Ok....so my family is everywhere and encompasses alot of somebody's not related by blood (thank GOD!). I am blessed by the inclusion I enjoy into many families to create a more robust feeling of comfort, home and love. I grew up as a Navy brat so my view of family has boundaries which have become mecurial. What an amazing feeling it is...so thank you if you have put your hand, heart or homes out to me!
Now, with that said....the Creitz family has a holiday. I feel pretty strong about this being important throughout the time I was growing up. I can guarantee it is a time revered by many Americans, but in our household there was a different excitement and enjoyment which gave our day a more holiday feel. Funny, but the man I married comes from a household which celebrated very similarly. Whereas my mother collected her Thanksgiving cut outs with which she would decorate walls and tables, my mother in law has a cache of footballs, goal posts and pom poms which she uses to festoon festivity into her household on that oh holy of all days...SUPERBOWL SUNDAY!
Banal I am sure many of you are mouthing. Yet it truly is a day of hedonism and a relentless exercise in WOOOO HOOOOOOO! There is a feeling of freedom during the Super Bowl. There are no traditions to mindlessly adhere to, there are no rules save for those you treasure, and everyone will enjoy some aspect of the day. It is truly an American holiday....bone crushing sports, nauseausly huge media coverage, extreme consumption levels, and rooting for your choice of winners. So this year, we are celebrating!
For THE holiday, we are flying in a most welcomed and necessary participant....my sister in Philadelpia. She will show up with her GEN-U-INE NFL jersies and her appetite for sports and the true spirit of football. In Utah, we need an infusion of professional sports enthusiasm to build up against the GO UTES ferver building for some bowl game in New Orleans! Go Utes!
With each holiday there are steadfast traditions. Food being the most important for the Creitz (and now Davidson) household. Unfortunately I approach ferver level when it comes to this. In Faye's honor, we have California dip (onion soup mix & sour cream....lifeblood of any party) with ridged chips, and 7 layer dip. Now in our house, 7 layer dip tends to vary on the number of layers and the ingredients of those layers based on 1) who is making it and 2) who is eating it. I am not a fan of guacamole...whereas my husband is a huge fan, so that is a "side". In the past I got fancy with my 7 layers and would use marinated chicken, but as time has passed, I find comfort in plain old hamburger.
In another homage to Creitz food, I have made (with Shawn's expertise) Lumpia. Shawn & I are pretty infamous for our Lumpia. It is a Philipine egg roll that my Canadian mom learned how to make before I was born. In other families, recipes are passed for generations to make sure it is made the same....Shawn & I have certainly walked past where Faye was and emboldened ourselves to become Lumpia effiicianados....but I digress.
In years past, I have brought in the makings for individual pizza's as well as mini hamburgers (slammers as the bar folk say). Our celebrations are fairly limited so this is easily managed. Many years ago when I partook of the grain, we would have jello shots in the colors of the team (augmented of course with various alcohol) and for each touchdown, you would "do" a shot. That one year, we became desperate enough to celebrate at each possession.
Again, I digress. What I have neglected to mention so far was football. In my mind, the SuperBowl starts with the All Madden team. Born within cheering distance from the Oakland/Alamedia County stadium, I teethed on the Raiders and next to Santa, John Madden was the next important portly older man in my life. His philosophy on football was remniscent of what the sport was meant to be....heart, fight, blood and dirt! I still tear up at the sight of Mike Singletary being nominated to the All Madden team as he came out of a play with a chunk of grass in his helmet & the WILD Singletary focus to kick some ass!
The more modern part of the Super Bowl festivities has become the commericals! They are certainly a shot game in their own right. YEARS AGO when commercials started to become more interesting than the game itself, I recall leaving the room to restock my plate DURING the game only to run like hell back to see the commercials. I remember first seeing "You have just won MVP of the SuperBowl, what are you gong to do? We're going to Disneyland!" Now it is just like the game, it is a time of too much money, too much ego, and too little regard for the true love of the day.....and commercials have exceeded themselves in their importance.
The game. It is hard as of late to truly become involved in the game. I remember in the last two games that the tear jerker stats were to the point of being contrived. Are they looking to pull in the female viewers by including heart? Are they working to find the long lost true "underdog" that they dig to find which player has had the most recent family loss? I think as with the withering patheticism of the half time show, that interest in the game is waning....and the producers of the event are just that...desperate engineers paid to re-inflate flagging interest in an over inflated contrivance of a once precious time.
