Please help...

I'm such an idiot.  I completely forgot to post this a long time ago, it is a link to make a donation for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.  The relay is today and tomorrow, and I feel like a very bad daughter by not posting this much sooner. 

My mom was diagnosed with cancer almost 4 years ago.  She is a beautiful and courageous woman who survived the deadliest battle of her life.  I am so proud of her...and embarrassed that I forgot to post the link to her Donation Page.

I hope some of you can go today and make a donation of $1, $2, $5 or whatever to help my mother raise money for this cause.  She has reached her goal, but I would really like to help her even more.  I wasn't able to donate much due to our limited finances as of right now, so if I can help her by asking y'all to help, then please do so.

And, I'm so sorry Mom that I forgot to post this link a long time ago.  I had it saved in my mail box but kept forgetting to go back and post the link.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and even if you don't go to my Mothers Relay page and make a donation, please visit your local American Society and make a donation there.  This is a very deserving cause and they appreciate every single dollar you can donate.

Thank you.
Hugs!

Tags: American Cancer Society, Relay for life

Cough and Asthma relief and restoring pictures

Good Thursday Morning!  It is beautiful here in NW Ohio this morning and I hope it is where you live too.  I love waking up to a pretty day, don't you? 

These are home health remedies that have been emailed to me or that I found on the Internet.  I have not tried them all and do NOT guarantee the effectiveness of them.  If you try one and it works, or if you have one that works for you, please email me.  Thanks

 

                

 

Coughs and Asthma relief

• Soak almonds overnight. Remove their skin. Make a paste of these almonds with little butter and sugar. Very useful for a dry cough.
• Hot tea with lemon and raspberry jam, drink as much as possible
  Drink hot milk with honey at bedtime for cough relief.
• Express the juice from garlic. Mix 10 – 15 drops in warm water and take internally for asthma relief.

I've been working on repairing a few old photographs.  They are worn, bent and have several scratches on them.  It takes me several hours to get them looking almost good, depending on the number of scratches.  Now I know why people charge so much to do this.

It is kind of mind numbing and God forbid your not saving (as I forget to do) the project after you make changes...cause if the computer freezes, or the program shuts down, or anything...your S.O.L.  Which I have been a few times.  Ouch!

The thing about these old photos is that most of them were black and white.  Some are made sepia and many have been colorized.  The colorization can be a problem, especially since it was up to the person doing it as to how it was colored.  I have to check and ask what color a persons eyes were to make sure I do it correctly.

Here is a sample board of some of the pictures I've done of Ray's family.

The first one is Ray's dad.  It was hard because of all the smudges and it was a sepia that had some colorization to it.  The thing I don't like about it is that there wasn't a lot of detail in the face or the uniform.  And I can't add what I don't see.

The next one is Ray's mother.  This is the photo that got me to doing this.  Someone had made a copy for us but they really "tramped" her up by adding some really outrageous red color to her lips.  The original wasn't in to bad of condition, just a few scratches and whatnot. 

The last one is Ray's maternal grandmother.  She passed away a year or two after Ray and I got together.  This one was hard.  There were so many scratches and even missing portions of the picture.  She was in her 50's when this picture was taken and with so many scratches it was a bit hard to tell where they ended and wrinkles in her skin began.  I had to remove so many scratches that I lost a lot of detail and it still looks distorted to me.  Although I'm glad that I was able to get it looking this good. 

I really like to do this, although the eye strain headaches are a bit of a pain.  I love old photographs and having a moment of our past history to be able to look back on.  Now, if I could just get Ray's mom and my mom to lend me some old family photos so I could scan and copy them...I'd be happy to put them on CD so we could share them with all our family members.  Sometimes when I ask them to loan them to me I feel like I'm asking for the key to Fort Knox and they think I'm going to steal them and hide them away.  I promise I'll return all the origianls and maybe repair a few for ya!  Honest!  LOL

Well,that's one of the things that has been keeping me busy.

Have a happy Thursday!  Oh pooh!  Now it looks gloomy outside.  Guess I'll have to play inside today and work on pictures, LOL.

Have a great one!
Hugs!

