I found a recipe today when I was cleaning out my desk and I have it on the stove as I type this.

I've tested it and it is YUMMY!

PORK TENDERLOIN WITH SAUTEED APPLES

• 1 PORK TENDERLOIN (about 1lb)
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 cup all-purpos flour
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1/2 cup white wine or apple cider
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 small golden delicious apple cored and thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter

1. cut pork into 12 pieces and pound into scallopine about 1/3 inch thick.  Season wtih salt and pepper and then dust with flour.

2.Heat 1 tbsp. oil in a large skillet over med. heat.  Add half of the pork and cook until nicely browned on bottom; turn and cook until pork is cooked through, about 6 mins total will do.  Transfer pork to a plate.  Repeat with remaining oil and pork.

 3. Add onion and wine to pan; cook over medium heat , stirring until ionion is dry, about 2 minutes.  Add broth and apple; simmer until liquid is reduced by half, about 5 minutes.  Add butter and remaining salt; stir until incorporated.  Remove pan from heat, add pork slices to sauce and turn to coat.

4. Arrange pork on plates, spoon sauce and apples on top and serve.

I'm serving mine with rice!  I wish hubby would get home so we could eat

BLUEBERRIES

Blueberries are a powerful food with a high Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity, which means they have armies of antioxidants to fight cancer and prevent heart disease. Blueberries are probably known best for their high quercetin content. Quercetin may slow cancer growth and stop LDL oxidation. The fruit also has anthocyanin, which may inhibit cholesterol formation, and ellagic acid, which may block the initiation stage of cancer. Eating blueberries may also help reverse some age-related impairments such as memory loss and balance and coordination problems.

UPSIDE-DOWN BLUEBERRY COBBLER  

 1/3 cup canola oil 

1/2 cup sugar 

2/3 cup light sour cream 

1 cup flour 

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 

1/4 tsp. salt 

32 oz. frozen blueberries 

3/4 cup fresh orange juice 

Cinnamon 

Nonstick cooking spray 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In a medium bowl, mix oil, sugar and sour cream. Add sifted flour, baking powder and salt. Spray an 8x8-inch casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray and spread batter in bottom of dish. In a blender or food processor, puree half the blueberries with half the orange juice, then pour into a separate bowl and mix with remaining whole blueberries.

Top batter in dish with whole-blueberry mixture. Pour remaining juice on top and sprinkle with cinnamon. Place dish in oven and bake 25-30 minutes. Top each serving with 1-2 tablespoons fat-free whipped topping, if desired. Makes nine servings.

Per serving (without whipped topping): 254 calories, 3 g protein, 39 g carbohydrate, 10 g fat, 3 g fiber.

BLUEBERRY BENEFITS

* Reverse age-related damage.

* Prevent urinary tract infections.

* Fight cancer and heart disease.

* Rinse briefly -- blueberries are fragile.

* Improved Eyesight

As our grandson says bor-wing! I'm bored. Fall is barely here and I've already got cabin fever.

When you spend your entire adult life raising children and then they grow up, it's like someone throwing ice cold water in your face.

I need excercise for my mind and body. I need human interaction and by golly, I'm bound and determined to find it.

I don't regret being a stay at home Mom. I'm so glad I got to see all my children's first steps and took care of them when they were sick. That was the most important thing I could have been doing then.

It's just that I know I still have things to give and I'd really like to make a difference in people's lives. Mine too.

I've looked around at things I thought might interest me but, I'm no sales person. I can't shove things off on people that they don't really want. People like that irritate me and I don't want to do that to other people. I looked into the liquid nutrition stuff and it didn't do a dang thang for me! I could only sell something if I firmly believed in it. So that was a bust.

I'm thinking about volunteering. I've volunteered at the local MS association before but, it just wasn't enough to keep me busy.

I've painted every room in this house umpteen times. There's only so much satisfaction you can get from that anyway.

I have been making an effort to get in touch with old friends but, I can't lunch all the time! Yep, it looks like I'm at a crossroads in my life. That's OK. That's what life is about, right? Taking steps in different directions when you come to them.

I'll look at this as an adventure, a challenge!

