Weather Attitude

We all know it and yet we find ourselves helpless to combat how the weather can affect our wellbeing and mental attitude. It has been grey, damp, cold and just plain “September” and so Mom and I have been hibernating in our PJs, lolling on the sofa and watching the old “Poirot” episodes. It’s hard to get motivated when one is still in their pajamas. Its one thing to have a “comfy, cozy” sort of day but it’s another thing to be constantly in the pajamas and doing nothing but vegging out!

Normally we both make the effort to get dressed every morning, even when we have had a crappy night but just lately we have been wallowing and today I said “enough is enough”. Back to the grind, the computer, the blog, to anything but this pitifulness!

Poor Cherie has been wailing and moaning because he, for one, has definitely felt that we were being no fun at all and he wants to go out to play. Well, off you go!

And here’s a little side note; Erik and Mom were really impressed when we were sitting on the deck the other day and I said “here comes John”. I can tell when he is turning the corner and when it is someone else. Most of the other vehicles take the corner at high speed but John takes it slow and easy and so there is a certain hum to his motor that sounds different from the other trucks swinging by. It’s a gift, what can I say?

Pacing Myself

Actually I am not sure that “pacing myself” is an accurate description of how I pace my days. The truth is that I waste a lot of time playing solitaire on my iPad and watch way too much television even if it is “educational”. I have found that keeping myself organized and writing down what I have been doing on a given day makes me much more accountable to myself. At least I feel that I have accomplished some things during the day which makes me feel better about myself.

I realize that I am in a difficult situation with my illness but I don’t want it to be an excuse for being downright lazy since there are plenty of things that I am still capable of even if I do have to, quite literally, pace myself. As long as I can sit on a stool or chair I am able to do a lot of re-potting of my seedlings. I do have to stand and walk to do the watering but if I take it slow and steady I am able to do that without any problem at all.

I am extremely comfortable in my executive chair as I sit at my computer and write my blogs, go through my emails and even check my genealogy charts. Since sitting is very good for my condition (rather than lying down) it is a good place for me to be, here in the office. I just wish I had more exciting things to write about than my “journaling” but I know many of my followers aren’t so keen when I write my political rants and of course politics is so very interesting (and frustrating) these days.

Now I am having all these struggles with time management, trying not to let myself lose the quality of that time and I know that while my illness may serve as an excuse I do wonder if I would be better at this if I was healthy. I hope so since I certainly feel that I was very good at squeezing a lot of things into my day before my diagnosis. So here’s a question for my readers, do you analyze your time? Is it well spent with socializing, engaging your brain and exercising both your body and mind? I really hope so. While you should always cut yourself some slack when you aren’t feeling great it is important to be able to differentiate between feeling low and being lazy. I think one of the best ways of figuring it out is whether or not you are capable of giving yourself a push to take a walk around the block.

Now wouldn’t it be great if this infernal weather would take a permanent turn towards decent summertime weather???????????????

Cars are not Toys

I feel like I have to air a pet peeve. I cannot stand all these car commercials where they make out like the car is a toy to be driven in idiotic ways. One last year had the “owners” watching their cars twirling around in the mud and they were looking as though they were in a corral and making exchange about how cute they looked. Well, cars are not horses or puppies, they are a lethal machine that, if not respected, can kill people. Currently they are running two ads that I loathe; the one is about the woman who can drive her vehicle through thick and thin to get a stupid cup of coffee and the other one is about a blind man who is going to lead the car to some secret path. Yeah, like that is real and responsible.

I have a lot of respect for a vehicle, so much so that I have chosen NOT to drive anymore because I am so concerned about possibly killing a pedestrian because my cognitive ability and my reflexes may not be up to par. This was my decision and not something that the police or medical professional asked me to do – and done solely as a concern to my fellow human beings. God forbid that I should somehow injure someone. I cannot tell you how grateful I am that my brother has supported my decision and is willing to be my chauffeur.

I am not saying this to make myself out as some sort of hero but only to make people aware that cars are to be respected, not played with. It’s a terrible comment on our society that I even have to bring up this topic to ADULTS.

Sitting in the place I am in now, knowing that my days may be numbered, I find it very hard to understand how others want to live life in a state of extreme “excitement”. And no, I am not going to feel sorry for you if you end up dead or paralyzed because I have behaved like a moron.

And that’s all I’ve got to say about that . . . .

