Econ Crisis

Hi out there my terrific children-----how' s it going. I'm still in my p.j.'s but felt the need to communicate some thoughts. I made myself some bacon, pancakes and a cup of coffee and sat down to watch T.v and have breakfast. I really enjoy watching Cspan primarily because it's live and what is said or done is there! After awhile I get a little weary of watching Who's your Daddy and 17 guys show up-----used to if you turned up " in the family way " unmarried either you were kicked out' sent away or some fella had a gun at the back of his neck and he took care of his responsibilities. As sure as "hell" we didn't expect uncle Sam to pay for our frivolities.Now we ---never mind I don't want to get side tracked from my original thought and so back to Cspan. There was a senator from Vermont , unfortunately the phone rang before I could write his name down, but he was talking about what this great and beautiful country did in 1941 when we got prepared for a war in Europe and in Asia . I was 18 years old and had lived through a depression where my Mother and Father "made do" with what they had and provided for us as best they could with whatever talents that were honest and true----you know I have told you that Mother picked cotton to pay tuition for daddy's education through Pharmacy school and we went to the cotton patch with her at somewhere around the ages of my little brother was three or four and I was five or six.but that is also another story. Generally' people have so much today they have forgotten what the BASICS are-----Tom and Sandy I know that you can pull up a few memories as you were brought up when your Dad's income and my supplemental income left a lot to be desired. In order to achieve what we have to achieve what we must to get this country back on track and really look at what is going on. The major change has to come from changing the whole mentality from a ME society to a We society. Think about it???????In 1942 lots and lots of things were rationed---Sugar, bedsheets, tires all sorts of things. We adapted to what we had to do to win the war and keep this country free and honor the blood that was shed and about to be shed in order to do so. When I followed Dad to Germany In 1946 things were rationed . The Officers had a different set of rations than did the enlisted based on an honor system of achievement. In other words there was a sense of reward when you worked hard to better your circumstances in life. We are created equal as we are born into this world naked and go out basically the same way . What we do with what the Good Lord provided us is up to us. The infirm,crippled and elderly should be taken care of up to a point They too should be provided the opportunity to maintain as much dignity and privilege to provide for themselves as opposed to the dependency society we now have. FDR was a great president and created the WPA and CCC so men could work and feed their families and feel some self respect. Used to if the wife worked it was an insult to the husband. It meant the man was not taking care of his responsibilities. The Woman's movement was good up to a point as it provided a way for women to achieve things and go places they had never been before. However from my perspective it has been carried much to far. For the most part Men no longer have the opportunity to be a " Cavalier". Look the word up. It may only exist in the European dictionary. Obama wants change----we need to change but from what I saw that the money was going toward is a farce----why do we want to refurbish the "Mall" in DC. ----that won't put food in the stomachs of the working class who's money they are stealing to provide more perks for some crooked politicians and CEO's and There's a certain Ms. P. that is the 3rd strongest person in our government that I personally would like to tell to put a sock in it as she has no clue what the average American is dealing with I would not trade for the time in which I was born and raised and the principles and beliefs with which I was raised. I should have left your Dad alone in what he was trying to teach you--He told me he was trying to prepare you for a cold world out there so you could survive when you left home no matter what. I have to go now --sorry if I have clogged up you computer. Is it going to take the survivors of previous times of disaster in this country to hold the mirror up to those in control and say to them "hey, this isn't working." I love you guys and respect you for your strengths to endure.MOMXXXXXXXXOOOOOO

