The Circle of Life: Sometimes It Just Gets Broken

The Circle of Life: Sometimes it just gets broken and there is nothing to do but to deal with it. 

By Circle of Life, I mean where you grow in several stages.  This is MY perception of how it works based on my experiences.  Your results may vary, as they say in the commercial disclaimers.

Stage One:  as child dependent upon your parents to guide and mold you. For a while your parents are as Gods. They are wise, all knowing, the source of comfort and everything else that a young child must have.

Mom and Me

Stage Two: Soon, you grow into a teenager straining to find out who you really are. Ah...the teen years. Teen age angst.  What a trial for the parents.  You go out of ways to assert your independence and to just be contrary to all authority.  There is an ongoing power struggle between teen girls and their mothers, sons and fathers.  At this point you realize that maybe the parental units are NOT perfect or God like.  You've seen the cracks in the facade in some ways.   Perhaps it is the party where someone got a bit too drunk, was having fun and became embarrassing.  Maybe an uncomfortable argument between the parents.  Everything your family does is now worthy of an eye roll or two.

Stage Three: Thankfully we grow out of that teenager stage.  You go out on your own.  College, maybe. Get a job and an apartment of your own.  Move to another town. Now you begin to realize that life is more than being a child or an obnoxious teen dependent.  The bills keep coming in and you suddenly realize that ....Woah.....someone has to clean the bathroom, change the toilet paper roll and buy the food and all that stuff. This means I have to keep going to my job! and I can't just spend all my money on fun things.  Maybe that home and family thing was worthwhile.  Still figuring out who you are you experiment will all kinds of things. You might occasionally think about your parents and the fact that they were young at one time and remember some of their stories, if your parents were of a mind to share their own youthful indiscretions.   But mostly, it us all about you and your new exciting life.

Somewhere between stage two and three,  you discover SEX.  You are sure that it has never been this way for anyone before.  You are special..... THEN suddenly it dawns on you that your parents have had sex too.   At least once or twice, depending on how many siblings you have.  Eeeewwww!  This may require that I rethink my views of my parents and think about why they dropped us off at the theater every Saturday so we kids could spend the afternoon watching bad B movies......  Naaah.

Stage Four:   The real relationship stage.  You find a boy or girl that you like a lot and you discover that the 'way of love' is not all that easy.  It might work out and turn into marriage or you might find out that it is just a way of woe.  Suddenly, your parents seem to be more understandable.  Those arguments and quirks that they exibited that were so embarassing to you, make some sense.  You might be able to confide in your mother or father and even ask for advice.  They aren't Gods like they were when you were small, but.....somehow as you have gotten older, they seem to have gotten so much smarter. Amazing how that can happen.

Stage Five:  Marriage and children.  If you manage to make it past stage four, you are now married and have children of your own.  There is a moment where it dawns on you, perhaps when you are changing diapers or getting up yet again in the middle of the night to feed the baby or walk the floor at 2 am trying to console your colicky child.....WOW.  My mother/father did this same thing for me.!!! And I took it all for granted.   As a new mother or father, you will now be able to reach out to your parents for advice and ask them.  How did you handle this problem.  What was it like for you?  (They THEY are now Grandparents and working their way through their own Circle of Life.) 

Now, you can talk woman to woman or man to man.  You parents are morphing into friends and confidants.  People.  Not just parents, but people who have pasts, likes, dislikes.  As your own children grow and you deal with the intricacies of a marital relationship, this friendship grows ever more strong.

Stage Six:  Finally, you have gotten your children through their teen years and you also remember just what a little prick or bitch you were to your own parents.  (I apologized to my father at that point.) Your children are in Stage Three.    Ahhhh.  At last. The empty nest.  Free at last free at last.  Adults without young children and you can do the things you put off while raising the family.  Travel. Go to resorts and experience fine dining.  Sleep IN on Sunday and walk around the house in your underwear without a snotty teenager rolling eyes at you.   

Three Generations

Stage Seven:  Finally.  Grandchildren of your own to spoil.  Now you are the valued source of information.   

Somewhere in these last stages, you begin to realize the mortality of your parents and yourself.  Life isn't eternal as you think it is in your teen and young adult years.  Friends, family are dropping like flies and you realize that time is precious.  You'd better spend as much of it as you can with your parents if they still exist and your children and grandchildren before the circle stops spinning..

Such is the circle of life.  Wheel within wheels.  We are all on the circle at various points.  But....sometimes the circle breaks as it did for my mother and for the rest of us.

Scanning the Past

I'll admit it.  I'm a compulsive clipper and saver.  I clip out recipes from magazines and file them away into categories. When I go to yard sales I buy old cookbooks.  I especially love the small books put out by clubs and ladies associations.  Interesting regional books.  Old cookbooks that are a view into what our lives were like in other times, like the depression or the roaring 20's.

I have binders and shelves full of crafting magazines.  McCalls, Better Homes and Gardens, Good Housekeeping, American Home Crafts.  I have clipped and saved crafting ideas and instructions from magazines for decades, since the 1960's when I started crafting.  Boxes and files full of old and yellowing clippings that I can peruse when looking for a new idea or an old idea that is new again.  Decorating and house ideas.  Yardscapes and gardening ideas.   We actually used many of those as inspiration when building our house.

Often I look at these old ideas and get great inspiration.  Other times I just laugh and wonder......what were we thinking?  Seriously.  Using styrofoam meat trays as an art form?   Who would want to wear

THIS or even spend a great deal of time making such a monstrosity.

OMG the 70's What were we thinking

What self respecting man would wear THIS.  Why in the world did I ever clip this and save it

Really Ugly Trout Sweater

Some ideas are still interesting and inspiring.  Classics that don't go out of style.  I think I will be making this sweater this winter for myself.