So, regardless of how the rest of the world will celebrate February 1....I am looking forward to eating well, checking out cute butts, and criticizing lame commericals! To each his own....thank God!
Be great to you!
H
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Elvis got us a Christmas present!
I have 3 dogs. Bo, Luke & Daisy. We are very heartful about pets in our home. Now don't get me wrong, they are dogs. They sleep not in our bed, they don't get people food (much), and I can leave them outseide without guilt. But we are heartful about pets.
One morning before I left for work, our three angels, went NUTS. That kind of bedlam was reserved for the garbage/recycling man. Mike went out to look. There was a beautiful American bull dog (may be a pit) but well cared for and certainly a loved member of a family. Me being over 40, could NOT read his tag. We got the numbers from Elvis's tag. Mike tried to call. I text one of the numbers "Elvis has apparently left your building and is hanging with us". Mike left a message.
I get a call from Mike. He had put Elvis out in the back yard with our group and they were playing. Then I heard Mike "Daisy, leave Elvis alone. Daisy NO BITE. Daisy....I gotta go". Apparently all 12 pounds of Daisy was either enamoured or pissed off at Elvis. Let me go through the 3 dogs: Bo....just like me...fearful of everything until he has someone with him or time passes. Luke...the old man of the group....he was fostered for most of his life & we think was abused by aggressive dogs. He knows how to bob & weave! Now Daisy....she tends to go after big dogs. One time in a soon-to-be abandoned "obedience class" Daisy had to be faced AWAY from the 120 pount pit as she would go after him (at 9 pounds & 4 months). Mike told the class "Just like her momma, always looking for a bar fight"....not sure how to respond.
I received a call from Elvis' owner. 19 year old kid. I gave him Mike's number & let them work out the delivery details. It turned out, that the mom & dad owned a pretty popular steak place. I threatened Mike NOT to ask for a gift certificate as payment. Apparently the kid's father was struggling with Lukemia & the mom truly appreciated the thought & care we afforded Elvis.
For the next week, the dogs would go NUTS in the middle of the night....Elvis was here. Apparently, Elvis would push his way into the back yard looking for the kids to play with. It just so happened to be 4 in the morning. We would call the kid. One time we brought him into the house, all 80 pounds of him. He jumped up on our bed kinda making himself at home. He was quite endearing. He sat at the door of the guest room where we had coralled our darlings. Pandemonium ensued. I figure the kid was playing video games & absently put the dog out & went back to life. We found out later that Elvis would jump up on the trampoline & would come to search out the Dukes of SLC. Mike offered to have Elvis visit & play, but that never came to fruition. We figured Elvis would trap himself in our yard as the gate only swings in. One morning, I went to let the dogs out and I was bringing Daisy out (who has to go out seperately due to her own stubbornness) and I opened the door & there stood Bo. Apparently during the night Elvis had entered the yard, when he coudn't find the Dukes, he pushed his way out of the chain link gate doors. Elvis had left the yard. We haven't heard from Elvis in a while which is a mixed blessing...no more frightening barking alarms, yet no bouyant beefy face looking to play!
I took a half a day of vacation & there was a bag with a bow hanging on the door. I left it as I thought it was from the neighbors. I left it for Mike to open. The card was to "Elvis' friends from Elvis". There were puppy treats & human treats as well as a picture of a tail wagging, tongue lolling Elvis. Now we have no idea of the numbers any more, nor did we really share names. But we helped someone out by giving a dog the care we would want our dogs given when they are lost and we got the greatest surprise! Thank YOU!
Unfortunately when Daisy has gotten out and they tell me what an amazing dog she is, I hesitate from blurting "SOLD". Because on some deep.....deep....way deeper level, I would miss her. As a matter of fact, I was in Northern California for business last year & received a few voicemails that Daisy had been found. It turned out that she had been turned over to the animal control for the weekend. I was livid with Mike. "You go back in there & get my baby! She is in a cold kennel without the boys & has no pillow. I am SURE she is scared." I continued every so irrationally "This is the weekend before Christmas, she is a cute dog...if someone adopts my baby because YOU didn't get her out, YOU WILL PAY!" Mike kept mumbling "I hope she learns a lesson being in jail over the weekend". Not sure who was more delusional.
