Say a prayer...

Angelina Jolie goes to Afghanistan. Take a look.

Thank the good Lord for what you have, and say a prayer for those in distress.

Are you voting?

Each state is different. Find out what you need to do for your state. If you haven't registered by now, you can probably kiss your right to complain good-bye. But check anyway.

Here are the requirements for Florida:

1. Be a citizen of the United States
2. Be a legal resident of both the Florida and of the county in which you seek to be registered
3. Be 18 years old (you may pre-register if you are 17)
4. Not now be adjudicated mentally incapacitated with respect to voting in Florida or any other State

Registration deadline: 29 days before the election

We voted early. I hope that works out in the long run for the country. I hope the election goes smoothly. I hope there are no kinks in the armor of the voting machines, and ballots and the people who are responsible for them. I hope people don't decide not to vote because "their side" appears to be winning. I hope this is the biggest voter turn-out ever, and that it turns out to be fair.

Kenny had a Birthday!

Dear Kenny,

Happy Birthday to one of the way coolest kids I know, and that is taking into consideration the entire planet! I am proud to be your Great Aunt and friend. I truly love you, (and your mama and your daddy and your big brother!) I am proud of you. I am proud that you show your love for your family, and that you make a great effort at your school work.

I still remember going to the hospital the day you were born. You have grown into such a great kid. Remember to keep trying hard to be the best you can be. You were born into a family of people who love and care about you. Don't ever hesitate to call any of us should you need anything.

You will do great things. You are one of the best!

Love you greatly,
The Great Aunt Sasha

Note: Re: photo --
Kenny and his brother Kody had a great baseball season! We enjoyed some of the best baseball we have ever seen while attending one of their games. They have continued to show improvement. You can't ask for any more than that! Our family looks forward to good things from both these young men!

It's all good

Last week I was going to blog about how Flylady.net was my new best friend, as my house keeping situation was just peachy keen and aesthetically pleasing. Then, somewhere along the line, all the stuff that I had put away flew out of its assigned place and wanted to show itself and collect some dust.

It is frustrating. For me, at least.

But, I have learned enough with Flylady, whom I still highly recommend, that you can jump back on that train at any time, and it doesn't take much to get yourself back in place, well, some place...

I think I left off at the part where I was supposed to take down my shower curtain and wash it. Somehow, that job overwhelmed me.

I was torn between a dollar and a dime. I couldn't decide which was more cost efficient i.e. buying a new shower curtain or using soap, water, energy (both mine and the world's -- and if we got all existentialist we might say they were the same thing),

so I belabored the task, as if it might be the end of the world, traveling in and out of the store, unable to make the decision to buy the shower curtain (or not),

Such procrastination, as this, is foreboding and pit falling. Which is just a fancy way of saying, I really didn't wanna mess with the shower curtain, so basically I shot myself in the foot, meaning, I stopped doing most things in the house, ran out of every cleaning necessity I had, while avoiding the store emphatically because of that blasted cheap vinyl shower curtain, and so I began an exercise program.

I decided that my state of mind was caused by depression which in turn must be caused by something I was or was not doing, and since I was not doing exercise that must be the root of all evil, as alas there must always be something to blame, after all this is America and nothing is our fault, you know, and everything has a root.

So, I've been exercising for two days. There is not a place on me that does not ache, twinge or creek.

As for that shower curtain - well, it's not dead yet. NASA was knocking on my door asking for samples of a new life form that was signaling from my house on their radar screens, as my shower curtain was, well...let's just say, *gross* can have several meanings, shapes and forms.

NASA is making me sign papers that exempt them from prosecution, after I agreed to let them tent my house, and spray us down with some powdery stuff that smells like kool-aid; they say it's routine, so at least I know I'm not the only one with problems of this sort.

I realize now that I'm also having problems in the area of decision making and should, most likely, seek counseling on this. After I make that appointment, I'll be getting in touch with the orthopedic surgeon and taking physical therapy and it looks like that shower curtain could end up costing a whooping Three Grand.

For want of a nail, the kingdom was lost ....
that's the way it goes sometimes.


For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

Nothing , maybe, something, maybe

One's first step in wisdom is to question everything - and one's last is to come to terms with everything. ~ George Lichtenberg

Is coming to terms another word for acceptance?

I posted that the other day, and then today, I found this quote by Robert Frost --

"Always fall in with what you're asked to accept. Take what is given, and make it over your way. My aim in life has always been to hold my own with whatever's going. Not against: with."

I thought that was so interesting. In doing that, making it over your own way, you are no longer the salmon swimming up stream. You are the flower growing along side the weeds on the side of the railroad track. People will notice. They will drive by quickly, but a little glance at you might help them through their day.

