Living with Cancer continued

How do I describe our mother?  Mom has always been a very determined person.  Born in 1932, she was raised by a single mom and her grand-parents in Pittsboro, MS. She was taught to shoot a gun, plow a garden with a stubborn mule, to work in the garden, gather eggs from brooding chickens and gather wood for that huge wood burning stove to cook.

Words that describe my Mom..
Cautious
Stubborn
determined
Compassionate
Helpful
Creative
Quiet
Reclusive
Proud
Spiritual
Intelligent
Long Suffering
Witty
Hilarious
Piss and Vinegar
Commanding
Loving
Aloof
Curious
Poker Faced
Sly
A Force to be reckoned with

Ever since this journey began with Mom, we have been trying to figure out the best way to do many things.  My sister and I of course are going to share the "duties" of caring for Mom.  we are going to Love her through this life into the next.

I think the hardest thing for us to deal with is that Mom has from the beginning not exactly come to terms with the fact that this time she is not going to be healed.  At least not healed in this world.

Its hard to see the day to day, minute to minute changes that appear as the cancer invades her brain. Its hard becoming a caretaker of a parent. My sister and I share the care.  We are texting each other telling about each time pain pills are taken, or what she has eaten  or when the atomic poops happen.  Its important to keep each other updated on what is going on.

Right at first we had to set time limits for visitors because of a few little issues that arose.  At first I was with Mom the majority of the time because my sister was working full time.  But this week that changed as my sister left her job to help share the care.  She comes in the morning after she has dropped her daughter off at school and is with Mom until its time to back to pick her up from after-school.  We change out at 4pm and I start cooking dinner for Mom and my husband and daughter.  They come down to eat and visit with her.  Then after they go home, Mom and I settle in for the night.
 We watch Monday Night Raw.  Mom loves to watch the WWE although we do get a bit peeved at the direction it seems to be going right now.  I take my computer down and even though I don't have internet in her house, I watch DVD's or work on my blog.  Sometimes I wear my headphones and listen to music while I read.  All the while I can watch Mom as she sleeps.  Eventually I get sleepy and stretch out on the couch for the night.

Hospice started on August 8th.  Lisa and I knew that we were going to need help quickly and we asked if it was time.  It was a shock to Mom when Hospice came in but she sees now how much it has helped.  If she needs something all we have to do is make a call and the nurse makes it happen.  The CNA that comes 3 days a week to help us bathe Mom has been a God-send.  We have learned many new skills!

I've got serious skills in transporting a wheelchair and getting Mom into the wheelchair or on the potty chair.   Its taken us a while but we have learned Mom's cues as to how to move.  she has had to learn to trust us too.  She took a couple of serious falls but thankfully did not break anything.  The pressure of the tumors have her perception of things skewed.  We finally had to develop a 'dance' of sorts to get to the potty seat or into the wheelchair.

Mom's independence is very important to her and even though she is dependent on us for everything, she still tries to push herself up out of the chair.  Mom doesn't like to be pulled on or bear-hugged so we have to stand just close enough to lightly touch but mainly to guide and then those small shuffling steps saying left right left right and then back up and slowly down to the seat.  I told Mom she was going to have to teach the dance to Lisa because I can't describe it.  So now we all know what to do.  But as with everything else, as the cancer progresses and Mom gets weaker she is having to literally lean on us more and more!

During the radiation treatments and for a time after, Mom began what we started referring to as the Atomic Poops.  Lord have mercy the odor of the poison that was exiting her body was awful.  Here's a hint for anyone that is a care giver and your patient has a potty chair.  place two to three plastic bags in that bucket and fill it with an inch of clumping kitty litter, preferably the kind for multiple cats.  It does an amazing job of absorbing the most obnoxious odors.  After the 'astronauts' have dropped and your patient is cleaned up and back in the bed, all you have to do is tie those bags up and take it outside to the dumpster.  I can assure you that no animal in its right mind will get into your trash! The trash man may not ever stop at your house ever again tho!

We use a lot of humor as we care for Mom.  some people might wonder about us, but we have to find something to laugh about in order to not cry. Crying is reserved for shower time.

to be continued.......

Living with Cancer

Mom was diagnosed with Colon cancer in November 2013.  We spent our Thanksgiving in the hospital as she had surgery to remove the ascending portion of her colon.  There, in the lobby of BMHNorth Mississippi, we had an impromptu feast from Cracker Barrel of Turkey and Dressing and all the sides while she was in her room hooked up to beeping machines  and tubes.  It was a memorable meal and not necessarily in a good way.  But that was the beginning.  The good news was the surgeon got all of the cancerous tumor in her colon.  We would not know the bad news until several months later.

Mom got to come home from the hospital on the day before her birthday.  We were all frantically running around making sure that things were ready at home.  Coffee was making, the lift chair was back in the den (it promptly got stuck in the lift position and we had to get someone to come and put a new motor in it! and a dear Angel paid for that new motor!) my sister and I were making plans on the care schedule for Mom.  Life was good and we settled into a routine of caring for Mom.

Our lives settled into a routine of sisters passing in the drive way.  One coming in for night shift, one for day shift, one for weekends, one for weekdays.  Driving Miss Jimmie to the doctor, to the oncologist, to the beauty shop, to Belk for some cyber shopping from the car.

In January Mom began her chemo treatments.  6 pills a day for two weeks and then a week off when we would have to go to see the oncologist and give blood and get weighed and get a report.  Her tumor markers were still slightly elevated from the November surgery indicating that there was still something somewhere.  But where?  After surgery the number was 6.  In January when the treatments started it was 9.  In March the numbers had jumped to 16 and they did a CT scan to see if there were any metastases in her liver or lungs or bones. Nope it was not.  So we were still hopeful.  she continued to take the pills but then she started getting sick.  The Chemo pills were making her sicker and sicker and weaker.  Instead of getting better from the prophylactic treatments she was going backwards.  My sister and I were mystified.  Mom was losing interest in eating, she was not getting up and walking, she didn't have the strength to walk into the kitchen and get a cup of coffee.  Something was very very wrong.

I had to physically lift her into the Escalade each time she had an appointment.  She could not pull herself up into the seat. I was helplessly watching my mom go down and no one could tell me what was happening.  I suspected, Lisa suspected but the tests were not showing anything.

She took her last chemo pills in April and the oncologist said that she would be coming back in for a check up on August 13 for blood work etc. Mom wanted a big hamburger from Phillips grocery that day.  She was weaker than I had ever seen.
That weekend was the Relay for Life.