Prayers and good thoughts welcomed :D

I had not really planned on taking a trip this time of year, and yet I found myself packing rather hurriedly. This trip was going to be unpleasant and I knew in advance that no real good would come of it. I'm talking about my annual "Guilt Trip."

I got tickets to fly there on Wish I Had airlines. It was an extremely short flight. I got my baggage, which I could not check. I chose to carry it myself all the way. It was weighted down with a thousand memories of what might have been. No one greeted me as I entered the terminal to the Regret City International Airport. I say international because people from all over the world come to this dismal town.

As I checked into the Last Resort Hotel, I noticed that they would be hosting the year's most important event, the Annual Pity Party. I wasn't going to miss that great social occasion. Many of the towns leading citizens would be there.

First, there would be the Done family, you know, Should Have, Would Have and Could Have. Then came the I Had family. You probably know ol' Wish and his clan. Of course, the Opportunities would be present, Missed and Lost. The biggest family would be the Yesterday's. There are far too many of them to count, but each one would have a very sad story to share.

Then Shattered Dreams would surely make an appearance. And It's Their Fault would regale us with stories (excuses) about how things had failed in his life, and each story would be loudly applauded by Don't Blame Me and I Couldn't Help It.

Well, to make a long story short, I went to this depressing party knowing that there would be no real benefit in doing so. And, as usual, I became very depressed. But as I thought about all of the stories of failures brought back from the past, it occurred to me that all of this trip and subsequent "pity party" could be canceled by ME! I started to truly realize that I did not have to be there. I didn't have to be depressed.

One thing kept going through my mind, I CAN'T CHANGE YESTERDAY, BUT I DO HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE TODAY A WONDERFUL DAY. I can be happy, joyous, fulfilled, encouraged, as well as encouraging. Knowing this, I left the City of Regret immediately and left no forwarding address. Am I sorry for mistakes I've made in the past? YES! But there is no physical way to undo them.

So, if you're planning a trip back to the City of Regret, please cancel all your reservations now. Instead, take a trip to a place called, Starting Again. I liked it so much that I have now taken up permanent residence there. My neighbors, the I Forgive Myself and the New Starts are so very helpful. By the way, you don't have to carry around heavy baggage, because the load is lifted from your shoulders upon arrival. GOD BLESS you in finding this great place. If you can find it -- it's in your own heart -- please look me up. I live on I Can Do It Street.

Thanksgiving is just about a month away and as is tradition in our home, we put up the Christmas tree the day after. So instead of fighting the crowds on "Black Friday" I'm home trimming the tree :)

My husband took the day off today, so we're going out to do a bit of shopping and have lunch. An unexpected pleasant surprise.

I've decided I need to become more active. I've sort of crawled into my security cave of comfort for a while now and I really don't think in the long run, it's been good for me.

I've come to depend on my husband as my social outlet. Totally not good! So I've been trying to reconnect with my, in the flesh and blood friends, setting up lunch dates and such.

It will be good for me to join the real world again. I just hope the world is ready for me *wink*

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend and that the world is kind to you.

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see. ~ John Burrough ~

Let me backtrack a bit.

The first treatment I used was Avonex. A once weekly injection. These shots are given at home by the patient or a caregiver. Avonex is a intramuscular injection. The needle looked like a freaking harpoon to me! The needle has to be a bit longer to get into the muscle. At the time, I weighed 98 lbs and was sure the needle would go right through me. So my hubby gave me the shots. It was a weekly disaster! I dreaded Fridays with everything I had in me.

He would lay out all the ammo for shot night and I would drink a beer or two and take a xanax! Mind you, he had no formal training in giving injections but, I have to give him his props. He did a dern good job! Still I absolutely hated that damn shot and everything that went along with it.

The side effects made me feel like I was dying. Truly, I thought I was the first week.

Finally after a year of Avonex, I tried a different kind of therapy, that was a patch....that's a very long story. Expensive, which they all are but, this patch wasn't approved by the FDA for MS, so my insurance wouldn't pay for it, so that went by the wayside too.

Then came Copaxone. Copaxone was another injection, a daily injection at that. BUT! It's subcutainious, which means, just under the skin, so the needles were so much smaller in comparison to the intramuscular injection needles! HOORAY! I didn't faint at the sight of them!