The Best Quiche Ever was eaten by a girl

Do you remember the mid 80’s when quiche and crepes were the big lunch favorites in downtown Anywhere?  They even had a book named “Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche” on the bestsellers list “back in the day”.  For some of us quiche is a genuine comfort food on a miserable day and I’m not ashamed to admit that nor that I make the best quiche EVER.

It happened like this; back in 1980 Dad, John and I deviated from our original financial plan.  What else is new, right?  Instead of staying in real estate we decided to start up a bottled water company.  Now that is a whole other story but here’s where the quiche comes in.  Dad felt he had to wine and dine with a lot of different business people but Nanton had a rather limited range of restaurants (although I have to say here that there were more restaurants and gas stations in 2,000 pop. Nanton than 5,000 pop. High River – why I don’t know).  Therefore Dad discovered restaurants in other local towns one of which became a real favorite with him.  The Flying N in Claresholm was owned and operated by Jean Hoare and her husband.  I loved her Chicken in the Gold feature and that is what I usually ordered when I happened to be one of the party.

Jean Hoare eventually wrote a cookbook and of course we had to have a copy.  I discovered her Classic Quiche Recipe and have been using it, or my version of it, for years.  One of the most important tricks to making a good quiche is to have a good pie recipe.  Basic pie recipe is best and for that I do the following; 1 cup of lard or Crisco, 2 cups of flour (plus more for dusting), ½ - 1 cup of COLD water, 1 tsp salt.  Cut the lard with knife & fork or use a pie cutter.  Slowly add in the flour (salt has been sifted in).  Once cut in then slowly add cold water to get it from crumb stage to a ball.  Usually you don’t need more than the ½ cup of cold water.  I cut the ball in ½ and roll out one portion for a pie.  Now here is an important TIP – do not over-roll your crust.  I turn my crust as I roll rather than rolling back & forth (which makes the dough tougher).  Handle it as little as possible.  Put in pie plate.  Repeat for second piece.  Leftovers go to make stripped topping.

For the filling of a quiche (Jean’s recipe with my substitutes in brackets):

·         4 slices bacon, 1 tbsp bacon drips (or you can substitute bacon bits, even the artificial kind)

·         1 cup sliced onions (or you can use a tablespoon of dried shallots)

·         1 ½ cups cheese (old cheddar is best)

·         4 eggs, beaten

·         1 cup milk

·         1 cup cream (note – if you have a smallish pie crust then reduce this to ½ cup of each)

·         ½ tsp salt

·         ¼ tsp pepper

·         ¼ tsp nutmeg (optional – I never use it – instead I use 1 tsp of dried roasted tomatoes)

Bake the piecrust for about 5-8 minutes just to be slightly flaky (at 425 C).  Add grated cheese and then add liquid mixtures (beat eggs, add milk, cream and spices as well as bacon and onions).  If you need to slightly stir the mixture to spread the onions or bacon, be gentle). 

Bake for 10 minutes at 450 C (If you have a convection oven you should reduce to 425C), then reduce heat to 350C for another 20 minutes.  Cool slightly before serving with a nice green salad.

Oh so good.

Fodder for Stories

Last week I went a little crazy, as I think you may remember, so I have been a little cautious about getting myself into anything new.  Each morning Mom pops her head into my office and asks me “have you bought another house” and John comes by for coffee and asks “is everything normal today”?  It’s so easy to have one’s reputation as being down to earth ruined.

I am relishing the mundane, the pedestrian, the vanilla kind of life.  I laugh when I recall John’s simpler life.  It can be uncomfortable thinking about one’s ridiculous exploits except through the lens of 20 years or so; when it happens as a weekly memory it’s not so fun to laugh over.  Unless you have that absurd sense of humour where you can laugh at yourself unconditionally.  But right now, I am going for a very quiet life.

Some people wake up every morning without even thinking about having a quiet life although it is their silent hope. And almost every day they encounter something weird or unfortunate which ruins their day.  I happen to know someone like that.  The oddest things seem to happen either to him or around him and we wonder what sort of magnet draws this to him.  Sure people who rent homes may also experience a grow op in their basement but how many people have the tables turned on them when the police are looking at you for “unlawfully” entering your own property rather than busting the grow op people?  How many people go fishing and catch a seagull on their line rather than a fish?  When they take a fall they don’t just twist their ankle, they also get weird infections. 

