16. No Good Deed Goes Unpunished!

Bob and I are truly blessed to have many friends from our school days.  Some we see often and others have moved far and away, but we are still able to keep in touch in part because of the ease of the internet.  While I love the World Wide Web, it has robbed us of some of the personal touches.  When did you last receive a hand written letter or a thank you card?  It is so uncommon that it really gets people's attention. 

Our daughter, Trisha, and grandson, Robby, live in Switzerland, due to circumstances beyond her control, she found the need of an apartment.  After looking for several weeks, she found one that was perfect for her and Robby.  She called and said "Mom, I found an apartment today.  It's in a good neighborhood and it is just charming.  However, there were so many people that came to see it, I can't imagine that we will get it.  I filled out the papers and took them back in about two hours and he was still showing the apartment.  I'm a little discouraged."

Since I'm a little old fashioned, I told her to send a thank you card "right this minute!  In today's mail!"  Trisha was a little skeptical, but followed through.  She called three days later and said "Mom!  I got the apartment!  He called and said that there were so many applicants but he felt compelled to give it to me because I took the time and initiative to follow up with a card!"  Imagine that!  A sea of applicants and she stood out because of a hand written thank you! 

Good manners DO count! No matter how small and insignificant the gesture may seem, people do notice.  Today is so fast paced and busy and so many people are barely getting  by that they are cross and worried and fearful.  If we all take a minute and do something nice even if it is to hold a door open for someone, or make eye contact with someone in a wheel-chair, I guarantee you will be repaid ten fold! We can't change the whole world, (the evening news makes that abundantly clear) but "Oh, what a difference we can make!"  With one little gesture, a personal thank you note, a smile where it is unexpected, a door opened for someone less fortunate than you...it is amazing how good you will feel inside. 

Sometimes it will give you a good laugh, too.  One day I went to a coffee place next door to where I worked.  When I paid for my coffee I gave her two extra dollars and said "Pay for the next person's coffee for me."  She smiled and about that time a lady came in.  The employee said, "This is your lucky day, this nice lady here wants to buy your coffee."  The customer looked at me and said in a cranky voice, "WHY!"  I smiled said, " It seemed like a good idea at the time."

When our son, Bud, was about six, when I went to the bank he would stand at the door and open it for people who were coming and going.  Banks are usually pretty busy so several people were greeted by his happy little face.  He was always a sweet little boy and I didn't think much about it.  Then one day he said, "Mommy, I always count how many people say 'Thank you' when I hold the door for them.  Today only one person said it.  How come most people don't say it?"  I told him that I guessed that folks were just so busy that they didn't notice, but to keep up the good work because his satisfaction was it's own reward.  It is, you know!  No one needs to know but you.  We have all heard of doing random acts of kindness. What was the last one you did?  Mine are fewer and farther between than they should be, but I'm going to work on that! 

Let's all make a "pinky finger promise" to do better!  Imagine what a fabulous place this would be!

15. Hearts...Flowers? Give Me a "Chick Flick!"

It's Valentine's Day and the sun is shining!  What a wonderful gift that is!  We decided to celebrate yesterday. It's something we don't always do, celebrate Valentine's Day.  The commercials on television romanticize it too much.  The bar is set way too high, plus most of the things I don't need anyway.  I wear my favorite jewelery most every day, I don't wear pajamas and while I love flowers it seems more special when Bob comes in with the first rose or iris of the season announcing it is way to pretty not to enjoy inside.  He used to take quite a ribbing from co-workers when he was a surveyor and would find wild flowers to bring home, but he did it anyway.  He's quite the romantic, but not on demand.  It's when the mood strikes.  I guess we all do better when it's our idea.

One day I came home from work and saw our initials carved in a heart on the tree stump beside the driveway.  It wasn't Valentine's Day, just a regular old day of the week when I was clearly on his mind.  How can you top that on a day that marketers decide is important?  I don't think you can and those times have helped temper my old expectations.  So, now if I want to celebrate something I say "Know what I want to do for (whatever)?"  I want to...and then I tell him and he always says "Great!"  He's not stressed and I get what I want.  