My thoughts are much consumed by the election coming up in our country. I want to like and respect all the candidates, but I can't.

I do feel we, as in the 'we' meaning our country, are in such a mess. Maybe I feel that way because we are among the unemployed. Maybe it is because of the money needed to pay for the insurances required to live in the country. Insurance companies have such a grip on us. Maybe it's because gas is crunching our food budget. I do like peanut butter and jelly, so perhaps, I will be one of the survivors.

Madam B has a job now. And because of the gas she uses to get to work, she was talking about quitting. But, jobs are hard to find these days. I remember a time when I didn't like a job, I'd quit, and go out immediately and get another one. Not so anymore. So, we are wrestling with wanting her to have the experience. Chalking the cost of gas, insurance, etc. up to education, experience and something on your resume. Do I know if this is best? Not any more.

There was a time I might have known for sure, but not now. Not right now. I'm not sure right now of what I know for sure. Maybe tomorrow I might. Than again, not. Seems that the surer you are of things, the closer you are of your expiration date on the planet. But, that could be wrong, too.

Are you sure?

One's first step in wisdom is to question everything - and one's last is to come to terms with everything. ~ George Lichtenberg

Is coming to terms another word for acceptance?

An absolute can only be given in an intuition, while all the rest has to do with analysis. ~~ Henri Bergson

So no matter what you decide, it came from your gut anyway?

If you're not confused, you're not paying attention. ~ Tom Peters

I am so paying attention.

Deregulation - A complex Theory

"the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, deregulation is the act or process of removing rules or regulations."

I'm sure there is a good reason for doing that. I just can't think of one. I guess it is suppose to encourage competition. But you know, I can't think of any competition that doesn't have rules, can you?

So, it's leaving me lost in understanding why we wouldn't have some degree of regulation when the nation's economy is based on things that need regulating? Just askin' ... especially when people are involved.

I will not pretend to be a Politico-In-the-Know-of-Those-Things kind of a person because I have more questions than I have answers. And, I am open to hearing someone's explanation of such things.

I know that if I had practiced deregulation in my house, it would not have worked. Rules worked. Standards worked. But that's just us.

People who write articles on deregulation say it is too complex to explain.

"The general consensus is that deregulation can have widespread benefits, albeit complex ones that are sometimes slow in coming and not equitably distributed, which may help explain the implementation strategies adopted to date. (James Heskett)"

Alrighty then! Thanks for that.

It seems that deregulation would involve man always doing the right thing. Is that humanly possible?

Seems a good plan would be to save my money under my mattress because in the long run, it all seems to even out that way. As first you have made a lot of money in the market because of interest - then when you need it, it's gone, because someone lent your money to someone who didn't have enough money to pay it back because, why was that again?...I can't think of a reason to do that...Lucy, you got alotta es plainin' to do...

So, really, it looks like you break even while someone else uses your money, if indeed you do break even, at all. Yes, complex for me.

Oh, and just in case anyone is thinking of breaking into my house to steal the money under my mattress, I already used it at the grocery store.

I'm trying to think of something one could deregulate and it turn out well. What could be done, that could be done well without rules of some kind? Even the universe we live in has rules. It sets its own, and we either follow them, or we mess things up.


I think cats might live by deregulation. They follow no rules. They do respond to a squirt bottle. Maybe we needed squirt bottles on Wall Street?

A Blog Entry - For Reference

Having Mr. B home and unemployed is such a transition in thinking. If we are to worry not, and fret not, at our situations in life, if we are to think in terms of all things working out for the best ~ I'm thinking, we must practice this in our day to day living, to get it done, to make it real in one's life. But, having no guaranteed income, per se, is devilishly challenging in common every day life -- At least, I find it so!

But, here we are.

I have decided all will be fine. As we uusually are fine, and as we usually come out even all the time - I'm beginning to adjust to the feeling. It did take a couple of weeks.

I have many good things to look forward to. I have a great relationship with my family, extended and immediate. I have many good friends. And, I live in a place where I can walk to a store and the bank for anything necessary. I can even walk to the library and the post office. It's a small town I live in with a population of about 11,000, give or take. Let's just say, there's always a place to park.

So, I am holding to the opinion that all will be well. It's enriching in life to have challenges. It's great training to overcome obstacles presented to you. It's a true life learning lesson to decide on harnessing an unknown problem and working it out for your survival (in this case paying the bills and eating!). We are on that path right now. I think I'll be able to keep my sanity and my wits about me. Those silly little wits! They do run to and fro!

