Menu/Meal Meme

My best friend Tim’s mom tagged me to play this game.

We don't hate cooking here; we find it fun and entertaining. So I will do the best to play the game. I have addressed some of the answer as 'we' ~ meaning Madam B and myself ~ as we cook together and separately. She has become someone, if you like good food, i.e. nutritious good food cooked for you with love, than you want her as your chef.

1. How many meals does most of your family eat at home each week? How many are in your family?

We probably eat 30 meals or more at home weekly ~ actually, we never eat out, might we order out on occasion, but we're not big on actually going to a place and listening to people make a lot of stranger noise while we dine, nothing personal, we are just reclusive people.. We plan and cook things everyone likes. Right now we are a family of 3 here, but our boys like us to cook when we visit them, but ordering out and our footing the bill is good for them, also..

2. How many cookbooks do you own?

Maybe a dozen or more. Falls under the number ALOT. We are most fond of cookbooks with lovely pictures to look at. We're part visual leaner.

3. How often do you refer to a cookbook each week?

We look at them often for recreation, creation appreciation, and ideas.

4. Do you collect recipes from other sources? If so, what are some of your favorite sources (relatives, friends, magazines, advertisements, packages, the internet, etc)

We prefer information on cooking ideas with photos these days. We use our cookbooks, and the Internet, and the television (our cooking channel is 50) has the shows on the Internet, which is very handy. But we still check out magazines, and food packages for extra ideas, read blogs, listen to suggestions, the ear is always open. We know key buzzwords now for the things that interest us.


5. How do you store those recipes?

In Madam B's folder and on line. I'd like to have the ones she's discovered this year put in a nice (water proof) binder. Left around the house somewhere. And we have one drawer, if all else fails, where recipes go.


6. When you cook, do you follow the recipe pretty closely, or do you use recipes primarily to give you ideas?

We follow it closely the first time. We do read it over before starting to get the idea of the most efficient way to work. After the meal is cooked, we critique it for changes should it need any for next time.

7. Is there a particular ethnic style or flavor that predominates in your cooking? If so, what is it?

We try things that sound good, and have good foods as ingredients and fiber and spinach and blueberries and pecans, oh my, in the recipes! LOL.

8. What's your favorite kitchen task related to meal planning and preparation? (Eating the finished product does not count)

The prep work. Chopping and dicing, sautéing all the ingredients together in the pan, adding the spices, when you smell and see the beginning, it's a unique experience.

Even if you feel that you will never make a recipe again, you have been enlightened. You have graduated to a new level of knowledge. Research, planning, gathering, and actually preparing the meal from it’s beginning to end in a very personal and enriching experience...


9. What's your least favorite part?

Clean up?

10. Do you plan menus before you shop?

Yes, usually. It's the most logical and successful way to do it.

11. What are your three favorite kitchen tools or appliances?

Whisker, beater, perfect measuring utensils for Madam B, and mine would be the food processor...and I would add, it is nice to work with attractive or sentimental tools. Tools are very important.

12. If you could buy one new thing for your kitchen, money was no object, and space not an issue, what would you most like to have?

A total kitchen makeover!!! Oh so many things!!!

13. Since money and space probably are objects, what are you most likely to buy next?

Therapy sessions. (hahahaha) ~ only gee, only one?

14. Do you have a separate freezer for storage?

No.

15. Grocery shop alone or with others?

When the others won't come, I go alone.

16. How many meatless main dish meals do you fix in a week?

Most are meatless. But we use fish and chicken. But prefer the vegetarian fare for ourselves.

17. If you have a decorating theme in your kitchen, what is it? Favorite kitchen colors?

Got a bit of a Tuscany thing going in thought - faux pas finished walls in a lovely peach good charm, white blinds, nice pieces of art work....if I could continue after I win the lottery (hahahahahaha), I would put in the blues and gold’s and Tuscany finishes. I have a spoon rest that has the colors! I'll try to show a picture of it! But mostly, in our kitchen, the love is there, the decorating, actual decorating details, are not.

18. What's the first thing you ever learned to cook, and how old were you?

Using an actual heating element? Scrambled eggs and spaghetti. I was 17.

19. How did you learn to cook?

I had a basic Betty Crocker Cook Book, but even with that, I made some perfectly horrible first meals. Roast so tough you could play basketball with them….oh those days…


20. Tag two other people to play.

Ummm, how does a new blogger tag people??
So here's a try ~ maybe they will see it!

Mommy 22SS
Thimble Cottage

Twelfth Night

We finally saw the Twelfth Night (This version) ~ at Madam Blueberry's request, and It was really good! Hopefully, I'll be adding it to our collection.

Madam B and I love to read a book (especially a Shakespeare play) and then rent the movie version and compare. However, this time I didn't get the book read. But her narrations were just excellent, as I think she loved this book so much! She laughed out loud more than I've heard her laugh from the comic writtings of any book, and she keep declaring that I just _had_ to read this! And I want to, as I love the wit of Shakespeare, but I just haven't had the time. I can't find much to match the brilliance of Wills anywhere,as the man, in my opinion, is just the most brilliant with words, I can hardly stand it sometimes when I find such great wording in his writings ... but alas, here I am digressing!

So, back to the film --
Of course, all the great lines could not be left in, so reading the play is always better, but they did well in showing the humor - there is a scene or two that happened in ways you might not have thought of, but I guess for 1996, it was configured in their minds that that's how it could have gone and it is said to be one of Wills' more 'mature' comedies ...(although, I think, much of Shakespeare's writing is for a mature audience.)

We did recognize a few of the faces - Viola played Miss Lucy Steele in Sense and Sensibility and Maria was the nutty constant talking lady, Charlotte, from the same film. But I've not the need to tell you, as you'll recognize them for yourselves ...

This type of movie might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it is truly mine! And when it comes to entertainment and escaping for awhile, to mine ownself I must be true ....




"But be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them."

"If music be the food of love, play on..."

"Still you keep o' the windy side of the law."

(I love) "How now" (as a greeting)

I so needed a good laugh

These are answers provided by 7th to 12th graders on exams. Laughter is good for the body, soul and spirit. See if these don't make you laugh ~

On the subject of Science:

• "When you breathe, you inspire. When you do not breathe, you expire."

• "H₂O is hot water, and CO₂ is cold water."

• "To collect fumes of suphur, hold on a deacon over a flame in a test tube."

• "When you smell an odorless gas, it is probably carbon monoxide."

• "Nitrogen is not found in Ireland because it is not found in a free state."

• "Three kinds of blood vessels are arteries, vanes, and caterpillars."

• "The largest organ in the human body is the head."

• "Respiration is composed of two acts, first inspiration, then expectoration."

• "Dew is formed on leaves when the sun shines down on them and makes them perspire."

• "A super-saturated solution is one that holds more than it can hold."

• "The pistol of a flower is its only protections against insects."

• "Germinate means to become a naturalized German."

• "The skeleton is what is left after the insides have been taken out and the outsides have been taken off."

