I don't understand leftovers...

I've never understood leftovers. Grandma used to put leftover food in the refrigerator and keep it going like a fine tuned clock,  Sundays roast was Monday's, sandwiches, Tuesday's hash Wednesday's stew, until well I never wanted to see a roast again. 

Mom. having been raised on Grandma's leftovers, had a free for all day, where she put it in the refrigerator pulled it all out on Saturday and had a hodgepodge. This meant on Saturday nights we had things like chicken next to tuna casserole and it didn't always seem appetizing. 

Of course if we didn't eat it, we were admonished: "There are children starving in China!"

I personally, never understood how eating my broccoli could help the kids in China, so helpfully one day I suggested that maybe they would like my broccoli and could I please mail it to them?

Lets just say I enjoyed the rest of my dinner in a standing position. 

My Aunt Jane was more realistic. She didn't believe in leftovers and they were gone the minute they left her table, to the dogs. "that's why we have pets, dear."

My Aunt Rose flat threw them away: 

"Why would I save a baby food jar of peas, just to have it come back to me on Saturday and I have to throw it away? I'd rather throw it away,. now. "

And my Aunt Gertrude "Well, we can't waste food"

. Her solution was to put the leftovers in the refrigerator until they started growing on their own then throw them away, 

"Well, I guess I waited too long to serve these."  she sighed on refrigerator cleaning day, and joyfully throw all  the leftovers out at once. Some should have been donated to the Johnson and Johnson so the could have extracted the spores for penicillin. 

My Mother one day in an effort to make them exciting called them "made overs" She had read Peg Bracken's  "I hate to cook book and created some elaborate new recipe, which when we got to the bottom of it was still just, Sundays roast following us around. . We never got really excited about it. She ended up making new leftovers to go with the old leftovers, so we had leftovers from the leftovers left over . Did you get that?

 Me I try to make just enough to feed the family, but with our schedules we all eat at different times, my son doesn't believe in leftovers, apparently, because he eats, snacks, cooks, 24/7 so I never have to worry, anything in the refrigerator will not be there long.

And if it is and he missed it, I can just cook it and pretend its new. We are in and out so much, no one knows whats leftover or not. Isn't that why God invented microwaves?

I believe in not wasting food, but I wonder why leftovers got such a stigma? The same meal we enjoyed yesterday, today because somewhat drab because we had it yesterday. It is funny, because alot of food tastes better the second day.

Chicken tastes much better the second day. Of course hardly anyone has leftover chicken, just a leg or two and you eat that for breakfast. 

I don't think leftovers are a big deal anymore, hardly any of us have them, but it is kind of sad like a lot of things gone by.  Sitting down to the table trying to guess what the dish is and what it used to be is a lost art, I used to be so good at it. 

I was over at a friends house and we had just come back from a church youth activity, she was rushed for dinner so she opened up her fridge, I saw a ham, chicken, assorted veggies, a casserole in it. I thought, ",Well she's set." 

Karen (my friend) quietly closed the fridge picked up the phone and called out  for pizza. 

Thats the way we  handle our leftovers in the 21st century. 

Oh the places we go, the things we see....

Yesterday, as I do about three days out of the week: I had to take Denise to work. This, was not a big deal, except it involved me getting up at 5:30 so she could get to work by 6:00.

I threw on clothes, threw water at my face, gave a promissory swipe to my teeth  at which my toothbrush I am sure just shook it's bristles at me, and went out to the car drove Denise to work. 

Stopping in front of Denny's I smelled something burning,and thought: Something is on fire, looked at the gauge and thought in horror:

 "It's me!"

I pulled the car into the nearest parking space, hopped out  and popped the lid. Yes, lid. Oh all right hood.

The reservoir for the radiator was boiling over, hot with brown slush oozing out of it. 

That's not good I thought. 

Since the radiator was full, it couldn't be the source of the overheating, I checked the oil and found it didn't even register on the stick, so I quickly went in and told Denise she had to cough up some money since I had none. 

Yea, well  my purse was MIA at this point.

Denise gve me the money and off I Went to sunocco, where they happily charged me $4.99 a bottle for oil, this made me frown, but after I asked if I could buy a Icee cup for a funnel, The clerk perked up and told me they had free funnels: To make things convenient.

That didn't make up for paying $4.99  for oil I could've gotten at Wal Mart for $2.00, but it helped. 

I went out to the car, and all of these truckers were standing around their trucks, whispering and watching me. I took a quick look at myself, made sure everything was buttoned, put away and I was otherwise decent. Everything seemed ok. 

So I just shrugged and proceeded to put the oil in the car. 

The truckers watched a minute then started to get in their trucks or go about their own business, about that time the cashier came out to dispose of some garbage and I asked her what the problem was.

"Oh," she stated "don't worry, they just wanted to make sure you didn't put the oil in the wrong place." 

Wrong place?

"yep", she said "one lady put the oil in her transmission, the truckers felt bad so now they kind of I guess check it out."

Do you have a lot of women stop here for this purpose?

"Oh yes mam," she shrugged  "we run out of oil right quick. Some people just forget I guess."

So now thoroughly embarrassed I threw the oil containers away, crept into my car and drove off, only to overheat yet again,  1 block down the road. And the truckers were where? Right no where to be found. 

Great.

I stopped, pulled over and waited for it to cool off. Let it suffice to say, I got home this way, turning off the car at stop lights, and spending 1/2 hour at a shell station one time. But I made it. 

