No Money, No Bones

I recently was made aware that because we are facing a huge financial problem in this country, people now have to choose between feeding themselves and feeding their pets. There are also those people facing the issue of “do I get care for my pet, or don’t I?” Vet visits are down, which is certainly no fun for their businesses, but I am more concerned about the animals being dumped. It is not something I have never had to think about, nor would I want to face that issue. I would certainly explore every option I could first.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals recently estimated that up to 1 million cats and dogs nationwide “are at risk of becoming homeless as a result of the continuing economic downturn.” Shelters across the country are busting at the seams, which only leads to more animals being needlessly euthanized. I find that sad.

I hope that people explore every option possible before ‘dumping’ their pets. Please.

Are You a Foodie?

Being a “gourmet” or “epicure” is passé. Those of us who are now into the world of food are now called “foodies”. I am a foodie. However, I am not alone. There are many of us out there. YOU could be a foodie.

Foodies are defined as “someone who has an ardent or refined interest in food”. Once being thought of as snobby people who could only eat expensive foods, served on the best of china, in refined restaurants, this thinking is no longer valid. Foodies can find something good on a roadside stand in the middle of nowhere and want to know all there is to know about the food, where it comes from, and who made it. We thirst for as much knowledge about food as we can get.

There are some basic traits of being a foodie, as there are basic traits that come with all labels. Generally, you have to know what you like, why you like it, recognize why some foods are better than others and want to have good tasting food all or certainly most of the time. This doesn't mean that you can't eat flaming hot Cheetos every now and again, but it does mean that you don't fool yourself into thinking that it's a nutritionally balanced meal. A foodie is someone who has to know the difference between a beefsteak tomato and a Jersey Tomato, and then wants to try them both to understand the difference.

There might be foods you simply will not try or weird foods you simply have to eat. This is what makes you more of a foodie. The important thing is that you like food, want to know more about food, and in the end enjoying eating the food. My addiction, besides food, is food blogs. I cannot get enough of them.

I Need Spring!

"Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; he will not see me stopping here. To watch his woods fill up with snow." ~ Robert Frost

I need spring.

I am so tired of this cold weather. I am tired of my winter looking surroundings, no green, bare trees, and frosted grass. I yearn for the greens, the colors, the feel, and smell of spring. I want to feel warm sun. I want to sit on my deck. I want to be out for long periods of time without feeling cold.

I need spring.

I want to plant flowers, sow grass (yes, thanks to Meego), and play in the dirt. I want to fill my deck pots with pretty flowers. I want to see green grass, and the little yellow flowers of my forsythia bushes. I want to spend time on my patio, relaxing on a lounger.

I need spring.

Keeping Secrets

Can you keep a secret? I can, but obviously, you can’t. What is about people who claim they can keep something private and to themselves, only to find out that they “thought it would be okay to share with so and so” and that I wouldn’t mind?? What the heck? And if you are telling me a secret that someone else asked you to keep private, then obviously I cannot trust you either. What part about secret and private don’t you get??

I realize that for many secrets are difficult to keep. If I want to ensure privacy, I’d better just keep my thoughts and feelings to myself. In addition, I would expect that if you wish to remain my friend, you’d better keep my thoughts and feelings I share with you, private, especially after I asked you to do so. Thank you.

Miserable People

I am so sorry that someone, somewhere pissed in your oatmeal, but please keep it to yourself.

Nuff said.

Aishiteru*

Ask any self-respecting Japanese woman what she has planned for Valentine's, and she'll tell you that it's all been set — the chocolates, gifts, and dinner, all prepared and paid for, by her. On Barentain Dei, women take the initiative to shower their honmei or sweethearts with gifts, profess their love, and humor their male classmates and colleagues with giri-choco or obligation chocolates. For teenagers it's a bittersweet initiation into romance and courtship, where girls brave a few burns to learn the art of tempering molten chocolate to create one-of-a-kind treats for the captain of the baseball team. For the more weathered, it's about raiding Godiva for their lovers and husbands, and picking up cheaper consolation prizes for the lesser males in their lives. The men, by the way, don’t have to do a thing for the women on Feb. 14. Not till Mar. 14, but more on that later.

How a lovers' holiday in the west turned into a quasi-feminist chocolate orgy is unclear. The the first Valentine's sale in Japan took place in 1958 and Tokyo chocolatier Mary Chocolate's event generated 150 yen total in sales (the company sold three bars of chocolate in three days). Nevertheless, the marketing opportunity would not be lost in translation.

Men do not get an entirely free ride. In the late 1970s a number of confectionary company CEOs got together to try to figure out how to get a piece of the chocolate pie. Their equal opportunity marketing gimmick was to come up with "White Day" on March 14th, where the men are obliged to reciprocate for their Valentine's gifts by purchasing candies and cookies. Easy enough? Well, maybe not. Expectations have grown since the 70s. According the polls, what women expect on White Day, in order of preference, are jewelry, watches, and handbags. Van cleef & Arpels, Cartier and Louis Vuitton are not complaining.