Mother was so weak at that event that she could not walk.  She wanted to stay but she was so upset that she couldn't get out of the cart, she started crying.  Erin took her home. We bought a sky lantern and Erin and she sat out on the porch and lit it and sent it aloft at the same time that the rest of the lanterns were leaving the football field.

May through June she continued to decline.  By July she was showing signs of something neurologically that was not right.  She would lean to left and had no balance and she was not able to hold food or liquids down plus she was losing weight at an alarming rate. The first trip to the ER was a bust.  They did some xrays and found nothing in her liver, lungs or bones.  She was a little dehydrated.  We went home.  A week later, on July the 12th, we had to make another trip to the ER and this time she was admitted for dehydration and vomiting.  It was frustrating that she would be so sick and vomiting and unable to walk in the morning times and by afternoon nothing.  What we didn't realize was, that was also a symptom of what was about to reveal itself to us.

Mom spent 5 days in the local hospital getting the needed rest and fluids.  But she started complaining about her vision and said she felt like she was falling down the rabbit hole.  (more symptoms!)  She said her head felt "full" and she I noticed she was not holding it upright.  She could not look up also and her words started the occasional and fleeting slurring.

I called her oncologist and moved her appointment up. That weekend we had to take her back to the ER.  This time to BMH in Oxford.  We gave them all the information starting with November and they could not find anything.  They checked, bones, liver, lungs.  Nothing.  You're clear...go home...My sister and I were telling them to check her brain.  But colon cancer rarely goes to the brain we were told.  Needless to say we were highly frustrated.

The afternoon I took Mom to see her oncologist, I had to get a wheelchair and roll her in.  They were shocked at her appearance.  She had lost 26 pounds.  I demanded a blood test for the tumor markers.  She was so weak she could barely stand.  When the dr. came in he said he was going to schedule her for a CT scan.  I asked if that scanned the brain.  He said colon cancer rarely went to the brain.  But my sister and I had agreed that we were going to dig in and demand an MRI.  He did some neurological questions and tests and scheduled it for that Friday....August 1.  The CT was scheduled for later on.  Oh!  And the blood tests showed the Tumor markers had gone from 16 to 45!  (But we didn't know that until much much later.)

On August 1 Mom and I got up early, and  made our way to the hopital for the MRI at 7:30AM.  she was sick as usual.  The ever present cup of ice was in my bag.  I rolled her into the hospital and down the hall and we waited for our turn.  The technician finally came and got us.  She is so claustrophobic.  His name was Ken and he was a dear compassionate soul.  He lifted Mom out of the wheelchair and laid her on that table and covered her was a warm blanket assuring her all the time and that it would not take long.

The initial images were made; he went back in to inject the contrast and came back and started the machine up.  I'm not a technician but I've seen enough and read enough to know that I was seeing that contrast agent going to two spots in her brain.  But then again what do I know.  Mom and I left and headed back to Bruce by 8:30.  We had gotten home and unloaded and I had just gotten her settled into her chair when the phone rang and it was the oncologist office.  I will never forget that frozen moment in time.  She said that we had to come back to the Cancer Center right away and that the Radiation Oncologist was going to meet us there and start radiation that afternoon.  I was stunned and stuttering and asked why.  You know the one..Why with a question mark and your voice is going up the scale.  That poor woman had to tell me over the phone that there were two tumors in Moms brain, that the neurologist that looked at the scans said were bad.   I felt my world start to implode.  I was still frozen with a goofy smile on my lips as I told her ok that it would take me an hour to get her back in the truck and up there, but we were on our way.

Then I had to turn and tell my precious mother who was fighting so hard to live, that we had to go back and see another doctor now for radiation because the MRI showed the reason she had been so sick.  There were two tumors in her head.  I watched her face as she shut down on me.  She went through the motions of me getting her back in the truck. As I turned the Escalade toward Oxford again, I called my sister and did the second hardest thing I could do that day, I told her over the phone that Mom had brain tumors and we were on our way to the Cancer Center to get set up for Radiation treatments. She met us there.

Mom was fitted for her mask for 10 radiation treatments.  Lisa and I listened as intently as possible to everything he was saying.  10 treatments, for palliative care, not curative.  They were aggressive tumors, the larger one pressing on the brain stem and the other deep inside more on the right hemisphere.  The unsteadiness and weight loss and nausea was all directly caused by them.  She would know everything up until the end.  It was bad.  BAD.  As in get your affairs in order today,this weekend, BAD.  Mom said she was going to fight.  He said that was good.  She needed to fight but that at the most, 6 months, but most likely, less.

Nothing like getting a punch in the gut.  Nothing like finding out that your suspicions are right.  Nothing like finding out your Mom is entering into the next level and it is the one where she is transitioning into the next life.  There are no books or advice that prepares a child to hear the words that your parent has inoperatable, incurable brain cancer and that the end of their life is very near and its now your turn to make them feel as comfortable and loved as you can.  There is nothing that can prepare you for having to have that talk with your parent that they must give your and your sibling power of attorney so that you can care for them and make sure that no one can come in snooker them out of anything.  There is NOTHING that anyone can say to make you feel better.  Your whole focus changes immediately and you just start taking things on a moment by moment day by day basis.

My Blog is hopefully going to show the reader how my sister and I are making this journey with our precious mother, to the end of her life.

...to be continued....

I Am the Woman at the Well

"It has been said "time heals all wounds." I don't agree with that. The mind covers the wounds with scar tissue to ease the pain and suffering to protect its sanity. As time progresses you learn to live with the wounds, but they are still there always lurking beneath because they have become a part of you."

 BUT i woke myself this morning literally singing out "it is well, it is well, with my soul!" 
I had to crack open the old scars this past week in order to apply for a job.  I need a job; one that pays regularly and that will make enough to help with the bills.  But there aren't many jobs out there for a a 60 year old woman, especially one that was in a pastoral position. It was tough cracking open the old wounds and laying it all out on the table with the interviewers.  They listened, they asked questions, they understood my reservations.  And most importantly, they believed me.  I felt a release from the emotional pain that was eating away at me. I left them knowing that I would be stonewalled, so the followup phone call today was not a surprise. What was a surprise was I had peace about it.  I realized I had gone from feeling like a Samaritan woman at the well to THE WOMAN at the well that Jesus SAW and SPOKE to. 

I am The Woman at the Well

Vonda Tedford-Keon

I am tired.

I am tired of the lies and the seeds of doubt.

I am tired of the hypocrisy and piety.

I am tired of pretending I don’t hurt.

I am tired of feeling angry.

I am tired of not knowing who is trustworthy.

I am tired of the bullies.

I am tired of being told I’m crazy and called a liar.