Old novels call these people hapless, current books call them marginalized people.  Yet these anecdotes are fodder for stories, wonderful and entertaining once they have been lived through to tell the tale.  Unfortunate incidents help to build character they tell us but it would be nice if they could be spread farther apart for some of us poor folk!

Easy Come Not So Easy Go

Meanwhile, the clock was ticking away on the site and I thought by one o’clock I would know if I had the first house.  Geez louise, it went to zero and wham, another 24 hours started ticking.  Good lord, I was not on the hook quite yet. 

“Alright, let’s go to High River and look at these houses.”  And off we went, John, Mom and I to see the infamous houses in High River.  John fiddled with his GPS since Google Maps did not recognized the addresses.  We would soon discover why as we drove around stomping ground that were fairly familiar to us but these 2 areas where the homes were being sold were both located in bush areas.  Hard to believe that there is bush areas in High River?  There’s a reason why these homes were being sold but that’s another story.   

Looking at the first house I was even more panicked than I had been as this was not a house, it was a freaking mansion.  Apparently these were million dollar homes but on the site they looked suspiciously small and non-threatening.  These monsters would definitely require lifting up of electric poles along the highways to our land.  Ka-ching, Ka-ching.

When we finally found the second location I started to breathe a little easier as there were tons of vehicles along the street and people bustling about.  We had noticed a considerable amount of vehicles driving along the desolate road at the first location with plenty of u-turns being performed so we knew there was action in town that could only be others looking for these auction homes.  My spirits picked up when I saw the Holmes Building Movers trucks.  Yes, definitely lots of people waiting to pounce.  My money was not lost yet.

The second house was even more imposing than the first one.  John’s evaluation was no more cheerful than at the first house.  The house was very high, there were turrets, a three door garage attached to the house, balconies.  It would be a nightmare to move.

“Well, at least you can’t say that I didn’t give you a lot of action today.”  I assumed a cheerful mien.

“Are you sure you weren’t drinking?”  John sniffed my breath “Perhaps we could say you were out of your senses so that you can withdraw your bid.”

“There’s no mechanism for withdrawing.  I already looked.”

John gave me a sour look and sighed some more. He was definitely not happy.  I don’t know if it was all the complications or the thought that Felix might be his neighbour.

However, I am nothing if not a woman of action.  I got on the phone as soon as I got home.  Who did I call?  Holmes of course and it’s a wonder that my hair did not turn white after that conversation.  The cost of the second house would be $75,000 to move and the first house definitely did not have underpinning (the floor was built straight on a cement pad, not great for a move).  However, the gentleman gave me some hope.  He said there were some prospectors who were definitely going to buy the million dollar homes because they had a project to relocate and sell them again “for big bucks”.  I thought “good luck” but didn’t say so.

Meanwhile I was frantically looking at the site.  Boom I had been outbid on the first house.  But still there was one house remaining.  Waiting, waiting, oh thank the lord.

I had a day where my blood pressure must have sky rocketed and I vowed never to do anything so insane again.

John just asked that I not try to ruin his life for at least another year.

 

 

Yesterday Life Was Simpler

Yesterday I woke up later than usual so I had the radio on while I was making my breakfast.  Suddenly I heard that there was an auction for houses and the deadline was “today”.  I took my breakfast into my office and excitedly began searching for the Alberta government online auction site.  That took a few moments and before I had had my first sip of coffee I had not only registered but suddenly had bid on 6 houses.  I took a sip of coffee and some sanity seemed to clear my brain.

Six houses, was I out of my mind?

On two of the houses I had put a proxy bid of $10,000 (good God I really had lost my mind) but luckily by the time the fog had lifted from my brain I saw that I was outbid.  Churls, I thought, this is a scam!  Who is up at this time of the morning outbidding me?  You see most of the 26 homes were bid at around $1,500; only one lunatic (thankfully not me) had bid $100,000 on one of the homes.  Having finished my coffee, woken up mother to the alarming news that I possibly was going to get 4 houses and then having read the fine print I saw that I was on the hook for $80,000 in security deposits it was now time to spread the alarm wider afield.  First I took another look at the site before calling my brother.

“Hi Ole.  The good news is that I am only the owner of 2 houses, not 4.”

“Whaaat?”

I explained what had happened and his solemn response was “are you sure you woke up sane?”

”Can you come and look at the site.  The houses are really nice.  I was thinking of Felix.”

