Happy Birthday to my cousin, Pam!

Today is Pam Morgan's birthday!

Looking forward to our cousins reunion soon!  Only us Morgans would know how to turn a day out in the woods, miles from civilization, into a fun day!

A bump in the night

Just as I was almost asleep last night, I heard a strange sound inside my home, unlike any I have ever heard.  It didn't attract Molly's attention, it lasted a second and went away, not to mention, I was almost asleep.  So I ignored it.

This morning I turned on the light in the kitchen and there it was!  My hanging basket over my sink was now hanging by two cords, instead of three.  I was standing there, dumbfounded, trying to figure out how that happened, with Molly jumping all around me reminding me that I needed to feed her.

I put my hand around the two hanging cords to remove it from the hook above.  My other hand touched the plastic container the plant has been in for most of the 15 years I have lived here.  The pot started to crumble.

Now, understand, this all happened before I had my coffee, and only minutes from getting out of bed.  Does plastic rot?????

I cleaned up the mess in the sink.  This was a burro's tail plant and the small, solid leaves were everywhere.

I had no explanation on how this could happen but my morning coffee time is sacred, so I went into the living room to savor my first cup of coffee.

Later today, at work, I told a co-worker what had happened.  She asked if maybe the sun over the years could have made the plastic brittle, enough for the clip on the planter to break loose.

Have any of you heard of anything like this before???

John Glenn

Fifty years ago today John Glenn became the first American to circle the earth.  I was in junior high at the time and people of that generation were awed.  But more than that, they placed a high value on space exploration.  That was justified by the hundreds of inventions that had their root in America's space exploration. . . the pacemaker for heart patients, cell phones, smoke detectors, medical imaging, cordless tools, invisible braces for teeth, telescopes that look for cancer, and hundreds more.

Classes stopped in school and we all gathered around a black and white television to watch this historic event.

I was a sports fan way back then, as I still am.  But John Glenn was my true hero.

I find it tragic that the current Administration does not have the intelligence to realize why America needs space exploration, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

The voice behind the blog!

Lois, over at From Lois' Hands, as those of you know who follow her blog, is married to the Chief Engineer on Freedom of the Seas, a RCCL ship.  Awhile back she posted the link to a webcam that you can watch when the ship returns EARLY on Sunday morning and leaves around 4:30 pm on Sunday afternoon.  I have watched it leave a couple of times and find that to be fascinating entertainment. . . never can get up and awake enough to watch it come in at some horrific early pre-dawn hour!

So this afternoon, I turned on the webcam minutes before the HUGE ship started moving out of port.  Sometimes the webcam gets close enough that you can recognize people.  So I shot off a quick e-mail to Lois saying, "Come to the railing and wave to me!"  Now I have never met Lois in person but have followed her blog enough and seen enough pictures of her that I would recognize her.  I heard the bell on my computer that tells me I have e-mails.  I wasn't about to turn away from the webcam, I wanted to see her waving at me!!!

Finally, when the ship was leaving the port, heading into the ocean, I checked my e-mails.  There was one from Lois, "Here is my cell number.  Call me and I will tell you where I am!"

DARN!  It was too late to see her on the webcam by then.  But I called her.  Lois, you talk just like you come across on the blog!!!

For those that don't know, she and Kjell are at sea for ten weeks at a time and home for about ten weeks.  They lead an exciting life and do fun things.  Check out her blog which you can find on the right side of mine.  She also has two Labrador Retrievers. . . anyone who loves Labs as I do is my kind of people!!!

Winter Scenes

It is pretty out this morning.  A fresh snowfall covering branches that in just a few more weeks or so will start to bloom to welcome Spring.

Molly usually likes to romp in the snow.  But this morning, she just wanted to walk around taking it all in.

More on the Home Invasion Defense Class

Okay, so you don't like guns and don't want them in your house.  That's your choice.  But there are still common sense things you can do to keep your home and family safe.  Here are just a few:

• Change your routine and make your home look like someone is home.  Change which lights you leave on.  If you go out of town in the winter, have a neighbor leave tire tracks and footprints in the snow in your driveway.
• When you pull into your driveway, day or night, look around.  Could someone be hiding in your overgrown shrubbery?  Do you see anything out of the ordinary?
• If someone comes to your door that you do not know, day or night, don't open the door.  Instead ask them who they are and what do they want.  Common lines used by criminals:  "Lady, I think I just ran over your dog.  I am so sorry."   "Police, please open your door."   "FedEx delivery"  "Can you tell me where the Johnsons live?" There was a City of Rochester policeman in our class.  He told us a real police officer is never going to be upset if you ask him to wait until you call  the police department to verify his identity.  AND the department knows at all times where their officers are.
• Consider putting a motion detector light on the exterior of your home.  Next to barking dogs, that is the worst thing a criminal fears.
• Keep your doors locked AT ALL TIMES. 
• Rarely is a home invasion committed by just one person.  Almost always there are one or more people standing to the side of your door that you can't see.

