Oh the life of a visually impaired dog owner.   

So I came home from walking Sadie last night – we happened to take a cross country route around my apartment, something we haven’t done in a while.  Came home, walked in the door, and I noticed that the poor dog was severely limping, not putting any weight at all on her  back paw.  In a panic, I looked to see the problem, and found the paw was severely cracked, very hard, but not bleeding.  So, I had her wait while I got the vet wrap, Neosporine, and essentials to clean the wound – meanwhile trying to convince myself that an emergency vet visit was not in order.  When I got back to Sadie, I noticed 2 pecan shells on the floor next to her. 

Yeah. . .was prepared to clean and wrap pecan shells!  I can just see me going to the vet with her paw wrapped.  I need more excitement in my life, ya know? 

This is an idea/challenge from Momster’s blog! A ‘getting-to-knoiw-you’ of sorts that will hopefully spark some interesting discussion. The challenge to you is. . .take this idea and post it on your blog, but say where you got it from. . .like a track back. Try it out – it’s not as easy as it sounds!!  I DOUBLE DARE you to try it! 

1. When I studied abroad in London during college, I traveled from Paris back home to London one weekend with no money on me, no cell phone, nothing. The weekend in Paris proved to be a little more expnesive than I planned, and took the train back to London – where the rest of my travelers checks were. Oh the things kids do sometimes! When i returned to my host family’s home, my host mother, upon me telling her what i had just done proceeded to CHUG her giant glass of wine just to calm her nerves. Blind girl, traveling in Europe, no money? Nah, not stressful at ALL!
2. I don’t like mimes. they creep me out. I’m legally blind. . .so sitting there in an audience at a mime show? Kinda boring. I feel the same way about silent movies. nothing happens!! Not a fan of Charlie Chaplin at all.
3. I am the master of little trivial facts. Why all this stuff is crammed into my head, I do not know.  Ask me a question and I will spout factoids about almost anything.  One thing for sure, I ROCK at Trivial Pursuit. That’s the only thing its helped me with.
4. For the longest time, the only music I liked was classical. When my parents would be playing things like The Rolling Stones or The Beatles, I’d go into my room and put on Mozart or Beethoven.
5. I DETEST clutter.  Unfortunately in one of my ‘I’ve got to get rid of this, I don’t have room for it” I’ve thrown away some sentimentally valuable things, so have had to curtail my anticlutterness. 
6. I’m very specific about how nachos should be prepared. I know several people who prepare them incorrectly – this unlawful proceedure involves dipping the chip into each of the condiments piled on the plate. Unheard of!  I feel it is my duty to not allow this to happen.    It’s WRONG I tell you!
7. On a field trip in high school with my visually impaired class, we stayed at a hotel in Dallas where we met Ronnie Milsap.  At the time, I had NO IDEA who he was, not being a country music fan.  In fact, so much so, that recently I had to ask a friend of mine “Um, who was that guy we met. . . .”
8. I love to knit. Have loved it since I started about a year ago.  While I haven’t wavered from the simple scarf thing, I’m branching out and trying new ideas and starting new projects.  But, my love of colorful soft yarn is fulfilled, thanks to the cool yarn shops here in Austin.    My favorite thing is knitting while watching tv or a movie – quite efficient, eh?
9. I LOVE practicing piano.  I’m one of the few people who play piano who (that I have found anyway) loves the finger exercises commonly played on the piano – most notably the Hanon collection.  I think it’s cathartic, it feels like a warmup before a workout. 
10. I can read and write Latin.  I took 5 semesters of Latin in college, and still recognize quite a bit of it.  As far as vocabulary, I think it’s really quite amazing how it helps in deciphering words.  Granted, I can’t find anyone to converse with, but I loved it.  Especially the bits of grafiti found on the walls of Pompeii – I LOVED translating them!  It felt like it brought those people, who lived centuries ago, back to life!
11. I am deathly afraid of clowns.  My grandmother used to collect clowns, and when I would walk by her clown collection, my heart would skip a beat or two.   I never told her about this, I didn’t want to hurt her feelings – she LOVED her collection!  But for me?  Nooooo thanks!!  I can do without them.  I saw Stephen King’s It, and Something Wicked This Way Comes and I think that goes through my head. 
12. When I was a kid, I was deathly afraid of pirates.  Well, nore specifically the pirates in Peter Pan.  My teacher for my visually impaired class took all of us to see the high school performance of Peter pan – twice.  And. . .twice, I ended up on her lap.  The second act starts with the curtain opening up on the pirate ship – and it freaked me OUT! 
13. I go through what seems like a gallon of fresh brewed herbal tea per day.  I’m always making iced tea, always.  In the winter, I will have several cups of hot tea a day, but the INSTNAT it gets a little warm, out comes the iced tea.  I love it, I’m addicted. 

