I'm feeling a bit obsessive about Thanksgiving! I'm obsessing about what everybody is doing for the big day. I keep asking "so, what are you doing for Thanksgiving? What is your favorite food? What's your favorite thing about Thanksgiving?" Seriously, that's me... It's all I've talked about all week, and Thanksgiving isn't for another week, hope I don't drive everyone around me too crazy!!
I just love this day, this day where we come together and laugh and visit, where we make new memories that last us until the next year. I love that we live out the traditions we've developed for our family. There is nothing like a group of people that come together every year and know exactly what to expect, they know that there will be turkey, mashed potatoes, and my perfect gravy (that my mother in law taught me to make, kudos to her), greenbean casserole, rolls that are perfectly browned on top with real butter, and of course pumpkin pie with whip cream, and my new fav that my daughter has made for the last 3 years .... the now famous...must have every year from now on.... Peach Cherry Pie with lattice crust that she makes from scratch, and is perfect every single time! Oh my goodness, it's amazing and I wish everyone of you could try it. She actually made it for me for my birthday this year because I love it so much. Really, there is nothing like Thanksgiving..... Well, Christmas eve is pretty darn close! I get pretty excited about my sister in law's cream cheese tortilla rolls, and her husbands banana bread, and his no bake cookies that he calls "unbaked" cookies, oh and their decorated sugar cookies and their famous peanut butter cookies.... Then there's breakfast the next morning, well- I could just go on and on.... I love to anticipate a day filled with everything that we have had for as long as we can remember- Memories- it's all about making memories, isn't it?
Happy Thanksgiving!
The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.
~H.U. Westermayer~
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Know What I Love... and Hate?
So, for those of you who don't know me, I manage a large dental office with about 17 women. Probably nuff said, right?
Most days there are a handful of them that are in full on "selfish mode" meaning... kiss my a-- because no one matters but me and what I want!! Which is not good for a business that relies on patients who return and refer their friends and family because they love the service we provide... It's at this point that I want to start firing people! Why is it that people think they should have the right to come in an spread their nasty attitude to staff and patients? It's a cancer, and if I had my way I'd fire 6 of them tomorrow. They are not bad everyday but what makes it worse is that they are unpredictable from day to day. Not all of them have a bad attitude, some I'd fire some just because they are not good at their jobs, sad but true. Some I would fire because they aren't team players, they are out for themselves- be gone!
But then there's this one employee, she is willing to do whatever you ask.... and above all, she does it with a smile. She always has a smile on her face, even when she doesn't feel like smiling. She always has a kind word for our staff and our patients, even when someone has just chewed her out. She makes my day! I want a whole office full of women like her.
People, just fake it until you make it, cry in your car all the way to work and all the way home if you must, bite your tongue until it bleeds but keep your issues in check and don't bring them to work.
~ Work harder on yourself than you do on your job~ Jim Rohn
Most days there are a handful of them that are in full on "selfish mode" meaning... kiss my a-- because no one matters but me and what I want!! Which is not good for a business that relies on patients who return and refer their friends and family because they love the service we provide... It's at this point that I want to start firing people! Why is it that people think they should have the right to come in an spread their nasty attitude to staff and patients? It's a cancer, and if I had my way I'd fire 6 of them tomorrow. They are not bad everyday but what makes it worse is that they are unpredictable from day to day. Not all of them have a bad attitude, some I'd fire some just because they are not good at their jobs, sad but true. Some I would fire because they aren't team players, they are out for themselves- be gone!
But then there's this one employee, she is willing to do whatever you ask.... and above all, she does it with a smile. She always has a smile on her face, even when she doesn't feel like smiling. She always has a kind word for our staff and our patients, even when someone has just chewed her out. She makes my day! I want a whole office full of women like her.
People, just fake it until you make it, cry in your car all the way to work and all the way home if you must, bite your tongue until it bleeds but keep your issues in check and don't bring them to work.
~ Work harder on yourself than you do on your job~ Jim Rohn
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Now I'm Irritated!
Enough already about breast cancer, I get it! I get that for every woman who dies to breast cancer, 10 die to heart disease, that is what I get! My question is, does this country really care about women, or just our breasts? Or, perhaps the ugly truth is really that the breast is the "sexy cause" and heart disease is basically just not all that attractive? I firmly believe that breast cancer is tragic and that many women and their families have been devastated by this cancer, and I'm thankful that the women in my family have not had to go through it, but several had heart disease! Just sayin' that there are so many other tragic diseases that deserve equal time. When will some of these other cancers be as important as the " breast"?
