Donna and Bob Figora

The blogsister, Donna, and her husband Bob, had lots in common, including February birthdays. While Bob celebrates today, we should be celebrating Donna's big 50th tomorrow. Bob and I spoke today, and we can't believe that it has been almost nine years since Donna's death. We both still miss her terribly.  Let's hope Donna is having a big bash in the wild, blue yonder.

Mom Rogers Turns 95!

Peg celebrated like a rock star this weekend with a lovely dinner party at her home on Friday with friends and family.

  

  

Peg reserved the private dining room at the Oaks.  We brought an assortment of hors d'oeuvres, wine and champaign, and chef Joe did his thing.  Wild Willy gave a beautiful toast to his mom and Earl delivered a heartfelt pre-dinner prayer.  Ginny brought flowers and candles, Josie brought cupcakes and everyone had a great time.  On Saturday, her actual birthday, Peg's grandson, Chris, and Kristy, Alexis and Devin, made the day extra special.  

Will and Callie joined in on the festivities, too.

 

The great-grandchildren made and hung a poster at the front door announcing the day. We had champaign and Pom punch, a full-blown Thanksgiving meal with turducken, two stuffings, and all the other fixins'.  A feast!  

 

Alexis and Devin performed a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday on the piano before presenting the special cake, they made from scratch, including the cinnamon ice cream frosting and cut-out fondants on top.  

  

 

Kristy, channeling her inner creativity, made a delightful floral arrangement and keepsake for mom. 

  

We're already talking about the celebration we're going to have next year, but the 100th is going to be very special.  Have a great year, Mom!  

 

Our Young Patriot Says the Pledge

From the start of his academic experience, a couple of years ago, young Landon proudly mastered the Pledge. Now he clearly enjoys this opportunity to lead the whole school with his recital. 



H/T Steph

Vietnamese Chicken Lettuce Wraps

One really can't rest in the family until after the January 11th birthday celebrations.  Wild Willy and young Alexis culminated days of partying with a dinner in Chatham.  We are all big fans of P.F. Changs' famous lettuce wraps, so I set out to make something along those lines.  Among the millions of recipes listed under a Google search, I went with a PERDUE® recipe for Vietnamese ground chicken lettuce wraps to try to create a special appetizer.  I used my Kitchen Aid attachment and ran boneless, skinned chicken breasts through the course grinder (why simplify the process by buying PERDUE® ground chicken?).  While it looks like a long list of chopped and minced ingredients, it's nothing with a food processor.  The wraps were delicious.  I also tried Sophie Brickman's recipe for braised short ribs, but was disappointed with the quality of ribs I purchased.  Her combination of flavors were excellent, but I needed a little more time on the reduction.  I will try the recipe again.  Mashed potatoes, broccoli and two birthday cakes rounded out the meal.  Now I can get on with the year month; the blogmother-in-law turns 95 years old on January 30th.

A Snowy New Year's Eve in the East

A beautiful day for a wedding! It's all relative, but a December wedding begs for snow, and we're getting some today. With the help of my studio assistant, the bloghusband, we finished nearly 175 wedding programs this morning.

They turned out really nice, especially with the hand embellishments of metallic stars and glitter snowflakes, adding a touch of New Year's bling and pizazz. Now, I can focus on what I'm going to wear. As Wild Willy said, "the mall is open." He knows me well. Ah, the pressure. Be safe tonight. Happy New Year's celebrations.

Boxing Day in Tisbury

The morning after Christmas is always so special.  Aside from being the blogsister's birthday, it's a day to just do nothing.  It was another magical Christmas celebration in our vineyard haven.  It's a simple life here on the island, and we had to make do with fishing lures and other island gear to to decorate our tree.  I particularly love the peace sign topper.  The gift-giving theme this year was "summer schlepping made easy."  The bloghusband and son received a beach dolly or cart with real fat wheels.  The design is supposed to ease the load on sand.  We have yet to find a solution for all the gear one must schlep to Long Point for a day of fun in the sun.  Hopefully, this Wheeleez product will do the trick.  While on that website, a similar cart, for use with a kayak, looked like an good gift idea, too.

Coco stopped by and was bearing gifts, also.  One of the many reasons to love this island is the creative and entrepreneurial people who live and work on the vineyard.  Coco's mom makes and markets yummy blends of sea salt, herbs and spices.   We were the lucky recipients of a couple varieties.

The blogson wants to grow up and be a DJ, now that he has nearly mastered his XBOX game from Santa,  DJ Hero.

The fire in the pot belly stove has been burning since our arrival.  I've been working on my needlepoint with the dogs at my feet.  We all enjoy the togetherness of one room living on the vineyard, even the teenager in our life.