Determined not to depend on my husband to give them to me, because afterall, they were every friggin' day, I sat down with the video and remote, got out all the materials for the shot and taught my myself to do it! I was so proud of myself :) So my bedtime routine became taking my meds and giving myself a shot.

Then our insurance changed and since these shots were a prescription, we have a 30% copay on them. The price for a months supply is approx. $1200.00, so about $400.00 out of pocket each and every month, just for this one med! I also take several others. It was eating us up and there was no guarantee that it was even going to work. You see, these shots aren't designed to make you feel better, they are designed to "maybe" reduce the number of relapses. It's all a crap shoot. That's a lot of money for a "maybe" As I've mentioned before, I'm SPMS, not RRMS, so I'm not even having bold faced relapses anyway. I discontinued the treatments altogether.

Oh yeah, this was all about hair loss...oops, well, after about 3 or so years of these treatments my hair was a mess! Thin and straggly...yuck! I hated it. You would think in light of everything else that my hair would be the least of my worries. NOT SO! I mean afterall, there were somethings that I knew would never be the same but, I never dreamed my hair would be one of them. I even tried rogain for women. It didn't work for me. To be honest though, I didn't follow the directions very well and what freaked me out about it was that initially you would have more hairloss, before it actually started helping!! EGADS!

While at my neuro appointment the other day I brought up going back on treatments and my neuro is all for it but, he doesn't pressure me because he knows as well as I do, that it's probably a slim chance that's it's actually helping. Of course one thing that came to mind was going through the hair thing again! It might be a small price to pay for "maybe" slowing down my progression, so why does it bother me so much?

I should also mention I am on an alternative therapy, so I'm not, not doing anything for myself. At least I hope I'm not :) (make sense?) Some folks swear by it, others poo poo it. I'm going on blind faith that it's working.

On the chance though that I do decide to return to traditional therapy, I've been looking into hairloss treatments just so I can get one step a"head" of it this time...pun intended *wink*

One of the most popular forms of tattoos are Tribal Tattoos

Quite frankly, my favorite kind of tattoo is, a temporary tattoo. *wink*

Two of our daughters have tattoos! My youngest daughter's are small and in very inconspicuous places. I believe she has 3 in all. My oldest daughter, uh not so much! She has hers proudly displayed on her upper arm and lower leg. To be honest, I'd prefer neither one had any but, they didn't ask me..hmmm, go figure?

I just wonder if they'll always enjoy them as much as they do now.

Since I've worked in hospitals and nursing homes, it's been my priveledge (cough) to see old(er) people naked! I can't imagine what will happen to their tattoos in say, 50 or 60 years!

Of course, I guess by then, they might not care.

I think I'm too fickle to get a tattoo. I get tired of the paint on the walls in no time and I'm constantly repainting. There's no way I could settle on a design that I would want on my body for the rest of my life! I think something like a henna tattoo is more my speed.

Amazing isn't it? The difference in prices of Real Estate from state to state or more significantly, prices in the midwest to coastal states.

I'm always amazed when I watch those shows, such as "What you get for the money" on HGTV, and a 700 sq ft apartment, is selling for nearly a million dollars!! That's insane!

We live in a nearly 3000 sq ft brick home with just at an acre of land and there's absolutely no way on God's green earth, that we'd ever get even half that for our home. As I said though, the difference of housing cost in the midwest vs. East Coast/West Coast is....well, there's just no comparison!

I'd love to be able to move my house to California and sell it, come back home and buy myself a mini mansion ;) Actually I have no need for a mansion.

Hubby and I are planning on selling our house in a year or so and buying something smaller. We both have things we want in a home. My list goes something like this:

Laundry room on the main floor.
Open floor plan with the living room, dining room and kitchen all one big room, with a bar or island separating the kitchen from the rest of the room. That way when we have our children home for Christmas and other holidays, we can all be in one room and not feel crowded.
Big Closets!
Walk In Food Pantry
Fireplace
Large Master Suite

Hubby's List
Walk-Out Basement
Pole Barn
Home built on a several acre wooded lot
That's it for him. Oh and no neighbors.