I'm not a football fan, but it's on in my house all the time now. What the heck is with the NFL??? Really, these guys are all wearing pink, pink bands, pink shoes, pink caps! The money that was spent on this makes me sick, the NFL should have just given all that money to cancer research. But the truth is that they want some sort of accolade for being so sensitive to the plight of breast cancer, trust me, breast cancer did not need that exposure..... we're pretty much saturated with their " awareness" program!
FYI- Every 15 minutes a woman dies of breast cancer, just to compare- in Africa alone, someone dies every 15 seconds to malaria, which is 100% curable.Who's talking about this? No body!
Never, never, never give up.
~Winston Churchill~
I'm not a football fan, but it's on in my house all the time now. What the heck is with the NFL??? Really, these guys are all wearing pink, pink bands, pink shoes, pink caps! The money that was spent on this makes me sick, the NFL should have just given all that money to cancer research. But the truth is that they want some sort of accolade for being so sensitive to the plight of breast cancer, trust me, breast cancer did not need that exposure..... we're pretty much saturated with their " awareness" program!
FYI- Every 15 minutes a woman dies of breast cancer, just to compare- in Africa alone, someone dies every 15 seconds to malaria, which is 100% curable.Who's talking about this? No body!
Never, never, never give up.
~Winston Churchill~
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Bacon!
If you don't like pork don't read this post! Really, just stop now, I don't want to offend any of you pork haters.
I love pork, seriously, I love pork! And I'm so excited because we are going to go pick up our freshly butchered hog tomorrow. To make the whole process even better, my niece Lena raised our hog, she's 14. She's also raised a turkey and a lamb that we've eaten, isn't that cool?
I have to say that bacon is at the top of my favorite food list. If you like pork you must go to www.cafepress.com where you can buy t-shirts that say things like "I love Bacon" and "Bacon is meat Candy". You know, sayings that you can really stand by, with passion... and dedication :) Let me warn you now though...the government will most likely be adding a fat tax to those of us who love pork, ya, I'm one of those!!! I"m joking, but not totally... a local grocery store here has posted that effective July 1st 2010 that there is an added tax on all candy and pop.... I'm sure bacon will be our next tax!
I have a new wish item on my bucket list, a friend of mine went to Chicago recently and she went on a bacon tour in the city! A real bacon tour, can you imagine? I hate the thought of the calorie count in all that bacon but I'd find a way work it off. Unfortunately, she had a little too much to drink and she wasn't really able to remember the tour. Maybe she should go back with me:)
I have a pork recipe that is one of my all time favorite comfort foods, and I know that every time I eat it that I will eat too much.... and then I'll eat the left overs too....
Pork Chop, potato and mushroom gravy.
4 pork chops- with or without bones
4 potatoes- peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 to 1 cup milk, just to enough to get the right gravy consistency you like.
Vegetable oil
Salt and Pepper
Flour
-Peel and slice potatoes and layer in the bottom of a large baking pan, salt and pepper.
-Heat oil in skillet. Place flour in bowl, add salt and pepper and mix, coat pork chops in flour and brown in oil. Make sure they get a really nice brown color. Remove chops and place on top of potatoes.
- Add soup, sour cream and milk. Add salt and pepper.... and any other seasoning you might like. Heat through and pour over pork chop and potatoes. Cook at 350 for about an hour, or until potatoes are done.
Now..... enjoy one of my favorite comfort foods:)
Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity. ~Voltaire
I love pork, seriously, I love pork! And I'm so excited because we are going to go pick up our freshly butchered hog tomorrow. To make the whole process even better, my niece Lena raised our hog, she's 14. She's also raised a turkey and a lamb that we've eaten, isn't that cool?
I have to say that bacon is at the top of my favorite food list. If you like pork you must go to www.cafepress.com where you can buy t-shirts that say things like "I love Bacon" and "Bacon is meat Candy". You know, sayings that you can really stand by, with passion... and dedication :) Let me warn you now though...the government will most likely be adding a fat tax to those of us who love pork, ya, I'm one of those!!! I"m joking, but not totally... a local grocery store here has posted that effective July 1st 2010 that there is an added tax on all candy and pop.... I'm sure bacon will be our next tax!
