Book Review - Can't Stand The Heat by Louisa Edwards

I belong to a forum for authors called Romance Divas which are some of the funniest people and best authors around (no I am not an author incognito)! I have been slowly reading their books and find myself just needing to mention the debut novel by Louisa Edwards. It is simply delicious (pun intended).

The book is based on Miranda Wake who is a food critic that has a reputation for taking down chefs and restaurants for their crappy service and bad food. She has a 'don't touch me attitude' that protects herself from getting close to anyone. As the heroine, she has a multi-faceted personality: she is the ultimate career woman yet underneath that frosty exterior is a fragile woman with a whole lot of emotional baggage. She is spunky and quick with the verbal sparring. She has very strong opinions and doesn't even try to soften her tone or watch her words. (If you know me at all, you know I totally identified with her)!

Of course this is a contemporary romance so the conflict starts when Miranda attends a media party for the opening of Market Restaurant run by Chef Adam Temple that is going to specialize in locally grown organic food made into high end cuisine. Mirands has way too many cocktails before the appetizers are served and finds herself face to face with the Chef verbally sparring with him. She isn't too drunk though to find herself in the middle of a bet to spend a month in the Market Restaurant working with him. In her mind...a journalistic dream come true to write an exposé on restaurants - a tell all book on what really goes on behind the scenes of a trendy restaurant.

The hero is Adam who is a passionate chef and who quickly catches on to Miranda's most embarrassing secret - she doesn't even know how to cook yet has become this famous food critic. The odd crew Adam has hired to help him in the kitchen of his new restaurant is a fun, colorful group of old co-workers and friends who work so well together, they make going to work a fun experience. Even though I have waitressed before, I particularly liked reading how each job interacts with the other, so together that the finished product is a work of all from the vendors who furnish the food, to the chef and line cooks who experiment with food until it just explodes with flavor in your mouth, to the waiters and waitresses who serve it. The book also included tips on how to pick items from the vendors and also includes recipes. But don't be discouraged by these additions as the author interweaves this all into the characters and plot so seamlessly you never realize until later just how many cooking and restaurant business details there are in the book.

As the month passes, Miranda finds herself thawing and she begins to have a hard time forgetting that she is there to write an exposé especially with Adam's private personal cooking lessons (even I learned how to poach a perfect egg). She wants to get closer to the handsome, passionate, strong magnetic Adam instead of destroying him and his restaurant and his dream. I loved Miranda's character the most as she so reminded me of myself - she made mistakes, she regretted them, and she owned them. She made a journey and learned that without her flaws and imperfections she wouldn't be the person she was.

I am not going to give the ending away but rest assured, this has a HEA (happy ever after) ending.

There was one passage I absolutely adored from the book:

Food is also life. It's who we are. People say 'You are what you eat' all the time, but that's not really how the saying goes. It's not so simple as 'If you eat bacon, you're a pig'. The actual quote is 'Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.' Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, a French guy who wrote about taste and gastronomy in the 19th century, said it. And he meant that food is like this big clue - how we eat reveals a lot about how we feel about ourselves and our world'.

I highly recommend this author and this book! I give it 5 stars out of 5! Just don't read it on an empty stomach.

Poked in the Face by My Bra

No, this is not a new sexual position. And it really truly happened. In fact, a simple google search elicited over 19,900 hits on the same exact subject. Here I thought I was the only one.

Last night at work I was leaning over to put something in the copier and all of a sudden, something sharp poked my face. I looked down and lo and behold, it's the underwire part of my bra halfway out of my bra and aimed straight for my eye. I have had them (the underwires) come out a bit every once in a while over the years but usually the bra is older and cheaper and it's usually at the armpit area - never in the middle. And never that much!

The bra I was wearing is only a year old and is only worn once a week. Plus I wash my bras and lingerie in cold water and drip dry them so there is no reason for the poking. And the most important: I can't wear cheap bras because they just don't come in my size. I have to go to high end stores or specialty stores and they are not blue light specials - nope my bras run me over $100.00+ apiece.

I have always worn an underwire bra - guess when I sprouted, I sprouted. But for those of you, an underwire bra is a brassiere with a wire built into the underside of the cup. This wire is intended to lift, separate, shape, and provide additional support for a woman's breasts. "An 1893 patent describes the predecessor to the underwire bra—a breast supporting device using a rigid plate under the breasts for stability. The modern underwire bra was designed in the 1930s, and had gained widespread popularity by the 1950s. As of 2005, underwire bras were the largest and fastest growing segment of the bra market. A bra without an underwire is a softcup bra."

Underwire bras are built with a semi-circular 'underwire', 'bra wire', or 'wire' embedded in the wire channel that circles the bottom and sides of each cup. One end, of the underwire is close to the front and center of the bra, and the other close to the armhole. The underwire can be made of metal or molded plastic but most are metallic. Plastic underwires have a very small share of the market because they do not provide the same support and rigidity offered by metal underwires. A metallic underwire is a thin strip of metal, usually with a nylon coating at both ends.

When they poke out though, they are possible to repair and you can get many more months of use after the repair is successfully made. Here are a few ways to repair the underwire so it doesn't poke you:
1. Begin by wrapping the wire tip with electrical tape or duct tape to prevent the wire from poking through after the repair. Once the metal tip is covered, push the wire back in through the open hole. With the tip at least one-half of an inch away from the hole, stitch the opening closed using heavy-duty thread. (This method never worked for me) as it would still pole through and it was hard to put the wire back in with the tape around it since the hole wasn't large enough so I would end up enlarging the hole. That underwire always seemed to have a mind of its own though and with a few weeks, I would find it repoking me.
2. You can buy one of the new "No Poke Wire® bras" which claim that they never ever poke and that is guaranteed. Too bad they don't come in larger sizes.
3. Don't throw that bra away just yet. I found a perfect solution that has worked every time for me: push the wire in as far as you can get it. Using a needle and thread (preferably in the same color as the bra), sew the hole closed. I follow it up with 8-10 stitches about a 1/4" below that area to reinforce it. I then take a bit of super glue and put it over the stitches I just put in (where the hole was). Give it a minute then mash the mended spot between your thumb and forefinger over the end of the wire. The spot should be rounded, not flat. Wait another minute or until the super glue is dry, then take a nail file and gently file the area until it feels smooth (so it doesn't scrape your skin).

A long time ago before I was properly sized (and you should be sized each and every year), everyone said that the reason underwires poked through was because the cup size was too small. Their theory was that the underwife was just not wide enough to totally wrap around the breast and the cup was not deep enough (the wire was resting on your breast too far forward on your torso resulting in the underwire tip getting in the way and hitting your underarm). A larger cup size would come with a wider underwire and deeper cup that will be more under your arm and not on your breast.

I found that not always to be true. I would buy the same brand and same size bra and one of them would be fine and the other not even with being sized every year. But for that 1 or 2 bras that I would have a problem with, I came up with a solution. Since the underwire is usually made from a flat sheet of metal and bent into a flat smiley face, I found that if I bent the underwire a bit in the direct center of that smiley face, the bra fit better and the metal didn't cut in. Just remember you don't want a huge bend - just a little one. I also find some bras underwires to either not lay flat in the middle and I will slightly bend that area to the inside or to me.

And no, that is not my bra or me posing in the picture. I only wish I was that size.....maybe when I was 10.