Tags: cough remedy, asthma relief, home remedy, restoring pictures, old photographs,

Wicked weather in NW Ohio and AOL changing journals...again

Imagine our surprise when we looked down the street this morning as the ol' man was leaving for work and saw this...

Thank God this was 3 houses down from us, as we have 2 huge trees in front of our home, and that it fell out towards the street rather than towards a home.  Thank you Lord for reminding us of your power and good grace.

Luckily it wasn't a real big tree or it would have done damage to one of the homes across the street, which is only about 25 feet wide.  But it was this lovely little gnarly tree.  There must have been some real damage to that trunk, look how it just split off of there.

Now, if your in the middle of posting and about to add a picture...don't click on the links from the Add Image button...you WILL lose your entry...as I found out the hard way.  I just hope that AOL add Image Shack to their list of accepted image posting groups as that is where I have ALL of my images. 

I don't know what will happen if they don't.  However, I have this image of all of my images turning into those dreaded white boxes with red X's.  Yikes!  OMG!  Can you image me having to go through my journal of over a year and adding all the pictures to another site and then uploading the new site pictures back on here?  Not gonna happen. 

Have a wonderful day!
Hugs!

Tags: Weather damage, fallen tree, storm damage, AOL, AOL changes journal format, AOL journal images,

Freshen a Garbage Disposal

Hello and welcome to another cleaning tip this morning!  Does your garbage disposal smell all nasty and gross?  Well, then you've come to the right place this morning. 

 

                     

 

Freshen a Garbage Disposal: Sprinkle baking soda in it along with a few drops dish-washing liquid. Scrub with a brush (a new toilet brush works great), getting under the rubber gasket and all around the inside. Then, turn on water and let the disposal run to flush thoroughly. For a fresh citrus scent, throw in a few cut up lemons or limes and run them through, too, using lots of water.

 

I always throw my used lemon or lime rinds through the garbage disposal.  It makes it smell so much better.  Um, I hope I don't have to tell you that if you are going to use the toilet brush idea to clean your garbage disposal...to use a NEW one, not a USED one.  Ewwww!

 

I also heard years ago to keep the blades sharpened that you should throw some ice in the disposal and run it.  I try to do that about once a month or so.  I don't know if it really works, but it doesn't seem to hurt anything, so what the heck.

 

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So on Sunday evening Ray took Rylie and made a little secretive run to the store.  They came back with my favorite ice cream, Cherry Cordial (Mmmmm, marishino cherries and bits of chocolate in cherry ice cream) and a bottle of that Magic Shell chocolate sauce.  It is something that we used to eat, years ago, when we would cuddle up and watch a movie. 

 

So we fixed bowls of ice cream and popped in a movie.  Have y'all watched that movie "Night at the Museum" with Ben Stiller and Robin Williams?  OMG...we really enjoyed it.  It was too funny.  We also watched Ghost Rider, with Nicholas Cage (ladies he looks good in this one) and really liked that one too. 

 

Anyway, while Ray and Rylie were shopping for the ice cream at Wal-Mart, Rylie insisted on carrying the little basket.  Well, she was dawdleling from what Ray told me.  Then he hears "daddy, daddy...will you buy me?"  He turns and looks and she is dragging the basket and it is filled with a plastic Sponge Bob bucket, shovel, little garden rake and gardening gloves.  LOL  What do you think daddy did?  Yeah, who could resist that baby?  Well, besides Mommy who has a backbonde when it comes to puppy dog eyes and buying everything under the sun that she wants, LOL. 

 

So that night she insisted on taking the bucket, shovel, rake and gloves to bed with her.  Yep, we tried to talk her out of it, but she insisted.  We removed the items as soon as she fell asleep.  However, the first thing she grabbed the next morning was all that stuff, so she was carrying it when she came into the living room.  LOL  She was TOOOOOOOOOO CUTE!  

 

So we spend most of yesterday working in my garden in the front yard.  Well, I was busy working...LOL...Miss Rylie was busy filling her bucket with my dirt and then dumping it where ever she decided to.  Ahh, sheesh...did she have to dump it in the middle of the lawn?  LOL  If your measuring fun level by the amount of dirt she had on her, then she had loads of it.  Uh, yeah both dirt and fun.