Aran Sweater

What?!!   What are you looking at??   I'm not a hoarder.   Everything is organized and neat.  ORGANIZED I tell you  :-)

Well.  Enough is enough with the piles of clippings. Now that I'm retired and I have time to get back into the things I love to do.  Cooking and Crafting, it is time to get into the 21st century already.  I am now in the process of scanning the craft clippings into PDF or JPEG formats.   Now I can clutter up my computer with files instead of my filing cabinet.

Scanning the past and saving the ideas.   Now if I can just bring myself to actually throw away the clippings after I have scanned them.   Nope.....not a hoarder.

Skip the Debates....Let's Have a Duel

This morning, Dumbplumber (my ever lovin' hubby) and I remarked how completely sick and tired we are of the never ending blather from the talking heads about the upcoming election.  Sick of all of them from Fox to CNN to NPR.  The latest is all about the debate preparations for Obama and Romney: who is going to be better at answering the stupid media questions, who has a more soaring oratorical style and who can blather more than the other guy.

In fact, one talking head said "We are awaiting dueling speeches from the candidates."   Hell.....why don't we just skip the speeches part and go directly to a good old fashioned duel.   It was good enough for Andrew Jackson.   Romney vs. Obama at 20 paces with pistols.  Or swords.   Ooooo  I know....Light Sabres.

However, since everything associated with Obama is racist,  and probably a white dude like Romney aiming a gun at Obama could possibly construed as racist, I suggest we use stand ins to take the place of  the candidates.

My suggestions:

Ted Nugent can stand in for Romney

Michael More for Obama

Put it on Pay Per View.  Watch the money come rolling in.

Genius.   Right????

Proof: No one is serious about the Green Movement

The "Greenies" is my name for the eco-nazis who want to save the earth by limiting our consumption of water, energy, food, lightbulbs and just about everything else.   They want us to watch our carbon footprint and save the Earth.  They nag us about everything and won't be happy until we all are living in a Luddite world, huddling in the dark and chained to our hovels by high gasoline prices, high energy prices and eating sticks and twigs.

Well, I have proof that they are not serious.  That they are full of shit and don't really mean any of the things they tell us.  That they don't live by their own rules and did I already mention.....full of shit.

When you check into a motel or hotel, you are gently chided ....nagged at....to save the planet by conserving, turn off the lights, set the A/C at a higher temperature.  Hang up your towels and not have your sheets changed to save the water.  Don't take a long shower.  Don't let the water run when you are brushing your teeth.   Ok.  Not a problem.  I don't change my sheets daily at home anyway and I can use the same towel more than one time.

BUT....here is the proof that they don't really mean it and it is all just eyewash.  Proof that the Green Movement is all about controlling the proletariat and nothing about actually conserving or taking care of the environment.

A few days ago, The Dumbplumber, and I checked into a hotel we like to stay at for a little R&R.  It is next to a great steak house and we can have some cocktails, walk to the restaurant, have some more cocktails and not worry about driving or getting a DUI.

Coincidentally, we were booked into the very same room that we had 3 months before.  The same room that we complained about the toilet tank leaking through the flapper all  the time.  About every 5 to 7 minutes a gallon or so of water would leak and the tank would turn on.  Wooosh.   The Dumbplumber being an actual.....wait for it.....PLUMBER, informed them at the desk of the leakage and that a $4 flapper would fix the problem.

Did they fix it....HELL NO.  Again.  Water wooshing all night long, every 5 to 7 minutes.  Dumbplumber finally got up and turned off the water supply and in the morning the tank was bone dry.  So....not only is this annoying, we got to thinking about the amount of wasted water running down the sewers.   I'm all about conserving and not wasting, but I'm not making a religion of it like the Greenies.

Here's the math. 

24 hours a day X 60 minutes =  1440 minutes
1440 minutes / 5 minutes =  288  gallons of water down the toilet in one day
288 gallons X 365 days a year = 105,120 gallons a year

105,120 gallons x 10 (at least) other leaky toilets in this hotel = 1,051,200

Over a million gallons a year in just this ONE hotel.   There are probably at least 10 other hotels losing similar amounts of water so now we have 10.5 MILLON gallons of wasted water. 

So.....Not only are they wasting enormous amounts of water, the water bills must be enormous as well and the costs are passed onto the hotel patrons. If they were really serious about the crap they lecture us about, they would have taken the Dumbplumber's advice in the first place and fixed their leaking toilets. 

When the Al Gores of the world downsize their houses, quit flying around in personal jets.  When the Michelle Obamas of the world start eating what they expect us to eat and stop flying around in huge jets at OUR expense.  Then I might consider taking their advice.   But, THEY aren't serious and we can't take them seriously either until they start acting like it.
 

Hello Blog...Long Time No See

 Hello Blog...Long Time No See.

Wow.  It has been months since I have posted anything to you.   I know you must feel neglected as a blog so I promise to try to pay more attention to you.   But really, life has been rather busy so some things just end up on the back burner.  It doesn't mean that I don't care about you as a blog or want to make you feel unnecessary.   Seriously. I will try to do better and make it up to you by posting something new once in a while.

Celebrating Earth Day.....MY Way.

Earth Day

Wow.  I'm really out of the loop.  I was just informed that today April 22 is earth day.

We were busy the last couple of days celebrating Hot Rods with massive fire breathing carbon belching  engines Demon 4 barrel carbs. (not the kind that Al Gore is concerned about either!)  GMC 6-71 blowers  and the mother of all engines the blown and injected 426 Hemi.   Drinking and checking out the Rat Rods, Resto Rods and refurbished classics.   The coolest one we saw was a 47 Buick slant back, lowered air suspension, all leather handcrafted interior, kick ass stereo system....weighing in at 4200 pounds of steel, chrome and glossy green paint and probably getting 10 mpg.     Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera this year, so here are some shots from previous years.

 

As you can see, we are all torn about almost missing Earth Day.

Now that we are back home, I guess we'd better on that Earth Day stuff.  So today we will

1. Turn the pump back on in the well to start irrigating the garden, orchard and lawn.

2. Hose off the decks and clean with a mild TSP solution to get rid of the dirt and moss that keeps trying to grow in the shadiest area.

