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MCJULIEO's Recent Blog Entries
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Saturday, September 04, 2010
Yoda said, "Do, or do not. There is no try."
Yoda obviously didn't feel the need to do any plumbing repair.
While most men would rather wear a meat suit while cleaning out the lion pit at the zoo than attempt plumbing repair of any sort, my own DH has decided to replace the annoying kitchen faucet that has been bane of his existence for the last month... (I think it was a toss-up between that and mowing the lawn, and the kitchen sink won)
So, after making a second trip of the day to the local big box hardware store to purchase the faucet (the first trip was gardening focused, and plumbing wasn't on our radar then), he has gone back again (this is trip #3) to trade THAT faucet for another one, one with INSTRUCTIONS!!! He is a man in a million.
What a man! He sees a need, and doesn't give up, until it is fixed...
"Tenacious" describes him perfectly
Also, "Detail oriented."
Undaunted, he will tackle the problem straight up, and though his focus may drive me crazy, he doesn't rest until it's done.
But... What a role model! I want to be a lot like that, doing my best, and sticking with the job to its completion.
I will never get anything done if I don't try...
Friday, September 03, 2010
Can it be that there is a word less pleasant to the ears than "Fat"?
Yes, ..... "Obese"! And of course, its unpleasant cousin "Morbidly Obese"!
As I'm close to a forty pound weight loss (0.2 lbs to go, as of last Monday, may have already happened- don't know since I weigh only about once/month) I've experienced the thought that many have vocalized, "Woo Hoo! I'm no longer Morbidly Obese, but just Obese, and in just a few more pounds I'll just be Fat."
Whereas, I would prefer to use the euphemisms solid, curvy, voluptuous, sturdy, plump, chubby, chunky, and large-boned, I need to be honest with myself, and though I used to console myself with the thought that, even though I was not slim and svelte, I could, at least, FLOAT very well, and I would be a shoe-in if they opened an OLYMPIC FLOATING COMPETITION! (I am a human cork, and have been even as a child at my right weight!), it is time for me to not try to compensate philologically (in the realm of words, I mean), but move on in deed and action.
So, it's all in how you frame your thoughts, and I will continue to use those euphemisms for other people, if I use them at all, and look forward to the time that they will not even be necessary to describe myself (although, I AM partial to "voluptuous")
Thursday, September 02, 2010
Well, I don't know if culinarily is a word or not, but if it is, it would be an adverb referring to all things culinary.
Yesterday I had smidges of things to make dinner, none of which could make an entire meal by itself, and I didn't want to take on any extra food that would produce MORE smidges:
Seasoned pre browned ground turkey (seasoned to taste like Italian sausage)
Some cooked brown rice
Some raw zucchini which had seen better days
Ditto, green peppers
And so on
So I grated the zucchini, tossed it with the ground turkey, rice, some grated carrots, some chopped onions, and added some spaghetti sauce, and filled the peppers cut in half, and topped with a sprinkling of cheese, and left it in the oven for at least an hour at 350.
Boy! Was it ever good!!! The grated zucchini and carrots added an interesting texture, and of course, LOTS of vegetable matter... So tasty, and a nice change!
I confess, I was lucky...
Here's to happy combinations in the kitchen!
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Well, that brief flirtation we had with fall over the weekend, when it was 66 degrees when we woke up in the morning (even though it barreled up to 96 lickety split in the afternoon) has gone now, and the temperature this morning was 85 for the low... not to mention that there must be some kind of humid dome over us because it's a MOIST heat....
No doubt it's good for my dewy, fresh (I wish) complexion, but sometimes I feel like I'm in an oven, and basting myself.
It's times like these that make me SO grateful for the invention of air conditioning... And FANS! But despite the heat my tomatoes that I planted for the fall garden at the first of August seem to have persevered so much that they don't have to be watered twice a day now. They have grown enough so that when the temps DO start dropping to below 70 at night they will be able to set fruit, and we'll be able to have home grown, vine ripened tomatoes for Thanksgiving!
Hanging in there, just like my tomato plants!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
When my daughter's first child was born, we all thrilled in the wonder of that miraculous birth experience.
"This is amazing...," she murmured to the sleeping newborn swaddled in her arms, "It doesn't get any better than this..."
And so we've enjoyed revisiting that observation over the last few years as that child has grown to a lively 2nd grader, and I had to reveal a secret that many parents who have nurtured children to self sufficiency have discovered on their own.
I told her:
When your baby is first born, you are stunned at the wonder and awe of being able to participate in an act of creation, and we all marvel at just how amazing it is, but when that infant begins to recognize his family, and learns to smile in response to stimulus, and even spontaneously, somewhere around age of 3 months, what parent can resist thinking, "This is the best age- it can't get better than this!" (I'm using the masculine pronoun, but it is our observation that girls go through these same charming scenarios)
But then, he learns to walk by holding on to your fingers and lurching about, and he LOVES to play PEEK-a-Boo, and grabs the mustache of your nuisance of a neighbor and makes his eyes water, and falls asleep in his daddy's arms so you can take an heirloom photo that you'll treasure forever.... and you think, "This, THIS, is the best age!"
And then he learns to talk, and he says the cutest things like "Where elbow go?" when he straightens his arm, and when he gets a little older around age 7, and his brain is SO engaged that he drives you crazy asking questions like, "Why is the sky blue but the water green?" and "Which is more important: Please or Thank You?" This is a golden age for parents and it certainly seems true that,"This, THIS, is the best age!"
And you both survive his teen years..
And college, and
then he finds that perfect spouse who loves him, who makes him even better than he was,
And then some time later, after he has graduated and gotten a job, and the years roll by, and he has been working and demonstrating that he actually has transitioned from "snotty nosed goop-snoot knucklehead" to "responsible citizen",
And then, one day, he calls to invite his parents out for the evening: "We want to take you out to dinner, Mom and Dad.... and I'm paying!"
And you can't help thinking:
"This, THIS, is the best age-
it can't get better than this!"
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