 

It's funny, because she acts like Daddy is the favorite all the time.  Yet she loves to come in the kitchen and help me cook, or bake.  She's my big helper when it comes to setting the dinner table (if she isn't over tired by that time).  And now I find that she wants to garden...just like Mommy likes to. 

 

I'll tell you why this surprises me so much.  I'm with Rylie 24/7...I know her pretty well.  I know when she is being manipulative (yes, believe me, 3 year olds know pretty darn well how to manipulate adults, LOL)  and we bump heads a lot.  Mostly because I am the disciplinarian.  I don't blame Ray for not wanting to be the "meanie", I don't like it either, but I don't want a spoiled rotten brat on our hands either. 

 

I mean, there are times when Ray will step up and discipline if he has to, or feels the need to.  But he works all day and sometimes doesn't get home till late on some days.  Then the first thing he hears is "Daaaaaaaaaddddddddddyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, your home!"  when he walks in the door.  It's the sound of an angel calling his name...and I don't blame him for not wanting to spoil it and having to be the "mean" one. 

 

But I can't tell you how much it means to me when he does step in to help me out when she is in one of her moods and having a fit.  Which she will then turn to him and say either "Daddy bad boy" or "Mommy!  Daddy mean me", LOL.  He doesn't even have to do anything for her to say the latter one.  Sometimes she will just walk up to me and say it to try to get him in trouble or get a game of chase going. 

 

She loves to play chase.  Her dad will be sitting in the lazy boy reading the paper or watching thenews and she will walk up and stand next to him, the next thing you know she smacks him on the arm and hollers "Gotcha, Daddy!"  Then they run through the house, yes it is like having two kids in the house, chasing each other back and forth yelling "Gotcha!" 

 

Rylie's newest thing is to sit and watch TV and everytime that a commercial comes on she will say "Mommy/Daddy (insert name of parent that is closest), you buy me?"  (((Sigh)))  Where did this come from?  How did she figure out that this was stuff you could buy?  Where did she learn the word "buy"?  LOL  I guess it is time to start teaching her the real value of a dollar...and when did that value become so much less than when I was a kid?

 

Or worse yet...LOL...when the Sunday flyers come and she will sit and go through and point to every item and say "Mommy/Daddy (insert name of parent that is closest), you buy me?"  Yesterday she asked me to buy her a phone.  A phone for crying out loud!  She's just getting the English language down and now she wants a phone.  Sheesh, Samantha was at least 12 before she asked for a phone.  LOL

 

Oh, and no...she is not getting a phone.  She already has about 4 or 5 toy cell phones and 2 toy house phones.  I think that is good enough for now.  But knowing her father, lol, I'm going to guess that when she is 6 and presents him with an argument for why she desperately has to have one that he will probably get one for her.

 

Well, I am going to get off here and do some things that I want to before the Princess wakes up and starts in with a new list of "buy me's".

                        

 

Have a wonderful day!
Hugs!

Tags: garbage disposal, commercials, buy me, Princess

4 recipes...not your average Mac N' Cheese

Good Monday Morning!  Time for a recipe and today I have 4 of them for you.  They are all pasta...well, three of them are different versions of Mac N' Cheese and the last is a pizza pasta.  Enjoy!

                   

The first 3 are all from Better Homes and Gardens.  It will take a bit more time than plopping the pasta in boiling water and then adding the powdered cheese, milk and butter...but MMMMM, it will be so worth it.