Eric took it to Midas, and we got the Midas touch, literally. $123.00 but the car runs.

and me? I plan to  check the oil, every day from now on, just in case I am bringing a book everywhere I go. Not to mention not giving my teeth more then  a promisary swipe anymore. and forgetting makeup:

You never know when you are going to run into a station full of truckers.

Well, I am single.

Oh, for a time such as these

ere's an ol' man called de Mississippi

Dat's de ol' man dat I'd like to be!

What does he care if de world's got troubles?

What does he care if de land ain't free?

Ol' man river,

Dat ol' man river

He mus'know sumpin'

But don't say nuthin',

He jes'keeps rollin'

He keeps on rollin' along.

He don' plant taters,

He don't plant cotton,

An' dem dat plants'em

is soon forgotten,

But ol'man river,

He jes keeps rollin'along.

Denise and I watched Showboat yesterday, it was the first time I have seen the 1956 movie  in

years, I think high school (no I wasn't in high school in 1956) I am not partial to musicals, Showboat and Fiddler on the roof are the only two musicals I enjoy, and fiddler is my favorite movie of all times.

i had never thought of times being different, I remembered Showboat as being a good wholesome love story without any nonsense in it, overt violence, any thing that's is common to today's movies. And for the most part I was right.  But times have changed, and views have changed

and so as the movie went on Denise and I had a quite interesting discussion.

You an'me, we sweat an' strain,
Body all achin' an' racket wid pain,
Tote dat barge!
Lif' dat bale!
Git a little drunk
An' you land in jail.

Ah gits weary
An' sick of tryin'
Ah'm tired of livin'
An' skeered of dyin',
But ol' man river,
He jes'keeps rolling' along.

Colored folks work on de Mississippi,
Colored folks work while de white folks play,
Pullin' dose boats from de dawn to sunset,
Gittin' no rest till de judgement day.

Don't look up
An' don't look down,
You don' dast make
De white boss frown.
Bend your knees
An'bow your head,
An' pull date rope
Until you' dead

Paul Robeson was a popular singer in the 30's and 40's and for all of you who may be to young o remember, I know most of you don't being popular and afro-American at that time was not a combination many people got. He. got respect. As they say. And the Song Old man River has brought tears to my eyes many time, just like Satchmo's "What a wonderful world."

I never thought much of the words, but my daughter was quite upset that the words to the song was uh, defeating. 

I explained to her, they weren't. Because He, Himself was lamenting his fate and wanting it to get better, Which it did, but Paul Robeson didn't live to see it, neither did a lot of people back then. But it was a hard time to row, and a part of our history.

The movies a bout a showboat, that traveled the Mississippi. It stopped and performed at various stops. The daughter of the owner met a gambler fell in love left the ship. Gambler's being as they are of course, did well for a minute, but of course began to lost and suddenly found himself sneaking his wife out of a hotel ion the dark of night without paying, this Apparently humiliated him to the point that he too sneaked out in the middle pf the night leaving her "with Child" and alone in the big city. Where, she, as you do in most movies, finds her dad on  New years eve, goes home and makes a name foe herself. 5 years pass the gambler who had been in the doldrums all this meets up with a friend who says, hey you got a kid, so he takes off  runs back t the showboat, meets his daughter picks her up in tears turns tot he mother where they confess undying love and everyone burst into song. 

Great story right?

Well I thought so, my daughter has different ideas. She is furious with the movie because A. She took him back. and B. She took him back and C. H had the nerve to pick up his daughter and hug her and he rmom took him back. 

"In the first place," she growled "you don't pick up a strange child, they should have sent him to jail who knew who he was? and in the second place, Why hould she take him back. he was a jerk He should have been taken out and shot." What she hated most was, I guess the insinuation that the women's life was now complete because her jerk of a husband came to his senses. 

I guess I see her point. 

Movies now days are so true to life it is hard to enjoy them. Everything has to be realistic. What happened to the old days when movies were fantasy? Where you believed that love was going to be forever and happily ever after was true.

Our kids have grown up cynical, looking for the bloopers in the TV shows to prove they are not real.  Sometimes I think the magic of the old age is a good  remember make believe?

Then I guess no for all of us, for the other side as the song Old man river represents it would not have been a good time to be African American. 

So make believe never existed for everyone. Did you ever wonder what happened to Cinderella's stepsisters? What bout the wicked witch? And the seven drawfs, did they get a new mine and a new house after helping Snow white?

And most importantly, What happened Tomorrow to Scarlett? Did little orphan Annie live happily ever after in a big house with a grouchy old man? What does happen when the singing is done?

Well, I guess growing up is tough, but make believe is tougher. But remember really, for one shining moment when you were 678 and everything was possible, you could be Cinderella, your prince was around the corner....

For a times such as these...

Let me go 'way from the Mississippi,

Let me go 'way from de white man boss;

Show me dat stream called de river Jordan,

Dat's de ol' stream dat I long to cross.

O' man river,

Dat ol' man river,

He mus'know sumpin'

But don't say nuthin'

He jes' keeps rollin'

He keeps on rollin' along.

Long ol' river forever keeps rollin' on...

Well maybe not for all of us....

Beans Beans Beans...

We have been in Charleston 7 months 3 weeks, 2 days and approx. 8 hours 15 minutes and 6 seconds. I am not going to say we were happy to leave Florida, but the people in the cars around us thought it was strange that we piled out of the car at the Ga Fl line and was kissing the sign post, only the side that said you are now leaving Florida then we had to stop again at the sign that said Welcome to Georgia  and cheer.

Well maybe not really, but the people were staring at us as we cheered upon passing said signs. 

At any rate today,feeling somewhat nostalgia I decided to make Black beans and Rice a PuertoRican mainstay that we had a lot in Tampa, and was very good.  

