I believe any goal worth pursuing is found at the bottom of a staircase. If I'm lucky, there's a hand rail. But most of these staircases have a lot of steps before the bottom comes in sight. And most of the time, there are a lot more steps than I swear I saw when I first started down! But I have to say, thank you God for steps. If I had to just leap into the air and take the massive hit to my joints that landing at the bottom would deliver... I'd say pish posh, I don't need goals.
As word pictures go, Escher comes to mind when I think how many staircases I am walking down at any given time. I try to keep them to a handful but life keeps moving and time flies and sometimes you can't be the master of what you must do. This is one of the reasons I never had any Escher posters on my wall in college. But I still say, thank you God for steps.
And if you are young enough not to have joint twinges going downstairs, then think of your staircase as going up instead of down. Direction doesn't matter, as long as you keep moving. See? Escher creeps me out.
I am starting Atkins in a few weeks. I've had good success with low carb diets in the past but always managed to let life events disrupt my progress. You know how some people can just put their head down and barrel through to any goal? Never been my gift. I have a friend like that, curse her (love you Danielle!). No, I am a circle back around and keep trying for the umpteenth time kind of person. Achieving anything has never been easy for me. Sometimes you have to focus on the fact that you keep trying and not let all those people with trophy walls get you down.
But back to that staircase. The distance to the bottom--I can't even see that far. I have to get rid of half my body weight, at least, to get to a reasonable weight for my diminutive height. I have never been able to see to the bottom of *that* staircase. And after you've been going down and down and down and the view hasn't changed all that much, you start to discount things like hand rails (support systems, friends and cheerleaders who you can lean on when you need to). I have to trust that at least one of my hand rails will poke me if I take her for granted too much (love you Patricia!). But my favorite and most immediately present support has four legs, is smaller than the length of my arm, and has no clue that she supports anything. Love you, Margot!
My beloved kitty has metaphorical staircases of her own. She still runs like a bat out of hell for the dark dustiness that is under my bed whenever there's thunder or if rain comes down harder than a gentle patter. But there are times: when I am scritching under her chin and a distant rumble of thunder makes one ear twitch but she stays next to me; or when the rain wakes me up with its fierceness and she is snoring softly into my shoulder, oblivious. These are just some of the times when it hits me how much I am her hand rail. I love that. If tiny frail little trembling girl can put her trust in me and take a step down, surely I can skip down a few steps of my own without complaint.
Being single (and wistfully miserable in such a state), I wonder how much courage children impart to their wondering parents. Can we nurture and teach them to walk down their own staircases without gaining help on our own journey? Isn't that part of the miracle that when we think about it, makes up for all the difficult and heart-rending parts?
Raise your glasses, my friends. Salute staircases, steps, and hand rails today. And whether your kids are furry, have two legs or four, never forget to count them as miracles, to be treasured.
Even if they've re-discovered their ball track addiction..
3/24/13
Ball Track Blues
Margot loves her Ball Track. She's not so fond of John who gave it to her for Christmas, but she plays with that Ball Track every day and it's been 2 months, almost 3, of that endless clack, clack, swoosh.
I hate the Ball Track. But I love my cat, so I refrain from smashing it to bits and packing it away.
It's made by a company called Bergen (they call it the Cat Track I think). You can Google it and see lots of cats on YouTube playing with it. You'll here the noise too. Clack, clack, clack, swooosh. Really, Google it so you can hear the noise. Now imagine you are trying to sleep. Or eat. Or get some writing done. Or watch a tv show. But no, Margot is playing and the sound of that...ball...makes you want to run out the door into the street for some peace and quiet.
Did I mention I love my cat? I shouldn't complain. It's a store bought toy that she loves and still plays with and has not managed to destroy or lose interest in. It's a miracle, really. Boy, I can't wait til it breaks.
Pink Toes and The Great Pumpkin
Princess Pink Toes (aka Margot) has just about gotten used to her hot pink nail caps. She's not trying to gnaw the things off anymore. I have even caught her prancing a few times, when she thought I wasn't paying attention. And I've decided I like "the wrong order" so much I might get it wrong on purpose the next time. She's just so cute!
We were playing our usual game of Bed Mice. I had a hand under the comforter, trying to be mice-y and sneaky, and Margot was doing her best to search and kill the sneaky little "mouse". As usual, we were both having a grand time. Margot was getting a little nutty and I was breathless from extended laughing. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Ari stalking around the edge of the bed. I knew what was coming. And as usual, Margot was far too engrossed in the game to notice.
This time, though, Ari surprised us both.
Instead of leaping on the bed and going for Margot's tail, he did something new. He insinuated himself under the edge of the comforter and eeled himself up onto the bed. He stayed a quiet round lump for quite some time, so that I totally forgot about him. Some time later, after a particularly hysterical chase and leap and bite, Margot took a break, flopping onto her side. It was Ari's perfect moment and he took it.
When he stood up, still under the duvet, I swear, he looked like a big round pumpkin rising out of the pumpkin patch at midnight--I even had the words, It's The Great Pumpkin, on my lips. The words never got out. Margot saw the startled expression on my face and reacted even before Ari had fully stood up. She leapt up, did a 180 degree turn in mid air, and landed on top of the rising Ari with a yowl that had the hairs on my neck standing up. She started biting like mad and poor Ari, who was not expecting his ambush to go so horribly wrong so very quickly, panicked and bolted, backwards and blind, at full speed, straight into the wall. Almost immediately, things devolved into a running rolling clawing mass of tri-colored fur until Ari managed to pull out and dive under one of the living room chairs.