The house we live in now was built in 1950 and used to be a working farm. Most of the land had now been broken up and divided. When we had our house appraised in 2003, it had tripled in value from what we paid for it in 1995.
We have made several improvments on our home, but we haven't put nearly that much into it.

I'm excited about moving but, I will also be sad, I know.

When we moved here from a house we rented for 7 years, I was sad to leave that house and I couldn't wait to be a home owner! I actually cried when I walked out the door for the last time! I think it was more about the neighborhood and the friends we'd made there, than the actual house itself. It was a lovely neighborhood :)

George Lindemann Real Estate

I know because this is what has happened every 3 months for the past 8 yrs.

He *might* check my reflexes and my eyes. He will ask me about my meds and I'll tell him what I need refills for. OOPS, he's also going to ask about a blood test I should have had done but, haven't! uh oh. So I have cognitive problems, uh, I also hate having my blood drawn.

Then I'll pay the copay and out the door I'll go!

This could all be done over the phone, with the exception of paying him but, instead I have to shower, get dressed and drive half an hour there and back. I'd shower and get dressed anyway but, I'd do it in my own sweet time.

I could be working on ebay or cleaning or whatever, almost anything would be more worthy of my time and energy...almost.

I've thought of dumping my neuro altogether. Not that I don't like him, because I do. I just think it's ridiculous to see him every 3 months when basically, things stay the same. Most folks I know with MS see their neuro one a year unless they are having problems.

My disease is not active in that I'm having exacerbations, I've passed that stage at this point in the game. I'm now Secondary Progressive not Remitting Relapsing. Which means in short, I no longer have relapses, I'm just on a slow steady decline and paying my neuro $25 bucks to discuss the Lake House isn't going to be of any help to me.

He's a nice guy, I'd like to have him as my friend, that way we could talk about our families and the movies we've seen and I wouldn't have to meet with him at 8:30 in the AM and pay him!

Oh, I'll have to tell you about my first visit with him. Funny stuff! For now, I need to finish my coffee and pull myself together. Gotta look good or he might think I'm sick or something! ;)

Have a GREAT DAY EVERYONE!!

Odd huh?

One would think that cosmetic surgery would be the kind of surgery that is not medically necessary or reconstructive in the sense that it needs to repair what has been damaged or at the very least, not damaged by a doctor. Not so!

As is evident when looking at this site revision rhinoplasty.

Who'd a thought it?

And no, I'm still not contemplating having cosmetic surgery, I'm just the curious sort.

In all fairness, these type of doctors also do other repairs such as, deviated septum surgery and collapsed nose repair.

Hmmm, who knew a nose could collapse?

Ever think about having cosmetic surgery?  I have and while looking at this site San Jose plastic surgeons , immediately decided it's too risky, to expensive and really not for me but,....and you knew there would be a but, didn't you?

Turning 40 and being vain isn't the easiest thing in the world, especially when you see these picture perfect plastic looking women on TV all the time, while viewing with your husband!  ARGH! 

I'm lucky in the fact that I have good genes!  My Mom still looks great at 60 and so does my Dad.  Heck, even my Grandma is a hottie   Still it seems everytime I turn around, there's a new line on my face or a sag here or there or a wrinkle, not to mention my hair turning white!!  (thanks goodness for Miss Clairol)

The day of truth came when...One day my then 18 year old daughter and I were in the grocery store.  An attractive man about my age passed us in the can good isle.  I noticed him giving me a lingering stare.  I had all the reactions that most women do. Everything from, "yep, I still got it" to "he's making me uncomfortable".

Then came the eye opening moment of..."he's not looking at me, it's my daughter he's checking out" PERVERT! haha  Why did he suddenly become a pervert?  She's my baby, that's why!  I'm not sure if I was upset though that he was learing at my daughter or the fact that he wasn't learing at me!

It's not so much that I need every man's approval about how I look, it's just that I want to know that I'm still young and vibrant and attractive...ya know? 

I cannot tell you how much money I've invested over the past 5 or so years in creams, scrubs, masks, potions, lotions, microderm this and that, eye patches, toners, cleansers, moisturizers, peels, firmers, tighteners, uplifters, spot removers, concealers, the list goes on and on.  Oh the bottles on my dresser!  Egads!  I don't even want to know how much I've spent! 

