My ER Visit

Several weeks ago, my boss sent me a nasty email. I responded as I usually do to a nasty email - I could feel my blood pressure and heart rate increasing as my face got red and I thought "why do I work here, anyway?" I went home and ranted and raved to my poor husband. And then I realized I had a headache. And I thought this is stupid; I have given myself a headache. I need to learn to take things more in stride. But that damn headache lasted 5 days, and no pain reliever would make a dent in it.

Then my annual severe cough - slight fever thing, where I can't breathe - came along. This thing lasts for weeks and I hate it. When I talk, I cough, and when I cough, I can't stop, and then I can't breathe. That came Thursday night.

On Sunday night, I went to bed and realized I had a severe headache. I managed to come downstairs and get some aspirin but there was no change. And then, to my horror, I felt nauseous. I am quite proud of my record of not throwing up for 22 years and intend to keep adding to that record. I have a huge terror of throwing up. I realized the light was causing part of my pain, as was any noise.

My husband came up to bed and seeing my clutching my head in pain, suggested we go to the emergency room. I said no, it's a headache. I'm embarrassed to go to the ER with a headache. I went to the bathroom and turned the light on and realized the vision in my left eye was completely blurred. That part freaked me out. So I said ok, let's go. He asked if he should call an ambulance and I said no way; you have to lie down in an ambulance and I was already nauseous and I get motion sick.

So I threw on some sweats and off we went to the ER, at 1:30 AM. I expected a full lobby but it was empty. I was put in a room and sent down for a cat scan. About an hour later, an ER dr came in and said most likely nothing was wrong, but the radiologist saw something of concern on the cat scan and suggested an MRI. So they were calling in a tech to do an MRI. Another hour went by, as I imagined the brain tumor or aneurysm bursting in my brain. The tech arrived at 4 AM and I was wheeled down for an MRI. I could hear the MRI tech talking and she mentioned she was talking to the radiologist, so I assumed the MRI would be read right away.

Many hours passed, but at least I was getting anti-nausea drugs and morphine in my IV so I was kind of out there. To make a long story short, we waited several hours for the MRI results. Finally the dr came in and said the MRI was fine and she noticed my eye was red - did my eye hurt? I said actually, yes it did. She brought in another dr and they tried to take the pressure in my eye. They said their results showed very high pressure but they wanted an eye dr to check it. They told me to see an eye dr now in the building and to return to the ER.

So off we went to see the eye dr. He took my pressure. I never knew much about glaucoma and eye pressure, but he seemed very concerned. 15 is the norm and my left eye was 70. My father had lost the vision in his eye when his was at 50, I later found out. So the eye dr did a laser surgery and the pressure moved down slightly. He said he had never known the laser surgery to fail. He called a glaucoma specialist, whose office was down the street, and sent me there. He said she was waiting for me.

So off we went to the ER, who said there was something on the cat scan and MRI that was of concern and a neurologist suggested admitting me for further work-up. We said no, the eye was a critical problem.

We got to the glaucoma specialist's office and my pressure had gone up. She gave me drops. The pressure did not go down. She told me I would not be happy with her, but she had to stick a needle in my eye. It's a good thing I was still doped up from morphine - I cannot handle anyone coming near my eye under normal circumstances. She stuck the needle in my eye, did another laser surgery, gave me pills and more drops and told me I had come very close to losing my vision.

We got home at 5:00. Never ate anything all day but had no appetite.

Had to go back to the glaucoma specialist the next day and the pressure had come down. Someone called it a medical crisis. The next day I had to get the laser surgery in my other eye.

Since my dad lost his vision after a botched cataract surgery that resulted in the removal of his eye (and macular degeneration in the other eye), I have always wondered how anyone can live with no vision. I am very thankful that it was caught and that drs were willing to drop what they were doing to spend the time treating me.

Still have the damn headache but am feeling lucky after this ordeal.

The Daughter Graduates

Our graduate, Heather Grace - "looking into the future" as my husband describes the pose....

It seems like just yesterday when the hubby, the daughter (Heather) and I went to orientation at Ohio University. We listened to many speeches about what to expect, and advice was given to parents to stop hovering and let their kids go.

And here we were, 4 years later, driving down for graduation.

There is something so exciting about graduations - any kind. This is the biggest one I have ever attended. All the graduates were on the lower level with some overflow in a balcony. I started counting how many were in a row and how many rows there were, and I figured there were about 6,000 kids graduating. I thought geez, add in the speeches and watching each kid walk across the stage, and well, I thought we'd be there all day except there was another graduation scheduled for 4.5 hours after the one we attended.

