Oh, how time flies…I had forgotten that I had this blog. It is fun to find it again.
I am going to start doing a soup-a-thon. Each week, I will post about a new soup recipe I’ve tried out. In the meantime, I will post my musings. I have them, I just haven’t spent much time exploring them as of late.
This may be a little off course for me, but I read an article in TIME magazine and wanted to share with you.
As many of you know, Steve and I began attending Church way back in 2003/4. He and I had been far removed from any sort of religious services other than weddings and funerals…we “thought” we were living the Grand LIfe…We attended the funeral of a dear friend of ours and something happened. I can’t explain to you in words what happened, but it happened to both of us. I can’t tell you the date for certain, because I’ve never been one to remember dates. I can, however, tell you that IT happened. I remember going back to the car after the funeral, filled with emotion. I told Steve, “Something just happened and I think we need to start going to church.” He said he was feeling the same thing… the following Sunday, we began the tradition…the trek….
I remember going to church when I was little. I remember Sunday School and Vacation Bible School….but somewhere along the line, the church wasn’t all that important…My good buddy, Satan, had taken hold of my foot and was trying to pull me down…he did a good job of it for a long time. We hung out a lot together. He smiled at my failures and hung on to my shoulder…whispering in my ear at every moment I was “free” to do whatever I wanted.
The death of this dear friend brought Steve and me into the church that we had denied for so many years. Well, not that we had denied, but that we ignored the existence of. I had said for years that I didn’t “believe in” organized religion. However…then I understood.
So, now, let me share an excerpt from “TIME” magazine about my Catholic Faith:
“A bit more background before going further: in the Catholic Church there are ‘diocesan priests,’ who work mainly in parishes, and “religious order” priests, like those in the Jesuits, Franciscans, and Dominicans. In religious orders we profess vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and live in community with one another.
Now that I’ve brought it up, let’s cut to the big question: what about celibacy? It’s what most people have on their minds when they think about the priesthood,especially in the wake of the sexual-abuse scandals. So a little explanation. First of all, celibacy is not for everyone – obviously. If it were, there wouldn’t be much time left for the human race? But it is meant for some people, like me, who take a vow of chastity, or diocesan priests who promise celibacy….For me, chastity is a way that allows me to love many people freely and deeply. Yes, forgoing sexual intimacy is difficult, but married life has its own challenges too. A celibate lifestyle calls you to find and express love in deep friendships, in your ministry, and in prayer with God.
Celibacy doesn’t lead to sexual abuse, but that doesn’t mean commentators don’t draw that conclusion. Most incidents of abuse take place in the family, but no one says marriage leads to sexual abuse. Many incidents take place in schools, but no one says a degree in education leads to abusing children. Basically the easy (and insulting) conflation of celibacy with pedophilia reflects a discomfort with the celibate life. Anyone who chooses to live without sexual intimacy, the popular thinking goes, must be either sick, deluded, crazy- or all three. But as I said, it’s simply another way to love, not better or worse. And I’ll bet you have many celibate people in your life. They would include single men and women, widows and widowers, the uncle or aunt or co-worker or neighbor who has chosen not to marry. As long as they are loving and enjoy deep friendships, why not see their choice as another way to live? and love?” ~Father James Martin
So, there you have it.
I hope you’ve made it through my post and I look forward to hearing from you.
Michelle
December 3, 2012 changed my life in ways that I cannot, to this day, put into words or understand. Since that day I have not wanted to write or feel or do anything meaningful. Tomorrow is a new day, and I will have my brother and his family here. Something is sparking within my soul and I feel the need to begin writing again.
December 3rd…I came home from work after working 3 7p-7a shifts. I crawled into bed and thought, “Oh, I’ll sleep a couple of hours and get up and do something.” I don’t even know what I had planned to do that day, but I’m sure it was important. I don’t even know how long I had been asleep…maybe an hour when my phone started ringing. I, of course, rolled over and ignored it, thinking, “I AM going to sleep for a little bit.” BUT…it began ringing again. I ignored it a little longer. THEN it rang again. I ignored again…then it rang again….I was angry that someone was bothering me…and grabbed the phone…the caller ID was blank… but I had a voice mail. The voice said that something had happened to Mr. Loyd Cole and I needed to call Maxine as soon as possible….the next voice mail told me that Mr. Loyd Cole was deceased…I don’t even remember the words. I jumped up and sped to Mom and Dad’s….there was a female officer standing beside Mom in her rocking chair….all I can remember is saying, “No, No, NO….What has happened?????” and shaking…..and Mom crying…..it was a horrible, horrible, horrible time of confusion. We originally thought Dad had been hit by a car. He walked every day. Steve came in and had spoken to someone…I’m still a little fuzzy on some of these details, but Steve had been told that something else had happened. Mom had originally gone out looking for Dad after he hadn’t come home in a specific amount of time and actually drove up on the ambulance, police and such…the female officer drove Mom home and that’s when they began calling me.