Last appointment (hopefully)

Tomorrow is my last doctor appointment, I do believe, on this long saga of appointments regarding all this pain I started having around July. I am very close to pain free, but I feel extremely weaker because I haven't been doing anything!

It's been an expensive trip. I will be on the billing records of the Orthopedic Center in my town for years to come - at least they do take payments. I'm sure it will take about 4 years to pay them off.

My foot - I don't know. I did finally get my inserts, but don't know how they are going to work because you have to wear them for an hour a day at first and then work up, gradually, to longer, so your spine has time to adjust to being right after being wrong all these years. That sounds like a tough assignment to me, but I'll give it a go.

The other stuff - shoulder pain and what the doctor said was carpal tunnel -- I had to see the neurologist who gave me a test that was the most barbaric and painful test I have ever experienced!

They did a test called a Electromyography:

For an EMG, a needle electrode is inserted through the skin into the muscle. The electrical activity detected by this electrode is displayed on an oscilloscope, and may be heard through a speaker.

After placement of the electrodes, you may be asked to contract the muscle (for example, by bending your arm). The presence, size, and shape of the wave form -- the action potential -- produced on the oscilloscope provide information about the ability of the muscle to respond when the nerves are stimulated.

It.
WAs.
HoRRIble.
It was pushing push pins in your body and then sending electricity into you while you had to clinch your muscles on demand.

I would call that test bordering on barbaric. You would think with all the brilliant minds in the world,* that we would have come to a better way to test for this result. That was extremely painful.

The carpal tunnel test was bad enough. It was like someone just stabbing your funny bone over and over again. You could stand it, but it was no piece of cake. The results of that were that I do have some carpal tunnel going on, but not enough to operate, just enough to cause me to drop things and keep going back to the doctor to have it checked. Apparently, it's not something one should take lightly.

Let me insert a warning here: The new generation of computer kids should learn how to do exercises to avoid that carpal tunnel problem of the future!

The neurologist said, after all that (and he agreed with me that it was barbaric) that I do not have a pinched nerve. I do have bone spurs in my neck. I have no idea what the results of that will be. The Orthopedic Surgeon will tell me about that tomorrow.

I did try doing some digging today, fixing a small walkway, and it didn't go as well as I would have hoped. I've lost more strength than I wish. Oh well. Something to do. Regain my strength and get back out there. And work on ways to avoid to cycle of pain.

*Jackson Browne

You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do. ~~ Olin Miller

Easy Peasy Spinach Quiche Souffle

Okay, big hit here ...
This was so easy!

Spinach Quiche

1 pkg. Stouffers Spinach Souffle - thawed
2 eggs - slightly beaten
3 Tbs. milk (I used 2 1/2 TBS creamer)
1 tsp. white onion - finely chopped
1 clove garlic chopped
1 1/2 cups grated cheese (I used cheddar and colby)
1 9" unbaked deep dish pie shell

I sauteed the onion and garlic for a bit in some olive oil and then just added that to everything else in a bowl and mixed it, poured it into the shell and baked it at

400 degrees for 45 minutes

It's one of those recipes that you can add anything, too. You can add some sausage or ham, or black olives. And changing the cheese choices will change the flavor. For a little spice, there's always my favorite - crushed red pepper! Just be careful going up that notch!

Is twenty six years a long time?

Suppose it depends on what you are doing.
Like being alive - no, not a long time.
Growing a beard? A very long time.
Being a tree? A good long time.
Being married?
I don't know!

Seems like it's about a long time, but not really.

We went out to dinner and shared a meal (it's costly these days to do anything! Even go to Barnes and Noble.) We sat at the bar because we weren't dressed up, but this is a nice little place right down our street. We were going to order take out, but the atmosphere was relaxed and because it was a Thursday night, not crowded, and we didn't feel out of place so much.

And I didn't realize that people at the bar, talk to each other like they are old friends whether they know each other or not. It's was kind of refreshing in a way. It was not a 'bar' type atmosphere, just a nice little restaurant.

The lady who tended the bar gave us a free (huge, giant) chocolate chip cookie because it was our anniversary. I thought that was nice. We brought that home to Madam Blueberry, and this made her very happy.

So what's it like to be married for 26 years?

I'll have to think about that answer.

Easy Peasy Meal - Meatlballs

I get raves every time I fix this - and it's so easy, I can't take any credit.
I'll share it here as I think, it's one of those recipes that once you make it, you can go wild and add what you want.

Frozen Meatballs (1/2 a package)
One package of Au Jus gravy
One can cream of potato soup
one medium onion chopped fine
three cloves of garlic chopped
3 cups of water

One crock pot (if you don't have a crock pot, you have to stay home while it cooks on the stove)

Mix the liquid ingredients in the crock pot.
Add onions and garlic, stir well.
Add meatballs.