Accomplished Merriment

Shop for 44 gifts; 27 hours

Wrap 44 gifts; 3.5 hours

Cater dinner for 12; 8 hours

Clean up dinner for 12; 2.5 hours

Merry Christmas:  Priceless!

The extended family holiday celebration is officially behind us.  We had a lovely, white Christmas gathering yesterday with twelve of the fourteen family members in attendance.  Jeff and Amelia were stranded in Florida; flight cancellation victims from the weekend's major snow storm.  The bloghusband's four children have not been together since his 6oth birthday, nearly two years ago.  As we head into Christmas week, and prepare for an intimate Vineyard celebration on the 25th, we are truly grateful for all of the blessings bestowed upon us and our family.  It is my sincere wish that you enjoy the spirit of Christmas, and be reminded that hard work and sacrifice has it's rewards (if only in the eyes of baby Jesus and your own sense of accomplishment).  Amen!   

Amelia in December

The babe is growing strong! 

From Steph:

For those of you who haven't seen her in a while just thought I'd send this out.  She weighed 17 pounds 4 ounces today and they are very pleased with her growth!!!  Almost too much, they want us back in a couple weeks to make sure she is not gaining too much!

Week in Review

Still on my hiking kick since California earlier this month, I got the bloghusband out to Pyramid Mountain in Morris County, NJ. We forged an adventurous hike on the vineyard, too. According to my calculations, 90 minutes of walking on uneven terrain burns 775 calories. In between our hikes this week, we had some wonderful family fun.  Pictured below:  Hens on the vineyard hike, curious Billy, The water's edge, Braden's tattoo, Sweet Alexis, Close up creativity, Nanny's decorations, Pyramid Mountain hike.

Sisterly Love: Sometimes Overrated

At a shower on Saturday, my table of eight women marveled at the close relationship between the bride and her sister. A lively debate ensued on the merits of sisterhood. All the women in the group had at least one sister, and others, like myself, had as many as three sisters. Arguably, sisters are often the most important relationship in a woman's life, outside of parent/child (hope the husbands aren't reading) but sentiments varied widely depending on if the woman had only one sister or more than one sister. Women with one sister seemed to be far more attached to the relationship than those with multiple sisters. Despite the closeness among sisters, it appears that vying for the mother's attention still plays a big role in adult sibling relationships. Curious, indeed.

Zebra Mentality

The blogson was telling us about an assembly at the high school yesterday. A fellow by the name of Michael Fowlin gave a powerful presentation about discrimination, and not just racial discrimination. He spoke of all types of discrimination, such as that among cliques at school, left-handed kids, family members, and even friends. The presentation was about how people, in this case, mostly teens, ostracize, alienate, and double-cross each other in order to be accepted. The pain of the injustice is sometimes just too much for people to take, and teens particularly, have difficulty managing these emotions. The speaker went on to graphically illustrate the grave and sad consequences for some people who carry the burdens of discrimination. Mr. Fowlin spoke about the sorry-ass people who just stand-by and watch bad behaviors and alienation in action. He called this the zebra mentality. “Bullies are not the problem,” he says, “Zebras are the problem. They’re beautiful creatures, but when one zebra is attacked by a lion, the others watch. They see these things happening and might feel bad about it, but they don’t do anything." The blogson enjoyed the hour presentation, but casually summed it up in one sentence, "People just need to do the right thing."

Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Fair

The entire population on the island looks forward to that third weekend in August for the annual Ag Fair. From the newborn calf, to Coco's paper dresses, to rides and hats, to yummy food and, of course, the skillet throw. It was another dream come true at the fair. The Vineyard Gazette captures the whole weekend here, and provides an introduction for my skillet throw video:

The feminine gusto was certainly not questioned on Sunday when the woodsmen cleared out and women ages 18 to 88 stepped to the competition field to hurl three pounds and eleven ounces of steel over a measured dirt expanse in the women’s skillet throw.

The oldest contestant, 88-year-old Ann Lesnikowski of Vineyard Haven, ambled to the throw-line while clutching her daughter in law’s hand. Once on the field, the gold-jeweled, pink-lipped lady launched a rusted frying pan more than six feet in front of her. “I think it’s fun,” said skillet thrower Ms. Lesnikowski. “It’s something to do at the fair. I like the idea of women being able to compete at possible sports.”

Amazing iPhone Picture of Sweet Amelia

Steph sent this amazing iPhone transmittal during the week. Our little sweetheart is scheduled for yet another surgery tomorrow. This is Amelia's fifth major surgery in her first year of life. Amelia is turning ONE! on August 2oth. Please spend a quite moment in prayer for Amelia's successful kidney procedure tomorrow. Thanks.

