Nana's Fruitcake

Growing up, nothing said Christmas like Nana's Fruitcake. Now I know that fruitcake gets a bad rap, but I had no idea it was the butt of so many jokes until well into adulthood. I simply knew I loved Nana's Fruitcake and looked forward to her box of homemade goodness each December.

I still remember coming home from work one night in early December 1993, my first Christmas in DC, and being surprised by a box of Nana's Fruitcakes. That's when I knew I was an adult. She didn't send it to me when I was in college, but now that I was on my own (and over 21), she felt no guilt in sending me her bourbon-soaked fruitcakes.

I practically ran all 9 flights of stairs as I salivated in anticipation of the goodness to come. Ripping open the box, I was not disappointed. The rich smell of bourbon seeped through the layers of wax paper, saran wrap, and aluminum foil. I unwrapped a small fruitcake to have just a taste before making dinner, but the phone rang and suddenly I was sitting on the couch chatting with a girlfriend and chowing on Nana's Fruitcake. When I tried to get up to make dinner, I discovered that much to my surprise, I was drunk!

Almost 2 years ago, on a post-Christmas trip to Florida, Nana and I made fruitcakes together. Although she'd long ago sent me her recipe, it was important to me that we make fruitcake together. Knowing the fruitcakes we made that day would be the last she ever made, I have stored them in the freezer, eaten them sparingly and sharing has not been an option.

As I've begun preparing for tomorrow evening's 2nd Annual Marshall Field's Memorial Dinner & Christmas Party, I decided that in Nana's honor, I would share slices of Nana's Fruitcake with my friends. Christopher was over today to start cooking and made a snide comment about fruitcake, so I pulled Nana's Fruitcake out of the frig and carefully unwrapped it to give him a taste.

As I prepared to slice into the last of Nana's Fruitcake, my eyes started to fill with tears. The thought that when this cake was gone there would be no more was just a bit overwhelming. I cut us each a small slice, but couldn't look at Christopher the entire time I ate mine. I just knew that if I looked at him, I would start to cry and I was doing a pretty good job of keeping my composure.

I've spoken with Nana each day since Thanksgiving and each day her voice has grown weaker. The good news is that she still knows it's me on the phone and not because the nurses have told her. She knows because she says "It's my granddaughter" and then tries to say my name. When I told her I had opened the fruitcake we made together, her voice perked up and she said she wished she could taste fruitcake again. I wish she could too.

I hope it's ok, but I just can't share the last of Nana's Fruitcake.

Count Your Blessings

As I count my many blessings today, I'm reminded of the old children's hymn "Count Your Blessings". The refrain contains the lyrics:

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

This Thanksgiving, my blessings include:

Being able to speak to Nana and hear her call me by my name. No voice has ever sounded sweeter. And although I know her time is short, the nursing home called in Hospice 2 days ago, I'm blessed today to have spoken to her.

Nana's fruitcake. I know fruitcake gets a bad rap, but Nana made the best white fruitcake I've ever had (of course, I won't eat any other fruitcake, so I may be biased). It's full of bourbon, which probably explains a lot of things. Almost 2 years ago, Dave and I went to Florida after Christmas to visit Mom and Nana and Nana and I made fruitcake. I have 1 fruitcake left. It's the last of her fruitcakes and today Mom and I may have a little.

My friends. They keep me grounded and humble because they know where the skeletons are hidden. :)

My family. For the first time in years, I'm spending Thanksgiving with my mom. In an hour or so I'll start cooking and we'll share a nice dinner. But most importantly, we'll be together. I've spoken to my dad and Dave today and both are fine.

The Greens. Although Joan passed away a few weeks ago, I'm eternally grateful she was in my life for 30+ years. I am the woman I am today partly thanks to her. She and Don and their son Bill were always there for Dave and me, and we have many wonderful memories of times spent with them. And Don still edges my sidewalk. The Greens are family. I'm also grateful Dave got to see her in the days before she died.

On a larger scale, the men and women who selflessly give of themselves and volunteered to serve in the military are a blessing. We may be fighting a war I have serious questions about, but I'm grateful for the people doing the job. I'm also grateful for the brave people fighting to bring the military home.

Brad Meltzer for FREE!