Now I have never made the beans, so this was a first, I have done red beans and rice which is a American southerner favorite but these are different. 

In the first place you do not put, what my grandma use to call "seasoning" meat in them.

Seasoning meat being, bacon, sausage, ham hocks, ham,  some kind of pork. Red Beans and Rice is a main dish as opposed to being a side dish like it's cousin. 

At this point, I'd like to remind everyone that this is not a cooking blog, nor am I Puerto Rican so if you are and feel insulted, please don't put a call out to the PR Mafia, (which my daughters ex boyfriend has assured me exists) because they will just come down here after me and be disappointed, I am not sure the  beans are going to turnout so what could I offer them? MacDonald's? Then they will be unhappy because they couldn't even get a good healthy meal out of the trip, no better let them guys sleep. just leave me a nasty comment, but not to nasty and at least it will be a comment. 

Now, back to the beans, I looked up a recipe on the web, and am all ready to start. I put the beans in my crock pot, added olive oil, but I didn't have Goya I just had Walmart's brand hope that works, add the Garlic then the problem came up it told me to add 1 package of Sazon which I had on hand, , but it had to be without Annatto, so I searched the ingredients...but they are all in Spanish. I didn't see any words that looked like Annatto, so I guess the kind I have was okay, added white wine, again I didn't have Goya but I had a nice Chardonnay left over so I added that. and for good measure I had a nice glass to cheer me on, 

(it told me I could substitute apple cider, but what fun would that be?) set the crock pot on high for the next 5 hours checked the recipe to make sure I didn't forget any thing. I didn't except to read the first line: "Do not prepare in crock pot" 

sigh..oh well. Crock pot is on, we shall see what a big No No that will be. 

I should ask my friend Kate, Over at Cooking During Stolen Moments if I should have made the beans before writing the blog. It now occurs to me, I don't have a finished.  picture because the beans have 5 hours to cook. Oh well, guess I'll add the picture later when I edit so if you read this before drop back in and catch up later. 

At any rate, crockpot or no they smell like I remember they should smell.

Now a quick word about Florida. We had a bad experiences in Florida. My daughter had an abusive boyfriend, things were hard.(Hence the starting over blog) We didn't get to enjoy it ata ll, but since leaving and looking back Florida probably is a wonderful state and I don't wish to insult any from there.

It is strange to me to wake up at 5:00 in the morning in Tampa and have it be 80 degrees, you know you are in for it. the cold weather there  is in it's 60's. Most people love that, I miss snow. 

Sorry. 

Now I am sure there is more troubleI can get into today besides beans, let me go investigate. 

have a great Saturday...

Dove Awards

 Tonight the dove awards were on the Gospel music channel. Steven Curtis Chapman has been onoe of my favorite favorite singers for almost 15 yars. he won sngwriter of the year. 

a href="http://twitpic.com/3up7r" title="Dovepic 2. Brandon Heath on Twitpic"> Brandon Health and mark Hall of Casting Crowns. Brandons song "Give me your heart won best song.

 Casting Crowns going to present awards.

The Dove awards for Christian Music is as exciting as the  grammy's but few people even today have heard of them. Christian music is not what it used to be, it is a viable and growing industry.

Since it's Earth Day:Guest Blogger Eric Doucette

Being this is Earth day, I changed my format to being more aware of our envoirmental condidtions. 

I have a guest blogger today, its my son. He knows far more about this then I do but I am learning and he is teaching. so without futher ado...

8 ways to reduce your carbon footprint around the house

• Generate your own Click Here!">power
  
• Get of the grid! Use renewables to generate your own power, It's easy and cheap!!!
  
• 
  
• Plant a tree 
  
• Planting trees is one of the easiest ways to offset your carbon footprint and become carbon neutral. Trees absorb carbon dioxide to produce oxygen and wood, both of which are very useful for humans and other animals. Each tree planted "offsets" your environmental impact by "breathing" in about 1 tonne of CO2 emissions over its lifetime.
  
• this is the equivilant of removing  x amount of cars from the road
  
• Ride a bike. 
  
• This sounds like the most obviously overstated yet underused concept in the world. Give it a go. Not only will you be saving planet but you can burn around 500 calories in about 30 minutes
  
• 
  
• Use CFLs
  
• You have probably seen them around by now, those funky looking twisted light bulbs. Odd looking they my be but they save loads of power.
  
• Replace any incandescent light bulbs with Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFL) or Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs). CFLs are more expensive, but replacing just one incandescent light bulb will save 150 pounds of carbon dioxide and, because it lasts eight to 15 times longer than an incandescent bulb, you save approximately US$30 over the course of its lifetime.
  
• 
  
• Buy local
  
• Buying goods that were produced locally helps to sustain your local economy and are generally fresher than goods transported across long distances in trucks that expend lots of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide gases.
  
• 
  
• Reverse the direction of your ceiling fan in the winter. 
  
• During winter, the warm air from your central heating system will rise filling the upper areas of a room first then gradually work its way down toward floor level. Your heating unit will run continuously, unevenly heating the space and wasting energy. It's a good idea in the winter to find the tiny switch located on the motor of your ceiling fan, flip it and sent that hot air down to mix with the cooler air at floor level. This mixing will equalize the temperature at floor and ceiling levels, making the room feel more comfortable while saving you energy and money
  
• 
  
• Turn off the lights and TV when you leave the room.
  
• Plug your electronics into a power strip and switch them it off when not in use. Devices like your TV, Cable box, Stereo, and Home Computer System use power even when turned off, combined it's over time it's enough to rival a refrigerator.
  