It started out with people marching out holding flags with names - "College of Business" (which Heather was in), "College of Engineering" etc. And the orchestra played Pomp and Circumstance - I don't know how that became the official graduation tune, but it works. The speeches were great. Something in my head always equates "speech" with "boring." The professional speaking, an alumnus of OU, was very high energy and motivational. The student speaking was quite charming and funny. He was wondering why everyone always says "wait until you get in the real world" and wondered if the world he had been living in for the past 4 years was just a figment of his imagination. Then came the conferring of the degrees. I have never seen such speed and efficiency in my life. There was no walking across the stage. They had kids coming up 3 steps to each side of the stage, at the same time, with the announcer obviously being a speed reader. If you blinked, you missed your kid.

Then it was back to the dilapidated house where we paid way too much in rent money. We had some pieces of furniture to move out. It was about 88 degrees and very humid. The tree lawns nearby were littered with tons of furniture. I walked outside and noticed a guy in a pick-up truck, loading all the furniture into his truck. I thought now that is smart. And that is the business to be in at a college town - pick it up free in June and sell it in August. The guy saw me and asked if I needed help moving. I said YES and he helped move the furniture down the stairs and into our car.

Then it was out to lunch with Heather's good friend and her family.

Then the 3+ hour ride home. As we left beautiful Athens Ohio, my husband said "well I guess we'll never be coming back here again" and honestly, I won't miss that ride.

So now "real life" begins for Heather.

Or it will once she finds a job.

Words from Mother Theresa

"Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor...Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting."

An Evening with Regina Brett

A few months ago, our local paper, The Plain Dealer, featured excerpts from a book written by one of its columnists (one of my personal favorites) - Regina Brett. Based on those excerpts, I ordered the book from the library. I am not a big buyer of books. I read them once and I return them. That works for me.

So I got my email from the library that the book had arrived, and I went to get it. Even though I was in the middle of some great trashy magazines (hey, I write technical stuff all day; I'm entitled), I started on this book immediately.

Then my friend Sharon invited me to The Gathering Place to hear Regina speak. What a perfect setting. The Gathering Place in Cleveland is a place for those who have been touched by cancer. In its own words, "the mission of The Gathering Place is to support, educate and empower individuals and families touched by cancer through programs and services provided free of charge. We are proud to recognize our decade of celebrating life."

Sharon recently went for a tour and tried Reiki and plans to go back to try other programs.

We went together last night to hear Regina speak. And what a wonderful evening it was. Regina is a breast cancer survivor, so it was fitting that she would speak at this support center.

A woman in her 50s who looks like she's about 16, Regina has packed a lot into her life. And she chronicles everything in "God Never Blinks - 50 Lessons for Life's Little Detours." The fact that she refers to the events in her life as "little detours" kind of says it all.

Regina describes herself as "one of those broken souls." Raised in a Catholic home with 10 other siblings, she became an unwed mother at age 21 and raised her daughter on her own. She found the love of her life and married him at age 40. At 41, she became ill with breast cancer.

This book describes her journey.

She is a survivor. She could have easily felt sorry for herself, but she didn't. She continued to move forward through every challenge. She talks about the "chemo shower" her friends gave her, giving her hats, scarves and earrings. Every event that could have been a cause for a pity party became a celebration of sorts.

One of my favorite stories in her book was when she decided to create a gift for her husband's 40th birthday by asking 40 of his friends to write a letter to him. "Most of them ended up saying what is most difficult to say in person, what is often never said in person." She presented the collection to him on his birthday. And he said "most people don't ever get to know how people feel about them. This is the kind of stuff they say at your funeral."

Everything about this book and about Regina is a celebration; learning difficult life lessons; understanding that there will always be ups and downs; and knowing things will always get better.

I bought the book for Sharon. And I recommend it to present as a gift to anyone who is going through rough times.

Delicious Dessert - Berry Tart

Berry Tart

1 C crushed ginger snap cookies (about 20 cookies)
3/4 C crushed vanilla wafers (about 25 wafers)
1/4 C finely chopped walnuts
1/3 C butter, melted
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 3/4 C white grape juice
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1/4 C sugar
1 t vanilla
2.5 C fresh blueberries (I used less)
1.5 C sliced fresh strawberries (I used more)

Combine the cookie crumbs, walnuts and butter. Press onto bottom and 1.5 inch up sides of a greased 9 inch springform pan.

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes or until set. Cool on a wire rack.

In a small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over grape juice; let stand for 1 minute. Heat over low heat, stirring until gelatin is completely dissolved. Cover and refrigerate until partially set (about 45 minutes).

Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Spread over crust.

Place berries in a large bowl. Gently stir in gelatin mixture (I didn't use all of it). Spoon over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen. Remove sides of pan

Thoughts on Welcome to Holland

When we were going through the very difficult child-raising years, I came across something that forced me to view life in a new way. It was called Welcome to Holland.

http://www.creativeparents.com/Holland.html

The gist of this wonderfully simple piece is that we don't plan to have a child with disabilities, but when it happens, we need to look at that child in a new way. Some of the words have resonated with me for 10+ years:

... you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met....

