Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Moving On


Most of the people of the world have something from their childhood that haunts them. Nasty things that were done to them, bad things said to them that left their memories scarred, even some who were abandoned that left them with a hopeless feeling burned into their mind.

These are just a very few of the of some of the things I've heard. I even have a few of my very own, but I've dealt with them in my mind and will no longer bring them up. Over the years I have talked to trusted friends about some while sharing nightmare stories of life.

Sometimes we even had very similar memories and came to terms with them as we discussed them. Many times just sharing hurtful things with a trusted friend helps to release it. In the least I've found that knowing I'm not alone with some has made me feel a bit better.

There were even a few times at some occasions I've met total strangers and we talked. Some things we shared in the course of conversation were then released or at least eased.

Keeping hurtful things locked inside your own mind only allows them to consume your thoughts and they seem to grow to keep your mind filled with nothing but them. They fill your days with their lonely sadness and gloom. They even get in the way of what you want to do.

I am getting kinda old, but I have observed much. One thing I've observed is that anything that has happened or been done or said to us, has also happened or been done or said to someone else. More often, to many someone else's.

That sharing with others is the first step to finding a way to release it so you can move on.
You don't just come right out and blurt your sorrows to someone, but in the course of conversation you get a sense that someone else may have been in the same situation you have. You also hear if they like to talk about others. If you hear that you know not to share your private hurts with them or the entire world will soon know.

Next thing I find works for myself and many others is to begin creating new memories. Good memories, fun memories, exciting memories, fond memories, memories that only come from doing whatever it is you can find you like to do or are interested in doing.

The trick here is to make more good memories than bad. To add more happy memories than you have sad. To fill your mind with more loving memories than cold, icy, hurtful memories.

It's kinda like when you hit your thumb with a hammer while working. The quicker you get back to work and thinking about what your doing, the quicker the pain is pushed to the side. I've spoken with a few women about that and they agreed that it's kinda like childbirth. When that little one is finally in your arms and your mind is on that baby, the pains of delivery seem to be forgotten. Not totally out of the mind forever, but pushed back by happiness.

It's moving on.
Not forgetting the past, but moving on and creating new memories. New memories enough to bury the hurtful ones. Sadly we can never unlearn anything that has been learned. Yet just like that stubbed toe, it becomes a faded memory as your day goes on.

It's not a thing you can do in a day, but a process of adding one day at a time. Often too it seems the evils of the universe will toss in a few stubbed toes along the way just to make it more difficult. Those evils don't want to lose your company. But with persistence, you'll even overcome them and the smile will begin to return to your face.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Very Black Friday


Is this the new meaning of Christmas spirit?

Macing people to take advantage of a sale so you can get what you want.
Stabbing people to get your advantage.
Shoving people out of your way so you will be first to grab an item from a display.
Even shooting people so your desires are fulfilled.
Cutting in line and showing no respect for others who had the sense to get there early.
Cutting in line at the checkout because your time is more valuable than anyone else.
Grabbing and jerking things from the hands of others.

I'm sure that's not all I've heard of through the newspapers and TV news, but I do believe that it's enough to show the point.

If this is what society is coming to today, I want no parts of it.

I stay away from Black Friday shopping simply because I don't like huge crowds. But now I wonder if there isn't more wisdom in staying away for the safety of my life and body.

Are these the things we want to teach our children? So many speak of peace, yet they teach with their actions something completely different.
Do they not know the reason for Christmas? Have they never read the teachings of the one who is celebrated at Christmas?

Is society going to keep giving their children everything they want, desire and demand? Or are we going to wake up and see what damage we've done with that already? Are you to blind or addle minded to notice how many young people today think that whatever they want in life should be given to them and they have not got the responsibility to earn?

So many keep trying to buy the love of their children with gifts. I see that love doesn't last any longer than the newness of the gift. Why do we keep allowing the children who need to learn about life to rule the adults through incessant whining and childish demands.

Love them by teaching them that your love isn't for sale and you will not be buying theirs. They need to learn that love is a deep respect that is earned and then shared freely. Something that is cherished between people and not as cheap as any gift from a store.

I've watched in my life as Christmas gifts went from the giving of necessities with one or two prized desires, to trees hidden by a pile of desired gifts. I've seen the meaning of Christmas go from sharing the love that God shares with us, to God being removed from Christmas and replaced with shallow material gifts.

I've observed as stores went from caring about it's customers to thinking of nothing but their profits and using Christmas displays earlier each year to suck customers through their doors to empty their pockets of money needed to pay for the necessities of living.