I have a new wish item on my bucket list, a friend of mine went to Chicago recently and she went on a bacon tour in the city! A real bacon tour, can you imagine? I hate the thought of the calorie count in all that bacon but I'd find a way work it off. Unfortunately, she had a little too much to drink and she wasn't really able to remember the tour. Maybe she should go back with me:)
I have a pork recipe that is one of my all time favorite comfort foods, and I know that every time I eat it that I will eat too much.... and then I'll eat the left overs too....
Pork Chop, potato and mushroom gravy.
4 pork chops- with or without bones
4 potatoes- peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 to 1 cup milk, just to enough to get the right gravy consistency you like.
Vegetable oil
Salt and Pepper
Flour
-Peel and slice potatoes and layer in the bottom of a large baking pan, salt and pepper.
-Heat oil in skillet. Place flour in bowl, add salt and pepper and mix, coat pork chops in flour and brown in oil. Make sure they get a really nice brown color. Remove chops and place on top of potatoes.
- Add soup, sour cream and milk. Add salt and pepper.... and any other seasoning you might like. Heat through and pour over pork chop and potatoes. Cook at 350 for about an hour, or until potatoes are done.
Now..... enjoy one of my favorite comfort foods:)
Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity. ~Voltaire
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Time
Time is an interesting thing, isn't it? When it comes to things like work, cleaning the house or having an awkward conversation with some woman in line at the grocery store who gives you her life story in 2 min, 37 seconds...painfully slow... Anyway, it's times like this that time seems to move incredibly slow. Or how about when you've spent months preparing for a trip and everything is all set.. and you don't depart for another 4 months.... time creeps by!
I just want to know how to slow time down with a few things:) ridiculous I know. But if you have any tips I'd be interested in hearing them. Mostly I thinking about my granddaughter Layla. She's is with us this weekend and I've done everything I can to make sure that she has my undivided attention so that she and I don't have any regrets with the time we've had together. For the last year or so she has said " I need to stay 2 nights, 1 night is not long enough". So, this weekend she's staying 2 nights, and she has been such an amazing joy. But here we are, it's Saturday night and she's fast asleep, we'll have her for a few hours tomorrow and then it will be over, we'll make some memories tomorrow morning and she'll come to church with us, but then it's over. Time has gone way to fast!
Here's a few Layla quotes from the weekend
While on a walk last night. -
-"Nana, don't pick that up, it's trash"
-"I love you Nana"
-"You're the best Nana ever"
-"Nana, these flowers are so beautiful, can I pick them for my mommy"?
-"Nana, I'm going to remember these beautiful pink clouds in my heart forever"
-" You get what you get each day with clouds" Saying that they are different everyday...so precious!
-"Nana and Papa, I've told you a hundred times, that is not a Lama, it's a Lamb, a Lama walks on two legs but looks like a Kangaroo"..She was dead serious and spoke with amazing conviction, and hand gestures!
There were so many more precious things she said, and next time I'm going to write everyone of them down!
Pure joy!
Grandchildren are God's way of compensating us for growing old.
~ Mary H. Waldrip~
I just want to know how to slow time down with a few things:) ridiculous I know. But if you have any tips I'd be interested in hearing them. Mostly I thinking about my granddaughter Layla. She's is with us this weekend and I've done everything I can to make sure that she has my undivided attention so that she and I don't have any regrets with the time we've had together. For the last year or so she has said " I need to stay 2 nights, 1 night is not long enough". So, this weekend she's staying 2 nights, and she has been such an amazing joy. But here we are, it's Saturday night and she's fast asleep, we'll have her for a few hours tomorrow and then it will be over, we'll make some memories tomorrow morning and she'll come to church with us, but then it's over. Time has gone way to fast!
Here's a few Layla quotes from the weekend
While on a walk last night. -
-"Nana, don't pick that up, it's trash"
-"I love you Nana"
-"You're the best Nana ever"
-"Nana, these flowers are so beautiful, can I pick them for my mommy"?
-"Nana, I'm going to remember these beautiful pink clouds in my heart forever"
-" You get what you get each day with clouds" Saying that they are different everyday...so precious!
-"Nana and Papa, I've told you a hundred times, that is not a Lama, it's a Lamb, a Lama walks on two legs but looks like a Kangaroo"..She was dead serious and spoke with amazing conviction, and hand gestures!
There were so many more precious things she said, and next time I'm going to write everyone of them down!
Pure joy!
Grandchildren are God's way of compensating us for growing old.