• 
  
• Maximize your water heating efficiency (see 3 ways to get the most out of your water heater)
  
• Adjusting your water heater temperature settings can have a big impact over time.
  
• Find the thermostat nob on your water heater and lower the temperature to around 120° this saves energy and reduces the risk of scalding.
  

Potty training wars part 2..Toddler:2 Adults:0

Denise is pulling her hair out. She is convinced she will be supplying diapers for Natasha when she is going off to college. I assured her that is not the case. Well I certainly hope not, but I think, the way things are going, maybe high school. She go when the captain of the football team refuses to go out with her..

It baffles me how a three year old, who without any help from the adults in her life can: post a message on my FB page, take out the old DVD and put in Barney, knows when to press play and can rewind it to her own favorite parts and  put it away when done, Can tell me letters on my keyboard, keeps telling me she needs to type her blog, was twittering last night and, the biggie, can put the potty chair in place on the seat sit on it for 45 minute while singing songs, reading books, and doing finger plays, get off and promptly goes potty within 3 minutes of getting down and in pull-ups or underwear.

What am I missing? i had considered leaving her on 24 hours but was waylaid by the thought of a visit from DSS...nasty people those DSS workers. No sense of humor at all. 

This is about our third month doing intensive potty training, we have offered dinner at Denny's, a new toy, Dora's talking backpack (a real sacrifice on my part, I hate any toy that talks, moves or otherwise has the potential to wake me up at three in the morning when Eric comes in from work and steps on it.) Toys should be silent.

The fact is, she won none of these because she didn't make it. 

She tells me, she doesn't want to be a big girl, she wants to be a baby. I tell her, she is a big girl even if she is not trained so she might as well go all the way, Still we can get her on first thing in the morning and be successful, but it goes downhill from their. Stalemate Our new blackmailing trick is a beautiful new princess dress from Walmart, hanging in the dining room door:one day with only two mistakes and she can wear it. We shall see.

Well, enough potty training woes, Please if any of you moms have the secret share, share,share.

because I  don't see diapers big enough for 6 year old, much less 16 year old. Any potty training stories? Share please!

and so the battle continues.... 

of trees and fires, of children and accidents Random Saturday

Today is your typical Charleston day. It is not too hot,nor too cold. As a matter of fact it is perfect.

Tasha and I cut the grass this morning, we were awakened by a fire truck whizzing by  the house, the house around the corner was on fire. Pretty serious one as well. A man was brought out suffering from smoke inhalation, another man was brought out whose condition we couldn't tell. . Tasha and I prayed for both of them. The fire seemed to be in the back of the house , Eric told me.  He hopped on his magical moped and rushed right over, He got pictures, but since the fire I have learned the man died, so I won't post any pictures. The house was next door to a friend of Eric's.(this post as always was written over a couple of hours with me stopping to do something somewhere, some how for someone)

Its sad to think he was(the man who died) making breakfast for his family one minute then the next.....

Life is that way though:

Tasha helped me cut the yard this morning. She sat and talked on her phone while I pushed the lawnmower, prior she picked up sticks with me chattering all the way. have you ever met a three year old who doesn't chatter? She,at three wants to do everything. yesterday we made brownies, she broke the eggs, spread the brownies in the pan, ate the mix out of the bowl well, ate some and the rest was over her face, dress, hands, shoes, counter well you get the picture.

if you check my FB page you will see she keeps sending messages on FB for me as well.  

When her mom was three we were making cookies, and she dropped a glass measuring cup then proceeded to fall on it. As luck would have it, it cut her wrist, open right on the main vein. blood spurted, yes spurted all over the kitchen. Do you ever notice how we go into, some kind of emergency mode like robots? I still do not know how I did this, but I saw my child spurting blood, I had the presence of mind not to scream, or panic so the kids wouldn't, wrapped a towel around her arm to keep her from bleeding; then ran to a neighbor to take me to the hospital because I knew there wasn't time for an ambulance.

We got her to the hospital, she had 25 stitches and surgery to repair the vein. She has a large scar to this day to remind me to always use plastic measuring cups when baking with kids. A messageI am passing on to all mothers of toddlers.

And see how quickly life changes.

Eric and Deni went out delivering books yesterday, the went over to Johns island. Now Charleston itself is a series of islands, it is not just a city on the edge of the ocean. It is comprised of 5 islands, Mount Pleasant, Johns Island, James Island, Sullivan's island and of course Fort Sumter is on Sumter Island across the way. 

We haven't had time to explore all of the island as yet, but while they were on Johns island they ran into this huge tree (not literally ran) but met up with this tree.  They say you can tell how old a tree is by the rings in it's trunk. They didn't have all day to count but we are thinking it is probably as old as the settlers on the island or maybe was a baby when they came in 1525 to settle Johns Island. 

An awesome thing like this trees makes us remember just how small we are in the kingdom. if this tree could talk.....

 What would it say about our settlers? What secrets does it hold? imagine climbing this tree as I am sure many generations did.. Makes it  seem like Earth day should be more then once a year, doesn't it? Well thats it, you know how Saturday blogs are. 

 Everyone have a great weekend...

Press 1 for English

I write for Faithwriters sometimes, and I was submitting an article yesterday. I had Eric proof it, because I generally think faster then I type, or vice versa I am not sure but I miss words and grammar and all kinds of things. 

This is really pitiful for a former English and History teacher, what can I say?

I had started a sentence with a conjunction and I was thinking according to the rules you can't do that, but sometimes it is okay to take poetic license.

Eric told me according to the new rules, you can start a sentence with not only a conjunction, but a preposition as well.

