How Sweet It Is to be Loved by You!

I am allergic to corn.  Without a doubt.  Every time I eat something that contains corn or a corn product I feel awful, my teeth start to hurt terribly, my mouth, throat, esophagus and stomach feel burning and I have a terrible malaise worse than the flu.  Everything literally hurts.  This happened to me today when I drank some Motts apple juice.  I am suspecting it has some corn product.  When Eddie left for work today, I was close to miserable, and when he came back, I was recovering from feeling miserable; now I'm just feeling very bad.

Eddie decided to heat some chicken fingers (blech, what a name to call those things) and fry tostones.  I can eat neither of them because they contain corn starch in the first, fried in corn oil the second.  Eddie's face just fell when I told him I couldn't eat any tostones (fried plaintain, squashed).  I told him that at some point I could perhaps soak them in water to bring out the corn oil if any, and then fry them in olive oil.  So, Eddie exited and I kept on watching a Christmas movie.

Some 20 minutes later, I went to the kitchen to find something edible, and found Eddie frying some tostones, that looked somewhat bloated.  I looked up and the Man I Married smiled at me and said, "I fried some for you!"  I said, "What?  You soaked them and fried them in..." and he said, "Yes, in olive oil.  Just for you."

And, they were delicious!  I feel almost normal, being able to eat tostones.  Next time I'll buy the plaintains and make them myself.

The end of my story:  I told dear husband, 'I'm going to kiss the cook!" and proceeded to do so.  And he smiled with his heart in his eyes, I finally understand that phrase, and told me, "The cook loves you!"

I tell you, I'm keeping this guy!


for a picture and recipe, go here:  http://www.elboricua.com/tostones.html

Strange Thanksgiving Without a Table

To have a Thanksgiving, all you really need is a reason to give thanks.  And then, to actually GIVE thanks to God for the blessings you have received, and for the bad things you didn't receive, for the lessons learned...

The Sound Engineer I call Husband had a fit some time ago, and Honorable Son #1 is so like his father.  It was really The Danny Boy who started it.  He took a good look at my dining room table and said it was "dead," "junk" and that he was going to throw it out.  And Dear Husband joined him in his fiendish deed.

I'm only sorry I don't have a picture of the misfit table I had.  Once upon a time it was a new table, much appreciated in our house.  And then, we realized we had been "had".  It was not a solid wooden table.  It was made of a sort of a plastic that looked enough like wood to fool two young lovers (no, we didn't sleep together, I mean it in the old-fashioned sense) who only had eyes for each other and were ignorant of things of these sort.

The first time we spilled something, we realized our table was sick:  it was swollen.  We tried to make it feel better, but it stayed that way.  And through the years and three children and many MANY more spill, the table become more and more swollen.  One day it began to crumble.

The Sound Engineer I call Husband said, "That table is dead, but no one has informed it of the fact."

Some time later, The Danny Boy had his fit, and they both took the old table and sent it to its doom.  Now we have a tiny round table that seats 4 uncomfortably.  It doesn't seat 5, or 6, or 10, which is the number of people here today.  So, the giving of thanks was strange because we were not gathered around the table.  Some of us did form a circle, spontaneously held hands while my husband asked God to bless the food and thanked Him for the blessings of family and friends.  I felt strange that we were scattered throughout the house, no table talk, no elbows in our way, no "pass the gravy" either, just a sort of buffet-style meal.

Still, we had fellowship with each other, and were blessed by our company.  My hair was speaking to me, so I put a pretty handmade scrunchy in it, everybody liked the pumpkin (un)pie and the cheesecake and no one was in any hurry to leave, not even Beloved Mother, who usually wants to go home after about 45 minutes.  Father God, I thank You for this wonderful day!

Vertigo

I have vertigo!  I should be preparing  a cheesecake, but was ordered to bed by the despots, dictators, tyrants, I'm running out of great adjectives to describe the menfolk here.

I'm stuck in my dungeon, er-room!  Held hostage!  Help!  haha!  I should be mixing a cheese cake and pumpkin pudding.  I can't eat corn, and most everything contains some sort of corn, so pumpkin pudding it is, not pumpkin pie.  DD is looking for some extra food because I invited some of Honorable Son #2's friends over, thinking that the turkey was larger than it is.  So, I'll make some Hammentashchens (if they let me) and tostones, too.

Hope you all have a wonderfully peaceful day with your loved ones.  God bless you!