Inspirational Sunday - Priorities

Do you set priorities in your life? I do but often find myself distracted every once in a while. In my opinion, my belief in God comes first, then myself, then my husband, my children next, my extended family (parents, siblings, inlaws) next, then everything else after that.

Yes, there are times I feel I should come first as long as I have my value system and God with me. You know the saying: "If momma ain't happy, no one is happy!" I believe this to be true. Unless I care for myself, I can't care for another. But I couldn't come first unless I had God there to begin with.

But life and reality and really good things can draw our attention away from what we should be paying attention to. In Luke 10:40, Martha was 'distracted with much serving' which took her away from spending time with Jesus. Work and hobbies are my weakness and while they have value in and of themselves, if they distract me from myself and my family responsibilities or relationship with God, then I need to make a change.

Life though is ever moving and full of surprises. It doesn't always conform or take into account what I feel is important. If I were rigid, I would never allow anyone or anything to come before me.

I think instead priorities in life are a give and take. Sometimes more give than take and sometimes more take than give. In the end, I still have my belief in God and isn't that all that matters?

The picture above gives this quote:

A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I live in, or the kind of car I drove: however, the world will be different because I was important in the life of a child.

And a huge 30th birthday wish to C - my one and only son-in-law!

Death

I have been having a lot of dreams lately centered around my mother. She passed away this past April very unexpectedly. By the time I reached the hospital she was gone but in reality she was already gone before she even left the house in the ambulance. Logically I understand the why and how. She had been sick for a number of years and had her good days and bad days although her overall health had been deteriorating for the past year. So while we have been prepared for something to happen, the suddenness of it caught us all unaware.

Emotionally understanding and accepting is quite another story. Everything we are goes back to our parents. And so when even one of our parents die, a large part of our lives as their child dies too. A line gets crossed over and we become the adults, and we know then that our childhood is behind us. It's funny because I had thought that occurred when I left home at 18 and when I married at 25 but it wasn't until my mother died, that I realized I was no longer a child.

A mother is often the most important woman in our life. Who she is has a direct impact on who we are and who we will become. Losing your mother, no matter her age, is devastating. While so many people react to the news of an elderly mother's passing with remarks about how "she lived a full life", that does nothing to save one from the fullness of the grief we feel after losing her. The role that our mother plays in everything we are, cannot be filled by anyone else.

This is even more true with family dynamics of those left. Every large family has its internal conflicts and problems and mine was no different. Every family has a black sheep and I was designated that person. In college, I attended professional counseling sessions to try and understand and have some sort of relationship with my family. I learned to forgive which I did learn how to do, but forgiving is not forgetting - what happened is forever ingrained into who I am and how I react in certain situations and for that I will never apologize to anyone. I own my own feelings and no one can take those away from me ever again. I am who I am because of them.

After a parent dies, you are plunged into the sharp, painful nostalgia that accompanies the recollections of childhood - everything your mother or father represented in terms of security, familiarity, and protection is gone. You are now forced to cope with the loss of parental love and attention that was given, uniquely, to you, and that you depended on, possibly even took for granted. To one degree or another, you grapple with the realization that no one knows you in the exact same way, and in my case, the way my mother did. She was the glue that held our family together. She was the one who ran interference between family members and myself. Guess I have to do it on my own now but I know she is right there guiding me.

I realize my grief is unique. No one grieves in exactly the same way. Your particular experience will be influenced by the type of relationship you had with your parent, the circumstances surrounding the death, your emotional support system and your cultural and religious background. As a result, you will grieve in your own way and in your own time. Don't try to compare your experience with that of other people. It has been just a short 2 months and there is not an hour that goes by that I do not think about my mother at least once. As for my siblings, the death of my mother has affected them differently than it is affecting me. After all, each of them had a unique relationship with my mother, so each has the right to mourn the loss in his or her own way.

The biggest thing that has surprised me though, was just the emotional and physical inability to cope sometimes with anything. I am a nurse. I worked hospice. I have dealt with death and dying for over 40 years. Of anyone, I should know how people felt after but in reality, I had no idea. I had never realized how debilitating it really is. In the beginning, I was physically drained every day. My ability to think clearly and make decisions was impaired. My energy level was low and my physical limitations and pain slowed me down. A few days after the funeral, I started listening to my body and decided that I had to remove myself, return home, nurture and deal with my own grief.

Communications with my family have broken down. I still talk to my father at least a few times a week. I have not been able to return to their home yet. As for the rest of my family? I have only talked to 2 of my siblings. The others berated me so much in my other blog that I really have no wish to ever see them again. Since my mother died, I had surgery again on my right ankle. Not one of my other 3 siblings have even attempted to contact me except that one email. But interestingly enough, they still go to my old blog even though there are no posts left. How do I know? I kept the counter on the blog that tells me.

So why have I been dreaming of my mother lately? I have no idea but I know that one day the reason will appear.

To all of you out there who know me, and I acted like I didn't understand your pain when you lost your parent, I am sorry. I really didn't. It wasn't until I lost my mother that I am beginning to understand. I still can't believe she is gone. I know she lives in my heart but all I want to do is talk to her one more time, hug her one more time, and tell her one more time that I love her.

Anyone else out there dreading a family reunion after a significant member of the family dies?

And mom - I love you and miss you!

How to Text 101

I remember when my son started school, the big new thing at the time was to have the kids phonetically spell, supposedly to allow their creative juices to flow and not be stopped by spelling errors. They were graded on their creative juices or content of their paper. Well, I had the hardest time with him teaching him to spell properly. Once a word is spelt one way, it can ingrain itself into the brain that way and kids will always spell it that way. But reading those early writings was alienspeak. I would always dodge reading them by saying I wanted them to read it which they always seemed to be able to do. I would later pick up that paper and try and read it again and never see what they said they wrote. It was alienspeak.

I never thought I would have that happen again until cell phones came along. Learning a cell phone to me was alien. One of my office girls teaches me new things on it at least once a week. I supposed I could just read the book it came with but I didn't want to ever admit I was the only one who ever read one. I should check it out though because it probably has a racy short story in there that no one ever knows because no one has ever read it. If you have read one, please admit it here. I won't tell anyone.

Now add texting to that cell phone. Definite alienspeak and long and complicated. I mean just call me already. It's way faster and I don't have to decipher what you just said.

Wikipedia definition of text messaging or texting:

the common term for the sending of "short" (160 characters or fewer, including spaces) text messages from mobile phones using the Short Message Service (SMS).The term "text messaging" or "text" is widely used in the Philippines, United States and United Kingdom while "SMS" is more used in Singapore and most other Asian countries.

Now who here over the age of 40 understood that? Now who here over the age of 40 can text and use the acronyms AND see the letters on the itty bitty cell phone pad AND reply using 60 characters in under 10 minutes? Not me. But I think we are going to have to otherwise we will be really showing our age. These young ones are wiping our rears with the texting and if we want to have a clue to what they are saying we better learn.