• "A planet is a body of Earth surrounded by sky."

• "A fossil is an extinct animal. The older it is, the more extinct it is."

• "To remove air from a flask, fill it with water, tip the water out, and put the cork in quick before the air can get back in."

• "The process of turning steam back into water again is called conversation."

• "The earth makes a resolution every 24 hours."

• "Algebracial symbols are used when you do not know what you are talking about."

• "We believe that the reptiles came from the amphibians by spontaneous generation and the study of rocks."

• "The dodo is a bird that is almost decent by now."

• "English sparrows and starlings eat the farmers grain and soil his corpse."

• "People shouldn't be allowed to shoot extinct animals."

• "Humans are more intelligent than beasts because human branes have more convulsions."

• "If conditions are not favorable, bacteria go into a period of adolescence."

• "A triangle which has an angle of 135 degrees is called an obscene triangle."

College Answers

• The following are real answers from college students on exams.
  
• The subject - Music
  
• 
  
• 
  
• "The piano finishes off the piece."

• "[Beethoven] went death but still kept on writing and producing music. He wrote one more symphony after his death."

• "Smetana suffered the same fate as Beethoven and went death."

• "The computer-generated sounds came in with a screeching nose."

• "It was the most fun self-culturing experience I have endured."

• "Shania Twain, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson." -- A student naming "three female vocal ranges, from low to high."

• "Claude Debussy weekend the tonality."

• "The piece continues on with shirt notes."

• "[I was] uninterested in leaving before I could here more."

• "The cello and harpsichord were playing in a very fast beast."

• "Now tuba, Trump bone, and French horn play..."

• "I enjoyed the song immensely and was pretty."

• "It was fun to recognize the Rhonda format and predict what forms would be coming up next."

• "It started out with all the instruments giving out a welcoming horning."

• "[It] ends with all of them playing a short long note."

• "The movement ends with a final foul note."

• "The trumpets play tonged notes."

• "I really like how they would sometimes hold their beat and jump to the other."

• "[The group played] the Second Suite in F by Gustav Hoist."

• "The third movement was a lower pitched, the flute as if it represented one person and the orchestra a few others, the harsh tones and the melancholy feeling that felt as the orchestra with its brass section the cymbals and the strings all expressed a very angry and vengeful melody."

• "When the tempo got fast it got me in an exiting mood."

• "[Meter is] how many beats may be heard before one is stressed."

• "The melody was plaid for the most part."

• "This piece got my attention from begging to end."

• "The horn blowed the piano."

• "Robert Schumann wanted to become a virtuoso but became a composer because of a disabling finger."

• "The orchestra sounds like they [are] not worming up yet."

It's not life in the fast lane....

The Promise by When in Rome

When you need a friend, don't look to a stranger,
You know in the end, I'll always be there.
But when you're in doubt, and when you're in danger,
Take a look all around, and I'll be there.

I'm suffering from bloggers block. I don't like days to go by without posting to my blog, but I feel like it's been justonelongday since, what day was it ...ummm, the other day.

Today, I found myself painting the outside of my house. I wanted to sell the house As Is - lived in - not run down but ready for a makeover, you know? And Mr. B said, 'yeah, okay' ...pause...I should have known at the ....pause....
He thought about new windows. Well, he did more than think about them, he went and bought three and someone helped him put them in. Three is all we can afford right now and that was weird too, because I said, "how much are they?" and he said, "their $103.00, and that's not a bad price."
I thought, "Wow that is a great price!"
Then later, after the lovely windows are in, and we are looking at them thinking how nice they look in the living room, he says, "not bad for $300.00."
I'm ....pause....gulp, "Did you say $300.00? I thought you said they were $103.00?"
"Well," he said no pause, "Each. $103.00 each."
Then we got into a discussion of the meaning of 'their' ... which I had always thought was a plural pronoun ....but so goes life and communication with the people that you interact with everyday!

So, the windows being replaced lead to some boards out front being replaced, and with the 'threat' of rain coming (so I was told), I found myself painting the front of my house.

Madam B stepped up to the plate and helped. So the first coat of primer is on before the rain. At least, I was told it was going to rain ...we will see.

Anyway, I feel like I'm in over my head. But there's nothing else I can do, so I'll just keep going till I drop.

View from the middle

The School day during the packing --

Madam Blueberry has finished The Twelfth Night and loved it! The first thing she did upon completion was fly into the computer, and see if there was a recent movie about it, (there is one from 1996), and hope that it did the real story justice. Having listened to her oral narrations daily on this story, I have laughed out loud with her. We did want to, when we have the time, look up some of the things that might have been found humorous in Wills days, because sometimes we'd look at each other like, ummmm, don't quite get that one ...

She wanted me to call the local video store right away to see if they had it in. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. I just thought that was funny, but I do hope that the most recent effort of the film, that we found on line, is a good adaptation.

I don't know which Shakespeare she will read next. The one I have here at home that she hasn't read is Henry V. Her high school plan this year was to include Twelfth Night, Macbeth, Pericles Prince of Tyre, Richard II, Hamlet Prince of Denmark, but we have read Othello and TN ... I think I’ll just let her choose the next one herself.

The reading in Johnny Tremain today was fun because it just happen to overlap her American History and given me a new interest in Sam Adams. Madam B wants to know why they named a beer after him...and I didn't really know. I hadn't read much about him, except to know that he had some guts about being a Patriot -- found this quote by Mr. Adams:

Samuel Adams, the political leader in the American Revolution (1722-1803) who said:

He who is void of virtuous attachments in private life is, or very soon will be, void of all regard for his country. There is seldom an instance of a man guilty of betraying his country, who had not before lost the feeling of moral obligations in his private connections.

It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds.

Mankind are governed more by their feelings than by reason.

The natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power on Earth, and not to be under the will or legislative authority of man, but only to have the law of nature for his rule.

From little we read of him in the history books, he was a stern and serious man, no fooling about, but crust more serious about being a Patriot, and seem to know exactly what that should entail. A little gutsier than his cousin John, whom we studied early in the year. They both seem like good men in different ways.

While we were doing Math we began to talk about how many calories in a gram of fat and next thing we never we were making soup and figured out – Now, I’ll have to check Madam Blueberry’s records to be exact, but it was about less than 100 calories per cup.

I’ll get the recipe posted tomorrow with the exact calorie amounts – I will tell you it’s an easy and good soup; it’s one of those that you can add other things of your choice and it will work for you. Even for company!

In poetry she began a unit on Phillis Wheatley ~~~~

~~On Being Brought From Africa To America

'Twas mercy brought me from my pagan land,
Taught my beknighted soul to understand
That there's a God, that there's a Savior too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
"Their color is a diabolic dye."
Remember Christians; Negroes, black as Cain,
May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.

----Phillis Wheatley

In our Scarlet Letter read aloud, we are tempted to just fly on through, as Hester has told the Reverend that he must go, and told him, also, he was not meant to go alone…could it be that she is proposing that she and Pearl go with him? Should they sail away from the people who are judging them so harshly?

