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

Personal changes.

Good morning my beauties----It's a little chilly out here on the back porch but that's where the computer is and I choose to be. I was lying in my warm bed a bit ago, thinking (that's what the racket was) about the changes that have come about in me since Dad died. I finally admitted to myself that I have become a coward------your Dad kept me on my toes and challenged me which was goood for me as that's how I was raised. Always trying to be good enough to get approval, not so much from myself but from the one that happened to be managing my life at the time-----primarily BIG MAMA and then your dad Terri, you told me that I was having a hard time because I didn't know who I was and you are absolutely right. I have had very little time in my life to figure out or be by myself alone with my thoughts Things have almost always been about "somebody else ". A lot of that is good but now that I no longer have that I finally realize that I must fill that void------I have lots of acquaintances and working colleges and patients who respect and admire me but they steer clear of me as one of them told me once when we were golfing that most of the younger women were "sort of in awe of me because of who I was and what I had accomplished ". That seemed like a bunch of BS as I don't see myself as anybody special. I know I have done a lot of special things,which I intend to get on paper but to me it was just that the sun came up and life happened, the sun went down and life also happened. I was presented with amazing opportunities and with the help of God managed to take advantage of that. Soooooo I am going to have to take a good hot shower and wash the yellow streak off my back and figure out a way to be comfortable in my own skin without somebody daring me to be something other than a sweet little girl from West Texas who is Happy to see a magnificent sunset or hear a newborn baby cry and hold it to her breast to nourish It. Dad is out here with me ----every now and then I hear a strange noise and sense he is standing behind me reading this letter and wondering "What the Hell is she talking about". There are times when I feel he has just given me a soft tender kiss like he used to do when he was feeling a special deep love for me in his heart and not just in his pants There are different kisses you know. .I need to get dressed and go to work and watch those who are younger than me struggling with devastating illness, mental and physical. Then I will also thank God for my family, my life and all the other blessings he has bestowed on me throughout the 80 plus years I have been on this earth and was blown in here along with 13 windmills in a sandstorm that happens only in West Texas------That's what Mother told me as she didn't want me to know what you do to make a baby. But then I met this fast talking Yankee who told me all about it and showed me all about how beautiful life can be and between us that was probably the best part. I'm o.k. and hope this is not too much for you guys on a glorious Saturday morning to get such a letter from me. I'm going in and fix some fresh coffee---a cup for me and a cup for dad. He really enjoyed a good cup of coffee. There were times he would fix some himself and bring me a cup in bed. So much for now-----I'm going in to get ready for work and resist the temptation to crawl back under the warm covers and watch movies all day long. I love you guys and thanks for being there for me. Terr, I guess I should have put this on my blog but I really didn't know how . I will get with you next week and you can talk me through it or maybe you can forward it. God Bless you both MOMXXOO.

Printer

Hi Terri--Got your Blog . Thanks, it is really great and gives me some good ideas. Followed your advice and now the printer is up and running and I can put together a little album memento for Pat and Jimmy. Also for Kaye and Ann as I have pictures they don't have. Thanks so much for your help. What a great picture of Dad---Thank you it helped----all day long I have just wanted to crawl back into bed----but now I am going to throw a couple of Lemon cakes in the oven and let them cook while I play with the computer---Dad loved a slice of lemon cake with the peaches I had put up in the season and a dollop of Cool-Whip on top. He was a man of simple pleasures,Rum and coca cola , beautiful and meaningful lovemaking and good food-----Probably in that order. I was a willing student while he patiently and for the most part calmly went about teaching me what he wanted me to know. He taught me how to be strong in the face of adversity as did my Mother and between the two of them I have been able to survive the good and bad of a most interesting life. I thank God every morning for my blessings and for blessing me so. So much for now---I am multitasking as usual. I am so glad you are over the" Mal de Mer". Until next time my beautiful and great-hearted daughter---I love you MomXXOO

80 years of stuff.

Picking my brain and picking cotton, not at all alike.

Birthday Party

Good Morning, Good morning---sun's up and skies are blue Good morning Good morning to you. Hope you kids are doing OK and life is treating you well despite the momentary stress in your lives----somehow it always passes and something else comes along. Finally went to the physician's assistant yesterday, I'd rather see her than the Doctor, after being ill for about a week . I think that Hurricane Ike must have blown in some different bacteria as so many people were down with upper respiratory "crud. Any way she said my lungs were pretty raspy and gave me an injection of Rocephin which is like an elephant gun but it gets rid of strange and ominous bacteria. I'm invited to a birthday party tonight given by a 90 year old for his 80+ roommate. The last time I went over Homer fed me sauerkraut and sausage in a bowl and fork---it was simple but tasty----besides they are pretty interesting and amazing guys so you don't really care, plus the Vodka tonic they fixed was something like getting kicked in the head by a mule but only one to a customer. The next door widow was there who loved dad and she said all kinds of nice things about Dad,----she had one of those Vodka tonics also. All in all it was a fun evening and I got in my golf cart and came home. I'm looking forward to this evening. After I saw the Dr yesterday---who gave me a clean report on my Colonoscopy and holding back a guffaw said "I'll see you in two years". I replied "yeah Doc , God willing and the river doesn't rise-------and the same to you, Ms. Appointment Secretary, who wasn't doing such a good job of holding back with tears of laughter in her eyes and a straight face. So I reverted to Arnold Schwarzenegger, momentarily, and over my shoulder as I opened the chiming door said "I'LL BE BACK" Well it's not good to dwell on yesterday because then you remember that the dishwasher needs to be emptied and the laundry needs to be folded--but here again sad to say I don't have that handsome dude with the white glove on checking out nooks and crannies---yes I spelled that right. Make of it what you will.!! I really must close as I have a lot to do before venturing out tonight. First I'm going to wrap the presents I got for Homer and sign the Birthday card which is great. It says the secret for eternal youth is to LIE!!!! ---then wrap the package of Merci chocolate with 21 little sticks of yummy flavored chocolates from Germany. A small tin of Danish butter cookies, a jar of chocolate Macadamia nuts from Hawaii and a bottle of my homemade Kahlua--TaDa--I just hope he is not diabetic and can't enjoy such beautiful treats. If he is ----then maybe he can use them to entice some willing participants that would like her nook and crannies searched. Next I am going to wax the whole lower jaw to rid it of misplaced eyebrows and lashes. Bought some stuff you warm up in the microwave and with my luck it will explode like the spaghetti sauce did and I'll just have to tell everyone I.m the bearded lady from a passing gypsy tribe. After that I think I will stand on my head for a little while to get everything that is headed south back to heading north so maybe I can show a little cleavage when I head for the party. As it is now ----well I don' think I have a top that is cut that low.. Keep in mind that God loves you and so do I------you have given, purpose, substance, and balance to my incredible life and taught me more than I ever taught you. LUVYA'MOMXXXXXXXXXXXOOOOOOOOOO