River

Thanksgiving Proclamation

[New York, 3 October 1789]
Click here to view original Page Image. 
By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor-- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.
 
Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war--for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted--for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions-- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually--to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us--and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Another Finished Object: Crochet Ribbon Scrunchie

Another crochet FO (Finished Object).  It was never a UFO.  This is really Instant Gratification Crochet!  :D

This scrunchie was made with a ribbon yarn.  You don't want to use fancy stitches because the beauty is in the yarn, not the stitches.  Therefore, in order to show off the yarn, use simple stitches, and the best are either half double crochet, or double crochet.  I prefer the latter.

It's for DD, and I will give it to her when I sew it.  Usually with yarn I only have to weave in the end down to the original knot, knot with that, then glue it.  I only use glue with scrunchies, NOT with the rest of crochet pieces I make.

Thanks for peeking in here.  I would have written "peeking in," but sentences should not end with a preposition.

River

Some Days Are Just Like That

Some days are just like that, aren't they?  You go around in a sort of dream, trance-like, just doing the things you have done every day, and since you have either been trained or trained yourself, then you go through the motions, like a soldier, with your duties.

Then after a long long terribly long day of work, you look up and realize it's only 10 A.M.  That's your cue, that something is wrong, but duty calls and you must continue.

At the real end of my day, I looked at myself in the mirror.  (Why do we do that, anyway?)  And I saw a woman with red cheeks, not pink or brown, but red.  Oh boy, I'm coming down with something, yet again.  It seems that the kids on this street like to share their germs.  And today I had earmarked it for working on my book, but I can't really think, so back it goes, to be filed again, perchance to wait for another day when genius is burning again.  the only thing burning are my eyes and my forehead.  I just realized that FOREhead means the front of the head.  In Spanish, it's called "frente" which means "front" also.  I grow delirious.

Me, I give thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ that I work from my home, and thus, as the Virtual Assistant that I am, if I want or need to go and lie down for a few hours, most of the time I can.  I am so blessed!

I just wish that I had my little grandmother here to make some sopita de pollo (chicken soup, Puerto Rican style, please).  I would eat a bowl, and just go to bed.  I suppose that when you're sick, you want to be babied, and my!  I want to be babied big time.  But, she is gone, Mom no longer cooks, and The Sound Engineer I Call Husband does not know how to make sopita.  He has many other talents, but I really want soup!  I'll keep him anyway.

River

Now, if I could only bring the bed HERE!

Painful Truth

"It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth — and listen to the song of that siren, till she transforms us into beasts. ...


For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it might cost,
I am willing to know the whole truth;
to know the worst, and to provide for it."

Patrick Henry,
Founding Father        

What If I Stumble

This song starts with Carman speaking these words:
"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today
Is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips
Then walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle.
That is what an unbelieving world finds
unbelievable."

Finished Object: Crochet Dishcloth.

One of the things I like about crochet is that I have a finished object.  It's there.  Not like my car, which needs gas and washing and cleaning, certainly not like my house, which has to be tidied up every day, especially kitchen and bathrooms.  I make it.  It's there.  C'est fini.  Terminado.  Más nada.

I finished this, and it's on to the next project, to finish my two shawls, the Pretty Blue Shawl, and the Granny Triangle Shawl.  These are mindless, sort of.  But the crocheting gives my mind a rest, while my hands are busy.  I can think, ponder, pray, plan, or just let my mind wander at will.  I can sing a Frank Sinatra or Johnny Mathis song (I know, way before my time, but I LIKE THOSE SONGS), or just listen to my thoughts to see what my mind is up to.

So, here is the dishcloth, a Finished Object.  Now to the next UFO...

No Taxation without Representation

As a reflection on a friend's query, which I won't post here because it's a private post, here are my own thoughts:

Perhaps that fateful phrase should once again be ours, "No taxation without representation!" Our people in Congress and in the Senate are hearing our voices, but are dulling out the sincere protests of the people they claim to represent with their own quiet underhanded dealings of money and power.

Stooping to name-calling, such as calling people who disagree with how we want them to use our hard-earned money "unpatriotic" doesn't mean they are.  The media is certainly supporting by not faithfully reporting news.  Instead, they are dishing out editorials and call it news.  It is so easy to say, "We all know that..." and "These few thousand protesters..." when they are closer to a quarter million or more is flagrant manipulation.

I am certainly not being represented-why then should I send my taxes to the government? 