It’s Hester’s who is more free with her Red and Gold Scarlet Letter on her chest for all the world to know about. It’s the Reverend in whom the secret, of not being found out, causes a Scarlet Letter of his own making to burn from the outside in and spread the burning fire of slow damnation to his very soul. He condems himself so harshly, he cannot see a way to let God forgive him.

The people in the town confess their sins in quiet to Reverend Dimmensdale, and he forgives them all, and allows them to feel God’s forgiveness, but he himself, for himself, cannot…. What will happen? We are almost to the end. About 70 more pages to go.

And weather wise - it cold here in the nights and in the mornings -- the type of weather that doesn't encourage you to get up and get moving!! So we have to draw the movitation up from practical reasons and standpoints.

I miss some relaxation! Maybe next week....

The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running. ~Author Unknown, in reference to Ecclesiastes 9:11, "I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all."

Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use. ~Earl Nightingale

Happy Valentine's Day

Madam B baked some cupcakes for our friend's class at her school. It was quite a project since I had managed to break our big oven so she had to labor with the little toaster oven cooking 6 at a time ... so here are some of results, I call them CupBake Creations -- oh and she used both chocolate and white cake mix so each CupBake has a swirled effect.

The first photo is of the little heart cookies she made so that each Cupbake would have a little heart on it.







And if Mommy doesn't mind...This is a picture I took ( and darkened) of my (sweet) baby, James.
(Madam Blueberry ~)

The First Call

Apparently, the number on the For Sale sign can be read. We got our first call.

"Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!!"

New Buzz Words

I am always the last to know ~

Culture jamming - apparently this is acting out against a main stream idea, that in itself seems to influence people with no foundation as being good other than it is the current idea. Such as, the over purchasing or consumtion of goods for no purpose other than just to own said goods, or the thought that these said goods will make you happy. I think what I mean to say is it's a form of activism against commercialism. This leads us to ...

Whirl-Marters - apparently Whirl-Marters are activist against ove- consumerism, and at any given time they will whirl-mart a superchain store, with no announcement or plan, they walk the aisles of major stores (such as Walmart) just walking slowly and pushing an empty shopping cart. It has something to be with quiet protest, as apparently Walmart does not allow protesters in the store. Of course, I don't know any store that allows protesters in the store, but anyway,
They walk aimlessly up and down the maze of the aisles in the store with an empty cart. This has something to do with being entitled to that space without purchasing anything. That leads to...

Buy Nothing Day ~ apparently that day is November 26th which is, I think, suppose to be the biggest shopping day of the year. I did not realize that I have been participating in Buy Nothing Day all my life as I have never, that I can recall in my conscious mind, shopped after Thanksgiving. I detest busy stores. Once, at a Walmart grand opening my mother talked me into going to, I was so overwhelmed by all the traffic and the people that I locked my keys in the car with the car running. And no one could help me. The police officer asked me if my child was in the car. "No," I said, "I'm holding my child right here." "Sorry then," he said, "I can't leave my post to help you." So I made a couple of phone calls and everyone I called ,but no one could help, so we called a locksmith and he was laughing but he broke us in before the car ran out of gas. It took so long, we never got in the store to shop. But I would have hated it, I know.

Anti-preneur - now this is the word that lead me to the other words above. It seems there is a Canadian magazine called Adbusters that is trying to break the chain of name brand and being so mind-fixed on name brands, so are encouraging people to come up with their own brand of item and not buy the name brand item. It sounds like a fighting fire with fire method. So the people who come up with the items that aren't the name brand items, but maybe more organic or something but definitely doesn't feed the corporate machine, is an anti-preneur.

So anti-preneurs are culture jammers, but don't necessarily whirl-mart, but would probably give a shout out to those that do especially on Buy Nothing Day.

It's all new to me....
As long as I live, I can't believe some of the things that people come up with in order not to go along with that which is going on.

Why not take all that good time and energy and put it into feeding the poor or buying a child in need a pair of shoes. I'm being to cynical. I can't judge others for peaceful protest and finding a legal way to express their outrage of the things that go on around them.

I guess I have an activist bone in my body somewhere, as I did take to being a pirate by wearing one gold hoop earring in my protest of Aging Boringly. But being old, which got here before the boring part, I misplaced my earring so my pirating days have been put on hold.

I know I am not an over consumer. I know I don't need material things to make me happy. But what I don't know is, should I silently walk about stores with empty carts to pass along this message? Some how, I think, it works out better to bake a cake for your neighbor.

Oh well, free world, and all that, I suppose -- some people don't even like baking!

tu tranquilo,

Miss Roxie

The Captain by Alfred Lord Tennyson

The Captain by Tennyson is one of my favorite poems. I remember the first time I read it aloud to my kids, I caused such laughter because of the way I read *doeth grievous wrong* - I said "do-eth gre-veth wrong." Of course, the first verse goes like this:

He that only rules by terror
doeth grievous wrong
Deep as hell I count his error.
Let him hear my song.


I linked the rest should anyone like to read it. It just really makes me think about taking a gentle hand in relationships.

The Captain
~ Alfred Lord Tennyson

Stardate - Captain's Log

Some people get lost in thought because it's such unfamiliar territory. ~G. Behn

Moving out (date still unknown) update -

What a day. I don't think I wanted to wake up. Mr. B woke me at 9:30!! That is late for me. He came in armed with a cup of hot coffee, and I heard his voice in my dream! I was still dreaming! I was up late last night with Madam B. We watched a movie called The Constant Gardner. I don't recommend it to anyone, but it was heavy and brought up a lot of questions about the (awful) state of the world, and we talked about everyone from ourselves to past Presidents and administrations to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt! You just can't go to sleep after a heavy conversation, so we sat on the couch for awhile until the heaviness went away, and then we searched on line a bit for recipes, until we felt we had laughed about a few things and then went to bed.

Mr. B. also woke Madam Blueberry out of a dream this morning, too. He was saying quietly to her, "Waffles....waffles....waffles" She said the word kept coming into her dream, and she couldn't make sense of it...but her dad wanted her to make waffles for breakfast. Blueberry, of course! They are good!
So she made breakfast, and I made lunch - spaghetti with meatballs and garlic bread and spinach casserole,
and we decided Mr. B. was responsible for dinner (we've not been fed yet)...
and we proceeded to drink waaaay too much coffee ...

So as of right now,
My dryer is in my family room, and my family room looks like the liquor store warehouse. Did I ask Mr. B to pick up boxes? Yes, I did.
And did he? Yes, he did ~ but he made sure he wasn't going to have to go again .... I should post a photo.

He ran into one of our neighbors at the liquor store, and she said she almost had a heart attack when she saw our For Sale sign out front. She was very complimentary to us as neighbors, so that was nice to hear.

In my packing I came across some books to donate to my church library and then thought, what will they think if I give them the books in a Crown Royal box? I know this is probably too politically correct of me and shallow, but I put them in the most neutral box I could find. I am weak.