You know how much I love Brad Meltzer. Not only is he my favorite writer, but he's also just an all-around super cool guy. I could list all the cool things he does, but that list would be a novel in itself. So just take my word for it and keep reading.

Over on his blog today, he proved once again, just how cool he is.

Brad announced that starting tomorrow (11/13), if you visit iTunes or audible.com, you can download his novel, The Millionaires, for FREE. Yep. For FREE. No catch.

He writes legal and political thrillers and I've read all of his books. I absolutely love them all. While his books aren't a series, I normally would recommend reading them in order because you can really see his evolution as a writer, and I've always preferred real books to audio books, but it's FREE! So since you can download The Millionaires for FREE, just do it! Oh, and of course, listen to it.

You can thank me later.

P.S. Thanks for letting me use the pic of The Millionaires Brad!

It's A Small World

Over the last 5 weeks, I have been bombarded with friends from the past.

First, at a college reunion, I ran into a guy I had a huge crush on in college. I swear he hasn't aged a day in the last 15 years and neither have I. It was a great weekend and I had a blast, but as Tim said, that was the greatest reunion where nothing happened. :(

A couple of weeks later, the woman who gave me my professional break in Washington DC in August 1993 contacted me via LinkedIn. It's been fun catching up with her.

Three or four days later, my best friend from DC, Kelly, emailed me and caught me up on all of our friends from DC. She told me that there's a big party planned for February and I have to be there because it's been too long since we've seen each other (7 1/2 years). Kelly and I met Jimmy Smits together at the 1997 Presidential Inaugural Ball and used to get in all kinds of trouble together. In fact, it's partly her fault I have Betsey and Ross. :)

Last Thursday, the grandfather of the last guy I dated in DC died. He flew the Enola Gay. Until I read about it on CNN, I hadn't thought about him in forever.

This week, Rick, another DC friend contacted me via LinkedIn and we're back in touch.

And this morning, I discovered an email from my friend Steve from high school. We haven't spoken since the summer after freshman year of college. I can't wait to hear what he's up to.

God, I love technology!

Hungry Kitty

Betsey and Ross have done ALL of these things to me, except use a baseball bat. When I first watched this video, Ross was sitting on my desk watching me. I hope he did not get any ideas . . . Maybe I'll sleep with one eye open tonight, just in case.

The Name Game

So tonight was kinda lame (as you’ll see in a sec) and I was reading a whole bunch of blogs when I came across a blog post called The Time-Waster Name Game! I laughed so hard that I had to copy the post onto my blog (and now maybe some of you - you know who you are - will stop complaining that I haven't written in 3 weeks! :) ). I’ve told you my (hideous) names below. What are yours?

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)
Betsey Honda

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)
yo, I'm Peppermint Oatmeal...word

3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Detective Blue Kitty at your service.

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Lynn Tampa (I’m thinking with that name, I’m not gonna have too many steamy sex scenes with my yummy co-star!)

5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)
Garje (I think that’s kinda cool!)

6. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink)
The Yellow Cosmo – saving the world one drink at a time

7. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)
Christian Jesse Gifford (I had a step-grandfather too and that is the perfect redneck name!)

8. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy)
Bella Frango (Is that too upscale for a stripper?)

9.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names )
Westbrook (mom didn't have a middle name)

10. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)
Gerch Glasgow

11. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower)
Fall Tulip

12. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”)
Strawberry Hoodie

13. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree)
Oatmeal Palm

14. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”)
The Breezy Writing Tour (I’m thinking no one is gonna have a problem getting tickets and scalping won’t be an issue!)

UPDATED: My cousin Andrea just pointed out that the best name of all isn't on here . . .

15. YOUR PROSTITUTE NAME (First pet's name and first street you remember living on)
Betsey Dover

For the record, Andrea's prostitute name is Coco Wildway.

I Believed

Baseball, like love, is something that requires unwavering belief and hope. You have to open yourself up to being hurt and accept that most of the time you're not with "the one." You have to enjoy everyday of the journey, remembering that there are going to be highs and lows, but overall, you'll end things having been better for the experience, even if your heart is crushed into a million little pieces.

As I do every year, I opened my heart up to the Cubs early in the season, felt my love swell as the season progressed, and was so over the moon in September with three players joining the 20 homerun season club and finishing first in the Central Division, I could hardly keep my joy to myself. I felt like a giddy schoolgirl again. And I knew this time it was right. Pinella, Soriano, Rameriez, Lee, and Big Z all but promised it. This would be the year the Cubs didn't break my heart. I believed and I loved. And I didn't care who knew it.

