J's Thoughts and Musings

There's more than just recipes out in Blog Land

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:03:00 +0000

Blogs have become more than just newsy tidbits about peoples' lives, they have become a source of news; political, social and medical. I found a Science Based Medicine blog which details the extent of quackery that some people call medicine. The latest post has information regarding the Health care reform bill. There are too many pages for the common voter to read and digest, however, I do hope that someone in my representatives' offices have decided that prayer is not a medical treatment that should be paid for. I bet you didn't know that there is a provision in the bill for "require insurers to consider covering Christian Science prayer treatments as medical expenses."

I am a black and white person at heart, prove to me that something works and I will try it. People are too easily scared by what they read without taking the time to question miracle cures. Is the cure evidence based? Or is the fear based on hype or proven theory? Are there more than 1-2 studies completed by different research teams? Next time you read an article on healthcare, ask yourself these questions and take the time to research. You might be surprised by what isn't being said.

Candy and Food, Changing Taste Buds

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Another night of 1/2 sleep with too much time to think. Halloween is tonight and I still haven't bought candy yet. Thoughts of what to get the little goblins had me thinking about what I used to enjoy and now don't. For example, sticky taffy candy, loved them, but thoughts of the dentist chair keep me from eating them. Alas, a victim of the 1960s - 1970s dentistry era of taking a tiny cavity and filling it with a big honking filling that has since weakened my teeth. When all the baby boomers who can afford it, finish with their crowns...What will dentists do to keep busy? Perhaps it will be taking care of the all the rot from soda, energy drinks and lattes.

Better get back on track here, food. As a child I hated the mushiness of oatmeal, now I love it. Of course, since I can add apples and yogurt, the taste and mushiness is gone. Realizing that taste buds change with time, I try not to get "wigged" out when my kids won't try anything. Truth is, I didn't like asparagus when I was younger, even though it's a favorite.

My youngest developed a bad habit shared by his mother for a slight addiction to Hershey's full size chocolate bars. I bought them throughout the summer for the s'mores that never happened. The full size bars were our little secret that we kept hidden from his brothers and his dad. He suggested those for Halloween tonight and I think I just might splurge on the big size bars. Like some comedian once said, who the hell thought a tiny candy bar should be called a "fun" size? Happy Halloween all and have a sweet one on me!

If There's No Blog, who gets to hear me?

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:37:00 +0000

This Gal had a good question about who got to hear me rant and rave when I took my blogging vacation. Well there's my poor co-workers who I tend to tease unmercifully, the hard worker is called the slacker, the quiet young tech becomes the mouth and the talkative tech becomes the quiet one. I get to work in another department for extra money with a nice group of young techs under the watchful eye of the supervisor who I have worked with before and teases me about my whining. It's so bad that there is a really new tech who started a month ago who just wants me to work with her, I will have to work a day to think up a name for her.

Then there's my poor family who get to hear me, however, ranting and raving is a family sport, so I have competition. After the second one went off to college, I guess I needed to come back to the blog to give my husband and remaining son a break. Listening to my youngest, I realized that his ranting is over the top and he needs to tone it down. He'll have to learn that honesty doesn't always equal nice, but that tempering one's words can keep friendships. But boy, he can be dead on about high school drama.

My thought for the day? How come I am the one that has to meet "guys" for roofing, siding and window estimates? Seriously? I would rather be meeting guys with better propositions....vacation in the sun, travel around the world or let me spend their money.

Internet Rant

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:37:00 +0000

I have said it before, but it bears repeating, not all of us want to watch a news video. I can read a heck of a lot faster than the time it takes for any computer that I am on to load a story. Gee, guess I might miss that ad, but 9 times out of 10, I will click out of a story if it is a video.

My newest rant is when reading about the 10 uses for Toe Jam or some other interesting list I might find, I want to see it all on one page! Give me a long scroll over multiple clicks and page loads and you've got yourself a reader.

Changes, my google reader and Cnn.com have both changed their formats. CNN, I can live with, however my reader is causing me to skip stories in order to clean up my pages. The jury is still out, but it's not looking good for a positive vote.

Wow, feel somewhat better, off to play some Canasta to calm down.

Reality isn't Just Another Show

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:41:00 +0000

Reality is can be more than another challenge with team mates on a television show. It can be worrying about your kid's future when the present economy is still a tad bleak. Today on ABC the Wall St. gurus were trying to tell us that companies bailed out by the government have to be able to pay their executives enough money to remain competitive and that we need to keep the good people. Excuse me, but if they were really that good, wouldn't they be able to succeed without a bailout? Not a guru here, but reality here, is that money doesn't equal quality. Not quite following their line of thought.