My laundry room is so cute right now. Nothing in there but the washer and the hot water heater. Madam B and I painted the walls a mauve color last week. It was a color that I mixed with some paint I had left over -- It was actually the dumbest thing I've ever done to paint those unfinished walls a color because it was just absorbing the paint so, it made it a long and tedious task, but it just didn't dawn on me at the time I should have just painted them white as it would have been a whole lot easier, but 'oh well' ....win some, lose some.
Anyway,
the floor in the laundry room, Mr B. painted gray with concrete paint and it looks cute! Treat yourself to a cute laundry room. I wish I had done this years ago. Why do I not treat myself nicely?

The rooms are all still a mess. Tomorrow I have to have some orderliness somewhere. I just have to. Please.

We spend our days in deliberating, and we end them without coming to any resolve. ~L'Estrange

Nope...I resolve, one of these rooms will be peaceful tonight before I retire.

An Unsettled State of Being

Nothing so much prevents our being natural as the desire to seem so. ~François, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, Maxims, 1678


This state of life we are in right now, I'm not enjoying it's unsettling feeling. It seems to be taking to long. Every room is a mess, and I can't feel peace in that. It's like too much of a mess and then I can't function.

Constant questions: What do you keep? What do you discard forever? What do you need? What do you really, really need? Are we out of boxes?

In the current run, how do you have a life while you are leaving one and going to enter into another one, that will be for the long run? I have to have one now. I know I'll work it out, I'm sure of that. I'll survive, I'm sure. But I feel so lonely in the process. I wonder why that is?

So it's just the process that is annoying. In the middle of it all, you can't see but so much to do that it is paralyzing....and all that has to be done, must be done. So there then. I must go and do it. Settled.

It is human nature to stand in the middle of a thing. ~Mariane Moore, "A Grave," Collected Poems, 1951

Losing Track of Time

Without double checking, I'm not sure what day it is. I know the date, but I'm not sure of the day. It's just been one of those weeks and somehow I lost a day in there. Wah. I needed that day I think.

School is interesting here. It's a 24 hour around the clock session. Actually, it's been quite interesting working the shifts we are working as it is showing me that learning is definitely not 8 to 3! LOL. But I am proud of my daughter. She could just easily slide by on her school work as she is working so hard with us on other things around the house, but she is trying to do each and every subject without being reminded. Of course, I am like an arobotron ..."did you do your math?....did you do your math?....did you do your math?...." comes out on autopilot.

This week in Cooking Class, it seemed to be a good week for trying subsitutions in recipes as I am just about out of everything!
Just today:
We have adjusted the Banana Bread recipe (again) and added some charming oats on the top, and have adjusted (our favorite) Spinach Casserole recipe.
Reading is our best and, I think, most favorite thing.
Last night, or maybe it was in the wee hours of the morning, Madam B drilled me on a bunch of history dates from her last semester, and I didn't know but one. I did make a couple of real good guess though! ...but I guess that shows how much I've been paying attention! LOL.

Madam B will be 16 in 12 days. I wish I could think of something BIG to do, but this year is lean pickins and so much other stuff going on. She such a great girl, I am so blessed. I love her so much. She is so good to me. She can pick up my steps as I'm going along and she keeps me from stumbling. She's the best song anyone has ever sung to me. She's my little girl grown up so beautifully. I have to look twice sometimes just for the wanting of the pleasure of knowing 'that's my child.' Sweet Emotions, that's her.

We put our For Sale sign out, but you can't read the number I noticed, (a little Freudian slip there?) so I'll be buying some more black marker when I go out later. Putting the sign up was emotional.

"We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everyhwere."
---Tim McGraw

So the credits roll

Madam Blueberry

made these hiakus for you

while the muffins bake

Literature Hiaku

The Scarlet Letter

Misery lies and deceit

Someone dies but who?

Poetry and Michelangelo haiku

Poetry flows through

The pen that spills words anew

Tempers meanings do

Michelangelo

Sculpting out his way through life

And painting through strife

History Hiaku

History is far

The making of a new world

Is at our door steps

Johnny Tremain haiku

Johnny, where art thou?

Silver all around you now

Silversmith no more?

(Just at chapter four)

More school Haiku

Shakespeare has no fear

On the Twelfth Night of the year

The play brings a cheer

Math Haiku

She uses a pen
Serious about her math
When she's done there's peace

Some days ya' just gotta ramble....

Is the glass half empty, half full, or twice as large as it needs to be? ~Author Unknown

and
Home again. Looking for the groove of things. Still packing, still planning, but still maintaining a daily schedule of some type for living in the now. Now Here as opposed to No Where is the constant struggle....as in, I can't leave before I go.
and
Speaking of Nowhere.
Madam B was examining this word the other day. She felt that nowhere was also now here more than we think....basically, 'nowhere' and 'now here' is the same thing. You are nowhere but now here at the same time. She's been examining these words that come together. I should encourage her to write about this because when she originally has a thought about them .... she leaves me going "huh?".....that's the way I feel some days after her dissections.

Last Sunday night on the ride home from church, Madam B told her Dad she couldn't wait to get back to 'Johnny Tremain' and 'The Twelfth Night.' That is so cool, I thought. It's great when there is pleasure in a book that you are assigned for your schoolwork!

We did one of our up till 1 AM school days -- sometimes we just can't sleep, so we do some school work. I think my child is a true night owl because I get more discussion from her in the wee hours of the morning than in the center of the day.

Haiku ~
Here's a flash from Madam B -

Look how cool this is
I can write a haiku
James just ate a bug.

Twelfth Night ~ Yesterday morning, right before coffee I was greeted with "Olivia told Viola she loved her and I think the fool is awesome, he is _so_ funny." My head was fuzzy, 'Olivia loves Viola? And you love the fool? My gosh...what are we talking about?'
brain - tick, tick, tick, and finally the wheels fall into place -- 'Oh, Oh....kay. Shakespeare'. I feel better now. I thought maybe she was watching some weird thing on the TV while I was gone....

The more she narrated from the book, I began to marvel at the fact that Shakespeare could be the foundation idea of soap operas. This story is just plain silliness with a twirly plot.

I told Madam B that the real reason she was so enjoying the 12th Night is because she would like to talk like that! They are very sarcastic to each other .... but it truly is a comedy. It leaves her laughing out loud and never before have I heard so much, "Mom, I gotta read this to you!"

I just returned from a southern run to the area of the new house to drop off some boxes and take my inlaws home, and I was more tired than I wished I were. Sometimes I don't think it's the fatigue of driving, I think it's the thinking of all that awaits me. Okay, and the fatigue of driving.

I hear advice - and from others, from their mountaintop view of things, I suppose they look around and see clearly the order of things I should do. I listen. But regardless of all the good advice, I still have mine own self to contend with. Sometimes my view is a little foggy, looking through weary haze and clouds which might be misty tears. But I'll manage to get it all done. "All things work together for good...."

