New Year Weekend

When I was younger and an older person said "time just flies by", or "where did this year go" I would secretly sneer and wonder why they weren't just living in the moment.

The time has come for me to apologize to the older folks I poked fun at and tell them I have joined the MHTF Club. (My How Time Flies).

This year has been a rousing success for me. There was a move of residence, a closure of a home business, a new job. I look at the year as a success because it was full of challenge and respect and encouragement and healing and quarrels and music and lots of freckles and love.

I have a hard time believing that a new year will begin in a couple days. So long, 2006, the best year of my life so far. I look forward to the adventures in 2007.

Life Is Up and Down

Actually life isn't up and down, the motion we experience is in the way we perceive what life throws our way.

That roller coaster ride in the gut can be a good thing.

We are adapting and changing and growing every day. Every minute.

Sometimes we don't like the circumstances, but how we deal with changes helps us mature and advance. The teeter totter ride is up and down, and at least some of the time we are riding even and in balance. Time to catch your breath and hang on for the rest of the ride.

At least that's how I see it. I will be the first to admit that I am womanly, an adult female. But I have so much to learn.

Most of the time I enjoy the ride.

Driving While On The Cell Phone

The Female Brain

Gee, I wonder what is in the male brain??????

Merry Christmas

Sharing And Caring

Found in the comments on Crazy Bird's post "Remembering My Uncle Al":

"I remembered that as we were growing up, having a father who was schizoid and abusive to his wife and children, a man who also left us high and dry on more than one occasion. Uncle Al would send Mom money for food and clothes, rent, and we were his church that was his place of tithing."

I think this is a great way to think about sharing what we have with someone who has a need; this is the first description of tithing that sounds reasonable to me. To participate in life and share willingly without regret and without expectation of anything in return.

Thanks, Chuck, for posting the entire comment.

Sweetness and Delight

Sounds from the kitchen. Sweet boyfriend must be making bread. Love that bread.

Then he comes up behind me and says, "Close your eyes". I did.

Sweet boyfriend takes my hand and puts it on something cold. Hmmm.

"Take a bite". I did.

Wow!! Like love nectar to the senses!!

Sweet boyfriend made us a batch of fudge. Wow!!

Can't stop saying that.

The reason this is so monumental is that for almost four months we have had no refined sugar, artificial sweeteners, or refined "enriched" flour in our house. The only sweetener I have used is honey and very little of that.

The fudge is delicious. More than a special treat. That is the actual pic of the plate of fudge.

What could the ingredients be in this awesome fudge without sugar???

Sweet boyfriend JamesRaven will share the recipe. Thank you, sweetheart.

Howdy howdy, y'all. Here's my recipe. Fiddle with it anyway you want, it's almost impossible to screw up, unless you forget it on the stove and fry the carob:

1 10 oz package Sunspire Brand Vegan Carob Chips
1 cup natural peanut butter
1/4 cup pure honey
1/2 cup milk

Mix together, and put on low heat until melted.
Pour into 8" x 8" pan
Garnish with chopped sunflour seeds, or chopped peanuts, or Grape Nuts

I put it in the freezer to harden, then after a half-hour it's ready.

Mega Yummy, and zero sugar.

The Bend In The Road

Again and again we have decisions to make.

Do I take the easy way and follow the bend in the road, or do I take the more difficult climb over the rocky muddy terrain through the fog?

Hmmmm. Decisions. Decisions.

The fact that there is a bend in the road is enough for some people. That is enough change and discomfort to just follow the darn bend in the road.

For the adventurous, the thrill is in the climb. The danger of the unknown. The anticipation of the success at the end of the road.

Getting Older

Fa La La La La

Deck the halls with boughs of holly,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Tis the season to be jolly,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Don we now our gay apparel,
Fa la la, la la la, la la la.
Troll the ancient Yule tide carol,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

See the blazing Yule before us,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Strike the harp and join the chorus.
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Follow me in merry measure,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
While I tell of Yule tide treasure,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Fast away the old year passes,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Hail the new, ye lads and lasses,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.