Another family in the news, will they ever leave?

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:20:00 +0000

According to Kate Gosselin, her kids are struggling. Well my kids would be struggling also if all of a sudden those cool trips and front seats at events were taken away from them. Welcome to the real world Kate, now get off the media merry-go-round and be a real mother. There are many children struggling because their parents aren't working, or they went to bed hungry tonight. Missing your filming crew doesn't quite fit the word struggling.

News? Really? What is wrong with us?

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:18:00 +0000

Why are we still being fed the crap out of a certain western state with people who want to be on a reality show? I won't even justify the existence of these idiots by describing the stunt, their names or the state. But given the amount of coverage that these idiots have polluted our news, don't you think our news media should be ashamed of themselves? Once it was evident that it was a hoax by Anderson Cooper, they should never have been on any further news show. And then we wonder why our kids don't know any current world events? Shame on all the news outlets, or should we just call them media entertainment outlets?

Girls just want to have fun

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:59:00 +0000

What is it that you do to have fun? My blogging buddies all are very talented. There's photographers, writers, knitters, story tellers and bakers out there who read my blog occasionally. But what is your secret fun? Mine is technology and my computer, and occasionally there's some walking that I do that because I have been told it's good for me. However, give me an addicting game and I am happy for hours. The latest addiction is Crossword puzzles on my iphone and the app has many syndicated crosswords to choose from which just keeps my husband and I busy either in the car or even in post op recovery...don't ask, but we did raise some eyebrows. If you have an iphone, I recommend Crosswords by Standalone. There's hints and it's easy to use. Wonder what my next addiction will be? I hear the Ragdoll app is fun...

Hola

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:30:00 +0000

I am just a tad bored right now, actually, it's more of a lack of motivation to finish an afghan or to read a book that is overdue. But this is what I just did for fun, on the top of my blog, there is a tab that has Next Blog written on it. I clicked on it seven times and got 6 Spanish blogs and 1 French blog. Alas, the last blog was creative on it's page design and did not have the next button. Blogging goes international and if I was really motivated I would use a translator like Shelly did once upon a time even though you might get something that's not real.

And am I the only one with a Chinese commenter? I wonder what they are saying or selling. Any ideas out there?

Change

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 22:27:00 +0000

We always go into our seasons with changes occurring around us. But I think that it's the Autumn that brings us the most changes. Our children head back to school, we are now down to one son at home and it's a big change for us to have only one around the house. ( At some point I will figure out how much milk to buy)

In New Hampshire, we had a horrific crime in a small town that has changed the way a lot of people feel about their safety at home. Last Saturday night, 4 teenagers entered a house to rob it with intentions to kill whoever was inside. They killed a mother as she was in bed and her 11 year old daughter was attacked, but managed to call 911. I can't imagine the mother's thoughts as she was being brutally stabbed while she knew that her daughter was in the house. The next two days, the teenagers went about their business and two even attended High school on that Monday where they were arrested. Living in a small state, we aren't used to murder from unknown assailants and this crime has changed how people feel about their homes. It is my hope that parents will recognize when they have a child with a problem and make the necessary changes to bring them back to reality versus the sociopath behavior that led to this crime. It's not about violent video games or the media, it's about how you are taught to live by the golden rule...Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you miss that step with your children, then don't blame it on the media.

Just Apologize, Don't make Excuses

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:02:00 +0000

When you do something bad or stupid that hurt others, I think an apology is in order and should be an apology without the reason. For example, Kanye West apologizes for jumping on the stage to interrupt an award presentation and then the next day says it was because he is still grieving his mother's death. Had me at sorry, lost me at the excuse. There is no excuse, admit it, stupid action, shouldn't have done it and leave it at that. The reason doesn't make it okay, it just cheapens the apology.

If you're underage and you get caught drinking, own up and don't make the excuse that everyone does it. (Because there are kids staying home on weekend nights not drinking)
If your husband beats you and you smoke pot, those are two exclusive actions, one doesn't become a reason for another.
If you can't sleep and use your celebrity status to obtain drugs, that makes you a drug addict, not a misunderstood celebrity.
If you are failing a class, it's not because the teacher doesn't like you, it's because you aren't doing the work. (Feel free to insert failing- not getting a raise, class = work, teacher =boss)

There's always a reason behind an action, but not an excuse. Bottom line, own up, admit your fault, learn from it and move on.

