Did You Like Being A Kid?

My husband asked me this tonight.  I had to think about my answer for a while.  Sure, there were things I liked about being a kid.  My parents spent a lot of time with us, I didn’t have to make hard decisions, and I thought the world would be a fair place when I grew up.

There were also a lot of things I didn’t like about being a kid.  I didn’t like being told what to do all of the time, having most decisions made for me, the pressure of having to be the golden child, or the feeling that most of my life was mapped out for me.

Overall, I have to say I’m happier as an adult than I was as a kid.  I like the fact that I can’t be forced to go somewhere, or told who I can or cannot be friends with.  I like knowing that my life is my own.  I don’t have to live up to anyone’s ideal. 

Of course there are things that aren’t quite like I thought they’d be. Going to work every day isn’t exciting, a mortgage can be very stressful, and driving really isn’t all that fun.  But the trade-off is worth it.  Sure, there are stresses and problems, but there’s freedom.  I value the freedom more than the ability to be care free. 

So, yes, I liked being a kid, but I’m very glad childhood lasts only a small portion of our lifespan.   I wouldn’t want to repeat it. 

So what about you, did you like being a kid?  Are you happier as an adult, or do you miss childhood?

With Or Without Your Approval?

In the course of visiting other blogs and returning comments I have noticed that quite a few blogs seem to have commenting set so that comments must be approved by the author before they will display.  I don’t remember having the option to choose when I set my blog up.  I must have, but I really can’t remember all the way back to March.  

I don’t have any sort of screening process set up.  For me it would probably turn into one more thing for me to fall behind on or mess up.  I’m not the most technologically savvy person.  

I also think I’ve been fortunate in the comments I’ve received for the most part.  You’re all very nice people!  I can honestly say that most of the comments I’ve received have been kind, helpful, or just pleasant in some form.  There have also been very, very few comments that I thought were probably spam since I turned off the word verification, so that hasn’t been an issue either.  I really hope I’m not jinxing myself here (she says as the mean spammers take over)! 

From my blogging travels there doesn’t seem to be any particular style of blog that requires comment approval or any particular style that doesn’t.  It also seems that people aren’t necessarily using the approval process to eliminate negative comments, which I think would be very tempting for me.  So now I’m curious.

Do you have to approve comments before they’ll show on your blog?  Did you change from one way to the other?  Are you considering changing?  Have you noticed any sort of pattern to blogs that require comment approval or not?  Like I said, I’m curious, so I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

I Put My Big Girl Panties On And Dealt With It!

This is one of my mom’s favorite expressions; “Put your big girl panties on and deal with it.”  She even has it on a magnet on their refrigerator.  It’s good advice sometimes.  Today was one of those times for me.

I kept my blood donation appointment today.  It wasn’t my first time giving blood, but it was my first time going by myself.  My husband usually goes with me (I HATE needles and the sight of blood makes me woozy, so I feel like I need the moral support, and the hand holding), but he had to work today.  There was a blood drive during my lunch hour, right across the street from my office building.  We’ve been getting a lot of mail, email, and calls about making a donation appointment because apparently there’s a real shortage right now.  I’m O Positive, so I feel really guilty about not donating when I’m able to.

So today I decided to put my big girl panties on and deal with it.  I went across the street, all by myself, during lunch and gave blood.  Everything went very well.  My hemoglobin was more than high enough to donate.  This has been an issue for me in the past, so I was very happy with the number.  Apparently taking the vitamins my acupuncturist recommended is paying off!

The group of Red Cross employees turned out to be the group that has always been my favorite.  This particular group is always really nice and always manages to keep everyone laughing.  I consider it a major accomplishment to make someone laugh while you have a needle in their arm.  They realized it was my first time coming without my husband today, so were extra nice and reassuring.  

During the actual donation I ended up between two other donors who were good company and very entertaining.  One was a retired hockey player and first time donor, so I was actually reassuring him that the lady drawing his blood does a really good job.  I remember the first time I went the long time donors were all really nice to me, and kept telling me everything would be fine.  I was a nervous wreck that day, and really appreciated them being so nice, so now I try to do the same for anyone who says it’s their first time. On my other side was a veteran and long-time blood donor, so he had some pretty interesting stories to share with us.

I would definitely rather go with my husband to give blood, but it’s nice to know that I can go by myself when I need to.  

Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken

Some recipes are born of desperation; this is what’s in the house, we need dinner, how can I make it work?  Some are born of creativity; hey I bet this would be really good!  Still others come from trying to use up certain ingredients; why did I buy SO MUCH cheese?!?   This is one of those recipes.

Recently most of the local grocery stores have been putting pasta and pasta sauce on sale; really, really good sales.   I’m a sale and coupon shopper, so I’ve stocked up on the pasta and sauce.  It’s quick and easy, it has a long shelf life, it was a really great deal, and we like it.  That being said, I thought it might be a good idea to try something a little different with it before we get tired of it.

