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Thursday, November 11, 2010

what would you do....

if you didn't have to 'worry' about bringing home the bacon? if no matter what you chose you would receive enough dough to pay all your monthly expenses (including housing/food/gas) have enough to spend on socializing and put away for a rainy day?

this is not a trick question.
this is not a 'i would sleep late & party all night & do whatever i felt like at the moment' scenario

this is based on the fact that we need money to live, but we often do jobs that give us the money yet we shortchange ourselves because we are not really living.  only exsisting.

i would take pictures. photography has always been my passion since i first held a kodak instamatic with square flashcubes. then i would write. i would write stories and articles and essays and poems and i would incoporate the photos i took into the words i write. lastly i would scrapbook.

to encapsulate my vision of what i would do if i could create my dream job......

i would take pictures of 'YOU' (whoever was willing to hire me) i would capture 'YOUR' story in words and then i would save 'YOUR' memories in a scrapbook that 'YOU' would be able to keep forever.

.....so, where do i apply for this 'job'

lol.....if only fantasies weren't so inviting!
oh well....back to the grind....

martha stewart alice waters spring chickenfried steak inspired casserole

i am writing this down for scott so that he can take it on the next foodnetwork star when he decides to win the title.........(this is the original, some alterations are necessary)

soak chicken thighs in buttermilk for 12-24 hrs (use skinless boneless)
dredge in flour
dunk in buttermilk
coat with panko
fry
drain

fry tater tots (enough to cover bottom of casserole dish)

layer tater tots & fried chicken in dish
cover with shredded cheese (this time used mexican blend & mozzerella)

cut tree meat to small chunks and brown in large frying pan
add chopped onion & garlic
stir in one LARGE can cream mushroom soup (think would also use fresh sliced 'shrooms if the persons eating dish like mushrooms)
whisk in one bottle of 2buck chuck

let simmer & reduce for approximately 20 min on med-low heat

when cool pour over chicken/tot/cheese

bake covered in oven at 350 for 1hr

top with french's french fried onions and return to oven without cover for 10-15 minutes or until onions are toasted.

Monday, November 8, 2010

foggy

i'm kinda in a daze with all the stuff that's happened...

i'm missing my friend paula more than i thought i could. it saddens me to think.
i got a text from stokes this am thanking me for making the recording. he's going to incorporate the story into the song and then share a copy of it with me.
work is crazy busy in a catch-up kind of way.
we're getting closer to the holidays & i'm afraid that is going to affect me in a bad way.
i don't want to fall into a funk but i fear that i am falling......

looking for something to keep me afloat *sigh*

Sunday, November 7, 2010

...hold your head high. Don't ever let 'em define the light in your eyes. Love yourself, give them Hell. You can take on this world. You just stand and be strong


And then FIGHT LIKE A GIRL.....(bombshel)



we knew each other for such a short time, but i remember that first day we made contact. FINALLY a kindered sprit living here in this same small town. oh the concerts we have seen. the stories we shared......because of you i got an 'official' meet & greet with our guy gary!!!!

i am so glad you got the chance to live your life to the fullest you never once gave up hope. oh i know there are so many things that you had to leave 'undone', but you did all that you could.  truly you are an inspiration to me and to countless other friends you have met along the way.

RIP PAULA, my friend you will be missed

Friday, November 5, 2010

favorite songs of my lifetime

when i die i hope they play these songs. ......they are intricately woven into the patchwork memories of my life...

IF I WERE A CARPENTER......would you marry me anyway, would you have my baby.

DELTA DAWN......what's that flower you have on, could it be a faded rose from days gone by.

GARDEN PARTY....you can't please everyone so you got to please yourself

EDELWEISS.....blossom of snow may you bloom and grow, bloom and grow forever

LIGHTS.....go down in the City, and the sun shines on the Bay, oh i wanna be there in my City....

AFTERNOON DELIGHT.....my motto's always been when it's right it's right.....sky rockets in flight...