Life

Life and how we live it-----in my circumstance it's pretty scattershot and always has been. I came in from work last night----opened a can of Tamales ---yeah! yeah1 I don't know how healthy they are for you but I love them and besides I only ate half and put half in the ice box for whomever might be dropping by or myself. However back to the subject------I have found that Multi tasking is the best way to go. My mother, my husband and my sister all accused me of being the slowest, most disorganized person they had ever known but while they were running their mouths I was running my agenda. A couple of my kids accuse me of having aliens in the garage that fixed the huge meals they partook when they all came home at once with kids and spouses in tow. You two and you know what I'm talking about especially you ,Sandy who used to stick some of everything aside to take home to your Chef husband. I came in from work last night , washed my hands and culled the butter beans I had put on to soak before I left for work (they cook faster) if you soak them and that's what I did last night while I watched the 4th quarter of the Superbowl and put them up in freezer containers,------I also took time to put the ham out that I had put in the freezer left from a ham I baked a couple of weeks ago and put it in the butter beans also took some hamburger out of the freezer as I had a head of cabbage in the veggie drawer ----Are you keeping up?----sooooo this morning after a good night's sleep I woke up shortly before five fixed myself some of that beautiful instant oatmeal and coffee and set about making stuffed cabbage---to do that I put on a pan of boiling water to pre-cook the cabbage leaves ,two for every cabbage roll you plan to make. I looked at the amount of hamburger I had and mentally calculated how many cabbage rolls it would make when I got it all put together (and if I couldn't do that after all these years there's something wrong) so I cooked 12 outside cabbage leaves and while they were softening up I mixed the meat, It went something like this:1 lb ground beef or turkey if you like-- 1pkg onion soup dry added to the meat 1 egg--=season with1/4th tsp paprika and mix. add about a 1/2 cup of dried, uncooked oatmeal (some people like rice but Grandma Thomson taught me oatmeal had more protein and would stick to the ribs better 2 things I loved that beautiful Scotch/Irish woman who could conjure a meal up from next to nothing and believed what she told me and she was frugal---not cheap but FRUGAL----a lot of people today are going to learn the difference in today's economy.and Scots love oatmeal. I was told that that's what they have in that little purse they have on their kilts that covers their you know whats-----raw in case they got stranded and after being married to a Scotsman who had to guide his commanding officer through the Battle of the Bulge and years later back from Juarez ,Mexico to El Paso(but that's another story) so back to the stuffed cabbage---you mix all the meat together and make a small hamburger ball and wrap it in the softened cabbage leaf. Place in a slightly oiled pan and cover with a can of tomatoes and two cans of tomato sauce or one large can with a little water so the cabbage is covered and cook over a low heat for about an hour while you write your kids a letter on the computer or fold laundry or shower or whatever ---and if you are a working mother this can be done in the crock pot so when everyone comes in in the evening the house smells wonderful and inviting and makes everyone so much happier. There's almost nothing that smells like a home with good stuff cooking, I should have had a cooking show and ended up independently wealthy instead of cooking so much with your Dad and ending up with 8 kids. You can give the money away. Which crossed my mind about the kids when they hit their teens. Well----the cabbage rolls are finished and can be served over boiled or mashed potatoes , rice or eaten with a beautiful dark bread and a good , hearty red wine, Pickled beets would be a good side dish. I am trying to decide if I want to check my eyelids for leaks for about an hour or go on to work. The staff is not used to seeing me before 11 O'clock so I think I will just do the first thing. Tip for the day-----use you oven to the fullest by planning meals and desserts that can be cooked at once in the oven, LUV you guys MOMXXOO Terri can you put this and the letter I wrote last week on my Blog? Please Thanks love Mom

ME!!!!!!

I should be on my way to work but had some thoughts I needed to put on paper. I watched Oprah the other day and It was about putting yourself back on the list--------I have not felt well since October. Before that I was feeling great-----so I really don't know what transpired that sent me on a downward spiral. I just know for the greater part of my life it has been about what would make someone else happy or make life easier for them----never mind what toll it took on me. I thought I had found the answer when I went to nurse practitioner school. A big part of that program was about how to value yourself and it gave me the courage to face whatever issues that came along and there were issues with Dad about going back to school and neglecting the family -----with the general medical community in pioneering such a new concept as a Nurse doing many of the "Mickey Mouse" things that Doctors had done for years. Now it is much more than that. I have really sabotaged myself for years now into putting everyone else first and allowing myself to be----No! that is not true---I have not even allowed that. The question is "Am I feeling bad because I have devalued myself as a person or am I devaluing myself and that is causing me to approach life in a negative way?" I had never felt OLD until well into Dad's illness-----watching him disappear was extremely difficult to begin with---in the back of my mind Dad was indestructible and never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever see His name on the electric gate sign telling others when his services would be or that I would be sitting with Annie at his bed side watching him taking his last breath and changing appearance from a tired demented old man to the handsome man I had so much admired for his strength of character--his daring-do ways, his tenets and creed and for what he taught me and most of all his courage to stand up for what he believed I do so appreciate both of you in that you are like friends who listen and neither of you has said to me get over it and move on .God!! how I appreciate that. I have accomplished so much in my lifetime there is great thought in ----to what? I'm in my eighties. I have no energy to take on a new relationship.Dad was bigger than life to me and sometimes when I just looked at him I felt like a kid looking in a huge department store window at Christmastime.-----completely awestruck as I was the first time I laid eyes on him-----he ruled and there were times when his behavior made me just want to do him in and tell God he died but that was the behavior and not the person. SOOOOO now I really must find my way back from the loss of beautiful vivacious Patti, my accomplished son Michael who tried so hard to please his Dad but never quite got there and Dad.------Those losses have had such an impact on my tender and loving soul----but I know in my heart if I just set my mind not on the losses but what I have left to ponder over-----I will be OK. Now I really must be on my way. I truly feel that my blessing s are many and the good Lord dwells within me and has given me the strength to get through some really tough times in my remarkable life and he will continue to do so. Thanks again for being there. I love you guys MOMXXOO