An excerpt from A HOME NOT OUR OWN from November 25, 2015:
Today, I contemplate how grateful I am that the homeowner of this house accepted our lease application last Spring, and that this rental was available for immediate move in. Had another week passed we would have been homeless... again. Relief that that was not the case.
Although still in a home not our own, it's nice to feel safe and warm.
I mentioned yesterday that I'd tell my story from last year about our neighbor, a raccoon, a koi pond, and cuckoo accusations. But, I don't have time for that tonight. So, instead, this...
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Measure and combine in food storage bag the dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder; ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg & cloves. Shake bag.
Measure and combine in large mixing bowl; sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla extract, and pureed pumpkin. Spoon mix.
In large bowl with wet ingredients, add dry ingredients from storage bag. Mix well.
Lightly grease baking dish. Pour pumpkin mixture in dish. Place in pre-heated oven. Set timer for 50 minutes. Done when inserted toothpick comes out clean.
I know, this is your basic, everyday pumpkin bread recipe that everyone makes around this time of year. My son prefers this recipe - nothing too complicated.
Tomorrow, I'm making it my favorite version... adding chopped walnuts, semi-sweet chocolate chips & chopped dates. Yum.
Does anyone really want to receive season's greetings via snail mail anymore? Have we really ever liked the whole idea of sending and receiving Christmas cards? Well, I guess I do, or did. In recent years, the few I find in the mailbox during the holidays do put a smile on my face. But, I'm still not exactly sure if I'm just going to end up doing this again. But just for kicks, let's go back in time, to another blog, and...
Take A Letter (An excerpt.) In the olden days, you know, back in the 20th century, December 10th was the day I mailed hand signed & addressed Christmas cards. When we moved out of state, and our kids were still little, I did the ol' holiday letter with photos thing. Well, today is the 10th and no cards... I haven't even bought any, plus I only have about 5 postage stamps. These days we're within a few miles from both sides of our family, so a letter seems a bit much. Anyway, what do you write that hasn't been communicated via text or Facebook on a near daily basis. Hmmm, what to do for 2014 2015. Okay, here's a quick set-up:
Begin with gorgeous/elegant/whimsical/comical/sparkly seasonal stationary w/ matching envelopes. And, don't forget special holiday themed postage stamps.
Next decide on a font. Comic Sans where have you been all my life! Oh, wait... there's a curly-cuey elf style font? Let me at it!
Greeting: [Greeting? Greeting? How do I open this thing? Must be catchy. Must say, "Read ME!"] "Hey," sounds about right, yes?
Body: [Flashy update of 2014 goings on at The Place... dogs included. Maybe include story about neighbor/raccoon absurdity.* Keep it clean & funny.]
Closing: [Jolly... SOMETHING JOLLY, FOR GOD'S SAKE!]
Here we go! Oh, pretend it's on snazzy stationary and in clever font style.
*****
Greetings!
ICYMI... 2014 a la Carilo!
The Hubs? He's juuust greaat. No really. Consumed by handcrafted holiday ornament making for several weeks now, so try not to bother him.
The Typist, aka Driver? She finds herself way behind on her dvr watching. Commercials on some programming still have Halloween theme! Near tears on weeknights trying to come to terms with Colbert Report ending and Craig Ferguson leaving The Late Late Show.
Bookstore Boy? Twenty-two years later, still hasn't lost the ability to talk and talk and talk and talk his mom's ears off! Also, right there with mom, behind on favorite t.v. shows.
College Girl? It snowed today!! Lucky.
Miss Creativity? [Please, no questions.]
And so it goes. This letter would arrive at your mailbox in a festive greeting card - see above. Of course, I could e-mail it, but sorry, not much time for that as I am busy watching last night's @CraigyFerg. So, here it is in the old blog. Ho, Ho, Ho!
Have a Happy New Year!
The Carilos... but mostly Lil
PS Shadow and Sombra say, "WOOF!"
I took this photo. It's from where we lived before
moving to southern California desert;
it makes me homesick.
PPS Decided not to "go there" about the neighbors, 'tis not the season for such unpleasantries.
