The Monday After

Good morning.

I've been trying to find the words to express my thoughts about Friday's tragical events. I haven't been able to find those words.

However, I have found two blogs where the writers have found all the right words. Please read them. Here they are.

www.anarchistsoccermom.blogspot.com
 and
www.kunstler.com

These two writers, however vastly different their perspectives, are telling the truth about what happened on Friday in the United States of America.    And it will happen again, because people are not serious about their lives...they are hiding their heads in the sand, saying, "Thank God, that's none of my business,"--saying, "God just lemme forget and it will go away....,"---

I had a son with "serious" mental illness.  It was serious because he was miserable.  Thank God, he never became violent to others.  But God, why did he have to turn on himself?  Why couldnt someone bigger and stronger than himself just SAT on him until his confusion passed?

The psychiatrists to whom we entrust ourselves have all made pacts with the devil. Even the best psychiatrists Gregory ever had ended up signing deals with pharmaceutical companies, whereby they ran little "groups" mainly dedicate to the application and study of the effects of a certain drug. To see how it all played out.  In Greg's case it was tragic. I cannot bear to think about it even now.  And there are too many doors between the parent/caregiver of this patient and the actual facility or doctor who's doing the "care."  It's all screwy. 

Please read the two blogs I have sent.  Then think about it and tell the country via your emails and letters to the editor (if they still have them) to put forth your suggestions. YAZZYBEL

Good Cookies, Dead Santas, Diets, and Sad News

Good evening.  I'm told it's time to write a new posting, so will attempt to do so.

Already, I cannot put in the good cookie recipe because it's lost in a big stack that I don't want to go through right now.

So, on to the dead Santas.  I hate those inflatable Santa Clauses....!!  By night they may be prancing and pawing around the houses with their reindeer, but by day, when I am out and driving about in our town, those guys look as if they'd fallen where they are, dead drunk, and sleeping it off until nightfall. When, I assume, they'll rise again in glorious light and once more pretend to be okay. Whoever conceived that kind of stuff as an acceptable house decoration for Christmastime?  House after house, yard after yard full of deflated plastic lying asprawl all over the place.  I vote NO to dead Santas.

As to diet, I am losing some weight because I am trying to limit my fat intake to 3 grams per meal. That means if seven crackers gives me 3, I can eat one or two with impunity. And that's usually enough.  I never thought I ate that much fat, actually.  I have eschewed fried foods even at home, for years.  I ate salad dressings as I wished because they were made with good olive oil, but apparently even olive oil can be quite fattening--or at least, fattening enough to keep you at the high weight you started with. But really avoiding fats seems to make a difference if you get serious enough about it. Ah, Dr Atkins.  We had a good time while it lasted....

Of course, it was when I added carbs to Dr A's diet that the plaques formed in my veins. I have always had the theory that it is the mixture of fat and flour that thickened up the blood (i.e., cream gravy). The fat alone wouldn't do it. Good fat wouldn't....and I haven't used Crisco, etc. forever.

Now they say that coconut fat is the best, healthiest fat in the world...Yes, it probably is...but not for arteries already clogged up with residue.  Diet is important, folks.  So I am going to eschew fat (not chew it) until I get the good word from Above (Kaiser) that things have cleared up.

As for the sad news, you know what it is. I feel so for those parents and siblings who are having to deal with the absence of that bright little face around the table.  They are going to have to go into the closet and dresser and fold up and give away those little clothes, and go into desk drawers and clear things out--for what? they will ask.  Parents, cherish your children.  Vexing little creatures they can be, but you are the grown ups. Cherish your children, and cherish your spouse, who can be the most vexing of all.  He or she and the combination of the two of you is very important to your children. Some rifts do not heal; they fester and corrupt and ruin lives. Forgive your spouse and pray that he or she forgives you. Love each other. And may God have mercy on all of us. YAZZYBEL

A Delicious Vegan Dish

Good morning!

Here is a delicious vegan combo that evades all the overly sweet marshmallow-y aspects of sweet potatoes, while providing you with a filling and satistying 'main dish' for supper.

Bake a sweet potato or yam. I always forget which are which; I like them both.  I think I bought a yam because it was quite red, but it could be the other way round.

As the yam bakes, cut into cubes:

green bell pepper
yellow bell pepper
red bed pepper
onion
tomato

Saute the above in a spray of oil until they are done.  You must have green pepper because it has its tendency to be un-sweet and you don't want all sweetness in this dish!

I like hotness, so add something picante to the mix. This time I added cayenne pepper, one of my favorite tastes, to the vegetables, and a little bottled salsa (La Victoria).  If you have fresh jalapenos so much the better, a little of those too.

This combo of semi-sweet peppers, hot peppers, and sweet potatoes is just delicious. I discovered it long ago when I added just the La Victoria. Now we try to get more fiber into our diets, so I like to play with lots of the real peppers.

ANOTHER TIP. If you live near a Safeway supermarket, go to the bread section. Safeway makes a number of breads in its in-house brand name, and they are all good and significantly cheaper than the name brands.  Anyway, perhaps because it's Christmastime, they have a great loaf of Cranberry-Orange bread.  I have just been looking for a raisin bread with NO horrible false cinnamon in it (impossible to find for me so far), and this Cranberry-Orange bread just fills the bill.  For a treat, it's great with cream cheese (if you haven't had a heart attack!).  For someone like me, it is fine with a spray or two of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray. YUM YUM>  YAZZYBEL

Thanks for Everything

Sometimes things happen just right.