That's not to say that he hasn't ever gotten me wonderful things, however, they are rarely on a special occasion.  I have a lovely silver engraved belt buckle and one day I came home from work particularly tired.  I was working with severely emotionally disturbed children at the time and it had been a very trying day.  Bob said, "Honey, I got you something."  I said, "Well, it better be good, I've had a s@#%&;* day."  Now I've felt small before, but when I opened the box and he had had his father's and his grandfather's diamonds set in the simplest and truly loveliest necklace...well, you can imagine how humbling the moment was!  I have since had my mother's diamond set below the others.  They are perfectly graded, one slightly larger than the other.  It is as if they were made for each other.  I wear them every day and rarely a day goes by that someone doesn't compliment me on them.  Everyone thinks that I have been a really good girl.  Sadly three wonderful people had to go to their Celestial Fandango for me to become the "Keeper of the Stones."

I'm learning to make lists through the year so that when our son or daughter ask what I want I have something to reference.  It seems when asked, my mind goes blank.  So, silly socks or a magazine subscription usually top the list.  I'm mad about silly socks.  Whether stripes or stars, puppies or hearts, they are always welcome for any occasion.  My sister has gotten me several for no reason at all, even better!  My favorite are the black ones with happy cowgirls going down the side.  She gave me some with cowboy boots, too.  Magazines always get read when they are a gift.  Rachael Ray tops my list right now and I have read Family Circle for forty years.

It really is true that it's the thought that counts.  Even if it is something that makes you wonder if the person really knows you.  I've never received anything that was so unbecoming  you couldn't wear it once.  Close calls, but I've worn it anyway.  If we lived in a larger house, I would have an Ugly Christmas Sweater party.  I guess they are all the rage.  Someone had a television segment on them last holiday season.  What a wonderful idea for all those ghastly creations that only grammar school teachers wear!  Come on, you know we have all been tempted!  Several entrepreneurial geniuses are making a nice extra income haunting second-hand stores gathering them up and then selling them on the internet!  Only in America!!  It's crazy but it's true! 

Speaking of crazy but true, in Japan, Valentine's Day is when only women are expected to buy fancy chocolates.  They are bought for all the men in their lives including bosses and co-workers. The average cost to them is about  two hundred and fifty dollars.  Men follow suit a month later on White Day.  We learn crazy things on CBS Sunday Morning!  It's one show we rarely miss!  Watch the video!

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6207442n

So, ladies be glad you don't live in Japan and if you are disappointed with what your Valentine got for you, next time about a week before the day greet your other with..."Know what I want to do for Valentine's Day?"  Then just tell him.  Unless he is one of those rare men who love to plan things, he will be soooooooo relieved and "You'll score exactly what you want!"  He will be stunned at how much money he will save and how happy you will be!

As a footnote: if you are lucky enough to have a husband who likes "Chick Flicks," and love Gary Marshal as we do, go see "Valentine's Day."  It is so sweet and good.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, "From Paris With Love," with John Travolta was "check your brain at the door," fabulous!  Gotta love him BALD!

14. An Apple a Day...With Vanilla Sauce, Of Course

I never thought I would ever see one of these menus.  I simply marvel at the internet.  Everything I never knew I needed with just a click of the mouse is right here in front of me.  When I was in junior high at good old Fremont Junior High School in Pomona, CA, F.W. Woolworth was right down on Second St.  A good friend of my mom's worked at the lunch counter.  Our mom would sometimes take my sister, Becky, and I to have lunch there on Saturday.  I guess we must have eaten lunch, but all I remember is the huge apple dumplings with the hot vanilla sauce.  It wasn't on the menu.  You had to have the inside information.  Only those in the know could experience this delight. They were the most heavenly thing you can imagine.  On one particular Saturday, my mom turned to me and said let's go home and practice until we can make this sauce.  Even my mom's friend didn't know the recipe.  The boss made it when no one was around.  He could have just opened a can, but I doubt it.

With the taste still on our lips we hurried home and got busy.  It didn't take too many tries before she had it just about perfect.  Now, my mom made just about the best pie crust this side of the Rockies, so the crust and the apple dumplings were a snap.  What a sublime feeling that was...hot apple dumplings with equally hot vanilla sauce right there and it didn't have to be Saturday.  Bob doesn't see the point of the sauce and wants his plain, the purist that he is.  But then he didn't sit on that stool at the lunch counter in F.W. Woolworth Co. on those Saturday lunches with my little sister and my mom or that Saturday that we hatched our plan to conquer the vanilla sauce, now did he.