This year my love affair went further than it had gone in years. The Cubs made it to October with me. But then it all came crashing down in three humiliating nights and days. The power hitting and pitching was gone.

And now I'm mourning. But only for a few weeks. Because like any other hopeful romantic, I believe in next year.

Some Things Simply Confuse Me

I love where I live. I really do. I live 45 minutes from Chicago, 5 minutes from the train to get there, 20 minutes from O'Hare, we have some of the best schools in Illinois in my town, great live theater and many other wonderful ammenities in my community, plus my closest friends.

There's just one thing I don't like: the ever increasing property tax bill.

Once every three years Cook County reasseses all properties within the county, sends out a property assessment and then property taxes are increased in accordance with the new assessment. My assessment arrived about 10 days ago. It increased 45% over last year. Yes. 45 PERCENT. And my assessment included many fallacies about my home including a 1 1/2 car garage, basement, 2 1/2 baths, an extra bedroom, a fireplace, and about 300 extra square feet.

The good news is that assessments can be appealed. The bad news is that we've appealed in the past, each time disputing all these extra rooms in the house, and are always denied. I swear these rooms don't exist, but no one seems to believe me.

Tonight I attended a meeting with a Cook County Assessor's Office official who was supposed to explain the process for appeals and answer questions from property owners.

To say that this man evaded all questions would be an understatement. He simply ignored questions and when he got tired of someone said it was time to move on. After he explained that property assessments are determined entirely by the square footage of the home, but that other characteristics (e.g., number of bathrooms, bedrooms, fireplaces, air conditioning, etc.) were important, and then again contradicting himself in "answering" other questions, I raised my hand and asked him to please clarify whether the assessment was based solely on the square footage of my home OR whether characteristics were taken into account, and if so, to what extent. I was holding the appeal form and said I did not understand why, if these characteristics did not matter and the only thing that mattered was square footage, it asked for all the information about bathrooms, bedrooms, AC, how many cars fit into the garage, etc.

I swear to God, his answer was "Well, ma'am, some people like to know the characteristics of their home." After picking my jaw up off the floor and the laughter in the audience died down, I replied, "With all due respect, sir, if I want to know how many bedrooms I have, I walk around my house. So now could you please answer my question?" And he repeated himself! So I again replied “You see I’m confused because for YEARS my assessment information has said that I have more bedrooms and bathrooms than I have and although I appeal it, I keep getting denied. Now if you can come out to my house and personally show me where my 4th & 5th bedrooms and 3rd bathroom are located, I’m happy to pay for them, but until then, I really don’t want to pay for them. And I'm thinking that if your office believes I have more rooms than I really have, that could affect my square footage. Can you at least tell me how to definitively prove that I do not have all these rooms and ammenities you think I have?” So he tells me to appeal. I again say I have and he says “Well, you seem to be irritated by all of this. Next question.” And some guy from the other side of the room says “The lady is irritated because you refuse to answer her question which is a question we all want to know the answer to.”

I had to leave a short time later because I absolutely cannot stand incompetence. And this guy was its poster child.

But if anyone can show me where my extra bathroom is and can point out the extra 1/2 garage, I'd truly appreciate it.

Love Mail

It's not too often that anything but bills and junk arrives in my mailbox, but today I hit the jackpot. I had two honest-to-goodness pieces of love mail! Not love letters, but fun, happy mail that put a huge smile on my face. I received a heartfelt thank you note for a class I taught over the weekend and a package of CDs from a girlfriend of mine with an inspirational note!

Oh, and no bills!

Thank You Holy Baseball Gods

Thank you Holy Baseball Gods.

The Chicago Cubs clinched the National League Central Division moments ago thanks to the sorrowful playing of the Milwaukee Brewers losing tonight and their previous two games AND a fantastic outing by Big Z and Alfonso Soriano of the Cubs.

I will sleep well tonight, but let's keep this in perspective. Winning the National League Central Division is NOT the final destination. The ultimate goal is to win the World Series. We still have 3 more series to play.

So again, I ask you to please let us continue winning throughout October.

In Harry Carey's name, Amen.