He said he would come and he did show up about an hour later.  Meanwhile I was pacing back and forth from the hen yard to the office, refreshing the site page every 5 minutes.  Yep, I was still the highest bidder on 2 houses.  My brain was firing on all one cylinder (let’s be frank, I was in a panic).  I didn’t know if I should be excited-happy or excited-hysterical.  On the one hand, I would be helping out my brother but on the other hand, complications loomed.  Little did I know how complicated those complications would be come but John was shortly to disabuse my mind of any sense of excited-happy.

He showed up and as usual put the kettle on before getting his ashtray, searching for his lighter and then sitting down and looking at me with a frown.

“What were you thinking?”

“Well, I thought it would be great to get a house for Felix.”

“You know you could be looking at $50,000 just to move it.”

“I thought it would be around $20 to $30,000” I said lamely.

“Bobcat Johnny said he could put in a septic field for around $50,000.”

“$50,000!” I exclaimed “I thought it would be about $5,000.”

“The rules have changed.”  John said bitterly.

“It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission; we’ll do it anyway.”  I was grasping at straws.

John sat back, blew a slow puff of smoke up to the ceiling then looked across at me and sighed. 

“Yesterday life was a lot simpler.”

To be continued . . .

Christmas Baking Makes the World Go Round

I got the baking bug when I was fairly young.  I was baking Boston Cream Pies (from a box of course) by the time I was 11.  When I was 12 I started my first year of Home Ec. and received one of my most treasured recipes – chocolate chip cookies (still my prize winning recipe, although not that secret).  I still prefer to bake over cooking anytime but must admit here that it has been many years since I have gone gung-ho into baking mode.

Now that I am gently easing my way back into the kitchen I read through a not inconsiderable library of cookbooks with ever growing enthusiasm.  Yes, the operative word would be “read” as I find myself sticking to most of my well used original recipes as my go-to desserts.  I have some favored recipes, a Danish pound cake, an old Betty Crocker cream puff recipe, bran muffins, the above said chocolate chip cookies and my signature quiche (technically not dessert but it is pie).  I also make one amazing lemon meringue pie from scratch, using Ann Landers’ other sister’s recipe. 

I don’t know if you have noticed when reading a cookbook but many authors seems a little too happy to use odd ingredients.  What do I mean by odd?  Well, who has anise in the cupboard ready at hand?  Who has cardamom?  I have a little bit more than the basics of baking powder, baking soda, vanilla and chocolate but give me a break on other flavorings.  Yes I have cinnamon, I even have ginger but I don’t get a lot fancier than that “regularly”.  The trouble with getting into exotic spices and flavours is that they are very expensive and also expire before you could possibly use up the bottle.  Furthermore, you aren’t really sure if you are going to like the flavor anyway. 

That’s one thing.  The other thing is that many of the recipes (in particular Martha Stewart and Julia Child) are way too complicated.  I like the Company’s Coming recipes because they are very workable and tasty.  I also have a really good book from Reader’s Digest which my father bought for me many years ago.  That one is my go to for all basic recipes as well as cooking methods.  It’s my bible just as my mother’s wedding present cookbook is hers.  Between us we have things covered pretty well.

Did I mention I have the baking bug?  Mom and I are cooking up Christmas even as I write.  Ahh, don’t you love the smell of baked goods?

I'm Cheesed Off Again

Like most people if there is one thing that really ticks me off it is being duped or otherwise ripped off.  What has me going today?  It’s the question of whether AdSense is yet another scam that rips people off or if it is just so cumbersome that newbies like me cannot work our way through the maze.  Let’s face it these days it is troublesome to make a phone call to our pharmacist, what with having to press so many buttons prompted by a tape recorder.  Forget trying to reach a person on a government line.  Talk about anything computer related you are in la-la land right off the bat.

I’ve tried every which way to figure out how I could suddenly lose all the “money” I had accumulated (don’t worry we aren’t even talking 2 digits here, but still).  There isn’t even a proper Contact Us forum on the site, which I should have noticed when I first signed up.  I have been thinking that I have “monetized” my poor little blog for almost a year now but sadly the few people who may have clicked on an ad have not actually supported me at all, only some unknown Ghost in NetherSphere.  Shame on me in being so duped or naïve.

It doesn’t pay to fight some battles and let’s face it my blogs aren’t terribly exciting to anyone but a few friends and co-workers.  The miracle is that I retain some followers but now you will be happy to notice that I have de-monetized my site.  Or at least, attempted to do so.