*****
* Oh, and you can bet your sweet bippy that I'll be telling you the "story about neighbor/raccoon absurdity." Maybe I'll write about it tomorrow.
I'm the mom who believes what you think about you bring about. My daughter is fulfilling student-teaching requirement for teaching certification this semester. She is a senior double majoring in early childhood education and religious studies and will be graduating college next May. Her family is very proud of her and looking forward to attending her graduation in the Spring. I've heard it's beautiful in Vermont that time of year.
So what I'm thinking about is that we sure could use some help to start my daughter on her way. With this in mind, I have started a PlumFund campaign to raise money for whatever needs she may have upon graduation and beyond. Here are a few words that I have shared on her fundraising campaign:
"At age 3, when asked what she was going to be when she grew
up, she answered: a mommy, a ballerina, and a teacher. Today she is a senior in
early childhood education studies.
As she's grown, her determination has not wavered; her
vision unobscured no matter what. She persevered and achieved academic success
with sincere, purposeful intentions.
In preparation for leap into adulthood, please help us
create a solid foundation to start our girl on her way so that she may flourish
as she begins life anew as an elementary school teacher. Thank you."
I've updated and posted here because every once in a while it seems to me that with practice I could be a pretty good storyteller. Anyway, come back with me to October 10, 2014.
Friday, October 10, 2014
Crunch
Crunch, crunch, CRUNCH! Aaaah, my tooth! It was one of my molars... actually, two molars. Since moving back to the desert, this has happened more than once. And, yes, twice is way too many times. Also, if you count the fact that this happened on two separate areas of the same tooth, well. What is this that I am going on about? Hear me out, because I'd love to share my favorite crunchy foods, and maybe compare notes, until then, this.
First of all, keep in mind that I've always feared going to the dentist. I'm old... 50, so consider the fact that when I was having a mouthful of cavities filled as a little kid things were a bit... hmmm, creepy. The dentist - a heavy smoker and coffee drinker, therefore gross smelling with horrendous breath; his waiting room - painted orange, green & really orange; the examination chair - designed for grown ups, not tiny third graders; the giant overhead lamps - that left me walking around with spots in front of my eyes on the bus rides home; the entire ball of wax, made for a miserable day. To make matters worse, my 3rd grade teacher (she'll be mentioned again in the "crunchy" part of this post) even kept my appointments marked for every other Wednesday on the class calendar. Wednesdays were spelling test days, and I'm pretty sure I was the best speller in class. That calendar was directly over my desk. Fun, right?
So, there's that. Now, super-fast forward... "huuuuh". That's supposed to be me quietly moaning. I'm in Colorado. My family's dental needs are in the best of hands... until insurance benefits cease as a result of husband's job loss in 2007. Oh, and again when money was super tight in 2010 - long story. It was during those rough periods that my body decided to have some sort of intolerably painful episode every now and then. Twice it was my mouth causing the problem, but nothing a super expensive emergency extraction at the hands of a competent oral surgeon couldn't fix. Two separate occasions; two different doctors, and that was that.
Fast forward again. This time to 2012. News junkie that I am, I have CNN on while I waste the evening away on Twitter. Just like now, but not really; I used to follow a lot more news outlets. So this was me one night: Hey, Jeremy Jojola from 9News Denver is tweeting story about some guy and his evil, despicable (my words) dental practices." Hmmm, name sounds familiar. Oh, god! What did he do? When! I've been to that guy's office. He pulled my tooth! He's done what? A few days later: A letter. Heart sinks. Something about if I'd been to this doctor during such and such time, I may have been exposed to HIV, HepB and/or HepC. Get tested. Call here for more info. Me, furious; frightened. Did I mention furious. I was so glad I followed 9News and Jeremy, and vise versa. I was able to have a reliable ear at a moment's notice. Everyone at the news station was great keeping me posted on what was happening with the investigation into allegations that this terrible person was putting patients at risk of infection due to the practice of reusing syringe needles... which cost only cents! Eight hundred people received the same letter that I did. At that point we were reeling from nearly two-year long joblessness and a short few months away from losing our home, and all I could think was how was I supposed to pay for whatever cost might result from the whole thing. Depression hit an all-time low. At least the County waived most of cost to get tested. A week later; all clear. Whew! Fun, right? NOT
Next jump in this timeline. October: Can you spare a room, or two? Our family, homeless. And for me, a hospital stay; thirteen days. What did I do the entire stay? I munched on cup after styrofoam cup of crushed ice.
