Last I left off on this theme of new beginnings for my family, my Oma (grandmother) had passed and we were starting to pack up both houses.  I was also worried about not breaking down in the middle of a concert while trying to play Strauss' An der Schönen, Blauen Donau (The Beautiful Blue Danube).  I'm happy to report that I made it through the concert!  A few tears were shed but it was nothing I couldn't play through.  

Since that posting in April, so much has changed in our lives.  My mom and her brother (my uncle from Texas) both decided that when my my Oma was gone, that my mom should sell her house and then they would sell my Oma's house and get my mom into a new house--let her start over with a clean slate.  And that is exactly what we have done. 

My mom already had a builder in mind and a model home that she loved but we did some searching around anyway just in case she couldn't afford the home of her dreams.  The goal was to get her into a house where everything she needed was on the main level.  We wanted this to be her "forever home, " just like my Oma's home was for her.  We just wanted a house that was newer for my mom and with less land and no pool so it would be cheaper and less work for my mom.  We wanted her to be able to come home at the end of a long work day and just enjoy her new house, not worry about what needed repairing and how she would pay for pool maintenance and what tree needed trimming on the acre and a quarter of land my Oma owned. 

From upper left:  My Oma's land in the dead of winter; Her land in the spring (her land goes nearly up to the yellow house up the hill, and that is only on one side of the house!); Her in-ground pool closed for the season; My sister, Caitlin, enjoying the pool with the family one of the last few times.

After finding the right home for my mom, we started working with Oakwood Homes.  The sales office representative, Stacy, was fantastic.  She's a single mom and understood a lot of what my mom had been through and what penny pinching feels like.  She suggested my mom have a meeting with their lender to go over her finances and see how much of a loan she could afford.  The lender, Kevin, was also very nice and helped my mom figure out that she could afford the house of her dreams and she would end up having a small loan--one that would be about the size of a brand new luxury car--except she'd be getting a new, energy efficient home with lots of space for the whole family!  So my mom signed a contingent contract with Oakwood--contingent on the sale of her own home.  This new home will be the nicest thing my mom will have ever owned and I'm so happy for her! 

This process has been an adventure but bittersweet at the same time.  My mom's house was my childhood home.  It was also my mom's childhood home--it had been in the family since it was built.  My Oma's house had been in the family since my mom was a senior in high school.  My family rented out the old house and when my parents married, they rented it out.  Eventually, my Oma signed the old house over to my mom when my parents divorced.  She wanted to make sure that my mom, sister and I always had a roof over our heads.  My Oma was always taking care of us.  If it weren't for her, we may have been homeless or at least without food.  Times were pretty tough after my dad left.  

Top:  The outside and inside of my mom's favorite model from Oakwood Homes.  The open floor plan on the main level with a master bedroom and laundry room on the main floor is what sold her on this house. Bottom:  Our selections at the New Home Design Center for our hardwood floors, carpeting, tiles, laminate flooring and countertops, granite countertops fireplace tile and cabinetry.

When my mom went to sell her house, it was very nerve racking for her.  She had never bought or sold a home before, and here we were selling one and getting ready to sell another.  Luckily, the market for sellers is amazing right now and my mom's realtor for her house is even more amazing! If you are looking to buy or sell in the Colorado Springs area, Treasure Davis of Remax knows what she is doing and is great with first time buyers/sellers.  The sale of our house went fast and we got $10,000 over the asking price.  (There is basically a bidding war going on down here the market is so crazy right now!)  My mom was stunned.  Our little house in the south end of town was in need of some updating and a little bit of work--or as Treasure put it, it just needs a little TLC. 

During the selling process of my mom's house, we had appointments with the lender again, and also with the New Home Center for learning about what to expect during Oakwood's building process and to select what we wanted in the new house!  My sister joined my mom and I for selections and it's a good thing.  It was totally overwhelming but the representative helping us through it was great.  She new my mom's budget and only showed us what would fit in the budget. We stayed pretty baseline on most of the selections but we upgraded to darker woods and extended the hardwood flooring on the main level into the living room.  This opened up some other options for us, like upgrading the carpet and carpet pad.  All in all, we are very happy with our selections!  

So in late July came closing on my mother's house.  I had to leave my gardens and the rosebush that my Opa planted at the house when my family moved in.  My heirloom rosebush...it was the pride and joy of my gardens.  I tried rooting cuttings but I could never get it to work.  So I promised my Opa that I would plant a new rosebush in his honor at the new house.

From Top Left:  The corner of my mom's old house and the front yard, including my very large Russian Sage plants around the lamppost; A nearly full storage unit that you can see I've packed to the brim in the back; My Opa's (grandfather's) rosebush--the pride and joy of my garden that sometimes showed streaks of pink in the yellow petals when the summer days got really hot.