Here are some commonly used texting acronyms:

ngl: Not Gonna Lie
2: To or Too
4: For
4evr: Forever
c: See
cus: Because
cuz: Because or Cousin
ne1: Anyone
ez: Easy
b4: Before
2nite: Tonight
brb: Be Right Back
gtg or g2g: Got To Go
ttyl: Talk To You Later
cyl: See you Later
btw: By The Way
bbl: Be Back Later
idk: I Don't Know
idc: I Don't Care
lol: Laugh(ing) Out Loud or Lots Of Laughs
rofl: Rolls (or Rolling) On Floor Laugh(ing)
lq2ms: Laugh(ing) Quietly To Myself
omg: Oh My God (or Gosh)
lmao: Laugh(ing) My Ass Off
lylas: Love You Like A Sister
lylab: Love You Like A Brother
k or kk: Okay
jk: Just Kidding
jp: Just Playing
jw: Just Wondering
143 or <3: I Love You
luv: Love
ily: I Love You
w/e: Whatever
ttly: Totally
ttfn: Ta Ta For Now
w8: Wait
h8: Hate
l8: Late
l8r: Later
ty: Thank You
thnks, thnx, or thx: Thanks
r: Are
u: You
y: Why
ppl: People
4nd: Friend
qt: Cutie
zzz: Sleeping, Bored, Tired
HHRT: Hit Hard Right Through
IMO: In My Opinion
BFF: Best Friend Forever
FYI: For Your Information
kwim: Know What I Mean?
n: and
afk: Away From Keyboard
bak: Back At Keyboard
wdymbt: What Do You Mean By That

So if I sent you a text message stating the following, what did I say and how would you answer me?
hi how r u jw u free 2nite A3 POOT BYOB LMK k?

Hint: here are a couple of websites I came upon to help me decipher:
http://www.teenchatdecoder.com/parental-lookup/teenchat-a.html
http://www.netlingo.com/emailsh.cfm

Recipe Thursday - Part 1 - Homemade Pasta

I do not profess to be an expert here. I never ever made homemade pasta until I married my husband who is Italian. Here is a basic pasta recipe his grandmother handed down to me:

I use a KitchenAid Mixer - the heavy duty one. Using the dough hook, I throw 4 cups of all purpose flour in the bowl. I slowly add 4 slightly beaten eggs and 1 tablespoon of virgin olive oil. I keep the mixer kneading the dough until it forms a ball, constantly scraping the sides. You need the dough slightly wet but not sticky, so you either add another egg or more flour until you get the right consistency which is smooth-textured, very firm, and a little dry. The dough should be able to stick to itself, but not to nothing else. I let it knead for a few minutes, then let it rest for 15. In the meantime I get the pasta roller out (I just got the KitchenAid attachment one for Christmas but haven't used it yet). I set up the dowel rod pasta dryer holder if making noodles and very lightly flour my granite countertop if making lasagna noodles or sheets for ravioli or if just letting the sheet dry a bit before making noodles.

Covering the rest of the dough with a wet paper towel over the bowl, I take a small piece of dough and run it through the pasta machine at a setting of 1. I do this several times, each time folding the dough into thirds, adding flour as needed. Now depending on what type of thickness you want, I dial down the pasta machine, dialing it down one at a time while running the pasta sheet through. I think my machine goes to 7 but I have never used that level. I usually only go to level 6. Lay the pasta down on the counter for 15 minutes or so before cutting it or running it through the roller for noodles. I usually start the next roll so I have several rolls on the counter. Be careful and not try to roll too large of a wad of dough as it gets way too hard to handle.

For noodles: I pick up the sheet and run it through the machine then hang the noodles on the drying rod. I let them dry thoroughly before cooking them. The width of the noodle will depend on which attachment you use (my hand crank pasta machine is from Italy and has 5 different widths I can use so I can make 1" wide noodles or angel hair. A hint if making angel hair - let it dry 15 minutes then flip the dough over and dry that side for 15 otherwise the pasta will get stuck in the machine. Make sure both sides are floured but not too dry to crack. I then hang the pasta on a drying rack like the one below:

For ravioli: I pick up the sheet and turn it over on the counter so the floured side is down and stickier side is now up. I put whatever filling I use into the dead center of each square (I mentally plot it out for a 2 inch square so I put the filling dead center of that 2 inches, then take another sheet and place it right on top of the other sheet (so the sticky sides are together). I use the ravioli hand cutter and cut between the filling, making approximately 2 inch squares. The ravioli hand cutter I use also seals the edges which is nice. I used to have to seal with my fingers then would use a pizza cutter to do the squares.

For lasagna noodles: I just use the sheets as is. I do a layer of lasagna at a time (2-3 sheets then the filling, etc).

Now my mother usually added salt to her noodles and used milk in place of the oil. I tend not to add salt only because I add salt only when I need to - and usually to the sauce.

Book Review - Making Rounds with Oscar by Dr David Dosa

I want to start out by making this disclaimer: I do not beg or borrow or even politely ask any author for a copy of their book. I believe that all reviewers should purchase the books they review themselves - the authors deserve to receive the monies they have coming to them and not be giving out free books. Likewise, I never buy a book based on a reviewer that gets that book free. I kinda feel that they have thus been 'paid' for their review. My reviews are honest. I don't review every book I have ever read (I don't think there are enough days in a week to do that since I will read an average of 5-10 a week). I review the ones that touch me in some way and/or are so good, I feel they deserve the recognition. This book fits both criteria.

That said, this book was recommended to me by Ferfelabat aka Cindy Cruciger who herself is a writer. We have a lot of similar tastes in books. I thank her for this recommendation . I cannot even begin to describe how this book made me feel. Yes, it is about a cat who has an extraordinary gift who lives in a lockdown Alzheimer's and advanced dementia ward of a nursing home. If you have ever been in one or met a dementia patient, you will immediately identify with the book. I can also identify with the idea that cats and/or dogs have an instinctive sense when you need them. People and I am including even my husband, rely on words or actions to perceive another in pain or distress. Animals don't. Whenever I was in pain the past 31 months, I found myself surrounded by my cats. When I was going through cancer therapy, our beloved Snowball (a white/yellow lab) was constantly by my side, just as I have been by the side of any of my animals that have either passed or I put down. Animals are family even more sometimes than family is. On to the book.....

Dr. Dosa is a geriatrician and is one of the doctors that care for the patients at Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Rhode Island (yes this place actually exists as this is a true story - see link below). Oscar is one of the cats that resides at the center. When the cats first began to make an appearance at the Steere House, the staff decided to allow them to stay after watching their interaction with the patients. Oscar is a typical tabby cat who decides when and if he will allow you to pet him. But soon Oscar revealed a talent: he would instinctly know when a patient was about to die and would go and lay next to the person, purring, until they passed.

The book is based on an essay written by Dr. Dosa. As a skeptic with a bad experience from a cat when he was small, Dr. Dosa interviewed the nursing staff and relatives of the patients both still there and those who did pass. He also watched Oscar. The book is based on those observations. It drew me in from the first page and was one of those books you just cannot put down until it is finished.

But for me the book was even more than that. You all have read about my FIL who has vascular dementia and how difficult the past 2 years have been with us having to commit him to a lock down facility and how we have had to cope not only with our decision but to see someone we loved become this person we didn't know. I loved how it was described by one of the family members that the mind of a dementia patient is different. It is. One of the families described it the best:

"A lot of people don't want to let go." .... I knew from experience that letting go is precisely what family members struggle with the most but I wanted Rita's take on it. "Because you want them back in the worst possible way," she said. "You just want your parent back, the one who signed the report cards, the one who made the Thanksgiving dinner. But you can't." Knowing that, and coming to terms with that knowledge, is really the most difficult part. A relationship between two people is made up, for the most part, of invisible things: memories, shared experiences, hopes, and fears. When one person disappears, the other is left alone, as if holding a string with no kite. Memories can do a lot to sustain you, but the invisible stuff of the relationship is lost, even as unresolved issues remain: arguments never settled, kind words never uttered, things left unsaid......coping with the loss is impossible......."So, how do you come to grips with the loss?" I asked......"It takes time. But at first it's about diversion and misdirection."....."But eventually you realize that the best way to cope with the repetitiveness is not through explanation but through distraction. I'd stop trying to convince my father that the strange woman was his wife and simply change the subject to something else and then everything was okay." Dementia is all about comfort and distraction.