I saw many police officers on my trip, drank lots of coffee and had a flash thought that I didn't have my drivers license. After all the coffee and seeing all the police officers, I began to feel a tad stressed at that fact. I checked and it wasn't there! Panic. I pulled over - for another coffee -I let someone else look in my purse, and there it was - in an odd spot. You know that's always the way. You do one thing different from your little routine and there you are - lost in (the) space (between your ears).


Back to Madam B ~ She tried a blueberry pie this week, but it didn't hold to specs. I never got to try it. She fooled around with altering some ingredients in our favorite banana bread recipe and made it healthier and that's always a good thing! Next experience was to take the chocolate chip recipe we love and see if it could be shaped into hearts.

Before I left she had baked some really cute cupcakes! I'll put some pictures up later.

She's been successful with her recipe gatherings and has some breakfast, lunch and dinner menus together. We were just thinking, we need to go into planning for * leftover menus* like the magazines do. It's a practical world on certain days. Not here. But somewhere.

I would like to share with you two poems we were discussing. I like them both.

Love's Secret
~~ William Blake

Never seek to tell thy love,
Love that never told can be;
For the gentle wind doth move
Silently, invisibly.

I told my love, I told my love,
I told her all my heart,
Trembling, cold, in ghastly fears.
Ah! she did depart!

Soon after she was gone from me,
A traveller came by,
Silently, invisibly:
He took her with a sigh.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Come not, when I am dead
~~ Lord Alfred Tennyson

Come not, when I am dead,
  To drop thy foolish tears upon my grave,
To trample round my fallen head,
  And vex the unhappy dust thou wouldst not save.
There let the wind sweep and the plover cry;
         But thou, go by.

Child, if it were thine error or thy crime
  I care no longer, being all unblest:
Wed whom thou wilt, but I am sick of Time,
  And I desire to rest.
Pass on, weak heart, and leave me where I lie:
         Go by, go by.


Tu Tranquilo,

Miss Roxie

All good things must come to an end.....

We awaken in others the same attitude of mind we hold toward them. ~Elbert Hubbard

The garage sale is over! I think I would call it successful in terms of separation. People separated from their money and we separated from our stuff. And no prisoners we taken, nothing was stolen, but lots of coffee was consumed (French Press Express!).

Let's see ~ we tagged most things very, very fairly (cheap). Ten cents, twenty-five cents ... and like that. That prevented a lot of haggling. People seemed to be happy to take *whatever*, smile, and hand over their change - which mounted nicely. We sold all but two pieces of furniture and only negotiated on one piece. We made over $600.00 after the cost of the ad, the coffee and the bagels, so we are not displeased at all.

Of course, things _never_ go smoothly, do they? (Proving out my theory of "It is always something.") For three things, we had accepted a couple of checks. Mr. B looked at me a little hazily, with that eye rolling * you did what?* look... so I quickly jumped in my car. Which wasn't going anywhere because the battery was dead.

So I jumped in the other car. Which wasn't going anywhere because people pull their cars right up in your driveway! Which I think is not very nice Garage Sale ethics, but I may be to strict about things like that ...
Anyway,
I did get out finally and drove directly to the bank.

Which was closed.

I neglected to realize how early it was.

We had gotten up at 6 AM - the sale was not suppose to start until 9 AM, but people were at our door at 7AM. We just continued setting up, but the Garage Sale Crowd is a serious crowd...the ones who come early are the real deal and they are planning on a purchase.

Things moved so fast, I didn't realize that it was only 8:30 when I got to the first bank and the bank doesn't open 'till 9. So I went to get gas (which is like making a mortgage payment these days), and then got some bagels, and then back to the banks -- and, of course, one check was no good.

I drove home and called the people (who had not left with the piece of furniture but had made arrangements to come get it that afternoon.) I spoke to the wife (who turned out to be lovely), and she drove over with the cash. So good on that. The other checks were good.

What's weird is, that is the check that I thought would be good. The one I thought would not be good was a fellow with the oddest name, I shouldn't write it, but it's like no name I ever heard -- okay, well, I doubt he'll read my blog --
It was Gerrand Poggle. (Okay, someone probably has that name and doesn't like me any more now, but it didn't seem like a real name). The address was a street called 'Our Way' and there was no date and no phone number. I thought sure, that bit of money was lost, But nope! Good as gold --

Oh! Forgot to mention! Two groups of people came to the Garage Sale THE NIGHT BEFORE!! Is that bold or what? I never
...I just don't quite get this crowd, but whatever,

It's over

and Madam B, who was very excited about the thing and it's potential happening and going on, has decided she never wants to have one again!

She worked so hard! I cannot say enough good stuff about this child of mine. I treated her to a salad from Applebees (even though I said I would never go there again, I had $15.00 off, so I took a chance and it worked out this time), and she seemed happy about that.

I've got to make another run down South towards the end of this week to take my in-laws home, so I'm going to drop a load of boxes off at my sister-in-law's house over in Hobe Sound. This is unexpected.

but I must ebb and flow as the wise grasshopper who has much to learn. I must bend and stretch in the softness of the wind, so as to prevent myself from becoming a dried up old prune. I don't know why I mentioned prunes. I am getting old I guess, and they are on my mind.

but I must learn to take the unexpected and make the much told of lemon ade (with a splash of tequila on some occasions) as life hands you these unexpected assignments.

Is life all a plan done up in a bow before we get here?

Is there a reason for the things that happen?

Whatever is the order of things, I do not know. I do not pretend to think I will ever find out until I pass away and see it all from the other side.

But I do know one thing for sure, and that is "It is always something." No matter where you go, no matter what you do, it's always going to be something that finds you and seems to interrupt what you are doing. But is it really an interruption? Or is it your destiny calling?

Listen to the rumble. That's probably your name being called in haiku, or it could be the Garage Sale crowd heading for your house.....

If things go wrong, don't go with them. ~Roger Babson

Remedy it, or welcome it: a wise man's only two choices. ~Terri Guillemets

(All good things must come to an end.....jackson browne)

The Garage Sale

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. ~Confucius

I hope that I never again have enough stuff to even fancy having a Garage Sale. I just am not of that personality type. This is giving me a headache.

It's been a lot of work getting all this stuff together. And I guess basically, a Garage Sale is a way of letting people pay you to take away your past bit by bit for small change.

Aside from that, I don't know how or why, really, we have accumulated so much stuff we do not need. But I promise myself, this is the last time.

We are selling some furniture. But who knows?

I can't wait until this is over. I hope I recoop at least the cost of the ad.

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. ~Albert Einstein

Let the telephone ring

I'm looking forward to my student returning to school tomorrow! The flu just knocked poor Madam Blueberry out! She's been sleeping during the day and coughing during the night ~ bless her heart. We think she feels better tonight as she was hungry and that's always a good sign. It's been about 6 days since she's eaten very much.

It's been odd not having to check in on schoolwork or read something or have something read to me or narrated to me or just asked a question in general!

But that did allow for a lot of packing and book working. I know this moving talk must be getting boring. It's getting boring to me!!

