My Life.Feeding 3 dogs & 11 fish

Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate the holiday. It is a quiet day for us but I am not complaining. Last weekend our house was filled with the kids and we had a wonderful time. The ending was a bit stressful as there was very bad weather specifically a great deal of snow in Seattle and the airport was closed. Not to worry, they all got home safe and sound. There was so much snow that Sheryl and Heath built a snowman.

When the hub bub died down I realized that I needed a new cellphone. My Palm cellphone is not that old but I have already had it replaced with a refurbished phone and that phone is acting up. The problem is that I was very reluctant to leave the comfort of my Palm. I have used a Palm since 2001, first as a PDA and then as a phone.

In 2001 we still had our store and keeping track of all of my appointments was difficult. After watching the organization of a Realtor I went to buy one of those nice leather organizers. I left with my first Palm Pilot. I now had everything, my schedule, my contact and more in one compact organizer.

Eight years later I have had two Palm Pilots and three Palm Phones. I keep all sorts of information on my Palm ranging from Bell Schedules to pictures of the dogs. As long as I remember to look at the Palm,I keep pace with my very diverse schedule. Whether I am due for a Yoga class, or meeting with one of my teachers,my Palm keeps me on track...somewhat!!!!

There is just one problem and that is Palm made a wonderful PDA but not a wonderful phone.As a phone it is awkward to hold and difficult to hear the conversation. It also has some technical issues.Sadly my goal was to buy a different type of cellphone.

I had tried the Blackberry once before and returned it for a Palm. I love to learn new technology but I didn't find the Blackberry to be intuitive enough for my mind. This time I ended up with a LG flip phone.

It is a cool flip phone with a touch screen great for calling and internet. But when they transferred my very large contact list, I was found only names and phone numbers. Left behind was my complete data base, names and addresses as well as my calendar and photos. I fully utilize the power of the Palm!!!!

I spent about two hours attempting to find a way to make it work. I love the phone and although I still have a great deal more to learn, I know that I will be very happy using this phone. Then I did what I usually do when I need a solution to a problem. No I didn't Google, I went on Amazon in search of an electronic organizer.

Guess what I found? I found the newest and best yet Palm PDA. As the reviews said, Palm never did very well at making a phone but is great at PDA's. With one click, it is on it's way.

Yes, I will carry around two items but if you saw the size of the beautiful purse that was my secret Santa gift from Sheryl and Heath, you would see that  I have plenty of room to carry anything that I want to carry around. The flip phone will allow me the fun of fabulous technology and the Palm the comfort and convienance of access to my eight year collection of data. I am indeed a happy camper!!

I am a problem solver at heart. I am also very intuitive and when something doesn't work I search for a better solution. I know I am there when it feels right! Now that my problem is solved I will have lots of fun learning all about my new phone and lots of comfort in the fact that with a click of a button, eight years of data will transfer to my new Palm PDA.

Finding a new phone is by no means a life threatening event but the process that I utilzed transfers to all types of challenges that  might cross your path.  2009 is just around the corner and I challenge all of you to look at any uncertainty that you face as a challenge to problem solving. If it doesn't feel right don't give up. Instead keep searching and you will know when you are there because it will  feel right. Happy New Year!!  Hugs Eileen

Happy Holidays to all of you!! If you haven't read my last entry on Latkes, you can always scroll down. We are looking forward to the weekend visit of all of the kids. Ira and I are ready for latkes, brisket and time with the kids and their baby bumps.

Before I get to our bedtime routine, I have some exciting news to share. I am a published author. If you click on the link below, you will be able to read the first article of my own weekly column. I wish you could see the actual newspaper. The editor placed my article in a great spot!

I got to interact with her when she mentioned Chanukah in her weekly editorial. I emailed her back and asked her to read all about our Latke Tradition. I also asked her if I could write for her Newspaper. She said yes and loved my first column. I am so excited!!!

http://www.lincolnnewsmessenger.com/detail/101417.html

Back to my original topic. I haven't talked much about the dogs. They are all well, they keep me very busy and I am thrilled to be once again walking them at least twice a day.

We have added a new step to our bed time routine. If you recall, when I retire to the bedroom, I take with me a handful of dog food. This is so I can fill the bowl that sits at the foot of our bed. If I don't do that, Taiko taps the bowl with her foot to remind me that I forgot my nightly job!

