Blessings of 2014

January 1:  Michigan State wins the Rose Bowl!
January 2:  Colonoscopy complete, and lots of sleep afterwards
January 3:  Out to the Pub after work with Catherine
January 4:  Tom's organ books have been found and will be returned soon
January 5:  Beginning to record the blessings of 2014

Anise Drops

Anise Drops (from my mom, Eva Mary Smiley Megnin)

4 eggs
1 tsp anise flavoring
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups flour

Beat 4 eggs 10 minutes at high speed (setting #9 on my old Sunbeam mixer; top or second from top on Kitchenaid.)
Add sugar; beat 5 minutes (continue at high speed.)
Add remaining ingredients and beat 15 minutes (again at high speed.)

Drop on greased (generously slathered) cookie sheets.
Let stand overnight (or 6-8 hours) at room temperature.
Bake at 325 degrees for 8-10 minutes - done when slightly tan on edges, or when the top is gently tapped with a fingernail it sounds hollow, not dense.

Makes about 100 cookies.

MY NOTES:
1) Be careful; don't make too large -- about 1/2 tsp. drops are best. Don't put too close together, else will blob/bake into each other.
2) Uses about 6 cookie sheets. If run out of cookie sheets, use cake pans turned upside down. Don't use double bottomed sheets -- cookies stick to these. If tin is dark, cover with foil (shiny side up) for better results -- HOWEVER, see comment 3!
3) from 2012 -- using parchment paper works the very best so the cookies don't stick.
4) Be sure to bake long enough, else cookies will be chewy not snappy! (I have baked longer than 10 minutes.)
5) This is hard on a mixer; my old one would be smoking by the time I finished!
6) If putting a cookie tray together, keep these separate (wrapped or bagged, or on a separate plate) as the anise flavor can permeate other cookies.
7) And my own personal note to self: don't forget the anise!!!

I have thought this could be made with other flavorings, though I've never tried.

• Liz from Dexter MI

Birthday Buzz

As the first day of my sixtieth year winds down, I'm sitting here with warm fuzzies in my being.  All four of us played the "train game" (Ticket to Ride) and had a great time.  Tom isn't big on games at all, but he joined Eva, Tommy and me, and I think he enjoyed it (well, that is to say he didn't suffer through the experience!)  We had a good time, and when it was over Tommy tentatively asked if anyone wanted to play again -- which I would have but it was close to 10:30 and the game takes at least an hour.  Instead the four of us sat in the family room, TV off, the three of them finishing their beers, and talked.

What a wonderful life I have -- so many warm wishes from so many people.  I have to say FB is good for the social networking it affords in the best sense of the concept.

Day started with Mass and a birthday chorus from the 15-20 bravehearts who came to morning Mass in spite of the inclement messy slippery weather.  The next eight hours brought ups and downs; downs only because of challenges that arose during the course of the business day, ups because of wonderful co-workers, a call from Claire and Dad (I do love the sound of my father's voice, in particular of all the voices I have known), and much, much more.  And the wonderful day was bookended with a warm, delightful text from my brother, who last year started the day off with a text!

I treasure that I am sitting here with a warm heart and a smile resident on my face, and wetness in my eyes for the blessings I have.

All good things around us, are sent from heaven above, so thank  the Lord, o thank the Lord, for all [whatever the rest of the words are from the song from Godspell!]

And on and on

The de-decorating continues.  Have found decorations that didn't make it out this year (well, Christmas 2012 that is) -- mostly for the tree; Eva and Tommy decorated the tree while I was Christmas shopping.  I did know that I couldn't find one of my favorites on the tree anywhere, and Eva said she didn't remember it when they were decorating.  Putting the churches away I found a cute little snowman that niece Katie made a few years ago.  What it was doing in that cupboard is beyond me, as I don't remember it ever being part of any of the tableaux I've put up with the churches.  The biggest surprise of all was discovering one of my Swedish crystal votive candle holder that has been missing since 2010.  I've said time and again, how can a heavy crystal votive candle holder go missing???  Actually, its discovery had nothing to do with putting decorations away, but rather with Eva opening her cupboard of knick-knacks asking (rhetorically) which of her things she should move with her because she has so many.  There, in the midst of a shelf of this and that was the votive with a few miscellaneous things like bobby pins and an electronics battery in it.  She didn't know how it got there; didn't remember putting it there.  Suffice it to say I'm just happy to have solved that particular mystery.  Unfortunately, now I can't remember just where I put it when I took it from the shelf!  Too many boxes and bins are out all over the house at the moment.

