A few months ago I posted the above video on facebook. 

There were many comments about how much these words apply today. 

Ann Murray recorded this song twenty-eight years ago. If we just replace Lebanon with Afghanistan or almost any Middle-Eastern country. And Bryant Gumbol with Diane Sawyer this song could be recorded today.

In the words of the writers, Tommy Rocco, Charlie Black, and Rory Michael Bourke,

 'It's gonna get worse you see'...

and it has.

Worse all over. 

Children abused, kidnapped, starving, sick, or worse.

Economy and jobs worse than ever.

World leaders and even our own country leaders and local leaders- just disappointing 

Wars that seem to see no end. No progress.

Starvation, Genocide, Raids and Protests.

Weather- Heat waves, tsunami's, flooding, tornadoes and hurricanes.

On our own local news, drownings, killings, suicides, flooding.

We sure could use some good news today. I tear up when I hear this song.

I don't want to say that I don't want to turn on the local news or CNN but it makes an already deflated, heavy burden my my own life feel even heavier.

How often have I uttered the statement- 

'No matter how hard life gets, someone out there is carrying a heavier load.'

And although I mean to lift spirits that all is not lost... I wonder some days if I have become one of those 'someones' ? Am I the one carrying the heavy load?

I am healthy, my children are well. I am one of the lucky ones to have most of my extended family including both of my parents still here with me. And a healthy relationship with them all. 

I have a roof over my head and food (although hard to come by) in my stomach. I have good clothes covering my body. 

I can take an evening walk around my town and feel safe. 

I have good friends I can call and they will be at my side in an instant. 

I can easily take a ride into the mountains near my home and feel a little closer to God.

I sure could use a little good news today.

But I continue to have some good news everyday as well, if I choose to look for it. 

Hope you are all having a great Wednesday!

Leave me a comment and let me know how you feel? Overwhelmed? Happy? Blessed? 

And anyone else think Ann Murray is fabulous?

Poor little birdies

The weather here finally warmed enough that I would get out and clean up the yard. It was beginning to look pretty haggard after this winter and all the rain lately has everything sprouting mach 10.

I started out by mowing the 6in high grass. About 70% through and I ran out of gas...well the mower not me. Surprisingly because after a long winter hibernation, I can be known to need a kick start myself.

No problemo- just have to grab the gas can....nowhere to be found. Then I recall my daughter loaning it last summer to a friend, and 'I'll bring it right back mommy'. Didn't happen.

Next I moved on to the trimming... I have an electric trimmer as the fumes from gas powered models makes me sick. (and we were out of gas anyway. Approx as far into the yard as I had worked the lawn cutting, the blasted thing makes a whirring noise, squeals, 'poof' catches fire near the twine carriage and dies on me....

So it seems they last about 2 years.

I pulled out the clippers and went to town baring down some evergreens and some limbs off some of the overgrown trees. I made so much progress that I was left with a large pile of evergreen boughs. So large, I am still at a loss as to what to do with them. I really wish I had a shredder they would make wonderful mulch.

Then I moved on to my clematis vine. When in full bloom it has large violet blossoms much like this photo. (right)


However, after a long winter it looks more like this. (left)

So I dug in and started to break off the dead, dry leaves and some of the dead vines. Some of which met their fate when I was clearing brush near the bottom and accidentally whacked off with the aforementioned weed trimmer.



While I was breaking the vines, I heard a light thud and looked down to see this tiny baby bird fluttering in the grass below... what? where did you come from little guy?

Here is a closer shot- see the little guy?

Buried under the leaves.

I took a closer look and saw a nest in the depths of the vine. And saw a nest.

The baby bird ran across the ground and hid visibly scared, under some garden hand tools.

My dogs began to sniff near the little guy but didn't hurt him.

Then he ran under the evergreen boughs I had piled near the house.. So far under I s\could not retrieve the little guy.
Then I heard another one fall.
This one was running so quickly around my feet I had to hold still not to step on him. No hope of catching him either. Boy for babies, they had some get-up-and-go!
He flapped his little wings and ran like the wind across my yard.
About the size of a golf ball but fast as a bullet. This little guy ran across my yard and into this busy street.
Moving so fast I couldn't catch him.