3. Pile up the rest of the orchard and tree trimmings and burn the pile before the ban on burning is in effect.

4. Spray around and under the decks for yellow jackets and paper wasps.  They are definitely looking to establish homes there and it ain't gonna happen on my watch.  DIE!!!

5.  Prepare a BBQ for this fabulous sunny afternoon and bake a cherry pie with the frozen cherries from last season.   There is going to be a ton of cherries and plums again to judge by the blossoms and busy bees. So we had better get busy emptying out the freezer and get ready.

We will have country pork ribs seared over carbon emitting charcoal briquettes, potato salad, green salad, fruit salad and French bread.  Maybe some daiquiris or margaritas while we are waiting for the meat to cook.

Probably not the approved sanctioned 'green' activities for Earth Day, but ....hey.....you celebrate the way you want and we will celebrate in our own way.

A Perfect Moment

The other day I had a perfect moment in an already pretty good day. 

You know.... one of those moments when you realize that everything is GOOD.  Despite what you hear, it can be good.  Things are fine, peaceful, calm and happy.  When you are suddenly thankful for the moment.  For the small things that make life worthwhile.  When everything somehow comes together to create that moment of perfection.

I was:

Standing at the sink:  listening to random selections of music from my computer. Preparing to make a new recipe that I have never tried before.  An upside down caramel apple cake.

Peeling the apples:.  Apples that we had picked from our orchard last fall. September.  The first year that we have had such an abundance of fruit.  The entire valley was filled with an unusual abundance of fruit.  People were begging to give away the abundance because no one wanted to waste the fruit.  We had kept several bushels of apples in the pump house and these were some from September.  Marveling at the ability of this wonderful fruit to still be crisp and golden delicious from months ago.

Looking through the garden window above the sink.: watching the light snow falling over the fields across the river below the bluff.  I could see the geese settling in to weather the storm. Watching them navigate through the snow and landing onto the field below.  So happy to have to have this view of nature and beauty instead of looking at the tired, dirty, soiled backside of another building.

Thankful for my warm snug house:  heat from the Wolf Range preheating adding to the warmth in the house.  Bright and cherry  (even on a snowy day) from skylights and windows that face the sun.

Appreciating the lovely kitchen that my husband and I designed  and built, 11 years ago.  A kitchen where everything is exactly where I want it to be.  Everything at my fingertips.  Spices, flour, utensils.  My kitchen is a well oiled machine. 

Anticipating how this recipe might turn out.   Hoping that it will be a "keeper".  Waiting for my husband to come home from YET another hard day of physical and dirty work.  Work that he loves and work that keeps us able to enjoy this life.  I appreciate how hard he works...so now that i"m not making the big commisions in stock trades....I peel the apples.

Listening to the music with half an ear....suddenly it all jelled, when this song played

It had it all. 

A perfect moment in a really great day.  Life is GOOD.

AND the cake turned out fabulous.  Here is the recipe on my other blog.

**Added:  I laugh everytime I watch this video because the people dancing are just hilarious.

The Universal Train Ride: More musings on life and death

In comments Windbag made the observation that some deaths are just like mule kicks.

It is true.

We expect that people who are older and infirm are going to die.  It is just the natural way of life.  We have the time to get used to the idea.  Gradually accept that the end is near. The sand is visibly running out.   We can rationalize the death because we have been able to come to terms with it.

You may think: "She was so ill for such a long time it is a mercy."  "He has had a long and productive life full of family and friends. His legacy will live on."  Or even "He led such a terrible life with drugs and alcohol that it is no wonder that he didn't go sooner."      And so on.

It's a kick in the gut when someone young is suddenly gone.  Suddenly.  With no warning.  No gradual acceptance.  Just ...wham...boom....gone.    

When I was young, I had a good friend who was pregnant at the same time as I.   (I must say here that I don't have a lot of  very close friends and haven't had very many women friends in my life.  Perhaps 3 or 4.  Lisa was one of those)  We shared the experience.  Our two young families bonded through the experience.  We were like family.

Through the good and bad, we shared the experience. Anticipation of what our babies would look like.  Would it be a boy or girl? Healthy...God willing.   Will my baby be smart, beautiful, handsome, athletic.   Laughed at stories of the physical side of pregnancy. Morning sickness.  Inconvenient bodily function accidents.  We laughed and worried together.  Supported each other and drew strength from each other.

Her beautiful daughter was born just 4 months before mine.  The children played together and became like sisters.

Suddenly, at the age of 30, Lisa had a seizure while driving to work to her job as a nurse in the local hospital..... and ran into a tree.  Suddenly her 2 1/2 year old child was motherless and her young husband was a widower.  No warning. No explanation. Just....wham...boom....gone.

The funeral was attended by friends, who were also in their 20's and 30's.   Each and everyone of us had been slapped in the face with our own mortality. Stunned.  Mule kicked.  The two girls didn't understand, of course, what was happening and continued to play happily with each other, as always.  Unaware that things had changed forever in the wink of an eye.

Keagan's First Birthday

Watching their innocence, I thought, this could be me.   This could be my daughter who is motherless.  Who would grow up and never know me, except as a story told by someone else.   It could be me who was suddenly gone and I would not have the joy of watching my daughter grow from a baby to a woman with children of her own.   As has happened....did I mention that I am a new Grandmother with a fabulously smart and talented Grandson  :-)

From that time on, I was aware that each moment could be my last.  It could be anyone's last.   


So....what does this have to do with the Universal Train Ride?

Get to the point will ya!

We are all on the same train going down the tracks.  Some of us get on at different stops, before or after each other.   We all have different designated stops to leave the train.    Some people, like my friend, have a very short train trip.  Others have a long ride.    However, you never know when your stop is coming up.......until the conductor calls your name.

So....enjoy the train ride, because you will not know how long or short it is or when your ticket will be punched.  I try.  Sometimes I fail, but most often I am enjoying the ride and the scenery.

I wonder what the destination will look like.  I hope it is nice.

