Monday, June 26, 2023

Monday, June 26, 2023

Tonight's picture was taken in June of 2007. Mattie was five years old. That weekend, we took Mattie to Dutch Wonderland in Pennsylvania. It is a theme park geared to preschoolers and young children. Along our journey, we toured Amish country and dined at the well known Plain & Fancy restaurant. The restaurant had a barn attached to it and it was perfect place for little ones to run around in the hay! Of course no trip was complete for me without plenty of photos. All I can say is, thank goodness I never traveled anywhere without my camera! Of course at the time it would never have dawned on me that photos would be the only things left I had of Mattie. Back then, I am sure I snapped photos with the thinking that Mattie would love having these memories some day. 

Quote of the day: It’s your reaction to adversity, not adversity itself that determines how your life’s story will develop. ~ Dieter F. Uchtdorf

My morning started off with this photo! My friend Christine emailed it to me. I can't tell you how much this perked me up. Christine and I became friends when Mattie was in kindergarten. Mattie and her son, Campbell, were "best friends." Our boys spent a lot of time together and through their bond, we became connected and developed a friendship. Christine was an integral part of Team Mattie and when our Foundation had a live Walk event, Christine managed our registration tent. Which is a big job and not for the meek. Christine knows how much I love sunflowers and how they symbolize compassion, support, and community. I can't tell you how many sunflowers I received when Mattie was in treatment. Every time we came home from the hospital, I was greeted with these happy yellow flower faces.  

Peter is traveling again this week. Last week was Portland, Oregon, this week is Chicago. It was another busy day for me, and somehow I have strained my back. I can't turn to the left or bend down. It makes caregiving truly challenging. The irony is I did not hurt myself from my daily routine, but from sitting too much by the computer doing Foundation work. May is fundraising season for us, and when not working with my parents, I was glued to the computer. The pain is intense and I am hoping within a few days, the pain is more manageable.

The Foundation's June e-newsletter went out to supporters today. In the newsletter, I highlighted the Walk 2023 video that I created last week. I was determined to make sure a video was created! Check it out......

On Saturday, I bought some beautiful tomatoes at the farmer's market. So I took the time tonight to prepare homemade tomato sauce, which I will use later this week. I started by caramelizing onions and garlic. 

I blanched five large tomatoes. Honestly I find store bought tomatoes have NO taste, so I can only do this when I can pick fresh tomatoes. 

After going in a boiling water bath for a minute, I pulled the tomatoes and put them in a bath of cold water. I love how the easily the skins come right over the tomatoes! 

The cooking process is underway!

I threw some basil and oregano, from our garden, into the the pot! I will let this simmer for several hours and boil down. We shall see how this turns out!