this seems to be...

my year for accidents.  thank goodness that God didn't see a need to bang my head on a brick tile floor again to knock sense into me and that this time it's fairly minor and involves no short term memory loss.  i simply have to stay down.  and things are looking up - this time, i have company.

my house guest, katie belle, is staring at me as i type.  she has the saddest eyes, and occasionally bats the air for no apparent reason.  she came to visit last sunday night and will be with us until..oh, the 16th of December or so...and i'm glad she's here.  rosie decided she was much too independent to be a house cat and moved into the garage, taking an empty lexapro bottle and half my bracelets with her.  so katie belle's arrival was right on time.

she is my son's blue tick hound puppy, 11 weeks old and she is SUCH a little girl, all dainty and beguiling.  she crosses her front paws in a prissy sort of way, looks up at me from under her lashes and sighs a sigh that plainly says - i am so BORED.

typical teenager.  but she is welcome company.  i like cats - they have their ways and don't take no crap off of nobody, but give me a dog any day. 

and now...

naptime!

empty nesting

i have this fear of being old  and alone.

it hit me very suddenly, last night, in fact, when my son told me - Jessica and I have found a place and we're getting married December 16.

this is great news, really.  Jessica is a wonderful young woman with a level head on her shoulders, and she is just what my son needs, to my way of thinking.  and i knew they were getting married eventually.

but..wow.  this is so soon.  i guess he already spent his last christmas as my little boy, although he has never been a little boy, exactly.  i swear, he was born 30 years old.

i am happy for him.  he seems satisfied with his decision, and like i said..Jess is wonderful.

and i look around my house, and suddenly it feels so lonely.  so empty.

he's a good son.  has always wanted to take on the responsibility of being a man and taking care of what needs doing.  hauling in wood for the fire.  looking under the hood of mom's car to see if everything is ok.

he's moving only 30 miles away.  not so far, when you consider my daughter is 80 miles. 
i have to get a life, you know.

so...what will i do with myself while my husband sleeps or watches tv?

don't know.  join a gym.  volunteer somewhere.  call charles on the phone and listen to him make up my giving him a $400 jar filled with pennies from the last bet that i lost, just to get a rise out of me.

take up knitting?  oh, i don't think so.

take some classes.  travel.  write.  meet people.  get out of the house.

i just don't know.

sipping coffee

Well, the day is over, and I don't know about you all, but I am beat.  And stuffed.  And seriously considering South Beach until Christmas.

Raising my coffee cup in toast to:

All the women who stayed up late and woke early to make Thanksgiving Day special for the people they love. 

The youth groups and their leaders who took over for Meals on Wheels and Social Services by supplying meals to the elderly and other shut-ins.  They dedicated their time and talents, and loved every minute of it. 

The people at food banks who collect and distribute items to those in need.

The folks in soup kitchens, who provided a hot meal to someone who might not have had one, otherwise.

You are all amazing, and all a great blessing.

Nip, My Eye!

Remember how excited I was about the cool weather for T-day...looking forward to that nip that makes it November?

Well, that son of a gun ain't no nip - it's a Nor'easter with a pitt bull bite.  Folks up and down the coast from NC to Florida are shivering, shaking, and drinking LOTS Of hot soup.This is a classic case of "be careful what you wish for."  Good thing we didn't wish for snow (we actually had flurries and sleet, yesterday).  It would have been a blizzard!

Martha has another challenge going on, and it's almost time to start it (for me).  The storm kept me from going out last night, so there's still some last-minute shopping to do, and this is definitely going to be an all-nighter.

I'm excited about the holidays this year, whereas usually, I dread them.  They leave me feeling exhausted, but this time around...it's so different.  I want to make my decorations, bake, the whole nine yards.  Not sure what changed.  Maybe it was me.