If I didn't have work today, I would certainly write more and better.  I just wanted to share this before stepping into the whirlwind.

My Crochet WIP

Grab the pattern here:

http://www.bernat.com/pattern.php?PID=4441

This is a picture of the first two rounds.

Ugh, Blech, Yuck

How do I hate the sound of the CMA this year?  Let me describe the sound:  it's UGH, BLECH, YUCK!!

In fact, double yuck!  It's just awful!  I don't want to hear it at all.  The sound quality is poor and it's been compressed.  You can't hear the guitars, the voices sound flat (not the notes, the quality) and in general, lackluster.

I have nothing good to say about the sound.  I should be hearing fiddles, because I SEE THEM, but other than a band playing Charlie Daniels' The Devil Went Down to Georgia, and it sounded just horrific, there is nothing.  I can't believe that ABC, a large company with kabulillions of money, would permit the sound to be so dead.  Shame on them.

Going to Find a Doctor

I have to find a good doctor who specializes in allergies.  Something is killing me here and I don't know what it is.  I ate Sara Lee cake and felt that awful burning sensation in my mouth and throat and esophagus, like when I ate strawberries.  I felt even worse when I ate something called Sun Chips.  It's become worse and worse.

My twin sister is allergic to corn, so this has me thing I might be allergic to this, too.  I've been trying to eliminate corn from my diet, but I had no idea it was in so many products.  I'm feeling a little better now that I've taken a lot of the corn and corn products out of my diet.  The worse part is not driking Coca Cola.  Even artificial sweeteners contain corn products. 

Three Sundays ago I went to church and some people prayed for me and since then I haven't had ANY pain in my abdomen.  I've been bending over, too, like I haven't in years, and no pain.  So, my petition to the Lord is, please, another miracle!

Thanks for "listening".

Grateful for My MIL

I'm grateful for mine, at least, I claim her as a mother-in-law.  Her name is Enelia.  Well, okay, so she's not my real MIL and her real name isn't Enelia. She my husband's great-aunt, who took him in when his own mother died and did her best to finish bringing him up.

Back in Those Days, people here would give birth in their homes, and then later on go to the township to inscribe the baby.  Often, if they weren't going to town, since it was far away and people had to travel by horse or mule or on foot, if a neighbor was heading to town, the parents would tell him/her to inscribe (register?) the child and under what name.

So, her parents, who were busy working and couldn't go, asked a neighbor to register their new baby and would he please put her down as "Enelia" . The neighbor took half a day to reach the township.  He did his errands and before he returned, went to the office to register the new baby girl.  But, a terrible thing happened along the way to that office:  he forgot the name.  He thought it over, knew it began with an "E" and when asked for the name promptly blurted out: "Her name is Emerita." 

Can you imagine the anger when they found out the mistake.  I don't know what happened next, though I'm sure they never asked him to do any more favors!  She is known as Enelia anyway, although it's not her legal name. Still, Enelia or Emerita, she's the same sweet old lady who always looks at my crochet work and admires it.  This is a lady who can embroider, sew wedding dresses, cook savory Puerto Rican food to die for, and some other needlework that I can't remember right now, something like Richelieu... and she admires MY crochet work!  She wants a white shawl, half-granny square or the granny triangle, as it is often called, so I'm going to buy that yarn.  Will have to send to the States for it, since they don't sell it here, that I know of. But I will make that shawl for her and soon.

Oh, the link!!

http://kimberlykesti.typepad.com/thinkfast/2009/11/five-things-part-2.html

I wish my MIL were here.  She's in New York, living with a "daughter" who isn't her daughter, which she also brought her, when her mother died, and they are no relation to each other.  I MUST make that shawl.  I have a blue one, but she wants it to be white, so white it is.

Mean, Pitiful, and Contemptible

"It is of great importance to set a resolution, not to be shaken, never to tell an untruth. There is no vice so mean, so pitiful, so contemptible; and he who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and a third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world's believing him. This falsehood of the tongue leads to that of the heart, and in time depraves all its good disposition."

— President Thomas Jefferson

Snow Girl Crochet Sweater So Far

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ!

This is what I have so far for the Snow Girl crochet sweater.  Decided to not have a white row separating the color rows.  Also, I have no blue to match the red and the aran flecked white, so am using black.

I'm ready to start with the decreases in the neck shaping.  It's simple, though, if you understand the decreasing instructions, so, here I go.

:)