Whew! A Home Invasion Survival Class

Believe me when I tell you I ache all over right now.  I hope I will be able to get out of bed tomorrow morning!  Today and tomorrow I am participating in a Home Invasion class.  This class is offered by Rochester Personal Defense.  If you own guns and live in Western New York, google them. You'll be doing yourself a favor by taking a few of their classes.  I have taken a lot of classes from them over the years and I highly recommend them for firearms training, personal safety, and other areas of personal defense.  

Dave Jenkins, the owner of RPD, brought in a phenomenal trainer who has served in the Air Force and other areas of Law Enforcement. 

We learned such things as how to overtake the bad guy when he has a gun pointed at your head or if he approaches you with a gun pointed at you.  These are simple steps that anyone can execute.  Awhile back I took Defensive Pistol 201 and I thought that one was rough.  Some people in today's class had big cuts on their hands and wrists. . . I didn't get into it quite that intense!  But my wrists and hands ache right now.  I was knocked against a wall a couple of times today too.

No, we didn't use real guns.  We had plastic dummy guns.

I wish I could be more specific about the training but, understandably, you don't want things like this publicized.  The element of surprise against a bad guy is your strongest defense. 

I am proud to mention the number of women carrying guns in New York State has risen dramatically in recent years.  One of our local TV stations did a report on this a couple of weeks back and the numbers are staggering.

Get your mammogram, Ladies

There is probably no other woman on the face of the earth that dislikes having a mammogram more than I do.  If you have ever had a mammogram, you know what I mean.

But let's be honest, it sure beats the possible alternative.

I have a friend that I've known since the third grade.  She still lives back in my hometown of Pensacola, Florida.  A number of years ago, she had a mammogram. They found a tiny spot that even she couldn't see when they pointed it out to her.  She had the very beginning of breast cancer. . . and because of a mammogram, they caught it in time.  She didn't have to have a mastectomy.  She was treated and is still walking around, healthy, today.

So today I went for my brief time of torture. . . the technician that performed the "procedure" told me at the end, "Since you seem to be more sensitive to this than most people, it would be a good idea for you to cut out all caffeine for a week prior to having a mammogram."  

Okay, she was a sweet young thing, younger than my own children, so I didn't have the heart to scream at her, "NO ONE WILL DENY ME MY COFFEE FOR A WHOLE WEEK!!!!!"  I just said, "Okay!"

Then I was off to get back to my life.  I have a lot to live for.  And it is a whole year before I have to go through this again!

A lazy Saturday morning

Saturday morning is my time to slow down and let my brain relax from the frantic work week. Although I really like my new job, it carries a lot of responsibility. . . supervising four people, among many other tasks I can't go into here. One slip up from me and things can go tumbling downhill fast.

Molly decided that 5:45 am was time for me to get up this morning. Who needs an alarm clock? So I get up and take care of her needs, get the coffee pot going, check my e-mails and facebook, and finally settle down to watch Fox and Friends and try to enjoy my coffee with a 50 pound dog in my lap.

Like most of you, I like the hype for the Super Bowl and there is plenty of that on TV these days. I don't really have a favorite team in the Super Bowl. I just want to see a good close game. But even if the game is a dud, we all know the commercials will be entertaining.

Later, I went through my e-mail inbox and sent files and dumped a lot of old e-mails. In doing that, I ran across two e-mails from my cousin, Rita, from last April when she sent me dozens of pictures from our cousins reunion. I went through all the pictures. They reminded me of the fun time we have every year.

Now who could imagine, a bunch of aging cousins, gathering on wooded, unimproved land way out in the middle of no where on land our grandparents farmed and raised their children many decades ago. . . no electricity, no "facilities". . . and yet we all have a great time together for the day. That's us! We'll be getting together again this year in not too many weeks from now. At the end of that fun day, Rita invites us over to the vacation home of her in-laws on a beautiful, peaceful lake and the fun times continue. On Sunday morning, Kip makes his famous buttermilk biscuits for breakfast. Last year, as always, I was up early and sitting on that big, fantastic deck overlooking the lake and enjoying my coffee.

After wading through all those pictures, I decided I should get something productive done this morning. So I loaded the dishwasher and sorted clothes from the laundry basket to go in the washer and dryer.

Enough of being lazy, time to get busy. Enjoy your weekend, folks!

The Lowly Lentil

We are all into eating healthy these days. Time was when the word vegetarian described some weird type of person! My diet includes a lot of vegetarian meals. But lentils? It wasn't too long ago that I turned my nose up at "those things."

Now I know better! It took a trial and error approach but I finally found a few lentil recipes that I honestly enjoy.

My blog friend, Granny, find her blog, "grannysgarden" on the right side of my blog, e-mailed this recipe to me and it is very good. Try it, you'll like it! And to learn more about the health benefits of lentils, click here

Here is the recipe:

1 cup lentils
2 cups water
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 small onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and bake, covered, in a 350 degree oven for about an hour and a half.

Again, thanks to Granny in Australia for this winner!