Sand in the Hourglass

Sad news today.  Andrew Breitbart  is dead at the very young age of 43.  He was a tireless champion of truth and fighting against the liberal media propaganda machine.  But....this post isn't really about Breitbart.  There will be plenty of people who can recap the life and importance of what Breitbart has accomplished and what his work means to all of us.

This post is about something that I and my husband have discussed and have been thinking about more and more as time goes on.  All around us we see friends and family getting older.  Sometimes with grace.  Sometimes not, railing against the enviable and denying the reality of age.  We see our friends and family facing failing health, failing minds and eventually death.    

We see ourselves.

We are all born with a certain amount of sand in our hourglass.  We have been allotted just so much time here on earth.  What happens after the sand runs out?  Who knows.  Doesn't matter.

What matters is what you do and how you act now.

It is obvious to us that at the ages of 62, that there is now more sand in the bottom of our hourglass than there can be remaining in the top.   How much sand?  Who knows?  We may have just a few grains left.  We may have many more years of sand to enjoy. 

One thing for certain is that the sand in the top of our hourglass is worth more to us NOW than it was 50 years ago.  In those days the sand was something we didn't think about.  There was an endless amount of sand to be wasted and frittered away.   

We didn't appreciate the meaning of the sand in the hourglass because it was full on the top. 

Now that the sand is running out, every day is a treasure to be appreciated.  We don't have the luxury of being oblivious to life.     Wasting the remaining grains on meaningless anger.   With people you don't like.  On drudgeries that can be avoided.

I plan to use my remaining sand on the little, peaceful things that make me happy.  Spend my grains of sand by being with people that I love. 

Enjoying the activities that may not be changing the world or impacting society.  Just appreciating that each day and each grain of sand is a precious gift. 

Today: I will read a book.  Bake an apple tart with the remaining summer apples from the trees in our orchard.  Throw some grain to the quail in the snow and from my office window, watch the woodpeckers and great northern flickers enjoy the suet squares in wire baskets nailed to the trees.  Perhaps finish a knitting project and peruse my craft books to plan the next one.  I will call a good friend who is in assisted living, because tomorrow, her sand may run out.

I will enjoy cocktails and dinner and conversation with my husband.  Snuggle together under our warm down comforter with the cat trying to sleep in the middle of the bed while it snows outside.

I will be thankful that we still have some sand left and appreciate every grain.

Defending Paula Deen

Big news!!!!  Earth shattering in fact....evidently, if you consider the amount coverage that this has been getting.  More important than the kudzu of deficits that are swallowing the earth's economies.  More devastating than Obama's gun running scheme. Fast and Furious.   Bigger than....well, you get the gist.

Paula Deen, the queen of butter and Southern Style comfort food, has diabetes and the food police are doing a happy happy joy dance.  AHA!!! That's what she gets for forcing all of her viewers to eat red velvet cake, fried chicken with gravy, macaroni and cheese and other such items that the food Nazi's despise.   

Serves her right!!  Right?  Right??  No.  Wrong.

People are attacking Deen because she has diabetes, has continued with her show and is now endorsing a diabetes drug.   "Anthony Bourdain is .....mocking the butter-loving chef for poisoning Americans with unhealthy food ... and now trying to profit off of their illness."

She is POISONING us!!!  OMG!!!!.  Run for the hills.  Be sure to dodge all those buttermilk biscuits, hams and sweet potato casseroles while you are making your dash to safety.

In defense of Paula Deen.   Come on people! it is just a cooking show.  Not a diet plan.  She is showing you how to prepare certain dishes that are the hallmarks of a certain cooking style.   Nowhere and at no time does she say that you should eat all of these things every day, three times a day.    

If you don't have the common sense or self control to eat sensibly...well, I don't know what to tell you.   Maybe you shouldn't be allowed outside and you should let other people make your decisions for you.   Oh.....wait.....that is just what the Food Nazi's want to do.

They want to control every aspect of your culinary life by eliminating ingredients. Demonizing certain foods and certain companies that provide food.  Can we all say McDonald's....hmmmm?   The want to force their ideas of diet and food upon you.  

Now, I don't think you SHOULD eat a pound of butter or stuff your pie hole with pie until you are fat and diabetic.  But, it should be your choice.  Go ahead. Eat your life away.  

It should also be my choice, our choice to not have to pay for your self inflicted health condidtion.  This is why I strongly object to Obama Care and Socialized Medicine.  But.....that is a rant for another day.

Let me make a disclaimer.  The Dumbplumber (my hubby) has Type 2 diabetes.  It runs in his family and he was diagnosed about 10 years ago.  We didn't know much about being diabetic.  We had to research and learn how to live.  So, I know what it is like to change your life, change your diet and be aware of what you are eating. at all times.  It is hard. It isn't always fun.

The keys to controlling diabetes are diet and exercise.  His condition is controlled by this and a minimal dose of oral medication.  Does this mean that we will never be able to enjoy a piece of cake or a favorite comfort food ever again?    Do we have to wear a dietary hair shirt and eat tofu daily?  

Of course not. 

I post many recipes on my cooking site [Recipe Junkie] that are certainly high fat, high sugar and would throw The Dumbplumber into a diabetic spiral if he ate them all at one time or more than just occasionally.   Leave Paula Deen alone.  She not only shows us how to make good food, she can now serve as an example on how to live a good life with diabetes.

We have learned that you CAN have your cake and eat it too.   Just in moderation.

The Best Ever Christmas Display: Our International Holdiays

In a previous post I mentioned my conflict about Christmas as an adult.  This got me to remembering some of my childhood Christmas experiences and one of the best ever Christmas displays.   This is going to be a long post, but ...hey....I'm blogging for me! Not you.

I'm indulging myself.

Let me preface by saying we spent many of our Christmas holidays in Mexico.  My grandmother and my Dad's younger siblings lived there from the mid 1940's to the late 1960's.  30 years as legal residents of Mexico and they had two places to live.  One was a very modern apartment in Mexico City and the other a wonderful rustic old villa in Tequisquiapan.