Stores that once helped customers by giving them needs at cost or even for free when their luck was down. To stores that promote desires in ways that encourage people to whip out their credit cards and go further in debt.

Now even as they have a record of past years where people have been hurt on their Black Friday's, they still drum up wild dreams I peoples minds which pull more people through their doors to mutilate each other.

Black Friday indeed. Blackened by the way people mistreat each other and the way it's promoted by the greedy stores. Blackened by the way it's becoming accepted. Maybe a holiday of it's own to celebrate what is wrong and exemplified by the bad people of the world.

If this is what society is allowing to become the new meaning of Christmas, I'm sure glad I live on the outskirts of society and have little to do with it. I'll wait, pray and hope that society wakes up and begins once again to love their fellow man.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Thank You


Thanksgiving is fun. It allows us to say things we normally can't.
Any other time of the year I would get frowns if I said, I want the breast.
I'd be slapped for something like, gee that breast sure looks nice.
And when else could you say, just pull those legs apart and stuff it in...

Special days spent with families and friends can be so enjoyable. Especially if everyone is loving and accepting of each other. Those that like to pick on or bully others turn special days into sad days.

So what if someone is still single? That is their won business and maybe they choose to be single and are very happy with that. Maybe they are not the ones that just settled for someone who is not right for them. For that they deserve to be applauded.

So your kids haven't given you grandchildren yet. Isn't that their business? Maybe they realize that bringing a child into a home that is ready for them is the right thing for them to do. It could be quite possible they are so tired of hearing you nag about them having children, they have decided to not have any to spite you. Maybe they really don't want children.

Now bringing up embarrassing moments and sharing them with family and friends is just something that family and friends does. Might as well sit back and learn to laugh along with the crowd. It's all in the past anyway. If you really think about it and put yourself in the shoes of others you will laugh about it too.

Now that uncle who always drinks to much. Either cut him off or allow him to get drunk and pass out on the couch.

Remember how you act will be taught to the children who are watching you. Why not let the see the love and the fun of being family? The way family accepts you in spite of what they think or how they feel.

If nasty uncle or whatever in law gets on your last nerve, why not just take a walk or go to another room. Maybe ask if anyone else would like to take a walk to work of some of that huge dinner and make room for more desert. Why not even take the children outside to play? Or take them to another room to play games with them?

Make the best of the day as you possibly can. Enjoy yourself in spite of others. Make your joy be a thorn in old grumpy's side.

My wish for you all is to have the most wonderful day you possibly can and to feel the warmth of family and friends celebrating their thankfulness together.

Here I'm thankful for all the readers. Especially thankful for followers. I am thankful for the opportunity of a place to share my thoughts. Thankful for the chance to possibly help someone who needs something I say. Thankful that I can just maybe bring a smile to someones day. Thankful that just maybe I can make someone think.

Have a great day where ever you are in the world and thank you for making my life a little happier by joining me here on the blog.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Food For Thought


I left off last Tuesday's blog (November 15, 2011) with this.
As many of the ancients attempted to teach and the American Indians believed and taught,
Respect Mother Earth.
Respect the Great Spirit
Respect our fellow man and woman
Respect for individual freedom

As I see that,
Respect Mother earth, she is who gives us life and nourishes our bodies.

Respect the Great Spirit, that is the whole of where our energy comes from.

Respect our fellow man and woman. The energy that allowed Mother Nature to give us life and gives us nourishment are our father and mother, so we are all brothers and sisters. We are all really one huge family.

Respect for individual freedom. We don't have to agree with all of our brothers and sisters, but we do have the responsibility to respect their beliefs and ideas. That given we have the responsibility too of protecting each other when someone doesn't show respect for others. When one of us does harm to another because of our lack of respect they no longer deserve that respect be given to them. Our respect now, as a community, should be shown by removing that which doesn't respect and refuses to learn to respect.

What really surprised me was that I thought of many things throughout my life. I adopted them as they came to me and seemed to make sense. They helped make my life better and happier.

What has amazed me was finding them in the teachings of ancient philosophers and old cultures. Then when I'd find out about them and read what they had to say I would be really amazed that I could come up with their teachings no my own .

I thought that many of my ponderings were only original to me. I was wrong. People who walked the earth long before had tried to leave their discoveries for us so we too could live better lives. But somewhere in the foolish wisdom of our educational systems we as the human race decided they were not worth teaching.

We in our infinite intelligence decided only we could know better. Just like a teen refusing to hear what old people try to say, we close our ears and minds to wisdom that has been passed down.

What I can't help but wonder is, if we would search out good wisdom and teach that or even use that for teaching in schools, could we possibly help others to not be so lost in their thoughts and thereby make the world a better place.

