The Russians Have Come! And Gone. New Traditions.

Naomi and Abby

Naomi's Birthday Cupcakes

Since moving up to the North Country we have also started a few new traditions.  Both of our girls left great best friends in Jenkintown, PA.  Thank God for cell phone plans that give unlimited texting allowing the girls to stay connected.  But I wander.  The new tradition for Abby and us is that our Russian-born friends come to visit Thanksgiving each year, which also happens to be right around their daughter Naomi's birthday.  Naomi and Abby, both 6th graders, are soul mates.

It's wonderful that two children, Abby (Chinese-born and adopted by us ten years ago) and Naomi (American-born with parents born in St. Petersburg, Russia) would be able to meet and become good friends.  I know as a child growing up during the Cold War and Vietnam this scenario would have been unthinkable.  The Cold War brought bomb drills at elementary school where school children like me were led into the hallways and sat on the floor with our heads down to be safe when the Russians launched nuclear bombs on us. The picture below illustrates another method to be "safe".  This picture is courtesy of I Remember JFK where you can find additional details of this great time in American history. http://www.irememberjfk.com/mt/2008/02/air_raid_drills.php

 The Vietnam War brought daily news and pictures of war being fought by boys not much older than me.   And pictures of flag-draped caskets of those who would never see their family again.  I remember being told about the domino effect, that if we didn't fight and  the North Vietnamese won the Chinese would then stream down and take over South Vietnam then all of Southeast Asia and eventually the world.

No, I would never have believed that I would adopt a daughter born in China whose bff was the daughter of Russian immigrants.  Just goes to show you how great this world is.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Turkey Day!

 

Tomorrow is Turkey Day, my daughter Molly's favorite holiday of the year.  Molly's great fear this fall was that we wouldn't be able to cook a Thanksgiving feast because we are having our kitchen remodeled.  Actually the kitchen, dining room, laundry room and back porch.

Our new back entrance will go into a mud room not the kitchen.  No one uses the front door.

Our future breakfast room and mudroom shot from our future laundry.

The wall between the kitchen and the dining room is almost down.

No place to put things but we still have our cooktop somewhere.

Our contractor, architect, woodworker, carpenter, artist and, most importantly, dear friend Tim was going to suggest to Molly that she cook the feast in the same manner as the pilgrims did lo those many years ago.  But in light of her stress-ridden, but successful school year, we convinced him that it would not be a great idea to stress her further (did I mention that she is also 16, not a good age under perfect conditions).  So tomorrow will be Thanksgiving as usual with stuffing, twice-baked potatoes, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, apple crumb pie (my mom's incredible recipe) and,of course, the turkey I ordered and picked up at the St. Johnsbury Co-op (I love that almost every quasi-large town has a good coop, it is New England after all!) and homemade gravy.

We wanted Tim to redo our house because he knows us and how our family operates.  So he designed the space to fit into my concept of cooking with different work spaces for different tasks so we don't get in each others way.  Tim knew our propensity to clutter all horizontal surfaces and is giving us many cubbies and cabinets to put things away.  He even added a roofed portico for the back door so our dog Honey has a covered place to sit outside.  And, as you can see in this picture, he is building a castle by himself on the side of a mountain.  He is one talented person!

Have a happy Thanksgiving all!

Gail