Sing we joyous, all together,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Heedless of the wind and weather,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Information on Deck The Halls is found at carols.org:

"The music to Deck the Halls is believed to be Welsh in origin and was reputed to have come from a tune called "Nos Galan" dating back to the sixteenth century. In the eighteenth century Mozart used the tune to Deck the Halls for a violin and piano duet J.P. McCaskey is sometimes credited with the lyrics of Deck the Halls but he only edited the Franklin Square Song Collection in which the lyrics were first published. The first publication date of Deck the Halls is 1881. The author is unknown but the words are said to originate in America."

At least I know the words to this one. We listen to guitar music or piano music so the holiday music in our house is without words but it is nice to have the background music.

Older People In The Workforce

We eat lunch each work day in the parking lot at work. It sounds boring but really it is interesting because of the activity around that building and the people coming and going.

There is an older man in particular that holds my interest each day. This man has to be at least 70. He works for some type of window production place. He is agile, productive, and works safely. His job is outside of the building beside the dumpsters. He dismantles the old window frames and throws the glass windows into a dumpster so that the glass breaks.

Watching this man prompted me to wonder about other older people still working.

I found this great story about Waldo, age 104 in msnbc:

"QUINTER, Kan. — Waldo McBurney lives in two worlds: one of buggies and hitching posts — and the other of a growing trend of older Americans working longer.

Still spry and agile at 104, McBurney briskly walks most days from home to work in this High Plains farming community, where he raises bees and sells honey."

[...]

"In October, Experience Works gave McBurney its "America's Oldest Worker for 2006" award at a ceremony in Washington.

"He may not be the oldest worker but he is up there and definitely outstanding," said Cynthia Metzler, president of the national group, which provides training and employment for the senior citizens.

Metzler called McBurney "a real role model for all of us" at a time when Americans are working longer.

"People are living longer and don't have enough money to sustain themselves. Some want to work to remain active," she said.

While it can't be said definitively that McBurney actually is the oldest American working, the odds favor him."

[...]

"The United States has an estimated 77,770 centenarians, about 0.026 percent of the population. The average American life span is 77.9 years."

[...]

"After graduating from college in 1927, he worked a quarter century variously as a vocational-agricultural teacher, county extension agent and at the local co-op. In the 1950s he started a seed-cleaning business. He also took a decades-long hobby of beekeeping and went into the honey business.

He operated the seed-cleaning venture until age 91 and still raises bees and sells honey, although much less than before.

"I'm trying to get out of the bee business because my back isn't standing up like it should," he said. "I hope somebody else will be handling the bees. I'll keep a few at the house to raise our own honey."

Note: The photo in this post is of Waldo as he tends his bees.
[...]

"In 2004, McBurney published his book, "My First 100 Years: A Look Back from the Finish Line," which he sells in his office. "Selling books isn't retiring," he said. "I expect to be working."

He enjoyed running all his life and at age 65 took up long-distance running. A decade later, he began competing in the Senior Olympics, the World Masters and other events, winning 10 gold medals for track and field events.

McBurney stopped competing a couple years ago, but almost every day he still walks the four blocks from his white framed house trimmed in blue to his Main Street office. "My running got so slow I could walk as fast as I could run," he said.

He wears glasses, but his eyesight is good enough that his driver's license was renewed in September. Yes, he still drives, but not often.

McBurney lives a low-key lifestyle with his wife of 44 years, 92-year-old Vernice. They have five adult children from previous marriages."

I think Waldo and Vernice deserve an award for staying married 44 years and helping each other to live productive, active lives.

Sometimes It's Just A Matter Of Time

"Monticello - Bells tolled last week for Dec. 7, 1941 — the date that lives in infamy. This story starts the day after.