Sad Survey

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:21:00 +0000

According to a Vanity Fair and Sixty minute survey, Walmart is the company that best symbolizes America. More poll information can be found here. What I find amusing about this poll, is that Vanity Fair does not say how many people did the poll but Googling it, I found out that only 1097 people participated. There was no error of margin noted. Don't you just find polls amusing? Unfortunately, there are those who believe everything they read or hear without getting the details. If only we could have more critical thinking in the world, instead of reactionary robots.

Sharing a Rainbow and a Drive

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 14:51:00 +0000

Last Friday, I was able to catch a rainbow on my drive home from work. After a very short summer, the rain brought in a cool front and we have acorns and pine needles falling this week, along with Autumn color changes.

Now picture these trees covered in ice and leaning over the road, and this is what I had to drive through last December after our ice storm. It's still a vivid memory and one that I think about daily on this road. Ah, the seasons of New England, gotta love it.

I Just Can't Do It

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:53:00 +0000

It's just not right that clothes should be put on dogs. In this contest, I guess a dog can't be cute unless they are dressed. And you just know those dogs aren't happy because it's not fair to cover up where they like to lick best. Those dressed up pups may be smiling on the outside, but you wouldn't want to know what they are really thinking!

What a Difference in a Year- Shopping

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:03:00 +0000

Hi, my name is Jenny and I hate to shop. Really, I do and I only go when I absolutely have to. Today was one of those days, I did laundry this week and discovered that my youngest son's socks were gray and holey. Then on a phone call from #2 son, he asked if we could bring him some socks on a trip my husband is making down south next week. So off I went to JC Penny's where there was a lot of room to walk around the racks and shelves. Last year we were there to buy winter coats and there was hardly any room to walk. This year I had all kind of space and there was even a greeter at the door. The plus side to the downturn in the economy is the increase of customer service. I love good customer service, so please, come right on up and ask me if I need help and if I don't, I will thank you nicely. Let's hope that when the economy starts improving that stores will realize that shoppers like being able to move around a store and that we love customer service. All it takes is a smile and a willingness to help the customer. I ended up not hating my shopping excursion and even bought a dress shirt and tie along with the socks. It wasn't the end of the world.

Would you want another Chance?

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:58:00 +0000

If you could go back in time, would any of us really want to be in High school again? Would you want to go back in time to when you were in high school knowing what you know now? Or would you just want to be a teenager again and attend high school now with all the technology? But then if you could just be a teenager, by going back physically, you wouldn't have the knowing what you know now? It's a conundrum I tell you, which explains why time travel will never happen.

But if you could go back, when would you go back to? I think I wouldn't mind the going back to high school, knowing what I know now. I sure would have had more fun and less worry, ending up in the same place.

Open Apology to the Young Driver I Irritated

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:51:00 +0000

Dear Young Woman in the Buick, (Dear Chick with the butt hanging out of your mouth),
I am so sorry for going the speed limit. (Why the heck did you feel the need to ride my bumper?)
Perhaps it was the bass of the radio that was inspiring you to drive faster. ( If I liked to have my car vibrate, I would have signaled to you to play your music even louder.) I was so happy that the on ramp that we were going to share had two lanes. (I was psyched to see you pull up along side of me to see who you were, you were so much cooler than I, since you chose to smoke your butt instead of stealing a glance at me, that's right, the uncool mom in the minivan) It was even better that we were first in line at the light. ( I really wanted to see how fast you thought you needed to go to be in front of me at the merge.) Wasn't it fortunate for you that the lane was was empty so that you could be first on the highway? ( I enjoyed watching you speed up the lane all by yourself and looked behind me to see the traffic spread out normally). What a shame that when you got on the highway that there was traffic. ( Seeing you 1/2 mile ahead of me tailgating the oil truck kind of irritated me, b/c I here I thought I was special....) Obviously you had places to go. ( Seriously, I kind of feel bad, between the tailgating, smoking and really loud music, I figure you need to go fast since your life will be statistically shorter given your lifestyle.) I hope you arrived safely. ( I hope you realize that you are not the only one on the road.)
Sincerely,
Minivan Mom

(Does sarcasm work in parenthesis?)

Newsworthy? I don't think so..

