Dealing with Grief...

Hello,
It has been a very long time since I've posted on here and I've been wanting to do it for a while now. A long while.
I make no excuses. I don't offer any. I'm sorry for not posting.
I wanted to share that I lost my father in May this year. My brothers and I had to make the very difficult decision of taking him off of life support. I have so many mixed feelings.
My father had something called vascular dementia which impaired his judgment and made him difficult to deal with. He moved several states away, about 10 years ago, after my mother died. I think it may have been more difficult to deal with because I didn't get to see him too often because of the distance.
Although my brother who lived near him would tell me much of what was going on, it was still hard to accept these gradual changes and decline within him. I love my dad, always did and always will.
I guess it is something that's kind of like the winter holidays when people get together and want things to be happy like on TV, in the movies or our own idealized version of what family get-togethers "should" be. Then when the actual event happens. reality happens. There are tensions between relatives or things just don't seem to be the way we wanted them or fantasized about.
It was like that visiting my dad. Due to a stroke he had almost 20 years before, his own stubborn personality/independence streak, lack of judgement and whatever else due to his vascular dementia; he became unpredictable, more cantankerous, less patient and less in control of a temper he didn't have when he was younger. It created some tension and made visits difficult. I wanted time that we spent together to be special, but it didn't happen too much. I would always end up feeling disappointed. In hindsight, at times anyways, at this point, I can look back and know that this was just the way things were and he was "sick".
When my grandmother got seriously ill and actually had to be revived and in the ICU, she actually had another 8 years of a happy life. I felt it was a gift from God because she didn't have a great life for several years before she had become ill. I guess I also wished for that for my dad. I think he was sad, depressed and lonely dealing with his deficits and losses. I wished he had that special time.
When I was away from him I would miss him despite his crankiness. I hope that he is at peace and happy now. The good thing is that he is with my mom.
I don't know how to end this. I don't have anything creative to say or end this with. Grieving has many facets and is an ongoing process. We can't speed it up or slow it down. It is something that has to be done though. It helps keep our lives from stopping.
I will share more about this in the future as this goes on. Thanks for reading this. I hope that life is going well for you.
Thanks for reading!
Mary Ellen

A Little Less Cold and A Little Bit of Christmas...

Hello there,
Today is a little less cold out than yesterday! The temperature is a slightly balmier 16 degrees Fahrenheit this morning. It was 14 degrees F. yesterday at the highest point in the day. It is funny though. Most of the time when I feel a right to complain or whine about the weather, I can't pick up the phone to call my brother to complain. He will always put me in my place without trying. He lives up in Maine. He will nonchalantly tell me what the weather is there. Be it a temperature, inches of snow or something like that, he can usually put me in my place unintentionally. I have never had to plug in my car to start it in the morning (so the oil doesn't gel up), nor have I ever had to deal with frost heaves in the road, or shovel snow off my roof to prevent the weight of it caving in my roof (or whatever else it prevents). I think those types of things are one reason that generally people are nicer and more neighborly up in Maine. They have to be to survive. I have been to Maine as late in the year as October or as early in the year as March. I have seen wintery weather in both those months, but nothing like my brother sees. So therefore I won't complain anymore today.

I wanted to show some photos of some more Christmasy things here. One set of pics is a gingerbread house from a kit that we made where I work. It is not fabulous, but I think it's charming. It looks a little more Easter-like in its colors. We embellished it with frosting and few extras that didn't come with the kit. It was made by Wilton. I am disappointed with their kit. It is not as nice as previous years we made them using other brands.


The other photos are from the town of West Haven, Connecticut and some of their Christmas displays on the town Green. There weren't any events going on when I was there, so it is not lit up and its not in its full glory. I will try to get back and share more photos on a more active day if I can. It was a cloudy and cold day (though not as cold as today), so the photos aren't bright.
I do love the stuff the towns do for the little kids, ect. I grew up in West Haven and have memories of visiting Santa in a similar set up there.





Well I hope you enjoyed the photos. I hope you come back soon to visit. Thanks for taking the time to share with me.
Til next time,
Mary Ellen
Don't forget to do some Christmas shopping http://www.zazzle.com/santa_bunny_postage_stamps-172437602660904672!
That page will lead you to some lovely holiday bunny postage stamps, but check out other fun things there as well. Thanks!
Have a wonderful day.

It is a prematurely bitter cold day for December....

Hello friend,
Thank you for joining me. It is bitter cold outdoors. It is only 14 degrees Fahrenheit outside today in the sun. For Connecticut in early December that is quite unusual. We have been doing things to keep the use of the running the oil furnace down to save money on oil and to just conserve. On days like this one can really feel the chill.

Outdoors the rabbit water bottles are freezing up and we need to go outdoors to change them several times a day. Most of our rabbits are indoors now, but a few are outdoors. The good thing is that this weather usually won't last long this time of year. I am not psychologically prepared for a bitter cold snap yet. The good thing is that I have today off from work and didn't have to try to start the car or sit in it waiting for it to warm up on a cold dark morning.

I have been doing a little Christmas shopping online and also watched a movie. My husband is correcting student papers in another room of the house. It is nice to cuddle up and relax for a change of pace during this busy holiday season. If only I had some cocoa in the house. Oh well. This is a good time for a hot soak in a nice long bath. And again, if only I had some cocoa in the house. I think this is the day that has spurred me into getting an essential like that for next few months ahead.

I don't drink cocoa often anymore, but there are some days like this when nothing else will do! I hope you are warm, safe and having a good day. I have to count my blessings and hope all is well for everyone else as well. As much as we may struggle with things in this economy or in other situations, in my own opinion anyway, I believe it is best to remember that things could always be worse. I have been in much worse situations and therefore count my blessings and pray for those who may need it more than me at the moment.