Many years later I went to lunch with some girls friends at the Apple Farm in San Luis Obispo, Ca.  They all ordered salads and sandwiches.  When it came my turn to order, I laid down my menu and announced that I was having the "Apple Dumpling with White Sauce, if you please."  All eyes were on me in horror.  I think that deep down they were all sorry that they didn't have the courage to break such tradition!  I don't think I have ever enjoyed such a lunch.  It was absolutely wonderful.  I closed my eyes and my sister was on one side and my mom was on the other and the apple dumpling was AMAZING. 

Apple Dumplings with Vanilla Sauce

Simpler than from scratch
pre-made pie crust
can of apple pie mix

Cut crust in large circles, big enough to mash down into cupcake pan.
Fill with apple pie mix.  Bake at 375 until crust is cooked and apples are bubbly.
Probably 20 minutes or so.

Even easier: buy Trader Joe's Apple Blossoms.  They come 4 to a box and cook in 4 minutes in the microwave and are fabulous.

Now for the Vanilla Sauce!
1/2 c.sugar                 2.c.milk
1/4 tsp. salt                1 tsp. vanilla
2 T. corn starch
1 egg
Combine corn starch, salt and sugar stir until blended.
Stir in milk and whisk until smooth and dissolved.
Cook over medium heat stirring as with pudding.  When
thick and bubbly remove from heat.
Beat egg in a bowl and add Tablespoon of pudding to the egg stirring as you do.
This tempers the egg so it doesn't scramble when you add to the pan.
Add the egg and vanilla to the hot sauce and continue stirring until smooth and thick.

You won't be sorry...not one little bit!   Notice that the menu has not one mention of a cheese burger and
fries and it's all in English!  Imagine that!

13. They ain't the "Ain'ts" No mo'!

Well, what do you know?!  Not only did the Saints finally get to the Super Bowl, they won!  They had picked up the nick name "The Ain'ts" because people thought it ain't never gonna happen.  I've never been much of a football fan.  Bob used to watch the Cowboys play a long time ago and he and Bud have been to a couple of games in Dallas, but that was a long time ago, too. We usually watch the Super Bowl, mostly to see the commercials. We have had Super Bowl parties, but not since we moved to the country.  This time though we had to watch 'cause ya gotta root for the underdog!  Our son, Bud, has been a die-hard Saints fan for years, but never thought this would happen.

I have to admit that I did enjoy it.  A few of the commercials were good. We loved the one with Betty White and Abe Vigoda (we thought he was dead.)  I think the ad was for Snickers, also the Doritos one when the dog took off his bark collar and put it on the guy who wouldn't give him a chip and then barked and took the bag.  What a hoot!

Years ago when our kids were small we used to go to Mt. Sac and watch high school football games.  It was a fun and inexpensive thing to do.  I liked the hot chocolate and just the pleasure of getting out of the house was enough reason for me to go.  We had been going for, oh, I guess about 3 years and in the middle of a game, I leaned over to Bob and said, "Honey, what's a down?"  "What?" he said.  "You've got to be kidding.  After all this time your finally asking what a down is?"  I said, "I guess I just got curious."  Sometimes men just don't get it.  Going had nothing to do with the game to me.  I loved to people watch and have my chocolate and I really loved the half-time when it was really a half-time.  When the school bands and drill teams could show their stuff.

I didn't have hot chocolate yesterday and there weren't any people to watch, but I did fix us a figure friendly snack. (The figure friendly part was very important to Bob.)  Not that we need snacks, it just seemed with the Super Bowl and all, it might be un-American  to just sit there and not eat something.

All-American Guacamole and Pita Chips
1 ripe avocado
Home made salsa
      1 can diced tomatoes -can use fresh if you have 2 or 3  that are really ripe
      1 small fresh onion diced
      1 small can of diced Ortega green chilies
       Fresh cilantro chopped (optional)
      3 diced or grated garlic cloves
      1 T. olive oil
      2 T. green taco sauce
      Combine ingredients and enjoy.  Like most of these things, it's better tomorrow.

OR   you can use any redi-made salsa

Mash avocado and add salsa until it's to your taste.

Take your fresh Pita breads and separate the two halves and spray them with Pam or other spray oil.

Sprinkle with your favorite spice.  I happen to like garlic salt.  Cut them in pieces and place on pan.  I have

a nice cooling rack that I cook them on.  They get toasted without having to turn them.  Turn your oven on to 350 and put the pita in the cold oven.  When the oven beeps that it has reached temperature, turn it off and in about 10 minutes the chips are toasted crisp.