I did watch the movie The Scarlet Letter. The one with Demi Moore and Gary Oldman and Robert Duval. We haven't finished the book, but I am so doubtful that the endings will be the same. And I don't recommend the movie to anyone. At all. For any reason. It just wasn't that great.

I'm still swimming slowly through Pride and Prejudice enjoying the conversations. I wonder why it is we don’t have conversations like that anymore? Last night, out of sheer boredom, I watched a television show called The Bachelor. He was in Paris. I was brought to my knees laughing so hard at the way the young ladies expressed their feelings -- please forgive me if I sound cruel, but this is some of what they said ,

"When I first saw you...I thought...(stutter, splat, stutter)..Wow!"

"When I first laid eyes on you, it was like....Whoa!"

I mean, like, really, like, gee, come on, like, there you are and ....WOW.

I don't know about you, I don't mean to be a total snob, but there's something missing for me in the conversation.

But I'll give it to the Bachelor. He said he was impressed with the way they “just couldn't find words for how they felt.” So I guess, whomever, he chooses, it will be a match made, and forever they will smile at each other and say, "Wow." Maybe that’s all they need and I shouldn’t make fun.

The French Press

Mr. B treated himself to a French Press.

Oh my! What a wonderful coffee experience! If one loves, truly, coffee or tea, one should own a French Press. If there is a chance for you to experience this somewhere, I recommend that you do!

This coffee falls into your stomach, and straightway there is a general commotion. Ideas begin to move like the battalions of the Grand Army of the battlefield, and the battle takes place. Things remembered arrive at full gallop, ensuing to the wind. The light cavalry of comparisons deliver a magnificent deploying charge, the artillery of logic hurry up with their train and ammunition, the shafts of with start up like sharpshooters. Similes arise, the paper is covered with ink; for the struggle commences and is concluded with torrents of black water, just as a battle with powder.
~Honore de Balzac, "The Pleasures and Pains of Coffee"


A morning without coffee is like sleep. ~Author Unknown

Parting thoughts

On the homefront:

In the pit of overwhelmness I stand. There's not a place I can look to that's peaceful to the eye.

It's seems there is much to do when one is making plans to move away. Not just filling boxes and examining everything you own and putting a value on it, as in - keep, throw-away, give-away, oh my word why do I still have this?, and so on, but the emotional attachments that you've made.

And the ease of which you move about town; it's funny now as I know I will be saying good-bye to this familiarity.

As I move about town now, I feel like I am tying up ends. Sometimes I feel as if I am driving to the end and falling off.

Friends who have known I spoke about moving, which I have spoken about for over two years now, know that it's coming, and they are calling me. Making lunch plans, "saying good-bye" they say, "No! not good-bye! Come and see me in my new house", I say!

The weirdest thing about all of this, is that the idea of everyone living close was mine, years and years ago. My father reminds me, "Remember when you used to say we should all get one big house and live together?"

I do remember. I even remember drawing out the house idea.

My parents and brother and family will live three and a half miles away. My husband's sister and family will live two miles away. My two sons will live next door. My husband's parents will live in a little cottage right behind my house.

"Remember when you used to say you wanted to live by the beach," asked my son.

I do remember.

The place we're moving to is about a mile and a half from the beach.

"Remember when you used to say you wanted to retire to a little house with a porch?" asked my son.

I do remember.

This house is cute and little and has a porch on two sides.

It's hard to believe sometimes. You just might get what you asked for.

In my mind and otherwise

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.
~~Alan Cohen

I wish I felt that fire of courage rising up inside me as we go forward with the change. I'll wait. Perhaps it will come.

What's going on here and there -

I want to give my blog a new look, but I don't have the time.
I want to get all my stuff done, but I have too much stuff.
No matter how hard I try, I run out of energy before I want too.
Maybe I'm not trying hard enough. I don't know.
It's not that I'm not doing anything, I just don't know if I always want to be doing what I am doing.
My house is a wreck. One total wreck. If we were a book right now, we'd be the Wreck of the Bellewdune De because what we did done do has wrecked the place.

We are having a garage sale this next up weekend. I hate garage sales. My in-laws are coming to help. They love garage sales. Such a match was made in heaven. But hopefully, we will sell most of the items (furniture too), and have a few extra dollars and some things gone.

Makes you wonder though, how do we collect so many things that we absolutely don’t need anyway? I guess we thought we needed them at the time.

I ran out of paper for my to-do list. I didn't run out of to-dos. So I'm still todoin.

Steaming the Dinner ~

Mr. B likes sausage. I feel terrible serving it to him, but he likes it. And he likes it browned. So what I do is, brown the sausage the day before. Then I stir-fry some garlic and two onions with extra virgin olive oil in a pan. I place two precooked sausages on top of them. On top of that, some mozzarella cheese. On top of that, broccoli and carrots. I sprinkle some seasonings on everything as I go – I favor oregano, basil, and nature’s seasoning salt. Cover the pan and let it steam (maybe add a bit of water to create a good steam). I time it with the Basmati rice that takes 20 minutes. You can do this with anything! And it looks so pretty! And tastes really good. It’s quick and easy.

I found a quick fast easy potato dish that way. Same thing, sauté onions and garlic in a pan or a pot and add some apples. Then slice your potatoes and place them on top of all that. I do add some salt. Put a lid on the whole thing, check it in about 20 minutes (depending on how thick you cut your potatoes dictates the timing – the apples cook quickly and add great flavor), and it is so good! I served this for Christmas dinner, and it went fast. If you want to, you can add some carrots and broccoli. Just always remember that broccoli doesn’t take as long.

So in steaming food, you just need to be aware of the size of your veggies, but you can add your favorite seasoning, and rarely ever does it go wrong for me. If there are a lot of veggies in my dish, I do sprinkle some Extra Virgin Olive Oil over the veggies with the seasonings.

They are enjoying their meal tonight, and it only took me 20 minutes! I’m faster than Rachael Ray !!

Much Nothing with Much to Do

"Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us."

So there we are, from Mary, if I recall correctly, in Pride and Prejudice.

My mind is not working all that well as of late, but I am enjoying this book, albeit slowly I go in the reading. When I have a book like this, I have a tendency to go slowly and reread some of the phrases. I like to feel things sink in, to be in some of those moments like a time traveling ease dropper (like Mr. Darcy!), taking in the text and living it as much as I can. Yikes! That probably sounds insane!!

Of course, I can't get Colin Firth out of my head as the face of Mr. Darcy. I like him in the part.

I laughed out loud to myself in Chapter 6 where Mr. Darcy, in regards his fond feelings coming up towards Elizabeth, wishes "to know more of her, and as a step towards conversing with her himself, attended to her conversation with others." -- then you find out, as he is hanging around her conversations, he himself is not saying very much, if anything at all. I found this so comical and read it to Mr. B who also found it funny. It was nice to share a laugh.


"Not all who wander are lost." .... J.R.R. Tolkien

I'm glad of that because I am feeling lost. I have so much to do, I'm sinking into my state of overwhelmedness. It's familiar to me, but I don't really want to be there right now. I need to make a fresh new list tonight and start fresh in the morning. Grab the bull by the horns, belly up to the bar, all those kinds of things. I should probably just drink coffee all day!