I will add that it is watching a person with wonderful memories and a Mr. Fix-it of all things who never had more than a grade school eduction yet was more knowledgeable than many that have completed degrees, slowly unlearn everything until even the basic things become impossible (using Desitin to brush his teeth to using cologne as mouthwash). Right now FIL has good days where he remembers his wife's name and bad days when he gets highly agitated and wants to go home although he has no clue where home is. There are certain times of the day we can visit with him and other times we know not to even bother. Sometimes I wonder what is in his mind as he now goes through life.

It must be like watching a film of a person's life run backward, I thought, except the person doesn't get any younger......"You have to learn to love the person they become and find moments of happiness in the little things."

As one reviewer wrote: "The reader will walk away both encouraged and challenged. Oscar models a behavior that any human could adopt. At the end of life, people need a non-judgmental presence to ease them to the next world."

As a nurse and former hospice nurse, how true those words are! Thanks Dr. Dosa for a wonderful book!

http://www.daviddosa.com/about_oscar.html
http://www.steerehouse.org/whatsnew

Handwriting Analysis - Part 10

So did you analyze your own handwriting? What did you find out? I had our son and my husband write a few things and I analyzed their writing and I was dead on with what their handwriting revealed about them although I could have told you everything their handwriting said about them without analyzing it - a mom and wife just know.

What is interesting is analyzing others signatures. Here are a few examples:


In President Kennedy's handwriting we see a very fast movement and decisiveness. In the handwriting we can see strong angles, especially in the upper zone which pertains to ideas, principles and ambitions. On the other hand his signature is a bit smaller than the writing, which indicates humbleness. When looking carefully into the signature, we can see that the last letter "y" looks like a shield. This shield shows that the person is more sensitive than what is presented on his outside appearance. In order to protect himself, he puts this shield between himself and the world.


Lincoln's signature is a slight bit larger than his handwriting. Both the text and the signature, are very well organized and meticulous. A similarity between the handwriting and the signature shows that the person we see outside is exactly the same person in the inside. Usually it shows honesty and high integrity.


Bill Clinton's signature is the same size as his handwriting. He places his signature very closely to the text itself. This shows modesty and a tremendous sense of belonging to society. He does not separate himself from his people and feels that he and his country are one. He takes upon himself a great deal of responsibility as if he needs to fulfill a mission.


Disney animates his letters. His signature exhibits much vitality, lightness, humor, and movement, just like his many cartoons.


The last is Charles Manson - his handwriting possesses only a few schizoid signs, however, there are strange unnecessary lines. His signature is buried underneath covering lines and it looks like a signatures.

"Schizoid" signs are those signs in handwriting analysis that all serial killers seem to have in common.

The obvious element would be the total separation between intellect and emotion and between "ego" and super-"ego", otherwise they would not have been capable of committing such crimes. Most of them show lack of judgement and yet possess well developed planning skills and good self-control.
All the schizoid murderers share something in common with the rest of the schizoid types.

1.The charming type - they usually have personal charm through which they manage to contact their victims and gain trust.
2.The ambitious type - They have strong ambitions otherwise they would not risk their lives and freedom.
3.The security man - They have the ability to keep their secret to themselves, often they follow their victim, plan the murder or the assault almost always on their own without sharing it with others.
4.The obsessive - All the serial murderers obsessively repeat their horrible crimes.
5.The criminal - They have a captivating charm and an ability to pretend and conceal their true intentions. They can lie without even a blink and completely lack conscience.
6.The destructive type - Their destructive instinct causes them to murder and by killing they destroy their victims and in most cases themselves as well.
7.We can conclude that the murderer share characteristics with all the types. Their characteristics are at a high leveled and extremely twisted.
Graphic signs of the Schizoid
■Vigilant and tense handwriting
■Extremely strong pressure
■Angels
■Arcades
■Separation
■Narrowness
■Extremely wide spaces between words or identical to the spaces between letters
■Covering strokes
■Emphasized upper zone
■Left of upright slant
■Frozen
■Tense strokes
■High upper zone
■Large or extreme height differentials
■At times - a weak stroke
■Secondary narrowness
■Angular connections
■Similar to the "autistic type" by Odem
■Emphasize of the beginning
■Rhythmic writing
■Covering the whole page
■Strange ending of letters
■"Invented" letters
■Twisted letters
■Broken letters
■Corrections, especially "artistic corrections"
■Abundance of punctuation marks or lack of them
■Slow writing
■Peculiarities and exaggeration
■Printed letters

No, I am not going to analyze my own signature but I will state that I have analyzed the signatures of quite a few of my friends. **insert evil laugh** Are you one?

Handwriting Analysis - Part 9

Today's post is about the cursive letter that explores your sexual aspect. We are still using that sample we obtained.

This is the cursive letter we are going to talk about - the capital Y and lower case y (at least this is the way we were taught to make said Y).

So let's examine the sexual aspects of the lower zone of both the capital Y and lower case y. They usually look the same and if not, then you are ambivalent about your sexual aspects.

If your lower y looks like the above, you have a warm and receptive nature free of fear and inhibition and you are flexible.

If your lower y had a long plunge part of the y that ends with no loop back up, then you are determined, firm, aggressive, and sometimes defensive,

If your lower y has an unfinished loop (it starts to come back up but doesn't come all the way up), you are unrealistic, possibly wishful, and according to you, your sexual expectations are unfulfilled.

If your lower y look comes up and has a downward ending, you are easily discouraged, depressed, or you have anger toward your current sexual partner.

Now for other sexual aspects for the lower zone of both the capital and little case y:

If your y is shorter in the lower zone than what it should be (it should encompass the middle and lower zone), then you are inhibited but likes routine, have short-lived endurance, are practical and are sedentary.

If your y is longer in the lower zone than what it should be, then you are restless, determined, a realist, easily bored, and you want change and variety.

If your y is fuller in the lower zone than normal, then you are materialistic, physical, social, and have a good imagination.

If your y is narrow in the lower zone, then you have limited imagination, very choosy in selecting friends, and have a repressed spontaneity.

If your y looks like a stick in the lower zone, then you are focused and unmaterialistic, you delegate easily, and you limit your intimacy.

If your y has a large curved unfinished loop in the lower zone, you are affectionate, gentle, musical, meditative, reactive, and romantic.

If your y has a triangle looking loop in the lower zone, you are aggressive, tyrannical, prudish, argumentative, show anxiety, and always vie for the upper hand.

If your y has a loop on the upstroke of the middle zone, then you are sympathetic, need to suffer, are a martyr, and are full of hypocrisy.

If your y has a high spiked upstroke of the middle zone, you have curiosity, are opinionated, argumentative, and are aggressive (maybe a good dom?).

So does your handwriting say about you?

Happy Father's Day

"The most important thing a father can do
for his children is to love their mother."
~~Author Unknown

"It is a wise father that knows his own child."
~~By William Shakespeare (1564-1616)~~

What Makes a Dad

God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so,

He called it ... Dad

~~Author Unknown.~~

Happy Father's Day to my husband, my father, my father-in-law and all other father's out there. This is your day - enjoy!