Aunt Rae in the courtyard Tequis....after college

One side of the courtyard

My aunts and uncles were going to the College of Americas or high school in Mexico and since it was Christmas break, our family usually spent several months traveling to Mexico and just visiting.  From the late 50's until the family moved back to the States our Christmas was international. 

1960 Family in Acapulco.

Acapulco was a favorite spot.   At that time it was a resort town for the Mexican elite society and especially the favorite of the college students.  As kids, my brother and I loved it.  Warm sands, surf and we were able to be pretty much on our own, running up and down the beach and body surfing.  There were no 'helicopter' parents in those days. 

Some photos from that time. My brother being a butt and refusing to smile because he didn't want to have a photo taken. Ahhhhh. family memories...lol.

Aunt Rae being very "glam" on the beach in front of our hotel.  That's my grandmother in the back.  Uncle Owen, being a studly high school senior.

(AAARGH I give up...blogger will not let me position the photos on the page how I want or let me resize them!!. )

Rae.... College age

Uncle Owen...high school

But,  all this digression leads me to to the most awesome Christmas display ever. Even though we were not immersed in Santa and Rudolph, I believe we got a better understanding of what Christmas is all about.  The Christ Child.  Baby Jesus.     (description of the display after the jump)

Flip Side of the Power of Prayer

Sometimes I think that the world is coming to a final judgement day when I read some of the articles on the net.

The other day there was an extremely disturbing story on the internet.  Among the many disturbing articles out there, this one really got to me because in my mind pets like dogs, cats are innocent beings that should be protected and cherished and animals should never be abused or treated cruelly.  Yes....yes.  We eat animals and death is part of that process.  But, there is no excuse for abuse in that process.  People who abuse animals are the lowest form of life and deserve no sympathy.

A Brazilian woman who is a nurse beat a small puppy to death, in front of her child.    I couldn't bear to look at some of the still photos, much less dare to link to the video that was taken by an outraged neighbor.  Too horrible and too inhuman to contemplate.  The video was posted on the internet by the outraged neighbor when the police would do nothing.  The ire and and well deserved venom that is being heaped upon the woman who beat the dog is incredible. 

Millions of people around the world literally hate this woman.

This got me to thinking about the Power of  Prayer and positive thinking.   The power of positive thinking in healing yourself and praying for the healing of another. There are many inspirational stories about prayer and groups of people praying that seem to have resulted in miraculous cures. 

As a somewhat agnostic person, my personal take on prayer and positive thinking is....what can it hurt?  Why not be positive?  Why not if you believe in a higher power combine your thoughts with others to create a bigger channel to the higher power?   A larger and clearer signal uploaded to the higher power or to God. 

If you don't believe in God, and want to go more scientific, there have been studies to try to quantify the results of a group prayer.  Inconclusive so far.  Maybe it could be that the energy from our brains, telepathy, psychokinesis.....who knows.

In regards to the Power of Prayer and Positive Thinking, what if there is a flip side.  The power of group hate.   Millions of people thinking negative thoughts about YOU.  Millions of people literally wishing you dead or wishing terrible things upon you.  

Millions of waves of "negative vibes" wafting her way.  Millions of minds engaged in group hate

I wonder if this woman from Brazil can feel the hate.

I hope so.

Reading My Husband's Mind

Soooo.  The other day the Dumbplumber pipes up and says something like.  "He told me the other day that he would be able to have me over tomorrow to do that thing."

I'm thinking to myself, who is "he" and what "thing"?  My husband is always thinking and then just jumps right into the middle of the conversation without any preamble or context.   It comes from having a busy mind and being preoccupied, but damn! it is frustrating.

I said--(snarkily)------> "You know, we have been married now for 18 years and I still haven't quite gotten that mind reading thingy down pat yet."

He said:   "Well, it is easy.  Here let me give you some clues
.    
...humina, humina, humina.....TITS


..humina, humina, humina.....BEER


..humina, humina, humina.....TITS


..humina, humina, humina.....HOT RODS


..humina, humina, humina.....SEX


..humina, humina, humina.....SCOTCH


..humina, humina, humina.....FOOD  oh ..... and TITS


See...it IS easy to read my mind."

Oooookaaay.   Thanks for the clues.

He also said: "If you don't post this you don't have a hair on your ass."


Well, I don't have a hairy butt, but here is the post.

Who makes me laugh and smile every day.   Dumbplumber...that's who.

What I Love About Christmas.....What I Hate About Christmas

Ah...the most wonderful time of the year.  Ring ling a ling.  Christmas is here.  Fa la la la la.  Bah humbug.

I'm always conflicted about the Christmas season.  There is much to love and much to not love.

In the past, before marrying Mr. Dumbplumber and when I was working for minimum wages at a crappy job, standing on my feet for 8 hours a day and living in a crumbling shamble of a marriage, Christmas was a time of stress and hardship.  With no money and no happiness in my life, I "put on a happy face" for my child.  Keeping up the fantasy of Christmas was tiring, discouraging and depressing.  We didn't have family close by so we rarely had any  gatherings of relatives.  No Norman Rockwell Christmases.  Christmas was also a time to remind me how alone I was and isolated from family. We had presents, mostly hand made because I couldn't afford much else. I was the only parent who participated in the Christmas decorating or the Christmas spirit.  We did have good food, cookies, candy, cakes and all the trimmings.  THIS I can do on a shoestring.

Christmas to me, as an adult, always represented deprivation, hardship and inadequacy.  My daughter didn't know this and her memories of the holidays are good.  My job as a parent was successful: to protect your child and allow them the joys and fantasies of the holidays.

Things are different now and money isn't an issue, but the stress is still there.  Like a cat that has been conditioned by evil scientists with shock treatments, I still am wary about the holidays.  My wonderful husband says......GET OVER IT.   So I try.

Today, there is much to like about Christmas and much not to like.