I am tired of being questioned.

I am tired of innuendo.

I am tired of seeing the things I helped start, wither and die.

I am tired of being cut off from people I love.

I am tired of being made to feel worthless.

I am tired of being looked at with pity in people’s eyes.

I am tired of not being able to worship in the way I have been accustomed to.

I am tired of not being able to sing aloud for fear of getting sneered at.

I am tired of being treated like a Samaritan woman at the well.

I am tired of no longer having a voice.

I am tired of the injustice.

I am tired of second and third guessing myself.

I am tired of this feeling of emptiness.

I am tired of the loss of dignity.

I am tired of not being able to let it go.

Most of all I am just tired of being tired.

But today I woke up and the Holy Spirit spoke to me.

“Consider it great joy that you have experienced these trials and challenges. Know that this testing of your faith produces endurance for work ahead. But endurance must do its complete work so that you will be mature and complete. (James 1:2-4)

Serve your neighbors and community quietly and know that you are serving the Lord in the best way possible.  You can rest knowing The Lord knows your heart and your intentions and He knows how you have served and the sacrifices that you have made. He also knows the hard hearted accusations that have been made.  You must do what you are led to do and you will know when that time comes. Rest assured that He has determined your steps and is guiding you and equipping you and nurturing you. Know that your Charisms never left, they have just been quiet.”

So by the Power of the Holy Spirit I claim these things:

Today I will no longer be tired.

Today I will no longer be sad.

Today I choose to no longer be helpless.

Today I reclaim my dignity and my identity.

Today I choose to regain my confidence and work on trusting again.

Today I choose to forgive the ones that have been unjust in their actions and words. I won’t ever forget them but I can forgive them.

Today I choose to rid myself of all bitterness and anger as that is Satan trying to devour my soul. I don’t know where God is leading me, but I have Faith that it is to a safe dwelling place of His choosing. It is my job to watch, and pray and listen and follow. I am at my weakest so now I am at my strongest.

Today I choose to reclaim the Gifts and Charisms of the Holy Spirit that were freely given to me at my baptism and confirmation and Raise my Voice in song and thanksgiving for the many graces and mercies that have been given me.

Today I choose to be THE Woman at the well that Jesus “saw” and spoke to because He sees my worth, value and significance. 

Today I Choose to start my Maranatha Marathon as I walk in the Light of the Lord and serve Him.

Turkey N Dressing Croquettes with Crankey sauce!

I am one of those people that grew up eating Chicken and dressing an later on Turkey with dressing, twice a year; only at thanksgiving and Christmas Eve dinner with family.  After I graduated from college and was out on my own, I discovered the wonderful world of Morrisons Cafeterias.  It was food nirvana for a single person that was on the run at work all the time and it was a lot better food than fast food places in the mid seventies.  I discovered that Thursday was turkey and dressing day at Morrison's.  I was able to have my favorite dish every week if I wanted.  

Through the years, I have chosen to make dressing for my family anytime they had a hankering for it.  But there has still never been anything like Momma's dressing at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Her recipe was handed down from her mother Sallie and her grandmother Sallie Pearl Russell.  Lisa and I both can make it but Mom insists that we still don't hold our mouth's right when we make it.  I think she just doesn't want to admit that we both can make it like she does.  

These last few years as Mom as gotten older and weaker, my sister and I and our daughters have taken turns helping her chop and stir and mix and bake that dressing getting those huge pans of dressing ready for consumption at the family gatherings.  She would always make some extra to keep in the freezer for later meals.  I suspect she enjoyed eating it when it wasn't a holiday either.

Being an experimental 'home chef', I like to tweak my recipes and see if there can be a new way to do some of the old recipes.  Today I decided to try and do something a little different with dressing.  One daughter is now vegetarian so I have developed quite a collection of dishes that will fit her menu requirements.

Friday my daughter Erin, the meat eater, asked if I would bake and honey glaze a ham and roast a turkey breast.  They happened to be on sale at the market so I bought one of each and the new cooking adventure began.

I make salmon patties or croquettes a few times a month which got to me to wondering if I could make chicken or turkey and dressing an make it a little less wet and form it into patties like a burger and grill them.  So the Chicken/Turkey and Dressing Croquette was born.  I didn't take step by step photos this time.  I was more concerned if the family would eat these.  I can add those at a later date.


Chicken (or Turkey) and Dressing Croquette

(Step 1)
1 box of Stuffing Mix .
prepare according to package instructions.  instead of water I used chicken broth.
set aside.

(Step 2).
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
2 lbs. of shredded roasted chicken. (turkey can also be used)
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 TBL olive oil
2 TBL butter

in large non-stick skillet heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 TBL. butter.  add onion and celery with a tsp of sea salt.  saute until tender and translucent.  Add the shredded chicken and 1/2 tsp black pepper and stir well.

(Step 3)
Take the stuffing mixture and add
1/4 cup (1/2 a stick of butter)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp fresh rubbed sage
the Chicken mixture
2 Beaten medium sized eggs

Mix well.  it will be moist but should not be soupy. Take a large scoop and pack it full of the mixture.

Step 4
 place the scoop of mixture in a medium hot skillet or grill pan (350 -400 degrees) with 2 TBL oil.  About 4 minutes per side.

Serve with a slab of roasted chicken on top with gravy or with crankey sauce (recipe below)


CranKey sauce

1 jar jalapeno jelly
1 can whole cranberry sauce
3 tablespoons horseradish sauce

heat all three ingredients until well mixed.  will keep for several weeks in refrigerator. Good on chicken or turkey.

 enjoy.  WE sure did!  My husband and daughter said they would eat this again.  now I will make a vegan version for the other daughter!

Flamingo Foodie has left the kitchen!

time to start another year of Flamingo Foodie Cooking Adventures.

We've been eating a lot of soup lately, because its that "time of year" and I just happen to love all manner of soups and stews and breads and I am thankful that my husband Scott and our two daughters know that I call a bowl of soup a complete meal, so long as there is some type of bread to go with it. While I'm big on a slice of bread served alongside dinner, the others are just sometimes 'meh'. And being the procrastinating artist that I am, Of course I wait until about 5 pm to come up with this idea to make some sort of bread! so my options were limited. 

Luckily, this beer batter bread is one you can whip up at the last minute. There are only a handful of ingredients, most of which I have in my house at all times except for the beer and then I have to make a 45 minute run to the next country to buy some.   Nothing like living in a DRY county!  this is a quick bread so you use yeast (because that's what the beer is for!), which also means the prep time is literally just a few minutes. A handful of dry ingredients are mixed together, and then a bottle of beer is stirred in. Transfer the batter to the baking pan, drizzle with melted butter and into the oven it goes. And best of all, when it's done baking there's no waiting for it to cool! Is there anything better than a thick slice of warm bread slathered in butter? DUH!  NO!  

