State of My Feelings.....I am incredibly saddened by the reality that my life has been filled with so much loss. I was looking through old family photos. Today, the only person available to speak with about this was scornful and had absolutely no empathy without ever letting me get out the words to explain my need at all. In the midst of my sadness, I was treated hurtfully by a person who has an untreated mental illness (lack of treatment is by choice). I have yet to figure out what made the mental illness sufferer have a showy disdain for me...nor do I understand the encounters when I am their hero. I am thinking a lot about what I want Infant and Toddler to learn of coping skills.

Thursday Thirteen.....

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8.

I grew up listening to this and have inherited many of my parents' Herb Albert records.

9. On our December Menu:
---Tomato and Basil Omlette. Simple. Toddler will get to help/watch.

10. Smoked Bacon BLT with Arugala

11.

How I got Toddler to wear his slippers. :-)
Actually, I was really sad this week about the many losses I have suffered in my lifetime....and Toddler asking to hear the song about socks and ooby feet made me smile. He likes to watch this song three or four times in a row.

12. Jewish activists are pushing to be allowed to publicly pray on the Temple Mount. A bit controversial for the Jews because they don't want to accidentally walk on the "Holy of Holies." Very controversial for the Muslim faith...who do not want other prayers in their holy place. It is feared this controversy could start a holy war.

13.
This post is a work-in-progress. :-)

Friday 5....."Mother Goose, May I?"

1. Have you any wool?
Somewhere I have a nice pea jacket and several blazers. I am careful with wool because I had a pretty bad allergic reaction to it once. We think our Toddler might be sensitive to some fabrics but haven't figured out what yet...seems to be polyester blends.

2. How mony men have ye?
Husband whom I am very proud of. A son in college whom I am very proud of. :-)

3. How does your garden grow?

It's winter right now but the roses and raspberries we transplanted in September, when my Mother passed away, seem to be doing well. My Mother-in-Law just gave me some new Wandering Jew plants from my Grandmother-in-Law and those have new growth. I am organizing a bunch of seeds for the Spring. I want to plant my Mother's cactus seeds.


4.
Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been?
Hopefully, no where near me.
Please, please let me be.
Your dander is a no-win.
(I have only ever encountered three truly friendly, clean, non-allergy-bothersome cats. I need to see more cats...from afar.)

5. What are little boys made of?
Looking around the playroom as I type. Apparently, writing in their pencil boxes, attempting to drive a riding car on the car table, Elmo find-the-item books, pulling shoelaces out, poking hundreds of holes in cardboard boxes, wearing a socker shirt backwards so it looks like Star Wars armor on the front and repeatedly blocking entryways with projects. This is my Toddler. :-)

Participate in Friday 5.
The Friday 5 meme was established in 2006!

A Friday meme.....

1. Have you ___ yet?
Have you set New Year's Resolutions yet?
I usually have a long formal list of goals for the year...but the past few years have been too busy for that. I am thinking about exercise goals. My ultimate goal is to be in shape to possibly have another child about a year and a half from now and definitely run the WDW Marathon either in 2016 or 2018. I am always working on lists of ongoing goals.

2. I was born in ___
warm weather. I appreciate this fact. I detest Winter, though it is very beautiful, because I suffer from Reynaud's Phenomenon. Not being able to go outside would totally ruin my birthday.

3. I have never___at least as far as I know..
given up. No seriously, I am that stubborn. There is only one instance where it looks like I have ever given up and that was actually just accepting the current realities of the situation. If one doesn't give up, EVERYTHING eventually changes for the good. I wish I could say this same trait about others in my life...right now I find myself the only one working on projects that many are supposed to be working on and, really, the others gave up before they started.

4. I can’t stand____
people who take advantage of the generosity of others.
I am dealing with an extremely lazy person right now who takes extreme advantage of others. This person pretends to make a contribution but really they are using depression as an excuse to mooch and sit around letting their mind wander where it will all day. What they are doing is putting a strain on the resources and morale of those around them. Of course, this person looks in the mirror and sees a very virtuous person (and so they brag to the point that I mutter "shut up" under my breath and they also look down on so many "immoral" people around them). Each contribution they are asked to truly make to those they are mooching off of is met with excuses or obvious anger in their body language. They spend a considerable amount of time trying to convince everyone not to start seeing through their sham...but I am not fooled. I am tired of dealing with this and sighing heavily as I type this. Thank you for reading this vent that I really needed.
(It is highly unlikely this will be read by said person.)

State of My Feelings.....

Some people are so fake.
#translucentWEIRDO
Indeed. It is funny/aggravating when a person is making fun of others and you see so much of that trait in THEM. #translucentWEIRDO

In My Life.....Evil, Buttless Monsters, Turkey and Vain Wolves in Loose Sheep Attire

When I was changing Toddler's diaper yesterday, he made two "evil monsters" with his fists.
I told him even evil monsters have to get their diapers changed when they're little.
Toddler told me that monsters don't have a "popo."
("Popo" is German for butt.)
I asked him about this later.
He knows two monsters and they don't have popos..they have "costume-is."
Then he handed me his Iron Man costume to help him put on saying, "I like this, it doesn't hurt my neck."
(Toddler is particular about tags/neckines.)
I told him how to sit down and see where to put his legs in his costume himself and when he was done he said, "I did it. I dressed up."



-----The next turkey we have, I would like to make Chipotle Turkey Pozole with the leftovers. There is a Hispanic grocery store around here to get the cheese but they do not have a phone/internet listing anywhere I could find. My mother-in-law does remember which direction the market is in...so, we will go looking soon. :-)
-----I hate when people pretend to be considerate but really they are very much the opposite...and, if you point this out in any way to anyone, YOU are being the inconsiderate one. Of course, if you come up with some way these people can help, they find a way to escape at the first opportunity or their body language gives their ire away. #WoolNotPulledOverMyEyes

-----A tiny, rare dolphin is on the brink of extinction.
-----Amazon actually wants to have drone delivery for smaller items. Seriously!

Found on SimplyRecipes.com:
-----Cranberry Upside Down Cake. Different. I am excited to try this (when we have more money as Husband has a problem with cranberries and it would be just me eating it). We used to live somewhere where conditions were ideal for having a cranberry bog, I will have to start making plans for somehow creating one here.
-----Brussels Sprouts Gratin. Provided this is not greasy, it sounds yummy. Includes pancetta.