Boneless, skinless chicken breast has also been on sale, so there’s quite a bit of that in the freezer right now.  We also have A LOT of cheese right now because I shouldn’t be allowed in the cheese section at Sam’s Club without adult supervision.  I really like cheese, and I like buying in bulk.  I went to buy cheese for lasagna when my in-laws were coming for dinner and somehow I ended up leaving with enough cheese to make lasagna for about 147 people.  I don’t have that many in-laws, so we had a lot of cheese left over, hence the need for a recipe involving cheese, chicken, pasta, and sauce.  So here it is (it’s quite delicious, if I may say so myself):


Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken:


4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4 thick slices fresh Mozzarella Cheese

1 onion, thinly sliced (I used half a red onion, and half a yellow onion, because that’s what was in the refrigerator needing to be used up)

½ orange or red bell pepper, thinly sliced

Garlic Powder

Italian Seasoning

¼ cup butter, melted

1/3 cup dry white wine (I imagine you can use chicken broth instead, but it’s really good with the wine)

1 box of pasta 

2 small jars pasta sauce


Trim fat from chicken breasts and pound them out flat.  Roll one slice of the Mozzarella cheese, ¼ of the onion and pepper, and a sprinkle of garlic powder and Italian Seasoning in each chicken breast.  Place them in a baking dish, open side up.  Pour the wine and melted butter over them, then sprinkle with garlic powder and Italian Seasoning.  Cover, and bake at 350° for about an hour and 15 minutes, or until chicken is done.

Serve over pasta cooked according to package directions, with warm sauce.

Enjoy!

Enough Wallowing

Lately I have found myself sort of wallowing.  There have been some things happening that have made me unhappy:

My grandparents were evaluated for home health care and we learned they are in much worse shape than any of us realized.  They think it’s 2010.  They also think it’s late September.  The fact that it’s 100 degrees and they’ve been watching tryouts for the 2012 Summer Olympics just doesn’t compute with them.   There are others things, too, but mostly along the same lines.

We are being told by their healthcare providers not to correct them because it can scare, upset, or somehow agitate them.  Home health care has been started, and my aunt is coming in from out of town.  Hard decisions are going to be made in the next few weeks.

I realize there is nothing I can do to change my grandparents’ dementia.   I don’t have a magic wand.  We can’t turn back time and we’re told it’s not going to get any better at this point.  I am resigned to the fact that there will likely come a time when they don’t know who I am. 

That being said, I am in a position to help the Alzheimer’s Association.  The semi-local Walk to End Alzheimer’s is being held on October 20 this year.  It’s between where I live and where my parents live.  I talked to my mom about it yesterday, and we are going to walk.  I also asked my friend Lorie about joining us and she said yes.  I was feeling optimistic and ambitious, so I created a friends/family team for us.  Right now we’re a team of three and they suggest at least ten for a team, but my mom and I are both planning to ask other friends to join us.

I chose Making Memories as our team name.  I think we’ll have a good time and make some lasting memories during the walk, and I’m hopeful that it will contribute toward making memories last for people who benefit from the Alzheimer’s Association’s work.  I’ve never done anything like this before, so I’m nervous and excited at the same time. 

It hit me (again) recently how devastating cancer is.  This has come from a few different directions.  There are some people on my husband’s job battling cancer and there have been some fund-raising efforts to assist them with the expenses insurance doesn’t cover.  We’re not especially close to any of these people, but it’s terrible to hear about, and it has brought back some bad memories. 

One of my husband’s co-workers, a man he very much respected and admired died of cancer a few years ago.  I think the fact that other people on his job are now dealing with cancer has brought that loss back to their minds.

My best friend’s mom also died of cancer almost six years ago.  She was young, only 47.  I think about the things she has missed and will miss in Crystal and her brothers’ lives, and it seems so unfair.  I also realized recently that it seems to have made Crystal very afraid of losing other family members.  One of her brothers is in the military and he’s currently on a base on the other side of the country.  Crystal worries so much about him that it makes me really sad for her.   I think it’s compounded by the fact that after her mom, this brother is the closest family member to her.

Once again, I don’t have a cure.  I can’t make cancer and its devastating effect on people’s lives go away.  I can, however, do what I can to support the American Cancer Society, and I can give blood.  Many of the donor stories on theRed Cross website involve donating blood because the donor has a family member who is alive due to donated blood, or was given extra time because a family member was able to be treated with donated blood.  The stories are very touching. 

I’m O Positive, so I’m told I should give blood as often as I’m able.  I’m sorry to say it has been a while since I’ve given blood.  There’s apparently a real shortage right now, so I’ve made an appointment.  There’s a blood drive right across the street from my office building on Monday, so I have an appointment to give blood during lunch.  My hemoglobin isn’t always high enough to donate, so I’m trying to eat iron rich foods now so I won’t get deferred on Monday.  There’s also a local blood drive on Wednesday, so that’s my back-up plan if my hemoglobin isn’t high enough on Monday.

It seems that animal rescue efforts have been failing lately.  Lennox was euthanized and there have been some dogs and cats networked lately that weren’t able to be saved.  There have also been some that were in really bad shape and just didn’t make it.  It felt like we’ve failed them.

But then there was an email from Gino’s foster mom.  He has been re-named Journey, which seems very appropriate.  He is doing very well; the sores on his body have healed, he’s no longer covered in fleas and ticks, and he gets along extremely well with children and other dogs.  She said he’s very affectionate, and extremely well-behaved.  She also says there are multiple qualified adopters applying to adopt him, so he will be in his forever home soon. 

As transport drivers we very rarely hear much about the dogs we drive after the transport ends.  We just make sure to work with reputable rescues and coordinators.  And the efforts are very quickly moved on to the next one, so it was doubly wonderful to hear how Journey’s journey is going.

I also received a belated birthday check for the local no-kill shelter from a friend.  I had asked for donations for them for my 30th birthday.  This friend wasn’t able to attend the cookout we had, but still wanted to donate to the shelter.  That donation brought the total to over $300.00. 

So, while not all of the adoptable animals are being saved, many are.  I can’t save them all, but I can keep transporting, donating, and anything else that may come along that I’m able to do. 

As I said, enough wallowing.