If you are pointing, one whole pita is (3) (makes a pile of chips)and 1/3 of the dip is (3).  I put mine on my own plate and chowed down!  That and a virgin Bloody Mary made with Clamato(0) and all spiced up, I felt very wicked indeed!

I feel better about the Saints and are very happy for them and Louisiana.  I know they must be so excited.  I have to admit though, I still don't understand just exactly what a down is.

12. Under the Covers...of Books, That Is.

It is absolutely pouring down here, the second day straight.  Four deer are foraging down in the meadow and even they are under the large oak tree near the road.  I never tire of watching them and we've come to terms with them when it comes to our yard.  I don't plant what they like to eat.  I bought a lot of expensive "Deer Chow" when we first moved out here.  Sometimes I'm a slow learner, but I'm all grown up now and have learned to save myself the heartache and buy the things that don't suit their palate.  All Lavenders, Daisies, Gazanias, Rosemary, Sage: mostly things that have a strong odor.  Gazanias seem to be my favorite, although Lavender comes in so many varieties, as well.  I had no idea that Lavender has so many therapeutic and medicinal properties.  Don't you just love Wikipedia?  If you haven't checked it out, please do!  http://en.wikipedia.org

Note:
Gazanias come is so many colors and are
drought resistant.  Warning! The drought
resistant part only comes into play when
the plant is ESTABLISHED!  Silly me!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/gazania

When I was in the 7th grade, my home economics teacher sold encyclopedias during the summer.  My parents bought me a set of Collier's Encyclopedias.  OMG!  That was one of the best gifts they ever bought me!  I spent hours just reading them.  The sheer pleasure of grabbing a volume and letting it open where it may was absolutely my magic carpet.  Remember when we checked out "Canterbury Tales" from the school library and let it open to the "Miller's Tale?"  You had only to stand it on the spine and let go!  It opened, as if by magic, to the right page!  OOOOH, how racy!  I doubt if any one at Fremont Junior High School ever read any other pages in that book!  I know I didn't.

Bob says I was a "Goodie Two Shoes" in school. (1) I suppose perhaps I was, but I loved school and everything about school.  I could, however, read well, so school was easy for me.  Bob loved school, too, but reading, not so much.  When we married, I discovered that his reading ability left a lot to be desired.  Why, he hadn't even read the classics.  I couldn't imagine not reading Huckleberry Finn or Uncle Tom's Cabin.! The list goes on and on.  So we started in determined to conquer the deficit.  Now, don't for one minute think that just because someone is a slow reader that they aren't smart.  Bob can recall minute details on almost any subject, pulling the information from the computer in his brain at any given moment.  If I ask him a question and he doesn't know the answer, I'm stunned.  His memory is unbelievable.  He says that it's because he knew if he heard something he had to remember it because he knew he couldn't look it up again.

So began the "hour of the bath."  We made a starting list and began systematically reading them, usually while we soaked in the bath tub in the evenings and in bed just before lights out.  It is a wonderful relationship builder and has developed a bond between us that will last forever.  He one time told me "Thank you for opening doors for me that I would never have been able to open for myself."  What more could one ask for?  It has extended to me reading while we drive, even just the seventeen miles to town.  It doesn't make me car sick and time just flies.  My brother-in-law now reads to my sister, not because she can't read well, but because it is truly one of life's greatest pleasures.

So think about it, do yourself a favor and learn the pure joy of reading to someone you love.  Imagine  finding out together why Huck and Tom took the dead cat to the cemetery at midnight, if Jamie goes to the future with Claire in Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" series or if there really was a "Dry Bean Saloon" in Texas. (Lonesome Dove)  Who knew we had so much in common. So take a pal and go on a treasure hunt, find out what's beneath  the next book cover.  Give someone the gift of time and story, I guarantee it is time well spent.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodie_Two_Shoes

(1)"Goody Two-Shoes" redirects here.

The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes is a children's story by an anonymous author, published in London in 1765. The story popularized the phrase "goody two-shoes", often used to describe an excessively or annoyingly virtuous person. In more recent years, the phrase has developed a more negative connotation, implying that the virtuousness of a "goody two-shoes" is insincere.^[1]

11. The adventures of Martha Jane and the Television

Bob and I have turned into the old people we used to make fun of when it comes to our dog, Maggie  She is a bundle of loving, kinetic energy.  Her velocity of mass is unparalleled in dogdom.  She runs for the sheer pleasure of the activity and fairly grins while doing so and it is almost impossible not to laugh at her.  I vaguely remember such pleasures in my youth.  As she makes her third lap around the house and then leaps over the picnic bench, I tell Bob that we should have named her Calamity Jane.  