As a young boy one of my favorite cartoons was Aesop's Fables. If someone could take that and make it into a cartoon to attract young minds, I'm sure some worthy writer could do that with almost any great philosopher.

When something like that replaces Dick, Jane and Spot, or whatever is used today to teach reading, we would be entertaining the youth and educating them, but also be teaching them things that could help as they grow older and life becomes more confusing.

All cultures have great wisdom. All that I've found and read are in the least, very similar. Our ancestors didn't have the luxury of the communication we have today, yet they all came to similar conclusions. To me that is even more proof that we are all the same and come from one family.

I do believe it is time we put aside our petty differences and compare our similarities. It's time we communicate and teach each other what we know so we can learn to accept the petty differences. It's the fear of the unknown that causes us to doubt and think bad about each other. It's calm discussion and learning that will bring us together.


Monday, November 21, 2011

Thanksgiving Prep


The big day is almost here! Today I have to get busy. I'm planning on starting with making my pies today and while that flour mess is there, making the noodles. When the noodles are dry I can store them in jars until the ever wonderful day of giving thanks for the years bounty.

It may be an American holiday, but anyone could celebrate and give thanks for all they have received and enjoyed for the year.
There is so much argument over how and where the tradition of celebrating the harvest came form. It really seems that almost every country had their feasts of celebration. There is also the argument that even the great American Indian celebrated their bounty.

Here is a site that shows some of the history that I found I liked.
It seems to be very inclusive yet not drawn out and boring. There are three pages, but they are very short.

No mater where it started, it does to me seem the perfect way of thanking mother earth for what she gives us. We throw a party for her and we get to enjoy the families and friends she nourishes as we thank her. After all where would any of us be without her...

Today I'll leave you with one of the pie recipes I enjoy the most at Thanksgiving or nearly any other time of the year.
Hope you'll try it and enjoy!

Sweet Potato Pie

1 bottom pie shell (I prefer homemade pie crust)
1 1/2 C Sweet Potatoes Cooked and Mashed
1 C Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Salt
2 Tbl Butter
2 Eggs
1 C Milk

Beat eggs slightly, add sugar, spices and milk.
Add butter to sweet potatoes and blend with milk and egg mixture.
Pour into pie shell. – Bake at 450 deg. for 18 min.
Reduce oven to 350 deg. and bake until knife comes out clean when put into center of pie.

By the way 1 – 17 oz. Can of Vacuum packed Sweet Potatoes works just fine if you don't want to bake the potato's yourself.

Served warm with whipped cream over the top is always a joy to my taste buds. But I always have a slice of pumpkin pie along side.

You can just never get to much pie!!!

Friday, November 18, 2011

Electronics, Work, Earnings


Do you remember when a phone was big enough to commit murder with? When they were part of the themes in murder plots in movies and on TV? When they would serve very well as paper weights? When if you dropped one it would send you to the hospital for a broken toe, but would still work to call for the ambulance? When it couldn't be lost between the cushions of a chair or sofa?

When if a phone which sat on a table or hung on a wall had a ringing sound loud enough to be heard from your back yard? When it would actually wake you from a sound sleep if it rang? When you put a pillow over it so it wouldn't wake the baby you had just spent hours walking with and singing to trying to get to sleep? When on Saturday morning everyone in the house would run to answer it so dad could sleep in and not be in his usual grumpy mood?

When they had a dial that you actually could put the tip of your finger into to turn the desired number instead of the tiny little buttons that a finger can't help but push two or three of at a time?

When you had a phone book to look for the number you wanted to call? A book with tattered pages and turned down corners of best friends and frequently called numbers. A book that served equally well as a booster seat. A book that strong men would show off with by tearing them in half.

When you went out to play or on an adventure and your friends actually went with you instead of just keeping you on speed dial to pester you every ten minutes for an update on what you were doing?

When you could be watching a bird or a deer and you wouldn't have something in your pocket making noise to frighten them away? When they would ring and didn't play idiotic songs that would embarrass you in public?

When you could enjoy a meal at a restaurant without someone at the next table yelling into a tiny phone loud enough to be heard in the kitchen and then getting mad because you are listening, when there really is no way you can't?

Are you a member of the thousands of generations who have somehow managed to survive and do quit well without needing to be constantly connected to the world by a tiny little, nearly unusable device in your pocket, your purse or tethered to your body?

Do you realize that as we squawk about having no work here in the United States that all those phones and gizmos may be designed here, but are made in China who is now taking all the money from us because of our desire to have them?