I love to give presents.  To think about what the person needs and wants and to see their appreciation of the gift is priceless. To try to find just the right thing for each person.  I still hand make many of my gifts because I like to do so. It isn't out of necessity now, it is out of love.

I hate wrapping presents.  I don't do a very good job because I'm impatient.  My packages look like a team of   Chimpanzees did the wrapping.  Frankly, I really don't see much point in spending lots of money on wrapping, bows, glitter and all that stuff.  The package is going to be ripped open and the effort put into making it "pretty" is going to be burned in the trash barrel shortly after Christmas along with the other boxes and trash.  Those gift bags that can be used over again are a brilliant invention.

I love decorating the tree.  Each ornament.....mostly hand made from salt dough, knitted, quilted from fabric scraps or assembled from feathers from wild game we had killed and eaten, has a memory attached.  Granted some of the memories are not so good, but others are.  The fun that my daughter and I had making the hair of Santa's salt dough beard with a garlic press.   The time we were able to buy a special ornament, that ceramic skating teddy bear or the glass prism stars.

I hate decorating the tree, because all the while I know that I will have to clean up all this stuff.  The prickly tree will attack me and leave welts that itch and last for weeks. The lights become impossibly snarled.  Each ornament will have to be put back into the boxes or wrapped up for protection.  Knowing that as time goes on after Christmas, the tree will begin to look sadder and sadder and eventually be thrown out to be burned.  What a waste of time.  I'm always tempted to just throw the whole tree out with the lights still attached.

I love the cooking.  What a great excuse to make mounds of goodies.  To try out new recipes and give the results to friends.  The holidays are a cooking fanatic and recipe junkie's best time of the year.  Inviting family and friends over for a big feast is something I look forward to.

I love the fact that Christmas is when the days begin getting longer and that we are turning the corner of the short days, dark cold nights to the promise of spring and summer.  To every season...turn turn turn.

I hate that my birthday is just after Christmas.  January 6.  Epiphany.  A birthday party was always an afterthought.  I think I had 3 birthday parties as a kid.  Everyone else was burned out by the holidays from Halloween through New Years.  Who wanted to have yet another party? Generally, it was just..."Oh...here is an extra gift for your birthday under the tree".  I suppose it could be worse, my father's birthday is Christmas Eve.

In addition, many of our Christmases were spent in Mexico visiting with our relatives who lived in Mexico City or traveling to and fro to get there and back.  Most of the childhood memories I have of Christmas are those with a Mexican tradition, not American.

I love some kinds of Christmas music.   My favorites are the traditional tunes that are about the religious nature of Christmas.   THIS is one of my favorites.

I hate the Christmas music that is everywhere beginning shortly after Halloween it seems.  In the grocery store, on all radio stations.  If I have to hear Santa Baby or Rocking Around the Christmas Tree  one more time, I'm going to find a department store Santa and beat the crap out of him.  Ho....freaking HO!   I think Christy Lee must have finally biffed it since we aren't bombarded with her advertisements.  Thank you God.  Having Christmas shoved down our throats 24/7 really doesn't put me into the holiday spirit.

Which brings me to one of my biggest hates about Christmas. I HATE the merchandising The commercial buy buy BUY THIS STUFF attitude.  The relentless shoving of products and brainwashing of the children to demand ever more gifts and ever more expensive gifts.  I guess this goes back to my first issue of poverty and Christmas.  As a parent, you often just can NOT get that Barbie Dream House, new bike, game system or whatever.  The children, especially those who still believe in...you know who....don't understand this and when the gift they have their heart set upon getting isn't there, they think that maybe there is something wrong.   Did Santa not like them this year?  Were they bad? Terrible children?  So in order to not disappoint your young child and to not appear to be an inadequate failure of a parent in the eyes of your children, you cave into the merchandising frenzy and go into debt for toys and items that often are just later discarded or wear out.

I try to think about the good things, remember WHY we have Christmas and to appreciate how much better my life is now.  You do need to have experienced the downs in life to appreciate the good fortune you have..... and I am very blessed indeed. 

Merry Christmas.  Have some delicious cookies and don't let me wrap your presents for you.

Life Is A Series Of Re-Runs

Watching the Occupy everywhere movement, their fervor and the breathless coverage by the media.....It occurs to me, looking back from my lofty years (61) that life is often a series of re-runs.  Events and patterns happen over and over.

When you are young, it seems like everything that is happening to you and that you are experiencing is happening for the first time.  And for you....it is.  The first time.  The first kiss, the first time you have sex, the first shooting star, your first foray into politics.   The experiences have power and are unique because they are happening to YOU.  And as we all know, when you are young. you are the center of the universe.

The Occupy kids are full of sound and fury and mostly sincere in their efforts and feel like their actions are going to change the world.  I well remember the feeling.   Kids 40 and 50 years ago felt the same way.  Vietnam protests, marching on government buildings, civil rights....even the violence are all re-runs this time around.  Same slogans, same energy.....same.

Recessions:  the economy sucks today.  Guess what kids....it sucked pretty bad 30 to 40 years ago during the Carter era.   We thought it was the end of the economic world then.  To the adults of that time, it was just another milder re-run of the Great Depression.

Another way to put it is: as you get older suddenly your parents seem smarter.

Life is a series of re-runs.  Nothing new under the sun. Even the Romans experienced the same social ills that we are experiencing now. 

"Rome--SEPTEMBER 4, 476AD.  

Rome falls. In the centuries preceding, Rome had been overrun with illegal immigrants: Visigoths, Franks, Anglos, Saxons, Ostrogoths, Burgundians, Lombards and Vandals. They first assimilated, many working as servants, but soon came so fast they did not learn the Latin language.
 

Though militarily superior and marching on advanced road systems, the highly trained Roman Legions were strained fighting conflicts worldwide, and eventually troops had to be brought home from the frontier outposts, such as Britain.

Visigoth King Alaric, Vandal King Geiseric, Attila the Hun, and finally the barbarian King Odoacer, committed terrorist attacks, wiping out whole cities, until Rome itself was eventually sacked and looted.

