The meme - to summarize your life in a six word memoir, with optional photo illustration. Then, tag six others.
Well, like many before me I had to think about this for awhile. This is what I came up with:
"Still dreaming of a simpler life...."
My big plan in life has always been to build and live in a cob cottage like the one above. Time wages on, I still have not gotten there but it is a dream that keeps me going when times are tough. Near a creek, not too far from a small town, off the grid, a veggie garden and my art. It would be heaven.
BTW, I am greedy, I want everyone on my friend's list to do this meme and post a link to their post for it here.
In other news, my Mother's Day was very nice. I had to work an agency night shift on Saturday and then Vi on Sunday so Karina took me and Viola out to dinner at The Claim Jumper.
Obama and Clinton are wading through Oregon. So far Obama has mentioned Hillary only once, when discussing the gas tax vacation she and McCain endorsed to try to get votes, and only while explaining why he is not for it. Good for him, he stayed focused on who he has to beat, McCain, and much older man, a friend of GW Bush, and oldtimer in DC politics who offers more of the same old same old.
Clinton is promising Oregonians everything but a blow job, I guess that's Bill's job (insert a silent giggle here).... I'm sorry, but Hill looks mean, calculating and desperate. I assume she is all of these, I have never seen her in another light. I do not like her health care policy, forcing Americans to buy insurance the government has fixed the price on, with no outline of what it will be fixed at, also no justification on how forcing the insurance companies to lower prices is fair but forcing gas companies to limit at the pump prices is not.
My ideas on solving the health care crisis are rather different. The short version of the fix: I think the best bet is to offer education grants to medical students, and we pay the medical training costs of doctors, BSNs, PAs, NPs. radiologists, lab techs, and pharmacists in exchange for 1 year of public service for every year of paid education, then open government funded clinics and roaming rural service vans, place a doc and nurse in every one of them. First of all this would open higher education to thousands of talented people who cannot afford to go, secondly it would revive the pool of care providers, third it would provide care to those who do not have access to it now. This plan could be started immediately by offering to pay off student loans on those set to graduate in exchange for public service. The people seen pay $25 per office call, they pay flat rates labs and flat rate med costs.... pay set salaries to the staff while they get valuable on the job experience and we turn out seasoned medical care staff that can be hired in at a higher rate of paid to train newly graduated doctors. This is a win/win/win/win for all concerned because it opens up education, and health care access. It also encourages people to consider a medical education, rebuilding our supply of trained providers. I am betting it would make providers outside the clinic be more competitive on their pricing. OTW no one gets forced to do anything, with a low cost option for care in place, the others would HAVE to lower pricing to compete. Plus it would not be a bottomless hole, it would generate money to help fund it's self.... throwing money at insurance companies will never do that.
No one
running has come up with anything like this, but there is more than one
way to fix what is wrong. This way we would fix more than health care
access, we would educate trained professionals who might otherwise wind
up as fast food servers because of financial restraints regardless of
how brilliant they are. And while we are at it, let's offer dental services in the clinics under the same kind of program too, dental health goes hand in hand with medical health and it is sometimes even more expensive.
I do not have any auto immune disease, my ACE level was normal, I DO have Pernicious Anemia.
Normal on the labs is 180+ I am at <100, no wonder I am tired and not thinking clearly.
Pernicious anemia is a blood disease caused by the lack of a substance (intrinsic factor) that the body needs in order to absorb vitamin B12 from food.
Symptoms include weakness, numbness in the hands and feet, mental confusion, weight loss and fever. Pernicious anemia can damage the nerve cells in the brain and spinal column. ( This could explain the damage seen in my MRI).
I am sad to say the weight loss has not occurred in my case, but all the other symptoms have, (what is the heck is up with THAT?).
The treatment for pernicious anemia is vitamin B12 shots or nasal spray. Because the body can no longer absorb this vitamin from food, the shots or nasal spray must be continued for life.
So Ramie it appears we will both be taking daily shots, but not the same kind.
Oddly enough I felt fine until I got health care coverage, then I started falling apart. So I have borderline high cholesterol and a pretty impressive Vit B12 deficiency.
Anyway I am up, moving and the lawn is getting deep again already. I guess I will have breakfast and tackle it with the lawn mower before I have no choice but to use the weed wacker again. I am NOT doing manual labor on mother's day... so today is the day. Maybe I can convince Karina is would be a good workout and get her to do it this time.
I NEED coffee!
There is a discussion on the best way to hang a quilt on the wall invisibly on the quiltart.com list today, and let's face it, even if you are a traditional quilt maker, there are only so many beds in one home. I happen to lean towards art quilting, and the way I do this goes something like the diagram below ( click to enlarge). This system works well for any size quilt, but larger than twin sized might require slightly thicker acrylic and more notches.
This wonderful place is more fun than Disneyland
I am taking an Encaustic Painting Workshop at Scrap next month
The best art supply store I have ever found
Places I like to eat:
La Costita Cocina Mexicana
The Berlin Inn, they offer a menu for your dog on their patio, doggies are welcome there to dine with their human parents
JaCiva's Bakery and Chocolate
Spendy but great for special nights out- Marrakesh Moroccan Food
I go to Wong's King for the best Dim Sum in Portland
VooDoo Donuts has the Best Donuts
The Paradox Palace Cafe, vegetarians, vegans and their burger eating friends can all eat wholesome food here
When I need a Falafel sandwich I go to the Down To Earth Cafe
And last but not least I have to mention this even though I have not been there yet, (but I plan to go soon and check it out), my son's new place of employment Living Room Theaters, And this is his menu My son's media of choice for artistic expression is food
How many pair of shoes do you have? Out of those pairs, how many do you wear more than a few times a year?