You could make this bread with almost any beer you like so it's perfect to use up those random bottles hanging out in the back of the fridge. I happen to like Sam Addams beers so that is what I will find. The bread will take on the characteristics of the beer you choose so be sure to go with something you like drinking. I love that you could make this bread five times with five different beers and the result would be a slightly different flavor profile every time! Have fun.  ITs relatively quick and easy and doesn't taste at all like a beer.  Its good to eat the whole thing the same day you make you!  I bet you won't stop eating at one slice!



Beer Batter Bread
from The Williams-Sonoma Baking Book

3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 (12 oz) bottle beer, at room temperature and unopened
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 F. Spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt together until combined. Open the beer and immediately pour it all into the bowl with the dry ingredients (there will be lots of foam, that's ok). Stir the batter until it just comes together - it's going to be very thick and a little lumpy so don't try to use a whisk here. 

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, spreading it into an even layer. Drizzle the melted butter over the top of the batter. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and allow the bread to cool for 5 minutes before turning it out of the pan. You can cut into this bread and serve it warm or wait for it to cool to room temperature - either way, slather with butter first :)

{Note: the recipe suggested this recipe be served the day it was made, but we ate leftovers the following day too. I just popped them in the microwave for 15-20 seconds to soften and warm them up.}

A September observation

I went into the Greenhouse this morning to check on the progress of the plants that are in there. It is maintaining a nice little micro-climate in there, so I am pleased. this greenhouse project may just work after all. The transplants from the hot summer sun have perked up and the 'dead' strawberry plants have put out new leaves! I was doing the happy dance.

 As I was mixing up the "food' brew to water them with, I notice an enormous spider web hanging from the ceiling to center support post. I didn't see the gigantic spider that Scott had warned me about. I took my spray mister and gave a few squirts to see the web better and it was beautiful with the water droplets on it. As I was contemplating taking a picture of it, I saw the huge arachnid coming down its 'zip' line. It seems the water droplets upset it. Madam spider yanked in on one strand of the web and pulled it to the center, then she went down and yanked in another stand and added it to the center, one more yank and the whole web collapsed and she then proceeded to glide up the center carrying the silk with her in those enormous legs. It took less than 30 seconds for her to disassemble that web that was 3 foot in diameter! The last time I saw her, she was going to a spot where I could not mess with her. amazing.

I have come to the conclusion that I can find God's creativity in everything I look at.....most of the time.....like in that spider web this morning and the actions of that spider when I sprayed its web so I could see it better. or see the Golden Ratio when I look at the spiral pattern that the sunflower seeds form while growing on that stalk, or observe the symmetry in the way plants grow and the way their leaves are arranged, or watching and feeling the changing of the seasons and seeds sprouting. Then my thoughts turn to people and it's so hard to find God in some of the faces and in their actions that I wonder......I just wonder.....is that a flaw in me or the flaw in them that I cannot see Him in them......just pondering

thoughts on twerking and then I'll hush

My thoughts on Miley and then I'll hush up.

 She is not the first woman to do that disgusting dance. It's a strip dance move if you want to call such a move 'dancing'. The sad thing is people are all up in arms about a young woman that they have watched grow up in the public eye and now she has chosen to go down a wayward path all in the 'name' of 'finding her own way of expressing herself creatively'. And seeing the reaction of the teens and tweens in that audience should be very scary for parents..

 There is a generation that does not see that bumping and grinding and wearing practically nothing at all is not appropriate behavior. This is a generation of young women that do not see that THEY are making themselves into sexual objects and that they are drawing attention (wrong attention) to parts of their bodies all in the name of freedom of speech and expression. call it what you want ; twerking; booty popping; junk in the trunk; bumping and grinding; air sex.......the sexualization of America is flaunted and thrown into our faces on a daily basis. Are you old enough to remember when the playtex bra commercials were not shown using real models but a manniquin? Now is Victoria's Secret models prancing around streets wearing stripper heels ( I have a name for those that is not quite that nice!) and beautiful bras and panties to show off that Brazilian wax job ( I refused to do those in my salon after I did just one!).

 It is implied to women today that if you don't have a Brazilian wax, wear a thong so there are no panty lines, wear french-cut, push-up, water bras to lift and create cleavage, use all these feminine products when you bathe, wear sheer low cut blouses and shorts/skirts/dresses that show your naughty bits when you are standing up....then you are not attractive or alluring.

 Its all about the 'hook-up' and not about finding your soul-mate. Its all about the fleeting orgasmic rush and no thoughts about the feelings of emptiness that will eventually come. the sad truth is that young women (and a lot of old 'cougarish' women) have started thinking like a buck deer in rut.

 what Miley did on national television is shocking but she is a product of her generation and so really stupid advisers! She is not the first to do that booty popping she just happens to be infamous! Look around moms and dads, I will bet your little darlings know how to do that. Not saying they are doing it but they know. As we old people used to say a couple of decades back, the mystery is over!

 Pray for Miley, (she really needs it from the looks of it!) Pray for the young people of THIS nation and the young people of world! the Roman Empire fell because of debauchery. It looks like the US is going down that same path.

And THAT is all I have to say about THAT!

The Community Garden that isn't........

Ok. This is going to be hard to write, but here goes. The garden I write about each day and tend to is my own personal backyard garden. Not be confused with the Community Garden I had so hoped to get started here in Bruce.

For over two years I've worked and plotted and researched the idea of a community garden for Bruce and the Food Pantry. Fresh produce is not a feasibility for the pantry unless we can get it the 'day of'. One day I read about the availability of grant money to get a garden started so I wrote a grant and held my breath. Then I got the word in March of 2012 that BCBS of Mississippi was going to give us $6000 dollars to get a Community Garden going so that people could come together and have a little plot of soil to grow healthy fresh vegetables for themselves or for someone else if they so desired. The kicker was the time limit. We had 6 months to get all the ducks in a row and get it going. I had quite a few folks that jumped on the bandwagon with me that said they would love to help find materials and get the ball rolling.

The first proposed spot I went for, I got shot down, because one of the Grant rules was that it has to be fenced in to keep out the 4 legged wildlife (and perhaps some 2 legged ones too!) but the land owner(s) board members said no fence. I suppose they thought this garden was going to be ugly all the time. But in order to get the grant, there had to be a fence so BCBS said forget that place. Find another.

