Sunday Stealing: Judd’s Merged Meme

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?
I was in my 4th semester at Notre Dame, miserable… but determined.

2. Five snacks that you enjoy in a perfect, non weight-gaining world
- Bacon
- French Fries
- Nachos
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Jalapeno Poppers

3. Five things you would do if you were a billionaire:
- Buy a 1000 acre ranch
- Build an artist’s retreat camp
- Make mega-donations to cancer research
- Buy my own helicopter and learn to fly it
- Collect masterpiece paintings

4. Three of your habits:
- Procrastinating
- Analyzing
- Avoiding

5. Five jobs that you’ve have had:
- Childcare giver
- Keebler Elf (seriously…)
- Field hand
- University instructor
- Artist

6. Five places that you’ve lived:
- Sioux City, Ia.
- Chicago, Il.
- Dubuque, Ia.
- Cedar Falls, Ia.
- South Bend, In.

7. Five things that you did yesterday:
- Worked out with the kettle bell and resistance ball
- Read Stephen White’s book, Critical Conditions
- Made some digital art
- Cooked a spaghetti dinner with Jer
- Wrote in my journal

8. Five people you would want to get to know more about:
Ok, let me first say this: I’d like to get to know the following people better by observing them surreptitiously, not by listening to what they tell me about themselves.

- Glenn Beck
- Sarah Palin
- The Pope
- Oprah Winfrey
- Nancy Grace

Of all of those people, I think Nancy Grace would be the most entertaining to observe. Heh.

9. Abortion: for or against it?
I’m always for life, if possible.

10. Do you think the world would fail with a female president?
HAHAHA! You mean… like worse than it has with a male president? Who the hell knows. I think gender doesn’t mean much when it comes to political office anymore. Just get someone in there who isn’t a lying sack of dogshit and I will be thrilled.

11. Do you believe in the death penalty?
No. I believe in hard labor, isolation, terrible food and making the convict miserable every day for the rest of their natural life. They would wish they were dead. That is penalty enough.

12. Do you wish marijuana would be legalized already?
Yes. It should be legalized and taxed for revenue just like alcohol and tobacco are now. I think it’s gotten to the point where the problems with legalizing marijuana would be much less than those we have from prohibiting its use.

13. Are you for or against premarital sex?
I’m against any kind of sexual activity that will create a child while you are still a child yourself.

14. Do you think same sex marriage should be legalized?
I think that same-sex legal unions should be available to everyone, everywhere. I believe that marriage is between one man and one woman, though.

15. Do you think it’s wrong that so many Hispanics are illegally moving to the USA?
Yes. If they were moving here legally, I wouldn’t care a bit. Everyone is welcome if they follow the rules in getting here.

16. Should the alcohol age be lowered to eighteen?
I think it should only be lowered to 18 if you are currently serving in the military and are out in the world risking your life for your country. Then you are entitled to things like a cold beer or a shot of whiskey to take your mind off of what you’ve seen that day.

Everyone else should wait until they are 21. Sorry, you pampered frat boys.

17. Should the war in Iraq be called off?
Called off? Hah! You don’t “call off” a WAR. You fight a war until someone wins and someone else is defeated. War isn’t a friggen baseball game that is called off because it’s raining.

18. Assisted suicide is illegal: do you agree?
I think assisted suicide should not be illegal. Whether we want to acknowledge the fact or not, health care professionals (and others) ease people into death every single day. Sometimes it is simply the more humane option than dragging out a painful treatment that is eventually going to fail anyway.

People should be given the choice to die with dignity and grace.

19. Do you believe in spanking your children?
Not only would I spank my child if he or she needed it, I’d spank yours too.

20. Do you worry that others will judge you from reading some of your answers?
The thought crossed my mind for a split-second, but then I remembered that I am a rational adult, entitled to my own viewpoints on life, and I let any worry about “what someone else might think” fly right out the window.

Now that was a meme! I am going to the website to see how others answered the same questions. It should be interesting.