Do you realize that because of flooding in a foreign country there is now a shortage of hard drives and other electronic devices? That the prices are soaring because of the shortages? That those too come from other countries while our people have no work?

I just can't understand how we can carry a grudge against some we love for years. How we can refuse to so much as to help them and yet we can't refuse to buy products until the companies return home so we can have some work.

We need fun. We need families. We need friends. We do not need to be constantly connected and broke. We need food. We need to have work to buy that food. We need homes and work to pay for those homes.

Is it any wonder why when we call because those devices don't work that we get nothing but a run around? When to actually get to the source of the product we must run around the world!

Hmm, do we all need to move to those countries to have a job?
Or do we need to get tough and refuse to buy what we can do without until we can buy them from people here who make them...

There really is no reason that each country can't have a smaller manufacturing facility to make the same or very similar product. Even if the same company owns them all. Then in the least we would be earning money to have it to spend...

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Feed Me I'm Starving


If people go without food, and water for a while they wither and die. If you don't feed your pets they will die. If you don't show your pets love and attention they will leave and find someone who will.

As a child on the playground if you don't play with your friend, your friend will move on to play with someone else.

Your relationship and marriage are no different. Back when you were just dating, you spent as much time together as you could, you talked about anything and everything. If you wouldn't have the relationship would have ended right there.

Because you are together now is no reason to stop. It's really more reason to keep sharing your time and talking about every detail. Doing so strengthens what you have and gives much higher odds to your staying together.

If your partner gets bored or should you not communicate, the relationship will wither and die. That partner will find a new playmate and move on.
Not because they were weak, but because you didn't feed and nourish that relationship and it became weak.

Your in a relationship and know what your partner likes. You do don't you? Well why not make a decision right now. Decide that this is the weekend you will devote yourself to your partner and what they like to do. That lets them see you know and still care.

Spend time together. Discuss all the boring little details of life, of your work and daily routine. Knowing those boring details helps the other to understand you a little better. When you just sit there moping and saying nothing, the mind of your partner begins to wonder.

It usually begins to wonder if you no longer want them to be part of your life.

When that thinking goes on to long the next logical thinking begins to make them insecure in the relationship and they begin looking for comfort in someone who will make them feel a part of them.

Make a plan for a weekend date and keep it. You may be keeping that one who is most important to you.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

One Year


Hard to believe, but it's been a year today since I launched this blog. Yup, one entire year and I've still not learned to shut up. Guess my grandpap was right!

There have been days where I wasn't sure what to talk about. There have been days I wasn't in a talkative mood and had not one measly clue what to talk about. There were days when I was ill and had a hard time keeping one thought going in my mind long enough to get it written.

There have been days that I've read over what I'd written and it bored me near to death. There have been days I've made myself laugh. There were blogs that were written and brought back memories that had a tear in my eye. There were blogs that gave good memories that made me smile and a few that warmed my heart.

On Thursdays I try and write something I think will help with relationships between men and women. That is getting hard to keep doing...
How much can only one person say about that? Heck even my ideas along with experiences are limited.

Once in a while I look at the small number of followers and will see only a few readers in the stats along with only a few comments and start to feel disgusted. I begin to wonder why or if I should keep writing...

But then someone comes along and leaves a comment. And I do read all comments. Sometimes I respond, but more often will only click on that like button. Many times I don't want anything I have to say to lessen the point that is made in a comment.

Another thing that seems to happen when I'm feeling down about keeping the blog going is that a new follower will join the blog. Then I feel like my family is growing with more people who care about the world and wanting it to be a better place of understanding and peace.

That proves to me the idea that,

You will find beauty or you will find ugliness. What you find the more of depends on what you decide to allow your mind to look for.

Sometimes we do feel down and are blinded by a feeling of hopelessness. At those times we do see the ugly. Yet when we tend to look more for beauty and goodness, they come shining through. Many times they even surprise us!

Like I said way back somewhere in the beginning of this blog, If I can only touch one person somewhere in this world in a good way. I've succeeded.
Whether I'll ever really know if I've done any good or not... Well that is the decision of the universe.

Will I keep blogging? Will I keep trying to blog every week day? Hmm, just don't know... But then again, who knows what the future will hold? I want to. Yet there have been times that I've had to set other things aside to write something for the blog. There have been a few late nights spent trying to come up with something to say for the next day.

I once considered taking that followers list off of the blog so it wouldn't bother me to see only a few. But I couldn't do that.
I don't know if you know or not, but if you click on one of the followers and they are bloggers, you can click on their link and go see their blog. You can find out their interests and get to know the world a little better.