What's Wrong With This World

The person who can come up with the one true answer could perhaps win the Noble Peace Prize.  There’s a lot wrong with this world and on the top of the list I would say Greed.  Somewhere along the list I would write “bad television” and here’s why.

This season’s offerings has got to be one of the worst of have yet seen.  Let’s start off with the comedies “Superstore”, “Speechless”, “Kevin Can Wait” and “The Good Place” all of which have one thing in common, they are filled with horrifically stupid people.  This is supposed to be funny?  I love America Ferrara and I just have to wonder how she got herself into a show like Superstore.  Awful.  Minnie Driver is a terrific actress but why is she in a show that is anything but edifying.  Again, Kristen Bell is wonderful but this show is the pits.  Kevin James is a funny guy but this show is not.  I’ve watched several episodes of each show but had to give up as they were just too noxious for words.

On to the dramas, “Notorious” is notoriously filled with horrible people.  ABC has put it between Grey’s Anatomy and How to Get Away with Murder so you can be filled with sleaze all Thursday night, if that’s your taste.  “Secrets & Lies” is back and I am watching this one only because Juliette Lewis is so good at being awful but the other characters are always less lovely than they look.  “This is Us” I hold in reserve as the people aren’t completely awful and it seems to be going in a nice direction.  “Designated Survivor” is slow to get moving but I always love a survivor style setting and this looks like it could have some good storylines but of course being politicians there is going to be sleaze.  So out of 8 new shows I am watching 3 but will likely drop 2 of them if they don’t go first.

 In our house we try to limit our television to after 5 p.m. and to less than 3 hours per night.  Since 90 minutes go to our 2 soaps that doesn’t leave a lot of time for viewing but with the offerings we have seen we feel that we aren’t missing much.  It’s so much nicer to pick up a good book.

Give Me That Old Time Religion

The title is deceiving because anyone that knows me will know that is about as far from my wish as I can get!  So why am I starting off with a title like that? 

As my readers know I have been studying not only the Old Testament but religion in general since last winter and I have discovered some really lovely writers and philosophers living and long gone.  The various ideas and themes have allowed me to take religion and turn it inside out and upside down, exploring various ways of accepting a god or a spiritual life.  One writer I particularly enjoyed reading was Marcus Borg and his book “The Heart of Christianity” which explores the ways that being Christian today can be relevant despite doubts about the existence of a supreme being.  What a concept and yet as he outlined his own spiritual journey it made a lot of sense. 

Understanding the true source of spiritual writings also helps one to come to grips with what is real, what is relevant, what we can throw away and what is valuable.  Even though one may not believe that the Bible is inspired by God it doesn’t mean that many of the teachings are not important and worth our while to consider and perhaps even live by.  What could be wrong with loving one’s neighbor or doing unto others as you’d have them do unto you?  What is wrong with respecting one’s parents or other people’s possessions?  Good stuff, all.

However a lot of “old time religion” is so out of step with what is psychologically good for the soul that it should be thrown out the window.  Dwelling on the gloomy side of life and all the evil in the world doesn’t really do anyone good as a day to day practice.  It’s so much better to look at what is good in the world and making efforts to do “one good deed” every day, as the Girl Guide’s motto invoked.  As I reflect on the state of the world today I wonder where all the good has gone.  I know that there are millions of good people on earth but they and their deeds seem to be constantly swallowed up in the onslaught of what is sensational and even downright wicked.

Let me talk about that tomorrow – but for today – think about what is good in your life and then smile and be happy.

Great Ideas

I’ve had a few lazy weeks and have been taking myself to task over this laziness.  I reflected on what I had read (and learned, one hopes) about jumpstarting my thinking.  Where were my ideas or even my thoughts taking me?  Was I even having any or was I simply numbing my brain by playing too much solitaire?  I realized that I had been distracted by some physical ailments and some personal worries but that it was time to set these excuses aside and continuing as I mean to go on.  In other words “get over yourself, Sanne”.

My way of pushing myself forward is always to start by cleaning the bathroom, sorting out some drawers and acquiring that sense of accomplishment that a clean room can give one.  So there I was, sorting through my hair ornaments and determining that all those mini elastics needed to go in a Ziploc bag.  That led me to thinking what a great invention Ziploc bags were which then led me to thinking “Ziploc bags and post-it-notes are probably two underappreciated inventions of the late 20^th century”.  Ah the profoundness of it all.  The truth is rather sad or annoying depending on how you want to look at it but the fact is that the things that make a woman’s life easier are usually the last on anyone’s list of great ideas.  Sure a car is nice and so are power tools but what really is wonderful is an electric or gas stove, a refrigerator and maybe best of all the washing machine and dryer.  Sliced bread, check.  Eggs in cartons, check.  You get the idea.