I did learn a new language. Most of my free time was spent reading books and getting information online. I met wonderful, kind, giving people who I would not have met were it not for these circumstances. I learned what is important and what is not.

Our son, at age 20, is doing much better than we ever hoped or expected.

And those words continue to stick with me. And I realized they apply to much more than a child with issues. They apply to any major difficulties anyone experiences. To me, those words are a key to survival when life gets really tough.

And so when my best friend who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer asked me to go with her to a class teaching how to apply make-up for cancer patients, I thought this will be fun. As I tend to do, I connected what she is going through with the Welcome to Holland piece. As a healthy middle-aged woman, she didn't expect to be going for days of testing, chemotherapy, or spending a few days in a hospital with a low blood count.

But she will learn the language, and she will meet special people.

And I will be there too.

And we will have fun, like we always have.

Bonnie Becomes a BON

I am honored to be selected as a feature blogger of Words of Wisdom (WOW). Please check it out:

http://www.ourwisdomofwords.blogspot.com/

WOW, in its own words, is a support site for blogs of substance. Mmmm. I never thought of my blog as a blog of substance and I've actually given up trying to define what it is about. Sometimes it's better not to over-analyze these things. When I feel like writing, I write. And it might be a while between posts. If I have nothing to say, there's no post.

I love the concept of this site and I look forward to finding interesting new blogs to follow. It was created at the perfect time for me, since it seems that several of the blogs I've been faithfully following have abruptly decided to end. And I'm the type of person (nosy) who needs to know what happened! So if I start to follow your life and suddenly you say "I'm done" - well, I won't be happy about it!

I will admit that I found the acronym BON (Blogger of Note) to be very amusing. You see, as a Bonnie, when Sandy emailed me with the subject line "BON" I thought she was being especially friendly to me!

I have been blogging for 1.5 years now. I am a Compliance Officer at my job (in employee benefits) and I do a lot of technical writing, and let me tell you, it doesn't get any more boring than that. I have always enjoyed writing, and found it to be quite refreshing to write whatever comes to me and have people actually read it! My husband's cousin got me into it - she is much more creative than I am, but we both agreed that once you start blogging, you seem to view everything in your life in a new way and think to yourself "oh now THAT would make a good blog post!"

I tend to find the humor in things. Even in things that aren't funny. I am known for laughing at the most inopportune times, and when that happens, I usually can't stop.

As a Cancer, I love my home. I would be quite content to never leave it. I am mom to an almost 22 year old daughter and a 20 year old son. My husband and I will celebrate our 25th anniversary this September. And I am a loving mama to a 15 year old dog and 3 cats. I can't imagine my life without these animals hanging around.

My friends are very important to me and I would describe myself as a loyal person.

Finding my favorite posts was kind of a fun adventure. I did not realize I had written so much! But here they are:

http://mamaksblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/friend-for-few-seasons.html

This blog was meaningful to me because (1) friendships are so important to me; and (2) it touched on what we went through when my son was younger. It was not a fun time.

http://mamaksblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/water-aerobics-for-people-like-me.html

This is kind of how I see life. Most things are amusing to me. And while my water aerobics days are over ( just too painful to get into a bathing suit), it was fun while it lasted.

And finally

http://mamaksblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/pepper-is-15-today.html

A tribute to my wonderful dog, Pepper. I admit that the first thing I do every morning is make sure she's still breathing. It's getting harder for her to get around. She is one of the great loves of my life.

In closing, I want to wish a happy birthday to my oldest cat, Bing Krauss, who turns 11 on 3/26/10.



In final closing, here are the kids (there will be no pix of moi, because the last good picture taken of me was taken 30 years ago):

Back Home to Reality

I have been chided for not writing.

I have not felt like writing. I didn't know how to put down in writing what has been happening. But I will give it my best.

We had a wonderful trip to Florida. Spent the first night in Tampa with an old friend who goes all the way back to junior high. We hung out and went to an Irish pub where the 3 of us were a team in a trivia game. Thankfully, my husband and my friend are much better at trivia than me. I have forgotten pretty much everything I know. I'm a perfect specimen of a menopausal woman. My brain has pretty much left my body.

We spent night 2 with my old boyfriend. We were together for about 6 or 7 years, starting in our college days. We keep in touch very occasionally. When I told him we were coming down, he said he and his wife wanted to take us to dinner, and we were welcome to stay there. It was nice meeting the wife of over 25 years, and spending time with them.

The remainder of the trip we stayed at my husband's old high school friend's condo. He was happy to have us, we were happy to be there, and it was very relaxing.

I had been very nervous about leaving my 20 year old son home alone with the 15 year old dog and 3 cats. I thought I'd be a wreck the whole trip. But it was quite the opposite. It was like living in a fairy tale world for one week. Now I know why people take vacations. It is very, very nice to live with no stress, if only for a short week.