I cringed as I watched cars driving past. But he made it all the way and into the ditch on the opposite side of the street.

Then I saw a slightly larger bird fly down into the ditch and when I got to the other side of the street, he was gone.. I certainly hope to another nest..



I didn't clear my clematis bush any more, and i didn't touch the nest. However one more baby fell, (jumped?) out of the nest and ran into the boughs with the first one. Then this mama showed up.

She was chirping and crying out.. she would sit in this tree when she saw me, then swoop into the nest...then back to the top.

She was obviously distressed. I could feel for her.

But the baby birds seem to have survived. They were large enough to flap their wings really hard, they had the strength and stamina to run under the brush and across the street. I think they will be ok. Mama is still out there this morning chirping and my daughter and I heard the chirping of a chorus of birds outside her window, which is just above this plant.

I had an unexpected overnight guest. My ex's sister needed a bed for the night and we had 2 open. I have not been able to sit for an extended amount of time and catch up on the years past in so long. We chatted for nearly eight hours this morning.


However, my to-do list is lengthy and nothing is checked.
Better get busy. And check on those babies

A wonderful Post by a fellow blogger

Although my blog does not have a large following, There are many I follow nearly daily.
Often I can really relate to the posts as they are struggling single parents or just struggling parents.
Sometimes it is happiness they post about.

Every once in a while you will read a post the just speaks to you. Whether it is how you feel and just dont know how to put it into words. Whether it is a new view or insight into something you thought you already knew.

or sometimes it is just the feeling of yes! yes exactly what I want to say.

Well Christina - Over at solomom.com did just that!

I love this piece. It is what I want to say.

cooking with summer vegatables to lighten my mood

Regarding my previous post, things have been a little bit glum here.
The girls and I had some fresh summer vegetables from our garden and some of the local fruit and vegetable stands. We decided to cook a meal together spend some time together and make the most of the evening.
I share with you our creation:

It doesn't have a name. We threw it together and it turned out great.


We started out by browning some onions in a tablespoon of olive oil.

We then added some cut up chicken breast.
Note: When breasts are on sale, I usually ask the butcher to cube it for me. They will do it free of charge if only you ask. (We asked our butcher to cut it into 1-in cubes which are actually a bit too big for bite sized.)

Cook the chicken only until the pink is gone no longer or it will dry out.


Add a tablespoon of chopped garlic. Add salt and pepper to your liking.



As you cook the chicken, slice (or slice and quarter for larger pieces) some zucchini, and yellow summer squash and some button mushrooms if desired.




Add to chicken, a bit of Italian seasoning, along with a can of chopped tomatoes
for variety:
Use the new favored tomatoes but I liked the tomato flavor
Or use fresh tomatoes chopped. (ours are not quite ripe yet)


We also threw in some olives for a Mediterranean taste. (Green olives would be good also but we didn't have any)

Just let the vegetables cook down slightly, the chicken finish cooking while you boil a little pasta. Larger pieces such as penne or corkscrew work best. Dont over cook the pasta. A little more firmness makes this dish delicious.

Drain pasta, stir the chicken vegetable mixture into the pasta and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese

It was marvelous! And made enough to enjoy for a lunch the next day also.
I would think a baked version would be tasty too. Try it and let me know what you think!




To top it all off it was nice quality mom and daughter time teaching life skills. I know this is true because while my daughter worked in Texas this summer she thanked me. It seems that the room mate she was paired with could not boil water for box mac and cheese... but found nothing wrong with my daughters cooking. I'm a proud mother.

Health is not valued till sickness comes. -Dr Thomas Fuller

I am feeling so much better! Nothing like a bout with Bronchitis (or two or three) to let you know how nice it feels when you are not sick, when you can once again breathe without coughing up a lung. I feel as though the cloud has lifted. I realize there are much worse sicknesses to endure, and I told myself that many times over the past three and a half weeks. But still, healthy is the bomb!