JUNKFOOD JUNKE......in the daytime i'm mr natural, just as healthy as i can be, but at night i'm a junkfood junkie, good Lord have pity on me.

COME SAIL AWAY......set an open course for the virgin sea, cause i've got to be free, free to live the life that's ahead of me

TWO OUT OF THREE AIN'T BAD.....you'll never find your gold on a sandy beach, there ain't no Coup De Ville hiding in the bottom of a cracker jack box

SUMMER GIRLS......summertime is in the air, and summer girls are everywhere

COME AS YOU ARE....as i want you to be, as a friend, as a friend, as an old enemy

BE AS YOU ARE......i wanna go where i can lighten the load, drive a little while on the wrong side of the road......hang with the locals a the Quiet Mon, be a tourist, a beach bum, a star....

LIFE AIN'T ALWAYS BEAUTIFUL......but it's a beautiful ride

GLITTER IN THE AIR..........have you ever wished for an endless night, lassoed the moon and the stars and pulled that rope tight

You talk too much You never shut up!!

RUN DMC is running through my brain......as i sit here and start TYPING AGAIN!!!!

and TRUTHFULLY i have NOTHING left to say. i just have words bobbling around inside my brain causing me to not concentrate on the tasks at hand.

i envy those people called WRITERS.....the ones that are PAID to put words to paper (or in this case, screen).....those people that OTHER PEOPLE are hungry to read their next written words.......

i want to write.......i have LOTS of words in my head
but truthfully i have to tell myself no one REALLY wants to hear them....they are just a mixed up mumbo jumbo bouncing around aimlessly in my brain.

just a little blip

it started out as a random little thing.

i saw a post on the facebook wall from STOKES NIELSEN, singer/songwriter ....founding member of the LOST TRAILERS. he's working on a song called UNDERDOG and he was asking for feedback from people about their individual stories as 'underdogs' or of sports teams or other groups that are 'underdogs' in their communities and the things they have accomplished, the things they have overcome.

i felt compelled to respond and tell him about my sister bernadette, the rocky balboa of our family. definitely, an underdog with the cards stacked against her from the moment of her conception.

her biological mother was a drug abuser and had many psychological problems that made her an unstable candidate for parenthood.  yet, it was in God's plan to bring a child into this world through her. before she was four years old bernadette had been in and out of foster care and been subjected to many things that no child should ever be forced to endure.

she was emotionally and developmentally scarred when she came to live with us. but somehow she knew she had come 'home' and she IMMEDIATELY 'adopted' our family as her own even though she was only supposed to stay with us for six weeks. it soon became apparent that there was room in our hearts to keep her forever and it was the hardest thing in the world to give her back at the end of those weeks.

it was not long after she left us that we got the call to say she was being placed back into foster care and would we step up and take on that responsibility. there was no doubt. no hesitation. of course the answer was yes. from that point on we were on a mission to make her a permanent member of our family.

we thought we lost her when, one sunny day, she was riding her bike and a hit-and-run driver collided with her, sent her flying over his truck and 15 feet into the air. she ended up in ICU for three days, they had her prepped for emergency surgery on her brain, we were in limbo waiting to see if she would make it. but, it's always been said that she has an army of guardian angels watching over her and keeping her safe from harm. that God put her here on this earth for a very important purpose, and she had not fulfilled that purpose yet.

from this accident she added some minor learning delays to her emotional and developmental delays. yet through it all she remained an outspoken, determined, spunky child who grew up to become an amazing woman. graduating high school with honors, she joined the united states air force at eighteen where she rose through the ranks to end her career as a tech-sergeant nine years later. she is now thirty years old, living in georgia, married to the love of her life, the mother of two small boys, working as a lab-tech, studying to become a registered nurse and as if this wasn't enough to fill her plate. she finally has discovered God's plan for her.

