Father's Day

Wow...almost a whole year since I've blogged. A hell of a lot has gone on, but that's for another time. This post? This one's about my dad...

For those of you who know me pretty well, you'll already know a lot of this story. I'll do my darnedest to not turn this into a teal deer, but we'll see what happens...

So, just a hair over 6 years ago, my father was in a nearly fatal accident. He had been riding his motorcycle when he was struck side-on by a car - a car whose driver didn't look both ways before entering the road, from what I gathered from the police report. The first information I got about the accident was wrong. The woman who was with the tow truck driver had decided to answer dad's cell phone, and told me that he had been driving without a license and had been taken in by the Brunswick cops. Turns out, PATENTLY false. Like, not even in the realm of reality. I called my sister, let her know that the woman who answered dad's phone said he was fine, just had been taken in for no license. Ok, fine. Then I get a phone call from dad's girlfriend. I needed to get home NOW, dad was in a coma and they weren't sure if he was going to make it through the night. I'm sorry, what now? After a few frantic phone calls, I found someone to drive me home to Maine (almost 4 hours) - I didn't dare try to drive myself. My best friend at the time, Matt, called while we were on the road to Maine. He insisted that my ride (my ex-boyfriend) drop me off at the hospital the next morning, and Matty would be along shortly thereafter to keep me company/keep me sane. Regardless of it being the last day of classes, and a hell of a long drive with no hockey game at the end, Matt ignored my protestations, repeated his instructions, and wished me luck for the rest of the ride.
Arriving at the hospital, I wasn't sure what to expect...How banged up would dad be? Would he be able to hear me at all? Anything? The doctors told me that if they could get him to 24 hours, they could get him to 48. If they could get him from 48 hours to 72 hours, he stood a good chance of surviving. What state he'd be in, we didn't know yet, but he'd be alive at least.Well, it's a start.
Days passed, countless hours spent watching monitors in his room, monitors that registered his blood pressure, his pulse, the pressure in his brain...everything. He'd had a traumatic brain injury, and no one was quite sure what was going to come next. (ok, going to skip a bit, no one needs to read the drama...and if you know me well enough, you know that a)I'm not a fan of the drama, and b)there was one HELL of a lot of drama)
Skip ahead 6 years and guess what? Dad's walking me down the aisle in August. My dad is one of the toughest, strongest men I know (and that's not just physical strength, though he's damned strong, too). He's overcome so much since his accident...yes, he has his days where you can absolutely tell he's had an accident (he gets tired easily, is a little shorter tempered, doesn't quite pick up on when my sister and I are being smartasses as quickly) and there are other days where he's almost right back to where he was pre-accident.
There are times, especially when he's having a bad day, where it's easy for me to sit an wallow in self pity, about how unfair it is my fiance and future kids won't ever know just how funny my dad was (he's still pretty funny though!), or exactly what he was like...but then again, they get to know him NOW, and that's the really important part.
Happy Father's day, Dad. I know you'll probably never read this, what with being anti-computer and all, but I love you more that you'll know.

Vacation...

It's a funny thing, vacation. When I take time off from work, other than my usual 2 days per week, it goes under vacation. Whether or not it's actually a vacation, unless I'm sick, it's classified as vacation. A vacation for me picks up on the first part of the word vacation. Vacat(e) - get the hell outta dodge for a little while. My usual "vacation" involves sitting in the sunroom or laying in the hammock at Dan's mom's house. A nice quiet, restful time, filled with knitting, visiting friends and trips to Sully's (only the best breakfast spot *ever*). But my vacations rarely involve going somewhere I've never been or rarely go, and staying in a hotel. Until last year.

Last year Kate and I decided to take a girls only trip somewhere. Didn't much matter where, just somewhere. We batted around various ideas, and settled on Martha's Vineyard. Close enough that we can drive down in a few hours, but far enough away that we're pretty well removed from our normal lives. We did the requisite wandering of the island, visiting a few different beaches, seeing the lighthouse at Menemsha, and some reasonably ok fireworks in Oak Bluffs. Also,we can't forget the piggies! We saw little baby pigs racing for an oreo at the ag fair...certainly an interesting sight, to be sure. We wandered hither and yon (sometimes in search of a bus stop, sometimes because we felt like it), and overall had a lovely time. There were thoughts of going again, then November hit Kate like a ton of bricks, and the thought was out (of my head, anyway..)

