I’ve been accused, on more than one occasion, of loving “baby everything”. What can I say? It’s true. I do. I realize that there are some animals that grow very quickly (i.e. piglets) but, oh when they’re babies, they’re so cute! Give me a state fair – pretty much any state fair – and the first place I’ll head will be the barns. It may be too late in my life for me to have a horse, but I still love them…especially little colts or fillies. Be still, my heart.
And now, for those of you who also love “baby everything”, enjoy the photos!
Above: If I had these two adorable yellow lab puppies, I would name them Emma & Darby!
I spent late Thursday afternoon in the dentist chair for – what turned out to be – a marathon session: two crowns, one filling and a last-minute wisdom tooth extraction!! It’s just as well I did not realize before the fact that the wisdom tooth would have to be “pulled”. It’s easier to be brave when you don’t have days to fret about something.
So, for the past three days, I’ve read, watched a little TV, napped and taken it easy. After three days and torture to my stomach, I am giving up the antibiotic! Yes, I’m an RN and I know better…but the side effects are worse than the cure. I’ve eaten lots of greek yogurt and soup, but this afternoon I decided I was actually hungry. Hungry for some warm banana bread! Thankfully, I had three ripe bananas in the fruit bowl. So I followed the recipe below for a delicious loaf of warm lemon banana bread…with a drizzle of Iowa honey. Yum…
Lemon Banana Bread
1 stick of butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
the zest of one fresh lemon
1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 scant teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 ripe bananas, mashed
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease & flour a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar mixing well. Add eggs. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into prepared pan and bake approximately 50 – 55 minutes depending on oven. Enjoy warm with a little butter & a drizzle of honey!
After a few days of stifling heat with unbearable humidity, today has been cooler. Presently, it is up 81 degrees – warmer now than it has been all day – but it comes with a strong breeze to temper the heat. I’ll take that.
My downstairs friend and neighbor was kind enough to feed me for a couple of nights when my neck/arm pain was so unbearable. Tonight, I am having her for “supper” by way of a thank you. It’s still a little too warm to crank up the oven but I’ll turn down the A/C and do it anyway. We’re having homemade meatloat, fresh green beans, rice and fresh fruit salad. Dessert will be Weight Watchers ice cream sandwiches.
I hope this post finds you well and staying cool – or warm if it’s cold where you are! Below is the meatloaf recipe. If you try it, let me know what you think!
A Really Good Meatloaf
1 & 1/4 pounds very lean ground beef
1/2 finely chopped Vidalia sweet onion
3/4 sleeve crushed Ritz crackers
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon Worchestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Toasted Onion Herb by Victoria Taylor’s Seasonings
Mix well and form into a loaf. Place in glass dish.
Meatloaf topping: 1/3 cup Ketshup, 3 tablespoons brown sugar and 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard. Combine and spread over top of meatloaf.
Bake at 350 degrees about 55 minutes or until done.
Happy Fourth of July! Today has been a quiet day with more than my share of reflection. The 4th of July always brings back memories for me. Mama’s birthday was the fourth of July. It was always a time of reunion and a big celebration for our family. Now, my parents are in Heaven and their descendants are scattered – mostly across the South except for my family which are in Montana, Iowa and Texas. (My youngest keeps reminding me that I gave them roots and wings.)
“The Patriot” with Mel Gibson came out in the year 2000. I did not/would not/could not see the movie until, finally, earlier this year I watched in tears. Somehow I knew that the movie would have a profound effect upon me. It did. I had been searching my family’s history back through the generations and knew that several of my ancestors had fought and died in the American Revolution.
It’s one thing to read about this nation’s history and fight for freedom in a textbook’s black and white, but to see the bloody sacrifice orchestrated across a screen is another thing altogether. The fight for our freedom continued through other wars down through the years. That fight continues today. I’m thankful for those who have given and continue to give so much that we may enjoy the freedom that we have.