Among the numerous luxuries of the table...coffee may be considered as one of the most valuable. It excites cheerfulness without intoxication; and the pleasing flow of spirits which it occasions...is never followed by sadness, languor or debility. ~~ Benjamin Franklin

Maybe that's why I like coffee. I have tried to quit a few times in my life, but I always return to it. I think I just like it. I always associate it with relaxing, but it does help me stay focused. Focusedly relaxed. Nirvana!!


There is a wonder in reading Braille that the sighted will never know: to touch words and have them touch you back. ~ Jim Fiebig


I thought that way a unique thought! I thought that was a neat thought. I love having a good book. I feel a bit boring this evening. I shall make my leave now.

Tu Tranquilo ~~

Still away from home

"Fear less, hope more;
Whine less, breathe more;
Talk less, say more;
Hate less, love more;
And all good things are yours."
~~ Swedish Proverb

I just popped in to remind myself ~ I'm still here.

I've been away from my computer, and am still out of town, so I'm borrowing my son's computer for a moment.

It's funny about having a blog. It's like a part of my life now, and when I don't post and then look at the missing dates ~ I feel like I've lost some things I would have like to remembered.

I been visiting with my family these past couple of days. It's been fun. I love seeing my boys (they live away from home now); they are so funny. They might not be as funny when I'm not around -- we all know that moms are great audiences -- but it feels good to have the whole family together.

The weather here in South Florida has been beautiful.

The first day we were here, there were some good winds though, and there was a fire at Jonathan Dickenson State Park the next day. US 1 was closed for a large section near the park, the smell of smoke could choke you, and the neighboring houses all ran their sprinklers through the night.

Today is two days later, and you could see where the fire had crossed the road and still catch that heavy smell of smoke for a half mile or so.

We came down to South Florida this particular weekend to see Leo Kottke in concert. I had never heard of the fellow, but I'm married to an audiophile (which is --" An individual who is very interested and enthusiastic about the sound quality of a stereo or home theater system") --who just loves this particular kind of stuff. Leo was very good. He did some amazing things on the guitar and made it look so easy.

He played two very long songs when he first came out, not saying anything to the audience, and I thought to myself, oh gee, I hope we get a story or two. I do like guitar music, but I like the stories that people have to tell, also. He didn't disappoint. It was a lovely concert. It felt like a sweet night of hanging out with friends.

So important can be dancing

How can we know the dancer from the dance? ~William Butler Yeats

Thoughts from Pride and Prejudice ~~

Dancing at a ball was very important. This is where the young ladies must show themselves off, so to speak. I don’t know how else to phrase it! Her posture must be elegant, her gown was important as how else to show off her figure, and I’m sure the gentleman were interested in that… her ability to dance was of extreme importance! --And, as Lizzy alluded to Mr. Darcy, this is where one would engage the opposite sex in conversation. I find this incredible! It seems one would be out of breath entirely, especially if one were asked, dance after dance, and then, after several dances you encounter the gentleman one’s heart was set upon ~ it seems if the young lady pulls it off to be admired then she is a remarkable young lady, indeed!!

It’s like a mating ritual! But much more important. Just think about it...how many ways were there for a lady to express herself at that time?

On with the dance! let joy be unconfined;
No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet
To chase the glowing hours with flying feet.
~George Gordon, Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. ~Agnes De Mille

Inside out Days

In Spain, attempting to obtain a chicken salad sandwich, you wind up with a dish whose name, when you look it up in your Spanish-English dictionary, turns out to mean: Eel with big abcess.
Dave Barry


Some days are days played inside out. Ever do that with your life? Maybe have breakfast for dinner, and pizza for breakfast.

Madam B and I have not been sleeping well. Maybe the traveling has thrown us off, I dunno. Anyway, the other night, it's near 11 PM and she's not tired, so she opens up all her school books on the floor. It was quiet and the cats weren't there to gather around her as per usual.

They are book stalkers. They wait until she's comfortable in a chair with a nice comfortor, her book open, and she begins reading aloud, they especially interupt if she reads aloud. They claim the place in front of the book, climb over the book she has propped there, and place themselves between the book and she. And then they do that circle dance until they feel comfortable and have a view which enables them to glare over the top of the book to make sure I am paying attention.

So without the cats, it was a lovely quiet evening for studying, and she was able to get most of her work done, so it made today delightfully light - went to the gym, cooked, read Book of John, Scarlett Letter, and ended the day with the math and a grrrrr... :) ....math is not our favorite.

So these inside out days are different. But kind of fun.

Something to try

Parents should conduct their arguments in quiet, respectful tones, but in a foreign language. You'd be surprised what an inducement that is to the education of children. - Judith Martin

Blog Blankness

Rest not! Life is sweeping by; go and dare before you die. Something mighty and sublime, leave behind to conquer time. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The driveway is covered with leaves. I sweep them and they are quickly back again. I was watching someone sweep recently. I said it was good exercise. Peaceful exercise.
They said their blower was broken. I can't remember who I was speaking with. Isn't that awful? Could that be aging or serious signs of detachment? Regardless of the outcome of that thought, I do enoy sweeping the driveway.

It seems everything around me needs attention. And I feel the challenge to answer every call. I do wish the Lord had provided me with a more attractive manner in which to set my brain to do this. My manner seems to be quite messy. I hold a thing for a minute, someone needs something from me, I bring the thing, do the bidding required, return to another place to maybe get one other thing going before returning to my original thing and I've lost my pen and the thing I was holding. I am the nightmare of the lost and many times never found items. Oh, and I do strive for more steadiness and even kneel and focus ... it just never stays with me for long. Jesus said, "Do not fear." I try not too. But I do fear I won't get my things done. I must work on changing that.

But I continue. Unjaded. Just desirous of results that can be call Fini!

I'm reading Pride and Prejudice and just finished Chapter 4. Tim's Mom is reading this as well. I feel like I was spoiled by the A & E 6 hour presentation. I can't come to conclusions on my own on the characters. I'm being influenced by what I've watched over and over again. I don't know if that fact means anything except it's greatly interfering with my wanting to finish the book! But it seems like an easy read, so I will finish it. Tim's mom suggested I make up a reading schedule. I don't think I could do that as this time of my life.

I am scheduling a lot lately though. I have so much scheduling to do, I'm scheduling my scheduling.

I did finish the Johnny Cash autobiography.

When I went over to Tim's mom's blog to get the link to post, I noticed I have been indicted in a tag game. I am a tag game ender as no one really reads my blog to pass the game along. And E-Yikes also,

I have noticed dear Tim has tagged me. I shall have to stretch my brain (even more than usual for the beginning of the week!) for answers!

Actually, I was thinking of making up a tag game myself! I might still do that.

