Favorite Classic From the 1970's

DESIDERATA
-- written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s --

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,

and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,

be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;

and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant;

they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons;

they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,

you may become vain or bitter,

for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;

it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,

for the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;

many persons strive for high ideals,

and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.

Neither be cynical about love,

for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,

it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,

gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.

But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,

whatever you conceive Him to be.

And whatever your labors and aspirations,

in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Notice-Pity Party Officially Ended

OK. So I have strep.

I have antibiotics that will knock it out pretty quickly and for that, I am thankful.

My children have been the best helpers and nurses. They regularly check on me and take care of my every need. They have even been doing their chores while I am sick. For that, I am truly thankful.

My husband has been attentive even while he is facing a deadline, busy working so hard to finish this project. I am so thankful for him.

My sisters have called to make sure I am doing alright and have taken my share of the cooking for tomorrow. I couldn't be more thankful for that.

My friends have emailed, commented on my blog, and phoned to see what they could do to make things better for me at this difficult time. Wow, I am so thankful that I am so loved by so many.

As a mom, I fear that the world will stop turning on its axis and everything will fall apart if I lie in my bed recooperating. I am thankful for everyone who is picking up the slack for me while I recover, so that my world doesn't come crashing in and I can rest and not feel guilty about taking care of me.

I am a very blessed woman. My illness has reminded me how very fortunate I am. My Pity Party is over.

All the people listed above who have blessed my life are just a drop in the bucket of the many blessings the Lord has poured out on me, but they are some of the best.

Thanksgiving is upon me and I can't remember a year that I have felt as thankful as I do today.

Exodus 33:14

The Lord replied, " My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."

Shortest Blog In History!

I have finally started showing signs of having contracted Grace's strep. It is Thanksgiving. I am sick, I am in pain, and I am crying. There just couldn't be a better time...well, maybe Christmas you might think. Our family HAS Christmas at Thanksgiving, so it IS Christmas for me. I am feeling mighty low.......

When I was a girl back in the day, I used to run home from school to watch my favorite soap opera called, Dark Shadows. It featured a vampire named Barnabas Collins, his brother who was a werewolf named Quentin Collins (I had a major crush on him), Barnabas' love interest, Angelique whom he eventually married, etc...They lived in a dark castle and interacted with society on some level in this small town and lived in relative peace with the town folks. I don't remember a great deal of detail, but I rushed home, pulled a couple of chairs together, draped a sheet over them and crawled underneath in order to be able to "peek" out when it got too thrilling and intense for me.

My daughter Callie is experiencing the same passion, but I must say she is handling it with more grace and maturity than I did. She has devoured the four novels by Stephanie Meyer...Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. Now she anxiously awaits the debut of the fifth novel.

I took her to see Twilight, the movie, yesterday.

There were no sheet coccoons to which she could withdraw and there were none needed. She watched avidly as the whole story of Edward Cullen and Bella developed on the big screen in the movie theater.

She gazed with rapt attention as the story unfolded, her hands pressed tightly together, sometimes with clinched fists, sometimes in prayer form, and a few times placed gently against her lips as the two main characters met and fell in love, on screen, before our very eyes. She knew every twist of the movie before it happened, she could manuever each turn with ease because she knows the characters so well.

It was a story of sweet love, nearly impossible love, that was forbidden by both humans and vampires alike and yet, it was undeniable for Edward and Bella. The appreciation we humans have for one who is supposed to be evil and trying so hard to be good and do the right thing is powerful.

I wouldn't be surprised if my little Bella has her own torch for Edward. Not unlike the torch I carried for Quentin Collins all those years ago. Although I enjoyed the movie, watching her was as much fun for me. It brought with it memories of another starry-eyed young girl in love with a handsome hero from long ago.

Thankful For My Heroes!

I am forever awed by people who voluntarily join the Armed Forces. I admire their courage and sense of duty. I just conversed with a young man who enlisted and will be heading to Iraq soon. He asked me to pray for him and his young wife while he is away. I am awestuck by our conversation.

I must admit, I am a wimp. I don't think I could be a soldier and I am not crazy about the idea of any of my children being one, either. I love my country. I am a patriot. And if one of my children decides to sign up, I will not attempt to stand in their way, but I am selfish, I guess. I want my freedom, I just don't want it to cost me anything. Especially, not my children. I am married to a disabled vet, but he did his time before we wed, so I did not "pay" our dues with him. I just reap the benefits.