Another land owner had what would be the perfect spot but it needed to be able to be reached directly instead of driving across the rest of the business property. I could install a fence there but I had to get a huge culvert installed. I could get a culvert and could get the labor to install it, but several other things started happening. I could not get everyone on the same page as far as get the culvert in place. Then, because of an incident with the Zoning Board (of which I am a member) over a variance issue, some things were said and insinuated about not supporting the food pantry. I knew then a garden wasn't going to happen because I am not such a diva that I think I can do it all on my own. The time clock was ticking down.

Grants have time limits and this grant had just 6 months. The time ran out on the gift this community was offered. BCBS called and asked if i was any closer to getting ready for a garden because they had another small community that was ready to get started on a garden. I knew they would use it. So there went the grant.

I had envisioned a Garden that would bring people together from all walks of life. It was supposed to be the beginning of a Farmers Market so that what ever extra that was raised could be sold and those funds would go to the buy food for the pantry. It was supposed to be a garden that provided free produce to those that were too old to work a garden any longer. It was supposed to be a garden where grand parents could bring their grandkids and teach them some of that 'Old Gardening Wisdom' about how to raise your own food. It was supposed to an equal opportunity project for each civic club and each church or each gardening sponsor to work with as they saw fit. It sure would have given a lot of photo ops for the scrapbooks.

So I still have a dream of one day seeing a vegetable garden for this community. I will be more than happy to share my knowledge of garden successes and epic gardening failures I have amassed in my own gardening experiences.

A Community Garden is supposed to be for the Good of the Community, Perhaps someone else can get it going. Like I said earlier, I'm not a Diva.

lend a hand. support your local charities. People you know helping people you know!

The Face of Hunger

Our Daily Bread Food Pantry is an ecumenical non-profit organization that is helping feed the need in Calhoun County. The Food Pantry is a member of the Mississippi Food Network/America’s Second Harvest. St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church, Bruce United Methodist Church, Lewis Memorial Methodist Church Calhoun City, Bailey Memorial, Vardaman and the rest of the Calhoun County Methodist Cluster and many wonderful men and women from various prayer groups have come together and distributed approximately 30,000 pounds of food in 2006. In 2005 we distributed 18,000 pounds. The need for more food donations has increased because hunger has increased.

In our area alone, over 400 individuals rely on Our Daily Bread Food Pantry for a box of food once a month. Some are children but over half are retired men and women trying to live on a small retirement check. That 400 is only the tip of iceberg. There are many more that we can’t serve because we don’t know about them and because we don’t have enough to give.

Ordinary people….young and old, male and female, black and white. The face of hunger will surprise you. Many people experience the invasion of hunger in their lives and they look just like you and me. Because the face of hunger looks like us, it is up to us to make a difference. It is a tragedy that anyone in this country should be hungry when the USA produces enough food to feed the world. 20 percent of food in the US is wasted and thrown away. There is no shortage of food in the United States and sadly there is no shortage of people that are ‘food insecure’.

Who are these hungry people? You might be surprised.
There is the child who can’t concentrate in school because she didn’t have enough to eat last night. Her older brother is disabled and he can’t stand to see his baby sister crying because she didn’t have enough to eat, so he gives her half of his portion. He goes to bed hungry and vows that one day he will somehow make sure that he and his sister will have enough to eat.

An elderly woman has diabetes and it is getting worse because she doesn’t get the proper nourishment. Some well-meaning soul brought her a box of doughnuts to eat when her sugar drops. She really needs a jar of peanut butter.

The older gentleman tries to help out the ‘widow women’ he knows by running their little errands but his heart is giving him trouble because he had to decide if he was going to buy medicine or buy some food that was good for him this month. He can’t afford to do both on his small retirement pension.

Everyday people in Calhoun County don’t get enough to eat. It’s happening in Bruce and Calhoun City and Vardaman and all the places in between. It happens to the working poor who have had a temporary crisis or people that are laid off from work or have a devastating sickness that is beyond their control. Often they have already used up what little savings they may have socked away and they are ashamed to ask for help.

The fact remains that they are still hungry!
I can’t predict the stock market or the weather but I can share some facts about hunger that will impact all of us as Our Daily Bread Food Pantry enters its seventh year of operation.

Fact: According to the USDA in January of 2006, more than 38 million Americans are living on the brink of hunger. That is 13.5 million households that are ‘food insecure’.

Fact: Heat or Eat? People face a real dilemma in the winter. Do they heat their house or do they eat 3 meals a day? If they cut back on food then they can keep their homes a little warmer.

Fact: Higher utility rates mean higher utility bills. Even when you turn the thermostat down and only turn on necessary lights, the rate hikes still run up the electric bills. Higher health costs and higher fuel costs all add to the need for food assistance.

Fact: Not all people who need Food Pantry assistance get food stamps nor are they eligible. Most families that do get food stamps get less than $20. That really goes a long way.

Fact: 379 to 400 people rely on a box of food from Our Daily Bread Food Pantry once a month. The majority are elderly men and women who have worked hard all their lives and now they have reached the ‘Golden Years’ and they don’t have enough of the right stuff to eat.

Fact: The 2000 census showed that 19.9% of Mississippians live at or below the poverty level.
The population of Calhoun County is approximately 16,069 people.
18.10% of the population of Calhoun County are below the poverty line.
29.3% of the population of Bruce is below.
25.2% of Calhoun City is below.
24.1% of Vardaman is below.
18.6% of Derma is below.
20.7% of Big Creek is below.
27.3% of Slate Springs is below.
1.1% of Pittsboro is below. (I think someone is withholding the truth about Pittsboro)

You do the math. Our Daily Bread is only able to feed half of these people that have the need. I can dig up more statistics but where hunger is concerned, statistics are only numbers with the tears brushed off.

How can you make a difference?
People feel powerless to help their community or they may just choose to close their eyes and hope that it all goes away. Some might say let some government agency take care of it and we all know how that doesn’t seem to work. People of faith can make a difference. They can band together and take charge and take care of their brothers and sisters.

Our Daily Bread Food Pantry needs your help and you can help in so many ways. Your contribution can be in the form of a monetary donation. You can organize a food drive by collecting our most needed items through your office or church or youth group or community group. You can volunteer at the pantry. Participate on Food Packing night by sorting and packing the boxes for the monthly distribution. Help us with the clerical work once a month. Be here to carry out boxes of food on distribution day or help direct traffic or help people sign up. Help us with our once a year Empty Soup Bowl fund raiser by making soup and selling it.

