Rants, Ramblings, and a Recipe!

I don't have much on the schedule for a blog post this week. So something with the 3 R's is always good.

I was originally just going to post a rant on how I currently feel about doctors.......but I don't want to just dwell on the negative right now, because that's way too easy to do. You see, right now, mom has pneumonia. Not good. The worst part was how she was diagnosed. She'd been not feeling well since Memorial Day, and when we took her to her normal doctor, they said she had bronchitis, gave her some sulfur drugs, a shot, and sent her home. She had a terrible cough, and, pardon me for being graphic, had coughed up a bunch of icky yellow/green mucus, and once or twice it had been laced with blood. Now, we explained all that to the doctor, and she still said bronchitis. She said she couldn't hear pneumonia in her lungs and mom didn't want an X-Ray. After 10 days of the sulfur drug, mom was still sick, but she said it wasn't near as bad. The cough, however had not let up. After about 3 days of being off the sulfur drug, she was worse. So we tried a different doctor at what they call "Urgent Care". It was the only place open besides the hospital on a Friday night after 5PM.
I don't know God's plan, but I know everything has a reason. There is a reason mom got sick, and there is a reason that this particular doctor saw mom on the night in question. But I doubt I will ever know the reason.
I hadn't gone with mom and dad that night, because they said there was no need. Mom had been told by countless people that she had  pneumonia, and after doing some research with my good friend Google, I had come up with the same conclusion. We were in hopes that another doctor would give her some medicine that  would actually clear it up, instead of just holding it back for a while. After the doctor saw mom, she said an X-Ray was necessary, and BEFORE she even found out the results, she came in and proceeded to tell my mom that she didn't have a virus, or pneumonia, or anything else.......her lungs were completely covered in cancer.
As I have said in my past posts, we are aware of some small tumors in mom's lungs, and she has an appointment in August to have them looked at, but this? No one was expecting. You can imagine the pain and shock that mom and dad were feeling at that time, and after hearing this story, I was upset that I had not been there with them. Anyway, this doctor was completely rude, and after she found out the results were indeed pneumonia, she didn't even offer as much as an "I'm sorry for putting you through this". Some doctors can be such scum. Thankfully we do have mom on 2 strong antibiotics now, and she has finally (after a week) started showing some improvement. Thank you, Lord! The final straw that made me not like this woman in the least happened the following Monday when mom went back for a follow up. Apparently this was not necessary (even though the doctor said it was), and the doctor was mad mom was there. When she got done examining mom, she said "Well, I'm still not convinced it's pneumonia". Boy, did my mom tell her the what for! Go mom! All I have to say is, what kind of a doctor does that? Not a very good one.

Thus ends the rant section of this post.

As for the rambling, I'm good at that. Just ask my husband. One of the big differences between us is the way we describe our day;

Me: "So, how was your day?"
Dan: "Eh. There were some good points, but it was still a rough one." 
Me: *waiting* *waiting some more* "Ummm.......OK, would you like to elaborate on that a bit?"
Dan: "Not really." 

End of discussion.
Reverse roles.

Dan: "So, how was your day?"
Me: "Oh, you know. About the same. I went over by to check on mom and when she fell asleep, I ended up falling asleep and I was afraid I'd get to the store late. I did get to the store late, but not because of that, it was because I had to follow some guy that apparently doesn't know how to drive because he was weaving all over the road and wouldn't go faster that 40 miles per hour, and after I got to the store Russ had to leave and help Skyla with some real estate stuff so I was there by myself and this nut-job comes in and decides to tell me his life story! I just kept standing there saying "uh huh, uh huh" but he didn't get the point."
Dan: "Uh huh." (Yes I'm aware of the irony)
Me: "So after an hour......an HOUR.....that guy finally walks out and I was ready to strangle Russ by the time that he got back. Then I had to make the virtual tour for the property that Skyla just listed and my computer kept freezing up.......I really need to clean that thing......and when I finally got it done I was 15 minutes late for my student, which of course threw me behind on all the rest of them. And then I get to hear the famous whine of "Why do I have to do it that way?" and "My fingers hurt". Sometimes I wonder why I even bother. I'm just glad to be home."
Dan: *nodding* "All right then." 

There are several hundred variations on that conversation, but it's pretty much that same conversation every day. Sometimes I don't know how he puts up with me. But he does, and I am grateful.

Alright, I guess that's enough rambling, so on to the recipe!