And now, it's off to the salt mines.  and the sage mines, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice...well, you get the drift!

my microwave burned...

and it wasn't even in use at the time.  i had gone to the living room to check the orders i have to deliver and everything was fine.  five minutes later, my son came into my bedroom and said - where's all that smoke coming from?

i bolted to the kitchen.  the stove wasn't on.  couldn't be that.  couldn't tell the origin of the smoke, it had drifted so, but i unplugged the microwave and kept looking.  a while later, i touched the top of the micro and it was hot.  stuck my nose inside...yep.  that was it.

ya know, this might be a good time to replace the batteries in the smoke alarm.

for everybody!

domestic adventures

In about two weeks, I'll be ready for Thanksgiving!  Just kidding, I think...this year will be different.  I'm making a full menu at home, and the baking has begun.  There are two loaves of sweet potato bread baking in the oven, and my trial run on candied yams is on the table.  Not enough spice - for my taste, anyway.  I like the spice to be heavy, yet not overpowering, so I have to be careful to think about others when baking.  They might not like the tingle on the tongue as much as I do...cinnamon, ginger...MMMM.  Exciting and delicious.

It's going to be a very nice 52 degrees come Thursday, according to the National Weather Service - that means there will be a nip to the air in the morning. Now how perfect is this?

LOOOOOONG years ago, about 100 of them, the tradition at mom's and dad's was this:  The women started cooking the night before.  Early in the morning, around 5:30 on T-day, the turkey went in the oven while the men sipped coffee, and Dad, my brothers and friends went deer hunting.  While they were gone, we finished preparations and if they actually got a deer, dinner would be delayed while they took care of business. 

I kind of miss that.  There was a homey, somehow cozy, safe kind of feeling, like everybody was doing what they were supposed to be doing...Can't quite explain it.  But keep in mind, this is from the woman who, a couple of months ago, stopped to listen to the sound of the lawn mower in the yard and found comfort and familiarity in it.

And so, the bread is baking.  You can smell cinnamon and nutmeg - a little on the heavy side, but not too much..just enough...and the fire is going, and the coffee pot is on.  I hear a chainsaw going somewhere in the back 40, and it's only four days until Thanksgiving.

When I give my thanks this year, you can bet your bottom dollar they will include the scents and sounds, and the candle-glow content they give me.         

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.

HUGS,

Mar(sh)a

oops! *sheepish grin*

If you have come across a journal response from ihavetea, well..it's me.  i was signed into AIM under my now defunct aol account, from a couple of years ago (but i love the name, can ya tell?), and i kind of posted those responses while logged into tea, not realizing what i was doing.  sorry if this caused any confusion. 

.

I have gone slamdang journaling crazy

EVER since going broadband, I have updated, added on, downloaded and generally had a blast with the computer.  It's so fast.  It's so sleek.  It's like a Corvette, whereas I had been driving a Ford Pinto. 

I updated to IE 7.0 last week, and was pleased to see that MSN had blogs.  They even have a desktop blogging tool that is much like a word processor.  If you don't want to open up IE for surfing, just go to the writing tool!  That little writing tool has inspired me to set a challenge for November-December.  Amazing, isn't it, what sparks the mind.

My goal for November-December is to spend a designated amount of time writing, not blogging, and the purpose of the exercise is to teach myself discipline.  I cannot tell you the number of poems started, novels begun, short stories sitting in My Documents in need of polishing.  If they were paper, I could start my own recycling center.

There are quite a few of you out there (B R O A D hints) who Have What It Takes to produce some superb work...So, taking a cue from Martha here...would any of you care to join in the challenge?  We could do an hour a night, or 45 minutes, or decide how many pages we want to turn out in a time slot.

Introducing....

Doggone it, I meant to bookmark Martha's other journal and set alerts - I'll go back and do it in a few, but everyone knows her.  She's the tops when it comes to organizing and motivating.  And she has asked folks to write an introduction to who they are, or to post links to past entries that are telling.

Since I feel like writing tonight, the plan is to do an introduction.  So here it is, as good as it gets, I'm afraid:

My name is Mara Broadaway.  Wait, that's not quite true, but Mara is the name I go by since my brother and all the little nieces and nephews could not pronounce certain letter combinations when they were small, thereby taking the "sh" out of my life.  My given name is Marsha, and after the Brady Bunch - let's just say I'm grateful for Mara.

I am married, have two children and four grandchildren and one on the way - little whoever it is, is due on June 28.  I'm excited.  :-)

Among my other children are two dogs named Spike and Hey You.  Spike used to be a gangster when he was a pup, but has grown to be a dumb jock who is very protective of Mama (me) and Hey You is my three-legged fella who tries to block me with his body, to keep me from leaving him alone.  I think he tries to herd me.  Makes me feel rather like cattle.

