Mrs. Black Cat

 Mrs. Black Cat arrived heavily pregnant. We hoped that she would give birth around our yard so we could take her and offspring to the Humane Society. We have yet to find her family although she times her visits according to her feeding duties.

Our Miss Stubby, the wispy cat . . .

 This is a frequent visitor to our front yard. For a long time, we thought there was something wrong with her legs as she would scuttle from place to place. Turns out, she is just a nervous nelly about everything. Her brain seems to be as wispy as her fur. She has allowed me to pat her ever so often. You can feel her leaning into the petting and then suddenly realizing that I might be an enemy and she backs off.

Never know what you'll find on the doorstep . . .

 The visiting cats to our doorstep certainly seem to know how to pose for pictures. I opened the front door to go out for the mail and discovered these three artfully arranged with hopes of some food.

Miss Piggy Speaks . . .

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye."
-- Miss Piggy

"If at first you don't succeed, find out if the loser gets anything."
-- Bill Lyon

"The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found."
-- Calvin Trillin

Barbecue time!

Why is it that the hotter it gets outside, the more people want to cook outside . . . as in barbecue? I don't know but there is certainly an excitement of hearing meat hit the grill and taking in the scent of your dinner cooking in the open air. I'm hoping we can do something like that this weekend.

I've discovered that the best way to insure the grilled meat comes out roasted on the outside but still juicy on the inside is to plan ahead and marinate for two to four hours. Marinating used to scare me as what do I mix together. Turns out that it is very easy and the answer is on the salad dressing shelf at your grocery store.

I like using bottled Italian dressing for chicken, however, there are so many variations of basic Italian dressing, you can work your grilling magic in a number of way. I just put my chicken and enough dressing to soak and coat the meat in a ziplock bag. I put it into a bowl just in case the bag might leak and don't ask me how I know that! When you are ready to grill, drain the meat, discard the marinade, pat off the chicken a bit, and cook. If you aren't in the mood for grilling, this works fine under the broiler or sauted in the frying pan on the stove.

Hamburgers don't have to be dressed up on the outside alone. We like Greek burgers which means we add Feta cheese to the ground beef mix. Thinly-slice cucumbers drenched in an Italian or Greek-style dressing really works on the hamburger once it is ready to serve.

I blended together some fresh (previously frozen!) cranberries with Basil and butter for an interesting spread on the hamburger bun before adding the cooked hamburger. It was especially good with a few, crisp onion rings or just grilled onions.

Steak, when it is on sale, tastes best with grilling and lots of pepper and some salt. I have made a garlic butter and put a pat of that on just before serving and haven't gotten any complaints about that. You just saute some peeled cloves of garlic in a bit of vegetable oil until softened. Blend them with enough butter to serve your group and that's it!

Kiss and tell . . . or not . . .

Over the years, I have found an interesting contradiction in views of morality and degrees of morality. I have known young ladies and young men who feel that their first kiss should be bestowed upon their newly married spouse on their wedding day. Although many young people tend to differ on this, most of them are in awe of someone who has the fortitude to save themselves so totally for the one person with whom they plan to spend the rest of their life. In a society that has disintergrated into a moral mess where people indulge in premarital sex as a 'gift' they give to their friends, it is wonderful to find a couple who wants this kept totally within the bounds of a mutual vow.

So, while young people wonder about this, they don't always dismiss a person's goal. I have found it to be an entirely different response from older to elderly people which I find surprising. From the day my own children became teens, most of the 'cute' remarks about having a boyfriend, kissing their 'steady', etc. has come from senior citizens who should know better. They didn't live in a world that was so free and easy about physical contact yet they tease and cajole young people into thinking it would be odd if the young person went full force towards maintaining a strict moral stance. One eighty year old about fainted when a young teen mentioned she wasn't interested in kissing anyone for the sake of kissing. The old lady's reaction? "But, how will you know if you like kissing him?" Seems to me that getting to know the person, first, would be more important than testing the kissable people that come one's way. Another one told the dad of a young miss that she would certainly put a word in the girl's ear on the subject. Uh, why?

I worked with a young girl in my career years as a single woman. She shared with me that she had always dreamed of finding the perfect man, who was physically perfect, kissed perfectly, and would look like a prince charming at the perfect wedding she had dreamed of since she was a little girl. I didn't meet her in her prowling years but a few months after she had had her perfect day. Whenever she talked about her marriage, she spoke of the wedding, reliving every minute. She told me that she, personally, tied every sash on her bride's maids  dresses to make sure they were all perfect. The kiss they exchanged at the altar was perfect as she had done her testing before the proposal. She said her new husband hadn't been all that anxious to get married so soon but she assured him it was the perfect time. She told me that they were perfectly compatible physically and (with a wink on her part) she made sure of that before she let herself fall in love with him.

The young girl was actually pretty pathetic because she never seemed to grow past the perfect wedding that began her marriage. Her husband demanded that she always wear full make up and wear the highest heeled shoes even when she wrenched her ankle and was on doctor's orders to not do so. She would ask my advice on making perfect meals and often reported that her husband ate out with friends and didn't come home in time to enjoy her efforts. She would often sigh and say, "I just don't understand him." This is two months into the marriage!

I understood him. He was rushed into a relationship based on the physical. Neither one them them had ever thought to talk about their personal interests, likes, dislikes. He showed up for her perfect wedding with only a physical knowleged of his bride and it got old really fast as it was all based on a childish dream. It was sad. She had given in to him on every level and he was tired of it all before they even walked down the aisle. If they had mentally challenged each other before they started in on the physical, she might have discovered that perfect is often only on the surface.

Me, I'm all for purity before marriage. As with anything in life, there are degrees of where you want to go in a relationship way short of sin. When a young person desires to wait on everything before marriage, shouldn't he/she be praised and not treated like some weird virtue freak?

How elections are won . . .

From a teacher in the Nashville area.

"We are worried about 'the cow' when it is all about the 'Ice Cream.'

The most eye-opening civics lesson I ever had was while teaching third grade this year. The presidential election was heating up and some of the children showed an interest.

I decided that we would have an election for a class president. We would choose our nominees. They would make a campaign speech and the class would vote. To simplify the process, candidates were nominated by other class members.

We discussed what kinds of characteristics these students should have. We got many nominations and from those, Jamie and Olivia were picked to run for the top spot. The class had done a great job in their selections. Both candidates were good kids. I thought Jamie might have an advantage because he got lots of parental support. I had never seen Olivia's mother.

The day for their speeches arrived. Jamie went first. He had specific ideas about how to make our class a better place.  He ended by promising to do his very best.  Everyone applauded and he sat down.

Now is was Olivia's turn to speak. Her speech was concise. She said, "If you vote for me, I will give you ice cream." She sat down.

The class went wild.

"Yes! Yes! We want ice cream."

She surely would say more. She did not have to.

A discussion followed.

How did she plan to pay for the ice cream?

She wasn't sure.

Would her parents buy it or would the class pay for it? She didn't know.

The class really didn't care.

All they were thinking about was ice cream.

Jamie was forgotten.

Olivia won by a landslide.

Every time Barack Obama opened his mouth he offered ice cream and 52 percent of the people reacted like nine year olds.

They want ice cream.

The other 48 percent know they're going to have to feed the cow and clean up the mess.