Hello Puffed Tacos!

As you can see in the photo, the puffed tacos were professionally cooked and for your information
tasted delicious.

I just got back from San Antonio, Texas,
where I was hoping to eat a plate of chicken puffed tacos.
I went to three different restaurants that advertised "puffy" tacos, but they were terrible. (So is that name. ha!) They were too large, too flat, not crisp, cooked in cold oil so soaked with oil [yuk], and finished off with tomato sauce instead of a couple fresh tomatoes pieces, etc.

As soon as I got back to Nashville, I decided to see if I still could make a good puffed taco. It had been 28 years since I had made any. It was great to cook them and teach my daughter and her fiance how to make them.

Before the Kids arrived, I cooked a ground turkey "guiso" rather than beef to be spooned inside these tacos shells. After a few spoonfuls of this mixture in the middle of these taco shells, I put thinly sliced lettuce and a few fresh tomatoes on top. To die for! They were just perfect. I'm so content that puffed tacos still exist in my life.

Apparently, San Antonio has "lost it." Our chain of 12 El Rancho Mexican Restaurants were the "originators" of the puffed taco in San Antonio and sold thousands from 1941 to 1980. I was hoping that the city would continue the tradition. Nope. Their loss.

Guess

Okay, this is the story...

Part 1. I was ignoring Lexi by typing at my desk. She sits on the couch and is able to reach out and touch my shoulder sometimes that makes me freak out. I think I am alone till I feel this touch. Whew.

Part 2. To entertain Lexi and to keep her busy so I can work, sometimes I take a whole walnut and throw it so she will go chase it. It bounces and makes a lot of noise on my linoleum kitchen floor, so this is fun for me also.

Part 3. Today, I was very busy since it is close to Christmas. Lexi is sitting behind me with something rolling around in her mouth. I know I hadn't thrown a walnut, so I try to look in her mouth but she will not let me have it. I chase her all over the house till I corner her. I have to pry her mouth open and what do I find? NOT a walnut, but the little lamb from the Baby Jesus Nativity Set that is on the kitchen table! They are similar in size but do NOT make the same sound in her mouth.

The end. As you see, all is okay. After a stern talk to her I moved the chair back under the table so this wouldn't happen again. I found a walnut and threw it into the kitchen!

About 50 Babies Crying...

Okay, it was early in December
when I went to Walmart
to buy lots of my
favorite hot sauce.

I walked by this aisle when a
WALL OF BABY DOLLS
began crying
and making noises--
ALL at the same time.
Scared me! Took my breath away!

You know,
when I walk by the CDs
at Cracker Barrel,
I expect to hear
some country singer start singing,
but this was totally unexpected!

Day time...what shall I do?

You know as I watch Lexi bark at a squirrel that's climbing down on the left side of the tree, I remember that working five nights a week, I usually got purple bags under my eyes, slept only 6 hours maximum during the day, ate irregularly-- usually around 3:30pm and 2 am, had constant bloodshot eyes, and gained back the weight I had lost in 2008. This was mainly from no exercise. You know it is not proper to do jumping jacks in the hallway of a nursing home. ha!
BTW: When I noticed and became concerned about the purple under my eyes, I Googled "purple under eyes." The article said that I needed more sleep! duh!

My job was to keep My Lady safe! I had to be in her room 12 hours each night to be sure she, who was very active, did not climb over the rails or fall on the floor. She had an alarm on the wheelchair, an alarm in the bed and a 6 inch pad next to the bed for safety.
When I first met her she had callouses on both wrists from the wheelchair that rubbed on her as she went up and down the hallway all night. She would run into people that were in the way, or twisting the hands of a patient who was waving at her but appeared to be trying to restrain her, or pulling down the pants of a patient that was just in the way. This is life in nursing homes...
However, the callouses are now gone! Go Sylvia! These last 9 months My Lady has slept peacefully all night in her bed. She has been comfortable with me in the room especially when I constantly reassure her that I was going to be there all night waiting for her to wake up. She loved that and would be at peace.

I was also useful in setting schedules for each of 5 people to work night time from 7pm to 7am. It took all of us to cover the 168 night time hours per week. This time had to be emailed every two weeks to an accountant to write out checks so that the Techs would receive their checks in three days. If those checks did not arrive, I was the one who got the phone calls from the Techs. "Where's my check?" whine...