In addition to "making exciting discoveries" (one of the advantages of being disorderly, to quote AA Milne) I am finding that at this late date (one month plus past Christmas) I'm more inclined to just pack things in whatever box is at hand, and not worry about finding the specific box for each item.  I think my Christmas organization is melting away ... first noticed this trend a year or two ago.  I seem to be putting decorations away later and later each year.  I ought to just make an annotated inventory of all my decorations, along with pictures, and then just put the idea of putting everything in its own box to rest.  \

Not sure I'm going to get this stuff all put away by the end of January.  Have to get the annual letters folded, combined with campaign statements, and stuffed with a notice asking for contact info update.  Thanks to my dear husband Tom for stamping 900 envelopes today; that's one less step in the process that I need to do.

Post-holiday Packing It Up

One creche down, one Santa packed away, and I don't want to go on -- tough deciding what decorations to take down first!  Guess I could just go get boxes and pack the top ones first -- love the look of the house at Christmas but really hate the process of taking it down and packing it all away ... I think the way to do it would be to bring ALL the boxes downstairs, and pack each one as it comes to hand ... just might do that ...

Neil Noel News 2012

To our dear family and friends: warmest Christmas greetings!

As Tom put it, 2012 seemed, for whatever reasons, to have been amazingly busy for all of us, and yet with very little of note to commend it. (But of course I’ll find lots to talk about anyhow!) With both kids continuing to live at home, it’s been a challenge keeping track of everyone’s schedules. I think
that’s what made the year seem so busily unproductive. Eva’s commute gets her home at 7pm, while Tom has had evening classes and band practices, and I don’t usually walk in the door much before 6pm. The mutual coordination of the schedules of four adults in a family household has taken adjustment on the part of everyone.


“Miles and Miles” would be the theme of our year. The state of the economy necessitated Tom traveling more for business than usual, and fortunately some of those trips were to southwestern NY so he was able to swing through PA and visit his mom. We spent his birthday weekend in September with her, And also visited her when his sister Margie was in from out west.

In January at the motorcycle show in Detroit he came across a deal he couldn’t resist, and replaced his Yamaha candy-apple red Royal Star motorcycle with a champagne gold Yamaha Venture cruiser. He saddled up for a 10-day trip out to Reno, NV in July. Once again the trip was in the height of the brutal summer heat, but he and a friend did the 4000 mile round trip with no complaints or incidents — well, except he left his phone at a rest
stop, and some questioned charges on his credit card resulted in it getting cancelled! But it all got sorted out in the end.

In his down time he continued to tinker with his ’47 Plymouth. Last year I thought the car was in fine fettle; just goes to show the difference between a casual enthusiast and a diehard one! Along with enjoying time as a member of the Chelsea Classic Cruisers car club, he again attended the Woodward Dream Cruise.

Tommy attends college locally and Eva commutes to downtown Detroit. She began the year working as an Assistant Manager at The Buckle but soon came to the realization that the retail environment with its intense pressure and odd hours wasn’t for her. An opportunity came up with Carat, an international ad agency that had landed the GM account and opened an office in Detroit to handle the business. She’s an Associate of Digital Operations (so the online Cadillac, Buick, GMC, and OnStar ads you see have her stamp on them.) She is enjoying the position and received a promotion six months after she started. One of Eva’s closest friends, Maggie, got married in July and Eva was the unofficial maid of honor since Maggie elected not to have a bridal party. In
mid-August Eva began to plan a two-week vacation to London and Paris in September. This is how you can tell she is Tom’s daughter; only once in my life have I ever planned that far ahead for a trip! She had an absolutely wonderful time! The highlights were Westminster Abbey, Versailles, the Louvre, and meeting Matthew Lewis, aka Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter movies. Recently, she signed the lease for a small house in the metro-Detroit area and will move there with her dog, Jack, in February. However, since we’ve had Jack here for the last three years I’m considering suing for joint custody! ;)

Tommy’s vacation jaunts took him camping in northern Michigan a couple of times with high school and college friends. He found Michigan’s Pictured Rocks shoreline of Lake Superior to be the most beautiful place, and has encouraged me to get in better physical shape so that next summer I can hike its gorgeous rocky trails. He also had the opportunity to work at the Dexter High School band camp once again this year, which he absolutely
loves doing. At this point it looks like he has finally decided on music education. To that end he’s completing core course work at the local community college and plans to go to Eastern Michigan University to complete his degree.


Tommy’s group, Dirty Deville (an homage to an amplifier with a grungy sound), released a CD and played several times at venues around southern Michigan, including headlining at The Blind Pig in Ann Arbor a few times. Once again his parents closed the bar on occasion as the headlining band doesn’t go on until midnight.  AND I had to go back to the car to get my ID in order to get in! Talk about insult to injury! But it’s a state law that everyone has to have ID, so off I’d trot to retrieve the required card.