I've wanted to post this bread recipe for quite a while now, because I am a flop when it comes to home made bread. Seriously! But this bread worked for even me, so I know someone with bread making skills could do wonders with it. My dad makes the best bread in the entire world, no joke. He makes it out of a start that he got from another man about 4 years ago, who got his start from a man a year or so before that. So we just call it "man bread". Dad will not give the recipe or the starter to a woman because he wants to carry on the tradition. Oh well. This way I just get to eat it and don't have to bake it. lol OK, rambling again. Sorry.

The ingredients are as follows:

 2 cups warm water
3 tablespoons sugar 
2 heaping tablespoon or packet of yeast.
2 tablespoons butter
5 cups Bread Flour
2 tablespoons of salt 

Mix warm water and sugar in a largish mixing bowl. Sprinkle yeast over the top and let sit for about 5 minutes.
 Add the butter, 4 cups of flour, and the salt. Stir this together until it begins to hold together. Pour a cup of flour onto the surface you intend to use for kneading. 

Knead until it holds its own shape well, 3 or 4 minutes. Let the dough rest while you grease a bowl for rising. Return to your dough and knead a further 3 or 4 minutes until it's smooth

Roll the dough into a ball and place in the greased bowl.

 Put the bowl someplace warm and cozy. I like to put mine on the floor in front of my patio door, especially if I'm making it int the afternoon/early evening. This makes for a pleasant environment for the bread, because it's so nice and sunny. It recipe says to leave until it's doubled in size, but I let it rise for an hour.

After an hour dump the dough out on a floured surface and punch it down. Knead the bubbles out and form into two loaves. Place the loaves into lightly greased bread pans. Return to the floor.
 

Let them "rise" for another hour.

With the loaves sitting in the oven, turn it on to 350 degrees and leave them in for 45 minutes.

  Since your oven is probably different than mine, you should knock on the tops with your knuckles to check for a hollow sounds. That means they're done!

I always coat the tops of my bread with butter and cover with waxed paper and a towel. This way it softens up the crust. 

What I like about this bread is not only the taste, but how easy it is to make. Plus it is still fresh the next day, unlike a lot of home made bread. 

I hope you enjoy it, and feel free to post a comment about how your bread turns out if you decide to try it! 

The one with all the TV clips

Yes, that's right. Today's blog will talk about TV! And of course you can't talk about TV without talking about commercials.........really dumb commercials.

OK, maybe that last part was a little rude, but I have to say, the commercials that are on right now? Are really, and truly awful. I will say, too, though, that there are some that are really great. Although they are few and far between. Take a look;

                          Now be honest. Doesn't that dog's butt really make you want to eat a Starburst? 


I want to show you one that I actually like so you can see I do have a sense of humor. I like this so much that Dan and I catch ourselves trying to come up with our own scripts that sound like this;
They do have other commercials on these same lines, and I have YouTubed every one of them. I love them. 
Well, as much as you can love a commercial.

 For this next commercial, my husband and I have talked many times, and we can't seem to understand how all these people are able to afford these huge houses with new furniture and appliances, as well as be home in the middle of the day. Maybe you can explain it?

I have to say, they do make you want to buy the appliances. So, in essence, the commercials are doing their job.......but do they have to be so annoying about it?

Now, this commercial shows one of the things that I really hate: BAD OVER ACTING! I thought that was supposed to stay on infomercials?
I guess they did it on purpose.......but why?
The Crunchy Nut man isn't as bad as the guy eating the cereal. He's just plain goofy acting.

Alright. I guess I've bashed enough commercials for now. So on to the main event; TV.
I have always been friends with my TV. When I was much younger and still lived with my parents, I had a TV in my room that stayed on almost all night. It was good company for me and it helped me to sleep so I left it on. Sometimes I'd be pretty restless and wake up at 1 AM without being able to go back to sleep and I'd put in a movie to watch. Needless to say that growing older and the stress of life made that restlessness go away for the most part, so that doesn't happen anymore. It also helps to have Dan right next to me. So I pretty much sleep like a log now.
But I still like TV. Especially at night before bed and I have to say that I love British TV, and I think that develops when you start seeing how many American shows have ripped off British comedy. Sometimes you can watch the American version of something and think it's dumb, but you may love the British version. Or vise versa. Lets talk about some of my top choices in TV.