When did English change?

Natasha(my granddaughter), loves Dora. Diego, and I sometimes watch the programs with her. (I am really partial to Wonder Pets, ) but I try to be fair. I have watched them on the Spanish channels as well, and interestingly enough they don't incorporate English in the program as they do in the English speaking program. I think that is not fair to the Spanish kids who might need to learn English. That is an issue that baffles me.

I know that ain't is in the dictionary now. I want you to know I loudly protested it and Even wrote a letter to Webster, but didn't mail it. Ain't that a shame?

It was once a rule that English was a proud language. We had more rules then anyone.

You didn't end a sentence with a preposition, therefore Where you at? was disallowed.

not anymore.

A lot of words we consider slang are now a part of our dictionary, and it chances the language considerably.

I guess, we have become a more relaxed society. We don't feel the need to be quite so formal. 

Formal English is a thing of the past.

Grammer has changed, run on sentences are in style. And conjunctions are used to start sentences.

What is the world coming to. Before you know it, we will be using commas in place of periods, and  Y'all will be a proper form of the language. I guess it is already, I found it in the spell check.

See ya'll next time, you hear?

Sometimes you hear the Bullet..

Yesterday was Maddie Sphors Funeral. I prayed for Maddies parents, I read her blog and her mom was very strong, but in shock I understood her words so completely. "It felt like you were talking about someone else". Yes it does. All the people who came to my house it didn't seem real.

Another baby  is in the hospital, Stellan . I read his moms twitters, as she is sitting in the NICU, I feel her emotion, I see the tenderness and I know the worry. I know she is praying, so many of us are. I go back to my days in the NICU with first Denise, then Sharon. I can close my eyes and see it as if it were yesterday.

The Nurses, I think are the kindest in the world in those units. They have to be.  I remember, laying my head down and going to sleep out of pure exhaustion, waking up with a blanket over me, thrown there by a concerned nurse. 

Those days and nights in the hospital were hard, because I had kids at home both times, and they wanted Mama too.

I wish I had had Twitter then, it is seems to me it would be nice to communicate with the world while sitting there watching our sweetheart or rocking your sweetheart.Give you some comfort to know people out there want to know and care about you and Stellan. What a Blessing! We do care and very much.

I have always Always been a M*A*S*H fan. Those guys were awesome. Great actors and the stories were wonderful. Episode 10, of the first year was entitled the same as this post "Sometimes you hear the Bullet"  The premise was, a journalist who was interviewing the troops said all the guys told him they never heard the bullet that hit them, But when he himself was shot, he actually heard the bullet. He said as his dying words "I guess, Sometimes you hear the bullet."

Sometimes you do. I think about these two babies and their families, and  pray .

How about you? things happened to us every day we are not expecting. Our lives are so normal in most ways then we are hit. The bullet can represent anything in your life. 

But remember this, bullets are not always fatal. The worse one is a changing point in your life.

Even if you hear it coming, prepare with prayer because He who guides the bullet, guides it's path and yours to.

God allows things to happen for us to be able to help others go through it. Sharon's homecoming prepared me to stand by so many parents in ICU's and NICU's and funeral homes, so they are not standing alone, they know I care and have been in their very shoes. We can't understand and He tells us we won't until we get to heaven then all of our answers will be clear. 

So, bless you handling your bullets today whether it be bills, money, hunger, a sick child, husband, or something  like having to fire someone, telling your child there is no money for Disneyland, a budget buster any of these things are  bullets in ours lives. 

We heard them coming, we couldn't stop it and here they are. 

God will guide you through, honest He will,

I promise you.

Great American Bake Sale My recipe..

Please make sure you go to the Not me Monday post to get the information needed on the Ebooks, where you can get more great recipes and aid in Children's Hunger..

Orange Mandarin Dessert

1st

2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup sugar

2nd layer

1 pkg Dream Whip

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 8 oz cream cheese block not whipped.

3rd layer

3  3oz pkg jello

3  sm cans mandarin oranges

3  sm  cans crushed pineapple

1 cup orange Sherbet or so

3 cups boiling water

Add butter and sugar to Graham crackers crumbs mix until it begins to hold together,

spread into the bottom of the pan making sure to go all the way over and seal the sides

(snug to the sides of the pan) Refrigerate for a hour or while you make second layer

2nd layer

Make dream whip by pkg directions, making sure it is stiff, cut cream cheese into smaller pieces, add to dream whip whipping until it is smooth. Spread on top of first layer. Save about a talespoon for garnish.

 

3rd layer

open cans of fruit and drain into large measuring cup, add enough water to make 3 cups bring to a boil, slowly stir into the jello until it is completely dissolved add sherbet 1 spoon at a time until thickened, add fruit put in refrigerator until soft set 20 to 30 minutes, spoon on top of 3rd layer

chill until firmly set

garnish with leftover cream cheese layer and a couple of orange slices.

See below for the details on getting the cookbooks...Help a hungry child today please...

Welcome to the Great American Bake Sale on Not me Monday!

So once again it is time for "Not Me Monday" 

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Today is a special Monday for a couple of reasons:A it is my confession Monday, better known as Not Me! Monday and it is the day of the VGABS Virtual Great America Bake sale for Share our Strenghth the great organization that works to feed hungry kids in American. No child should ever go hungry.

So without any more ado...