Macaroni and Cheese with Caramelized Onions

Ingredients
4  strips bacon
1  large sweet onion, halved and thinly sliced
1-1/2  cups regular or multi-grain dried elbow macaroni (6 ounces)
2  cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 ounces)
4  ounces processed gruyere cheese, shredded, or blue cheese, crumbled
1  cup half-and-half or light cream
1/8  teaspoon black pepper

Directions
1. In a large skillet cook bacon over medium heat until crisp, turning once. Drain bacon on paper towels; crumble. Reserve bacon drippings in skillet.
2. Cook onion in reserved bacon drippings for 5 to 8 minutes or until onion is tender and golden brown. Set aside.
3. In a large saucepan cook macaroni according to package directions. Drain and return to saucepan. Stir in the crumbled bacon, onions, 1-1/2 cups of the mozzarella cheese, the gruyere cheese, half-and half, and pepper. Toss gently to combine. Spoon into a 1-1/2-quart casserole.
4. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree F oven for 20 minutes. Stir gently. Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake for 10 minutes more or until top of casserole is brown and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes.
5. Makes 4 servings

Three Cheese Macaroni

Ingredients
12  ounces dried elbow macaroni (2-2/3 cups)
1-1/2  cups milk
1/4  cup butter, melted
1/2  teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4  teaspoon salt
8  ounces American cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
8  ounces sharpCheddar cheese, shredded (2 cups)
2  ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (1/2 cup)
20  rich round crackers, crushed

Directions
1.Preheat  oven to 350 degree F. In a large pot cook macaroni according to package directions; drain. Return to pot.
2. Add milk, melted butter, pepper  and salt. Stir in cheese. Transfer to a greased 2-quart casserole.
3. Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Carefully stir mixture. Sprinkle with crushed crackers. Bake 5 minutes more or until crackers are browned and mixture is just heated through (don't overheat or mixture will curdle). Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Makes 8 to 10 side-dish servings.

Creamy Macaroni and cheese

Ingredients
4  strips bacon
1  large sweet onion, thinly sliced
6  oz. dry elbow macaroni
8  oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded (2 cups)
2 to 4  oz. blue cheese, crumbled
1  cup half-and-half or light cream
1/8  tsp. pepper
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large skillet cook bacon over medium heat until crisp, turning once. Drain bacon on paper towels; crumble. Reserve bacon drippings in skillet.
2. Cook onion in reserved bacon drippings for 5 to 8 minutes or until onion is tender and golden brown. Set aside.
3. Cook elbow macaroni according to package directions. Drain and place in a 1-1/2-quart casserole. Add the crumbled bacon, onions, 1-1/2 cups of the mozzarella cheese, the blue cheese, half-and half, and pepper. Toss gently to combine.
4. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Stir gently. Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake for 10 minutes more or until top of casserole is brown and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes.

This recipe is from Kraft and sounds pretty good. 

"Pizza" Pasta Toss
 
Prep Time: 10 min
Total Time: 25 min
Makes: 4 servings
 
3 cups (8 oz.) penne pasta, uncooked 
1/4 cup KRAFT Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing 
2 oz. OSCAR MAYER Pepperoni, quartered 
10 mushrooms, sliced (about 2 cups) 
1 green pepper, chopped (about 1 cup) 
2 cups spaghetti sauce 
1 cup KRAFT Finely Shredded Italian Style Five Cheese Blend 
 
COOK pasta as directed on package. 
MEANWHILE, heat dressing in large nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add pepperoni, mushrooms and peppers; cook and stir 8 min. or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Add sauce; mix well. Cover. Reduce heat to low; simmer 3 min. 
DRAIN pasta; place in large serving bowl. Add sauce mixture and cheese; toss to coat. 
 
KRAFT KITCHENS TIPS
Variation
Omit pepperoni. Reduce vegetable cooking time to 5 min. Add 2 slices cooked and crumbled OSCAR MAYER Bacon along with the cheese.
 
Shortcut
To quickly cut the pepperoni, simply stack the slices before cutting into quarters as directed. 

***This entry has been edited.***

Well, I have got to get busy here.  I have a little girl who is standing here with her shovel and bucket and wants to go outside and help me garden.  Which means she wants to go out and dig up all my flowers and seedlings...hm, this should be a fun day.  LOL

Have a great one!
Hugs!

 

Tags: Macaroni and cheese, mac and cheese, recipes, pasta, pizza pasta, pasta recipes

This story about simpson has my panties in a bunch

Have y'all read the latest oj story?  If not, you really ought to go and read it, at least if your going to continue to read my little rant here, lol.  Go ahead, click the link and read the story, I'll wait for ya.