As when I had my heart attack, and there were the Dr. and his team just finishing a procedure and ready for me to slide in right then and be next.  How lucky can you be?

My favorite glasses, small, fragile, rimless, have been lost to me ever since I went out into the back yard with dearest Foxy, and the glasses fell out of my tee shirt where I'd stuck them, and went into limbo.  I was and am sure that Foxy grabbed them and ran off with them, with who knows what danger infliced by his baby teeth...dropped them somewhere, that only he knew,--and forgot about them. I have looked for them again and again but went out once more today, peeking under flower pots and under yard debris...

I thought that I'd write to Ben this following: "Please ask Foxy Angus to tell me where the glasses are in a dream, and perhaps I'll get the message."  I figured in a dream, because from his dreams to mine are the only way he and I can directly communicate.  Or perhaps, I then thought, he will help me to just stumble across them.

Shortly I looked into a bed where I have looked several times before, and saw in the twilight (it's always twilight around here, or it just my eyes?) the thinnest glimmer of a line of metal....Couldn't be, I thought, but my wishes were stronger than my thoughts. I leant over into the dark planting bed and plucked out, unbelieving, my lost glasses.

Thank you, Lord!  Thank you mind that received the message from unconscious little Foxy!  I have been lucky beyond measure so many times.  My wishes are granted to me and I thank you, Lord. Hallelujah!!!   YAZZYBEL

Hasta La Vista, Dearest Little Foxy Angus

Hi, gentle reader (s)....

Thanksgiving is over.  We went to Tucson to Brother in Law and Sister no. 3's lovely condo in Ventana Canyon.  Everything was beautiful and perfect there as usual.

Brother in Law and Sister no. 5 were also present, and it was nice to have a good-sized group of family present.

Ben drove us over and it was nice to have him too!!! We took Foxy Angus and put him into the Sabino Canyon Pet Resort while we were there.

When we left Tucson, everyone went over to get a look at Foxy Angus, and to say goodbye to him too, for Ben was scheduled to take him home with him to his forever home in Northern California.  Concord, to be exact.  Theo and I were sorry to see Foxy go, but it had to be....we were not up to the demands of a young sprightly puppy and his training needs.  Foxy is too good a dog to be let go like that---he needed a more youthful master who could keep up with his energy.  I'm awfully glad that Ben loved Foxy from first glance, and vice versa.  So Foxy will miss his old ma for a bit, but will come back to visit us with Ben in December a more mature and changed man. So will Ben, for that matter, LOL.  Tout change.  YAZZYBEL

Restored to Life

I always thought that was the most beautiful chapter heading in Dickens.

Restored to Life....and here I am.

I had a heart attack. I took it casually and spent my time on the way to the ER composing apologies in my head to the hospital people for taking up their time over a false alarm.  I thought I was having some unusual asthma attacks, over the previous couple of weeks.  Turned out, not.

In no time, protests on my part adroitly turned aside and my consent  obtained by a clever doctor, I was on a table having a large tube shoved up my groin, and into my heart, where a skilled team worked together to find my clogged artery and place three stents.

It's all behind me now except for the recuperation which is not as automatic and easy as I'd of.  Ben our son came right down here to take care of us for a week, thank God. It gave Theo a chance to adjust to a different role for me.  And we had good food and I had plenty of rest.  The only bad thing is that he did not take away dearest Foxy Angus, though he wants him and therefore FA cannot be tossed to the Humane Society.  I have to keep him till Ben can take him.

I have decided to eat differently, but am appalled by the recommendations of Kaiser for post-coronary foods.  Cereals, sweet fruits and juices, anything to divert one's mind from the lost oils and fats that are taken away.  Somehow I know this is not the answer.

We decided to take the MOW again and the meals they have sent this week are just appalling. AWFUL.  They need to re-conceptualize the idea of what trapped old folks need and want to eat. Here's a hint, bales of frozen little corn seeds and green peas are not it.  Nor is "gourmet" cuisine with strange herbs therein.  No, they need to think FOOD.  As in meat and vegetables. With the occasional piece of cooky or cake.  So I am saying bye to the MOW forever as of Monday, our last day before going over to Tucson for Thanksgiving with the relatives.
     Anyway, I feel okay but not too good. I have had a lot of help so far but am going to have to figure out how to wing it on our own in a better and more satisfying way.  So far I have decided to concentrate on sugar and triglycerides, as one can assume that the statins are taking care of the fats to the satisfaction of Kaiser the Great. So, no more sugar.  Or, at least, to the 80% possibility.  But I am going for none. None. No fruit at first, no milk, no concocted foods with hidden corn syrup in the vegetable soup...Just meat, fish, chicken, green vegetables, olive oil, lemons...I have done it before when I was on the Dr Atkins. I can do it now. Pray with me.  I need to get well. YAZZYBEL

Blogging is Hard

Today I wrote a long blog, a huge long paean to Foxy Angus and all his attributes.

And somehow I blew it away in one second.

Too bad.  YAZZYBEL