On My Mind Today

In the chaos of our everyday life, it's easy to become overwhelmed. All the to-dos that we burden ourselves with can create extremely stressful days and set us up for failure. Most of the time the expectations are unrealistic. Between work, children, and daily chores we're lucky if we can just get through the day. Then we beat ourselves up for all the extra things we don't get to. As if that one more thing will change the course of our life. I think as spring approaches it becomes more stressful as we think of the typical "spring cleaning" that comes to mind. The windows that need washing after a long winter, curtains that are dusty due to the heat blowing through the air, and all the other projects we said we would do when spring arrived. I wonder at times why we pressure ourselves in this way; what kind of life do we want to live? We can spend all our time worrying about the housework and projects we haven't finished, or we can enjoy life. We can accom...

When our lot in life is not as we envisioned it's easy to find someone to blame for this. Circumstances in our lives sometimes play a role, but the biggest culprit is the economy. When the increase in the cost of living has outpaced the increase in wages, it's a recipe for disaster. What ensues is the finger pointing game. Those with money and power will try to tell us who we need to blame for our financial troubles. Over and over they will spread hatred and fear to divide us along racial, economic and religious lines. " It's not your fault - it's theirs." The "theirs" that they refer to can be any number of racial or religious groups or immigrants in general. The ones at the top will tell you that these people are not like you; they are taking your jobs, committing crimes, trying to take over your country. We have seen this in the past. Hitler blamed the Jewish people and foreigners for Germany's woes. Mussolini blamed foreigners, the marke...

What to do with 2 bananas? Not enough to make a traditional banana bread, so I went in search of a recipe for a blueberry banana bread. I found this one which had been adapted from Simply Recipes, and it calls for 2 bananas and uses Greek yogurt in place of part of the butter. I didn't have plain yogurt, so I used a mango yogurt with 50% less sugar and it worked well. It makes a delicious moist bread, and it didn't last long in my house.  I look forward to trying it again with other fruit yogurts. Blueberry Banana Bread 2 ripe bananas, smashed 1/3 cup Greek yogurt 1/3 cup butter, melted 3/4 cup sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon baking soda pinch of salt 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup blueberries 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a loaf pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, butter the parchment paper too. (Lining the pan with parchment paper ensures that the bottom of the bread will not get stuck.) 2. ...

Looking back on my youth brighter days are remembered. Hopes and dreams seemed reachable even in the midst of war and turmoil. It's not that there were no obstacles, but they did not appear insurmountable. Progress took shape in many forms as the years have passed by. Each step made life better, and yet so much more complicated. Not all that has been put before us has been good for humanity. What appeared to bring us closer, in fact has torn us apart. The youth of today are faced with choices that we could not imagine would come to be. Expected to be adults too soon, and having their childhood taken away. Seeing the world being torn apart, how can they hope to reach their dreams? I worry for our grandchildren, and their children yet to come. What kind of world will greet them; will it just be doom and gloom? If this is what we leave them then we have failed to protect all that is good. Will we rise above the negativity ...

Semi-retired is how I currently describe my life. Occasionally I pick up a temporary position to supplement my income, and recently completed a two month assignment. Although I will be looking for another temp position in the near future, I admit that it's nice to be unemployed for a while. There are those who question what I do all day now that I'm not working; as if there is nothing to do. My response is that there are so many things on my list that I can't find time to complete them all. First there are the daily household chores. The cat needs to be fed and his litter box cleaned out, the bed has to be made, and things need to be put in order. The meals have to be prepared, the kitchen cleaned up, and a decent lunch put together for him to take to work. Then there are the weekly to do's which include making a menu and grocery list before shopping, topped off by carrying all the groceries in and putting them away. The weekly (or more recently bi-weekly) thoroug...

Any recipe that can be prepared the night before, and just popped in the oven the next morning is a wonderful thing. Whether it's for your family weekend breakfast, or guests at Sunday brunch, anything that can be prepared in advance makes life much easier. This comes from Pillsbury.com and in 20 minutes will be ready to store in the refrigerator overnight. I used a mix of sweet and hot Italian sausage and it was delicious! With a blend of Dijon mustard, sausage, hash browns and cheese it's sure to please your family or friends. Overnight Country Sausage and Hash Brown Casserole 1 - 16 ounce package bulk hot pork sausage 10 eggs 1-1/2 cups milk 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper 1 bag (20 oz.) refrigerated hash browns (about 4-12/ cups) 1-1/2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (6 oz.) 1. Spray 13 x 9 (3 quart) baking dish with cooking spray. In 8-inch skillet, cook sausage over medium heat 5 to 7 minutes or until no longer pink; drain. ...

With all the screen time that our eyes are subjected to, it's no wonder that our vision becomes strained and in need of assistance. Once it was more common for our eyesight to decline as we got older. Unfortunately, because younger children are in front of a screen so often, their eyesight can be affected earlier in life. Regular eye exams are important. If there is an ongoing record of the health of our eyes, then issues can be addressed right away. With children the option is eyeglasses; for adults there are more options such as contacts or Lasik surgery. Individual eye issues determine what options are viable. If our only option is glasses, there are many things to consider. Do they have to be worn all day? Do we need single vision (reading or distance) only? If multi-vision, do we want bifocals or progressives, and do we want a separate pair for computer use? Do we want transition lenses, or would we rather have a separate pair of sunglasses? There is so much to take into...

Whether sitting in a restaurant, or walking through a store, we can't help but overhear the conversations of others. As we catch pieces of these conversations, we find many adults are using current teenage slang, and it makes me wonder why they feel compelled to do so. Do they think it makes them sound cool, relevant or younger? Every generation has had their slang terminology which was relevant for its time. It was cool in teenage conversations, but when adults were heard using it the words lost their "coolness". In your thirties and forties it can sound silly; as if you're trying too hard to remain young. Plus, if you have children, they don't think you're cool when using it. When we hear adults using the slang of teenagers in conversations, or on social media sites, an opinion is formed. Even if it's not an accurate representation of who they are, it is how they have chosen to represent themselves. As teenagers we used slang when talking with our ...

As a chocolate lover I am always looking for quick and easy recipes to satisfy my sweet tooth. This fudgy chocolate cake comes from Hersheys.com and the skill level is beginner - easy for even a novice to make.  The prep time is only about 10 minutes and cook time 40 minutes. You can serve this with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, strawberries or raspberries. As you can see I served it with ice cream and it was delicious!! Hope you and your family enjoy it as much as we did. Hot Fudge Pudding Cake 1-1/4 cups granulated sugar 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup Hershey's cocoa, divided (I used dark cocoa) 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup milk 1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1/2 cup light brown sugar 1-1/4 cups hot water 1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine 3/4 cup granulated sugar, flour, 1/4 cup cocoa, baking powder and salt. Stir in milk, butter and vanilla; beat until smooth. 2. Spread batter ...