Being a Mother

Happy Mother's Day, everyone! This is my 5th Mother's Day without my dear mother, who passed away on March 1, 2004. I remember the wonderful childhood I had and all the fun times and vacations we had while growing up, but most of all I remember my mom loving me, unconditionally. Not a day goes by that I don't think of her. She will always be alive....inside my heart. I love you, Mom, and I miss you very much!

My Poor Piggy Bank

This is a photo of my piggy bank after filling up my car! I'm just kidding! This isn't really my piggy bank, but mine is getting just as skinny with these high gas prices. Unfortunately, my car requires the 93 octane. I usually fill up on Tuesdays at Ingles where I can get a 10-cent discount...3 cents off by using an Ingles gift card and on Tuesdays only, another 7 cents off the premium grade. Thank goodness, I work from home! LOL

Mama's Pizza

In my spare time, I make homemade pizza crusts not just for myself, but also for my children and my ex. I make them personal pan size so they are just right for a quick lunch, supper, or snack. I have found the tastiest pizza sauce at Food Lion called "Mama Mary's." Then I buy the pepperoni and cheese at Sam's Club in the 5# bags and freeze in containers. Pop one in the toaster oven at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes. That's all there is to it! I tell you, these are really good!!! When dieting, I substitute one of these for a roll, as that's all the dough there is in one of these crusts, really no more than a roll or slice of bread. (Plus, we all cheat a little when dieting!)

I love to bake most everything except cookies, but bread is my favorite thing to bake. My son gave me a Breadman bread machine a few years ago, and I just love that thing! I don't care to actually bake the bread in it, though. I use it strictly for making the dough. From start to finish, it only takes me a little over an hour and a half to make a batch of these crusts. I would like to share my recipe for the dough with you.

1 1/2 cups milk
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt (optional)
2 Tbsp. oil
4 cups flour
1 pkg. Fleischman's Dry Yeast

Heat first 4 ingredients in small mixing bowl on High in microwave for 1 minute. Pour into bread machine pan. Add the flour. Make indentation in top of flour with spoon. Pour dry yeast in center of flour. Set machine on dough setting. 1 hour 20 minutes later, the dough is ready to be made into crusts. Divide dough in half, and make 6 balls of dough from each half. On Air-Bake cookie sheets, lightly sprayed with Pam, form each ball of dough into a pizza crust. I make mine bread-and-butter-plate size. Bake at 400 degrees in preheated oven for approximately 8 minutes. I bake one sheet while I form the remaining 6 on another sheet. Cool thoroughly on cooling racks. Store in plastic storage bags in refrigerator. They freeze well, too. Yield: 12 crusts. ENJOY!!!

Funny Photo

"Mississippi Songbird" has invited everyone to post a funny photo, so here's mine! I actually found two and couldn't decide which one to post, so I am posting them both!

TATOO OF THE YEAR

REDNECK HOT TUB

"Happy Birthday" to my best friend!

Today is the birthday of my best friend, Rose. So this is my letter to her!

Happy Birthday, Rose!!! Boy, we go way back, don't we? Way back to 1968 when our boys were not quite two years old yet. Where have the years gone???

We had just moved into our new home in Port, and I had met some mothers my age through Tammy being in Story Hour at the library. Elaine mentioned that you liked to sew, as I did. Do you remember the first time we met? We got together over some personalized Christmas cards, remember? Then we started shopping together for fabric all the time. Our friendship just seemed to blossom over the years. We chatted every morning for hours by phone, and then Wednesdays you always came to my home after your hair appointment for coffee or pepsi. The shopping trips to Bradford, Olean, Warren, etc. are still fresh in my mind, even after all these years!

Our boys had their spats, but we never let it affect our friendship. They were kids growing up, and we were the adults. We were the sun worshippers while the boys played. How we hustled to get our daily work done each morning so we could get in the sun to get that tan!

Then after 15 or 16 years, your husband was transferred to Illinois and then later, mine to South Carolina. At the time, I thought the world was coming to an end! But we never allowed our friendship to die. We ended up in Muncie and then moved back to SC, and now you are in Muncie!!! Strange how things worked out, huh?

I just want you to know how much your friendship meant to me back in those days and even now! I think of you as a sister and always will. I hope this day is a happy one for you. Tell Orval he'd better be "good" to you today! I'll be calling you before the day is over.

Today is also my father-in-law's birthday. And also Erma's from back home in PA, who was like a second mother to me from the time I was like four years old. May God rest their souls.

Have a good one, Rose!!! I'm so glad you're still my friend!!! Distance is just a measurement of miles on a map, but we still hold that special closeness in our hearts. Happy Birthday, Rose, and many, many more!!! Wish I was there so we could do lunch today! You have been a true friend only God could have sent!