So why do I think post-it-notes are so wonderful?  They eliminate the need for an assistant to explain to the numbskull boss for the 100^th time that he needs to sign on the line “here”.  And don’t forget to call your wife at lunch and pick up the kids after work.  Okay, I’m kidding.  Post-it-notes adhere to documents so much better than a note with a paperclip.  I had a boss who actually didn’t trust post-it or paperclips and literally stapled everything he worked with because one time his father had a “situation”.  I thought that was maybe a little excessive but we all have our foibles.

Yes, life is wonderful when great ideas see the light of day.  Here’s hoping that one of mine may first see the lightbulb inside my head now that it is turned back on.

Rape and the Judge

Currently we have a judge here in Alberta going through a form of trial to decide whether or not his remarks to a 19 year victim (“why couldn’t you keep your knees together”) is cause for dismal.  I’d like to weigh in on this discussion with a few questions of my own. 

Is this man from the Dark Ages?  What age is he since he could even dream to ask a question like that of a victim?  What doesn’t he understand about being a victim of rape?  (a whole lot apparently since he has now been “educated” whatever that is supposed to mean).  Does he own a television and is he alone in the world of lawyers in not seeing at least one episode of Law & Order SVU?  Has he never seen a news report on rape victims?  Why did he chose to judge a rape case if he wasn’t “educated” on the crime?  Lastly, who the heck are you kidding?

Let’s go back to that last question and ask it of the various lawyers who have spoken out on his behalf.  Can a law professor really say with a straight face that this judge didn’t know anything about rape crimes and therefore he could be educated and is sincerely sorry?  His lawyer repeats much the same thing.

I’m looking at the pictures of this judge and he looks like he may be in his late 50’s or early 60’s, in fact I think I may have read that he was 68 years old.  The point is that this man is in my generation, give or take a few years, and I cannot for one minute believe that he didn’t know exactly what kind of an asshole remark he was making.  Not only did he know, he meant it and didn’t care one iota that those remarks could potentially damage the 19 year old victim.  When I first heard these remarks of his two years ago my first thought was the same as my last thought “what a f’ing asshole”.  What kind of a judge would dream of saying such a thing even if he thought it.  A stupid, arrogant idiot of a judge who does not deserve to be on the bench, that’s who.

Am I biased?  Naturally, I’m biased against assholes.  I’m biased against anyone who degrades what should and ought to be an institution of respect and justice.  This is the type of judge who probably is a hard liner judge who doesn’t believe or give second chances to those standing in front of his bench so why should he be given a second chance, now that he is “educated”.  What’s good for the goose mister, what’s good for the goose.

Have a nice day.

Pet Peeve #105

Why would Microsoft (I am assuming this is a problem with Microsoft) use a default on the keyboard for Spanish lettering rather than maintaining the status quo of the slash / question mark, apostrophe / quotation?  This has occurred on my keyboard since Windows 7 and with all the recent thunderstorms I have had to shutdown daily for several weeks.  Some days it takes forever for the keyboard to listen to my “whispering” to default back (and yes, I do know how to make it go back but some days it’s as though the keyboard is stuck and cannot be sensitive enough to make the change).

I am pretty sure that the world still requires a question mark more often than they need to convert to a Spanish E.  I am also sure that this particular quirk is not a money grab like so many other Microsoft “innovations”. 

So in my retirement I am actually thinking that I should switch to a Mac simply to avoid the pet peeve but then there is the added bonus of learning a whole new system and isn’t that part of the retirement deal.  Keeping the brain active (not aggravated) is the goal to a happy, long life.

Who knew it could be so easy to convert?  Just a shift in mindset.

One Month Sabbatical

I decided to take a month off my writing so that I could recharge my brain batteries but I do not promise anything terribly new or exciting this month despite my high hopes of being “quiet” for a while.

Here we are three months into 2016 and I still feel a moment of shock when I look at that date.  One hundred years ago the world was at war, women were kicking into high gear for their rights and more children and young people were being educated as never before.  Today we have a global war on terrorism (they tell us), women are still typically underpaid in the workforce and now students with college degrees are still finding it difficult to find jobs.  The more the world changes the more it stays the same if we are talking about practical matters.