she learned that for the past four years in a row lakeland, ga in lanier county has the highest rate of  child abuse/neglect in all of georgia. she, along with her close friend holly, is now working to become certified as a guardian ad litem and to establish HOPE HOUSE so that these children have a safe place to go and their parents and guardians have the resources to 'break the cycle' of abuse and neglect

she has come FULL CIRCLE from the small child with the odds stacked against her to this amazing strong and determined woman reaching out to help others in similar situations.

i am a quirk

don't say you are going to do something if you are not going to do it
don't start a conversation if you are not willing to share it
don't pretend to be who you are not
don't live a lie to put yourself before others
don't talk out of both sides of your face
don't fool yourself into believing that others can't see through your facade

JUST
         DON'T
                     DO
                           IT
                               .
                                 .
                                   .

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

ORANGE & BLACK 2010

FIRST i have to say i am more of a 'fair weather' baseball fan. It's not my first choice when asked to pick a favorite sport.  BUT that being said, i have ALWAYS cheered for the San Francisco Giants anytime i was lucky enough as to be invited to go to the ballpark.

this 2010 post-season has, however, captivated my attention and i have watched all or most of all the post-season championship games
ORANGE & BLACK
FEAR THE BEARD
DON'T STOP BELIEVING
THE TORTURE
and something about aubrey huff's lucky thong?!?
picture from yahoo.com

picture from yahoo.com

picture from yahoo.com

i was there sitting on the edge of my seat glued to the tv watching this 'misfit' team of AMAZING athletes as they advanced through the play-offs the 'experts' said it couldn't be done. they said phillie was gonna wipe the ground with san francisco.  but this is the City that knows how! and boy did the GIANTS show it!!!

amazingly when all the dust settled the 2010 WORLD SERIES was to be played by two teams from the arizona training camps (i don't understand the significance of this, but i've heard it enough to know it must be important) neither team having won the championship title in the last 50+ years........these teams were the underdogs. the scrappers. the ones that were supposed to console themselves with 'maybe next year'........

i think the GIANTS surprised everyone ~ including themselves ~ when they won the first two games of the series against the RANGERS ...... then a moment of reality set in as the RANGERS took the third game, but much to the chagrin of the naysayers this was NOT the end of the GIANTS...... they came back more confident in the fourth game and clinched the victory in # 5 to become the

2010 WORLD CHAMPION SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS!!!!!
they did it.....and we believed!

picture from yahoo.com

san francisco has been awash in an orange glow since the start of the world series.  city hall.....coit tower....various skyscrapers reaching for the stars all misty orange in the fog.......






we couldn't be there with everyone for that grand finale monday night when the GIANTS beat the RANGERS one last time with a score of 3-1.....so we did the next best thing.....

 


on tuesday night, amy & the boys met me in walnut creek when i got off work and we drove into the City....we parked at AT&T PARK and walked around looking at all the orange lights.....we went across the street to AMICI's for dinner, we brought donald's for georgie but he wasn't very hungry! just happy to be drinking his orange (soda).....we ordered luke linguini with red sauce but it turns out he was much happier eating our NEW HAVEN (clam & bacon) pizza!!.......took lots of pictures of the stadium.....walked down by mccovy cove and peeked through the fence to see the field where games 1 and 2 were won....climbed all over the statue of Lou the Seal and ran around the fishing piers

the boys shouted ECHO ECHO ECHO into the empty corridors of the ballpark and luke said he's gonna hit a homerun.....BUT he said coach dave (their t-ball coach) not there...he at home!

from AT&T park we took a drive down to VAN NESS where we parked illegally and took pictures of CITY HALL and the OPERA HOUSE all bathed in glowing ORANGE.....next we cruised up and down gough street to lombard.....WEEEEEEE THOSE ARE SOME FUN HILLS!!! took the boys on their inaugural ride down the City's favorite crookedest street...and up to COIT TOWER ...also all a glow in ORANGE!

it was midnight before we got two very exhausted little boys home and into their beds....but oh the FUN they had!!!!!