At this point, we had two storage units full of furniture and house decor.  We new that the new house would not be done before we had to move out of my Oma's house.  My mom said that I have been playing storage unit Tetris for the past several months.  While keeping my eye out for a job I might like, I have basically been my mom's secretary and packer/mover.  But the best part closing was that my mom had signed to release the contingency on the building of her new home and in the matter of 2 weeks, they would begin construction on the new house!

Selling my Oma's house went a lot faster than my uncle's realtor thought it would.  We got a little bit over the asking price.  I think if my uncle had left it on the market longer, he would have got more.  I know he was trying to make sure that when it came time for closing on my mom's new house, that she had all the money she could have so she would get a small mortgage.  

A month or so before closing on the house we had to close the swimming pool and the buyers  wanted to come and see the process.  We really didn't want to meet these people but my mom had no choice in the matter.  They seemed nice enough and were interested in keeping the pool going.  This was nice to hear because when my family moved into this house, the pool wasn't in working condition and my Opa (grandfather) got it running even after people told him he should just fill it in and turn it into a garden. 

 

Top:  The temp controlled storage unit nearly full to "so full we can't put anything else in it" (our new house doesn't come with a fridge and our fridge at my mom's house was a gift from my Oma). Bottom:  The two outdoor storage units--the second one got packed a little nicer than the first one...Look!  It's my mattress and my office chair!  Hello, stuff, we miss you!!

In early October it was time to leave my Oma's house.  With three storage units now full, my mom and I took only our toiletries, a small portion of our clothes and our computers and my instruments and moved into our temporary homes--my mom moved into my sister and brother-in-law's 2 bedroom apartment and my dogs and  I moved in with my dad and his wife, Jane (and their 3 dogs and a cat--it's like a mini petting zoo, but it's only for 3 months)!  I've also managed to apply recently for a marketing and graphics position with the local philharmonic.  I'm just waiting to hear back now.  (Keep your fingers crossed for me!)

I think we are all to the point now where we are more excited than reminiscent and melancholy, or overwhelmed!  I try not to think very often about the two homes I spent my childhood years in.  Mostly I try not to think about my Opa's rosebush dying at the hands of the new owners of my mom's house.  In the meantime, I will search for a rosebush similar to my Opa's from Heirloom Roses--something yellow with streaks of pink as the summer days get hotter.   

  

From top left:  The hole is dug for our new home; Headers and footers are in and they are getting ready to pour the foundation; The foundation is poured and the basement looks huge!; Building supplies are arriving and filling up the lot!

I know these 3 months will go by quick, but I'm excited to move into my mom's new house with her.  I'll have the whole upper level to myself.  And I really don't care that I'm nearing my mid-30s and still living with my mom (and currently my dad).  Even if I get a job that I could afford to live on my own, why would I when I hate cooking for 1 and love my mother's company.  Did I mention that my sister wants to move in to the downstairs bedroom in my mom's new home too?!  Plus I encourage people to spend more time with their grandparents.  I spent so much time with my Oma before she died, more than most grandkids, and I would give anything for just 1 more day with her.  So to all you millennials out there living with your parents or grandparents, don't be embarrassed!  All of the homebuilders we spoke with during this process have said they are seeing more multi-generation families searching for a home together and that the builders have been trying to build more models that would accommodate them.  Imagine that!? 

Adrienne 

My early spring flowers have bloomed and the late spring flowers are coming to an end while my summer flowers are just starting to take off!  We opened my Oma's pool and took our first dip in it to celebrate the sale of my mom's house and old car--my Oma would be proud that we took some time out of our chaotic schedule to celebrate something.  It's about time we did.  It has been four months since my Oma's passing and there hasn't been a whole lot to celebrate lately, it seems.

1. In a saucepan, combine Limoncello (if using), water and sugar and cook just until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
2. Pour into a bowl then add the lemon juice and lemon zest.
3. Next you can either cool the mixture in an ice bath (ice, salt and water) or place in the fridge until cool.
4. Once the mixture has cooled, pour it into your ice cream maker and churn until slushy. Pour into a container and place in freezer to finish firming up.
5. If you don't have an ice cream maker, pour into a 9x13 pan and place in freezer until firm (2-3 hours). Using a fork, stir the sorbet every half hour.

In early January, our family made arrangements with my Oma's doctor to have her enrolled in at-home hospice care.  She was, of course, admitted into hospice.  All of our lives changed that day.  From then on out, the time she needed from me for care increased exponentially day-by-day.  My Oma could no longer use her walker and we were moving her about the house in her transfer chair.  She also could no longer get up and toilet on her own and needed help being transferred to the bedside potty.  We were feeding her and each day it became more and more of a liquid and soft food diet as her dentures no longer fit well and because it became harder for her to swallow.  