How can you make a difference? Buy the ‘3 fer’ and ‘2 fer’ deals at the grocery and put 1 or 2 of those items in a bag and give it to the pantry. Help us come up with ideas to raise the funds needed to keep the Pantry up and running. Sacrifice a couple of hours of your time so that others won’t go hungry.

Renewal is always waiting on me.

Written on HOly Saturday of 2013

As I sit here in my little garden, in the early morning quiet of Holy Saturday, I realize that most of my life has been lived in Holy Saturday. By that I mean my life has not been filled with the unbearable pain of Good Friday and I haven’t always had days filled with the unending joy of Easter dawn. Yes, I have had days of great pain and days of great joy, but most of my life has been in between days. 

Like most people, my days have been days of waiting, just as Peter, James and John and the others waited during Holy Saturday. I am always waiting. Waiting to get into college; Waiting to meet the right person; Waiting to have my daughters; Waiting to get a job and then another job and then another; Waiting for things at work to improve and they don’t; Waiting for diagnosis the that I dreaded from the doctor; Waiting for the lab results; Waiting, waiting, waiting, just waiting for life to get better. 

I look around and I see the different kinds of waiting; the wait of despair...where we think/nay we KNOW! that things will NEVER get better, the Lord will not do anything with our situations. Nothing will ever change. That is not the place for a Christian.

The waiting of dread is what made the disciples fear for their lives and retreat behind closed doors on Holy Saturday, cowering in terror of the unknown future. After Jesus was executed they were in danger of being rounded up and executed by the Roman authorities. But then I look at the women disciples who didn't run from Jesus’ side, and they were more hopeful. 

I am not a passive person, but there are many people that are. They just throw up their hands and leave everything up to fate. They don’t have despair but they sure can’t anticipate anything good in their lives either. They just live in the land of “Whatever” . The land of “Whatever” is not where a Christian should be.

As a Christian, I am called to the wait of HOPE. Hope is actively waiting and knowing that, in my lowest and darkest of situations, God is working in my life very powerfully even when I don’t see it. The Holy Spirit is always with the believer. Jesus’ disciples’ dread and confusion after the crucifixion was understandable but we know how the story turned out. We KNOW that Jesus rose from the dead, that God is with us, and nothing is impossible for God, to all His faithful who are called to wait hope.

I am learning to look carefully for the signs of the new life that is always before me… just like that handful of faithful disciples who stood at the foot of His Cross and waited patiently at his Tomb during Holy Saturday. 

I kneel here in my garden with my hands in the earth planting seeds and waiting and watching the sprouts emerge from the dark damp earth and I know that change is always possible, renewal is always waiting, and hope is never dead as long as I have the Joyful Hope of the Lord in my heart. 

Why I like to cook Italian foods......

I am not a southern cook.  I may live in the South, but I cannot fry chicken to save my life.  I don't make a killer potato salad and  I sure can't grill without burning something to a nice charred crisp.  But you hand me a nice fire and a few pots and pans and some onions and other fine veggies and some pasta and stand back.  I will whip up a simple meal that even royalty would eat!

Since I don't have a full time job....(or even a full-time part-time job but that is a blog for another day!)....I try to cook on a very tight budget.  I cook fresh and from "scratch' as much as possible because I want more fresh foods in my body than I do preservatives and fast foods.  My husband and I share a love of food and I have always tried to continue to keep a high standard of cooking for our dining enjoyment.

Tonights dinner was a small bowl of Tomato Bisque soup, a nice crusty Crostini with a slab of melted mozzarella and Asparagus Risotto.

I started with White ARBORIO Rice.  Arborio rice is a traditional Italian rice that is used in dishes where a creamy texture is desired.  RISOTTO is the Italian cooking technique for cooking the Arborio rice.
The rice I found is from the Lundberg Family Farms because it is not GMO rice and I refuse to eat genetically modified foods! Go check out their website.  www.lundberg.com.




;

Campanini Arborio Superfino Rice, 1 lb. (Google Affiliate Ad)

Here is the basic Risotto recipe for the Asparagus Risotto
3 TBLS. EVOO plus 2 TBLS. butter (NOT margarine)
1 large chopped onion (I prefer white or sweet Vidalias when in season)
1 cup of Arborio Rice
1/2 cup of white wine (optional for you teetotalers But if you are going to cook Italian...ADD THE WINE!)
3or 4 cups of hot chicken broth or water.
1/4  cup grated Parmesan cheese.

In a heavy pan, saute' the chopped onion in the olive oil/butter over medium heat until the onion is softened.

Add the Arborio rice and saute for a couple of minutes until the grains of rice are coated.

Add the wine (this is why I cook Italian!) and stir constantly over medium heat until the wine is absorbed.

add the hot chicken broth, 1 CUP AT A TIME, stirring after adding each cup. Add the chopped, cooked and mashed asparagus to the mixture and simmer until the broth is absorbed about 20 to 25 minutes.  The risotto should be creamy and not dry.

Remove from heat, stir in the cheese JUST BEFORE SERVING! and then serve immediately.

I believe you should enjoy this with a glass of fine white wine as well.  And THAT my fellow foodies is WHY I love to cook Italian.  La Vino!

Blogging about food is something I haven't really done before.  But I am cooking so much and have learned so many new things that I want to share my adventures in cooking.

 So from the Cucina Provera (or The poor cook) today marks the beginning of food blogs that I think you would like.

What to do when its the week after New Years, the household budget is tighter than ever before and you start to run out of ideas for a tasty meal, that is healthy, within the budget, and mindful of the waistline?
I started with pasta which seems to be my food love as of late.  I've been taking lessons in Italian Cuisine for the past year and it has expanded my cooking horizons.

 
The first thing I learned in Italian cooking is that most dishes start off with a finely chopped mixture of garlic, herbs, and vegetables such as onions, carrots and celery.  Sometimes a little chopped pancetta or Italian sausage is added as well.  This mixture is called BATTUTO. My Battuto consists of 1 chopped onion, 1 chopped carrot, 1/2 cup of chopped celery, 1/2 chopped sweet pepper, 1 diced and smashed garlic clove, 1 tsp. cracked pepper, 1 tsp, crushed red pepper seeds.