Love ya!
Nancy

The Good Ole Days

AUSTIN COMMUNITY BUILDING

I recently came across this old postcard in a box of my my mom's photos and just had to write a little something about the "hub" of the little community where I went to school. I actually lived 3 miles south of Austin in even a smaller little town, but Austin was where things "happened." There wasn't much on Main Street, but there was a drug store, hardware, beauty shop, grocery store, liquor store, post office, diner, beer joint, and 2 gas stations for purchasing gasoline and car repairs. There were also 3 churches in town. In the old days, before my time, there was a doctor and even a hospital and also a bank. Now there is a new bank branch there.

This building was the main attraction in the community. It housed the one and only theatre, where I saw every cowboy and Indian movie there was back in those days. Every Friday night was movie night for us kids. Commencement exercises were also held on the theatre stage for many years. The bowling alleys (two lanes only) were located in this building, as well. For a small town, there were even bowling leagues, and everyone knew everyone! It was really quite the social gathering place. Upstairs, there was the basketball court, which our school used for many years for high school games. Also, dances were held upstairs on the court floor, as well as the high school proms. Then, finally, a beautiful new school for all 12 grades was built and opened in the Fall of 1959. Once we were in high school, we still drove uptown to the community building's Snack Bar for lunch most days. My Grandma always told me that my Grandpa (who died when my Mom was just 8 years old) had helped build it. Oh, the memories of so many fun times we had there in that building!

Now this beautiful old building has been replaced by a new Fire Hall. The people there are hard to beat anywhere! I have lived in different areas of our country, but I have never found the closeness anywhere that this little town offers. People help people there, always lending a helping hand to those who need it. People really care about their friends and neighbors there. This little town survived a fire and two floods in the olden days, too. It's just too tough a town to die! They have a really wonderful Fire Department and Rescue Squad, and a few years ago a replica of the founder's home was built, which houses the history and memorabilia of the community. I am very proud that I attended school there and grew up in such a wonderful area! If only all kids could be as fortunate!

GREAT NEWS!

Upstate Veterinary Specialists, Greenville, SC

The Staff (Doctors in blue, Technicians in purple)

We took "Sweet Pea" back to the oncologist yesterday for her first re-check. I had quite a time catching her to put her in her carrier. After I tore the sofa apart in my daughter's bonus room, I ended up having to turn a chair over to get her out from under it. Finally, we hit the highway! We made excellent time as traffic was not heavy mid-day as it is during the morning rush hour. We met with the oncologist, who examined "Sweet Pea" quite thoroughly. She is doing very well, has not lost any weight, and is free of all cancer! They had done another CT scan last week, plus some portfilms, and they showed NO cancer at all! We were told to discontinue the Buprinex, a morphine-type pain medication, but she will remain on the prednisone for a while longer. Her site area is looking quite well but is beginning to show signs of peeling and flaking. I got her settled back in at her home and headed for the pharmacy to get some aloe vera ointment for her back, per doctor's request. Then back to my daughter's home I went to drop it off. I was rushing around as I had a 4 o'clock vet appointment for one of my diabetic cats, "Daphy," (short for "Daphinia" which was her given name by her former owner who passed away in August 2000). She has been having a tooth problem. She is now on antibiotics and scheduled for a complete dental cleaning Tuesday morning. She will soon be 14 years old! More on her in a later post.

Tim's little "Punky" also is doing quite well. Her tumor is still shrinking and has now turned from rose color to white. The oncologist said that means that the blood supply to the tumor has been destroyed. So we are still deciding if we should go for the most aggressive treatment for her and have that part of her jaw removed and then proceed with chemo. She would definitely have a pretty good chance then. I discussed this with my own vet yesterday also, and he assured me that cats that have had this jaw-removal surgery, amazingly, do quite well afterwards. If my son decides to have this surgery performed, he won't do so until the tumor has finished shrinking. Maybe the two miracles we've been praying for are really happening! Both of these little gals have been little troopers through it all! I just know in my heart that God has been beside them all the way. I hope he has assigned them each a guardian angel....maybe my mom and my dad.

While we were at the veterinary facility yesterday, "Bailey" and her owner came in. "Bailey" is the female boxer from Lexington, SC (just outside of Columbia) who wouldn't take her eyes off Stosh last week! She was absolutely fixated on him! She wouldn't even look at the other dog in the waiting room! She had eyes for Stosh and only Stosh! This week, though, she wasn't feeling very well and didn't even give him a second glance. Poor girl...her last chemo had made her quite ill, as they had used a different drug on her since the first one didn't seem to be doing much for her cancer. She really is a wonderful, wonderful dog! I was raised with a boxer myself, and they are truly an incredible breed! Our "Dutchess" was the queen in our home! I may dig out some photos of her someday and do a post about her in the future. She certainly is deserving of a post all her own.