I was once privileged to work with a bunch of nurses at a medium custody prison facility.  I was also privileged to work with they psych staff and custody there, and I miss them and the adrenalin the facility afforded very much.  I now work in a prison hospital, more in a private office setting (before, I was right beside the cell blocks, and there was never a dull moment.  Only problem was, I saw much more than I wanted to see.  Suffice it to say - the thought of men showering doesn't do anything for me).  I do transcription, now, and tons and tons of paperwork. 

I love adrenalin, caffeine, poetry, literature of any kind.  Once, I was so hungry for something to read I went to an all-night grocery store for a magazine.  It was filling, but not quite satisfying.  :-)

My hero is Ava Gentry, Psych Nurse.  We got off to a rocky start, but in the end...it was good.  She had her ways, indeed she did, but she was never small.

Once, when she and I were talking about our pasts, she asked me - Would you go back and change any of it?  And before I could answer, she interjected - No, you wouldn't.  You wouldn't have missed a minute of it. 

She was right.

http://journals.aol.com/chaispice1023/IHaveTea/entries/2006/01/29/the-nursing-department-meeting-of-january-2006/952

http://journals.aol.com/chaispice1023/IHaveTea/entries/2006/01/02/a-room-with-focus/898

black bean soup and other too early musings

I slept away my day off, and I could sleep more.  No adventures to report.  Blah.

But I do have yet another recipe that is well-received in the Broadaway household.  By the way, if you have a good casserole recipe, send it my way - I'm getting into one-dish meals.  And Christmas is coming!  If you have a favorite cookie/cake recipe, send that too!  In other words..HELP!  ;-)

Black Bean Soup

2 cans chicken broth
4 cans black beans
1 large or 2 small jars of salsa - your preference, mild, medium or hot, or mix them. i use medium.
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup onions, chopped
1-2 tablespoons red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoons lime juice

puree 2 cans of black beans and blend into chicken broth.  add remaining 2 cans of beans. in the meanwhile, sautee pepper flakes, onions and garlic in the oil for 3 minutes. add to bean and broth mixture.  add salsa and lime juice.  simmer for 30 minutes. 

this is good served over rice, or with a dollop of non-fat sour cream.  and now, I shall share my famous cornbread recipe, which is good with this.

Corn bread mix, the white corn meal variety (buttermilk, preferably)..
look for directions on back of bag and follow.
bake in a cast iron skillet according to package directions.

works like a charm!  hehehe!

great big *WINK*

happy weekend, y'all.

In a Mood

A Woman's Prayer:

Dear Lord, I pray for: Wisdom, To understand a man , to Love and to forgive him , and for patience, For his moods. Because Lord, if I pray for Strength I'll just beat him to death.

Easy Jambalaya

First of all, it must be noted that...I lost the recipe for the jambalaya and had to make it from memory.  But that was ok - I had read the thing about 12 times and had bought all the ingredients from the list, and it turned out well! - although a bit strong.  Here goes:

1 whole fryer, cut up and skinned
5 pieces of smoked sausage, cut in circles
1 -1-lb. block of pork sausage
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 cup white rice
2 boxes Zatarain's Jambalaya rice mix

Toss chicken, sausage and smoked sausage in a large pot with 8 cups of water. (I browned the pork sausage first).  Boil until chicken is done, remove from pot and debone.  Add remaining ingredients and, 2 more cups of water and the deboned chicken back to pot, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 25 minutes.

This makes a LOT.  Martha - can this stuff be frozen?  I've had so much jambalaya I feel the need to speak Cajun.

Me and Teadrop

It's a nippy morning in Carolina, and it feels SO good, and smells so good, too.  There is constant comment tea brewing in my prized favorite kitchen gadget, the teadrop hot tea machine, and the smell of woodsmoke.  We started a fire in the wood heater last night, and I love the smell of it.  And so, in a few minutes, I will be sitting on my porch, enjoying the nip of the air on my skin and the taste of spice on my tongue.  It doesn't get much better than that.

It's hard to get motivated lately, so I'm taking a pad and pen with me to make a to-do list.  It's so much easier to get things done when you can check them off...at least, for me.  Later today, I will try a recipe for Jamabalaya (sp).  Perfect for cold weather!

And hopefully, this weekend will be much quieter than last.  Everyone is doing well in this neck of the woods, and I hope all is well in your worlds, too.

Best,

Mara