Gone is the day that women had one simple bottle of Oil of Olay on her dresser.  Even Oil of Olay is no longer simple.  OY!

I did actually once, for a moment or two, consider a brow lift.  It seemed uncomplicated enough.  Just a small incision on the scalp, a slight tug and then a couple stitches.  That was until I saw a program about a woman who had a botched job done and couldn't close her eyes!  Good Lordy!  I decided then and there, it wasn't for me. 

I guess I'll have to accept the fact that I am 41 and I do have lines on my face (and other places) and that those "dirty old men" are gonna check out my baby girls (no they're not really babies) 

I still have my moments!  Plus hubby thinks I'm hot!  Of course he keeps talking about how his vision gets worse and worse!  Not exactly reassuring.  Then I think to myself....I earned these lines and every white hair on my head!  The stretch marks?  They came from having the 3 most beautiful babies in the world. 

So, I'm going to try to age with grace and dignity but, I'll keep buying all my lotions and creams.  And YES, I'll still stand in front of the mirror and suck in my tummy and push up my boobs and pull my face tight and remember the good old days...

Just think, in 10 years, now will be the good old days!!!  Egads, where's that belly dancing tape!

 "It is difficult to give away kindness. It keeps coming back to you."
~Cort Flint

Last night as I watched Emily Keyes parents being interviewed, my heart broke and I found myself angry at Duane Morrison for the unspeakable things he'd done. Not only to Emily but, to several girls that day at Platte Canyon High School that terrible, terrible day.

On September 27. Duane Morrison entered the school armed with a semi-automatic pistol and a revolver and claimed to have a bomb.  He terrorized and sexually assaulted six girls in a 4 hour stand off in a classroom in Baily Colorado.

Four of the girls were released and two were left inside with Morrison.  Emily's Father stood outside holding out hope that he'd see his daughter walk through the doors.  Morrison then issued a warning to negotiator that something would happen at 4 o'clock.  So at 3:35 the Sheriff ordered Swat teams to enter the school. The fifth girl escaped during the chaos.   The gunman used Emily as a human shield.  He then shot her in the back of head before turning the gun on himself.  Emily was life flighted to a hospital but, did not survive.

During the stand off, Emily's Father sent her a text message saying "how R U?" and a few minutes later, she replied with, "I love u guys"  That was her message to her parents and her twin brother from a cellphone she had recently received for her sixteenth birthday.

Her parents are now wanting to turn Emily's death into something positive.  They are asking that we all do RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS!   I for one am going to take up the challenge.  If they can be so forgiving, why can't I?  I won't pretend to understand the thought process of a man who can enter a school and do the horrible things that Duane Morrison did that day, nor do I want to understand but, I know being angry or hating anyone isn't going to change what happened.  Apparently Emily's parents know this too.  If it were my child could I forgive the man who did this to my daughter or son?  I honestly don't think I could.

I do know that Emily's life or death shouldn't be in vain. 

Let's all do something nice for someone, anyone.  Smile at stranger, hold open a door for someone pushing a stroller, give a ride to someone to the grocery store or to a doctor's appointment, that doesn't have a car, pick trash up from the side of road and throw it away, there's so many things we can do!  Any act of kindness large or small is important.  Peace should start now and it should start with me and you.

Acts of kindness are like throwing a stone in the water.  You know how it creates a ring and then another and another and so on?  Acts of kindness are the same way...If you smile at a passerby on the street, maybe they'll smile at the next person they meet and who knows what that will mean to them. 

Here's what some people are doing http://www.actsofkindness.org/people/" title="http://www.actsofkindness.org/people/" target="_blank"http://www.actsofkindness.org...

I love this quote...  The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines. ~ Charles Kuralt

Think about it....A simple act of kindness may have kept this tragedy from happening?  Maybe not but, it couldn't have hurt.

PS Pink was Emily's favorite color.

Even though we've had unusually high temps for this time of year, the leaves are changing color, morning & late evening are cool and brisk, there's just something in the air that let's you know that Autumn has arrived.

The farmers are all making trips up and down the road with their yields. We have one farmer that I look forward to seeing every year. His tractor has to be an antique. He wears a big straw hat and overalls. He's the nicest old man, he waves at everyone as he slowly rides by. He's sort of an icon around here. Then you have the humongo combine contraptions! They sound like an earthquake coming down the road.

