The Destruction of a Family-The Loss of Caylee Anthony

I have not been able to watch the murder trial about the precious little girl, Caylee Anthony.  Yes, I have seen portions of it on the news.  However, there is something about the destruction of a family and a loss of a young child that keeps me from watching the details.

The ramifications from this child's death are insurmountable. Waking up each day, for a brief second thinking that it was all a bad dream and realizing that it wasn't, must be a horrible fate for them.

The loss of a child is unbearable, but if they die as a result of our hands or from neglect, then I think I would not be able to wake up each day. I pray for the entire family.  I can't even begin to imagine the pain and sorrow that this is bringing them. They have lost a grandchild and a daughter at the same time.

I picture little Caylee in the arms of Jesus in Heaven, happily playing with the other children.  It is the only way I choose to think of her. Not how they found her remains or how she died.  She is a little angel of God and she will live on with Him by His side.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

May You Be Blessed-Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, if not the favorite.  This year is a little odd because I will be spending it alone.  Not because I have no family to spend it with, but my husband is out of the country and I am sick with the flu and do not want to pass that along to all my kids.  I was hoping that by now I would be better, but I had to make the difficult call to my son this morning not to make the trip over here since I didn't want him catching this. Thankfully his girlfriend is also stranded there so they will be together for their first Thanksgiving!

So Christmas will be extra special this year as then we will all be together, at least most of us.

I decided instead of feeling sorry for myself, I would look at all the past Thanksgivings and wonderful memories I have.  As far back as I can remember my mom prepared the Thanksgiving meal like clockwork.  I in turn continued with that tradition.

On Wednesday we would bake the apple pie and pumpkin pies.  My mom always had Christmas music on while baking. Here are some of her Wednesday before Thanksgiving recipes!

 
My Mom's Famous Pumpkin Pie
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon of allspice
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
4 large eggs
1 can 29 oz of Libby's Pure Pumpkin
2 cans 12 oz each  evaporated milk
2 unbaked 9 inch pie crusts

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.  Beat eggs in a large bowl.  Stir in pumpkin and sugar and spice mixture, gradually stirring in the evaporated milk.  Mix well.  Pour into the pie shells, cover crust edge with foil.

Bake in pre-heated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350 degrees, bake for an additional 40-50 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool for 2 hours and serve or refrigerate.

Perfect Apple Pie
6-8 tart apples, pared, cored and thinly sliced (6 cups)
3/4 to 1 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon allspice
pinch of ginger
2 tablespoons of butter
dash of salt

If apples lack tartness sprinkle with about 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.  Combine sugar, flour, spices, salt and mix with apples.

Line a 9 inch pie plate with pastry, fill with apple mixture, dot with butter.  Adjust top crust, cutting slits for escape of steam, seal.  Sprinkle top with cinnamon sugar mixture.  Cover crust edge with foil and bake in a 400 degree preheated oven for 50 minutes until done.



Thanksgiving Bread
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups of water
2 teaspoons of salt
2 packages of act. dry yeast
6 cups of all purpose flour pre-sifted 
1 egg
salad oil
margarine

In large bowl combine sugar, salt, yeast and 2 1/4 cups of flour.
In 1 quart saucepan 1/2 cup margarine and warm water, on low heat, warm only, not HOT.

With a low speed mixer, mix in warm liquid to dry mixture, blend together, increasing speed to medium for 2 minutes.  Beat in egg with 3/4 cup more flour, beat 2 minutes more, adding additional flour slowly and mixing with hands until smooth.  Knead for 10 minutes.  Place in a large greased bowl, cover with damp towel and let rise for 1 1/2 hours.  Punch down, turn over and brush top with salad oil and cover bowl with saran wrap, place in refrigerator.

Thanksgiving Day, 2 hours before the meal, grease a squared or round cookie sheets.  Makes 30 small balls, placing them with a small space in between.  Cover with towel and let rise in a warm spot for 1 - 1 1/2 hours.  Bake in a pre-heated 400 degree oven, melt butter and with pastry brush, brush over golden brown rolls.

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy the movie below!

Disclosure:  This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.  This post includes "Affiliate Links", of which the blogger will receive a small commission if the links are clicked.  The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.  This blog does contain content which might present a conflict of interest. 