For sure we have made incredibly strides in technology which is almost impossible to keep abreast of and yes, if I was asked when I would like to live on this planet, it would still be today.  But when evaluating humanity and our so called progress I find that we are really not any further ahead than we were not only one hundred years ago but even further back.  In some respects I would say we might even have regressed (when it comes to principles and moral high ground).

I didn’t want to write something depressing for my first return back from sabbatical but I thought I would just lay it out there and get it out of the way!

Thinking About Thinking

Have you ever wanted to remove your head from the rest of you just so you could have respite from all the thoughts swirling around in your brain?  Sometimes the noise in your head is all humdrum anxieties related to every day life and while that is annoying or frustrating it’s not necessarily those type of thoughts that can lead to mental exhaustion.  Sometimes analyzing what happens outside of our control are the things that can make a person go crazy.  Or one can wrestle with a stream of creative thoughts that conflict with each other or are impossible yet desirable.  One can experience a complete jumble of all the different types of thoughts and then it’s time to give up and take a sleeping pill!

Fortunately most days we can regiment our thinking quite well yet this too can end up being a little bit frustrating because we can get stuck inside the box.  We can lose our creative edge or our analytical skills if we become too complacent with routine thinking.

The other day my mother brought me one of her old Familie Journalen for me to read an article relating to living to 100 in which the article mentioned a book I was somewhat familiar with, Bernie Seigel’s “Love, Medicine and Miracles” published in 1986.  I decided to Google the book and discovered a number of other books by him on his website.  The website led me to some other books by different others; what could be more appealing that “Brain Power, Improve Your Thinking”? Since I had just confessed to my sister that I had more than 4 books on the go I resisted buying any of the books but it’s good to know that there are any number of excellent books available to improve one’s thinking.

Thinking about thinking can be both amusing and exhausting but as my mother reminds me every now and again, it’s important to laugh every day and that, my friends, is a no-brainer.

Store Conspiracy

I like to shop.  Even if I am just “window shopping” I enjoy looking at stuff.  Believe it or not I am not a huge clothes shopper although when I am in the mood I can really enjoy myself and have a lot of fun trying on outfits.  But what I really enjoy looking at is home and garden décor.  My family has declared that I don’t need any more knick knacks but what do they know?  In any event, I like looking.

But I have a pet peeve, in fact it is beyond a pet peeve.  Why, oh why, do stores insist on putting the price sticker of a frame on the glass?  Seriously I have never yet bought a frame that didn’t have the sticker glued by Hercules onto the glass.  Every other product appears to be nicely priced on the bottom or back.  What gives with a frame?  I think there is some serious passive aggressive marketing going on there.  The guys in the back room probably do the frames last because there are so many of them and they are so fragile.  It’s the end of the day and they decide they are going to stick it to all those fussy customers and bam, the price gun goes down on the glass.  Wham, let’s give it a good firm rub while we are at it so that the customer will break her fingernails trying to tear it off.  An extra good press and she will only tear off the paper, the glue will stay there, nice and stuck.  Hahaha, won’t she have a time getting that off?  I hope she cracks the glass scrubbing it off.

What the heck did the customer do to deserve this bitterness?  I feel that I am going to have to write a letter to the President of Homesense to give their stock boys sensitivity training.  This is just not right.

 

 

January's Summation

January usually is one of those months that drag by at a snail’s pace but today I find myself exclaiming “I can’t believe January is gone”.  It has been cold and snowy most of this month and we have done a lot of “hunkering down” in the log cabin but it has been good for the body and soul.

The beginning of January found me zooming through Genesis but once I entered Exodus it wasn’t long before I was bogged down in tedium.  Moses goes on and on about the building and decorating of the Tabernacle and clothes ad naseum and I confess I started skimming rather than reading.  If he talked about the blue threads once he talked about it 6 times.  Boring.  Am I supposed to believe that Jehovah gave a detailed account on how to make a priest’s costume?  I’m kind of thinking NO.  Tomorrow I start on Leviticus and that should be more interesting as I learn all about sinning and what to do about it.  So much for the Bible reading.

On the “serious” study of theology I am currently jumping between two books, one on Forgiveness and one on Buddhism.  They go nicely hand in hand and so far I am finding Buddhism a peaceful, isolating kind of philosophy.  It’s rather like the medical oath “do no harm” where one looks more into one’s self rather than pointing outward and raising hell on earth.  But there is more to come so I cannot give a final say yet on this path of quietness other than to say, I like it.