It's time to put away the summer clothes and haul out the sweaters and jackets.

I've got to get hubby motivated. The pool still isn't covered, the boat needs to be taken to storage, plants need to be brought in from the deck, eh, it will all get done.

Hubby was tweaking the leaf blower last night. Our deck is already covered in leaves. We have just at an acre with several large old maple trees. It's quite a job every year to get all the leaves off the ground.

I'm already thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas. Looking for new recipes, digging out the old ones, thinking about what I want to get everyone for Christmas... Contrary to what I've said before, I really do love this time of year. It's what follows that I don't enjoy. January to April seem to take forever! But for now, I'm going to embrace the changes and just live in the moment.
Sleeping with the windows open, cuddled up under warm blankets, bonfires, watching wagons full of hay bails and kids ride by, hot chocolate and my favorite old jean jacket. There's always something to be grateful for.

10/10/2004

This past week and a half have been great but, tiring.  I was so pooped out yesterday, I didn't even get out of my jammies.  I had sort of a "catch up" day.  One nap followed by another and another...

Last night as I was trying to fall asleep...yet again, all I could think about were all the things I should have done yesterday.  So today will be my catch up day, again but, in a different way.

I've got to dust my bedroom, clean the guest room and clean out my car.  Amazing how things get out of hand when something extra is thrown in the mix.

I haven't written a decent entry in...well, who's to say any of them are worthy of reading??  I don't think I've found my "niche"  Although, I did warn everyone on my profile that my blog would be aclectic and I've held true to my word! 

I'm a bit on the private side and basically my life could easily be considered boring to a lot of folks and that doesn't bode well in blog land. (even adding the pics that I'm adding makes me a bit uncomfortable?)

On the upside, not that I consider the above, the downside....  I've been here for just over a month and have "met" some great people!! 

I so enjoy reading about what my new found friends are up to and I appreciate all the responses that I get.  So thanks to everyone for making my first blogging experience a very positive one.

I'm off to tackle some rabid dust bunnies.

Love and Light, Doe

Here's a pic of Mimi (Me) Doe and Baby Girl taken on Monday....

Baby Girl and Baby Boy (great nephew) going for a ride. ADORABLE!

MIL at her party with four of her great grandbabies. Doesn't she look happy?

 President Bush, First Lady Laura and Dick Cheney were flying on Air Force One. George looked at Laura, chuckled and said, "I could throw a $1,000 bill out of the window right now and make somebody very happy."

Laura shrugged her shoulders and replied, "I could throw ten $100 bills out of the window and make ten people very happy."

Cheney added, "That being the case, I could throw one hundred $10 bills out of the window and make a hundred people very happy."

Hearing their exchange, the pilot rolled his eyes and said to his co-pilot, "Such big-shots back there. Shit, I could throw all of them out of the window and make 56 million people very happy."

 *Just to be fair*

Four U.S. Presidents are caught in a tornado, and off they whirled to OZ.

They finally make it to the
Emerald City and came before the Great Wizard.

"What brings you before the great wizard of Oz?"

Jimmy Carter stepped forward timidly:
"I've come for some courage."

"No problem!" says the Wizard. "Who is next?"

Ronald Reagan steps forward,
"Well........., I.......I think I need a heart."

"Done," says the Wizard.
"Who comes next before the great and powerful Oz?"


Up stepped George Bush sadly and said,
"I'm told by the American people that I need a brain."

"No problem!" says the Wizard. .
"Consider it done."

There is a great silence in the hall.
Bill Clinton is just standing there,
looking around, but doesn't say a word.

Irritated, the Wizard finally asks,
"What do you want?"


Uh, is Dorothy here?

Just a quick note to those who have kept track.

My MIL's party was a huge success!  Yippee!

Great food, great family and friends.  My MIL had an awesome time!

She cried when we showed her the video I made.  It turned out lovely.  I'll try to post more about it later with some pictures but, we still have out of town company/relatives here, so I'm busy with them.

 I'm pooped out and a bit hung over...OY!

Everyone take care and be good to one another.

Love and Light, Doe