You can also see what other blogs followers read. I've found a few wonderful blogs that way and it helps to get to know my followers a little better. And I do have some wonderful and interesting followers. I may not know them face to face but they feel like family!

So here I will make at least a really good attempt to stay and keep boring you with my words. I'll keep up my hope of helping at least one soul out there somewhere.

And I'll keep on smiling as I do and hope that you smile too!

Thank you to my fantastically wonderful followers and to all the wonderful readers!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Vegetarian Or Meat Eater


Do I think meat is murder and do I feel guilty about eating meat?
I prefer to believe that as we consume an animal we have killed in a quick, most humane way possible, we absorb it's life energy, or soul.
That animal then lives through us. We honor that animal and it's has a new life through our being.
It's the circle of life. We eventually die and go back to the earth, in turn feeding the plants which then feed more animals.

Animal cruelty and eating meat being hypocrisy?
Life is full of hypocrisy. Humans live and pass on their genes by having young. We need food to do that.
Even when killing a plant and eating it. You pluck the plant from the ground and destroy its chance to bloom and scatter its seed which keeps its life going on through its young.

Learning that the life you eat now dwells within you and then honoring that life through your good life is more important.

Is there a way for you to prove to me that a plant has no feeling?
We like to say they have no minds so they are incapable of feeling. But plants are made up of cells. Those cells have energy.
Now man has proven that energy can't be destroyed. By trying we only created more energy. What keeps us alive is energy. When we pass on our bodies die, but where does the energy go? Remember you can not destroy energy. That energy is our soul. Our energy goes back to the universe to mingle with all the energy that is.
So being that a plant too has energy it could be quite possible that plants have feeling too.

What I believe is more important is learning that the life you eat now dwells within you. Then honoring that life through you having a good life and nourishing others and nourishing the earth is more important.

No mater where the energy that keeps our bodies alive and healthy comes from, it is our place to give back to the earth which in turn gives back to the beauty and wonder of the universe.

We have a duty to learn and share with others our good learning. We have the responsibility to nourish the earth with what we learn. That in turn is how we live on even after our life is long forgotten.

As many of the ancients attempted to teach and the American Indians believed and taught,
Respect Mother Earth.
Respect the Great Spirit
Respect our fellow man and woman
Respect for individual freedom

Should you choose to be a vegetarian, that's alright. I choose to eat whatever I want and you can too. What we choose to eat should never stand in the way of our sharing what we learn during this life. Same as what religion we have or don't have shouldn't either.

We're still brothers and sisters here in this world. Many years may have passed since our beginning and we have grown apart because of lack of communication.

Whether we started with two as the Bible says or two were formed by some cosmic accident as science says and two eventually crawled out of the water, we are still brothers and sisters and came from the same beginning.

Rather than argue and fight about who's belief is right, we would be better off just enjoying each others company and playing while we learn during our wonderful journey.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Tasty Food, Make Extra


I don't complain about leftovers after thanksgiving like many people do. I actually enjoy all the leftovers.

That stripped bunch of bones from the turkey can be put in a pot full of water than brought to a boil and cooked down for stock. All the little bits of meet you couldn't get off just fall off in the boiling water. That stock then make delicious soup.

Left over turkey can be used for another big meal. Some can be sliced up for sandwiches. My favorite is taking some for hot turkey sandwiches smothered in gravy. Another favorite is making some waffles and having turkey gravy with extra turkey chunks added over the top.

Some of that turkey can be cut up into meals size proportions and be frozen for a quick meal when needed. So can many of the side dishes. They kinda make nice homemade TV dinners.

I have a few dishes made from plastic, they have compartments or sections molded in and have lids. They were designed to put foods in for a meal and then be covered and frozen. I really don't remember where I picked mine up at but I' kinda sure you could find them in stores.

Another way I freeze ready to heat and eat meals is to put the different foods in separate baggies. Then put the meals in a bigger freezer bag. When I'm ready to have them I can just take them from the freezer, put the contents of the bags on plates and warm them up in the microwave.

That saves so much time during a busy week or is just nice on a lazy day when I don't feel like cooking.

When my kids were still with me I'd make things like mashed potatoes in a huge pot. We'd eat what we wanted for dinner and I'd freeze the rest in family sized portions. The same can be done with big roasts or about anything else you can make. Then on busy or lazy days I could just toss the entire bag into the microwave.

Now that I'm usually cooking for just one, I still take the time when I feel like cooking to make big batches of things. Then I separate them into portions and do the same.

Those special dishes I mentioned are nice, but smaller zip top baggies work just as well. When you take a few smaller baggies of different foods and put them into larger gallon freezer bags, your lazy or busy day meal is just simple. They keep for me a month or more in the freezer.