Upon arriving home, our fairy tale world ended. First we walked into the house to find clear signs of a party that had taken place. I wasn't surprised; my son admitted to me on the phone that he had one. I just wasn't prepared for the mess that awaited us.

He also never brought the garbage can in, and there was a nice letter from our city telling us we are in violation of whatever code for leaving it out. The letter even included a nice picture of our house with a picture of the garbage can on the treelawn.

Then came the call. My friend from the beginning of time - we lived 3 doors away when we were born and have therefore been friends for 52 years - was diagnosed with cancer. She had an ultrasound and the tech brought in 2 doctors, who both looked at the ultrasound and stated it was cancer. I thought well they must be wrong; who diagnoses cancer without a biopsy? Yet what kind of doctor says "it's cancer" without really knowing it's cancer?

We have always enjoyed doing dumb stuff together, and laughing at everything. Yes, she has been the subject of many of my posts. Going to see Deepak Chopra and laughing hysterically through the whole thing. Going to garage sales. Doing queer stuff that would not be fun with anyone else. I always expected that we'd be doing this together through our 80s. I could not picture growing old without her.

Then came the days of tests and the horrendous wait for results - did it spread?

That news was as good as it could be. The cancer was contained to a breast. She will start chemo soon. After 6 months of chemo comes surgery. I had never heard of that order, but apparently that's how they do it.

I guess 52 doesn't seem that young if you look at it objectively. But no matter what age we are, we will always view ourselves as being young, even though our bodies and are minds are starting to go.

The next year will be a hard one. But the news could have been a lot worse.

So, that's what's been going on. The ups and downs of life, in the span of a few weeks.

Off to Florida!

My husband and I have not taken a vacation together in I don't know how many years - 21?

So we are off to Florida tomorrow.

As luck would have it, I woke up at 3 AM Sunday morning with the worst pain ever in my arm. I must have a pinched nerve. My arm is not working well at all. I took a muscle relaxer at 3 AM on Sunday and slept most of the day. I won't take anymore cause I don't want to be out of commission, having to pack and clean the house, altho I have given up on cleaning the house.

I am hoping my son will take good care of the 15 year old dog and the 3 cats.

And that the weather down there is halfway decent.

The Festive Blood Drive

I'm hoping there's some relationship between Valentine's Day, the day I am writing this, and the blood drive I recently attended (they're both red?).

I used to give blood fairly regularly. Then a few years ago, I gave blood on my way home from work on a Friday. I came home and felt a little tired but nothing alarming. The next morning, I got up and went to water aerobics. I came home and showered. I felt a little off, so I decided I'd stay home for the rest of the day. I put on a black t-shirt that was stained with bleach. I used to love that t-shirt, but one day I wore it to the grocery store and I bought bleach that day. As I was putting it on the belt, I felt something damp and realized the top wasn't on the bleach bottle all the way. I didn't realize til I got home that my black shirt had a big white streak, but I then declared it to be my wear-around-the-house-only black t-shirt.

So I got out of the shower, donned the stained shirt sans bra, and started to change the bedding. My husband even joked about my shirt and I said "well it's not like anyone is gonna see me."

So I came downstairs with the sheets and felt a little worse. After putting the sheets in the washing machine, I started to walk across the kitchen floor and suddenly I realized I could no longer stand, or see. I said to my husband "I don't feel right" and he grabbed me as I collapsed. I heard him call 911 and say "my wife just passed out." I was in and out for the next few minutes but I woke up to 4 guys surrounding me, checking my heart, blood sugar, etc. And my sweet dog Pepper was in the midst of these guys, licking my face. One of the EMTs said "will someone please get the dog out of here?" And even though I was half out of it, I remembered smiling to myself.

They declared me to be stable and suggested a trip to the hospital. I declined. I know what emergency rooms are like and no thanks.

As I tried to figure out what had caused this, I figured it was giving blood and not taking in enough fluids afterward. It shook me up enough that I was a little gun-shy about giving blood for a while.

There is a party center nearby that sponsors one big blood drive a year. I had received several flyers about it and thought well maybe I should go. Free food! Live entertainment! The final clincher came when I got a call a day before the blood drive, telling me I'd get a free "goodie bag" that included a travel mug.

That did it. I needed a new travel mug. So I called and made a reservation for 4:30, planning to go on my way home from work.

The weather wasn't great but it wasn't horrendous. I arrived and many people were walking in at the same time as me. We were greeted by a handsome smiling young man, who asked if we were there to donate blood. He directed us down the hall. Fifteen feet later, another smiling young man continued to direct us. We read from the book everything we needed to know about giving blood and were given a name sticker with a number on it. Then we were directed by another smiling man to yet another room, where a man asked our number and wrote it down. Every few minutes someone would come out and call out the next number. I laughed and told the woman next to me that I felt like we were in the middle of an assembly line and she agreed but added that it was "very well organized."