Several years ago, I got this recipe from Amy – and it’s become a family favorite. Light, summery, and refreshing – a wonderful cold cake!

Cake

1 box yellow cake mix

1 can mandarin oranges + ¾ juice

½ C oil

4 eggs

Frosting

8 oz cool whip

vanilla pudding powder

1 can crushed pineapple

Mix cake ingredients and spread in 9×13” pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Cool and frost. Refrigerate for 30 mins.

This recipe reminds me of summer!

20 oz frozen unsweetened strawberries – thawed

Two 15 oz cans crushed pineapple

3 C orange juice

cold 7-UP or Gingerale

In a blender, combine 1/2 of the strawberries, 1 can unsweetened pineapple, and half the orange juice. Blend til smooth. Pour into ie cube trays and freeze til solid. remove ice from trays and place in glass. Pour 7UP over ice cubes.

I was thumbing through Maya Angelou’s book Hallelujah! The Welcome Table – a wonderful book filled with recipes and anecdotes of her childhood and beyond living in the deep south. I attended our annual family reunion a couple of weeks ago, and the combination of this book and the reunion got me to thinking – what foods remind you of people in your life, memories that are important to you? Is there any food that brings tears to your eyes when you eat it, thinking of this loved one? Food is such an important part of our lives, not only for fuel, but for the memories shared as we sit around the table with our families. It’s a sort of history of who we are.

Here are a few of my food associations/memories throughout my life so far:

Chicken and dumplings: reminds me of my great-grandma Flossie. It’s such a comfort food, I love it! I don’t have any specific memory of her making it, just THAT she made it, and I enjoyed it.

Meat loaf: reminds me of my Grandma B – my mom basically uses her recipe, grandma hated to cook, but she could make some meatloaf, complete with vermicelli!! I remember having it on Sundays when we would come over to her house after church.

Pork roast: My grandma Sue – pot roast, pork tenderloin, those are connecte to her. She would always fix those when we would come over for dinner. And really these I also associate with my mom, as she makes them equally delicious!

Baked chicken: One of my mom’s specialties I think – it’s always so comforting, and feels so homey when you smell it in the oven.

Iced tea with Tang: Grandma Sue again, this was one of the things that defined summer for me. Cold tea with a hint of orangey sweetness. Iced tea is a summer staple of our family – especially sun tea!

Cherry pie: I associate this with my grandpa and by extension my dad, as mom would always make Grandpa a cherry pie for Father’s day when we were growing up. It’s one of my very favorite pies!

Snickerdoodles: My great-aunt Mary would ALWAYS make snickerdoodles and bring them to family reunions. Even now, every year SOMEONE makes them – it’s almost not a family reunion without these little delightful cookies making an appearance! Come to think of it, it seems like they were always around when we would visit Aunt Mary’s house in Del Rio.

Tiramisu: My friend Vicki’s favorite. . . .fortunately for me, we can’t go to a restaurant and NOT order it if she sees it on the menu. Heck, I’m not complaining!

Pistachio pudding:  My friend Karin’s mom used to make this, and I loved it.  Love the color, love the summer dessert memories it conjures up – swimming, roller skating, mall outtings.

Anything barbecued always reminds me of my dad barbecuing and now my brother Nathan! Since I live in an apartment, it’s hard to barbecue. . .so I always look forward to having it at their houses.

Anyway, I think it’s fun to look back at all these food memories – it serves as an autobiography of sorts. I remember at one of our family reunions years ago, I made the comment that all we ever do is ‘get together and eat at these reunions!” Um. . .the problem with that is what??

What have you learned from the pets you’ve had? I think they can teach us so much about ourselves and the world around us. Share some of yours!

From my dog, these are some of the things I have learned:

• Don’t take life too seriously. There’s always something to laugh about, a joke to be made, or someone that can benefit from a smile.
• Loyalty is key – true friends always have each other’s back!
• A five minute walk is just as much fun as a 55 minute one – what matters is you’re having FUN!
• Always hang out on the kitchen floor – someone might drop a tasty snack.
• Whenever company comes, treat them like they are the best thing that has EVER happened to you – because for the moment, they are!
• Love is really all you need.