It has been good money for a retired person who did not mind sitting in a semi dark room with a 40 watt bulb, writing this blog, playing games on my laptop, reading books, watching cable TV in the room, and playing solitaire on my new EVOG4 phone. Also, I loved what I did with the money; but now, I have gone back to retirement budgeting... sniff.

What an experience for me. I will never forget it. It has been a blessing! When asked, "What will you do with my life now?" I tell them that "I plan to sleep at night."

Time to turn another corner...

It is late fall, the leaves fell off the trees this last weekend and I am quitting my job in the nursing home.

This job was totally out of my comfort zone. I did not know how to be a caregiver.
With the help of some skillful and caring Techs, I learned.
I was asked to help with this Lady for about 3 months which was the time she was expected to live after she experienced a series of heart problems. She was in a "Do Not Resuscitate" DNR status.

Oh My! By my 3rd week with this family, I was called to meet her daughter in ICU at Vanderbilt Medical Center where I found My Lady with tubes coming out of all orifices. Kinda creepy for me. I spent the night with her.
Actually, I saved her life that night when a young nurse pulled an IV needle out of her hand and did not check to see that it had stopped bleeding. About 20 minutes later, I just happened to get up out of my chair to see how My Lady was doing. I found her IV hand on a pillow in a pool of blood that was dripping onto the bed. Yuk! What a mess! I quickly called the nurse back and another followed. They said nothing while they cleaned up the mess. I wondered if this was usual??? I thought about mentioning it to the doctor; however, when the cardiologist came in very early the next morning, he said that he was surprised she was still alive and left. (?)

However, the 3 months have became 13 months. My Lady has become more stable and healthy. She looks great today. She has a strong will and wants to live. It is time for me to leave.
Bye.

"What straight teeth you have Grandma."

I received a message on my computer today when I was trying to download some photos that said that I did not have enough space on my "start up drive." Where are those Geeks when you need one?
Now this phrase may mean something to Geeks of the world, but today it made me go "lookin." So as I backed up my computer and was in an external drive, I came across this old photo that my Kid had left on the hard drive before she "handed it down" to me. ha!
Now, I ask you, does that look like my Kid? Well, yes. The only other time I've seen this face was, when as a child, I made her eat liver.

Violin right cross...gonna miss it!

This has been a crazy year in my life.
I was asked recently why I was quitting my job at the nursing home. Oh, did I tell you? I'm quitting my job... I was asked if I was "kicked out" of My Lady's room? No, she didn't kick me out; but I DID duck a right cross.

It was my turn to take over one night last week, My Lady was painfully mean and aggressive when I arrived upstairs in the room at 10pm. She had pulled all her clothes off calling the Tech stupid, hateful, etc. The Tech finally was able to get My Lady's bed clothes back on her body and was able to physically put her back into bed without getting hurt. The Tech smiled at me and said, "Good luck with her tonight." and left.

This night, as I leaned over to adjust My Lady's pillow as usual. But when I looked in her eyes, I quickly remembered some of her past aggression. What was in the back of my mind quickly scampered to the front of my brain when I saw her right fist come across her body toward my face. I moved quickly out of the way! Whew. I had missed her "violin right cross."

I quickly went to the nurse and insisted that he give her prescribed drug, ASAP. So, after her taking the medicine and calling the doctor "inept" as he walked out the door, [ha!] I had the joy of the next 30 sarcastic minutes with her referring to me as "that woman behind the curtain" where I was hiding [ha!], she finally fell asleep like a baby. Praise the Lord for drugs and this job!
However, this is not why I am leaving. It's just time! Except for these "bouts" ha! that happen more frequently nowadays, my Lady's health appears to be better off now than when I first began working for her. For me, staying up all night every other day has been rough on me.

This work has opened my eyes to older people, the people who take care of them, and to the world around me. I am so blessed. Gonna miss it!

What did I wake up to see?

This morning I woke up, grabbed my camera and it did not move.
I was able to take this photo of what I saw...

It was Lexi, but where was it's ear and eyes?
As you can see by the other photo, there was something really wrong with what I was looking at. Hallowe'en is still a week away. So, I mustered up a dry whistle and she turned and looked at me.
Lexi had been resting her forehead on the side of the drawing table looking into my trashcan where her ball usually ends up when it falls off the bed. Whew! Scary to wake up to!