OK…my writing skills are failing me as I am filled with emotion. Dad was murdered. He was stabbed to death.
I loved that man so very much and he loved me. I was so angry with the world for taking him away from us! Oh, he had his quirks…and I will be the first to tell you that I gave him grief as often as I saw fit, which was pretty often. I think I’m going to have to quit talking about this for now.
When I went to work Tuesday, my girlfriend told me that they ate their first tomato. She, her husband and their daughter split the tomato into 3 pieces so they could all enjoy that first ripe tomato.
Dad would always bring me his first ripe tomato…I can see his hands wrapped around it and his face beaming….he would be so proud of that first red beauty…..and I know that he babied it just so he could hand it to me.
I’m done for now…but I’m back
A few days ago, the long-eared, crazy dog decided to spit up on my comforter. This morning, I FINALLY made it to the laudromat…which has given me some fuel for a post. Here we go…..
I find LaundrOmats interesting and useful. Our first apartment was about the size of our current living room. Needless to say, a laundry room wasn’t included in the floor plan. The apartment complex had a small washeteria, so I would traipse my little, 18 year old self down there about once a week to take care of the dirty clothes. This little “private” laundromat only gave me a suggestion of how REAL laundromats worked. Yes, there were kids, there were annoying men, there was always a machine out of order…. but then, we moved several times. With those re-locations came the, um…. “opportunities” to venture out into the real world and burn lots of gas trying to find the least creepy, safest appearing laundromat.
Following are a few things that are common among all laundromats:
1. If you need a heavy duty machine and there are 5 heavy duty machines at your first choice of laundromat, 4 of them will be out of order and one will have clothes in it. So, just turn around and take that 150-pounds of laundry BACK to your car and find another place.
2. It doesn’t matter if it’s 120-degrees or -20-degrees, there will be a fly hanging out in the laundromat who will become interested in me, and ONLY me…and My nose in particular. Nothing makes me look more like a Psychotic, laundromat-creeping-weirdo than my flailing arms and face slapping maneuvers trying to kill that nostril seeking fly that hasn’t seemed to bother anyone else in the place.
3. There is most always an unsupervised, snot-nosed toddler who prefers his own boogers over that bag of skittles or cheetos in his other hand – at least the kid either has sweet/salty or soft/cheesy snacks. On the up side, I am almost always hungry when I go to the laundromat. These toddlers most likely squash the desire to raid my quarter stash to feed myself from the vending machines.
4. Speaking of kids, I can usually count on there being an older youngster, say 5-8 years of age who will just be sitting in a chair staring at me. I smile, but the child just has a blank stare…at me…. all that goes through my mind is a froggy voice saying, “REDRUM, REDRUM.”
5. You can bet your bottom dollar that if I’ve managed to get to a laundromat where I am alone, there will be a creepy guy, with no laundry, who will come in to look at magazines or a newspaper. AND you can dig around and find some change to place a bet on this – no one, I mean no one on my contact list will answer his/her phone… that is, if I even have my cell phone in my pocket. Back in the early laundromat days, there were no cellphones and the only pay phone was invariably right next to the chair that creepy guy would sit in!
As I said, LaundrOmats are interesting. The thing I love most about laundromats is the fact that you can put all your clothes on to wash at the same time, put them all in dryers…and then you’re done. Having said that, this morning I just took my comforter to the laundromat… now, I’ve got laundry to do – UGH!
I just realized how long it’s been since I last posted….I don’t think I have that many followers who could be disappointed…but I’m trying to make this Blog something that you want to check into…and I’m not doing a very good job with it.
I’m now a BzzAgent…I’m receiving products to test and share with friends. This past week, I tried Alexia’s Parmesan Lemon Waffle Cut fries. They were very good, but very strong in the way of Lemon flavor. These would be best eaten with fish or Pork. Steve LOVED the turkey burgers that I prepared….I guess I should post the recipe for the burgers..but I’m too tired to do so right now. I will see if you are interested in the recipe..then I’ll post it.
I will try to improve on my posts…this week I made the Triple Layer Chocolate Nutter Butter Cake and the Turkey Burgers…tonite I made Sweet Potato Fries with Chorizo and Queso Fresco. Hmmmmmm…..
G’nite all!