This was inspired by a post my sister-in-law made on their blog and then my brother’s response.

These are some of my favorite things – things that are either my joys, touchstones, or just sure to put a smile on my face.

• Food: Thieres hardly anything I DONT like, but thse are some of my favs – just about anything barbecued (chicken, steaks, burgers); any kind of cheese; Chuy’s jalepeno ranch dressing, any kind of Mexican food, my blueberry muffins (with so many blueberries you have to pick through them to find the muffin part!); almost any meal had with family and friends, something about the socialization makes it even better!
• Places: The Davis Mountains; Texas Hill Country – expecially when bluebonnets are in bloom; The British Isles – I want to go there someday with someone who can drive and I’;ll get some spectacular pics;
• Music: Where to start? Classic Braodway (Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, My Fiar Lady, Gypsy); some classical music; the older U2 stuff, Enya; Celtic Woman – just to name a few!
• Literature: Lord of the Rings trilogy; anything by Shakespeare; Maya Angelou, Betty McDonald
• Miscellaneous: Family- all of whom I don’t get to see nearly as often as I would like – and I’m looking forward to meeting my new nephew!; friends (here’s to friends I can chat with on the phone for hours on end!); my dog – who I wouldn’t trade for the world, she’s such a loyal, loving companion; relaxing on the couch with a good book and a glass of iced tea; cooking dinner and playing music in the background – it feels so homey!

I know I’ll think of more, but these are just SOME of my favorites!

Last year, a friend got me interested in the National Novel Writing Month contest.  Every November you write as much as you possibly can for an entire month (the goal is 50,000 words, or 175 pages!) and then spend all of Decemeber editing it.  Because the entire month is spent ferociously writing, it’s expected that the writers will come up with some less than wonderful content.  That is why you ONLY write in Novemember, and against my nature, edit later.  I think the idea is intriguing – i may just try it this year!  Several factors have come in to place to make this easier – trying to work around the Thanksgiving holidays.  This particular year I’ll be in San Antonio for Thanksgiving, and will have this blog to add thoughts to, which will help tremendously.  I’ve got lots of ideas, but not sure how it will be fleshed out into a novel!  Seems pretty daunting to me, but maybe it’s worth a try, right? 

To start this process off, I shall see if I can at least make one blog entry per day for several months, until I can get my creative juices flowing, ideas pouring out, and then I shall be the next great American Novelist!   

If anyone has any suggestions, tips, or otherwise, PLEASE let me know!!!  I am all ears.  (or is it all ‘eyes’?) 

For the most part, there are two kinds of people:  mountain people and beach people

Me?  Mostly moutain.    I love the Davis Mountains, and I don’t get to go to our cabin there enough.  I find that I love hot, dry climates like west Texas.  I love the heat, not crazy about humidity.  I love the fact that at the cabin it could be in the 90s and you don’t really feel it much.  I also love the peace, tranquility.  There’s nothing better than kicking back with a good book, glass of iced tea and laying out in the sun to read.    I know a lot of people think west Texas is brown, barren, nothingness.  To me, however, I think there is beauty in the different colors of the mountains, the different species of birds, plants, not to mention some spectacular photography. 

Don’t get me wrong. . .I enjoy going to the beach, getting in the water, the sand, etc.  But there is something about the mountains that speaks to me more. 

How about you?  Which one calls to you? 

This has become my all-time favorite pasta salad.  It’s from one of the Gooseberry Patch cookbooks and I’ve adapted it to the things I like best.  It makes a great meal! 

Polka Dot Salad

• 1 1/2 c cooked rigatta pasta or other spirally pasta
• 1 cucumber peeled and cubed
• 1 c carrots, chopped (coined)
• 1/2 c sliced radishes
• 2 c ham

For the dressing:

• 1 c Ranch dressing
• 1 T chopped parsley
• 1 T sugar
• 1 T vinegar

Suggestions:

• 1 can peas, drained
• sharp cheddar, cubed
• cherry tomatoes
• sliced green olives

Prepare pasta according to package directions.  Rinse with cold water and set aside.  Combine ham and vegetables and add pasta.  Combine Ranch dressing, sugar, vinegar, and parsley.  Toss with pasta mixture.