After an evening in which we discussed some of the finer points of lace knitting (shuddup, you're not a knitter, you wouldn't understand! ;) Kate mentioned that she hadn't picked up the lace project she was working on on Martha's Vineyard since we got back. I offhandedly said we must need to go again, then. About 10 seconds later, we decided we were going again. I had planned ahead this year for Martha's Vineyard and Rhinebeck, and had been squirreling away my pennies for just such a day, so I was able to put down the hotel fee upfront.

Months passed, we talked about going, and now it's here! We leave Friday, and I, for one, can't wait. Given the unlikelihood of going next year (between new arrivals on Kate's end and getting married next August for me), I'm oh, so glad we're able to do it this year. But regardless of anything, there's always Rhinebeck.....

maple balsamic vinagrette

recorded so I can't forget/lose it...

2 parts balsamic vinegar (doesn't have to be expensive, just good...Newman's Organic is delightful for this)
1 part olive oil
fresh thyme
1-2T REAL maple syrup

pour vinegar into a large measuring cup. Stream oil in slowly while whisking vigorously to combine. Whisk in maple syrup and chopped thyme. YUM! Awesome over strawberries...

*snort*

straight from the boy's mouth to the blog:
(in reference to some terrific pasta/salad bowls that were bought at Ikea, and of which only 1 still survives...)
me: I don't think they're that fragile...I think we're just clumsy.
boy: They are fragile. I am as dexterous as a cat...a cat with no thumbs and wet, soapy paws....I am as dexterous as a cat.

Thank you...

Just a little spot to send out a quiet, cosmic thank you to the service men and women out there...Special thoughts to: Grandpa, Uncle Don, Joe, Bill, Eric, Annie, Jeff, Stephen, and the GMC guys. I'm grateful for each and everyone one of you!

What is normal, anyway?!

Normal...such a nice, bland sounding word. A word that implies that all is how it should be, even keeled and without need of change. But sometimes things change without your permission...and then you need to get a new normal. When my dad moved out? Total shift in what normal became. Dinner as a family became fend for yourself night on a regular basis (fend for yourself night was AWESOME. Eat whatever you wanted for dinner, whenever you decided you were hungry.) Going away to school senior year? Definite new normal needed (life with roommates, no control over most meals, enforced study hours...). Going away to college? Same thing. The biggest new normal for me has been my dad. About 5 years ago he was in a serious accident, leaving him in a drug induced coma for weeks, and leaving a whole bunch of scar tissue on his brain. The man my father is today is not the man he was even seconds before the accident. That's not to say that he's entirely different, but there are marked differences. He gets tired more easily, gets confused easily, and sometimes just isn't quite himself. The biggest change in normal for me is my mindset regarding him, though. It's taken me a while to come to terms with the realization that my soon to be husband and future children will not know the man I grew up with. They'll know Fred 2.0...and while that isn't necessarily a bad thing, I'll know the difference...but what's abnormal to me, will be perfectly normal to them...what is normal, anyway?!

Someday..

I'll get around to sifting out my recipes and putting them on an attached blog, or something, to differentiate from the knitting/random stuff blog topics. Until such time (which, let's face it, I'm lazy so....never), the subjects will remain mixed together.
Without further ado, here's a random smattering of what I've been up to, am listening to, etc...

New music: The Johnnies debut album, the new Decemberists (both are amazing, get them NOW)

Knitting projects: pay no attention to the column to the right of your screen. It's full of lies. Also, I'm working on other stuff.

I'm currently on a muffin baking kick. It might be just a one day kick, but it's a reasonably epic one...4 different kinds of muffins today, all with different batters. Blueberry, lemon raspberry, honey corn, and morning glory (my own take on them, though...no nuts or raisins, thankyouverymuch, but added some oats...subbed applesauce for 3/4 of the oil...came out AWESOME.)

Dinner tonight was a take off of a fabulous pasta dish my uncle made last weekend. Whole wheat penne, tossed with: olive oil, shallots, garlic, asparagus, broccoli, carrots, spinach, chicken and sundried tomatoes. added a little dried thyme and kosher salt at the end. ohmygod. amazing.

Other excitement: wedding planning is at a standstill, due entirely to laziness and end of the semester stuff for Dan, logged some quality baby time while K finished up a project, shoved my foot in my mouth regarding dinner with dad last night and a comment about unemployment to K (guh. studip studip studip....think, madigan. THINK.)

So, yeah...nothing super exciting...off to watch game 7 of the Bruins/'Canes series....