The Brady Bunch We Are Not!

Our family is like the Brady Bunch, but without all the smiles, politeness, respect, and overall sugary sweet, Disney singing birdies flying through the house kind of home!   I was Alice and Carol all in one, so how fun was that?!  I am still having issues from multiple personalities!  My husband loves to cook so it wasn't all that bad!!

Oh the blended family phenomena! When I met my husband we had to commute to see each other.  The visits with the kids were perfect and blissful, well not so perfect and not so blissful, but one can only dream right?!  The kids got along fairly well, as well as to be expected I suppose.  We went to Disney World and other tourist spots in Florida and Washington State.

However, once we moved in all together, which was two years later, the Brady Bunch was long gone and then entered The Adams Family or maybe even any episode of Jerry Springer!!




Somehow we survived and recently our youngest joined his brothers to the Land of Freedom and moved out!  So now my husband and I are empty nesters, which probably will be another upcoming post!

All kidding aside our boys have turned into wonderful men and we are very proud of them.  Blending two families is difficult and maybe we weren't like The Brady Bunch but we love each other all the same.

Sunday Stealing: The Time Traveler Meme

Today we ripped this meme of a blogger known as Emily Barton, the Queen 'o Memes at Telecommuter Talk. We were lucky to find this meme. Emily actually wrote it herself (when do we find that? We'd guess maybe once a year.) We have told Emily that we stole it but we've already been given permission. Emily wrote, "Are you reading this? Then the Queen has tagged you. Get on with it." Thanks, Your Majesty! Link back to us at Sunday Stealing!

Cheers to all of us thieves!

Sunday Stealing: The Time Traveler Meme
Emily's Rules:

1. Depending on your age, go back 10, 15, 20, or even more years.
2. Tell us how many years back you have traveled and why.
3. Pretend you have met yourself during that era, and tell us where you are.
4. You only have one "date" with this former self.
5. Answer these questions.

Okay, as we start, what year is it and how old are you?

It is 1968 and I am 10 years old, we are traveling for the first time to Puerto Rico, where we moved to five years later.  It will be the first time we fly on an airplane.  We flew with Eastern Airlines, and flying over the Bermuda Triangle terrified me. Seeing the island as we were flying in was awesome.  I could see the palm trees blowing in the wind and the ocean waves hitting the coast.

1. Would your younger self (YYS, from here) recognize you when you first meet? 

I think so since I look like my mom.

2. Would YYS be surprised to discover what you are doing job wise?

No I don't think so.  We all knew that I was supposed to be a nurse.  However, maybe my YYS would have wanted me to be the writer and painter I always wanted to be.

3. What piece of fashion advice would you give YYS?

It gets better, you won't have to wear Mom's handmade outfits for much longer and not to buy so many platform shoes!

4. What do you think YYS is most going to want to know? 

Who I married and how many children I have.

5. How would you answer YYS's question? 

I would tell her that I did marry and have children, but I wouldn't give any details.  I wouldn't tell her that we got divorced, or that our first daughter Alexandra Christine died at birth.  Although our marriage failed, my children are my life and I wouldn't want my YYS to miss out on meeting them. 

6. What would probably be the best thing to tell YYS? 

The life is a blast and not to miss out on anything.  To stop worrying and to continue writing and drawing.

7. What is something that you probably wouldn't tell YYS?

I wouldn't tell her that our mom died in 1993 of cancer.

8. What do you think will most surprise YYS about you?

That all my kids are grown and moved out and that we live in Seattle, WA.

9. What do you think will least surprise YYS? 

That I am a nurse.

10. At this point in your life, would YYS like to run into "you" from the future? 

I think so.

Grandma Must Be a Redneck!

Let me first start off by saying, that I have nothing against Rednecks!  If I knew any I am sure they are wonderful, fun loving people!  I think I am!

If you have read the About Me section, you would already know that we have a lot of animals and that we live in a small rural town in WA.  Everyone has a truck, well almost everyone!  Here is a picture of my Teeny Mini!

My car has been out of commission for a bit so I haven't been getting out much.  The other day I had to pick up some records at my doctor's office.  I didn't know how I was going to get there, since all there was to drive was my husband's big, long truck and I am afraid to drive it.