Handwriting Analysis - Part 8

Just a note to state that we are still working with that sample.

Today we will discuss the "I's" and yet to come is the sex part (yes there is actually a cursive letter that will tell you but more on that maybe tomorrow).

The capital 'I' will tell you the most about the relationship between you and your mother and father. Yep, not kidding!

This is a normal cursive 'I' (at least the way you were taught), both in upper case and lower case.

First we will start with the cursive capital 'I'. The upper part (loop) of the I relates to your mother. The bottom part (loop) of the I relates to your father.

So if you have a normal upper loop and little lower loop, your mother had a strong influence on you while your father had little influence on you.

If you have little upper loop and a normal lower loop, your father had a strong influence on you and your mother had little influence on you.

If your upper loop is pointy, you have/had a critical mother.

If your lower loop is pointy, you have/had a critical father.

If your upper loop is larger than normal, you had an emotional mother.

If your lower loop is larger than normal, you probably did not have a mother or she died when you were young.

Now let's take a look at the small 'i'.

If you dotted your little i with a round dot, you are patient, loyal, have a good memory, are accurate and precise, and are a perfectionist.

If you dotted your little i with a circle dot (large dot), you like to be different, are a non-conformist, are artistic, and are imaginative.

If you dotted your little i with a dash as your dot, you have a lot of mental energy, are enthusiastic but hurried, and are irritated with trivia.

If you dotted your little i with a left placed dot (meaning the dot is to the left of the i), you live in the past, you are cautious, insecure, procrastinate, and are full of fear.

If you dotted your little i with a right placed dot (meaning the dot is to the right of the i), you are energetic, progressive, have a quick mind, are future-oriented, impulsive, and impatient.

If you are missing your dot on top of your little i, you are above trivia, you are careless, you are inconsiderate, and you have a poor memory.

If you dot your little i with a heart, you are below the age of 18.

Breaking News - Important Health Care Information You Need to Know About

This is very important for health care for Medicare and even private insurances. If this bill is not passed, look for a doctor to only be available in an emergency. So far the Senate has passed H.R. 4213 but the House will not vote on this until next week. That means that as of today, doctors will be seeing a 21.3% cut in their payments for their services. Is there going to be a doctor available until the House passes the bill and President Obama signs it? You may have to look hard for one.

Call your senator or representative today!

As the clock continues to tick toward the June 18 final deadline for implementation of the 21.3 percent cut in Medicare physician payments produced by the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula, U.S. Senate debate continued June 17 over H.R. 4213, the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act. In addition to providing another short-term reprieve from the impending Medicare cut, the legislation would increase federal Medicaid funding and extend various expiring programs, such as disaster relief and long-term unemployment insurance benefits.

If legislation is not signed into law before the weekend, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will have no option but to instruct its contractors to begin processing Medicare claims for physician services provided in June at rates that reflect the 21.3 percent cut.

Source: AMA Alert [6/17/10}

Handwriting Analysis - Part 7

Today we are looking at the person's signature or where they signed that sample of their handwriting. Yes, even signatures can tell all about someone.

If the body of the sample and the signature is legible and the same, the person is straight forward, unpretentious, open, stable, loyal, sincere, and desires to be understood.

If the body of the sample and the signature are illegible and the same, the person is rushed, confidential, private, secretive, cryptic, inconsiderate, and non-communicative.

If the body of the sample is legible and the signature is illegible, the person is a clear communicator regarding impersonal matters, has a separate private life, is ambiguous, and is the executive type.

If the body of the sample is illegible and the signature is legible, the person has a pretense of openness, is full of hypocrisy, and is a "what you see is not what you get".

If the first name is larger than the family name, the person takes pride in their own accomplishments, has personal confidence. and is self-reliant.

If the last name is larger than the first name, the person has a lot of personal modesty and family pride, and places a lot of importance on heritage.

If the first name is illegible, the person has a lot of personal privacy and self-modesty, and is unhappy with himself.

If the last name is illegible, the person has family modesty, or they might have a physical or psychological split with their family, and is unhappy with their family and lacks family pride.

Handwriting Analysis - Part 6

As you can see there is a lot that goes into handwriting analysis. Today we are discussing margins. So get that sample and take a good look at the margins and how much or how little of the paper is used. People who do handwriting analysis see the blank page as a representation of your life. The top of the page represents your past, the bottom represents your future, the left side symbolizes your past, and the right side represents your future. The size and placement of your margins speaks to how you balance your relationship with the past and present, as well as how you interact with the people you meet. The ideal, standard margin for adults is to start roughly 1 to 1½ inches in from the left and to go as far as you can to the edge of the right-hand side without moving into it and having to crunch your words.

All Margins: In the sample below, you see that there are margins on all - top, bottom, right side and left side. This type of handwriting is something that is considered rare. The person who does this likes things to be exceptionally orderly, and they are detail-minded and appearance-conscious.

Left Missing: In this sample, there is no margin at all on the left side and typically there is instead a right margin. This states that the person is informal, traditional, unpretentious, practical, and economical.

Left Wide: If there is a huge left margin and little to no right margin at all, then the person is spontaneous, progressive, cultural, cut off from past or is fleeing their past.

Right Narrow: If there is a larger left margin and very narrow right margin, the person is a joiner, uninhibited, chatty, goal-oriented, has a lot of courage, and is a risk taker.

All Wide: If the right and left margins are wide and all the handwriting is centered in the middle, the person has an artistic aptitude, an aesthetic sense, is sensitive, orderly, private, and timid.

All Missing: If there is no right or left margins at all and every usable space of the paper is used, the person is economical, thrifty, uncultured, and has little sense of beauty.

Upper Narrow: If there is little to no margin at the top of the paper, the person is direct, economic, lacks personal distance, is informal, and shows disrespect.

Upper Wide: If there is a large margin at the top, the person is formal, reserved, pretense, lacks self-respect, and is pessimistic.

As a side note, if you indent the first line of each paragraph, graphologists would speculate that you're orderly but also spontaneous. Because this is the standard formatting, you also exhibit successful social integration.

Handwriting Analysis - Part 5

Still working on that handwriting sample, today we are going to look at its legibility, the printing, and the line direction.

Legibility: This pretty much means what it says. Are you able to read the sample or not?
Legible: This is indicative of a clear communicator who has a desire to be understood, is sincere, is a good pupil, is a good teacher or instructor.
Illegible: This indicated a non-communicative person and/or secret person, can have a speedy mind, is careless, is distrustful, and is usually more of an executive type.

Printing: Yes, one can even analyze the person who prints their sample even though all the other points still correspond to their sample.
Printed: This person is less spontaneous, has a desire to be understood, deals with facts and figures, is good with projects and planning, and limits show of emotion.
Connected: Yes even printing can connect. This person is friendly, has common sense, is logical, thorough, fluid, persistent, and systematic.
Disconnects: This person is intuitive, interpretive, instinctual, has unseen logic, and is resourceful.

Line Direction: This looks at the zone baseline but pertaining to a line or the whole page.
Straight: This person is steady, goal-directed, persistent, even tempered, is reliable, stable, and has willpower.
Rising: This person's lines will 'rise' or go upward on the paper. They are optimistic, ambitious, cheerful, initiative, restless, and a positive thinker.
Falling: This person's lines will 'fall' or go downward on the paper. They are easily fatigued, unhappy, pessimistic, melancholy, prone to depression and negative thinking.
Wavy: This person's lines will go up and down. They are flexible, versatile, lively, emotional, inconsistent, instability, moody, and weak minded.