~ Mary H. Waldrip~
Sunday, August 22, 2010
27 years
We were married on August 20th 1983, so this last Friday we celebrated 27 years of marriage. Man, I can't help but think that if we've been married that long that we must be old! Good thing I don't feel old!
As I look back on 27 years I am amazed at how God has worked to heal two really screwed up people. We fell in love and without any examples to follow we struggled, but we worked hard to make the best marriage that we possibly could, wasn't always easy....
There were some really tough years, but God's grace was always with us. We decided early on in our marriage that we would never get a divorce, it just wasn't going to be an option. The hard years for us were when our kids were young, all our energy was focused on them, but by God's grace we were able to continue to work on our marriage and by the time they left home... well, one has come back home now, but by the time he was headed for college we actually felt like we had done the work to build a strong marriage and now was our time to enjoy each other.
We love hanging out, going out to eat and going to the movies- we love having friends over and taking naps whenever we want (okay, I love taking naps whenever I want). We love traveling and making new memories that are just ours.
My advice, have your kids while your young and not too set in your ways:)
Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together through the years. ~Simone Signoret
As I look back on 27 years I am amazed at how God has worked to heal two really screwed up people. We fell in love and without any examples to follow we struggled, but we worked hard to make the best marriage that we possibly could, wasn't always easy....
There were some really tough years, but God's grace was always with us. We decided early on in our marriage that we would never get a divorce, it just wasn't going to be an option. The hard years for us were when our kids were young, all our energy was focused on them, but by God's grace we were able to continue to work on our marriage and by the time they left home... well, one has come back home now, but by the time he was headed for college we actually felt like we had done the work to build a strong marriage and now was our time to enjoy each other.
We love hanging out, going out to eat and going to the movies- we love having friends over and taking naps whenever we want (okay, I love taking naps whenever I want). We love traveling and making new memories that are just ours.
My advice, have your kids while your young and not too set in your ways:)
Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together through the years. ~Simone Signoret
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Passionate People!
Was there a song called Passionate People?
Well, I love to hang out with passionate people, unless they're passionate about themselves, in which case I generally avoid all contact with them at all costs! I have no use for people who are self absorbed!
Most of the time I really don't care what you are passionate about, it could be your faith, exercise, food, your job, your family, almost anything.... 1 exception might be the crazies who are obsessed with the pink ribbon representing breast cancer (a very deep rooted issue of mine, previously posted!) But other than that, I love people who stand for something, people who believe in something. I'm seriously annoyed with people who are "tolerant", who never want to offend anyone. I'm a big talker right now..... I don't really want to offend people, I don't desire to make enemies but if the situation calls for me to speak up then I do it. I'll always find a way to say what I think, hopefully in a kind and loving sort of way, but that's how it always goes... Once at a Bunko party, I had had enough of this stupid woman carrying on about how she'd let her teenagers have parties at her house and that she'd be the one handing out condoms... So, I pointed my finger at her, in front of a table full of other women and proceeded to tell her how stupid she was, I even had statistics on std's and loads of other information for her.... it got pretty awkward and I was not invited back to Bunko!!! Makes me laugh now! Stand for what you believe in. Don't compromise, don't waffle, just be true to who you are!
I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.
~Albert Einstein~
Well, I love to hang out with passionate people, unless they're passionate about themselves, in which case I generally avoid all contact with them at all costs! I have no use for people who are self absorbed!
Most of the time I really don't care what you are passionate about, it could be your faith, exercise, food, your job, your family, almost anything.... 1 exception might be the crazies who are obsessed with the pink ribbon representing breast cancer (a very deep rooted issue of mine, previously posted!) But other than that, I love people who stand for something, people who believe in something. I'm seriously annoyed with people who are "tolerant", who never want to offend anyone. I'm a big talker right now..... I don't really want to offend people, I don't desire to make enemies but if the situation calls for me to speak up then I do it. I'll always find a way to say what I think, hopefully in a kind and loving sort of way, but that's how it always goes... Once at a Bunko party, I had had enough of this stupid woman carrying on about how she'd let her teenagers have parties at her house and that she'd be the one handing out condoms... So, I pointed my finger at her, in front of a table full of other women and proceeded to tell her how stupid she was, I even had statistics on std's and loads of other information for her.... it got pretty awkward and I was not invited back to Bunko!!! Makes me laugh now! Stand for what you believe in. Don't compromise, don't waffle, just be true to who you are!
I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.
~Albert Einstein~
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