Maggie has definitely  inherited her hunter genes.  She stalks things quietly at first then starts a low rumble in her throat.  If we haven't noticed yet, she gives a sharp bark.  Now, keep in mind this might be a picture of a cowgirl hanging on the wall that she hadn't noticed before or a skull ( we went through a collecting phase and have many, many animal specimens) that has just caught her attention.  The large buffalo in the living room really put her in a tail spin.  You have to tell her it's ok and let her smell it, even if this means picking up all thirty pounds of her so she can get a closer look and a sniff.  By doing this, she has learned to warn us, but doesn't just bark obsessively.  Neither Bob nor I have a tolerance for dogs that just bark for the pleasure of it.  A well loved dog will alert you to what they perceive as danger and protect you to the death, if need be, just because they love you.  In my estimation, a dog that barks obsessively is poorly adjusted and needs a tuneup.

This morning, though, she out did herself.  I was in the living room and heard her low rumbling  growl.  She was on our bed "pointing" at the armoire which holds a small television.  There is a mirror on the front of the door.  I'm not sure what caught her attention, her reflection or the big bad television, but by the time I had said "It's ok, girlie girl" she was in mid-air, locked and loaded for a rare attack.  She slammed into the front of the armoire and the television flew out and hit the floor.  How she escaped mortal injury is a mystery to me, but she did.  Lo and behold!  The television did, as well.  I had been thinking about dusting behind and around it, but not necessarily today. 

I did take advantage of the potentially bad situation and gave everything the once over.  Both Maggie and I felt better then and decided it was time to get a bite of lunch.  Over sandwiches, Bob and I considered the possible repercussions of changing her name to Calamity, but decide that dressing her in the chicken suit was confusing enough.

                                       I know it's sick, but she is so darned accommodating!

Footnote**
It turns out that Calamity's given name was Martha Jane.  We didn't know that until we heard the song, "Me and Martha Jane," written and performed by our friend Juni Fisher.    Juni is an amazing balladeer whose music evokes great happiness and according to the back of the cd case says "listening to this album, you should experience symptoms of intelligence and coolness, repeated listening may help prolong the symptoms." Well, that explains a lot.  Check out her web site.     www.junifisher.net

10. Pasta Diablo

If you're looking for something to spice up your life, try Pasta Diablo.  It is spicy, easy and quick.  I make a jar of the sauce and keep it in the fridge.  It actually is the brain child of our daughter, Trisha.  She had a deli in Montecito, CA and they made this as a sauce for a Piadina sandwich they served.  A Piadina is a flat bread (like a good homemade flour tortilla) sandwich popular in Italy.  It is filled with your favorite ingredients and grilled.  This sauce is for dipping.  We use it for meatball sandwiches, pasta or just for dipping toasted bread.  It is fabulous and even better the second day.

First you need a jar of marinara or pasta sauce.  You can make your own if you like with canned tomatoes and spices.  Too much trouble for me but Rachael Ray says it's a snap.  I like marinara as it has fewer calories. Bob says Hmmph! (you know how he feels about calories, "The more the merrier!")

1 jar of sauce (your favorite or what ever is on sale-you make it your own anyway) SAVE THE JAR!
1 Tablespoon of dried oregano, crushed between your fingers
1 Tablespoon of Italian seasonings
2 Tablespoons of dried red peppers, crushed between your fingers (like the ones they give you at Costco for your pizza)
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
3 crushed cloves of garlic

Combine ingredients in a sauce pan and simmer for a few minutes to let the flavors marry.  (Don't you love that term "marry"!) Allow to cool and then return to the jar the sauce came in and refrigerate.  You can use it now, but it is much better tomorrow.  Now you have perfect sauce for lots of easy meals.  Buy a bag of chicken meatballs, some mozzarella and a couple of sandwich rolls and "Meatball sandwich here we come!"  Cook your favorite whole wheat pasta (less calories and actually has protein-a much better choice than regular pasta and has a nice nutty flavor).  I cook my pasta in half water and half chicken broth or I add a tablespoon of dry chicken soup base to the cooking water.  It really peps up the flavor.  Add a few of your chicken meatballs and your sauce, top with Parmesan cheese and some good bread to sop up the sauce!  As Julia would say...Bonappetit!