Turn crock pot on low and forget about it for five hours. If you need to get it jump started, you can put it on high for less time. Maybe on high for the first hour and then turn it down. Whatever. I think it will turn out just fine.

Sometimes I add a tsp of crushed red pepper for a nice bit of pizazz. You can add carrots and celery, or whatever veggies are left in the 'fridge (cut them small so they will cook through in the amount of time you are leaving the crock pot on.) I think even corn would work. It's just one of those recipes ...

You can serve this with anything. Rice, potatoes, noodles, garlic bread and a veggie (or not if you have enough in the pot), or just put them in a sub with some melted cheese.

I often make the whole package of meatballs and then just double the rest of the stuff. I put the extra in the freezer for the next week.


The Frozen Meatballs are precooked, so if you make your own, just put a bunch in the freezer and add them to the crock pot with the other ingredients.

Nothin' to it,
But to do it ...

Friday after Fay

This was one of those days. One of those days in which you had a million plans and you didn't do any of those things.

I got up late. I made coffee.

Then, there's a major blank. Somewhere between getting up and almost noon, a friend I was going to visit called and told me she wouldn't be home. Drat! I thought, I just lost my last incentive for getting out of the house today!

I had thought I would go to the hospital to take my mother in law some decent food, as she says there is none in there, but I found out that my father in law was going to be released today - so needing an incentive still to get out the door -

I decided to mow the lawn. Not my lawn. My mother in law's lawn. Have I ever mentioned that I am not gifted in this area? Mowers and Me. That was not a book written with me in mind.

This mower we have is a push kind with some kind of automatic 'bar' thing, that if you hold it in, the mower goes by itself. Sorta. It doesn't necessarily go the right way. It just goes somewhere. Like into the flower beds and over flowers, and maybe my mother in law will be so tired she won't notice those huge divots in her yard.

Luckily for all concerned, the mower ran out of gas. I have concluded that I am in terrible shape physically.

When my mother in law found out I ran out of gas, she told me there was more in the shed. I told her it was raining.

In the real picture, I did get some things done. I did not spend the day doing nothing. But, in the abstract of the picture, I didn't accomplish the things I was hoping to accomplish --

and I think, what it is, is that I'm going to have to be in the mood to do those things.

However, that is not a good thing -

"...don't wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work. - Pearl Buck

Those things are not ingrained habit things. Those things are outside of the discipline of my character things. Those things are a struggle for me, still.

But, one day! It may not be this day! But one day - and soon! I shall move past this place and into that place of ... what was I talking about again? Oh yeah, doing things I don't want to do ...

So when I do that ...

I'll probably blog about it here.

You're never to young for a ....

Pacemaker? Well, apparently not. See that fellow in the blue shirt and the khaki pants up there dancing? ...the one coming around in the swing with a smile...

Yeah, that guy,

That's my father in law. He's 91. He's been having trouble with his heart not pumping right for a little while now, so in an effort to stop going to the ER at 1 in the AM, like we did again this Sunday, the doctors put a pace maker in his Irish heart this morning.

Hope to see him dancing again soon!

The Twilight Series

Well, I've pretty much decided that I won't bother with reading the rest of this series. I read the first book, Twilight by Stephenie Meyers, and it was okay (I was on vacation, relaxing by a pool in the most beautiful weather; had I not been on vacation, I'm not sure I would have stuck with it.)

I kept waiting for the story to evolve. I could see good things in there to address - like the differences that people feel about 'groups' and how we label people to protect ourselves - And each time I put it down, I thought, well surely, this next chapter ...

but, it stayed a teenage love story with the heroine Bella keeping secrets from her father, all the while her boyfriend, the Vampire Edward, wanted her to share with her father the fact that he was in her life (I realize, now, how mature he was as he was likely hundreds of years old!).

And then, Bella almost gets killed, how many times, I can't remember?; and there, always to save her with his super V-powers (like flying and mind reading and all general coolness), is her Vampire Hero.

He's a good Vampire, as he doesn't feed on people, but still, this seems like a precedent that is going to become an annoying hardship in the relationship - Kinda of like a Lois Lane-Superman situation falling into style. Poor Edward! His only job will be rescuing the clumsy, beautiful Bella!

Anyway, the reason I'm not going on with the series is (mostly) because the people I know that have read the other two books don't seem all that blown away. And, I think I can predict the ending. So, I'm thinking, why bother.

I have read reviews on line for the next two books and there are people raving; I suppose because I wasn't burned deeply with passion for the first book, I'll most likely pass for now.