Some random thoughts that have floated on by~

"Swear only by your hope of heaven and your fear of hell" .... Johnny Tremain

Even monkeys fall out of trees .... Japanese proverbs

"If music be the food of love, play on.".....Twelfth Night (Madam B is reading this and enjoying it.she’s enjoying the humor.)

"Love is an ideal thing, marriage is a real thing; a confusion of the real with the ideal never goes unpunished." .... Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (that is a strange thought? Yes?)

He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough....

Lao-tzu

Conduct is more convincing than language....John Woolman

And conduct is what I am involved in mostly right now. Many, many things going right depend upon my conduct. I shall continue to think about this, and I shall act accordingly.

"There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things." - Niccolò Machiavelli

Worry - interest paid on the trouble before it's due

Worry Not. Fret Not. Only think, decide and do.
For worry only takes away from the power of today.
Fretting allows you a little physical outlet
but doesn't rob all your strength.

Just know ~ there are potholes in the road,
look out for them and make a safe swerve,
there are days your hair is unhappy,
have a good hat on hand,
there are days you are tired,
have a good book around to read,
there are days there are more things to do then days!
Make a list! With your favorite pen!

But it's no matter really.
What matters is that what gets done
was what was in the
Priority column
Don't sweep the sidewalk
If the house is on fire.
Don't wash the car
If the cake's burning in the oven!

Pay attention to your surroundings,
Real happiness and freedom
come down to choices that require
effort on our part sometimes.

Pay attention. You could surprise yourself!


tu tranquilo,

Miss Roxie

John R. Cash - The autobiography

I was raised on Johnny Cash. My dad was a real fan. When I visited my parents recently, my dad lent me his Johnny Cash autobiography so I set about to read it. Since my father is not known to share his things freely, I thought this was a rare opportunity for me to broaden our relationship.

I had seen the movie Walk the Line and thought it was pretty good. I had figured the book would reveal to me nothing new.

But I didn't know there was a time that Mr. Cash was robbed in his home at gunpoint on the evening of Christmas Day in 1982. It happened just as they were about to bless their food before dinner, three gunman entered yelling “Someone’s going to die here tonight”.

Cash’s son, John Carter, was eleven at the time, and one of the men held a gun to the child's head the entire time they were there. The child was calm and answered the questions of the gunman with "yes sir" and politeness in his responses.

There were 10 people in the house that night including Cash, his wife and son, and a friend of the son’s named Doug. Doug was at first mistaken for Cash’s son, and the gunman grabbed him, held a gun to the child’s head and announced if everyone didn’t do as they said, the young boy would die.

At this moment Cash admits he didn’t know if he should tell the robber he was not holding John Carter. But the gunman looked at the boy in the face and realized he held the wrong child, pushed that boy away, then grabbed his son and held the gun to his head for the next two hours as they went through the house collecting money and valuables.

This happened in Jamaica where the Cash’s have had a home for quite some time. They think it was someone they knew because aside from knowing their names, the dogs never barked. But they aren’t sure.

The Jamaican police assured them the men would be caught, and indeed they were. Not only caught, but shot *trying to escape.*

Cash writes, “So what do I think about all that? What’s my stance on unofficially sanctioned summary justice in the Third World? I don’t know. What’s yours?”

“How do I feel about it?” he continues, “What’s my emotional response to the fact (or at least the distinct possibility) that the desperate junkie boys who threatened and traumatized my family and might easily have killed us all (perhaps never intending any such thing) were executed for their act – or murdered, or shot down like dogs, have it how you will?

“I’m out of answers.” He says.

It's January 2006 ~ Oh My

The future's there for anyone to change, still you know it seems, it would be easier sometimes to change the past....jackson browne

Here I am. I feel like I'm running two lives at once, one is moving, one is staying, and one is in transition. Well. That's three. So okay, now it makes sense. Ha.Ha. No, it doesn't.

As I prepare to move on to another home, I think about all the things that have happened in this one. I brought two babies home from the hospital here. I was looking at some photos of Madam Blueberry when she was just one hour old last night and others when she was 5 days old. And I had written under one photo - one in which Daddy looked so very, very tired -- "Scarlett has tired Daddy out, and she's not even 16 yet!" And now, Madam B will be 16 next month!!

I remember bringing my Sean Mike home from the hospital. That was 19 years ago. And I remember he had two surgeries ~ one at 14 months and one at 16 months ~ and I remember sitting in a chair with him after the second surgery and realizing, "he is not going to let me lay him down." And I held him for near 24 hours before I could lay him down without him crying or whimpering.

Now we are packing and throwing things away and sorting our lives into boxes. It's a strange feeling.

I hope the friends I have made here will come and see me. And I want to come back and see them. And I will miss Sasha and her children, as they are like family to me. We have raised our kids with common ideas, and we have been there for each other for "pick up and deliveries" ...hahaha...of kids, or food, or movies, or wine, and who knows what else. We have borrowed so much stuff from each other, it's incredible!

But I shant worry or stress. Daily life will bring that to me all by itself. I shall just go forward each day with the plans that are made, follow my list of things to do, and try hard to be a charming addition to the setting. hahahaha. That might mean I should comb my hair properly and not wear my Pooh Slippers to the mailbox!


The pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist expects it to change, the realist adjusts the sails. ~~ William Arthur Ward

Six directions of the mind in an octagon world

I need a kickstart to get back to my blog. When my thoughts come ready to write, and there is no access for me, as has been the case for the past week, it begins to slow me up. Or down. Depending on ones point of view of things.

Let's see ~ I was going to post some things that happened over the last two weeks, but decided not too.

Right now, the assorted I am's and we are's are thus ~

I am reading Pride and Prejudice (finally). I'm also reading Johnny Cash's autobiography because my father lent me his copy, and he lends nobody nothin' (so you can be durned sure I will be reading it!)

I am trying to get a semester schedule together for Madam B. She jumped in for school today where she left off, and that will work for now. We will take a closer look at the year end projections tomorrow. I usually end up taking off the two full weeks in December. I just don't usually plan on moving to another city in the middle of the school year!

We are packing, as we will be moving (Lord willing) in the next couple of months. It's ... got me... in kind of a ...coma. I can't think of anything else to describe it. I can't allow myself to think of ALL that must be done; I have to just do what is on my projected list for the day. And actually, that probably has me very distracted.

But this daughter of mine, I can't say enough good about her. She was a master help to me over the holidays and is everyday. She had such a time while we were away - she burned her foot, she sliced her finger, and she didn't bring any clothes for warm weather! Needless to say, she was glad to get home.

We arrived late last night, and my mind is still scattered.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow I will focus more clearly. Not that I didn't do anything today - I did some laundry, went to the bank, grocery shopping and visited a homebound friend of mine. Talked with my mother in law, son, niece, a friend, my husband, my daughter (listened to narrations on Michelangelo and Johnny Tremain).

I have no desire to consider this day wasted. I worked. I rested. I read. I visited. I reflected. I loved. I thought of people I love and I miss. No wonder I am tired.

I'm rambling. Clearly. Or unclearly. Depending on ones point of view of things.