 

Click here: Top News- Owner Boots O.J. Simpson From Restaurant - AOL News

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Okay, done?  Now isn't that just something?  Can you believe the gall of this man?!  I am referring to simpson.  I refuse to give him the respect of even capitalizing his name.  He doesn't even deserve that much!. 

 

First he plays the race card and wins the little sham of a trial and got away with murder.  And now he can't believe that there are actually people here in the real world who don't like him because he is a wife beater and murderer.  Which is why he has to claim that the reason he was refused service is because of the color of his skin. 

 

Hm, how ironic.  He refuses to pay the families of his victims the amount they were awarded in a court of law (civil trial), and now it sounds like he and his little lawyer, Yale Galanter, are gearing up to sue Mr. Ruby.  It wasn't the colorof your skin simpson!  It was because you beat your wife, murdered her and an innocent man and then refused to pay the amount owed to families who sued you in civil court!  Freaking idiot!

 

Let me make my feelings about this "person" (simpson) perfectly clear. I think he is SCUM!  I think he is a lying piece of filth!  I think he is a wife beater!  I think he is a murderer!  Those are just my opinions...and they have absolutely nothing to do with the color of his skin.  I could care less if he was yellow, tan, white or freaking purple!  I still wouldn't like the S.O.B.

 

He could be standing by the side of the road, car broken down, bleeding from the eyes, ears, nose and throat, having a heart attack while a dog peed on his leg and a bird chit on his head...and I would NOT stop to help him.  Let that happen and have him and his attorney accuse me of being racist!  It has nothing to do with skin!  Why are they playing that dang race card yet again?  Maybe I should write to him and ask for a donation and when he refuses to give it to me, sue him in court because I believe he didn't give it because of the color of my skin. 

 

I'm not saying that sometimes people don't do things based on their racist beliefs, I'm sure that many, many people do.  However, Mr Ruby was NOT being racist.  He just chose not to play into simpson's little "celebrity" game and having people going "gah-gah" over being in the same restaurant with a "celebrity"...when in actuality they were in the same room with a wife beating murderer.  Mr Ruby didn't like the commotion of having a killer in his establishment and chose to politely ask him to leave. 

 

I applaud Mr Ruby and his strong moral conviction and the courage to stand up for his beliefs in a world where so many people would probably be thrilled to get the autograph of a scumbag like simpson or scott peterson.  Yes, I am comparing simpson to scott peterson.  In my eye they are two of a kind.  They both killed a vibrant, beautiful young woman for their own selfish reason.  One also killed an unborn innocent baby boy and the other also killed an innocent young man barely in the prime of his life.  The only difference is that one got away with murder and the other one didn't. 

 

Hm, funny thing there about the "race" huh?  I mean it was the big dollar celebrity who happens to be African American that got away with killing his white ex-wife, and the average joe blow white guy that was found guilty.  Just an observation.  Not implying that I think peterson should have gotten off, because I think he should have been hung by his b*llz and left to die a slow and painful death.  But I find it intriguing that the one got away with murder and the white guy didn't.  Hm, maybe that race card is a game we should all be playing. 

 

I mean the next time I'm standing at the grocery check out and the cashier says my coupon has expired perhaps I'll begin shouting "it's because I'm a blue-eyed blonde 1/2 Mexican, isn't it?  Racist!  Racist!  I'm gonna sue!"  Hm, I wonder if that would work?  Probably not, maybe only rich athletes can play that card. 

 

I know...I've gone off on a pretty extreme and wild thought tangent here.  But simpson and his dang antics really makes my blood boil.  Hey simpson...I think your an azz!  I think your egotistical, self-centered, selfish, ugly and a wife beating S.O.B.  That is just my opinion of course, if you disagree with me, I guess you can sue me in court.  Hm, maybe then I'll just move to Florida and play the hide from payment game like you do.

 

Tags: o.j. simpson, booted from restaurant, Jeff Ruby

Home remedy

Happy Thursday!  Time for another home remedy...and today it is, um, for those days when you just don't quite feel...uh, yourself...when your feeling a little crampy?  This is not the subject for polite conversation, lol. 