But, to each their own.

For the people who love the books, they have found that something wonderful to experience in finding a book series that keeps you engrossed - And That,
now, that,
is (maybe) better than dark chocolate!~

Tropical Storm Fay is passing by

When you name weather, it must get really angry. Outside, Tropical Storm Fay sounds just like a hurricane. There are sheets of water over the windows, and I can't see my road. There are warnings everywhere for everything, but yet,

Mr. B's place of employment said they had to report to work today. (Good Grief) And when the men got there, risking life through this torrential dangerous weather, they said, 'Go on home, we have no work today.'

Mr. B had givin his notice last Friday, and why he bothered to drive down there today (45 minutes at 6 AM into a worse part of the storm), I do not know. Something to do with being an honorable man, but sometimes these lines get all blurry for me.

Those are man's lines. And man, is a lot of times, an idiot. Well, actually, when man gets involved with money, or a corporation... the idiocy has a much better chance of showing itself.

We will most likely lose power. I've got the coffee on.

It's a new day

Enjoy it.
Whatever happened yesterday that was bad, forget about it.
Think good thoughts,
Do good things
for yourself and others,
Smile and wave,
Eat chocolate,
Do a little dance,
Drink water,
Read a poem,
Start a new book,
Memorize something,
Smell a flower,
Don't watch television,
Draw a picture,
Learn something new,
The past is done,
The time is now,
Only now,
Live like you believe that.

If this is Thursday....

I don't know why, but I feel likes it's Monday. Although, I wish it were Friday, but I'm not sure why about either of those thoughts.

I really have much going on, and much that I need to do, and some that I want to do.

The Doctor appointments are really cutting into my time! I decided to make the most of the physical therapy, and I consider that my work out time (I mean, they do have me on the exercise bike for 10 minutes,you know?) But the driving to and fro - bummer at today's gas prices and then the time crunch - well, I listen to audio tapes, but still,

what is neglected is my house and spending time with my daughter! Who doesn't really mind because summer is almost over and her boyfriend (of 2 years) is over a lot and soon that will change. Actually, next week school will start here.

My house - Oh, I can't even go there. I've had two cups of coffee, and I still haven't cranked up to Flylady.net speed this AM. But she is the real deal should anyone have the desire to get it all together. I trust her completely to keep me on track.

My cards and letter pile to write is high.
My bills - yikes!
My yard! - double yikes! But it's been raining and doctor says I can't do what I wish to right now! Wah.

What else can I complain about this morning? Ha. Ha. Not a durned thing.

Because the bottom line is -

It's all good.

A Good Thing to do:

Positive thoughts, train them into your brain. Squash those negative thoughts, stop them in their tracks and reroute them or rephrase them - what do you need them for anyway? Can you answer that question? Let me know if you can find a reason because I cannot.

In the words of Henry Ford - If you say you can't, then you can't.

There. Can't be much simpler than that, now can it?

The True Neverending Story

Remember the book, or the movie, The Neverending Story? For me, that would be Motherhood. I am the motherboard and gladly connected to the hearts of my children. I will love them no matter what, no matter when, no matter where, I will love them.

The connection I have may be one that some people might not understand. I don't really understand it either! I just know it's big, it's HUGE, it's bigger than I ever, EVER imagined a feeling could be. How can you know this will happen to you?

It's like it took wings. And then, it took off, and it's still flying. The neverlanding plane from heart to heaven to God's eternal home in the sky.

I am thinking about this so much lately because of their ages, the time has come to let them go. Let them fly away on their own, live their lives as they will, choose their mates, and extend their families. Which to me, is only more love added.

No matter how it all presents itself, I shall be blessed

Happy Birthday, Nanette

Today is my sister's birthday.

I'm not even sure how old she is any more! I just know she is a very special person to me, a really terrific friend, and someone with whom I can share the deep things of my life.

I am so proud of her and her accomplishments. I am extrememly happy when she comes to visit, or I can visit her. We always have a good time, drink some wine, share some jokes and gain weight. (drat! why is that!)

As my younger sister, she has had to put up with me always, always, _always_ nosing into her business. She tells me something and I say, "well, here's what you should do...." Poor Nana, never has a chance. Big sister is, like, in the roll of being "in charged" of her. But, I did find out from her, recently, that she is very used to my doing that and doesn't resent it all that much. That is a load off my mind!

So, Happy Birthday my darling, beautiful sister. May this day and every day be filled with joy and love. May the sun shine sweetly at you in the morning and may the stars bid you a restful night's sleep. Know in your heart, that all is well.
And may the Lord continue to bless you and keep you close.