Without a microwave oven though you would need to heat the foods in pots and add a little water so they don't burn. But I'm lazy when it comes to cleaning up dishes. So baggies and microwaves are my preference. That way I never have that many dishes to wash except on the days I cook.

It's better tasting food and much cheaper than those store bought TV dinners.

Also on weekends when we had more time, I used to get the kids involved. They would help prepare where I would allow and they helped with sorting the extra food into the bags.

Come to think of it, I would make cookies and put them into individual serving size bags too. They were nice to pull from the freezer when we wanted a snack. They didn't take long to thaw, but we sometimes would throw them in the microwave to thaw quicker. They were also a nice treat when still frozen on a hot summer day.

So hey, if this guy can do it, so can you. Eating out is nice and it's fun. But eating out every day is expensive and the luster of enjoyment wear off real fast. There really is no better tasting food than what comes from your own kitchen.


Friday, November 11, 2011

Honor


Today is Veterans Day. The day we set aside to honor all the fantastic people who give so much to protect us.
We really should remember to thank them every day, not just on Veterans Day.

Please join me in saying thank you to all of our veterans.






Give a veteran a hug, give them a kiss, give them a hand shake, give them a smile. Say a loud and proud thank you to every veteran you can.
You really will never know just what they have given for you. You will never truly realize the sacrifices of home and family they have made for you.
Thank them because you will never know that. They really do deserve more than our thanks, but I'll bet you'll never hear one say so.




And please do remember those who have given that we can never thank.


Say a prayer of thanks for them.


Thursday, November 10, 2011

Strong Women


I wonder sometimes why so many men are afraid of strong, intelligent, independent women.

Take a journey back to your childhood. There on the playground or right in your own neighborhood. You played with girls and never really realized a difference. A playmate was a playmate.
If it was a playmate that enjoyed many of the things you did, then it was a fantastic playmate and you had even more fun.

Then along came the day you first learned about sex and ruined it.

Now having a friend who likes doing things you do is still fun. Having someone to join in what you like is fun. Having someone who can challenge you makes you try harder to become better at what it is you like to do.

Why can't that be a woman?
Wouldn't that be the best? To have someone who likes what you do, challenges you and shares in what you do and is also more. Someone who really knows the hidden thoughts and feelings. Someone you can also share love with.
Someone secure enough in their self that you can joke with and have the same banter that you and your male friends do.

Even if it's only someone who is close enough and likes doing the things you don't, but yet shares more common interests.

I see many who look for complete opposites. Then they go on to aggravate each other. Just makes more sense to me to find someone not based on looks, but based more on common interests.

Someone to play with and enjoy the things we do together and someone who can challenge me to be better at what I like to do. Someone to share the load of day to day life.

Having a life partner who is a complete opposite seems it would only get boring. Not having things in common to talk about. Not having someone to play with. Seems it would lead to misunderstandings and arguments.

Could it be then that men who are afraid of strong, intelligent, independent women are really only afraid because they are frightened someone will find out they are not what they make theirselves out to be. Maybe they have a line of BS they have been living by and bragging falsely.

Could they hide from these women simply because these women can see through their line of carefully cultivated BS...

Whatever it is it sure makes for some great pondering...

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

No Time For Tears


Have a great career. Fun work, nice people to work with and decent pay. Gee I'm happy.
Can't seem to find that perfect partner, gee I'm sad.

Have lots of good friends and life is grand. Gee I'm happy.
But I had a rough childhood, gee I'm sad.

Happy with life and have all I need. Gee I'm happy.
But I'm fat, gee I'm sad.

Have a good job and am satisfied with the pay. Gee I'm happy.
But I always get overlooked, Gee I'm sad.

Have a good job, plenty of food on the table, bills are paid and have a nice home. Gee I'm happy.
But my kids are sad, gee I'm sad.

I really think that thinking we should be happy is making us sad.

Life just is and things in life just happen. There are happy moments and there are sad moments.
It really seems to me it's the time spent between happy and sad that matter the most.

Spending to much time wanting to be happy can cause us to be sad. Spending to much time dwelling on the sad can cause us to miss the happy moments.
Not thinking about happy allows me to be happy with the moment I'm in. Yes, there are moments that sadness will creep in, yet they never last.

Some things that make me sad give me reason to change. When I do make the changes I become happy. So I guess it could be said that sad makes me happy.
Some things just can not be changed... Well when I realize they can't be changed I learn to accept that and again I become happy.