When our number was called, we went to a room full of cubicles and completed the computer questionnaire. Then we were directed to the main ballroom.

Walking into the ballroom just made me smile. It was filled with cots and volunteers and a high school choir singing, loudly, with bad soloists singing loudly. It reminded me of a Chevy Chase movie.

We all donated blood and were then directed to an area with small tables with tablecloths where many people sat. I thought, as I usually do, I don't really need a pack of cookies, and then I smelled the air, and it was heavenly food. I looked over and there were tables set up with chafing dishes of food. Lots of food. Some kind of wonderful smelling pasta, salads, cookies, many drinks, etc. And I thought oh what the hell. So I helped myself and sat down.

Everyone said hello and while we all ate in silence, this blood drive continued to amuse me. An announcer told us that they had already collected 700 pints but their goal was 1,200. There were 2 hours left to go. The weather probably kept some people away. But I thought this is kind of fun! And entertaining! And festive!

And then I picked up my goodie bag - a tote bag with a travel mug, a flashlight, a deck of cards and a water bottle.

I will be back next year.

And happy valentine's day.

New Things That Are Good

Not much new over here, but I have sampled or read of some new things that are good....

First, the Coffee Toffee Twisted Frosty, at Wendy's. No, I should not be eating stuff like this, but I read on AOL's write-up of the best offerings in fast foods that the twisted frosty is just FULL of mix-ins. In Wendy's words:

"We start with our irresistible, real dairy Frosty and add coffee syrup made with real-brewed coffee. Then we mix in chocolate-covered toffee candy made in old-fashioned copper kettles to create a rich, indulgent treat."

It is unbelievable. You can choose between a chocolate and vanilla frosty, and chocolate is the only way to go. I had my heart set on one today, and following the best dieting advice, I had only the frosty for lunch. Why bother with the nutritious stuff when this is all you want? Oh, is it good.

And I happened to read in today's paper about a new offering by Heinz catsup - it's a new container kind of like the container little packages of butter come in. So you can DIP the fries right in the new catsup container. And it has more catsup in it than those squeeze things that take way too much time when you're anxious to dig into those fries as soon as you get home. Hell, you can now dip them right in the car.

And for those of you who like junk food TV, it's Celebrity Rehab. I must confess to a liking for junk food TV. I make fun of my husband for watching Cops, but then I started to get into Real Housewives. It's an embarrassing habit, but I like to do some relaxing on Saturdays, and that includes taking an hour to watch that show. As I watch it, I think I can't believe I'm wasting my time watching it. But then this week we just discovered Celebrity Rehab. Heidi Fleiss is in it. My god, what happened to her lips? She must have OD'd on the lip injection and she looks terrible, but it's junk TV at its best.

Our Visit to See Deepak Chopra

Years ago, a co-worker was offered several tickets to see Deepak Chopra at Severance Hall in Cleveland. He offered me two tickets and I gladly accepted. I tried to convince my husband to go, but he had no interest. I gave him the this-can-improve-your-life plea, but he continued to decline. So I invited my friend Sharon. We looked forward to an evening out with perhaps some spirituality thrown in.

We arrived at Severance Hall and showed our tickets. The usher told us to continue walking up the stairs. We got to the next level, and the usher on that floor told us the same thing. We arrived at the next floor huffing and puffing and I told the usher there that he better not tell us to continue walking up another flight of stairs. He looked sheepish. I said so we have to continue walking, huh? And he smiled and said yes.

As it turned out, our seats were in the highest part of the concert hall, which is very high. OK, we had expected better but we still looked forward to this evening. Til we sat down. These seats had the smallest amount of leg room I have ever experienced. I am someone who needs to stretch her legs out frequently, and this wasn't working real well. We finally arranged it so that Sharon, who had an end seat, moved her legs to the aisle so that I could use her leg space for my legs.

Deepak started talking and told a few amusing stories that had the audience laughing. Then he got into the serious stuff. My mind started to wander. My mind has always wandered when I'm forced to sit and listen to someone, but I somehow thought this subject matter would engage me. Wrong. Several times I tried to pull my brain back in, but by that point, I had no idea what the man was talking about. That was when Sharon turned to me and whispered "I have no idea what he's talking about." I should add here that Sharon and I have a bad habit of laughing, uncontrollably, at the most inopportune times. Many years ago, we had gone to see Terms of Endearment, and the entire theater was in tears, and it struck us how funny it was that all these people had paid money to go and cry, and we became hysterical. In the midst of all the sniffling, you could hear our snorts as we told each other to shut up, because if one wouldn't stop, the other wouldn't stop.

So there we sat, in our tiny seats, laughing hysterically, as Deepak gave his words of wisdom to his large audience. We could not stop.

Intermission could not come soon enough. As soon as it came, we looked at each other and didn't have to say a word. We both stood up, grabbed our purses and walked out.

Down the many steps.