I did not enter Carey:Life in the carpool lane's giveaway this week. This is the first giveaway I have ever entered and I am excited to take the chance.Mainly because it is a $50.00 gift card from Target. Yep, That's right. If you have not read Carey's blog, Read it. Her boys are destined to be great politicians. She herself is a wonderful writer and mom.You just have to read how she came about deciding and getting the gift certificate. The end of the giveaway is the 17th which I already mentioned to her is my birthday, and it is my first giveaway, and I am not twisting her arm :) You are great Carey, just kidding. She leaves comments! wow!

Hint Hint..

I did not enter a new blogs giveaway learning together hand in hand's giveaway. It was the second one I entered in my life, I was on a roll this weekend. I have to confess this is a new one I found it through SITS, making my Saturday visit and there she had a great recipe, I am supposed to leave another recipe for her to swap which will be under this note which is why this is a long blog. When I go visiting on SITS day, I like to poke around and read the blogs which makes the 75 percent of the time I spend on the computer more like 90, which is ok:I don't have little kids just a grand kid, but this one is fun, I like th picture of the family they look user friendly and the blog is well laid out. Be sure to stop by Say hi, tell her angel sent you. Just kidding she'll say who is Angel???? but stop by anyway.

I did not snarl at my friend Barb Jacabucci when she snidely sent me an Email telling me she was watching the A's and the Mariners right that minute on TV in Seattle. Knowing I love my A's that wasn't fair! Sniff Sniff. Barb is due to get it from me. This week. Yep. Someday the A's will be playing the Braves and, no two different leagues, no matter watch out Barb, by the way ow badly did the A's beat the Mariners

I did not join in the fight for hunger by joining in with Kate over at Cooking during stolen moment. Now if you haven't seen her blog well, it is amazing. You get hungry looking at it for one thing, and for another she herself is just plain cute. She has three blogs, I follow all of them which just goes to show you why Tasha is always eating cold cereal and bologna.

So much for Not Me Monday moving onWelcome to the Virtual Great American Bake Sale. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of these ebooks will go toward Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale program. Funds raised through Great American Bake Sale are donated to after-school and summer feeding programs--food programs that many kids depend on when school is not in session. Great American Bake Sale is a program of Share Our Strength, a national organization working to make sure no kid in America grows up hungry.
The ebooks are a compilation of recipes from submitters across the blogosphere and beyond. The ebooks are available for purchase based on any donation amount of the buyer's choosing.

Here are the descriptions and links for buying the ebooks. Just copy and paste the html. You can choose to post with the pictures or without. You may make the text smaller but please do not delete any of the wording or links. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

The Complete 2009 VGABS Recipes Ebook

Features all 170 of the submitted recipes. Many of the recipes include pictures.

On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.


Shopping cart courtesy of E-Junkie.

Because we know file size may be an issue for some, the below ebooks have split the 170 recipes into 4 categorized ebooks so that you can choose just 1 or 2 of your favorites, if you'd prefer. Just like for the Complete ebook, many of these recipes include pictures. And again, they are available for purchase based on any donation amount of the buyer's choosing.

Muffins & Breads

Features 24 recipes.

On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Cookies, Candy, Cakes, Bars & Brownies

Features 50 recipes.

On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Desserts

Features 49 recipes.

On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Beyond Baked Goods (Appetizers, Breakfast, Main Dishes, etc.)

Features 47 recipes.

On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.


And thats how it is.

Online Dating: You do WHAT for a living?????

A couple of my friends and fellow bloggers are involved in online dating. I have spent a lot  of time laughing at their exploits. 

How is online dating different from regular dating? I really don't know. But somehow it is. 

I have one friend who has had two dates and ended up paying for both meals when his credit card was rejected. 

My Daughter got a email suggesting some things I won't mention here, but were inappropriate.

I don't know if it is much different. Some of my online dates have been memorable. I remember one guy who told me, he was 6 ft 3 in tall, handsome, was a manger at jc penny's. When I met him he was about 5'7" blind in one eye, well both his glasses were thicker then mine, and he was a custodian at well, this was right JCpenny's. Denise to this day teases me about him. He had more hair then your average pekinese and picked his teeth. All the time. We went out to dinner and it turned out the only reason he took me out was because he had a 25 dollar gift card as a christmas bonus from his job. He had been saving it for a special occaison, (I felt good about that) but please do not go over 25. the cheapest thing on the menu was 15.00 hmmmm. Well I offered to pay for mine. Which I did, and he actually puffed up and got indignant when I mentioned splitting the tip. Tip? Whats that? Apparently the only resturants he had been to was macdonalds. So I left the tip. last date. But not the last I heard from him. Denis called me and tolld me:He called her and tried to pick her up. Hmmm  Something wrong with this picture? Bye Bye!

Another Gentlemen invited me to coffee, we had a great conversation, it looked like we were going to hit it off, then his credit card was declined. Declined for 5 dollars?????? Well money isn't everything. Until of course he asked me to borrow 20 to get a cab home. Sure, it was worth it to get rid of him. 

Another gentlemen I met came down from DC, He was a nice enough guy. We went on a tour of 

the city. His idea of eating out was subway, but that's okay. Denise liked him, but she always has suspected he was married. I don't know, but we still correspond by email. We have never gotten together. 

The next one  I met came riding in on his BMW. I was impressed. until he told me how he afforded it. at this point let me mention guys and gals the 5 things you probably shouldn't mention on a first date:

Tales of your slightly deranged family members The fact that your previous partner stalks you How you admire Hitler’s leadership ability That all your exes have dumped you Previous criminal activity/ incarceration Yep, that's right he was the dealer of Mary Jane on his job. Date over and fast.  Online dating is far more stressful then regular dating, but you must admit you get some interesting stories to blog about. If you live to tell.  The one nice one I met so far, I still write to. We just are not compatible. Too Bad. He told the truth to.  Well, maybe. I can't seem to get him after certain hours and he disappears on weekends. Oh well, so much for Match.com. I probably won't qualify for EHarmony, My daughter does Yahoo, maybe I'll just stay home and drink my own coffee. I don't have to pay for it or share it, and I don't have to worry about His credit card. Just mine.  Sounds like a winner to me.