Love equals money no matter the culture.

*Aishiteru means I Love You.

Self- Doubt

I have been chasing the dream of teaching nursing for quite some time. I really want the chance to help my profession grow through helping others reach their dreams of becoming nurses. I want to make a difference. You can’t do it unless you have a degree. Unfortunately.

I love being in school, although lately it has been quite a personal challenge. I have stumbled in the past, but have managed to breeze through each class and quite well. Lately, I keep wondering if perhaps I was not meant to teach. It is hard, sometimes, to believe in your ability to be or do everything you dream about and even the most determined person has their dark moments. I hate self-doubt.

Self Doubt: A lack of faith or confidence in oneself.

That is what I have. That is where I am at right now. I hear the little voices in my head (not really, please do not call the mental health police) saying that maybe I'm not good enough, not smart enough, or not talented enough to be a good teacher. Where does this self-doubt come from? I am hoping it is a little speed bump. I have no time for self-doubt right now. I have to get through this damn class.

Self-doubt is the little voice in your head saying " You Can Do It!" and the big voice saying " I Wish You Would"...listen to the little voice” ~Sean O’Donnell

What a Tease!

I am tired of the cold, the mud, the ice, the snow (even the pitiful amounts), and the dreary winter days. I am now ready for the warmth and renewal of spring.

Yesterday it warmed a wee bit (51 here), and I was out with the pups when a damn Robin flew in the yard, sitting there, with it's smug little attitude. Normally they remind us that spring is right around the corner, but being the realistic person I am, I know it isn't. There are still many winter days ahead.

Dumb bird.

No More Ashes, No more Soot....

We gave the wood logs a big fat boot!

With my direction (and I am good at that), Jim turned our wood burning fireplace into a gas burning one, and I love it! No more dirty ashes, no more tiny wood chips, no more kindling be dragged around the house (haha Meego!), and a relatively sparkling glass front!

And I can easily hit the remote and start a fire, without having to wait for Jim or one of the kids to do it for me! With the prices of firewood going up constantly, and the places to even go and get our own wood dwindling (WHO is buying into all these new develpments?), not to mention our getting too old to haul, chop, and split wood, it was time! Thankfully Jim is talented enough to do the work, so it was relatively cheap to do. And it looks so pretty.

I love my new fireplace logs!

False Promises (Again)

I am so tired of being promised that we will get snow and then a big nothing. I like the snow. I like watching it fall from the sky, and blanketing the ground, making everything so pretty. However, if we are not going to get snow, in any amount (one inch does not count), then let us just move onto spring. I have things that need to be done outside (more leaves and sticks out front).

I miss the winters I had as kid. I remember a ton of snow and many school closings. What happened to all that snow? (Shhh, I know about global warming, just let me reminisce here). I grew up in a house that sat on a hill, so when we had snow, we had major fun. Our house sat across the street from Deal Lake, and there were times we could start at the top of the driveway, fly down across the street, and down another hill and onto the lake. NOW that was snow!

Moreover, it lasted. We did not have a few hours of snow and then rain and it was gone. We had good snow, healthy snow, snow that lasted and lasted. Where is that snow? We had the kind of snow that provided my brothers with serious income from hours and hours of shoveling storefronts and people’s driveways. We had the kind of snow that required tons of extra mittens and snow pants. Snow pants! What kids have to wear them today when it snows? No one.

I wish for a major snow episode. An old-fashioned blizzard. No more false promises. Get serious mother nature.

Spring Clean Up in February

We have had this tiny little spurt of warmer air. Okay, 49 degrees, but warmer than 20. I have felt stuck in this house, glued to my laptop, getting through mounds of reading, researching, and writing. (I feel as if my MSN is now in sight, finally!) So when the weather turned favorably, I got out.

Of course, it is not in my nature to just go out and relax. I got the idea to remove the left over firewood from the shed yesterday (we are going from wood to gas), and then clean up the shed. Since the shed was no longer going to store wood, I thought we could use the shed as a shed. So it was then time to move the yard tools from the garage to the shed, freeing up more space in the garage. And since the rake was now out, why not just tidy up the backyard. Some 6 large bags later, and the yard is tidy. The sticks gone (for now) so no more chewed up littlier sticks. (got dogs, got little chewed up sticks). I then thought why not tidy up the patio (just in case the weather really got warm and we might want to have a barbeque). Chairs moved out, broom in. One more bag of leaves. Then while I was there Ithought I would clean up under the sink in the outdoor kitchen. HOW do leaves get in there? Makes no sense.

I will tell you here that while it seems the cleaning was effortless, I had the help of four goldens. Nothing is easy when they pitch in and help. And not once, but twice, did I have to chase Migo to get my gardening gloves back.

Then it was on to the garage. Broom out, half a bag of leaves. How the hell do all those leaves get in there? Loads of space!

Now my back hurts and there is snow coming. No barbeque. Colder weather. Breaktime over. Back to the books. Hurry Spring!