Handwriting Analysis - Part 4

Okay we are still analyzing what we had people write before. Today we will learn about Zones.

Zone in handwriting analysis means going back to the basics of cursive writing - remember that? Well, here's a reminder:

So in cursive writing for example there is the baseline which is the line we use for all words. For some letters (b, d, f, h, k, l, and t) go into the upper zone while other letters go into the lower zone (f, g, j, p, q, y and z). Some go into both the upper and lower zones (f and j). Each zone should be the same size or the upper zone is the same size as the middle zone which is the same size as the lower zone. So now we are going to look at that sample and examine the zones of the person's writing.

Tall Upper Zone: In this handwriting, the upper zone letters will be taller and therefore out of proportion to the other zones. This would indicate that the person is intellectual, has abstract thinking, is spiritual, has idealism, is ambitious, is aspiring, has a lot of pride, is formal, has mental curiousity, and can be a dreamer.

Short Upper Zone: This handwriting shows a upper zone letter to be shorter than normal. This person is self-reliant, wants to set their own direction, is independent, is practical, shuns theory and speculation, is mundane, and unaspiring.

Long Lower Zone: This handwriting shows a long lower zone than normal. This person tolerates routine, is a conformist, is easily satisfied, is non-competitive, sedentary, has a rapid energy drop off, and is apathetic.

Short Lower Zone: This handwriting shows a shorter than normal lower zone. This person sets goals, has a lot of drive and determination, is earthy, enjoys change and variety, is restless, is easily bored, and scatters energy.

Tall Middle Zone: This handwriting shows a larger than normal middle zone. This person is confident, striving, ambitious, enterprising, power seeking, and egotistical.

Balanced Zone: This handwriting has all 3 zones the same or equal. This person is mature, well-rounded, has a balanced nature, is orderly, is calm and level headed, and can seem indifferent.

Tall Upper Zone with No Lower Zone: This handwriting shows no letters in the lower zone even if they are supposed to be there. This person has a lot of pride and intelligence, is a theorist, conscientious, superficial, lacks stamina, is a dreamer, is impractical, and is an escapist.

Long Lower Zone with No Upper Zone: This handwriting shows no upper zone letters even if they are supposed to be there (even capital letters are in the middle zone). This person is self-reliant, earthy, is a realist, is non-intellectual, priceless, bored by theory and speculation, and has a limited conscience.

Full Upper Zone: This handwriting shows the upper zone letters to be fuller than normal. You also might notice that there is also little to no lower zone as those letters are kept mostly in the middle and upper zones and each letter is then fuller or wider than normal. This person is easily fatigued, unhappy, pessimistic, melancholic, depressed, and has negative thinking.

Narrow Upper Zone: This handwriting shows the upper zone letters to be narrow instead of normal size. This person is conservative, is a realist, is uncompromising, is sober, and has repressed thinking.

Full Lower Zone: This handwriting shows the lower zone letters to be larger or fuller than normal. This person is security minded, social, has a material imagination, is ambitious, is flexible, is resourceful and creative, is physical and sensual.

Narrow Lower Zone: This handwriting shows the lower zone letters to be narrow than normal size. This person is factual, picks friends with care, is guarded, is a perfectionist, is inhibited, has suppressed emotions, and shuns imagination.

Handwriting Analysis - Part 3

So the other day I had stated that when I do consultations on practices, I have everyone write down their job duties on one side of a blank piece of paper using a pen only and on the backside I have them write the name of everyone else who works in that office and their job duties. I also ask them to sign their names at the bottom of the page. That is what I use for my work but you can modify this and perform your own handwriting analysis by doing the following: have the person or people you want to analyze write on a blank piece of paper, using a pen only, describe themselves and what they do in a day and how they see themselves in 10 years and sign the bottom. You are not really analyzing what the content of writing or what they wrote (that would be best left to a psychologist or psychiatrist). You are analyzing the actual writing and looking for patterns. The same principles on size and slant of the handwriting would still apply.

Today we will analyze the width, connections of each letter, pressure of the handwriting.
1. Width of the letters:
a. Wide writing means one is expansive, uninhibited, receptive, open, gregarious, warm, and generous.
b. Narrow writing means one is conservative, usually has restricted views, has an inner strength, is inhibited, and is fearful.
2. Connections of each letter:
a. Garland is when each letter is connected to the next letter by a garland style. This means the person is adaptable, cooperative, friendly, tolerant, easy-going, empathetic, and sincere.

b. Arcade is when each cursive letter stands by itself. This means the person is formal, serious, distant, protective, private, unspontaneous, artistic, and has good aptitude.

c. Angle is when each letter is very pointy and crisp. This means the person is analytical, direct, reliable, critical, demanding, conscientious, uncompromising, aggressive, fault-finding, stubborn, and inflexible.

d. Thread is when each letter sometimes connects but not always as there are breaks in the letters of the word. This means the person is indefinite, adaptable, creative, diplomatic, intuitive, impressionable, avoids, friction, wants peace, yielding, and elusive.

3. Pressure of the lettering:
a. Heavy pressure indicates vitality, reserve energy, lasting, emotional memory, loves luxury, strong likes and dislikes, forgives but can't forget.
b. Light pressure indicates resilient, sensitive, delicacy, forgiving and forgetting, spiritual, limited energy reserves.

As always, remember not to take one word as the ultimate. You have to see patterns of the same writing in order to analyze properly. There can be variations therefore between each category. I know that the things I feel the strongest about and have the most influence might have heavier pressure than most of my writing so I would fall in both categories and have traits of both for pressure. I also vary between garland and threading. My letters in each word are neither wide nor narrow.

Inspirational Sunday - Our Spiritual Destiny

"We choose our own destiny. All men are created equal. All men will not end up equal."
Glenn Beck
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/33229.html

A friend of mine (Ferfe) posted that on Facebook and it got me thinking. I like Beck sometimes but then again I don't really know many political people I like all the time. There are definite times I don't listen to what they have to say yet there are times they say something that just hits me. This quote was one of those times.

I believe in my own destiny which is ruled by a strong belief in what can be, not in what it could have been. I fully believe everyone can change their destiny since we always have the option to change the way we think. I think that is why I like to listen to different ideas and opinions even if they don't always reflect what I think or believe. They give me a full picture and yes, those differing opinions can change what I believe and therefore change my destiny.

I am a child of an alcoholic in a long line of alcoholic relatives, both male and female. I choose not to drink so I have chosen my own destiny. I believe it is my choice on how to live my life, not any one else's. I take what others say and do and believe and if it fits my own belief system, I incorporate it into mine.

It's kinda like believing in God. People ask if I believe in God and most people say they do, but I question if they really do or do they just say it? Too many say the words but do they curse God when things don't go the way they want or do they look for God's reason on why He didn't grant that wish? Believing in God is full time. I put my faith in Him totally. He knows best.

Some people talk of Fate and Destiny as if they were one and the same thing. I don't happen to be one of those. Destiny is something we choose to go after.... Fate is something that happens to us. I do believe God has a plan for each of us and it's up to us if we chose His plan or venture off on our own.

That's why I liked Glen Beck's quote: "We choose our own destiny. All men are created equal. All men will not end up equal."