Young patriots rushed to the nation's defense. Don Karkos tagged along after school as his older brother, Eddie, went to enlist at the Navy recruiting station in Lewiston, Maine. The boy hunched in the back of the room as Eddie answered questions and filled out paperwork. A recruiter barked out at Don, "Hey, kid, whatsa matter, you don't like the Navy?"

"Sir, I'm not old enough," Don told him. "I don't turn 17 until Friday."

"Good enough," snapped the recruiter.

Seaman Don Karkos shipped out of Boston and sailed into the North Atlantic. His was the USS Rapaden, a tanker whose mission was to skirt the German U-boats off the English coast and refuel Allied battleships. On a warm morning in the summer of '42, Karkos was on the Rapaden deck when there was a loud explosion. Twisted metal flew everywhere. Something heavy hit the boy above his right eye, cutting his forehead open.

When Karkos woke up, he was in a military hospital in Iceland. Doctors told him he would never see out of his right eye again. They wanted to remove the right eye. Karkos said, no, might as well leave it in, just for looks.

Karkos returned home to Lisbon Falls, Maine, a small mill town with a woolery. He worked in the mill's weave room for three years, not leaving until he paid off the mortgage on his father's house.

Karkos never regained sight in his right eye. It severely limited his peripheral vision. He'd bump into walls, never knowing what was coming 'round the corner. He had to be extra careful, because if anything happened to his good eye, he'd be completely blind.

But Don Karkos lived in a time when you farmed the acre you were handed and plowed forward. He married and raised a family. He started his own roofing and sheet-metal business. Karkos loved the pastoral majesty of horses and in 1978 bought his own 22-acre horse farm in Harris.

Just three years ago, doctors told him that even with all the modern medical advances, he would never see in his right eye. That scared this aging man. He already had cataracts removed from his left eye.

Karkos turned 82 yesterday. He's been at Monticello Raceway for 16 years. He's a paddock security guard, checking in the horses before races. He helps out in the barn.

Recently, he was preparing a horse named My Buddy Chimo for an early morning workout in paddock H. Karkos was adjusting the buxton around the horse's chest when My Buddy Chimo lowered his head quickly, came up and butted Karkos. Hit him flush in the head, straight above his right eye, his blind eye.

The old man was thrown against the wall and tried to gather himself. "I've been in a lot of fights,'' he thought, "but I've never been hit that hard." Last time he was hit with such might was on that Navy ship 64 years ago.

Karkos got home that night, still a little woozy. He walked down the hallway of his Monticello home, rubbing his good eye. Wait. What was happening?

"Holy ——!" said Karkos.

This story is for all the people who believe in possibility. People who have been through sickness and hurt and war. Tough things happen in life, and you're forced to see things in a certain way.

People like Don Karkos just go on with it. And occasionally, something else happens years later, when you least expect it. Some people call it a freak coincidence, some call it fate, others call it God. And life becomes so much wider you look at it differently.

Ask Don Karkos, who stood there in his hallway with his hand over his good eye. He could still see.

What the explosions of war had taken away, My Buddy Chimo had given back. Karkos can now see with both eyes.

He can see the wide horizon, the halo of the sunset, what's coming 'round the corner.

Which on this morning happens to be My Buddy Chimo.

"I love that horse," said Don Karkos. "Hey, right now, I'm loving it all."

A Vietnam KIA Remembered

Go to deuddersun says and read his post that will send you to this site.

"On June 30, 1969, 2nd Lt. Jack Hulme was killed in Vietnam, having never met his only child.
Thirty years later, Jack’s son, John, finally seeks out what happened to his Father and who he really was..."

The photo on this post is of the widow and the son in Vietnam.

Snowman Nose

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Charity begins where interest ends,
Having little interest but in giving,
Removing self from self, that there be space
In which a much-loved guest might feel at home.
So might one find delight, though ravens rend
The unembroidered fabric of one's being:
Miracle of unrequited grace,
A wave of wonder welling up from stone,
Singing as it breaks of selfless grieving.
~Copyright by
Nicholas Gordon

Shopping At Sears

This email was in my mailbox tonight:

"Let's all show up at Sears.