As for the medical marijuana act….if you have ever seen someone suffering and unable to eat because of all the MAN MADE chemicals they have pumping through their veins…maybe you should consider legalizing something that grows naturally in most zones. I seriously DO NOT understand why marijuana is illegal. I may not partake, but I cannot understand why it is illegal. Oh, sure…I smoked it when I was a teenager – sorry, Mom, maybe you knew…and I actually turned into a somewhat productive individual…I was actually able to go to college and join the work force! SHOCKER!
How did Alcohol ever become legal? It has to be processed…and that’s all acceptable, but not marijuana…oh, no…something that sprouts out of the ground…something that you have to do nothing with other than dry it, roll it into a cigarette, or eat it in a brownie….oh…that crap is illegal. Yep…we’re gonna throw people in jail for selling something that they can grow in their back yard.
Makes me angry. Makes me shake my head.
Today, I got off work at 7am. I had convinced myself that I needed to sleep in order to save the week ahead of me…so I did. I set my alarm for noon….I finally dragged out of bed at 1:30, drag I did…I felt like I had a hangover..I was puffy and felt pretty terrible (which is why I don’t take naps)…but I have honestly been working on my mindset and determined that this little “uncomfortableness” would pay off.
Pay off it did….around 3pm I felt like a champ! Down the road I went with Demon Dog. We walked, we played, we visited….got home about 5:30….then out to the shop I went.
The new shop….well, it is an old shop that has been resurrected! It’s beautiful! For years, I wouldn’t go to the shop….for any amount of begging or bribing….there was no way I was going out there (it was overrun with critters and junk). Now….I love the place…it’s bright (great lighting and Steve has painted the inside white on white). AND…there are power tools out there! Power tools that my hyper little self needed today. I’m building a potting bench. I took a carpentry class many moons ago. I took it because I wanted to be a part of building the house that Steve and I eventually wanted to build…but I mostly took it to get over my fear of power tools….saws in particular. I work in radiology…which means, I take “x-rays” of things as simple as someone’s nauseated and upset intestines to major trauma, which includes amputated extremities…in particular, digits…(fingers or toes). I’ve seen a billion table saw mishaps in the 30 years I’ve been involved in radiology. OK…maybe not “a billion” but hundreds, I’m sure. In the early days, I FEARED power tools….saws, nail guns, you name it….then…I took the class that Dick Wennberg taught at the local community college. We built a mini-house. I was a part of framing, planing, dry wall, nailing, sawing, roofing…yep, I got to do it all….but that was a very long time ago….probably around 1990. I have had a chance to rebuild my fear of power tools since then…but fear precedes respect. I started building my potting bench today…I was slamming that chop saw…and it felt good. I respect that chop saw…I respect that table saw to the degree that I decided I was too tired to mess with it tonight….but I can’t wait to jump on that bad boy tomorrow!
October birthdays are rather thick in my family and friend circle. Today is my sister’s birthday. For some reason, she will always be 12. She was 12 when I moved out of the house, went to college and got married – I guess that is why she is still 12 in my head….when I see her, she looks to be 12….I see her in a different way than any of her friends or any of the rest of our family/world sees her. I don’t know how to explain it. I’m hoping other “sisters” know what I’m talking about and that I’m not completely crazy. I love that little girl that she was….and I love the woman she has become. She is a Mom and a Mommy…she is pretty much the coolest person I know. I hate that we’re a thousand miles away from each other…but I know she is doing just fine.
Look out Tuesday!
I don’t usually post on Thursday night, but I’m feeling a little feisty and will share!
I have been cooking/baking like a mad woman. Last night I made Turkey Tetrazzini and it was quite yummy. We are eating leftovers tonite!
Tonite I made Pumpkin Bars!Oh, yeah…quite WONDERFUL!
I made Jack-O-Planters this evening – and I saved the pumpkin seeds….I’ve never eaten pumpkin seeds, but I thought I would have to try them. So I did, and I am in LOVE with roasted pumpkin seeds. I ended up roasting them much longer than suggested…and I also added much more salt to the recipe.
I realize there are many links and no pictures…get over it…you’re gonna have to follow a few links where someone else has done it already!
I’m going to bed….my feistiness has left me.
A few days a go I had the privilege of spending a little time with a 97 year old woman. As I grow older, I am coming less and less able to determine a person’s age simply by physical appearance. I think, however, without a doubt, that if I met this woman in Wal-Mart that I would never guess that she was 97 years of age. As we spoke, I came to realize that her hearing was probably much better than mine and her mind was sharp. This lady’s physique was toned and amazingly taut. We talked about many things, but what stood out was her statement that she and her husband walked two miles every day! EVERY DAY – this lady is 97 years old! WOW!