1. Children :: innocent
2. Saddlebags :: leather
3. Restraint :: leather
4. Awake :: enlightened
5. Blood :: burgundy
6. Shutter :: cottage
7. Posted :: No Trespassing
8. Corn cob :: baby corn!
9. Flagrant :: In flagrante delicto
10. Fart :: A sign of things to come…

For some reason, answering these questions left me feeling somewhat exposed. That’s always a weird feeling. Maybe it was the farting, leather restraints, blood, and flagrancies that got to me.

Oh, and if you ever eat Chinese food with me, beware. I will SO steal your baby corn off your plate with my thieving little chopsticks. I won’t even feel guilty when I do it. I love that stuff!

It’s very spring-like here today; not real warm, but it is promising. I found this quote by Dickens that describes it perfectly:

“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.” ~ Charles Dickens

For Randy and Maizey, the first warm days mean lots and lots of time spent on the enclosed sun porch — they are just so curious about everything coming to life outside, and they love soaking up the rays of sun when they beam in. For me, it means being at their beck and call when they want to go in or out. When the cloud cover comes, it’s too cold and they want back in. If they see the sun come back, then they start pawing at the door to go out again.

If they weren’t so damn cute and cuddly, there is no way I’d put up with their bossiness, I can tell you that much.

And now for something completely different…

I don’t think I’ve ever posted this recipe before, but it’s a favorite in our house. I just made some this afternoon for Jer — he loves it when he comes in from his bike rides.

Always Good Cornbread

2 1/2 cups white flour
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk (I use 1%)
1/2 vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9×13 baking pan with no-stick spray.

Put all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix them together well. Next, make a little well in the middle of the dry stuff and put in the milk, oil and eggs. Stir and fold everything together with a rubber scraper until it is all blended. It might be a little lumpy, but don’t over beat it. (That makes the cornbread tough and you don’t want that.)

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 30 minutes or until the top and edges are golden brown. If the top splits, don’t be alarmed. That’s a typical cornbread thang.

Cut into good sized squares and serve warm with butter and honey, plain, or any other way you like it.

What I love about this recipe is that it takes about 10 minutes to mix together, it’s always moist and tender, and it’s very satisfying. I bet it will become a favorite in your house, too!

I’m off to catch up on some reading. I have my nose in mystery novels lately. More about that next time.

Happy Sunday, everyone.

My mom called today and sounded great, so that is my wonderful thing for the week. She said that she is starting to catch up on her sleep and can finally rest more comfortably when she is lying down. I am thankful for that.

When she was in the hospital, I spent a couple all-nighters with her just to make sure she got the attention she needed. (A-ha! Chalk up another time in my life that my innate nocturnal tendencies pay off…) It was stressful because every little sound she made had me on the edge of my seat. I honestly don’t know how new parents do it. I’d go crazy.

While I was sitting there in the dark of my mom’s hospital room, it made me think of the time when I was a little kid and my appendix ruptured. My parents stayed with me in the hospital as late as they could each night until I was out of danger. I actually almost died; they had to be so freaked out. (That was my first near death experience. Remind me to tell you about it sometime.)

I just want to make sure mom’s not in pain, that she is isn’t afraid, that she is eating and sleeping well. And especially that she knows she is loved.

The roles really do reverse with one’s parents if they live long enough, it seems

I was able to reschedule my appointment with the orthopedic surgeon for next Tuesday. I was amazed that I didn’t have to wait 4-6 weeks. Someone else must have chickened out, I bet.

I got more information about Weight Watchers, too, but I am still not sure if I want to sign up for it. I understand the method of the “points system” now, and I downloaded a special calculator so I can figure out the points that each food costs on the eating regimen — it seems pretty simple. Not really rocket science. I just don’t know if I want to shell out $12 for a single support meeting once a week. Or, I could pay $40 each month and go to as many meetings as I want.

Makes perfect sense, huh?

It pisses me off when fees are set like that. Obviously, they want you to sign up for an entire month (and be automatically billed for it, too), because if you don’t, you feel like you’re getting ripped off if you only pay for one meeting a week.