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:11:00 +0000

There is a lot of hurt going on in the world today, and I don't think Jessica Simpson's grief over her lost dog should be a headline on CNN. How about those families in Georgia devastated by the floods? How about people worried about paying their bills and taking care of their health? I will even step over to the right and think that maybe people worried and afraid of their government should be a headline. But then celebrity and I use that word sarcastically, trumps disaster, fear and healthcare. Sorry Jessica, your story does not rate and join the millions of us who have lost a pet, get over it, move on and shame on you People magazine and CNN.

Going back to just Thoughts and Musings

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:15:00 +0000

What is up with the lack of grammar skills by high school and college students? I read forums and comments where I just shake my head at the spelling and lack of capitalization skills. Then, when I have to write something for my job, I have to write it for a 5th grade reading level.

I think we all need to step away from the computer and the cell phone, grab a book and read. Better yet, read to a young child. Just my thought for the day.

Did you Miss me?

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 23:47:00 +0000

What has life been like? I thought this deer caught in the headlights pretty much sums up how I have been feeling. Work is insane with a lot of projects this spring, middle guy picked SCAD as his college, youngest is doing track, hubby was in California this week and we have our trip to London very soon! ( 3 deer avoided yesterday, must be the season of love for them)

My trip driving down south with my parents went better than expected. My Mom confiscated my ipod with her noise reducing headphones and my Dad and I drove 1500 miles listening to soft rock on satellite radio. I was a little punchy with all that mellowness by the time we reached Florida, but a few hours poolside cured that right away. The best part of my mine vacation was the four books that I read. I got the call this week from my parents begging me to come down to help them drive back, this time I got smart...they are going to pick me up in Jacksonville, so I get to miss the entire drive through Florida. Now if I could bring knitting needles on the plane...I could get a lot of knitting done on the ride back.

It was my birthday this past week and I bought myself an Iphone, I justified it by the fact that my other phone was being held together by duct tape and ceased working yesterday. Can I say that geek that I am, I am in love with the phone? Guess I will be working an extra shift or two each month to justify the internet.

Here's a picture of the lovely flowers that my oldest son had sent to me, it's now on the mantle since one the fattest cat decided that flowers were now a required food in his daily diet. I love the smiley mug.

To make my blog more than "this is what I ate for lunch"...here's my deep thought for the week: Short waisted pants (hip huggers is what we used to call them) should be outlawed since only 2% of women can wear them well. Or maybe we weren't as chubby as people are now?

Just Another week in Paradise

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:48:00 +0000

Sometimes there are weeks that just make you go uh? First day of spring and we still have a ton of snow in our yard, it's mocking us!

I My senior son got into two colleges this week. Those would be the two that we had make him apply to in order to leave options open. Smart kid....now it's decision time and it's up to him to figure it out. If he wants to take out a huge loan, it's his choice. Kind of a liberal thought, but it's what will work for all of us here.

Youngest is in the midst of a social whirlwind, which he would have missed out entirely if we had let him quit Nordic this year. Maybe being a member of a state champion team might have something to do with it. But it's nice to see him going out to dances and movies with a good group of kids.

Work- can I just say that I am way too old to be on my feet all day? If I could only have the feet of a teenager again, life would be simpler. The only place I feel my age is in my feet. I have been working some extra shifts in another department to save up for our trip to London this month. Any good ideas for sites to visit or avoid in London?

The economic news? AIG???? The paid bonuses to keep talent? With that kind of talent they should all be let go. Can you imagine if the rest of the world was paid the same way?

13 Memories of my Aunt

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 23:24:00 +0000

It's Thursday and just to get back into the swing of blogging, I think I will write 13 things about my Aunt Re who died. Last week I spent a lot of time with cousins as my Aunt who has had Alzheimer disease died of gall bladder cancer. It is said that everything happens for a reason and I believe that to be true as it was by chance that I managed to visit my Aunt 3 consectutive days when I realized with my youngest cousin that my aunt was not rebounding and 3 days later, she died. My mother was coming up every other week and I would visit the day before to get a sense of how my Aunt was to prepare my mother for the visit the next day. Thursday was active, Friday was a quiet day, but great visit with my mom and then Saturday was sleep all day and no food or water. Having been through hospice with my brother, I knew what was happening and was there with my cousin for support. Visits were like peaks and valleys and the peaks were gone. My mother and I were there with my cousins when my Aunt died and it was peaceful. I truly believe in a better place.

We spent a lot of time laughing, crying and telling stories in the last few days and here are 13 things about my aunt that made her someone that we will miss and remember with a smile.