When we finally got to the bottom, there was a table set up, with Deepak. No people were there yet. He was there at intermission to sign books. And we had to walk right past him to get to our cars.

That got us started all over again.

Easy Chicken'N Broccoli Pie

A good easy dinner (Courtesy of Betty Crocker)


1 1/2 cups Green Giant® frozen broccoli florets, thawed, drained (from 12-oz bag)
1 cup shredded reduced-fat sharp Cheddar cheese (4 oz) (I didn't use the low fat version)
1 cup cut-up cooked chicken breast
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup Bisquick Heart Smart® mix
1 cup fat-free (skim) milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 eggs or 1/3 cup fat-free egg product
1. Heat oven to 400°F. Spray 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray. Layer broccoli, 1/2 cup of the cheese, the chicken and onion in pie plate.
2. In medium bowl, stir Bisquick mix, milk, salt, peper and eggs with wire whisk or fork until blended. Pour into pie plate.
3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake 3 to 4 minutes longer or just until cheese is melted. Cool 5 minutes.

Better to Age Fast and Be Happy

I made the mistake last month of logging onto realage.com (for some reason, I can't get the link to work today). I completed a long questionnaire. Based on your responses, you are given your "real" age. Well my true real age is 52.5 but now I have been assessed as having a real age of 63.7.

So, realage.com has decided to send me emails to give me suggestions on reducing the age they have assigned to me.

One suggestion had the headline "Turn Off Hunger With This Drink."

I'm open to anything, so I clicked on that.

YUCK! This drink is made with fat-free cottage cheese, 1% low-fat buttermilk, half an avocado and agave nectar.

I think I'll stick to my junk food and be old and happy.

Stuff People Have Said that Amuses Me

Last night as our family was driving together in one car, we were forced to talk to each other. It is rare that the 4 of us have a conversation together.

I was telling them how we got all this chocolate at work, sent to us by vendors. Well there was a box of cookies and a box of cherry cordials that was still unopened a week after Christmas. So yesterday I announced to my floor that my mother volunteers at the food bank, and if no one objected, I was going to take these unopened sweets to her so she could donate them the next time she worked. One person said I should have done that a week ago with all the chocolates we got. So I put them in my bag and brought them home. Well, 20 year old son Joe, who tends to see things in black and white, was dumbfounded: "you don't bring cherry cordials to a food bank." "Why not?" I asked. "Because those people don't eat cherry cordials. They need canned goods." I explained that it would be nice for one of "those people" to take home something sweet; something they wouldn't ordinarily buy, and an argument (aka a lively discussion) ensued til we finally dropped the topic because one never wins an argument with Joe. I will bring the stuff over to my mother in the next few days.

And speaking of my mother, I was thinking about one of my favorite remarks she has ever made. We went shopping one night at a strip center with a big parking lot. It was raining out. She started to pull into a space, and I told her it was a handicapped space; she hadn't seen the sign. And she said "oh, 'they' won't be out tonight." Now my mother is not a mean person; she has spent most of her life volunteering for multiple causes. That remark just stuck with me and I told a friend about it and whenever we can't find a parking space somewhere, she'll say we should just park in a handicapped spot cause they won't be out today.

Then, although it doesn't come under the category "stuff people have said that amuses me" - I was thinking about a dinner we had at my parents a few weeks ago. My mother went to bring out a box of chocolates she had bought for the occasion, and found that someone had opened them. Given that the only person who lives with my mother is my father, she was very angry at him. Half the chocolates were gone. My father said he didn't know she bought them for this occasion. Never mind that my mother is allergic to chocolate. We all laughed but my mother was not amused. Later my sister told me that whenever my mother goes out, my 86 year old father, who lost his vision a few years ago, goes searching through the house for candy. I love seeing the child in all of us.

Angel Clare

A few months ago, an old college friend, Richard, sent me a downloaded song called Woyaya.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viwERI295zU



I cannot figure out how to download the video (from youtube) or add the music to this video. If anyone on blogger knows how to do these things, please enlighten me! But if you have the time and inclination, click on the link. I think this song is so beautiful.

Anyway, I opened his email and this beautiful music started to play. Music we listened to in college. Richard and Larry shared a room in our co-ed dorm, and all these memories burst forth of a group of us hanging out in their room. There was a rocking chair in that room, and I can't remember if it was Larry or Richard who sat in that chair, but one of them did, and several of us would sit there with the lights out, as we listened to the music of the day.

This was at York University, in the outskirts of Toronto. Our favorite outing was to take the bus and subway to downtown Toronto, where we would travel down Yonge Street and buy our favorite thing - albums. It was so exciting to come back to the dorm with a new album.

When I think of my years at York U, my memories are never of classes. Other than the one on body language where they hired a nude model for the class to discuss his body language. That was my only memorable class. All those thousands of dollars spent, and my main memory was gathering in Richard and Larry's room to listen to music.