Sigh...yes, I do laugh about it now. First thing Monday morning, Mike went to the pound, paid the fee, and took possession of our baby. He called me with "I got Daisy. They gave me her picture with her number and her paw prints they took!" I fell for it. Like she needed smokes in her weekend in the doggie slammer. I really don't think this dog, nor Elvis, could be redeemed, but they are a pair to draw to!
Be great to you!
H
One morning before I left for work, our three angels, went NUTS. That kind of bedlam was reserved for the garbage/recycling man. Mike went out to look. There was a beautiful American bull dog (may be a pit) but well cared for and certainly a loved member of a family. Me being over 40, could NOT read his tag. We got the numbers from Elvis's tag. Mike tried to call. I text one of the numbers "Elvis has apparently left your building and is hanging with us". Mike left a message.
I get a call from Mike. He had put Elvis out in the back yard with our group and they were playing. Then I heard Mike "Daisy, leave Elvis alone. Daisy NO BITE. Daisy....I gotta go". Apparently all 12 pounds of Daisy was either enamoured or pissed off at Elvis. Let me go through the 3 dogs: Bo....just like me...fearful of everything until he has someone with him or time passes. Luke...the old man of the group....he was fostered for most of his life & we think was abused by aggressive dogs. He knows how to bob & weave! Now Daisy....she tends to go after big dogs. One time in a soon-to-be abandoned "obedience class" Daisy had to be faced AWAY from the 120 pount pit as she would go after him (at 9 pounds & 4 months). Mike told the class "Just like her momma, always looking for a bar fight"....not sure how to respond.
I received a call from Elvis' owner. 19 year old kid. I gave him Mike's number & let them work out the delivery details. It turned out, that the mom & dad owned a pretty popular steak place. I threatened Mike NOT to ask for a gift certificate as payment. Apparently the kid's father was struggling with Lukemia & the mom truly appreciated the thought & care we afforded Elvis.
For the next week, the dogs would go NUTS in the middle of the night....Elvis was here. Apparently, Elvis would push his way into the back yard looking for the kids to play with. It just so happened to be 4 in the morning. We would call the kid. One time we brought him into the house, all 80 pounds of him. He jumped up on our bed kinda making himself at home. He was quite endearing. He sat at the door of the guest room where we had coralled our darlings. Pandemonium ensued. I figure the kid was playing video games & absently put the dog out & went back to life. We found out later that Elvis would jump up on the trampoline & would come to search out the Dukes of SLC. Mike offered to have Elvis visit & play, but that never came to fruition. We figured Elvis would trap himself in our yard as the gate only swings in. One morning, I went to let the dogs out and I was bringing Daisy out (who has to go out seperately due to her own stubbornness) and I opened the door & there stood Bo. Apparently during the night Elvis had entered the yard, when he coudn't find the Dukes, he pushed his way out of the chain link gate doors. Elvis had left the yard. We haven't heard from Elvis in a while which is a mixed blessing...no more frightening barking alarms, yet no bouyant beefy face looking to play!
I took a half a day of vacation & there was a bag with a bow hanging on the door. I left it as I thought it was from the neighbors. I left it for Mike to open. The card was to "Elvis' friends from Elvis". There were puppy treats & human treats as well as a picture of a tail wagging, tongue lolling Elvis. Now we have no idea of the numbers any more, nor did we really share names. But we helped someone out by giving a dog the care we would want our dogs given when they are lost and we got the greatest surprise! Thank YOU!
Unfortunately when Daisy has gotten out and they tell me what an amazing dog she is, I hesitate from blurting "SOLD". Because on some deep.....deep....way deeper level, I would miss her. As a matter of fact, I was in Northern California for business last year & received a few voicemails that Daisy had been found. It turned out that she had been turned over to the animal control for the weekend. I was livid with Mike. "You go back in there & get my baby! She is in a cold kennel without the boys & has no pillow. I am SURE she is scared." I continued every so irrationally "This is the weekend before Christmas, she is a cute dog...if someone adopts my baby because YOU didn't get her out, YOU WILL PAY!" Mike kept mumbling "I hope she learns a lesson being in jail over the weekend". Not sure who was more delusional.
Sigh...yes, I do laugh about it now. First thing Monday morning, Mike went to the pound, paid the fee, and took possession of our baby. He called me with "I got Daisy. They gave me her picture with her number and her paw prints they took!" I fell for it. Like she needed smokes in her weekend in the doggie slammer. I really don't think this dog, nor Elvis, could be redeemed, but they are a pair to draw to!
Be great to you!
H
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