It is our Spirituality - a deep inner need. It is something that drives us to do what seems impossible. It is something that nurtures us with hope in our darkest moments. It enables us to dream of better things. This is our Spiritual Destiny - our belief in God where He resides in a place where we find our fulfillment. And how Glorious is the day we find that peace and that belief.

Handwriting Analysis - Part 2

I had a few people who asked me to do more on handwriting analysis as I had done on doodle analysis. I want everyone to understand a few important facts though. They are:
1. Handwriting patterns do not predict or foretell the future.
2. No single pattern should be taken out of context or interpreted alone.
3. Handwriting analysis has different meanings with different combinations although basic traits tend to remain constant for the writer.
4. Handwriting analysis only has validity when the writing is consistent and has repetition.
5. Even positive personality traits tend to become negative if used in excess or unwisely. Too much of a good thing can become a negative.
6. It takes more than a line or 2 of writing to analyze a personality.
7. I am only going to give you specific traits here as examples but again remember traits can take hundreds of twists, turns, and variations. A single trait seen must be viewed as a fluke and has little significance to that personality. Therefore for a trait to have merit, it must be seen consistently in natural writing.
8. Everyone has good days and bad days, days when they are tired or cranky, and days when they are hurried, in pain, use a pen they don't like, etc. Your handwriting will change from day to day and even during the day.

Okay, that said, one of the very first things I do when I am evaluating a medical practice for someone is to give every single person a plain unlined sheet of paper, a pen, and in their own writing, they are told to write down their job duties on one side of the paper. Then on the back they are to write each person's name that they work with and what they think that person's job duties are. They are then to sign their name at the bottom.

Just that little bit is so informative. I find offices with little communication between the front office and the back office to have no idea even who the names of the people are in the other area let alone what they do. I also find they tend to write down every single little thing they do while generalizing what the others do. I also analyze if they followed directions (one evaluation had a girl go get a lined piece of paper to use and then didn't even know anyone else's names in the entire office and she had been with the company for over 10 years - yes she was the first to be fired).

When I interview employees, I have been known to have then do this but to answer the following questions instead: 1. Why you think you are qualified for this position? 2. What you hope to accomplish in the next 6 months? 3. Sign the sheet. I have never used this personally but have trained offices on using it. Personally I go by my gut and just interview the person. I have never gone wrong when I listen to my gut but you have to understand that I used to run a home care agency that had over 1000 employees. I have probably hired and fired about the same amount so I know non-verbal and verbal traits to look for and usually within 10 minutes of meeting someone I can tell what type of person they are.

Okay here is what you need to look for on that paper and what it means:
1. Size of the writing:
a. Large writing thinks big, sees the big picture, is expansive, extroverted, comfortable in large groups, is social, ambitious, is a generalist, and bold.
b. Small writing is detail-oriented, focused, introspective, modest, has a scientific aptitude, is shy, is a specialist, and concentrates.
2. Slant of the writing:
a. A right slant means the person is extroverted, friendly, social, empathetic, emotionally responsive, future oriented, takes initiative, trusting, animated
b. A vertical slant means the person is calm, independent, objective, neutral on good judgement, fair, is a realist, practical, factual, skeptical, and cautious.
c. A left slant means the person is traditional, calculated charm, self-control, introspective, past-oriented, reserved, cautious, withdrawn, distrusts.
d. A mixed slant means the person is lively, vivacious, versatile, impressionable, unsettled, flexible, agitated, moody, erratic, unpredictable.

My personal handwriting varies from hour to hour. I am primarily a right handed person but am able to use my left hand even with cursive writing. I vary when I use my right hand or left hand just to keep both parts of my brain functional. My handwriting tends to be more of a right slant from my right hand most of the time. When I am stressed or am doing something very detailed, I tend to use a vertical slant right handed. When I use my left hand I vertical slant more often than I right slant. I have been told that is because I am primarily a right handed person and thus when I use my left hand to write, I am concentrating more therefore I am exerting more self control over myself to write with my left hand. Interesting enough in my journals, there have been times during and after grade school I would left slant with both my right hand and left hand. The times I usually did that corresponded to periods of my life that I had a lot of emotional conflict going on within myself or my family. Even today I can tell in my journals just by looking at the style of writing I used on any particular day, how I felt that day and sure enough when I would re-read that entry, I was either depressed, frustrated, unhappy, and withdrawn when I left slanted.

Lots more to come so stay tuned!

Handwriting Analysis - Part 1

So how many of you have legible handwriting? Can you make out every single letter? There really is a reason for this post.

I was filling out the form for a handicap parking placard at work today for one of our patients whose surgery is this coming Friday when I remembered I had my own form to finish filling out since my current handicap parking placard expires the end of the month. So I pulled mine out of my purse which is where I had placed it after my doctor's visit last Friday. I noticed his signature. Then I compared it to my husband's signature. I think medical schools teach doctors handwriting skills so no one will ever know what they are trying to say. I will give my husband some credit though - his signature was a lot clearer (if you knew his name) than my surgeon's. Yep I am talking about you :) I couldn't even distinguish if the 2 humps were your first initial of your first name and then the 1st initial of your last name or just humps.

So I decided to pull out my nifty handwriting analysis book. Yes, nurses have to take classes to decipher doctor's handwriting. No, honestly I really took a handwriting analysis class along with a sign language class and learned how to sign my cuss words (I bet you all didn't know I did that)!

So looking through my book on handwriting analysis, I was directed to the very first page where they state that a person's handwriting is an individual's personal and legal identification for life. (Wondering here if anyone out there is a woman who signs all her husband's things and the bank wouldn't even know her husband's signature - like mine.)

So my dear doctor and my dear husband, you both have such crappy handwriting that the following is what my book says about your handwriting:

Since your first name is illegible, this means you a very personal and private person with self-modesty and this usually means you are unhappy with yourself.

Since your last name is also illegible, this means you have family issues - a physical or psychological split with your family, you are unhappy with your family and you lack family pride.

Interesting............very very interesting!

BLACKHAWKS WIN!

Congratulations Blackhawks on a totally awesome year culminating with the Stanley Cup!


And Congratulations Toews on your MVP Trophy! You deserved it!

Recipe - Beef Base Recipe - Per request

This is what I call a beef base recipe. I slow cook this then use it to make different things with it (beef tips over noodles, beef stroganoff, beef bourguignonne and beef stew) so I tend to make a huge pot of this so I can freeze the base and then whip the other things together to change it into the other recipes.

1 1/2 lb. sirloin, cut into bite size pieces
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 slice of bacon, cut into small pieces
1 garlic clove, minced or put through a press

In a skillet (I use my cast iron skillet but any one can be used), brown the meat in olive oil and bacon over medium heat. (This is a single recipe so depending on how many meals you want to get out of it will depend on how much meat you will use). (I usually use sirloin but I get it at costco when it is on sale). Take out the meat and put it in a dutch oven. Leave the grease in the skillet.

Mix together in a separate bowl:
1 c. flour
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. black pepper

Put the flour into the skillet and brown the flour slowly until it is dark brown. Pour this in the dutch oven with the meat. Pour 3 1/2 cups water into the skillet and then over the meat. This will finish getting the browned flour out of the skillet. Cover the dutch oven with a lid and cook in oven at 350 degrees for about 2 1/2 hours or until meat is tender and gravy is thick or at 200 degrees for 8-10 hours.