One of my favorite shows of all time is The Office (American version). Now, this show started off as a British show as well, and was written by Ricky Gervais, who also starred on the show. I think the main reason that I don't like the British Office, is because I don't care much for Ricky Gervais. Something about him gets on my nerves, so therefore I can't really stand to watch him in great quantity. I am thankful that he came up with this idea, though, because now I can watch things like this. And unless you've seen the whole series, that probably made no sense to you. But that's OK. You may be curious and want to start watching now.



Let's see. Where do I go from here? Ah, yes. I was talking about British comedy. There are so many good shows out there that it's hard to keep track. In fact, Saturday nights here at home are spent watching British TV. PBS airs 2 shows ever week that Dan and I rarely miss. One of them is Keeping up Appearances.

And the other one is Are you being Served?. If for some reason it's "pledge week" which seems to happen for about 3 weeks every 3-4 months (?), we will watch something else British on Netflix. It's hard to explain, but once you get in a routine of something, like watching a particular program on a certain night, it's hard to kick the habit.

I guess that's why when House was canceled, I not only wanted to watch that series on Monday nights, I wanted to watch A Bit of Fry and Laurie, where Hugh got his "big start". I don't think most people even know he's a British actor because of the great job he did playing an obnoxious American on House.

Speaking of, I'm actually surprised I liked that show. House, that is. I was afraid I wouldn't when I saw it for the first time, but I actually got pretty crazy about it by the time it ended, and now I get to go back and watch all the seasons and see new episodes since I didn't officially start watching until the end. Sometimes it pays to be behind.

As for this show, "Black Books", it's probably more of an acquired taste. I wasn't sure about it the first time I saw it, but I got attached to it awfully fast. Bernard is the character you love to hate, and Manny, played by Bill Bailey, is so very funny. I've watched a few of his solo stage performances, and his gift of humor is great.

The I.T. Crowd has a little computer humor in it, but you don't have to be "tech savvy" to enjoy it. I actually learned a thing or two from it, and now when I'm told someone has computer problems, my first question is "have you tried turning it off and on again?"
I'm actually kind of glad the American version of this flopped. It just wouldn't be right without Roy.

"Coupling". The British "Friends".
Friends came out first, but I watched Coupling before I really got in to the American version. Now, as was "The Office", I'm thinking I like the American version better.
As I said about Black Books, this is probably more of an acquired taste.

And now, "Friends". This was a show that, growing up, I was never allowed to watch. I can understand it would be a little to adult for kids, but for adults it can be really funny. When I don't want to think about a lot......I like watching Friends. It's easy to watch and understand.
I also like how their episodes are all named "The One With......" Hence the name of my blog post.

Speaking of American comedy, I had almost forgot my "newest favorite". The Big Bang Theory's title turned me off at first. I didn't think that I would like it because I was afraid it would be to scientific for my tastes. Turns out I was wrong. These people all work so well together and play their parts perfectly. And let's face it......who doesn't want to be friends with Sheldon for like.........2 minutes?

For my final clip (because I have to quit eventually), I will show Fraiser. Even though he seems snooty, I really like watching Frasier. I never really cared that much for Cheers, but Frasier was something I could follow. And they picked the perfect person to play Niles (his brother). They play off each other very well.

So, these, in a nutshell, are my favorite TV shows, with the exception of some of the old classics (i.e. The Andy Griffith Show, I love Lucy, etc.) I hope that I have introduced you to something that you like, or reminded you of something you used to like. Feel free to leave me a comment about your most loved or hated TV shows, as well as commercials. I'm always open to new things!

Men, Women, and Father's Day.

Since I've started this blog, I've tried to post something at least once a week. It's kind of a goal I've set for myself. It gets me thinking and pondering, and hopefully coming up with an amusing or funny story I'd like to share in the process. Eventually, I hope to get better at it, but I hope you all stick around while I'm trying to get there.

Today the thought that is floating around in my brain has to do with men and women and their differences in the way they do things, as well as Father's Day coming up Sunday. So maybe I can shove these two thoughts together. Let me see........Father's Day.......differences between men and women.......I've got it! 

As all the faithful readers know, mom has had some health problems for the past few years. This last episode leaving her pretty much down for the past two months, and probably 3 to 4 more coming up before she gets back to where she needs to be physically. In the mean time, dad has had to step in and take over the household chores. I fill in where I can, but they are both so independent, dad would rather work at his job all day, and work in the house all night than have me do stuff for them. So, I do what they'll let me do. 