It's the one you don't see coming that gets you:

Once upon a time there were two countries and they fought all the time. There was not a speck of peace between these two countries. One country live on one mountain, the other country lived on an other mountain and there was a deep valley in between,. the valley was so deep, you could hardly See the other side when you were in the valley, so both countries tried to avoid.  One day a big huge giant of a man came out of hiding and told his countrymen he would put and end to this. He had walked many many miles to get into the battle and he was ready. His countrymen were more then willing to let him so they stepped back and told him to go on and challenge the other country. he did, He walked all the way down into the valley, and even when he was at the deepest part of the valley his height was half way up the mountain. 

"Hey!" he yelled to the other country, send your best warrior out to fight me!! Lets settle this once and for all!!

The people looked down and shook in freight of the giant. The giant laugh and went back to his country, but he was back the next day. As a matter of fact the giant challenged them for forty days and still had no takers. 

On the 40th day, a young boy was bringing lunch to his brothers. He head about the Giant, then he heard the giant himself make his challenge. 

"I'll take him on, he said. Everyone thought he was crazy but no one argued. They tried to give him their best bow and arrows, and press their best swords into his hand but he refused. he ran to the rive and picked out six smooth stones and tucked away his slingshot. 

His brothers told him goodbye and assured him they would tell their parents how brave he was...as he walked down that hill. 

the giant laugh,"You send a boy to challenge me," "

I'm Insulted"

and he laughed and laughed.

He didn't see it coming. the stone I mean, it hit its mark and he fell so great a fall they say it shook the earth. And David walked into history, assisted by God. 

Every day we stand in a valley looking up wondering how we are going to climb out of it.

Some days the valley is deeper then others and the way out is much higher. 

But, today is Good Friday and no ones valley was deeper the the one Jesus faced on this day.

So whatever valley you are looking up from, I wish you well. Who ever your Goliath is.

I wish you six stones to beat them. For the victory of course is already won for us, the battle has been fought. 

We still have to get Natasha's Easter basket and dress. Things are so expensive we are kind of holding out for sales. Real sales, the markdown 50 percent stuff. You know. The ones that hit on Sunday. We like most families are shot on money this Easter.

It's the one you don't see coming that gets you. I didn't see being unemployed coming, it just happened. You know how it is:

 You are looking for a promotion, and suddenly you are out of a job instead. Downsizing they call it. . You are thinking you have muscle pain and suddenly it's cancer.  Child's cold turns into something much more serious. You are never looking for it. 

But strangely enough, Someone knows it's coming and he is the one who walks you out of the valley into the sun and ready to face your next Goliath. 

So this Easter,. remember the joy that we are celebrating. Put your Goliath at the foot of the cross, and walk out of your valley. for He has Risen, and by his stripes we are saved. 

A day in the life of a three year old

I think Sharon was the age of three when I decided not to have Any more children. It must have been then, because Natasha is now three and she is well, something else. 

This morning at 6:15 am she pops out of her 

bed into mine and is there about 3 seconds before she announces she wants food. 

I asked her what she wanted and she informed me she wanted Dip and chocolate. Hmm, well Mommy is not going to kill me today, no siree so I asked her to settle for waffles and sausage.

that was acceptable, so we go out to the kitchen where she proceed to pull her little chair over to the counter and help Nanny prepare breakfast. She did really well, popping the waffle in the toaster, then with a spoon she buttered her waffle, and i put the Nutrella on it. 

Perfect team we are, I had toast and she had waffles..well wait a minute, she decided she wanted a piece of my toast. OK. I put my dish in the dishwasher, she did the same. 

Now Nanny gets on the computer, and Tasha is going to watch a video. She  picks a video we got from Netflix, yesterday Potty Training Power, I am thinking this is not going to last long but Tasha watching it no less then 7 times befor

e coming into the kitchen to help me make spaghetti sauce and put it in the crock pot. 

So while I am busily chopping tomatoes, onions, mushrooms and garlic:Tasha is building a castle out of the cans of tomato sauce and tomato pas

te. 

She is anxious for me to open the cans because that's her part to pour them into the crock pot.

When I do open them, she very carefully pours reminding as I use the can opener not to hurt myself when I pull the lids out. 

Yes, OK, I cut myself on a lid once. Incred

ible memory this three year old.

After that we shared a yogurt, take a bath and get ready for rest time. At three we never call it  a nap anymore that doesn't goesover. "I'm a 

big girl Nanny, I don't take Naps!" Yes I put that in bold print with a capital N that is how vehement we were.

Shes down, resting in dreamland with a band new bunny that talks and sings and does all kinds of stuff. I am sure her mom willpull the plug very soon. :)

Three is a interesting age. I have a very

 grownup three yearold, and yet one who throws a tantum in a moment. (we don't reconize tantums). She can carry on a conversation like a 6 year old: Nanny, what happen to that man in the movie? Is he hurt,?"

then she can get into the baby stage This mor

ning: "But I don't want to be a big girl and go potty."

She still likes to sleep on her mom's lap and my big confession is yes, she still has her Bo Bo (pacifier) but her mom is worth it. 

She has an amazing personility this one. She soaks life up like a spong. 

She learned yesterday that all people are not He's, and she made sure I knew it this morning. 