My daughter and her husband and their family are in Kentucky visiting his parents, so I spent the afternoon and early evening with my friend and neighbor downstairs who was also alone for the day. She prepared a delicious meal of garlic rosemary chicken and potato salad. I’ve been battling a bulging disc in my neck with the pain that accompanies it, so she insisted that I come empty-handed and hungry. There were strawberries and ice cream for dessert. When I’m feeling better, I will reciprocate with a meal she will hopefully enjoy as much.
If you’ve seen the movie The Bucket List with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, you’ll remember these two memorable characters hospitalized with terminal cancer who set out to fulfill their unrealized dreams before they “kick the bucket”. I think each of us has a “list” of experiences we hope to have: amazing places we want to see, people we want to meet, things we want to accomplish, dreams we want to fulfill – all before we “kick the bucket”.
Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson in the movie, The Bucket List
I was born in 1945, so next year will be a “big birthday” for me. Well, okay, December is almost the end of the year, but 2015 will still be a milestone. I occasionally get a tad depressed when I think of what a big milestone it will be, but then I remember the alternative. I want to enjoy my life as long as God gives me breath. I especially want to enjoy watching all of my precious grandchildren grow up!
So, I have been thinking about MY “Bucket List”. I confess that I have shortened it significantly. Let’s face it, there’s only so much time left and I don’t seem to be making a whole lot of progress. Of course, there is the little factor of completing my “Bucket List” on a fixed income. Ever the optimist, we’ll see how it goes. Of course, if I would hurry up and finish #1 and #2, that might help!
My Bucket List 2014
1. Publish my children’s books…
2. Finish my family history and publish it…
3. See Scotland…especially the highlands and the Isle of Skye…
Originally, I had placed building sandcastles with ALL of my grandchildren together at the top of my bucket list. I decided that was going to happen without a bucket list! I’ll work on that one for sure!
What’s on YOUR Bucket List…?
This post was edited from its original publication in My Southern Heart…
Have you noticed that the older you get, the sharper your long-term memory becomes? (We won’t talk about the short-term memory!) A few of my classmates and I have been together since the 6th grade at Kingsbury Elementary School. That is a very long time. All the way through graduation at Kingsbury High School.
Memories are amazing when you think about it. I can remember my sixth grade teacher, Miss Glorioso, like it was yesterday. She was beautiful. Italian with coal black hair and big, dark brown eyes. I believe we were her first class to teach after graduating from a university in Mississippi.
Miss Glorioso actually made learning fun and I think that is about the highest compliment one could bestow upon a teacher. She smiled a lot and loved teaching. If she couldn’t get a point across, she’d act it out in front of the class – like action verbs. I think she is the one to thank for my strong grasp of grammar. I remember once, much like the American Girl movie, Molly – An American Girl on the Home Front, her handsome fiance came for a visit to the classroom. The rest of the girls and I were in love with the romance of it all!
My classmates and I have been wondering what happened to Miss Glorioso. Using our sleuthing skills, a few online sites and the help of a classmate’s 6th grade report card, we determined that her given names were Jennie Marie. Through Ancestry.com, I found that she grew up in Mississippi. We just don’t know her married name. We don’t know if she’s still alive. I’m guessing she was about 11-12 years older than we were at the time, so she would be 79-80 now. I have no idea how long she taught or if she would remember her class from 1956-57…but the class remembers her quite fondly. It would be wonderful to know if she is still alive and how she is doing. We would love to tell her how much she meant to each of us all these years later.
If you know Miss Glorioso, would you email me at the contact link above? There are a bunch of us “sixth-graders” who would like to say Hello and Thank You!
Speaking of long-term memory, I believe the dress I was wearing in the photo above was lavender. I was wearing the “crinolines” beneath to make the dress stand out! Such was the style way back then…
GREAT NEWS: I found Miss Glorioso!!!
We just had a nice telephone conversation,
and she was so happy to learn that we remembered her!