The Vintage Wedding Layout that Almost Wasn't:  I made this layout for my Oma and Opa's wedding photo but I almost didn't make this layout.  After a huge fight with my Oma, I threw the page in the trash.  The next day I fished it out of the trash to finish it.

There were several days where my mom had to come home early because my Oma was too afraid for me to leave her side and I couldn't take my dogs out to potty or even use the bathroom myself.  The hospice workers said to get rest when she slept but there were many times my Oma would fight nature and the meds and would stay awake out of fear.  I know she always wanted to go in her sleep and she was afraid that would be the last time she would see one of us.  

Her communication skills decreased and mostly became yes and no answers with few moments of lucidity and several word answers.  I finally figured out that she wasn't really afraid to die but to leave my mom, sister and I alone.  She was afraid that we still needed her, despite the numerous amount of times everyone had told her it was okay to go; that we would all be okay because we had each other.  She was always the typical stubborn Germanic woman.  

The last few days of her life consisted of baby food (we told her it was pureed fruits to spare her what little dignity she had left), glycerin swabs, popsicles, water and her favorite, beer.  This was on top of the round-the-clock medicine doses which all had to be given in liquid form.  We had to prep syringes of morphine and crush pills and use water to pick it up into syringes.  

On what was to be her last evening, the on-call nurse called to notify us that after looking at all that had happened in the last couple of days, that my Oma was now bed-bound.  But my Oma was proud and wouldn't use her Depends.  My mom had to run an errand after work and my Oma was fidgety.  I told her to use her Depends or she would have to wait until my mom got home as she was a 2 person lift now.  My Oma waited for my mom to come help and lift her to the bedside potty.  While we waited for my mom, my Oma talked about seeing her mother and her sister Edith, whom she had never mentioned seeing before.  I knew from this, that the end was even closer than we had originally thought. When my mom arrived home we got her to the bedside potty then fed her dinner, which was a popsicle, and then gave her some beer.  

My Oma meeting my puppy, Magnus, for the first time.  She couldn't understand why I wanted a second dog…but it was love at first sight!  She and Magnus bonded during the last couple months of her life; August 2014.

When my mom was giving her beer, my Oma had a lucid moment.  She pulled my mom's ear toward her mouth and whispered, "Please stay home from work tomorrow."  My mom of course agreed to honor her wish.  I remember my Oma falling asleep unusually fast not long after.  My Oma didn't wake at all during the night.  There had been a few nights where she tried to get out of bed about every minute or so and many nights where she woke every couple of hours.  

The next morning my mom and I were there to greet our normal Thursday/Friday morning caretaker, Berta.  I had promised Berta last week that I would be around the house just in case she needed help with anything.  Berta was surprised to see my mom.  After telling Berta about my Oma's request Berta laughed and said, "It would be so like Ruth to schedule her own death!"  We all laughed at that because it is definitely something my Oma would have done.  She was always a scheduler and planner.  "10:30, die, check!"  That was at about 8:30 in the morning on Thursday, February 11th.

That afternoon her nurse, Emily, called to see how things were going and to make arrangements for a medication delivery on Friday so we would have enough to get us through the weekend.  I remember my Oma making some noise through the baby monitor while my mom was on the phone but she seemed to finally quite and settle down.  After my Oma was quiet, Berta went back to my her room to move the chair she had pulled up to the bed to just sit next to my Oma while she slept because she realized we couldn't see my Oma on the baby monitor.  She came out of the room and called for my mom but since my mom was still on the phone, she waved her off.  I got up and went back to see what she needed.  The color had drained from Berta's face.  I knew something wasn't right so I went into my Oma's bedroom without asking.  I remember Berta saying something as I passed her but I don't know if Berta's words came out jumbled or if I just heard it jumbled.  My heart was pounding and it finally registered that Berta was saying, "Somethings not right" over and over again.  I watched my Oma's chest for a sign of breathing and saw none.  

My Oma proudly holding up her official White House greeting for her 95th birthday; July 2015.

I ran out of the room and called my mom, very insistent that she needed to come down to Oma's bedroom.  Mom was about to hang up with Emily but  had her hang on because something was wrong.  For some reason, my mom handed me the phone when I met her halfway.  I remember saying something along the lines of, "This is ridiculous, just bring Emily with us, she's the nurse" and then realizing Emily was on the phone and amending my statement.


My mom looked at my Oma for a few seconds then said, "Oh my God, Emily.  My mother died while we were on the phone."  Emily said she was hanging up and coming out right away.  I had to gather myself to call my sister's work to let her know I was coming to get her.  That was 12:20 on Thursday, February 11th.  

The rest of that day was a whirlwind but I still felt like I was moving through thickened glue.  A few days later my uncle and aunt arrived from Texas to help start cleaning out the house for the next five days.  I remember hardly having time to grieve.  I was just thankful that my Oma and I had a chance to make amends before she left for her next life's journey.  