From my little place here on this planet I observe so much sadness. The people I see sadness from though are people who worry about sadness. They don't see happiness because of the multitude of time they spend thinking of their sadness.

I really think that the more time you look for contentment is what is really important. When sadness comes you deal with it. If you can change it you do. If you can't change it you find a way to accept it and go on.

I can't change the pain I live with every day. Surgery is risky and may leave me with more pain or even in a wheelchair. Yes, by some miracle, surgery could relieve me of the pain. Yet knowing it could also make my life worse I've decided to accept the pain and have learned to live with it.

That is acceptance of things I can't change. That allows me to be happy in spite of pain and sadness.

In between the happy moments and sad is where I prefer to dwell. All the time in between is where I live with hope. The time between is where I earn. The time between is where I learn. The time between is where I share and play with others.

Isn't that sharing and playing what truly makes us happy...


Tuesday, November 8, 2011

What?


To the fools that keep sending me the spam about selling me a fake diploma. I have a real diploma from an accredited college. Save your fingers... Maybe YOU can not earn a real diploma, but most of the human race can and a fake will always be a fake and will be found out...

Speaking of fakes, how about all the potential political candidates we have? Now there are a bunch of nasty fakes. Obama didn't do much of a job, but it doesn't sound to me like any of the up and comers will either. Some sound like they could be hilarious to watch, but really could we afford it...

We need someone to step up and be real. Someone who makes a promise and then keeps it. Someone who will make a good promise and not a promise that will only lead to higher taxes and a bigger more controlling government.

But I have a feeling it will once again be wish in one hand and sh-- in the other...

Big ego's and bloated pays. Bloated costs passed on to the tax payers. Borrowing beyond the possibility to pay back.
US government? No, Greek government. They are now in default, but there is talk of the European union bailing them out by canceling a huge part of their debt.

So now they will be owned by the world banks? Now Greece will be owing itself to the world? Now at the whims of outsiders Greece will have to bow like a puppet? Who really knows how exactly this will end up for Greece?

The taxpayers of the world though will be the ones to pay. It's our combined money that was lent to make the government officials comfortable in their greed. Oh the banks will cry and say they lost, but who really is losing?

And still I hear Bill Clinton yesterday on the television saying we in the US need a bigger government. Does that guy not see the results of a big runaway government in Greece? Does he have a desire to see the US in default and ultimately belonging to the world?

Many years ago there was a desire and plan for a one world government. Well when all the world is owned by the banks and the greedy rich, they will have their one world government. It was the rich who came up with the idea of a one world government.

So sure go ahead and elect the people who agree we need a bigger government. Wonder how long until they take all our earnings and give us what they feel we need...

The usual politicians are in debt to the corporations and big banking system who fund their campaigns. They bow to them now by passing laws that do no good for anyone but the corporate world.

We must speak out through our votes. Even if it means voting for the best of the worst. We must eventually vote for the people who haven't got the money for an elaborate campaign but disagree with the normal politician. The ones the corporate world won't back.

If not then where will we be allowing our governments to drag us? It's world wide folks. Our various governments who are all dragging us into a future where the corporations will rule simply because they have the cash to persuade the politicians to bend to their will.

Seeing this Occupy movement gives me some hope. It shows that people can unify. But what exactly is their purpose? What exactly do they want and what exactly do they feel needs accomplished? Give me something, a reason, anything I can wrap my head around that will do more than just have me standing around in a big crowd. Something that says something useful and for the good of the entire world and I might be able to get behind or beside you.

Without and actual agenda there are nasty people who are beginning to make you look really bad. People who are only out for violence and destruction. Or is that your only point?

Someone please toss this old dog a bone...


Monday, November 7, 2011

Tasty Food


The student has impressed the teacher.
This weekend my son grilled steaks that were comparable to the best that has ever passed my lips and toyed with my taste buds.
It always makes me so proud when I see my children taking what I taught them and excelling with the outcomes.

I have absolutely no idea what he used as a dry rub. I taught my kids to be daring. After making things for the first few times by following the directions, open the cabinet and allow your mind and memory to wonder. Play with the different spices and herbs. Well he did.

He built a very hot fire in the grill and then proceeded to grill the perfect steak. The outside was dark brown and just a little crunchy around the edges and the inside was melt in your mouth tender and moist. The flavors were to die for.

Kinda wish he'd have made some extras. That would have been great for making an omelet this morning or a sandwich for lunch today.

We have a grill basket for vegetables and he cut up some potatoes, peppers and onions and grilled them to go with that great steak. Again I'm not sure what he put on them but they too were fantastic. I really felt like royalty as I sat and relished all the flavors.