However, I needed to go, so I started getting ready.  One of our dogs, Pancho, loves riding in that truck.  I guess he could hear my conversations that I had earlier in the day about me not wanting to drive it.

He wouldn't go out back when I was ready to leave, he just sat by the front door.  So I let him outside and instead of his usual, running to the grass to pee, he ran straight to the truck and sat by the door whining!

I got my keys and said, "Okay, you can go with me, but you have to go pee pee first."  He looked at me and ran to the grass and went to the bathroom, all the while whining for me not to leave him! He jumped in the truck and off we went. Here he is!

Pancho ready for another ride!

I had to stop at two different offices.  The car I usually drive is quite small, as you can imagine I am not used to parking something of that size.

When I got to the parking spots there were only compact spots available.  Now I started to sweat.  I was so nervous already, but after several tries I finally got it somewhat straight and parked it. Whew, I did it!  I was feeling pretty good, went in to the offices and got back in my truck.  Thankfully we made it home safely and I was so relieved.

When I opened the door for Pancho to get out, I looked at the seat and this is what I found....

Then I looked down at my clothes and I was covered in white dog hair, among other things, I looked like a powdered donut!  That wasn't the half of it, my shirt was on backwards too!  So I guess Grandma is a Redneck and that Grandma is me!

Items normally found on our lint roller!

Are You Taking Care of Your Lamp?

 I am partnered with a great company called Simple Truths. Mac Anderson is the founder of Simple Truths and Successories, Inc., the leader in designing and marketing products for motivation and recognition.  I recently received this email from their newsletter and wanted to share it with all of you. It really hit home to me as I have always put everyone ahead of my own needs. I think that most women do. Here is the excerpt from the book.

An Excerpt from Oil for Your Lamp
by Lisa Hammond & BJ Gallagher

Virtually every woman we know has the same problem - she knows what's good for her, but she often doesn't do it. She knows she should eat less and exercise more, but still she doesn't make healthy choices. She knows she needs to spend her time and money more effectively, but good time and money management elude her. She finds herself always putting others first, while neglecting her own needs and wants. She doesn't get enough rest or sleep and her endless to-do list hangs overhead like the sword of Damocles. As our friend Brenda Knight laments frequently, "Why am I always riding in the back of my own bus?"


We don't do the things we know are good for us because we are so busy taking care of others that we neglect ourselves. The problem isn't lack of information - we have plenty of information about the importance of sleep, healthy foods, and exercise. The problem is how we prioritize our lives.


Psychologists tell us that some people are inner-directed and some are other-directed. That is, some people focus on their own internal guidance system for making choices about how to spend their time and energy. Their own self-interest ranks very high on their list of priorities. "What's best for me?" is a key guiding principle in determining where they focus their attention and how they make day-to-day decisions.


And some people are other-directed, which means that their primary focus is external, not internal. They are primarily concerned with relationships, especially people they care about. "How can I help others?" is a key question in how they spend their time and energy. Building and nurturing relationships with loved ones, family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers is the guiding principle in their lives.


Research indicates that, in general, men tend to be more inner-directed, while women tend to be more other-directed. There are exceptions, of course, but as a group, men are focused on themselves while women are focused on other people. Men like to build things while women like to build relationships.


This difference in psychological orientation goes a long way toward helping us understand why we women often do such a poor job of taking care of ourselves. We run around filling others' lamps with oil, but forget to fill our own lamps first. Then we wonder why we're often exhausted, frazzled, stressed-out, anxious and/or depressed!


Awareness is the first step toward solving a problem. So the first section of this book is devoted to helping us acknowledge the problem and understand the reasons for it. Chapter 1 looks at how girls are socialized, growing up to be women who put others first. Chapter 2 examines the values women have adopted in the past 50 years, beginning with the feminist movement - leading us to believe that we can have it all - all at once. And Chapter 3 explores the corresponding myth that we can DO it all.


But don't be discouraged. Help is on the way - in Section II, we'll get into solutions for the problem. We'll learn the value of doing nothing, how to play again, how to become more inner-directed, and most important, how to ask for help.

 You can visit Simple Truths and sign up for their newsletter too!