So…I went to work today, came home… walked the demon dog… then decided, “I’ve got this free membership at Curves for a month…I’m going to go work out! Which I did. Then I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things I needed for supper tonight.
Out of the doors of the grocery store walks a little girl, who could be no more than 6 years old. She was walking with an adult male who was either her father or step-father (one never knows these days). That “little” girl probably weighs more than me! I immediately became infuriated! The poor thing was walking with her back arched because her belly and legs were so large! She had a 20oz. bottle of Pepsi under her right arm! If I could have taken that man and kicked his ass I would have! It made me so mad…then, after I calmed down a bit, it made me so very sad. I know “normal” food is expensive…feeding kids off the dollar menu at McDonald’s seems to be the “norm” for many. But, when your child becomes abnormally pudgy, which this child clearly was, you need to take responsibility and make some changes! That poor little girl is going to have HELL at school. If she keeps going the way she is going, I can’t see her living to be 30. AND THAT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE! Placing a young person at such a disadvantage is a criminal act – in my opinion.
Now that I’m going all kinds of crazy…let me tell you what else drives me nuts.
BREASTS! I work in the medical field. If I want or expect to see breasts, they should first be covered by a blue and/or white gown, that’s how breasts should be presented to me; HOWEVER, breasts are out there, within 12 inches of my face at times. I don’t want or need to see breasts…I have two of my own that I see daily. The shirts that big and/or big breasted girls wear tend to present breasts to me in a rather annoying manner. Yes, I am female…I have breasts that, at times, seem to have a life of their own…but I wear clothes that keep them covered up. I made the statement at work today, after seeing many breasts that needed to be covered, “I’m hoping turtleneck weather is coming soon…I hope turtlenecks are the fashion statement of the season.” Oh…you should have heard the accolades and witnessed the “high-fives”. Girls, keep your girls covered! Keep them sacred and hold them holy. PLEASE keep them out of my face and out of my 20/20!
OK…demon dog is barking/squealing. Time for me to calm down, throw the data out, and prepare for tomorrow.
Yes, I have been confused for several weeks now. Actually…it’s been going on for a couple of years. I can’t remember any conversation I’ve had with anyone for any longer than 20 minutes and if I walk into a room, I’m really not sure why I walked in there in the first place. I really don’t know what’s up with that other than I’m postmenopausal and I will blame everything on that circumstance…it is a fact as documented by lab tests and acknowledged by physician(s). Now, I can blame everything on menopause.
I could be your new best friend…you can tell me anything and I won’t remember regardless of any kind of torture.
With that in mind (LOL) I have the occasional FB post to remind me that I have promised recipes…and there are a few of them….
But first…let me tell you what I’ve been up to. I’m having a lucid moment and feel the need to post!
Last week I had to go to Eureka Springs for Master Gardener Leadership Training. Well, Fayetteville happened to be along the way, so I contacted an old friend I hadn’t seen in a few years…….and I stayed with her…we stayed up late and laughed so much that my cheeks were actually a little tender the next day!
Headed to Eureka Springs the next morning….It was a beautiful drive along HWY 23 – AKA “the Pig Trail” I really enjoyed the drive. The leaves had a little hint of red/orange. It was quite beautiful…..
The meetings began at 1pm!
I had a great time and took lot’s of notes, since I don’t remember anything more than 20 minutes – LOL! As fate would have it, the gal I was sitting next to (on my left) was from my home town! The gal to her left was the queen of Farmer’s Markets….I’m wanting to do something with our local Farmer’s Market…and to be sitting there with her…well…it was amazing!
So…you’ve made it this far…let’s get to the food!
I came home Wednesday evening…and I was pretty much pathetic…no cognitive thoughts were occurring…my brain did click in and I worked the weekend… by Sunday I was skimming any and every magazine and blog post I had access to…I was going to cook come Monday! And cook I did…I made chilies relleno! A friend of mine had bragged on this recipe and I requested it from her…so I made it! Here’s the recipe and a couple of pics
Let me warn you…this recipe is labor intensive! I think I had every dish in the house dirtied up making this…but the rellenos were true and the sauce was something to dream about! I cooked it down until it was very thick and it was DELICIOUS!!!!!!
Earlier in the day…I made granola bars. Oh, yeah…this blog always has some fantastic recipes, but this recipe made me wake up! ABSOLUTELY a delicious granola recipe…as a matter of fact, I think I will always have some of these on hand…
I think I’m caught up. if I’ve forgotten a recipe, let me know.
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