Rome had been weakened by a large trade deficit, having outsourced its grain production to North Africa, and when the Vandals captured North Africa, Rome did not have the resources to retaliate.

Citizens of Rome were kept distracted with violent entertainment in the Coliseum and Circus Maximus. The Roman Emperor kept citizens appeased with welfare and free bread.

One Roman commented:"Those who live at the expense of the public funds are more numerous than those who provide them."   Tax collectors were "more terrible than the enemy."

 Rome was crippled by huge government bureaucracies and enormous public debt."

It doesn't mean that just because these same things occur over and over that we shouldn't try to make a difference.  The Civil Rights Movement certainly did make a difference.  What these repeating patterns or re-runs mean, is that we need to pay attention and learn from our mistakes.

To the OWS kids.....you really aren't the center of the universe and you are not unique. 

Been there, done that and still have the ragged tee shirt to prove it.

Red Lobster Biscuits: NAILED IT!

Red Lobster Cheddar Bay biscuits are heavenly.   People have been looking for the recipe for a long time and as the Red Lobster web site says......the recipe is a secret.

Sure....they tantalize with some tips  "we will share a couple of well-kept secrets for making our much-loved biscuit: do not over knead the dough and make sure you use baking soda as one of the ingredients."

There are a lot of recipes out there that try to emulate the product.  Most use Bisquick or some version of that type of biscuit.  But.....they are wrong.


Reverse engineering the product, I realized that one of the main ingredients was missing from all of these recipes and that Red Lobster has been lying to us for years.  I don't blame them.....the biscuits are to die for.   What is the missing ingredient?   YEAST.  The texture of the rolls shows that they are clearly yeast raised, yet they do have the properties of baking soda and baking powder raised rolls.

What type of rolls have these characteristics......Angel Biscuits....So I went back to one of my old cookbooks and brought out a recipe and tweaked. Messing around in the kitchen, doing what I like to do.....cook.  I have nailed it.  

Here is now revealed the super secret recipe for Cheddar Bay Biscuits from Dust Bunny Queen...posted on my Recipe Junkie website.

ENJOY

Cheddar Bay Biscuits ala Red Lobster

War Horse: A Movie I Wll NEVER See.

Spielberg is out with this movie War Horse. I'm sure that as the trailer says, it will make us laugh and cry. Probably mostly cry. Geeze. I'm an easy mark for a tear jerker movie, especially one with animals.

The main reason I can't watch this movie is from my family history. My Grandfather was a veterinarian and in WWI for the US Calvary, he went to the Hell on Earth that was the European battle fields. His task was to try to take care of the horses. Horrible!! The horses suffered incredibly. The men who took care of the horses, like my Grandfather, who cared for the animals suffered, because they were overwhelmed, pained  and changed by the slaughter house and meat grinder that the animals AND humans were thrust into.

Unlike men who can be deluded into participating in war; animals have no concepts of patriotism or really much interest in politics.  The fear and terror that they must have experienced is unimaginable.  The betrayal of the trust that they put into humans.  The pain and suffering.

I understand that the use of horses at the time of WWI was necessary. The military was in a transition from human and horse power to the more mechanized and impersonal wars that we have now.  Heroic horse calvary charges were standard.  Here is good short film about the reality of WWI War Horses.

So, while Steven Spielberg will have made a movie that will move us to tears and laughter, the ending will probably be sweet.  Boy and horse reunited.  Stirring motivational music.  Uplifting heroism.

I just can't bring myself to sit through a whitewashed version of the horrors of WWI to reach the happy ending.  YES. YES.  I know that no real animals were hurt in the movie and the technological effects of the film are likely to be fantastic.

When this is what Spielberg is showing us

When  THIS is the reality

As much as I would love a happy ending. I'm afraid that I'm much too cynical and realistic to see this movie.  Plus.....I think I would need a box of Kleenex to be able to get through the event.


If I'm wrong ....and you can assure me that I won't be sobbing by the end of the movie....give me a review.

Thanksgiving. What am I thankful for?

So much.   So many things to be thankful for in my life.

Life has at times been good, been bad, been indifferent.  Today I am thankful for all of it.

My husband. Our health. Our family. Our friends.  Our house. Our hard won possessions. Our LIFE.

Thankful that we can wake up in the morning in a warm house under cozy blankets to a hot pot of coffee (made the night before).  We can open a refrigerator full of food and choose what to eat.  We have nice warm clean clothes.  How many people in the world today don't have this comfort, this luxury of food and warmth?

Sitting in front of our separate computers....me in the office with the french doors open and cat on lap while the Dumbplumber sits on the couch with his feet on the coffee table and laptop on his knees, we have the information of the world at our fingertips.  We share this information and listen to music.  How magical is that?

Thankful for my wonderful husband who keeps me grounded.  We will have been married 18 years in the coming spring and it seems like just yesterday that we met.  Every day we enjoy each other's company and look forward to being together. Lovers and friends. Arguments are rare.  Probably the advantage of age, where we both have learned where to take a stand and which stands are even worth taking.  I'm so thankful for the lucky happenstance that brought us together.  

I'm thankful for the beautiful and scenic nature setting that we live amongst.  Today we took a drive in one of the five trucks(!) we own, while the steaks that we are cooking for Thanksgiving are marinating.  (The traditional Thanksgiving BBQed steaks lol  ...that's another story). This in itself is a luxury.  To be able to drive someplace on a whim.  Around the valley floor and up into the the piney woods.  Back to feed the quail, the finches and set out more suet for the woodpeckers and flickers.  The peace and beauty of being able to sit in a comfy chair by the window sipping a cocktail and watching their antics.

Thankful for our minds and senses of humor. Thankful that neither of us is (knock wood) is suffering from Alzheimer's.  Thankful for our health.  Do we have some health issues. Yep.  Dumbplumber has diabetes, which is controlled and other than the normal aches an pains that come with 60 years of living, we are healthy and active.