In my defense, I always salute the flag during the National Anthem (even when many adults and children alike do not take the time to stop their activities to do so), I weep when I hear of the death of another American troop on foreign soil(even though I don't know them), I am elated when some of our soldiers get to come home(again, even though I don't know them), I always thank soldiers in uniform for their service(their gracious reply, "Just doing my job, ma'am, but your welcome...and thanks"is typical ), and I preach patriotism...spout it wherever I go. So I am not that bad, am I?

What I do know is how thankful I am that there are people who love peace enough to fight for it. I appreciate those people who put their lives on the line to protect my country. I am grateful to the men and women who dedicate themselves to preserving my freedom. Those people who live, breathe, walk, talk, leave their families and all they love, to go to strange, dangerous places and do a job that is often thankless and certainly doesn't pay well, just so that I don't have to deal with bombs exploding in my America. Because of them, there is not a war going on in my country and I am relatively safe from harm. Because they put themselves in harm's way and stand between.

I attribute my freedom to speak my mind, write my feelings, go where I want, when I want, do what I want, in large part, to them. They are such an integral part of what makes me free. They are the backbone of our country and I salute them today, for all they do, all they have done, and all they will do, to make and keep our country great.

Our Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard are made up of men and women who love America enough to stand up and be counted. They have the courage to face the hardships of a soldier's life. They endure a life of difficulties because of their sense of duty. There is no draft and even in time of war, they still come. Ready to go defend freedom and destroy terrorism wherever they find it. They understand the meaning of "the greater good".

They are the best of the best in my book. They deserve our gratitude. They have earned our respect. They need our support. They don't seem to need our thanks, but they appreciate it. They make me all the more proud to be an American. They are my heroes!

May God bless our troops and God bless us all.

I Was Afraid of This

This is growing in my baby's throat!

Well, the doctor confirmed my suspicion. Grace has strep. She was somewhat improved on Thursday morning then began to spiral downward Thursday evening. Her fever spiked at last check before medication was administered at 101.5, which is not too high, but it was not going in the direction I wanted. It was obvious she was not significantly improving. Our doctor worked her in. Bless his heart. He was trying to leave the office early to take his family to the Alabama football game and then camping for the weekend. God bless him for not leaving us to deal with this all weekend! OR, visit a Doc-in-the-Box then have to pay again to see our doctor the next week to follow up.
He is even prepared, if needed, to call in prescriptions for any subsequent family members who may succumb to the nasty, dreaded, streptococcal bacterial throat invasion. As he offers this so generously, I am thinking of all the mama-loving I did before I suspected this was strep.

Hmmmm....all those kisses, all the times I tasted the food or drink to see that it would be OK for her taste, all the hot oatmeal bites that I put the spoon directly from her mouth, into the oatmeal, blew it, touched it to my lips to be sure it was not going to burn her mouth, then back into the bowl....Oh-My-Goodness! The times that she fell asleep sitting with me in the recliner as she breathed directly into my face...Oh, dear!

Spanish Horchata-Ole'

My son is taking Spanish this year and is struggling to say the least. Tomorrow he is to bring in a recipe and a dish of some kind that is of Spanish origin. We chose Horchata, a drink made with rice and milk.

He doesn't know his way around a kitchen very well and I think it is important at his age that he do his own projects. With this recipe, he didn't have to cook anything, it is easily served, and easily transported. He began by soaking long grain rice for half an hour in water then drained it, reserving the water. He then used the food processor to make a paste of the rice, added some cinnamon, then added that back to the water to soak for two hours. Then he must drain the liquid from the rice with a sieve, add milk, sweetened condensed milk, mix well and then into the frig overnight. He will serve this over ice tomorrow in class. The original recipe called for a little rum in the mix, but to avoid being arrested for serving alcohol to minors, we opted out of that ingredient.(smile)

All of this effort will get him two daily grades, turning in the recipe counts as one, serving the finished product counts as the other.

I hope his turns out well, he could REALLY use two REALLY good grades in Spanish! But if nothing else, he has learned to make a new drink that we hope is going to taste good and has to be somewhat healthy for you, he has learned the ins and outs of a food processor, and knows a little more about kitchen duty. It is all bueno!

Adios! Buenos noches, amigos!