                  

Constipation (In adults)

• Eat a few black licorice sticks.
• Take apple pectin.
• Make sure you're getting enough Folic Acid in your diet.
• Drinking ginger tea will help start a bowel movement.
• One tablespoonful of corn syrup added to 8oz of water.
• Guava when eaten with seeds provides roughage to diet can give relief from constipation
• Add more fruits to the diet prunes pears, grapes, Orange juice & Papaya
• Add a little extra sugar or some honey a glass of milk. Drink twice a day
• Bale fruit is the best laxative of all fruits. It cleans and tones up the intestines & gives constipation relief. *I found this tip at several sites.  If your like me you're wondering what the heck bale fruit is, so I looked it up and found out that it is a Thai fruit. 

Constipation (In Small Children)

• Soak 6-8 raisins in hot water. When cool, crush well and strain. When given routinely even to little infants, it helps to regulate bowel movement.
• Constipation in toddlers, infants and older children may be relieved by giving bran cereal

I am a firm believer that if you have enough intake of fruits and vegetables, and drink the recommended dose of 8-8 oz glasses of water, you will be pretty regular.  If your not, then constipation is your bodies way of telling you that something is missing from your diet.

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Since spring is here I decided to add an extra little tip for your garden. 

Epsom salts can be poured around the base of a rose bush which will produce beautiful blooms. The Epsom salts contain magnesium, which helps enforce blooming. You can also use Epsom salts on tomato plants and your crop will be better than ever!

 

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Here is a copy of my Daily OM for today...

 

May 10, 2007
Healing With Movement
Rediscovering Dance

As children, most of us were encouraged to dance on a regular basis, freely and openly, in whatever way felt best. A few of us may have retained or regained our ability to engage in dancing unselfconsciously, but by the time we reach adulthood, many of us have stopped dancing altogether. We may have hang-ups about our bodies, or we may fear being judged. Then again, we may simply have fallen out of the habit for so long that we don't even realize we never dance anymore. Whatever the case, there's no time like now to rediscover the healing pleasure of moving your body to music-alone, as part of a couple, or in a group.Opportunities to dance abound, once you start looking for them.

If you haven't danced in a long time and feel too self-conscious to start in a public situation, find some time alone to reintroduce yourself to the joy of listening and responding to music with your body. Turn the lights down low and remember that it's much more fun when you're not thinking about what you look like. It won't take long before your body remembers how much it loves to move. Feel the music in your soul, feel the vibrations healing your body. Treat the time like a meditation session in which you agree to allow yourself to fully inhabit your amazing body.

If you feel awkward, remember that every culture since time immemorial has celebrated life and the body with dance. All people carry the memory of dance in their blood and bones. In other words, you were born to do this, it is in you already; all you have to do is start moving. If you prefer more interaction, take a class one night a week. In most cities, you can find everything from modern dance to African dance to ballroom and salsa. Whatever you choose, you won't regret choosing to rediscover your birthright-the healing, joyful thrill of dancing.

I just love to get up and dance with Rylie when no one is around.  She loves music and whenever something comes on that is fun and upbeat she usually starts to dance, or comes and grabs my hand and we dance together. 

 

When she first started to stand up on my lap I would hold her up and sing "shake your booty, shake your booty, shake shake shake, shake shake shake, shake your booty".  LOL  She just loved it.  Now some days she walks up behind me puts her hands on my hips and starts singing "shake shake shake, boooooty".  It is too cute.

 

I would love to get her enrolled in a dance class, whether through the Y or to save up and go to a studio.  I want to wait a few months and see how she does with the potty thing and give her a little more time to expand her vocabulary too.  But it is something that I definately want to do for her.  She just loves to dance andsing.  Hm, I hope American Idol is still around in about 15 years, lol.

 

Rylie and I always have a ball during our dance "sessions".  We are smiling and happy...hm, or is she actually laughing AT me?!  Oh well, all I know is that after we dance around for a bit I feel better, happier.  Try it and see if you don't feel better.  Just "dance like no one is watching!"

 

Have a great day and dance a wee bit!
Hugs!