I wish you all a warm and comfortable day. I pray that you are without worry as you read this. Have a great day! Thanks for joining me.
Til next time,
Mary Ellen

Photos and video are from the New Haven Green Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration

Hi there,
Thanks for joining me. These photos and video are from the New Haven Green Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration on December 3rd, 2009. Please check them out and enjoy the visit!


These gingerbread houses are ones that I had taken a photo of before during the day and are in another post. This is at night and are much better! Look at the work in them. You can click on them to see the detail!

There were live models instead of mannequins in the windows of the stores on Chapel Street. They were so good at what they did, one may have thought him or herself intoxicated when they moved!



Click on the tree images below to see them much better.

This is the horse drawn carriage we had a wonderful and very friendly ride on.


This is a video of a group of acapella carolers from Yale University on Chapel Street in New Haven. They had such a wonderful sound!


Thank you for letting me share this nice experience with you. It is a fun thing to go out into your community to experience things like this. It can help put you into the spirit. It doesn't cost much to park or take a walk depending on your situation. Many communities do stuff like this at this time of year. I hope you check this type of thing out in your area and leave a comment about what your experience is.

Thanks for joining me.
'Til next time,
Mary Ellen

Shop here!
Or here!

Starting to see signs of the winter holidays coming...

Hi There Again My Friend,
Just starting to see signs of the winter holidays coming about lately. I live right down the street from the prep school Choate Rosemary Hall. The lit up tree, in the photo below,is from their campus. I love looking at it when I pass it. It always looked incredibly beautiful on a snowy day or evening in past years. I'll let the snow takes its time though.

Where I work, in New Haven, CT; we put up one Christmas Tree today. My clients did most of the work. Its not quite Martha Stewart, but I think this one has a lot more charm!! I can appreciate the color coordinated and planned out trees, but I am always most charmed by a handmade, homemade ornamented tree. You know, an eclectic mix of things new, but moreso of things collected and handmade in the past.

Below here is a wonderful gingerbread building on display in a window in the midst of Yale University. I apologize for the reflection, it is not the best shot. I will try to get a better one in the near future. You can click on the photo to get a larger view and then you can see actual details much more clearly! I wonder how they got the huge pieces of gingerbread not to fall apart! I have never made one from scratch, but have used those kits that they sell for about $10.00 and bought extra candy and frosting to add my own creative touches to it. When I put one of those together I will put it on display here.

At the top of this page is the fireplace, where I work, which we decorated up. I think that it came out nice.

I will be on the lookout for many more delightful things to share here.
Thanks for stopping by!
Til next time,
Mary Ellen

PS For a nice way to share some holiday cheer-Check out these Holiday Bunny cards
http://www.zazzle.com/santa_bunny_hoppy_holidays_greeting_card-137436415569179034 and http://www.zazzle.com/santas_little_helper_christmas_card-137381165909725556 andhttp://www.zazzle.com/christmas_bunny_happy_holidays_card-137402437193112328 and these postage stamps..... http://www.zazzle.com/santa_bunny_postage_stamps_w_hoppy_holidays-172430899774293292
andhttp://www.zazzle.com/christmas_bunny_hoppy_holidays_postage_stamp-172501487979829989

Some nice gifts here!
http://www.cafepress.com/BunnyHopShop

Thanksgiving Day (brief post with a couple of photos)

Hi There My Friend,
I just thought that I would share a couple of photos from Thanksgiving and one of the Christmas Tree on the Green in New Haven, Connecticut just waiting to be lit.
Thanksgiving was a nice pleasant visit with relatives from my husband's family here in town. Didn't have to travel far away. The photo of the couple is of my husband and myself after eating quite the filling meal.

The turkey photo is basically just a "before" photo from before all the other dishes were put on the table. And the Christmas Tree photo I thought would just mark the beginning of the Christmas season.

We didn't attempt any of the Black Friday shopping. To me it is not worth it. The stress and hassle to just save a few bucks. That is the opposite of what the season should be about. This is not a long post, but just a brief update.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving if it is a holiday that you celebrate.
Thanks for stopping by!
Til next time,
Mary Ellen

Bunny Christmas Card Photos , Links and an Outtake...

Hello there,
Welcome to this page. It has been a week since I've put something here to share. I have been busy getting some stuff ready for the holidays, like for Thanksgiving and for trying out different ideas with the bunnies for Christmas Cards. Here are a few of those you can see here..... I just gave the link to one photo, but on the page you can browse some of the others. These were just some I chose. I had to take a lot of photos to get some to choose from. I dressed the bunny up on different occasions, so not to overstress her. Not all bunnies let you dress them up and they are quite the Houdini at escaping out of clothing. Here are the cards....

Let me know what you think of them. My sweet little girl Grumbellina (although a funny sounding name, it is an affectionately given name due to a story behind it, which I will share another time). I give her lots of reward and cuddle time to thank her for letting me put her through this. Here is one of the "If Glaring Looks Could Kill Shots"-

And Below is one from a different day in a much happier moment. She is in her own environment.

One thing I try to do is to keep her calm with lots of petting and soothing talk. If she is greatly unwilling to participate, I scrap the idea. It is a good idea to not stress the bunny out. One needs to always remember to think of it as the bunny is doing me a big favor! She is not my slave or here to do my whims. Companion animals have a relationship with us and that relationship needs to be thought of as just that- a relationship where there is give and take on both sides with respect for the other. We need to remember that they have likes, dislikes, moods, needs and wants like us.
I will publish more this Holiday week. I thank you for spending time with me.
Til next time,
Mary Ellen