Now, that being said, let me give you a little history on dad; 

I remember as I was growing up, dad would come home for lunch every day. He got a full hour, but it would take him roughly 10 minutes to get home, followed by 10 minutes back after lunch. It would still leave us time to eat, and then watch a partial episode of the Andy Griffith show together. I loved this schedule! Mom would have a big meal cooked, because dad loved to eat. Still does, really. But she was the stay at home mom, so the house would be clean and picked up, a big lunch fixed, and part of the time there would be pies or a cake or cookies or something good in the oven that morning for dessert the rest of the day. And it would be home made. Because, according to daddy, if it's not home made......it's not any good. If for some reason mom wasn't able to have a big lunch, or supper, and was running late, she would just put cold cuts and cheese on the table for "fix your own" sandwiches. Dad didn't like that. He felt as though if he had to have a sandwich, at the very least it should be assembled for him. True story. 

Dad is the hardest working man I've ever known, always has been, always will be. He would work 12+ hour days, standing on concrete floors in the meat shop as a butcher, come home and work for hours at his sawmill, take care of all the animals, including the 10 or so head of cattle he had for years, not to mention anything else that needed doing for himself or a friend. It was always dark when he left of a morning, and dark when he came home at night. But, it needed to be done, so he'd do it. He is still that way. The only difference is right now he's having to take care of mom's territory; The house. 

A couple weeks ago, I told them I wanted to clean their house for them. Believe it or not I was allowed to!  So, I took mom to therapy at 9AM, and when she was done we picked up some "brunch". We were back home by 10:30. After I got her settled in for a nap, I started to work. 

• First things first. I knew I wanted to fix supper, so I pulled some meat out of the freezer to thaw. 
• Next I picked up some odds and ends that were scattered here and there and put them away. 
• Then I started dusting, vacuuming and sweeping in every room except the kitchen. I always do it last.
• I cleaned both the bathrooms and emptied the trashes. 
• I remade dad's bed that he'd been sleeping on because it was wrinkly. 
• I walked to my house to get some yeast to start some home made bread. 
• Did a load of laundry.

I did all of this without waking mom up. I felt like I was pretty quiet, and things got done without her being disturbed. I like this! After I had finished all the picking up, dusting, vacuuming and sweeping in every other room, I started on the kitchen. 

• I cleaned off the cabinets (because dad has a bad habit of piling things on them)
• Wiped everything down
• Swept the floor
• Emptied the dishwasher and then put the dirty dishes in it
• Emptied the trash
• Finished my bread so it could raise. 

Feeling very accomplished, and mom had woke up by this time, so I came to town, paid some bills and bought a few things I needed for supper, then proceeded to come home and start fixing said supper, as well as 3 loaves of home baked bread. Now, I was done with everything with some time to spare. I stalled supper a bit so it would be hot when dad came home. I pulled the last loaf of bread out of the oven at 5:30. 

What does this have to do with my subject? Because this is a big difference I've noticed between men and women, and the next part of this discussion involves my dad. See? I knew I could do it. Let's give an example of how a man would handle something similar to this.

When dad's off, he never spends a full day in the house, but my wonderful dad was home this morning. While he does everything well, I can't help but notice that he does it in a very inefficient manner. He can't cook his breakfast, and mom's breakfast at the same time. They're having 2 different kinds of eggs, yes, but other than that...........

Then, he's cleaning the kitchen after breakfast. He's practically running through there. In all fairness, though, that is dad's manner. He's always been that way because he has a lot to do, but faster is not always better. 

I felt bad this morning because mom was trying to get some extra sleep after breakfast. There was no way ANYONE was going to sleep at that time. Dad was banging on plates, slamming the dishwasher door, stomping across the floor while taking scraps outside and then slamming the door, stomping back across the floor as he came back in. All the while trying to talk to me. Every move he made jarred mom awake, and she'd look at me with a sour frown as if to say "I wish he'd just be quiet!" 

To top it all off, cleaning the kitchen alone took him an hour. AN HOUR! I felt like a nervous wreck by the time he got done. He's like this with most inside chores. 

So here's my question; Do you think that men are just unaccustomed to doing household chores, therefore making it seem harder for them to handle? Or, God has given women special patience when it comes to running a smooth house? Or, is there another reason?

There are "Mr. Mom's" out there, and my dad is great at getting things done, so I am in no way complaining. I'm so very proud to have a dad like him. I just can't help but wonder if things like this are one of the reasons men and women are made so differently. Oh, and so I'm sure to come full circle on my subject, Happy Father's Day to all the great dads out there......especially mine. 