Thankful for our families and their health, success, well being and happiness.  We miss those who have gone ahead of us and treasure those who still remain.

We are aware that all of this could disappear in a heartbeat.  A literal heartbeat. One major medical event or accident from disaster.  This fortune that we have, can evaporate through no fault of our own. Through forces beyond our control.  Wars. Famine. Political unrest.

 But......

Today.....life is wonderful.   Thank you God.

Another Chemo Hat

My friend, who has been diagnosed with breast cancer, had a mastectomy and is now in the middle of chemotherapy with radiation therapy yet to look forward to, has lost her hair and eyebrows.   Fortunately, she is a strong personality and has handled all of this with grace and humor.  Her husband is a rock that she can lean on and is a pillar of strength.   As friends, there isn't much you can do to help and you don't want to intrude or tire her out with too many visits or be overly sentimental.  She isn't that kind of person.....and frankly neither am I.  That is probably why we get along and she is one of a very few women in my lifetime that I have counted as  friends.

There are not many things you can do, but there is one thing that I CAN do.  Knit hats.   You lose much of your body heat through your head.   When you have no hair.....the loss is really significant and noticeable.  Not only is your head cold.....you are freaking bald.   Now, I know that many men are bald and not happy with that situation, but society readily accepts the sight of a bald man.  A cue ball bald woman not so much.   So to be warm and to not appear freakish, women who are going through chemotherapy tend to wear hats during the day as well as night.   Fancy hats.  Frilly cute hats. Warm snugly hats.  Hats with a sense of humor.

Since she is not a frilly person or a person who wears dainty pastels [neither am I], the hats I have been making are bold, sensible, warm and comfortable.   This is a cabled brim hat.  The pattern is from Knitty.com.    Man, it is amazing what you can find on the Internet.   For those of you who may be interested in knitting or crochet,  I really suggest you sign up for Ravelry.com  It is a huge on line community of people who love to craft, creative and more than willing to share patterns and tips.

Cable Brimmed Hat

They say that after Chemo and Radiation, your hair grows back in differently.  Sometimes it is curly where it was straight before, sometimes it's even darker or a different texture.

So while my friend is waiting for her NEW hair to grow in she has another hat to keep warm.

Jobs, Jobs, Where are the Jobs

As we known unemployment is high.  Very high. The reports say 9% or 14 million people are out of jobs.  Actually, the reports are wrong. It is worse.  The government statistics are manipulated to hide the pain.   In some counties in the North State, State of Jefferson, where I live the UI rate is pushing 20% or higher.  Demographic groups such as young adults and blacks are over 30% unemployed.

Many who were collecting unemployment, or to be more precise being paid not to work, have run out of UI benefits.

Yet, we see productivity reports which show that in the United States productivity has been rising. 

How can this be?  We are more productive, yet there are more people not working.

Well, the answer is simple.  Technology and efficiency.  Manufacturing businesses can make the products with less people.  Who needs a flotilla of secretaries or bookkeepers when you have computer programs to do the work.  Printing shops that employed skilled technicians are replaced by laser printers and desk top publishing programs.   

So where are the jobs?  Just like in the past when the majority of people in the US were employed in agriculture and farming and those industries were made more productive by mechanization, the unemployed people had to migrate to other areas and find NEW kinds of jobs.

They didn't have unemployment insurance to give them months and years of leisure time.  They didn't have the luxury of being able to sit around and whine that their old occupations were no more. They had to find new jobs in other industries.  They had to create new jobs and create new industries.  The industrial age was a time of unprecidented economic expansion and innovation.  The innovations and inventions of those times are the foundation of our society today.

So.....where are the jobs.  The NEW jobs?

First: You need to get the government out of the way so that people can be innovative and entrepreneurial.  Rules, regulations, fees, licenses, fines all set in place to supposedly protect the public are in fact the main impediment to new job creation and are meant to reduce competition by new challengers to current industry and businesses.

Now, I'm not suggesting that we have a free for all in industry or production or businesses.  Safety of food, safety on the job and product quality are important.  You want to know if you buy something to eat.....it is safe.  You want to know that if you hire a professional to do a job for you, like your Doctor.....they are competent.   If you want to have a builder repair something in your house....you would like to know that they will be able to do the job.  However, we don't need the government in the middle of EVERY transaction.

The rules and regulations need to be sane and encouraging of new businesses.   Cottage food laws in California are (hopefully) in the process of being relaxed.   If we had the restrictive rules and regulations today during the industrial revolution, just think of the food products and giant industries that would not have been developed.  General Mills, Coca Cola...the list is long.

Second:  Instead of wailing that you can't get a job in your old occupation, look for new opportunities.  What do people need?  What would the people who have money and jobs want from you?  What kinds of jobs or services cannot be outsourced to another country or be outsourced to a computer or robot?

Just a short list of services:

• Babysitting/ Nanny service
• Home maintenance and repairs
• Cleaning services
• Landscaping
• Plumbing
• Building and construction
• Auto repair/maintenance/detailing
• Computer repair
• Assistance services for the elderly or disabled

Are these glamorous jobs.  Probably not in everyone's eyes.  Do people need these services.  You bet.  Can you make a decent living and even hire other people to work for you...Heck YEAH.

Third: What kinds of things or products are in need or would be innovative that you can make or produce. What resources do you have in your area? The Cottage Food industry is one possibility.  Hand made goods. Artisanal goods.  Can you manufacture something that would be distinctive, reasonably price and use local talent?    Should you.... can you, team up with others in your area to create new industries and new products?

So instead of wailing that jobs are lost, outsourced or that you can't do what you used to do.....look upon these tough times as an opportunity.  Opportunity to create something new, to learn something new.   Sure, it might require you to sacrifice, to lower your standard of living for a while, to work long hard hours, to maybe move to another area, to get out of your comfort zone.

Society moves on and industry moves on.  To stubbornly stand in one place will just leave you behind as others do take advantage of the new opportunities and move on to new prosperity.

Don't be a loser.