

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I'm grateful for reading this quote about 9/11 rescue workers by Richard Gere, which appeared in the December issue of "Rosie" magazine (now defunct):

"...[F]irefighters are true bodhisattvas. They save everyone. That's all they do. They don't ask, 'Are you a good guy, a bad guy?' They don't care what your color is, what your religion is. They don't care if you have money... They don't care what species you are, if you're a dog or a cat. If you're in trouble, they get you out. How many people do we know who actually have jobs like that and take it seriously to the point that they'll sacrifice their own lives? That's a bodhisattva. That's the thing to celebrate. That's what you want to nurture - not a swelled sense of nationalism or anger or revenge or fear."

Maybe I will use my new cookie cutters to make some cookies for the local rescue workers to thank them for all they do.

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I am grateful we got to see a red-bellied woodpecker at our birdfeeder today! Their bellies are not really red, but their heads are. They are very noisy and active and large birds, and a lot of fun to watch!

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Thank you for visiting today! I hope you are enjoying the approach of the holidays as much as I am.

I am thankful I have my decorating finished, and my shopping done, and can just relax and make cocoa and cookies, and wrap presents, and smell the woodsmoke and find the deer tracks outside, and just drink it all in! It snowed this week... and it actually stuck for a day!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

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