I traveled back to PA several weekends during the year, visiting Dad and Claire and extended family. While Tom went west on vacation, I headed east for a week of utter peace, tranquility, and contentment at Chautauqua in southwestern NY. Chautauqua can be best characterized as a lakeside cultural arts Victorian resort community with limited vehicular traffic that offers a wide range of music, dance, drama, literary, religious
and social science opportunities. I was totally refreshed and rejuvenated by the time I spent there. It’s a boring mantra to year after year say that work is incredibly hectic, but it is and Chautauqua is a balm that soothes my spirit.

The biggest story of our year was the “Ides of March” tornado that struck Dexter this spring. The weather had been incredibly warm, to the point where it was downright hot in early March. As several of us were leaving work on March 15, the tornado sirens went off and we went down to the basement of the parish office building. After about 15 minutes, the sirens stopped so I hightailed it home, watching the sky blacken menacingly ahead of me. Stopped to get the mail, and a loud thunderclap and bolt of lightning shot me back into
the car and flying up the driveway. Tom and Tommy were in the basement watching the final minutes of the Syracuse NCAA basketball tournament game, where I joined them. Simultaneously the game ended and the power went off. Rain and hail were pounding down and the wind was really howling. We kept track of the weather on our phones and saw National Weather Service warnings that there were tornadoes around us.  When the weather died down we went upstairs and outside. There was a steady stream of cars coming
through our subdivision, driving across the flooded bridge over Brass Creek. At that point we found out that tornadoes had hit Dexter and there were downed trees nearly everywhere so traffic was being routed through our neighborhood. One neighbor told us he had watched the tornado heading straight for our sub only to veer east just before reaching the front entrance.

The devastation was incredible. The path it took covered about 11.5 miles. Trees were snapped and downed, hundreds of homes sustained damage (some were leveled, others had to be demolished and rebuilt), debris was carried for miles. A block away from my office a laundromat and carwash were destroyed. And just as you hear about tornadoes, right next to it there was no damage whatsoever. Dexter was blessed, however, in that there were no deaths or even injuries.

The parish served as a food and clothing center as well as distributing financial assistance. Victims were hesitant to accept money, insisting that someone else could use it more. When I stopped by one place to drop off an envelope, I had to go to the back door as there was plywood instead of a front door. The fellow tried to refuse the money, saying that they didn’t need it. I said, “You don’t have a front door! You need it!”  While the majority of blue tarps are down and construction/repairs have generally been completed, the
physical transformation of the once beautifully canopied roads leading into Dexter is a stark reminder of those 60 minutes, and will be for years to come.

Well, indeed I have found tales to tell for two pages — but it’s nice to keep up. Our fondest wishes to you all, and hope that God’s blessings and peace will be with you in 2013.

We wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Chautauqua 47

originally begun in early September 2012

1966, 1967, 1968 ... 2011, 2012 -- 47 years.  I haven't visited Chautauqua every year, but I sure have tried.  And this year I was able to spend an entire week there.  Last year I discovered that The Catholic House has opened on the grounds, and that guest rooms are awarded in a lottery system.  I was fortunate enough to win a room for week 8 of the season.  It was a blessed week.

The spring and summer have been especially stressful, beginning with the Ides of March EF3 tornado that struck Dexter.  Work intensified at that time, working up to a fever pitch in the weeks before vacation.  It's becoming more and more stressful every year, it seems.  Originally I had planned to begin vacation on the 9th, but instead commenced at 1pm on the 7th.  Words cannot adequately convey the immense lightness of being the enveloped my spirit as I joined Jan and Elizabeth on the golf course on the afternoon of the 7th.

It was so nice then to have the next day off to move at my leisure doing errands and getting a mani-pedi.  On Friday I hit the road, heading to Seneca where Mary & Steve, in the midst of "Nanny & Papa Camp" had brought Trey, Mary Abigail and Charlie.  Stevie & Carla met us there to pick up Trey, and all of us went out to eat.  Dad was kind of fuzzy; everyone descended upon them within about 15 minutes and it was a bit overwhelming for him.  Later that evening, when everyone had left, Dad recounted his WWII experiences, pretty clearly with only a few proddings from Claire and me.  I keep on remembering the book of Ruth's that I read when I was a teenager, Limberlost, the author of which I can't recall.  The main character suffered from amnesia and couldn't remember her immediate past, however her recollections from long ago were quite clear.  By the end of the book though, only too late for her relationship with another character, her memory of more recent years had returned.