Once the Battuto is in my largest pan along with about 3 TBLspoons of EVOO (extra virgin Olive Oil), it is gently sauteed in the oil with a pinch of salt to bring out the sweetness of the chopped onion.  Don't have the heat so high that the garlic starts burning.  You want the flavors to infuse with the oil.  This mixture is called SOFFRITO and it is what is going to be flavoring your dish.  The blandest ingredients become impregnated with the savory flavors and you get a remarkable dish to enjoy! (photo 1)

 While the SOFFRITO is simmering and the flavors are melding together, put chopped broccoli or cauliflower (I used both tonight!) in a large pot of boiling water.  Make sure the pot is large enough to cook the pasta in because you are going to reserve the water.  Yes it will be green from cooking the broccoli but it will give a great flavor to the pasta also.  And its being conservative with your water.  (Photo 2)

After a few minutes, when the Cauliflower and Broccoli are tender, using a slotted spoon dip it out and add to the large pan containing the SOFFRITO.  Stir and mash the veggies in so the flavors will meld with the broccoli/cauliflower. (an option for chopped mushrooms could be added here)  photo 3

 After removing the veggies from the water, let the water come back to a rolling boil.  Add the pasta.  I used curly pasta for tonight's dinner. cook the pasta  al dente according to the package directions. take two large ladles of the pasta water and add it to the SOFFRITO.  This water has starch from the pasta in it and it will serve as a rich thickener and help the veggies stick to the cooked pasta. photo 4

When the pasta has reached al dente stage, drain and add to the SOFFRITO and Broccoli mixture.  Toss together so the pasta is well coated with the vegetable mixture.  photo 5

Throw some crescent rolls in the oven while this is finishing.  serve it hot in bowls with a generous shake of parmigiana cheese and enjoy with a large glass of sweet tea.

My dish doesn't have a name.  Just pasta with broccoli and cauliflower. Enjoy!

The times they are a changing.

It’s that time of year again. The time has changed, the leaves have changed, the weather has changed….I love the Fall season; the smell of wood burning in fireplaces, the burning leaves, the aroma of pumpkin pies and sweet potato pies baking in the oven, savory stews and soups that replace the sandwich meals of summer. The sugar maple in our side yard has been ever bit as glorious this year as it has in past years. It looks like it is aflame in the explosion of reds, oranges and yellows with some green leaves still hanging on to their color deep within its canopy. In fact, last year on a retreat in the Cumberland foothills near Sewanee, Tennessee, I noticed that while the foliage there was a wild riot of color, the forests of these Mississippi hills are just as colorful and vibrant. The Southern States should not sell themselves short when it comes to fall foliage colors. New England and the Rockies might have a longer, more predictable Fall color season than we do, but we do have some beautiful vistas to see. While I was on my retreat, the weather took a rather nasty turn for the worse and the temps plummeted to heavy frost over night. I listened to the wind howling outside my window and when morning came, the only view I had of the mountain vista was a pea soup fog. When I walked downstairs for breakfast I looked out at the parking lot and could not even see van. I noticed a sign in the lobby that read, “Welcome to St. Mary’s. You may arrive in a fog, but you will leave walking in the light.” I chuckled at the appropriateness of it. It was well into the afternoon of the next day before that fog lifted and I could see the brillant blue sky. Sometimes, I think the season of Fall puts me and others into a figurative fog. The weather changes and time changes seem to affect some more than others. The other changes that occur are, we see the anticipation of the national candy night ritual of Halloween and then it’s gone and Christmas is suddenly breathing down our necks. My husband and I have had an enormous Christmas light show for several years that takes him all year to plan and work on. He has to start putting lights up during October and right up until Thanksgiving Day so we can flip the switch that night. I love Christmas, but I feel like we forget about Thanksgiving in the process of all the hustle and bustle of the Santa’s and packages and decorations. I have been making a list of all the things I am thankful for; things like a warm, dry home, good health, my husband and daughters, my sister, my mother, the freedom to worship, the freedom to vote and I can just keep going on. I hope during this changing season, that as you see the leaves changing and the days getting shorter and nights getting longer, that you take the time to reflect on how changes affect you and those around you. It is definitely time to sit down and take stock of all that we have to be thankful for.

Sometimes, Not often enough.....

I have so many thoughts and I don't always put them down. I guess I should save some of my pithy thoughts for posterity, as if anyone but my family would care. And they might not give a rip now that I think about it! Its a cloudy day and looking very stormy outside. so much for my plans of getting out in this nice cooler temp and working in my little garden and getting a couple of the beds ready for the fall planting. I have never tried a fall garden, but this year is the exception. I love broccoli and kale and brusselsprouts. This is the year to keep experimenting with the raised beds and with a green house. If you read this I hope you can understand my rambling ADD thought threads and will run with this crazy flamingo as I hop off on rabbit trails and explore my life in the world as I see it.

Oh and I have a couple of late season watermelons in the garden. I've NEVER had success with growing melons. But these came up "volunteer" and i am letting them do their on thang. It seems to be working. I hope to eat one!

I DID build it I will have you to understand. You are WRONG Mr. President.