I would love to hear your opinions.

DISCUSS! 

Growing Pains

My birthday is coming up in roughly 6 weeks.

I will be 25.

Where did the time go?


I'm slapped in the face with this realization almost every day. I can't believe how fast that time flies. It seems like just yesterday that I was studying the drivers manual for my written permit test. Not 10 years. I was so excited! I couldn't wait to drive. It was a sense of freedom, control, and all around coolness. I craved every minute of it, and even wanted to be older. Can you believe it? I WANTED to be older. 
Think about it. We were never just "12"...........we were always "12 and a 1/2". Or "I'll be 13 in just 8 months!". Never satisfied.


At 12 I wanted to be 13 because then I would be a "teenager".
At 13 I wanted to be 15 because I could get my driving permit.
At 15 I wanted to be 16 so I could drive by myself.
At 16 I wanted to be 18 so I could be counted as an adult.
At 18 I wanted to be 20 so I wouldn't be a "teenager" anymore.

GAH!!!! When do you stop? When do you stop wishing your life away?

For me, I think it stopped about the time I turned 21. Of course, I got married that year and everything was going fine. I felt as though I had reached a point in my life where everything was just so great, I wanted time to slow down, but it didn't. It sped up.
I swear, I don't know where the last 4 years have gone. I only blinked once......maybe twice.....and here it is again. My birthday.

Now, please don't misunderstand me. I am eternally grateful to God for giving me another year. And I will celebrate this birthday just like I have celebrated every other birthday. Because I really do enjoy them.
I guess I'm just being overly sentimental today.
See, when I ponder my life, I also ponder many things that have happened in my lifetime. I wonder about choices that I've made, people that I've met, pets that I had......... And as a matter of fact, today my horse passed away due to lung problems. I hadn't gone for a ride in years, but I'll still miss going out and talking to her at the fence.
I have had many pets in my lifetime and they've all died before I could truly appreciate them. And why? Because I was too busy wanting to be older. I just pray that I never let that happen with the people that I love.

I talked to a friend of mine today, also. I've known her for almost 10 years, and she was Maid of Honor at my wedding. Basically, we decided to "see other people". Not saying that we're not still friends, but we're just not on the same page with our lives right now.
This made me sad too, even though we both agreed that it shouldn't make either one of us feel bad over our decision. If you have to try to come up with things to talk about, chances are you've outgrown each other, and eventually, it's just too tiring for the both of you. So, you agree to see each other every 6 months or so and discuss your lives over a cup of hot chocolate and move on. What else can you do?
Because, time does go on, and people do change. I'm not the same as I was 5 years ago......shoot....I'm not the same as I was 1 year ago. Truth be told, I'm glad because I'm pretty sure my husband and I couldn't live together if we were both the same as we were 8 years ago when we met.

After 25 years, though, I think it's mostly safe to say I'm starting to settle in to who I am.

A person that likes her life.
Likes spending Saturday night at home with her husband watching British television and eating ice cream.
Likes how on special occasions they drink Welch's grape juice out of stemmed glasses.
Likes the fact that she's so close to her family, both physically and emotionally.
Likes the way she can talk about herself in the third person.........

OK, maybe not that last one. But it is fun sometimes. In reality I will always be a kid at heart. Here I was wishing to be older, but I never completely grew up. And maybe, you're never supposed to, completely. If you can't have some fun once in a while, this life can get pretty tiring. Although, a young woman told me once "You are not a typical 23 year old. You're just weird! Who wants to stay home on weekends? Who doesn't drink? Who doesn't live with their boyfriend before getting married?"
Me. I guess that's what makes me weird. But as I've said before, I like being weird.

So if you're young and reading this blog, please take advice from me. You may not know me personally, but I wished my life away and never took time to enjoy where I was at. Don't do that. Enjoy being whatever age you are right now, because time moves so quickly it won't be long until you're grown. And you can't go back. Ever.

As for me, I'm going to enjoy the rest of 24. I don't know what will happen these next few weeks before my birthday, or even the weeks to follow, but I want to make every second count. I want to be happy and praise God for all of his blessings on me and my family. I want to spend lazy days with Dan and cook suppers for mom and dad, joke with Russ and Skyla and play with Madysen just as much as possible. Yep. I want to enjoy who I've become. No more taking time for granted, and no more wishing my life away. Each day is a gift, and it's time I started appreciating it.