Another jump. February: A house... The Place. My family was together again after having been taken in by relatives. All I wanted was to find some sort of normalcy now that my husband was working and we were okay. One thing I wanted to do as soon as possible was to re-establish healthy eating habits. What was I eating? Frozen fruit with yogurt every morning. Munch, munch, munch. Mmmm. CRUNCH! "huuuuh." Whew! Only a piece of cracked molar that was more filling than tooth. Still no dental benefits; I had to hope sensitivity in the area would be minimal. It was fine; I could tolerate it. Months later, tacos! Crunch, crunch, crunch, CRACK! Aaaaghhh... PAIN! I weeded through a mouthful of spit-out crispy chicken taco to discover a huge chunk of broken off filling and enamely bits. Still no dental insurance, all I could do was be as careful as possible to keep from chewing food on the left side of my mouth. That took some getting used to - both the pain, and chewing on the right side. Not too long after that incident, mmmm... chewy steak. (Remind me to never again order steak at Applebee's, okay?). Chew, chew, chew, chew... crunch. Spit. Wow! A gaping hole with sharp edges at gum line. Yep, there went the other half of the molar on the left. *sigh*
I've since gotten used to all the gaping holes in my mouth, both from the extracted molars and the ones that have bits broken off. And every now and then I will enjoy a yummy, crunchy snack, as well as make crispy crunchy tacos or nachos. Here are some of my best memories of crunchy favorites.
Once in elementary school, my 3rd grade teacher took a bunch of us "smart" kids to the Griffith Park Observatory (otherwise known, in my book, as the best field trip ever), but before that she had us over for dinner. I don't remember anything that was served that evening, except one thing - celery. Fancy celery. It was cut in four-inch length sticks, and the curved well was filled with some sort of creamy stuff and that was topped with raisins. All of us little inner-city Mexican children were at a loss. I'm pretty sure we all tried the fancy celery; I'm pretty sure we all hated the fancy celery too. Nonetheless, that was a very fun day.
I'm not a fan of apples. Don't hate me, please. Truth: I wasn't a fan of apples... until I had a Honeycrisp apple. I try to buy a few anytime I find them in a grocery store produce section; kinda expensive, but totally worth it. So good out of the refrigerator... crispy & crunchy. Yum!
I can't resist a delicious corn tortilla taco shell that's been filled with shredded chicken or beef. I even made a terribly produced taco-making video that I posted on my YouTube channel. Tacos were great; video, not so much. I'll have to remember to brush my hair and wear tinted lip balm at the very least next time. But I won't make any promises.
I now try to keep from eating, therefore enjoying, kettle-cooked potato chips, granola topping on my yogurt, Almond Roca candy, and assorted crunchy foods. But the major bummer - mostly because I'm pretty sure it's the reason why the structural integrity of tooth enamel was compromised - is that I can no longer mindlessly munch on refreshingly crunchy ice for hours on end.
*****
October 18, 2005:
... And the saga continues. Still no dental insurance means still dealing with crumbling teeth issues. Oh, and this time with pain and sensitivity while eating... anything. Well, actually, I just finished a cup of cream of wheat without much discomfort. I just hope there isn't another E.R. visit. End of Summer I had to wake up the husband at 2am to let him know I was leaving to go to emergency room due to unbearable pain. He decide it was best that he drive me because, after all, I was on the verge of passing out from pain with the slightest of movement. Apparently, according to my husband, some hunky t.v. doctor attended me. When you are in the pain I was in that morning, it could have been Thor and I would not have noticed. Go, IV antibiotics and demerol!
On location somewhere in the Southern California desert
***** Come back tomorrow to see what's up on
THIS IS FIFTY WITH LIL's
FIVE ON FRIDAY
YouTube Channel vlog.
Think grocery shopping, showing off my new haircut, shopping for table holiday gifts centerpiece materials, art from Kid 3's Summer 2015 archives, and maybe a recipe.