All three spend the next few minutes emptying the bowl, leaving their crumbs behind as a gift for the food. Not to fear as laying next to our bed, all plugged in and ready to go is our newest tool, a Handheld Bissell Pet Hair Eraser. It works quite well. Besides vacuuming up the crumbs it does an excellent job with the massive amounts of dog hairs that three dogs leave behind.

You would not believe how much dog hair these three leave on our bed and using the Hair Eraser eases up the hair that ends up on our pillow and in between our teeth!!

That makes me laugh and, although it is probably not funny to any of you these dogs bring us such joy that we find humor in our situation and look for solutions. I awoke this morning to a triangle of dogs. One laying next to me, the other next to Ira as the third formed the last side of the triangle. They greeted me with kisses and our day began!!

Enjoy the season!!!  Hugs Eileen

 Tis the season to be busy and for our family, December means Chanukah and Chanukah means latkes (potato pancakes). Ira and I have been producing a huge amount of latkes for more than twenty five years. Our tradition began the very first year that we were living in Atlanta far away from our family in New York City. 

Before our move across the Mason Dixon line I went to the source for my taste of potato pancakes. I called my grandma Adele and she would whip up a scrumptious batch of the delicacies. In those days there was no internet to "Google" a recipe and I had no cookbooks with a recipe for latkes. My need for a Jewish cookbook was non-existant as my grandma was a terrific cook. But now far away from home, at my home in Atlanta a trip to New York City was out of the question and so I did the next best thing. I called my grandma.

I will always remember that conversation. I dialed her phone number and my grandma answered. "Grandma I need your help!" said I, "How do you make latkes?" Her response was classic ,as she answered my question with another question. "Your calling me long distance for a recipe to make latkes?"

Yes I was calling for a recipe and I panicked when she could not give me one off of the top of her head. She cooked with her senses, not with a recipe and with no recipe to offer me, she did the next best thing. She ran to get her one and only cookbook, her Jenny Grossinger Cookbook and, read off a recipe for Latkes. That year was the first year that Ira and I fried latkes together. Together we developed a system to produce latkes that were as good as grandma's latkes.

The next year I had my very own Jewish cookbook. My friend Andrea bought me my first Jewish cookbook that emphasized the use of a food processor. It was the early eighties and the food processor was just gaining popularity. The combination of using a food processor and cooking Jewish food was perfect for a girl who was far away from her family and the foods that she loved.

We were off and running and latkes became the first of many food items that shaped the tradition of our holiday celebrations. The recipe in my marvelous cook book was enough to make forty bite sized latkes but that amount turned out to be a drop in the bucket as the demand for home made latkes expanded. Ira and I became a lean, mean latke making machine. Between Chanukah parties and our daughters' classroom parties, forty bite sized latkes were just not enough.

So here is how we mass produced latkes. Although we have five burners on our cook top we never fry latkes inside the house. Instead we use an electric frying pan and plug in outside. We learned our lesson the very first time we fried latkes when the smell of oil, onion and, fried potatoes was like the oil in the Chanukah story! Instead of one night of odors, we experiences eight continuous nights of the stale smell of fried potatoes!  We now set up our cooking station outside as far away from the door as possible.

My recipe is simple, 5 pounds of potatoes, 3 onions, 5 eggs, salt and pepper. I peel the potatoes using an apple peeling machine. Once they are in chunks, I use the food processor (steel blade) and pulse batches three or four times until processed. Next the potatoes go into a colander where they are rinsed (removes the starch) and patted dry. I process the onions (no need to drain) the same way and mix all the ingredients.

Then we move onto the outdoor frying experience. Ira artfully fries and then drains the golden latkes on paper towels. I then transfer the cooled potato pancakes to an aluminum disposable pan, separating the layers with aluminum foil. Wrapped in foil, the pans are stacked in the freezer.  If you live in a cold place, you can fry earlier in the year so that your end result will be a stash of frozen latkes and not a group of frozen people.

When you are ready to eat the latkes, remove from the freezer, place on a cookie sheet in a single layer and pop them into a pre heated 450 degree oven for 5-10 minutes. When you smell them, touch them and you will know if they are done. Serve with applesauce and/or sour cream and enjoy!

This year we made ten dozen three or four bite sized latkes (I tripled the recipe) and they are safely tucked away in our freezer. The kids are coming for Chanukah, I need some to take to one of my classrooms and perhaps like last year, some will fly home with the kids. They taste great when eaten four weeks later or four months. I know that for a fact as they tasted as good the day after Passover as they had the second day of Chanukah.