That Margot is an enigma. She startles at the least thing most days. When it rains too much or the wind blows, she's cowering under the bed. But when the two of them tussle, it's usually Margot who comes out on top. Ari likes to lurk and pop up unexpectedly, targeting Margot's tail when she's engrossed in something. He gets away with it once but he always tries a second or third time and I've seen her box him so hard in the face that he almost falls backward on his butt. And he is three times her size!
My little Pink Toes. Life would be a terribly lonely place without her.
We were playing our usual game of Bed Mice. I had a hand under the comforter, trying to be mice-y and sneaky, and Margot was doing her best to search and kill the sneaky little "mouse". As usual, we were both having a grand time. Margot was getting a little nutty and I was breathless from extended laughing. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Ari stalking around the edge of the bed. I knew what was coming. And as usual, Margot was far too engrossed in the game to notice.
This time, though, Ari surprised us both.
Instead of leaping on the bed and going for Margot's tail, he did something new. He insinuated himself under the edge of the comforter and eeled himself up onto the bed. He stayed a quiet round lump for quite some time, so that I totally forgot about him. Some time later, after a particularly hysterical chase and leap and bite, Margot took a break, flopping onto her side. It was Ari's perfect moment and he took it.
When he stood up, still under the duvet, I swear, he looked like a big round pumpkin rising out of the pumpkin patch at midnight--I even had the words, It's The Great Pumpkin, on my lips. The words never got out. Margot saw the startled expression on my face and reacted even before Ari had fully stood up. She leapt up, did a 180 degree turn in mid air, and landed on top of the rising Ari with a yowl that had the hairs on my neck standing up. She started biting like mad and poor Ari, who was not expecting his ambush to go so horribly wrong so very quickly, panicked and bolted, backwards and blind, at full speed, straight into the wall. Almost immediately, things devolved into a running rolling clawing mass of tri-colored fur until Ari managed to pull out and dive under one of the living room chairs.
That Margot is an enigma. She startles at the least thing most days. When it rains too much or the wind blows, she's cowering under the bed. But when the two of them tussle, it's usually Margot who comes out on top. Ari likes to lurk and pop up unexpectedly, targeting Margot's tail when she's engrossed in something. He gets away with it once but he always tries a second or third time and I've seen her box him so hard in the face that he almost falls backward on his butt. And he is three times her size!
My little Pink Toes. Life would be a terribly lonely place without her.
White "Eat Your Veggies" Au Gratin Soup
As some of you know, after more than a year of not having a kitchen, I recently got half my kitchen back. Cooking all my meals with just a microwave, a toaster oven, and a crock pot isn't always easy. But I'm learning. And I hope to start working on "healthy" soon.
I apologize for not having a picture of my own. This one is from: eatathomecooks.com. Why didn't I take my own picture? Here's the sad truth. I couldn't sleep (my roof leaks and the drips drive me mental) so I got up in the middle of the night and made this soup in my big Pyrex mixing cup. Yes, it was the only thing clean of the right size. And yes, I ate it out of the mixing cup too. See? Real life here folks, in all its embarrassing glory.
Soup Serves 4. (I scarfed down 2 servings--but hey, I needed the comfort)
White "Eat Your Veggies" Au Gratin Soup
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
lots of white pepper (I used 1 tsp, you probably want to use less)
1/2 can chicken broth, approx 7 ounces
12oz can condensed evaporated milk (not the sweetened kind)
18oz mix of broccoli, cauliflower, and onions
--I had 1/2 a package of broccoli cauliflower mix and 1/2 a package frozen onions
1/4 package reduced fat cream cheese (Neufchatel)
1" thick slice of 2% Velveeta
_________
First, cook your veggies. I steamed mine with some additional butter. After they are cooked, make sure you drain and chop the veggies into small bits. You can skip this step but your soup will be really chunky, perhaps unpleasantly so. Set aside.
Use a 2 quart microwave safe container (glass pyrex is nice). Melt your butter for about 30 seconds. Working quickly, add the flour and mix into a smooth paste. Add the pepper. Make sure there are no lumps and don't let this cool down enough for the butter to solidify. Add your broth. Microwave a minute or so. Stir. Add your evaporated milk. Heat covered for 3-4 minutes, however long it takes to get a good boil going, but don't let it boil over. If your flour butter mix gets clumpy and floats around on top, don't worry. A sustained boil will get rid of that. Just keep it going, heating and stirring then heating again until the lumps are gone. The liquid should be getting thick, especially as it cools.
Add chopped veggies. Cut up the cream cheese and Velveeta and add to your soup. Stir well. Put back in the microwave and heat in 1 and 1/2 minute increments until cheeses are well melted. 4 minutes worked for me. Check your seasonings at this point and then serve.
Suggestions: adding crumbled bacon kicks things up even more. What to do with leftovers? Try adding 1 cup cooked shredded chicken or cubed ham. Split some biscuits fresh out of the oven and pour soup mix on top (like Chicken Ala King). Yumsa.
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