January also found me in guerilla warfare with my Henriettas.  I’ve been up at 5 a.m. when I literally stalk the hens and catch them in their act of strutting along their roosts and putting their beaks up their sisters’ butts searching for their freshest treat.  You think I am joking?  Huh, the wonders of the natural world are somewhat frightening, let me tell you!  Lurking about the nests, taking an aggressive stance even against the Treat Giver, it’s all in the name of food and war to these girls!  But there appears to be a ray of hope in breaking the habit since they have observed the punishment of quarantining is serious and consistent.  In they go with my admonishing “think about what you did wrong” ringing in their ears.  Lately I have noticed a slight (by one egg) improvement in performance.  I do believe that between the “punishment” and more sunshine hours outside is starting to improve their spirits and behavior.  Time, of course, will tell the final tale.

Creatively there has been little action other than thinking and planning and that is all to the good.

We will skip over the little fender bender in the parking lot, the aches and pains of shuffling into older age and rejoice in new patterns of behavior.  And hey, February is a short month, March will do its thing and then we may be lucky enough to get another early spring.  Potting time is here and I have scored some great buys at Homesense. 

Life’s good.

What is Appropriate Reading

This morning there was a headline about a book that was recalled by Scholastic Books.  It was a story about slaves baking a cake for George Washington but apparently the slaves looked too happy while baking the cake and that would give children a wrong impression of slavery.  So my question right now is – why would that not have been considered when the book was first pitched to the publisher?  Apparently the year before there had been another book about slavery where the slaves looked too happy.

I’m not an expert on children but I would consider myself an expert on reading.  I began devouring books in Grade 4 when we first had a “library” at the back of the classroom.   I read anything that came to hand and I remembered absolutely everything that I read.  So when I began the Nancy Drew series I would question inconsistencies and it wasn’t long before I wondered why Nancy always won the sports even though George was the tomboy of the trio.  It did not strike me as odd that Ma Ingalls did not like Indians considering she was in the middle of an Indian uprising.  There was a balance in the books because Pa did like Indians and appreciated their knowledge.  When I read Gone with the Wind when at 14  I developed a sympathy for the South but I was never fooled into believing that slavery was good or that most slaves didn’t suffer terribly under that institution.  These are just some of the things I recall as “negative” exposure as a young reader. 

What I mean to say is that if parents have discussions with their children on a variety of subjects regularly and if the children are good readers I believe that they can discern for themselves what is right and what is questionable.  I realize that this doesn’t happen in all homes or in fact most homes so some books may not be appropriate to teach in school.

After reading the article I searched online for guidance on children’s books and appropriate reading and was amazed at how many excellent sites are out there.  I was also a little surprised at some of the recommended reading for youth but that’s for another time!  Bottom line, parents should encourage children to read a variety of books and should take the time to know what their children are reading.  Best of all, they should talk with their children daily. 

Winter Blues

We are getting into the nitty gritty of winter and it is little wonder that folks get into the winter blues.  We seldom get out into the sunshine because it is cold, it’s slippery and unless you are a winter sports fan there isn’t a whole lot to do outdoors.  Worst still, we start to come down with the sniffles, with flu like symptoms and then there are the aches and pains caused by old age, or simply by not moving enough.  It becomes a vicious circle of the blues.

How to beat the blues?  Well, a few things include pushing yourself to workout indoors and better yet pushing yourself to go for a walk outdoors so you get the added benefit of sunshine.  As well, drink plenty of orange juice to get your Vitamin C, drink milk or eat yogurt to get your Vitamin D and calcium, not to mention the protein you need for energy.  The right nutrition and exercise really are mood boosters. 

Having outdoor tasks which force you out of doors is also something to help you move on despite your mental state and malfunctioning body.  I’ve noticed that despite my aches and pains I cannot neglect my chicks with simply doing the bare essentials.  I find myself out there several times a day just to check on them since they are currently cooped up due to the cold.  Every time I stick my head in they anxiously look at my hands to see if I have brought them a treat and I feel like a total heel if I don’t have at least a few slices of bread to give them.  Even when they are naughty they are adorable.

Pets can always bring a smile to a person’s face and no matter what type of pet you have they are almost always loyal to you.  So maybe you have a little bit of winter blues, but really, you still have a whole lot of good happening in your world.