 I wish that I had spent more time watching my grandma cook but I am grateful that I continue to be inspired by the foods that she lovingly prepared for our family. Tis the season to be busy and the tradition of latkes has been passed down to the next generation. Last week I got a long distance call from Alyssa requesting my recipe for Latke so that she and Vince could prepare them for his holiday party. I reached into my closet for my well used food processor cook book and read off the recipe. At that moment the circle of life continued as the "latke tradition" was passed to the next generation. Happy Holidays..enjoy your families!!  Eileen

Today was a beautiful day. Ira and I had the privilege of attending a celebration of life for Deborah the daughter of our dearest friends Connie and Ray. The theme of the day was to LIV BIGG and the five hundred plus people who attended this special event got the message.

Deborah spent her time on this earth living big and living life as if this was her last day on this earth. The impact that she made on her friends and family as well as the hundreds that were her students over the last fifteen years was evident by the words of love, gratitude and humor that filled the room. She had decided to make a difference and her mission was accomplished.

As the celebration came to an end, we were offered a challenge. Our mission should we choose to take it was to follow in Deborah's footsteps and make a difference as she had clearly done. Deborah had paid it forward and we were asked to do the same. None of us knows which day will be our last day on this earth but all of us have the opportunity to live our lives to the fullest so that there will be no regrets.

It was interesting that I had just read an article in my local Newspaper about a young family with a very ill mother who needed a great deal of support. I had saved the article because I was definitely going to help them out but in the spirit of Deborah, I decided that it takes a village, village 42 to get this done.

Here at Lincoln Hills we are divided into Villages and my neighbor is our captain. I called her and we are on our way to paying it forward "Village Style". I could buy clothing or Christmas gifts on my own but together with my village, my neighbors, we could do so much more and we will.

Thanks to Deborah and the life that she chose to live I have decided to pay it forward and make a difference. I would like to challenge you all to do the same. What better time of year to make a difference is there than this season of giving. Join my village and form your own village and pay it forward...make a difference!  Email me at emarks@aol.com and let me know what you have done so that I can share it with Deborah's family! Hugs Eileen

If you didn't read my last excerpt, scroll down after reading this one!!

We are on vacation! The dogs are home with a wonderful pet sitter and as much as I love them, sleeping in bed just with Ira and with no dog hair has been very nice. This is our second visit to The Residence Inn in Palm Desert and I chose this location because it is a small resort with a great location. The pool and hot tub are across the driveway and the hot breakfast buffet is right next door. They do allow dogs but I said that we are on vacation and that means that the dogs stay at home!

Ira has played golf these last three mornings, once with our friend from Lincoln Hills and twice by himself. I had a wonderful day at the spa with my friend who's husband was playing golf with Ira. The last two mornings I took a long walk.

For the last few months long walks made me cry. The pain radiating from my spine into my leg made me walk only when needed. Sadly, it was Ira and then my pet sitter who made the twice daily walk with the dogs. They were not happy and often turned around as soon as they did their business. With time to heal and a wonderful physical therapist I am walking and instead of pain, I feel happiness.

Walking seems to be a symbol of freedom for me. As a young girl growing up in a small town, I was a bit of a loner and thought nothing of walking into town to see a movie or visit my aunt. When we left that small town and moved to the big city my sense of freedom opened up like the transformation of a rose bud into a flower. I walked all over the place by myself. Sometimes I would hop on a bus or a subway and head for the park. There I would continue my walk. I could walk on the board walk that lined the beach or walk on the broad avenues filled with all kinds of stores.

Having gained the freedom to walk, I have also lost that freedom twice, once when I suffered from panic anxiety panic attacks as I finally dealt with the tragic death of my father and now as I dealt with the pain of a bulging disk. I still have not connected this loss to any issue and. perhaps I never will but, as before I was bound and determined to proactively make the pain go away and it did.

Our vacation is nearly over and it will end the way it began, with a visit with oru daughter, son in law and baby bump. Thanksgivng dinner on the Queen Mary will be followed by our long drive north along interstate 5. For now the sun is shinning and we will enjoy the day in beautiful Palm Springs California.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. May well all continue to live in our land of great freedom. May we all have a wonderful time with our friends and family and may we all be thankful for what we have and be eager for more! Hugs Eileen