I am feeling better just in time to return to work, the daily grind. And to make some resolutions for the new year:

1. Get those finances in better shape. As a single mother, it is essential that I pay my bills, and on time. No-one else to blame if the water gets shut off. I don't own any credit cards, and that has served me well. However, I also have no savings. 2008 was a tough year. Lots of unexpected expenses, Which I have discovered, will always be the case. And so... this means I need to make some changes. Cut back on some spending, work on the book I began writing so many years ago... now that I have a bit more time on my hands. Anyone have any other ideas?

2. Lose 20 pounds. I have been able to stave off too many extra pounds in my 39 years on this earth, however, my love of bacon and deep fryers has started to put a little air in that spare tire. I would like to come up with a new regimen which will not only help me to shave off the extra 20, but also get my asthma under control. I cant say as I have ever been in top physical shape even in grade school when show-off Marvin Curly would make his rounds around the goal posts lapping me by two or three rounds... but this year I would like to get in better physical shape than I have ever been. And just maybe- that will keep me from fighting bronchitis next December?

3. Write more letters to my son. There is no good excuse, but with school and other obligations, I did not sit down and write enough snail-mail letters to my son. He does not have Internet access and I have become way too dependent on technology. Also, He will soon be changing location from Alabama to Oklahoma and so, we might be able to fit in a short road trip?!

4. Save enough for repairs.- And complete them. The roof needs replacing, the chimney is leaning, the kitchen needs a complete overhaul, the car needs some maintenance and repair. I hope to save enough for all these things and still have a bit of a nest egg.- Oh and that shed I need to build... and..

5. Visit my parents more. Now that my parents live 300 miles away, time must be scheduled to see them more often. I have not lived more than 10 minutes from them my entire life, this is a change, and I am not good with change. But we can also stop by and see my ex's family on the way- for the kids.

6. Eat-in more. Fast food is a convenience, and became more so as I was attending night school. But not only is it less healthy, it just downright doesnt taste as good. I will strive to make more meals at home, even if the girls eat it the next day as leftovers because I have yet to learn to cook for one. It is win-win as I will share my recipes here.

7. Watch less TV. When attending night school the past 8 years, on the few nights I had without class or homework, all I wanted to do was veg out and not have to think at all. This turned me into a reality show and sitcom junkie. This year I will watch less and read more. I will also take more walks and enjoy some of the peace that I used to so many years ago.

8. Keep in touch with old friends -more often. I am still in touch with many old co-workers, and school friends but I would like to catch up with them just a little more often this year.

9. Work on my posture. Ever have a picture taken and then look at it later and you look like a humpback whale? Well I do, in almost every picture ever taken. My back hurts all the time, my 'spare tire' hangs out a little too far. If my posture were better it would cure a lot of what ails me. And so, I will work on this. As I write this, I realize this one has to start immediately!

That is all I can think of for now, and it will be fun to see if I can follow through. As I have a history of just the opposite... But if I blog it, then I have to follow through right? Here it is, written for all the world well, -one or two readers- to see.

___________________

Over the holidays I was lucky enough to meet one of the readers of my blog. My kids and I went to my best friends house on Christmas Eve and they had their family get together that night. It was so sweet... I was not expecting to go there that night, it was a last minute thing. Also, I was not sure who would be there. But not only did I get to see my friend, and her Family who I love like my own. My friends brother and his wife Karen were there. Karen and Robbie have become friends of mine also throughout the years that I have been friends with Shar. But it was a surprise to find that they brought me an unexpected and sweet gift.

Karen's sister, who told me she also has read my goofy (my words not hers) blog, but she too was sweet enough to bring me a little something. I have never been really great at accepting gifts without feeling a bit awkward. And this was a bit awkward. But at the same time, fun to know that someone out there (Karen included) is somewhat entertained by my ramblings....

Here is a photo of the sweetheart and her gift. My newest friend, DeAnn. Sorry I dont have a picture of Karen.

ahem- I took this photo, and she posed for about 10 minutes (I was later told) with her sweet pasted on smile...because my mouth just keeps running... A trait I have had since I was a teenage girl and which I have passed on to my girls.