Simply Norma

A normal day might consist of paying bills, cleaning house, etc. etc.Today was almost normal except that I put Musica Navidad on (old old music) and my energy level went sky high. The upbeat Puerto Rican music has always had that effect on me. Played on high volume, the music permeates every corner of the house and every cell in my being.

With feet dancing and hips moving, I finally finished the odd jobs one does in getting ready for winter: removed and cleaned the mesh screens from the windows, cleaned and stored the deck pillows and window washed.

I’ve been delaying these indoor tasks for days like today when most of the outside work is completed and I can focus on indoor work.

Christmas is one of my favorite holidays … llego llego, llego la Navidad. (it arrived, it arrived, Christmas has arrived).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLnaqyaJYlw

[amazon_link id=”B000CSO9MK” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]

Arriving in North Dakota for our Thanksgiving family gathering, we were greeted with a drop in temperature and a beautiful site to behold — a red cardinal who was perched lazily on a tree outside the window. How majestic he looks sitting so straight and tall.

We had absolutely no preparations to make for this dinner as the only request was that we drive and arrive safely. Upon entering, the warmth of the house, both in hearts and from heat registers, greeted us. It’s hard to believe that only two years ago we lived on the west coast away from family gatherings.

After all the hugs and hellos, we went to the kitchen where the cook was busy with last minute details.

The uncooked capon sat waiting for the proper time to make its entrance into the oven. Only four hours and this bird would be filling our bellies.

As the North Dakota sun set in the west, our family sat down to a homemade dinner on a table set with china that has been passed down through generations. Traditions are mostly good and this one was no exception as the combination of delicate-looking china with wonderful looking food was a beautiful sight — enough to make our glands salivate.

The table was set and the candles were lovingly lit. As we gathered around the table many jovial remarks were made. Jocularity! Jocularity! So much jocularity!

The feast that lay before us was nothing short of a miracle as each dish was surprisingly good. Normally when a cook makes many dishes one or two tend to “fall short.” But that was not the experience of this day.

The capon was cooked to perfection.

Waldorf Salad, anyone?

I had requested yams with no marshmallows and this dish was delectable. Sliced thinly and fried in butter the yams were both light in texture and taste.

With stomach ready for food, I quickly stopped taking pictures for the evening.

Ahhh!!! I forgot to take pictures of the pumpkin and pecan pies that were served with homemade whipped cream. Oh well … you’ll have to use your imagination.

With bellies full and hearts afloat with thankfulness for the blessings in our lives, we drove to our hotel room with the North Dakota winds and snow blowing across our path.

We woke up to a rather chilly, no, let’s be honest, a rather COLD day and yet visual beauty still found its way to our hearts as the snow gathered on the tree branches who accepted it gracefully with no complaints.

As Sabbath drew near, the majority of the family made their way back home from the movie theatre. We sat around the table again (it’s always nice to sit around the table) and feasted on the pasta casserole our nephew made, pie and more family fellowship.

Soon we’ll be heading back to the quietness of our home where the deer and the buffalo, er, squirrel play. There will be more days in the future to share in family blessings again. Until then, our hearts will store these memories away.

My sister has two of the cutest dogs I’ve ever met. They are cuddly, friendly and lovable. If I were to get a dog … well, that’s a story for another day.

How can anyone resist this cuddly face? They are quite the snugglers.

This next one needs a haircut.

These next two dogs are a lot larger but they are quite friendly. Personality-wise Peanut and Pinto have similar personalities — loving attention. And Peanut is very very strong and obedient.

And lastly is the calm and collected Blue Great Dane — Zeppelin. He likes to be petted and is so obedient — “Go to your bed” his mother tells him, and he goes straight to his bed.

Aren’t they beautiful? And look at this special pose perfect for picture taking.

Yes indeed — an evening with the dogs while watching the Chicago Bears get tromped on (oops! did I say that out loud?).

Dogs are fun to have around but for asthmatic folk one has to be careful not to spend too much time petting them even if they are “hairless.”

Brrr … it’s gotten cold outside — a not-so-balmy twenty-seven degrees. Normally that’s not too cold for me but it feels exceptionally dry and the minute I walked outside the cold seemed to grip my chest like a boa constrictor who wraps himself around a person’s legs.

This is known as asthma-inducing weather — cold and dry. My preparation for this kind of weather is to put an inhaler in every purse and jacket I own so I never forget it. How is this possible for me to have so many inhalers? Ahhh, I knew you’d want to know. (smiling)

When my inhaler expired less than a year ago, I called my doctor and told her I needed a refill and she called it in to my mail-order pharmacy. When I got a large package in the mail I wondered why packaging had to be so large for such a small item until, that is, I opened the package.

Inside were about 10 inhalers. Apparently (although not apparent enough to me) the mail order pharmacies can’t send ONE of anything. They considered this a refill for 90 days, or so the lady I spoke with told me. They weren’t returnable either.

I asked the woman why they wouldn’t call to confirm as I don’t know anyone who uses 10 inhalers in 90 days without having to be admitted into the hospital. She said she would “note” my record for future refills. Uh, no, I’m not planning future refills for one inhaler through your company as you’ve already told me you can’t do it.

The funny thing is that I rarely use my inhaler — perhaps 5 times a year, a day here a day there. I’m an atypical asthmatic who normally gets asthma with today’s type of weather (if I’m unprepared) or if I get a really bad chest cold.

Today I just have to wait for the weather to warm up and I’ll be able to breathe normally again. Thirty minutes have passed and I still have an uncomfortable tight feeling in my chest but have not reached for the inhaler yet as it sometimes goes away by itself.

When we bought our house over a year and a half ago, we were thankful that we had a heater in the garage because of the cold Minnesota winters. Very few houses we looked at had garage heaters and we looked at well over 100 houses.

The heater had a thermostat attached to it so my husband turned it down to the lowest setting last winter and the garage stayed nice and warm, especially on extra cold days.

This past January, after we arrived home from vacation, we pulled into the garage and it smelled like gas. The smell seemed to be coming from the gas heater so we turned it off and figured we’d have the gas company out to see if maybe we had a leak.

When I called the gas company though they told me someone would be out in a week. Hmm … it must not be important, I thought. So, we kept the gas valve turned off to the heater (the winter was quite mild) and I didn’t worry about it until late this summer.

When I called the gas company this time, they came out within 30 minutes. The young lady I spoke with regarding the problem said that someone should have come out immediately when I called before. What a warm fuzzy feeling I had in my stomach when I heard that. Uh, not!

The repairman did some testing and after a few minutes told me that the valve had a small leak but that it only leaked if the heater was turned on so there was no danger as long as we kept it off. He then told me I should call a heating/cooling company to replace the valve.

This time I decided to move a little quicker than before and called a heating/cooling company right away. The gentleman who came out measured the garage and told me that the heater we currently had was an industrial one and too large for the square footage we had.

That actually makes sense as the previous owner of our house worked in heating/cooling and did many “upgrades” to our house that went above and beyond what one would expect.

The options we had were to replace the valve or buy a new heater. Keeping in mind that the industrial heater was almost 20 years old, we decided to buy a new smaller heater. Maybe then it would be quieter also.

I felt sorry for the installers when they arrived to install the new heater as the old one was  really heavy and they should have had three men to dismantle it instead of two. Unfortunately, I could not offer my services as I didn’t want such a large contraption falling on my head. They figured it out but the old heater almost fell on one of the installers.

The newly purchased heater is a lot smaller than the old one, runs smoothly and is quieter.

We’re fortunate to own a garage heater. Yes, very very fortunate.