To make beef tips over noodles:
Do nothing else except to make the noodles although I have added sliced mushrooms too. Spoon the tips over the noodles and serve.

To make stroganoff:
Add sliced mushrooms (I usually use fresh although I guess you can use a drained jar of mushrooms), a small container of sour cream and a tablespoon of worchestershire sauce. Make the noodles then spoon over the noodles.

To make beef stew:
Take the base and add diced potatoes, diced carrots, and I usually add a jar of small cocktail type onions drained. Cook over medium heat until the potatoes and carrots are cooked. I usually serve this with bread.

To make beef bourguignonne:
Take the base and add half a bottle of Kendall Jackson burgundy wine, sliced mushrooms, and a drained jar of the small cocktail type onions. Cook for an hour over medium heat uncovered. I serve this with boiled baby red potatoes. Yes, I serve the rest of the wine with the dinner. I have tried other wines but Kendall Jackson's burgundy wine just adds such a good flavor that I have found hard to beat.

Dirtiest Places - #12 - Lemons and Limes but in reality all fruit and veges

For those of you who were thinking this would contain a recipe, ummm....nope.

Did you know how dirty restaurant lemons and limes are? If you are like me, I always ask for either lemon or lime to go with my water. For the house, I usually buy at least 6 lemons and 6 limes a week and I either use them in my water or hubs and son use them in their beer. At the end of the week I use them in a recipe although I have been known to buy more if I am planning on making lemon chicken or my parchment tilapia.

Back to dirty lemons and limes. Out of 6 restaurants, one being a buffet, all 6 were found to have fecal matter on their lemons and limes. Yep you read that right. All 6! Good Morning America did a study 1n 2008 if you don't believe me.

So the next time you are thinking of having a lemon or lime in your drink - squeeze the juice into your drink and don't put it in your drink! Think twice about ordering a drink with fruit in it unless you see the bartender or your waiter/waitress wearing gloves to put that fruit in. Yeah I was a waitress and that just does not happen!

Oh - and wash your fruit and veges before you eat or cut them!

Dirtiest Places - #11 - Shoes

This another post I accidently deleted.

Earlier I did a post on Top Dirtiest Things #4 which was about your feet/shoes. I talked in length about your feet and how to deoderize your shoes on the inside. BUT I never talked about the outside of your shoes and what they carry on them.

Good Morning America did a study recently in 2008 on "How Dirty Are Your Shoes?" It was pretty informative even for me. I used to babysit for this boy who just could not believe I wore shoes inside my house that I wore outside. I nicknamed him Felix as he was a clean fanatic even at age 4. Well, Father Brian, I apologize....only for wearing my shoes inside and not for anything else. Seems you were right on that ONE thing.

Good Morning America reported that recently researchers at the University of Arizona had found 9 different bacteria on your shoes. They also found that bacteria seem to live longer on our shoes than in any other place, yep even toilet seats or bathrooms. And better yet, over 90 percent of that bacteria on the bottom of your shoe DID transfer to your floors. Carpeted floors scored worse.

So guess what is going to happen at my house now? Yep the shoes will be left at the door along with a can of Lysol. For parties I will be bringing home a box of surgical booties for others to wear over their shoes.

The corker for me? Hearing my house will stay cleaner. I hate hate hate hate hate mopping floors.

Top Ten Dirtiest Places - #9 and #10

Sorry - I accidentally deleted a couple of posts so am republishing them.


I thought I would combine the last 2 since I think I am grossing you all out. But if you read each one, you will notice that I give you suggestions on how to control and keep yourself protected. But here we go on #9 - airplanes. Airplanes are closed off places where a lot of people are crammed into a small space where more than 20% at any one time is sick. If you took a swipe of any surface in the airplace, you will find lots of bacteria abound. Swiping just the tray tables, they found coliform bacteria (bacteria from our intestinal tract), Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, and other disease-causing organisms. The bathrooms on planes were similiar to public restrooms as was the ice machines, etc. Flights turn around quickly, so the flight crew only has time to pick up the trash. They don't disinfect. In fact, when asked, no airline could produce a disinfection cleaning record. What to do: The old handwashing again (do it and do it often). I carry Lysol wipes and wipe down my tray table and seat arm. Avoid touching your eyes or nose as these are the main entry points for diseases. Avoid using the airline toilet unless absolutely necessary. If your seat mate is coughing or sneezing ask to change seats. If not, then turn the other way and keep wiping your hands. Bring your own magazines. Stay hydrated because you are more suspectible to respiratory organisms when your mucous membranes are dry. Drink plenty of water and if the cabin is very dry, drink hot water and use the steam to moisten your nasal passages or use a saline nasal spray (make sure it's the proper size for travel).

#10 is our lovely schools. I don't know about all of you but when my kids first started in school it seemed we were all sick all the time. That first year was murder. You name it we caught it. Daughter would come home with something then give it to me then I would give it to hubs who in turn gave it to his office employees and the cycle would begin again. Any gathering of children is a place of questionable hygiene. I know I talked about restrooms before but there is nothing like a school restroom. I am reminded of an email joke that circulated for a while: The janitor was tired of cleaning the mirrors in the girl's bathroom where they had kissed the mirror with lipstick. So he posted a message telling the girls how much effort he had to do to clean the mirrors in order to get their lipstick off. He explained the only thing he could find to get the mirror clean was to dip his mope into the toilet and then clean the mirror with it. He never encountered lipstick marks on the mirror again.

In reality, parents rarely have the opportunity to randomly visit school restrooms, but you should. Be prepared for a shock. They are filthy. There are no doors on the stalls even in the girls bathroom. There was no soap. No paper towels, and newspaper quality toilet paper. Definitely no seat covers. That was the girl's bathroom. Now the boys is even worse. Little boys use the stall so no one will see their weenies. Making sure that no one is behind them or sudden open the door, their aim is very poor, hitting mostly the unlifted seat. For the rest of the day, there is not one boy who will sit on it. Many would rather have poop build up to their eyeballs than sit on a sticky seat. Toilet paper if found is usually strewn all over the floor.

Which brings us to a problem seen in doctor's offices everywhere: children with urinary tract infections and constipation. The medical field are finding that this is caused by the school's strict policies on bathroom times as they are too disruptive in the classroom. Recess and lunch are the only free times to go to the restroom but recess is the most important part of their day and they would rather hold it than give up recess. The first time my daughter came home from 1st grade crying that her tummy hurt because the teacher wouldn't let her go to the bathroom was the 1st and last time I ever had to complain to that principal. I produced study after study, printed them off, and carefully placed them on his desk. I then said I would go to the school district meetings and take this all the way to the newspapers unless something was changed. A 1st grader should not have to soil her pants because of some stupid policy. I didn't encounter that again until she entered junior high and got her period. Then again after having to go pick her up and bring her home to change clothes and wash, I got that school's policy changed. I must have created a stir because by the time she got to high school, we had no problems and the policy had already been changed.

There is not much you can do for keeping your child safe unless you are involved in the school. I was a lunch mom, room mother, reading helper, math helper, etc. I deliberately never used the teacher's bathrooms (which by the way were immaculate with nice smells, lotions, basically what my daughter terms a "Pretty Woman" bathroom. I used the kids bathrooms and went to the principal each and every time they were a mess. We got to be very good friends. Basically one has to be an advocate for their child.

Gosh now I have to come up with a different thing to post. These were fun for me.