Why can’t they just charge a fair price for each meeting? Asshats.

Their clever little pricing methods are already getting me defensive. What other jerky things will they do? Sure, why shouldn’t I trust you with my personal food and body image issues — it’s not like you’re big weasels or anything. I am sure you only have my best interests at heart, Weight Watchers.

(Ignore me. I’m a little touchy lately. Sigh.)

You know, sooner or later I am going to have to start talking about politics and current events here again. Are you ready for that? I think next week will be a good time to resume that aspect of the writings. Because Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi want that Healthcare Reform Bill passed next week, ya know.

Where are we going? And why are we in this handbasket, my friends?

My mom’s stay in the hospital was stressful for her and everyone who loves her. She was released on Monday afternoon and is at home now. Her oncologists have formulated a plan for her treatment and it will begin soon.

She has a primary lung cancer that can’t be removed by surgery because her lungs are not strong enough due to emphysema. The treatment will be Trilogy radiation and use of an oral drug called Tarceva to shrink the tumor. It won’t be a total cure by any means, but it’s the best chance she has for extending her longevity and preserving the quality of her life while doing the least amount of damage to her body. From what I understand, the radiation treatments will be 5 times a week for about 5 weeks.

It’s driving me nuts being this far away from her right now.

But the good news in all of this is that she is upbeat and keeping a positive attitude. In fact, during the time that I was there she went from being extremely frail right after the surgical biopsy to entertaining visitors in her hospital room a few days later, almost like she was sitting in her own living room.

She’s unsinkable, it seems.

Anyway, I will keep you all informed whenever I receive updates. Thank you all so much for your prayers, emails and kindness. It means a lot to me.

In other news, I am in the process of rescheduling my appointment with the orthopedic surgeon for the knee replacements. I hope it doesn’t take another month to get in to see him (he’s a rather busy fellow) but I will take the first time available.

I am also considering joining Weight Watchers in order to get my weight loss going again. If I can’t physically move as much as I need to right now, my only other option is to eat fewer calories. I figure that something like Weight Watchers will keep me focused and monitor my food intake more closely.

Gah. I liked it soooo much better when I could just work out and have fun … and eat whatever I wanted and still lose weight.

To be honest, it’s not the calorie limitation that is bothersome to me, though. The part that bugs me is the idea of “meetings” and having to let other people be part of my weight loss process. It’s such a personal thing, you know? I don’t want to share my feelings about how hard it is to lose weight or what prompts me to eat certain things at certain times. I don’t want to talk about my weaknesses or my triumphs.

And frankly, I don’t want to listen to others babble on about it either.

It’s strange. I just realized that I can talk about that stuff here on the blog, but the thought of associating with people in a group the same way just gives me the willies.

God, I am such an anti-social head case. Hahaha…

I’m calling the Weight Watchers center right after I call the orthopedic surgeon today. I’ll let you know how it goes.

More soon… xoxox

My mom was just diagnosed with lung cancer.

She’s been seeing a lung specialist for about a month now because a “spot” that her doctors have know about for many years suddenly seemed to go wild and grow rapidly. She had a surgery on Tuesday morning that confirmed that it’s a large cell malignant cancer. As far as we know, it’s still confined and local to that particular lung. I am traveling back to Sioux City for the next 5 days and I am sure we will learn more about her condition and treatment options.

It’s strange. I’ve been readying myself for the passing of my parents for about a decade now. They have always been in pretty good health, but they’re in their 70’s now, and being a rational adult, I’ve accepted that it will happen sooner or later. I am getting waves of sadness about my mom being ill; it is not so much that I don’t think I am ready to let her go. I think the sadness is because she is such a sweet, loving, independent spirit — I just can’t bear the thought of her being afraid or in pain.

Fear and pain are the worst things in this world. She’s a true angel among us and doesn’t deserve either of those things.

I better try to get a few more hours of sleep before I hit the road. I’ll write again soon.

(Prayers please. Thanks. Xoxox.)