1. She hated skiing, even with Alzheimer's , I could get her going about skiing. She would get animated as she told me that she hated every minute of it, but did it to spend the time with her husband who loved it.
2. Loved golfing, was even a Country club Champion. She went out golfing with me about five years ago and joked about not being able to keep score, but damn she could still hit the ball out of tough spots.
3. Was religious and involved in the church while her children were growing.
4. She was shy but bloomed when my Uncle was alive.
5. My mother and she used to sleep together as kids and their lives were similar to the lives of the brothers in Angela's ashes without the trip back to Ireland.
6. She graduated as valedictorian of her Catholic high school, but there was no money for her to go to college.
7. The nuns would tell her to call the house to get my mother to school.
8. She loved the beach and in the early stages of Alzheimers enjoyed sitting on the porch of the cottage that they rented in Kennebunkport to people watch.
9. She was a great cook, but spent most of her life on a diet. My cousins and I reminsced about desserts as kids, they got jello desserts while we got cookies. But then they got to drink milk during dinner while we had to wait until after supper.
10. Even with Alzheimers, her love of music was always there and the staff loved it when she participated in the musical guessing games.
11. Family was important and she loved to hear about our lives and children.
12. My mom used to send me to her house to spend time with my girl cousins and they joked about it being my finishing school.
13. Sad as it is for our family, I know that my Aunt is up there dancing with my Uncle and smiling.

When Death interupts life as we know it

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 04:09:00 +0000

This past week has been spent with family as we dealt with the death of a loved one. It was expected, but that expectation did not make it any easier. It's still too soon to write more about it. But the experience brought some of us closer and made me realize that even though I am not a church goer, that religion is still very important. And when I go....I want someone to pray a "kick butt" prayer over me.

I am still around reading blogs, but just really tired and drained. After this weekend, I may just write again...until then, visit a family member that you have thought of, but haven't made the time to visit.

Skiing on a Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 21:25:00 +0000

We came up to Sunday River yesterday to beat the snow and I hadn't really planned on skiing. Sure, I spent 15 minutes looking for my boots yesterday afternoon and at about minute 10, thought to myself that maybe it wasn't meant to be and that I should just be happy with my books, lap top and knitting projects that I had packed. But no, I finally found them on a shelf and not under the boxes of Christmas stuff and brought all my skiing paraphernalia along for just in case. I don't love skiing enough to spend over $60 for 1/2 a day, but thought that if the conditions were fantastic, then I could buy an afternoon ticket. But fate in the form of free voucher from one of the many friends of my brother provided me with the opportunity to hit the slopes. The first run was not my finest, but then muscle memory set in and I had a great time this morning. What was very strange about the day was that usually the weekends are very busy with lines at the lift and lots of people on the mountain. However, with the impending snow, people who were here for the weekend were heading home and the folks coming up for the NH school vacation week were not here yet. It was like skiing in the middle of the week.

The worst part of my brother's condo right on the mountain is that it gets pretty comfortable at lunch time and hard to leave. But I did head back out again and ended up doing just one run and decided that the muscle memory was now becoming wobbly. Why chance it? Tonight into tomorrow morning, we are suppose to get over a foot of snow! I may go out on Tuesday or I may not....I love having choices!

Here is some video of my son and his friend snowboarding. My son is the first one to come down mountain.

Today was a Food Bliss Day....

noreply@blogger.com (Jenny McB) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:58:00 +0000

I grew up in a working class suburb of Boston where 30 years ago there were ethnic, religious sections of town. We had a very Italian section which is the hub for the best bread/sub rolls in New England. Besides bread, there is also a meat store where you can buy fresh sausage. This is what I miss the most by living in New Hampshire.

But today was the best, we drove my middle guy and a friend to Logan Airport in Boston for their "senior" trip down to Savannah to visit girl friends. (Oh to be 18 again....) On the way to visit my parents for lunch we stopped in my two favorite stores. We now have some soft chewy rolls, fresh cold cuts and sausage for our ski trip. Since the weather is predicted to be bad, we came up a night earlier and I bought a Chicken Parmesan Calzone for my son and his friend. It was so good and I don't care that it was better than anything I make. But you know what I really enjoyed about the shopping today????? Customer service! The best you could ask for. Maybe beyond the food, that's what I also missed. My blissful food day was capped off by Mom's pepper steak subs and the brownies that she sent my home with.