"Nanny, I just want younot to be confused," I am amazed by the words that comeout of her. 

Her will is very strong, as she stands and looks at me with her hands on her hips, eyes flashing

"I do not want to go potty  Nanny!,"

Maybe it wasn't three maybe it was 4. Because it it such a versital age, so many changes taking place. So much learning about the world and looking into her future is exciting. I know there are many things exciting going to happen there.

Now if we can just get her potty trained.

For the Sphors

I just found out about the death of a  Maddie Sphor My heart goes out to this family, as they have joined a very large club but one of which none of us wish to be members of.  The death of a child.

You can imagine you would know the pain, but you really don't and I pray you never do. My heart goes out to the Sphors, and please join me in prayers for them. I remember the shock after Sharon's death, we weren't expecting it, she was supposed to be cured. You walk in a fog for days.

Everyone is kind, and bring food but I didn't see anyone, I just kept looking for Sharon. She has to be here...but she wasn't.  and never would be again.

But she remains in my heart. I remember her, still everyday. My message to the sphors is simply this.

You will get through the next few days, just take it a minute at a time. You will do that for a while. then it will be a hour then a day at a time, life will never be normal, for Maddie will not be there but you will survive. People say you will get over it, I don't know if you get over it, but you learn to live with it. 

God Bless you. You are in my prayers.

All about Charleston, Gators and the Eastr Bunny...

Charleston is cold this morning. It is a chilly 40 degrees, and crisp. The air looks and feels clean but the smell of the marsh permeates Charleston, like a reminder of olden days. When the Harbor was the main source of income for this seaside city. the smell of fish is strong over here because I am five minutes from the marsh. I drive over the bridge to take the kids to work and the marsh sits there quietly reminding us, of what? Of how strong it is? How we once depended o it for Black Marketeers and escaping slaves?Even the marshes have a story here. 

Most often, though except for the smell we just hear about the gators and people who run off the bridge into the marsh in their cars. Not a pretty sight.

Gators, now are different. We thought we'd see them in Florida, but there is a gator who lives in the lake at the park where Tasha plays. We were worried for a minute, then everyone assured us that it was a baby gator and it comes up to the shore then moves on.

I like the moving on part, He can skip greeting us at the shore. 

It is strange to see a sign Don't feed the Alligators, in the middle of  West Ashley, a well populated part of  Charleston.

Like most things, the air is deceptive. The Clear cold beauty is hiding the truth, that the marsh ruins the illusion with the smell, so does our life present the same illusion sometimes. 

But the smell is a part of Charleston, just like the Alligator. 

This is Easter week, everyone is out shopping for Easter bags and like. Tasha will get to see he easter bunny but we are keeping it quiet. 

At Walmart we spent all of five minutes casing Easter Baskets, they are very expensive for what they are: mostly cardboards. So I thought for a minute to make her one. Can't be to hard right?

Well we shall see. 

I started this post this morning, had a little problem and now it is night. I am going to go ahead and post it, after all as scarlett says, tomorrow is another day.....

My First "Not Me Monday"

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog"> to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.If you want more info, head over there and see for yourself. It is a fab blog! But I have to confess I got the idea from another blog SHUT THE FRONT DOOR! which is also a great blog. Face it, how many times a day do you say that?

Mackmams blog is very close to home, because her baby Stellan is suffering from cardio-vascular problems, just as my Sharon and Denise did. Keep her family in your prayers. His picture is on my prayer list on the side bar, if you don't fall in love with him well, I just don't know what to do with you.

So on to Not Me Monday:

I did not go out the back door with a load of laundry, miss the last step and land on my you know what. The laundry flew everywhere, including on top of Erics little moped. Nothing hurt but my pride.

I did not give Natasha strawberries for breakfast with a cookie. Well, she asked.

Not really I think It was called Lazy.

I did not start putting Tasha in underwear instead of pull ups so she has to go potty. Not that it's working. I am thinking of purchasing a special accident mop for her to uses every time she has one. She is trying anyway, she does remember to tell me she is wet. She just hasn't gotten quite the knack to tell me before not after.

I did not have ice cream cones for dinner. Well everyone else was having fish. I love seafood, but I don't care to much for fish. And yes Denise made a nice fruit salad. OK, fine.I just wanted an ice cream cone. So there.

I did not hide Tasha's Dora DVD. Well I have seen it heard it and been privy to watching The Sporting Video with Dora, Diego, Wonder Pets and Blues Clues, I hid wrote down the clues in my handy dandy notebook and she found it in one clue. I guess she is really smart. :)

I did not quit my job. unloading trucks, moving TVs and dealing with 30 guys and gals under 25 who are all complaining about their backs got to me finally. I'm throwing TVs off the truck and a 19 year old man is telling me he can't lift it because of his back. So be it. I am no longer the logistic manager at Wal Mart 1748. I am going back to working in a nice little call center. I did that for 5 years this time I am not going to be a call center manager or a QA person. This time I just want a phone, a desk and quiet. I'll talk to you all day. Just don't mention your back to me or your girlfriend, or I want you to be flat out and that is not going to happen. Whatever thatmeans. It is what it is, as my generation used to say. Just do it. 

I did not have a strange morning this morning.

Eric and I are working on starting the new online business I have been talking about. We are going o sell things for other people on EBAY,we'll list, take pic's, ship and do all the work the customer will just cash the check. We are also developing my health nuts website, but it is taking way more research then I thought. We want to be correct in what products we sell and make sure they are quality products. 

It is cloudy and rainy here in the Holy City. Hope your weather is better. 

Have a nice Monday. Not Me.