Twenty Four Hours: JFK, Jr. and the Family

As if being at a Yankee's game isn't exciting enough, I was absolutely thrilled to behold a memorable celebrity-sighting ten years ago in the Bronx. The very handsome Yankee fan, JFK, Jr., was occupying a box seat near the Yankee dugout, not too far from our seats. While most of the 49,000 attendees had no idea of Kennedy's presence at the game, I couldn't take my eyes off him. Sigh! The next evening, just about the time JFK, Jr. was taking off from a New Jersey airport in his private plane, we were taking off from a nearby airport in our single engine plane. Usually, we fly to our home on Martha's Vineyard, but that night we were visiting family in Pittsburgh. It was a hot and steamy night. The bloghusband flew at a higher altitude than normal because of haze's effect on his visibility while flying into the sunset. We awoke the next morning and were simply crushed to learn of the tragic demise of Kennedy's flight in route to the vineyard. My first thought was how the haze, while flying over water, must have made the horizon indistinguishable. Ten years later, people still tend to analyze and critique the accident. Pilots are a curious breed, and never will they criticize another pilot. The bloghusband merely says that every pilot has a different risk tolerance level.

Potter on the Vineyard

The blogfamily attended the 7:00pm premier of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It was a sell-out crowd at the Island Theater in Oak Bluffs and about 110 degrees in the packed theater. The movie vaguely resembled the book we read three years ago. The anticipation was far better than the movie, but it was fun to revisit a fond memory of togetherness shared over 672 pages.

The Shenandoah

We were blessed with our third boating day of the season yesterday. Aside from the blogson, Will aka Billy, who tipped the dingy and fell into the cold harbor waters, we all had a fabulous afternoon soaking up the sun on Osprey. It wouldn't be the perfect day out to sea without sighting the Shenandoah in full sail. From Coastwise Packet, The Shenandoah is a 108' square topsail schooner with no auxiliary power, thereby making her unique in the American schooner fleet. She is the only vessel of her size and rig operating under the American flag. The Shenandoah is a legend in New England waters, and majestic to behold at full sail.

InStyle Magazine? No, Just Ally

With time at a premium, the days of leisurely flipping though a magazine seem few and far between. Luckily, I have the blogstepdaughter, Ally, to keep me advised of the latest trends in fashion. With a long-term career in the fashion industry, and a life-long passion for all things fashionable, Ally is my walking and talking consultant on new and useful products and styles. Ally and husband, Paul, are spending a couple days with us on the island.

Grilled Pizza Recipe

The blogstepdaughterinlaw, Kristy, has been an inspiration in my attempts to perfect the art of grilled pizza making. Hosting the vegetarian blognephew, Robert, on the island, grilled pizza has become a fun challenge and bonding event over the last couple of weeks. Our two attempts at making pizza have produced delicious, albeit, rudimentary pies. We agreed to have one more pizza night before our departure, which, we are convinced, will produce our best results.

1. With pizza dough at room temperature, pull, press and stretch the dough to a desired shape and thinness. A round pie is the traditional objective, but it's not always easy to achieve that perfect circumference.
2. Preheat grill to medium hot. Prepare all toppings in advance i.e., steam, sauté, grate, etc. Pizza sauce and veggies (meat, too, if desired) should be warm and ready for the crust.
3. Brush olive oil on one side of the crust and gently place the oil side down on the hot grill.
4. While the crust is cooking, brush oil the other side. Watch the crust carefully to prevent burning. The crust will get bubbly. That's good.
5. Gently flip the crust, and as quickly as possible, place the desired toppings on the pizza and close the top of the grill for a couple of minutes. Watch carefully.
6. Remove the pie, pour a glass of Chianti and enjoy the fruits vegetables of your labor!
   

SHOCK: Teens Take the Vineyard Bus

The 15 year-old blogson and his friend actually took public transportation home last night at 11:00 p.m. At least that's what they told me. Perhaps they engaged in their first episode of hitchhiking, which would be OK too, but only on Martha's Vineyard. I find this to be blogworthy for several reasons: 1. It's a rite of passage, independent and out late at night and on public transportation. 2. We have never been on a vineyard bus. 3. An article entitled reducing how much we drive--child miles traveled? caught my eye this morning.

Amelia in Summer

Amelia is blooming this summer. In a recent email from Steph, the proud mom shares some thoughts on our little girl:

Amelia actually pulled herself up for the first time today!!! Unbelievable! When she was born we were told that she probably would not have any feeling below her waist...well, she is showing them! She is really doing well, no more retching, she's talking (Ma, Ba etc.), paddy caking, giving kisses, saying uh ooh, rolling from one end of the room to another, laughing and pretty much just being a perfect baby : )