When I opened Richard's email and heard the music, it just brought me back to 1975, a very carefree time. And I asked Richard the name of the album that this song was on, and he told me it was on Angel Clare. So I added it to my "wish list" for Christmas this year, and I was so happy when I opened it up.

Last night was the first big snowfall here in Cleveland. I HATE driving in the snow. I woke up this morning and thought well I better head out early to avoid the traffic, cause I drive very slowly in the snow. So I got in my car, popped that new CD in, and I'm telling you, the next 40 minutes (usually 30 but not when you're driving as slow as me) was pure enjoyment. Such beautiful songs on this album.

While I wanted the CD for Woyaya, I discovered another beautiful song called Old Man, written by Randy Newman:

(Randy Newman)
Everyone has gone away,
Can you hear me? Can you hear me?
No one cared enough to stay,
Can you hear me?

You must remember me, Old Man,
I know that you can if you try,
So just open up your eyes, Old Man,
Look who's come to say, "Good-bye."

The sun has left the sky, Old Man,
The birds have flown away,
And no one came to cry Old Man,
Good-bye, Old Man, good-bye.

You want to stay, I know you do,
But it ain't no use to try,
'Cause I'll be here, and I'm just like you.
Good-bye, Old Man, good-bye.

Won't be no God to comfort you,
You taught me not to believe that lie.
You don't need anybody,
Nobody needs you,
Don't cry, Old Man, don't cry.
Everybody dies.

Happy Holidays

(written by The Husband)

’Twas two weeks before Christmas, when all through Krauss House


Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.


The stockings weren’t hung by the chimney with care,


Too much junk prevented us reaching up there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,


Nursing the hangovers pounding their heads.


Heather had “tried” to find a temp job,
But settled instead for becoming a blob.
Joe had four finals in his college classes;
We hope he wakes up so there’s a chance that he passes.
Bonnie had long before risen from bed,


And was hard at work to earn us some bread.
She took a quick break to tell David he’d better
Get off his ass and write the newsletter.
He sprang from the bed to answer her call,
Stubbing his toe, cursing, “Damn it all!”
He saw it was she on the caller ID;
She’d just have to wait, ’cause he had to pee.
“I’ll call her right back, as soon as I can,”
He thought to himself as he went to the can.
“I know why she’s calling,” he thought with regret;
“It’s the damn newsletter I haven’t done yet.”
He sat at the keyboard with his writer’s block;
Staring in space, watching the clock.
“What can I write?” he thought, with great desperation;
“I need some help, I need inspiration.”
Suddenly to his wondering brain did appear,
An idea of how to recap our year.
“I’ve got it,” he yelled, “I’ll poeticize!
And the best way to do so is to plagiarize!”
So David was able to call back his spouse,
And tell her he’d written about our fine house.
The best thing of all, as it’s now just past noon;
Is that finally he has run out of room.
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.”

A Great Office Holiday Party

Every year we do something different for our office holiday parties. In the years when we were doing really well, it was a night out with a guest - a fancy dinner somewhere. In the leaner years, it was a potluck lunch at work (employees only).

The last few years, the owner of our company has become very creative in the planning of our parties. A few years ago, we all drove out to Crocker Park, a "lifestyle center" on the west side of town. We were all given $75 and told to spend it on ourselves. We were not to purchase gifts for others. We had an hour or so to buy what we wanted, and then we met for lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, where we enjoyed a great meal and showed off our gifts (or our creativity; one employee used some of the money to get her hair cut). It was honestly the first time I have ever paid full retail price for items for myself. I felt a bit guilty, but it was just fun to spend. Oh, and if we didn't spend the money, we had to turn it in at the end, and it would be given to charity. Of course there's one in every bunch, and we do have the employee who didn't need anything and donated all his money to charity. Made the rest of us feel like a bunch of heels, but we still had a great time.

This year the party was to be a surprise. We only knew that it would be held at Legacy Village, the east side "lifestyle center." I was VERY happy about this destination because I live 5 minutes away.

So we all met at The Viking Store, which is a kitchen store and cooking school. The party's purpose, as the owner told us, was to work on "team-building." I admit that is an area that needs work at our company. There are only 20 some people working there, and we definitely cause each other a lot of grief.

So we divided into 2 groups, in 2 separate rooms, and within our rooms, we were given a team to work with. Teams had 3-4 people. We had a fun and informative instructor, and with a lot of laughing and talking, we set out to make a cocktail party menu: tiny blue cheese biscuits with seared beef tenderloin; grilled chicken skewers with honey pomegranate glaze; steamed halibut with thai red curry sauce; roasted vegetable and boursin canapes, and for bananas foster for dessert.

Sound good? It was good. Along with the fun of cooking with others (and it was extra fun cause a lot of the ingredients were pre-measured and these ladies came and picked up all our dirty dishes and whisked them away - I loved that!).

