JESSIE'S VEGAS

It is hard to know if the experiences in your life are regular ones or perhaps irregular ones.  It is easy and perhaps erroneous to assume we all travel the same path, learn the same lessons and see the same things.  Working in the public sector for over 25 years, I am very aware that while people, in general, share similar hopes, dreams, and desires, the way to achieve these things is as varied as the patterns on a patchwork quilt. God weaves the design in our lives in expert fashion, bringing as many squares, or people, into our quilt as he can, thus enhancing,  strengthening and binding our quilts in his loving hands. The resulting quilt is colorful and vibrant. I work with some of the world's most trusted individuals.  In public polls, nurses always seem to be at the top of the list for one of the world's most trusted professions. Over the years, occasionally a person will ask why or how I have continued to work considering the needs of my family are so great....

I was talking to a wonderful doctor last week. He also married his high school sweetheart and they have a load of kids like us. One of the kids is a movie star in LA, another is a recovering drug and alcoholic.  Their youngest has autism and Tourette's. He said when he was dating his future wife in high school, he would tell her this,  "I am not dating you just for your looks", and she would get a little mad at him because she was a beautiful girl AND deserved to be dated for her looks. Years later, after they had married, when they received a late night phone call to pick their son up from jail, he said this to her, "I am not dating you just for your looks...tonight while we are in the mire together,  picking up our son from jail and after all we have been through, do you finally realize now why I married you for more than just your looks?" His wife cried, they hugged. For all the moms and dads that are in the "mire" together whether it is dealing wi...

Today is autism awareness day. I thought it was completely appropriate on a day like today that I was busy slamming Jessie's shoes on the concrete, trying my hardest to get out every single sand granule she feels in her shoe. We had traveled to the beach and I had completely forgotten her flip flops so she had been stuck with her tennis shoes. I remember one of our kids totally missing her first year of preschool because she wouldn't get dressed. All of her clothes bothered her. I cannot think of any of our five kids who have not at one point or another had some type of sensitivity issue to food or clothes. I decided all these "sensitivity" issues reminded me of the story of the "Princess and the Pea". It had been several years since I had read the story, so I decided to reread it today. I was curious to see what kind of punishment was exacted on a person sensitive enough to feel a mere pea under myriads of mattresses. I was amazed as I read the story that...

The presents, the stockings and rising early before the sun rose up trying to see Santa are all beloved memories from my youth. I LOVED Christmas and bought into the whole North Pole fantasy without a second thought. To a child, the magic and promise  of "good things happening to the world" was not so hard to buy into. Fresher from heaven and angels, as a child, I did not think it was unusual for one man to load up his sleigh and visit every single house on Christmas Eve.  Of course he knew my name and every other child's name on earth. I did not have trouble believing in a babe that was born in a manger either.  Why wouldn't the donkeys, sheep and cattle surround that place and worship their Heavenly King?The thought of a salutory star rising in the Eastern sky,   guiding wisemen and sheperds made perfect sense. As the years have passed , my childlike faith has been replaced not so much with doubt, but with its bed-fellow fear.  The trials of the mortal j...

Buckwheat/Millet pancakes I got my buckwheat and millet in bulk at WINCO. I turned them into flour in the blender. Buckwheat is related to rhubarb and is more like a nut than a grain. It is one of the healthiest foods on earth! Millet is birdseed! Ha! Wait until I tell Dave he ate birdseed. Well, those birds seem to know what they are doing, eh? Chia seeds are packed full of vitamins! 2 cups buckwheat flour 2 cups millet flour 2 tablespoons chia seeds 3 teaspoons baking powder 2 teaspoons salt 4 organic eggs 2 cups almond milk 2 cups pureed pumpkin 2 teaspoon pumpkin spice 2 tablespoons maple syrup or agave syrup 4 tablespoons melted coconut oil Mix together and  drop ladlefuls to form pancakes on very hot cast iron grill . Use coconut oil to prevent sticking. Cook about 7 minutes per side of pancake. Nutty, dense texture packed with dense nutritional goodness!

Man! I could not get comfortable tonight. I tried to add the squishy body pillow with the soft ,microsuede cover as an amiable bed companion. This did not seem overly successful as the tossing and turning of my body beneath the pile of blankets continued.  "Maybe I'm thirsty", I say to myself. "Dave made me eat that delicious thai food. What was he thinking?" I am too lazy to go downstairs and I decide the water that comes out of the bathroom faucet might suffice. "Oh, no! It tastes like drain ditch water", I lament ,as I spit out the mouthful before I can chug another swallow down. The drain ditch was a murky moat of water that ran by the side of my house growing up. Cows frequented it's banks and frogs and carp fish swam in it's swirling depths. Growing up in rural Idaho, we played long hours outside. Instead of going inside for a drink, we would often grab the nearest hose to refresh ourselves. It was always difficult to tell ,without samp...

Vanilla almond cocoa  1 walk in door and pout at the sun ...that it went down during your long work day. 2 rummage in cupboard for largest mug  3 pour almond milk in mug 4 heat in micro for 2 minutes unless you are paranoid of radiation sickness or you wear a Geiger counter. If so, gently heat on stove-top. If you are a TRUE paranoid and fear electricity and don't like stove-tops, build a fire in your backyard and heat liquid in an ancient ram's horn 5 sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg on top. From the little containers in your cupboard. or , if you have the paranoia trouble,grind it yourself after you have Stolen it from the inner bark of your friendly Neighborhood cinnamon tree 6 sit in recliner with sore feet up in your house or in your yurt...whichever your conscience allows  7 sip white liquid and absorb magical almond riboflavin properties and watch your blood pressure decrease....unless you still have a fire in the backyard and a naked cinnamon tree to attend t...