Two months later, with my Oma's ashes interred next to my Opa's coffin and life moving on, I began working on my resume.  I need a regular job again.  I returned to my gardening as spring had literally sprung in all of them and I continued packing up my Oma's house and my mom's house.  

My sister, Caitlin, sharing a special moment with our Oma not long after she was admitted into at-home hospice care.  This was about a month prior to her death on February 11, 2016.

Yesterday, my band began prepping music for our summer concert series.  One of the concerts in the series is entitled "Night at the Symphony" and includes some band arrangements of, as I would refer to as, heavy hitters:  Tchaikovsky's Finale to Symphony No. 4, Gershwin's An American in Paris and Mozart's Overture to the Marriage of Figaro amongst other pieces.  But when we started practicing Strauss' An der Schönen, Blauen Donau (The Beautiful Blue Danube) I nearly broke down sobbing.  I just barley held it together…it was a lot harder than I thought it would be to hear and play the song that is so emblematic of my Oma's motherland, Austria.  

And so my grieving process continues.  I will have to prepare myself before the concert with this piece in June.  Listening to it on repeat should help.  I can hardly break down during a performance or mess up notes--especially on piccolo!  I've now gotten to the end of this post, only realizing I meant to say a quick "We will be back with regular posts soon" now that things have calmed down in our lives.  Perhaps I needed this cathartic exercise.  Here is to my family's new beginnings!  

Adrienne

I love a good excuse to throw a party with yummy food.  So in conjunction with Alice Scraps Wonderland, I threw a premier party for Shadowhunters, a television show on Freeform (the new name for ABC Family) based of the world-wide bestselling book series The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare.

I'm a huge fan of the books and so I picked out foods mentioned in the series or foods that seemed to fit a character's personality to serve at my party. Alice Scraps Wonderland made some fun food name cards to label the different foods on the buffet table and has been making beautiful mixed media Shadowhunters inspired tags that are perfect to display on a buffet table full of food!


In the first book, The City of Bones, Jace pulls a tub of leftover spaghetti out of the fridge that is clearly labeled with Hodge's name when he sees Isabelle attempting to make dinner.  (Apparently Izzy can't cook and no one at the Institute wants to eat the food she makes.)  So my mom, Sylvia, made her famous lasagna sauce (a super secret family recipe--sorry!) and boiled some spaghetti noodles and I labeled it "Hodge's Favorite Spaghetti."  We also added a little shredded fresh parmesan to the mix!  And since garlic bread goes wonderfully with spaghetti, we made some and I decided to name it "Simon's Anti Vampire Garlic Bread."  It's perfect for the nerdy boy who believes garlic might save him from those bloodsucking nighttime monsters.  I also made a mixed green salad topped with apples, strawberries, dried cranberries and sunflower seeds.  With all the fruit it was quite magical for this time of year so it was bestowed the namesake of "Magnus' Magical Salad."  And I bought some Izze sodas (because of Izzy, duh!) to wash it all down with.  I really wanted some blackberry flavored Izze sodas to mirror the sultry color of Izzy's lipstick in the TV show, but my local grocery store was out so I went with grapefruit--a pretty girly pink, plus clementine because it's one of my favorites!


For dessert I chose to make some vanilla cupcakes iced with my favorite buttercream (chocolate cherry) that I tinted black.  I sprinkled on a few white candy pearls and made angelic runes with melted white chocolate to place on top of the cupcakes.  I labeled these "Clary's Artistic Angelic Rune Cupcakes" because in the beginning of the show, Clary doodles Shadowhunter runes without knowing what she is doing.  In one of the later books in the series, Jace mentions he likes mangos so I picked up a mango sorbet and a mango sorbetto.  We all know Jace is charming and smooth so I labeled this "Jace's Smooth Mango Sorbet."  I served up a scoop of the cold yummy goodness in a chilled martini glass.  In the books, Madame Dorothea (known as Dot in the TV show) asks Jace and Clary if they would like tea when they came to visit her in the first book.  Jace tells her anything but Earl Grey because he hates bergamot.  So I found a Mortal Cup-like chalice in my Oma's china cabinet and stuffed it with bags of Tazo's Earl Grey tea.  I pulled out some of my sister's vintage teacups and a teapot as well.


As for tablescaping, I used a black tablecloth with a white and silver table runner.  I always like differences in hight when setting up a buffet table.  It's very artistic and pleasing to the eye.  So I used one of my Oma's fancy cake stands to hold the cupcakes up high and propped the salad bowl up on a short vase turned upside down and stuffed with a silver organza napkin and a strand of glimmer lights.  I also added silver mercury glass candle pedestals and candles then placed the tags created by Alice Scraps Wonderland around the table.

Don't forget to visit Alice Scraps Wonderland's blog for more on the tags and cards!