I assume you have all seen the reports about how Sears is treating its reservist employees who are called up? By law, they are required to hold their jobs open and available, but nothing more. Usually, people take a big pay cut and lose benefits as a result of being called up...Sears is voluntarily paying the difference in salaries and maintaining all benefits, including medical insurance and bonus programs, for all called up reservist employees for up to two years. I submit that Sears is an exemplary corporate citizen and should be recognized for its contribution.

Suggest we all shop at Sears, and be sure to find a manager to tell them why we are there so the company gets the positive reinforcement it well deserves.

Pass it on.

So I, decided to check it out before I sent it forward. I sent the following email to the Sears Customer Service Department:

I received this email and I would like to know if it is true. If it is, the Internet may have just become one very good source of advertisement for your store. I know I would go out of my way to buy products from Sears instead of another store for a like item even if it was cheaper at the other store.
Here is their answer to my email....................


Dear Customer:

Thank you for contacting Sears.

The information is factual. We appreciate your positive feedback. Sears regards service to our country as one of greatest sacrifices our young men and women can make. We are happy to do our part to lessen the burden they bear at this time.

Bill Thorn
Sears Customer Care
webcenter@sears.com
1-800-349-4358"

This is verified by snopes.com.

The Honeymoon Is Over

That's it. Big sigh.

Last night sweet boyfriend made another loaf of bread, and our little ritual is to have some hot fresh bread when it comes out of the breadmaker. And I have a glass of milk with mine. But after inspecting the contents of the bread carton, I opted to save the milk to have with my cereal this morning, also making sure there would be enough for sweet boyfriend as well as for myself this morning.

Another big sigh.

Alas, sometime last night sweet boyfriend drank ALL the milk.

No cereal this morning.

Does that mean the honeymoon is over?

Big sigh.

Calorically Challenged

I've been thinking about this for a long time. My weight has bounced around like my floundering blond mentality. I haven't obsessed on the weight thing; it is just interesting to observe the changes and to try to connect the dots of the roots of the causes creating the changes. (See what I mean about the blond mentality).

There is an interesting article at nature.com

"Scientists have identified a key microbe in our guts that helps us glean more calories from food. The discovery backs the idea that the type of microbes in our gut help to determine how much weight we gain, and that seeding the intestine with particular bugs could help fight obesity."

What I found just as interesting were some of the comments:

"Obesity is a problem of global importance, indeed, yet famine continues to be a significant human condition as well. M. smithii could then perhaps have a therapeutic role for the calorically-challenged at both ends of the spectrum: lack, as well as excess."

[...]

"Very interesting research with implications not just in obesity, but also for efficiency of feed disgestion in farmed animals. It would have been good to include the results obtained with the same diet fed to mice with a normal gut microflora."

[...]

"Research like this holds great promise that we will someday better understand the complex ecology of our internal microflora and be able to apply that knowledge to aid the health of those from both ends of the weight control spectrum."

[...]

"When I read this article, the effect of M.smithii on obesity did not register very much on my mind. By far the more important function of this organism is to my mind, its ability to render the gut environment conducive to the growth of normal flora which, by occupying that environment inhibit the growth of pathogenic transient flora. By understanding the activity of this organism we bring forward the time when 'friendly' organisms rather than the more 'violent' antibiotics can be prescribed for the treatment of GIT infections."

On a lighter side:

Too many people confine their exercise to jumping to conclusions, running up bills, stretching the truth, bending over backward, lying down on the job, sidestepping responsibility and pushing their luck. Author unknown.

Important People

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America.

4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winner for best actor and actress.

6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

AND THEN

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Ya Better Watch Out
Ya Better Not Cry
You Better Not Pout
I'm Tellin' Ya Why

Santa Claus is comin' to town!

He's keepin' a list....

Have you been good or bad?

Boy, I hope I've been really really good.