While we waited for the food to cook, we were given glasses of wine and told to wander through the store. The one thing I loved was the juicer gadgets that made it so easy to squeeze fresh fruits. At $17, I decided it was beyond my budget, but I will post this here and hope some family member might read this - my birthday is in July!

It really was a fun way to spend an afternoon.

A Day At The Post Office in December

One thing that I truly dread every December is going to the post office to send a package to my friend in Canada. For other packages, I have a nice lady at work who will weigh the package and even figure out if I'd be better off sending it via UPS or USPS. But since the package to my Canadian friend involves completing a customs form, I must go to the post office to send it off.

So I woke up this morning and declared that this would be the day I would deal with that task (I always say that coloring my hair is my least favorite activity; I would have to say that this task is my second least favorite activity).

I arrived and there was a line of about 10 people. And one postal employee. I proceeded to fill out my customs form. That took a few minutes, and then I looked up to check out the line. Why is it that there is always one customer doing some kind of transaction that takes forever? And why is she always there when I'm there?

Well, she was there. And people are shifting their feet, watching and praying that another employee would magically appear. Well there were several other employees, but none of them seemed inclined to wait on anyone. Maybe it wasn't their job. But I think we are all spoiled by standing in a long line and having the lone employee make a page: "help needed at the front." This was clearly not gonna happen.

So the older lady who was 2 in front of me turned around, looking for someone to meet her eyes. That someone was me. She said "this is ridiculous. One employee 2 weeks before Christmas" And I said "I know. It's like this every year." She said "well this is just inexcusable."

I glanced at the guy between us and could tell he was annoyed at the complaints. He said nothing.

A few minutes later, the old lady (OL) turned around again to complain about the service. This time the annoyed man (I'll call him CM for cynical man) decided to join in.

OL: I have things to do! It's taking 10 minutes a person. It will be an hour before they get to me.

CM: In case you haven't heard, there's a deficit. And the post office can't afford to hire more people. So I consider it my patriotic duty to stand in line.

OL: How is it patriotic to stand in line?

CM: It's either that, or we pay higher costs.

OL: I'd rather pay higher costs.

CM: I wouldn't.

OL, looking at me: Well how do you feel about it? You get a vote.

Me: My salary certainly isn't going up every year.

CM, smirking: Yeah.

OL: Well my time is worth something. I would gladly pay more to not stand here for an hour.

CM: Ok, well offer the first guy in line a $20 and see if he'll let you go ahead of him.

OL, eyes rolling: You know, there should be a way that we can weigh our own letters and not have to wait for this.

CM: There is a way. There's a scale over there.

OL: Well I don't know if it's first class or what.

CM: It has instructions on it.

OL: I'm not very technical.

I actually wasn't minding the wait, since I found this all quite amusing. In the meantime, they did add a second employee. As I watched the two employees working, I saw that they were very calm. I would have been quite stressed, seeing that line, but they handled it very well and were very polite to all the customers.

The line started moving quickly at that point.

So I'm done with my second least favorite activity.

Til next year.

2 Thanksgivings

Just finished Thanksgiving Dinner #2. Had planned on bringing my camera to both, but forgot both times. So, my friend Sharon took some pix from Thanksgiving Dinner #1. Picture #1 is the son, the husband, me and the daughter. Picture #2 is Sharon's daughter Linda, with her cheese and turkey ball. It actually has turkey in it. A very festive addition to the party. And picture #3 is a table of appetizers. I made a tuscany dip and holiday pecans.

I ate way too much last night. I have reached a point in my life where I can no longer eat heavy food and feel fine afterward. The company was wonderful, the table was beautiful and the food delicious.

This morning I left the house at 6:20 to pick up Sharon for our annual tradition - Black Friday shopping. We've been doing this long before they called it Black Friday. So we went to stores that weren't offering early bird specials - Gabriel Brothers, Big Lots and Ollies. All the stores were relatively quiet and well staffed. There were no long lines. We did not make much of a dent in our shopping, but I think we agreed the tradition was more important than anything. After shopping, we met Kenny for breakfast. Then we went home and went to bed.

Tonight was dinner #2, at my parents' house. I was very good. I did not go overboard.

I am looking forward to 2 more days of freedom.

On that note, the pecans were pretty good, and VERY easy, so here is the recipe:

Paula Deen's Southern Holiday Pecans

2 C pecan halves
3 T unsalted butter
1/3 t cayenne pepper (or 1/2 t hot pepper sauce)
1 t ground cinnamon
1 T sugar
1 t salt

Heat oven to 325 and place rack in center. Line a rimmed baking sheet with
foil and lightly coat with cooking spray. Place nuts in a large bowl.
In small saucepan, melt butter. Add cayenne and cinnamon and stir.
Pour over nuts and toss until coated. Toss in sugar and salt.
On prepared baking sheet, spread out pecans in a single layer and bake,
stirring once, for 14 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack and cool.