My mind at this time though is on a turkey. Happens every year at about this time. I begin to think of Thanksgiving and that beautifully browned turkey. Crunchy brown outside and moist and tender inside.

Hmm, wonder if I should go and get a smaller turkey to practice on before the big day... I have been known to make a thanksgiving dinner during other times of the year.

It would also be nice if I could convince my son to make noodles. I've been hungry for them for some time, but to lazy to make them.
Actually not so much lazy, it's more my messed up back. Only thing even remotely hard is rolling out the dough. That's where my back refuses to cooperate. That slight bend at the waist when rolling can leave me with enough pain to last a few days.

Homemade egg noodles are not hard at all.
Take two eggs and crack them in a bowl. Slightly beat them. Then take about two cups of flour and make a well in the center. Add a hefty pinch of salt to the flour. Then pour the eggs in the well and begin to mix. By mixing from the center of the flour you can control how much flour gets mixed in. When the dough becomes thick enough to roll you can stop adding flour. If it's still to moist, you can add a little more flour. Should you accidentally get them too dry you just add a few drops of water. There is no rocket science here...

Once the dough is thick enough to roll, you roll it out like pie dough.
I like mine rolled thin enough to read newspaper through. You can roll them to any thickness you like.

Then you let the rolled dough sit just for a short while to dry just a bit. Take your cutting board and a bowl and a knife and find a comfortable seat. Cut about two inch wide strips, then cut noodles from them and put them in a bowl. Once you have some in the bowl, take them to the table where you lay out some paper. Spread the noodles over the paper to dry.
Go back and cut more and keep spreading them until done.

They can be used right away or left to dry. Once completely dry I have put them in a canning jar with a tight fitting lid and kept them for up to a month. They may last longer, but I never have time to find out. I like my noodles in me and not in a jar pestering me... But you can make them long before that busy time you are trying to prepare that big meal.

When my kids were young we even tried making lasagna with grandmas noodle recipe. First time we tried it with just the big sheets without cutting them. Worked OK, but were to hard to handle. Tried next with cutting the sheets just in two inch strips. Then we had success and the flavor was fantastic.

Well, hope you make some of those noodles for yourself. They really are not so hard to make and they really do taste wonderful. I like to boil mine in the broth from the turkey or in chicken or beef broth. Boil them until they are the doneness you like. Same as any other pasta. They're also great in soup.

For soup though I like them thicker. Just don't roll them thin and they will not be thin. It's your creation and you can make it anyway you want. I've even added some powdered herbs with the flour before mixing in the eggs for different flavors.

Have fun!


Friday, November 4, 2011

Squawking


Lindsay Lohan, once again she laughs at the justice system of California. She knows she will not spend more than a few hours in prison so what does she care.

BS make room for her and people like her. Even if it's in an open ward. And to heck with her excuses that she needs to do things for her career. No, she needs to understand if you do something wrong, you pay the price.

But nooooooo. In California you can scoff at the laws...
If you have the money and fame!


Kim Kardashian – 72 days and divorcing. I've had disagreements that lasted longer than 72 days. AND WORKED THEM OUT!


Herman Cain. Oh wow, is he the republican answer to Bill (I DID NOT HAVE SEX WITH THAT WOMAN) Clinton. The democrats wonder boy who feels oral is not sex. Now the republicans with Cain...


Occupy? Occupy what? Seems you fill in your own blank. I grew up during the 60's. Now any protest needs a clear, concise agenda. Just what is this Occupy whatever or wherever all about? Seems there are no specific demands or reasons.

I've searched the internet and can't even find any place here that answers the questions of what and why. Or what possible solution you might have.

Now I'm all for a good protest. But forgive me, I'm old. If I'm going to join anything I want real reasons, and understandable agenda.

Just protesting or hanging out in front of a business or anything else, while waiting for them to figure out what your there for is never going to do a lick of good.

Seems to me like it's just a big party...
Someone has to take the reins and give purpose to what your doing.
If not what purpose will all this occupying serve?

Want to really get Wall Street and the Corporations attention? QUIT buying things your don't really need. Make do until you can't make do any longer, not just when the new shine wears off.

We've become a very throw away society and it's costing us and giving all our money to them.

Want to get the attention of the big banks? Pull your money out and move it to hometown local banks.

Oh well, end of my gripe session for this week and maybe something for you to gripe about too. Who knows, maybe even someone will get woke up...

Last weekend we had a nice snow storm here. This weekend is supposed to be in the 60's. Think I'll be outside relishing in the last of the years warmth and sunshine. Winter will be here sooner than I want...

Have a great weekend full of smiles!!!