Submitted by fightinggale.
3, one pair of andals, one pair of Birkenstocks and one pair of Crocs.... I am a girlie of few needs. I wear them all, for years and years, until the bottom wears through and then I replace them.
The pie I made yesterday.... Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie:
Yes, I know I'm mean, deal with it.
EDIT: I got beat up over on live journal for not including the recipe, so I am making sure no threats will be needed on vox:
It is EASY to make.
1 pre-made graham Cracker Crust
Mix together well till fluffy:
1 tub of coolwhip, 1 package of cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar
Drain
1 package thawed frozen strawberries, save the fluid in a small pan.
Dice up the berries and fold into the cream cheese mixture, pour into
the pie crust. Indent the center slightly by pushing the filling higher
around the edges of the pie.
refrigerate while doing the following:
Mix 2 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch into 1/4 cup cold water, add this and 1/2 cup sugar the the fluid from the strawberries, stir constantly over high heat until the fluid returns to clear and starts to thicken. Remove from heat and let cool slightly...after about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent it from forming a film on top... pour the fluid into the indent on your pie top, return to refrigerator until ready to serve.
On cold days I skip the berry juice on top,
cover and freeze the pie and use less cornstarch to thicken the berry
juice, so it is thick enough to pour over the pie when I serve it, but
I keep it in the frig ( the juice part doesn't freeze well).
I've tried, so I guess I'll do and end of day post and try again.
I dragged Vi out and about, I had to pick up some vitamins so we hit Riteaid. I also dragged her into the salvation Army Thrift Store since it was right there, (she loves walking through that store and has no idea I am exercising her). I needed to look for a replacement lampshade and check out their camping gear. I figured I'd grab what I could with $20 and I have to say I hit the jackpot while there even though I am short on funds till payday. I got 2 lampshades, a large water cooler, and a small ice chest, plus 5 nice sized stacking bins (on rollers) that look sorta like these... 
We really needed something in the bathroom, (Karina's cosmetics have taken over). I mean, who was I to say no to a solution that was marked $.99? They could have gotten a lot more for it easily. I also got 2 camp worthy cooking pans, and this cool 70's era Ingrid Picnic Ball that I had no idea was a collectible retro piece when I found it. 6 cups, 6 plates in two sizes and 6 bowls are inside it, plus the outside can be used as 2 serving bowls when emptied. I found a couple like it but in different colors online, (mine is complete though):
And I found a rather nice keep-it-or-leave-it table top BarBQ (NIB) and 2 small wooden chests/jewelry boxes I want to paint... total damages.... $12.50. I have $7.50 left over to go wild with, Yay!
Exciting life I lead eh? Just call me the master bargain shopper.
I made a pie for after dinner, a super easy strawberry cream cheese pie I use to make when the kids were small. Vi loved it, well she must have, she ate 2 big pieces. I also made chicken and dumplings for dinner. Then we watched deal or No Deal and I came home to do laundry and clean up the kitchen. I've also done 2 loads of laundry since I got home, and tried to sleep... I'm gonna try again I guess, my life today lacked any major reportable excitement so I have nothing much to write about.
Has anyone ever done something so horrible to you that "I'm sorry" couldn't fix it?
Yep, the Oregon State Police, thanks to some lies told by some slimy, good old boy politicians from a small town on the coast of Oregon.
I made Vi stuffed cabbage leaves and eggless banana muffins with dried bluberries and cranberries in them for dinner. This was no small feat since there was no food in her house to speak of beyond mustard, pickles, cereal and jelly. I took cabbage, hamburger, rice, homemade spaghetti sauce, baby carrots and 3 got-to-be-used-up-now bananas from my house. I had a bag of dried cranberries in my car... I keep emergency rations in my car because I care for a lot of old folks who have little or no food. Anyway, I winged the muffins...they were a tad dense, but she had no eggs so I added applesauce from the car stash as a binder. I gotta say dinner was yummy, I haven;t made stuffed cabbage in ages. I shared some with her next door neighbor who is also struggling to keep food on the table with rises prices...she now claims to love me, we'll see how long that lasts. I need these little old ladies to form a non-profit so I can take them off on my taxes ;)
I got to thinking while at Vi's about spending 3 days and nights in a tent with my daughter Karina.... one of us may not come home alive from the camping trip. Ramie likes to acknowledge her feminine side, but Karina is the girlie-girl in our family... she took 2 suitcases to Cali last summer, one of them held nothing but makeup. I have worn makeup maybe 10 times in my life, so she did not get this addiction from me. Oh gawd, I just had a thought, wait till she finds out about the outhouses! Luckily the ocean tends to carry all evidence of foul play out to sea fairly quickly. I hope Keegan is not overly attached to her. Heh....
Oh I need to share something artsy I found online.... Is this not the most amazing thing you have ever seen?
Off to bed.... the cats are stalking me.