I’ve been really stewing about this who “you didn’t build it” thing that President O said. Everyone that knows me, knows how I feel about this administration. I am not a fan in the least. As the child of a small business owner, and as a former business owner, as a freelance artist and an at will contract worker, as an older female that is not considered as employable because I am so close to ‘retirement age’ and have heard the over qualified lie one time too many to count, these are my thoughts on his statement. (And yes I watched his message in its entirety so there is no mistake what I heard him say.) He is wrong, wrong WRONG. He got it backwards. Business owners, no matter large or small, business owners DO NOT owe credit to the government for their success. The government owes business owners credit for its very existence. Businesses empower the government. Most businesses are not enabled by the government. In fact where do you think the ‘bail outs; came from to those that do depend on the government? Yep out of the pockets of the taxes that are paid by the businesses that are not looking for a handout! Business owners do just fine without government and ‘takers’ of society. “Takers” ---you know who I’m talking about. Those who simply want that government check . Think about it Mr. and Mrs. and Miss Taxpayer, your government, all the government employees and all the ‘takers’ of society would not survive without us… without the creators and producers of jobs and products and paying taxes. To make it a bit simpler, business owners, small, medium, large, and mega large, pay ALL the bills for the government. THE BUSINESS OWNERS SHOULD BE THE ONES OWED THANKS! Are you still not seeing what I am saying? Then let me draw you an even simpler picture that even an economically illiterate moron can see. I used to own a nail and hair salon before I moved to small town Mississippi. I employed, at one point, 8 hard working talented women. I paid hefty taxes to the state and federal government for many years. So who needed whom? Did the patrons that came to my business need us? No, getting manicures and pedicures and spa treatments are pretty much a luxury item. They could have chosen any of the other myriad of salons on the city we were in. They could stay at home and paint their nails at home. A lot of people DO you know. I—the business owner---could not live without the constant flow of customers. Nor could my trained technicians. We desperately needed their patronage. We had to be nice and show gratitude and on occasion genuflect to the really difficult ones that tried our patience because without customers you cannot stay in business. Every one of my employees in that salon depended on our customers and the way to have customers and to keep them coming back is to keep them happy! When our customers left after each visit, who do you think said ‘thank you”. We the business people said thank you to the customers. When a customer walks out of a restaurant, or hardware store, or any type of store, who thanks who? The business owner thanks us for spending our money in his establishment. Even the most ignorant left leaners and socialists cannot argue with that. Now stretch your little imagination to see that Government is a business. You—the taxpayers---are the customer, the consumer, the patron of the ‘salon’ if you will. The Government can’t survive if you stop paying the salon. The Government is dependent on the taxpayers’ hard work and the taxes that are paid in. If the taxpayers go on strike and stop paying, the government doesn’t get any money and goes out of business. The difference in this little example is that the American business model is a free market capitalist society where the customer freely chooses to spend his or her money at any business they darn well please. It you are a builder here in my little hometown, you can choose to go to one of the two building supply houses. Or you can go where ever you will get the best price out of town. You have a choice in choosing where you want to spend your money. The Government only has one choice of where to get its money. OUR pockets. If it can’t pay its bills, it just raises taxes and legally extorts more money from the taxpayers. So why does this president think we owe him? Why do progressives think we should say thank you to the government? Yes, we need the things like renewed infrastructure, roads, bridges, traffic lights, police, fire, garbage, sewers, hospitals, airports, schools, and national defense. But the president and others (who have never owned a business in their life!) miss a most crucial point -- we the business owners and taxpayers, paid for all of infrastructure and schools, etc. with our taxes. WE business owners, small, medium, large and mega, built it! The Government OWES US the debt of gratitude and a huge apology because with our business taxes, Social Security taxes, payroll taxes, workers comp taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, income taxes and estate taxes (and you thought it was over after you died! Think again because we even pay taxes after we are dead), there would be no money for all those things that this president values. Why would I and other business owners thank you, for things we paid for? Instead of telling us how much we owe, the progressives and takers and socialists should be thanking the business owners and taxpayers. Without taxpayers -- especially high income business owners – we wouldn’t have the money to build roads, bridges, highways, schools or airports. Government infrastructure exists because of the hard work of the American taxpayer. These public schools exist because of taxpaying property owners who pay huge property tax bills and most of us don’t even have children in school any longer. People that rent don’t pay those property taxes. Social Security, Medicare, welfare, food stamps and unemployment insurance ALL exist because business owners are paying into the system. My message to President Obama is this, business owners work harder and smarter and you sir, had better be thanking the Lord God Almighty that we do it and have done or you would be up the proverbial unsanitary tributary without a means of motivation. Business owners are not dependent on the government but the government and every handout addict are dependent on businesses. Like any smart small business owner, perhaps you should suck up and treat us with some honor and respect and (dare I say it) gratitude. You need to learn to say please when you ask for money and thank you when it’s paid. Money doesn’t grow on trees you know. Learn how to treat customers well or they will go away because they will and they are. American business is holding back. No new jobs till after Election Day. Some people are going underground to work to avoid paying 60% of their income to you. Some are retiring like that poll that showed that 83% of physicians are planning on it because of Obamacare. Even your supportive treehuggers are denouncing citizenship to live elsewhere where Americans are treated better. Your customers have gone on strike. The taxpayers are unhappy because we are being turned into slaves and taxed out of business. Pretty soon you are going to be trying to run "your" business without any paying customers and you are only going to be left with ‘the takers”. That is not going to work.

Note to Self: bubble wrap clothes might sell.

Vonda’s views
September 25, 2011

Note to Self: wonder how hard it would be to make myself an outfit out of bubble wrap and duct tape?

My phone tones out in the middle of the afternoon with text messages from my number 2 daughter wanting to know the progress of the mama dog and her litter of 8 puppies. The directive to take photos and post them on face books she can share that ‘HER’ puppies are so cute and fat gets to me. She is not the one that is traipsing outside to feed and water the large brood. But after several mishaps, I have finally passed that torch on to my husband.
The first tumble happened so fast he didn’t even see what happened. But there I was rolling down the incline in the yard, picking up grass and sticks and Lord only knows what else I rolled through before I came to a stop! Covered in mud, (I hope!) I got up and hobbled into the house and pulled off my shoe to see why it was hurting and there was a hole torn in my shoe and a long red scratch on my foot.

The next time I ventured out to feed and water them, I just poured the food over the fence and stuck the hose through the fence to fill their water tubs. I turned and stepped in a grass covered hole that one of them had dug prior to being fenced in.Down I went, this time hurtling head first for a rather large crepe myrtle tree. Not wanting to be knocked out cold with my head hung in this blooming bush gone wild, I twisted and missed the trunk and just missed the block retaining wall! More, muddy clothes, more sore muscles, more interesting bruises to watch grow more colorful!

Note to self: get some Oxy-clean and check on the price of bubble wrap.

The next day I just opened my bedroom window and poured the dog food out the window. The dogs didn’t seem to mind and I didn’t fall!

Daughter number two called and wanted me to drive down on Thursday to pick her up and bring her home since she doesn’t have Friday classes. She didn’t want to wait till Saturday to ride home with big sister. So I said ok.

Before I left, I decided to go to check on the puppies since they are getting quite mobile. I was standing on perfectly level ground right by the edge of my garage. There is a retaining wall and the fence and I was playing with the pups through the fence when I turned and wham! My foot caught on some little something and I fell between the lawn mower and one of the metal forms for hubby’s Christmas displays. This time my arms got the worst of it as I was caught between these two metal immovable objects and I must have severely bruised a rib because it’s rather touchy on the side with the biggest contusion.

I brushed off more mud and drove down to get the daughter who neglected to tell me that I would be waiting till midnight because of her social club stuff. I just went to my oldest daughter’s room, took some Tylenol and crashed for a few hours.
Note to self: you are too old to pull an all nighter!

My husband now is feeding dogs and I stay upstairs and watch from a window. But I can still do stupid really well. I suffer from dry eyes and constantly have to put artificial tear drops in. At night I use a gel in a tube. Tonight I grabbed my tube and it was instant agony! I discovered a whole higher register for my voice. My husband came running into the bathroom and was trying to figure out what was wrong, as I was blindly digging for the quart of eye wash. While washing my eye out Scott saw that I had picked up a tube of oral jel and that was what I had squeezed into my eye!
Note to self: Oral jel is not for eyes and it does not numb them! Please remember where you are putting all these notes because you keep doing stupid things! And bubble wrap goes no sale next week!