This is Lexi after a bath.

oTailo, a Bilingual Dog...

Okay, I am visiting a dear Mexican Friend of mine who speaks Spanish most the time. Her Daughter speaks English most the time (and also Spanish) which is typical in many Hispanic homes today in San Antonio, Texas.
The Mom tells this dog, "Vete al otro cuarto" and the dog gets up and goes to the other room. I can't believe what I see. I ask her to tell him to come back in and she says, "Ven" and this dog gets up and comes back into the room. I ask her if the dog understands English and he follows my commands, "Go to the other room" and "Come here."
I said, "This dog is bilingual!" His owner, the Daughter, arrives home from work and reassures me that he is tri-lingual because if he is unhappy about something, he speaks "Yellow Dog."...He says, "Wow, wow, wow, Ruff!"

Here is the Video, I hope...

Back to Work tonight after this....

Wow! What have I been doing since July? I've been living "daytime" and on vacation.

Boy did we have a fun time. My Kid, my Niece and I met my Second Cousin in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. It was great. The total cost for the room was $100 dollars a night which my Cousin picked up. All food and drinks were included in the three meals provided each day! All you wanted to eat or drink...and the first week of October the beach was empty. Wow! What fun!!!

However.
Tonight is my first day back to work since the middle of September. I am with My Lady who has found her navel(?). It is almost midnight and I have nothing to tell her about that but to leave it alone.

You did see the video above, right? Click on it and relish the experience....and after eating the best Mexican food in Puerto Vallarta a couple of days ago, I went to Taco Bell this afternoon. There was no waiter singing along with the piped in Placido Domingo singing in Spanish. There was no waiter making guacamole in front of us. No "Enjoy Senoritas Bonitas" being said by a waiter. No flaming fajita meat, chicken and shrimp dish being served in front of us...
Today, I went cold turkey at Taco Bell. I put 3 packages of hot sauce in the bean and cheese dip...yuk! Just wait till next year. I'll save my money to go back!!! Wanna go?

Let's Move On...

You are looking at our Silky and part of a line of 20 bags that will be hauled off. They contain about 400 6-hour VHS tapes in black plastic cases. Each tape is documented in an index book and printed descriptions taped in 3 spiral notebooks. When I mentioned to my Mom the amount of time and money she was investing to record movie after movie, she told me that this was what she did for a living and to leave her alone. Ha! What Mom did, she did
a todo dar.
Mom started recording in 1983 and died in 1998 at 85.
I inherited 6 book shelves that housed 1300 VHS tapes in black cases.
Any person would have loved to own this library of the best movies at their fingertips.
Then came Netflix where I can stream the majority of these movies into my home in HD. Who knew? Mom didn't.
Whew! It has taken 12 years, but I am down to the last 200 of these VHS tapes that are not available on Netflix. I will look at them, maybe copy some of them onto DVDs and that will be that. What a timely heritage and a waste of money. I feel like an albatross has been taken off my back by donating these tapes and it is only the beginning to a simplified life. Mine.

What is that on my orange?

I'm in the dark early this morning having to be very quiet in the bedroom of My Lady. I just finished watching an Animal Planet show, The Monsters in Me, that showed parasites that invaded human bodies. Tonight, the lady on the TV had a long worm that showed under her skin on her chest. You may have seen the show. She does not go to the doctor until she begins to feel it moving under her skin. What's with that? I am transfixed and repulsed! I can't groan or say anything that will wake My Lady. I could turn the tv off, but I am overwhelmed at the grossness of the show.
Whew! It's finally over. I reach into a bag to bring out the orange in the photo I brought from home. But, as I hold it, it just happens to look like that wormy parasite that invaded that lady's chest...makes me itch..oh my.. barf! Do I eat it? Not sure...haven't yet.

Soccer? Bowling? Soccer? Humm...

The Final (rough as you can see in the first photo) Playoff of the World Cup of Soccer. It is Spain against Netherland!
I am in Franklin at a Subway not on Nolensville Road with the Hispanics. I expect to see the playoff on the screen as I eat lunch; but when I look up at the monitor, I find out that Subway Franklinites are watching Bowling.(?) Not a Hispanic in the house.
Fortunately, the younger generations of Franklin kids are already playing Soccer. They will be the ones to bring Soccer to Franklin. The rest of the world is already hooked. I quickly ran home to watch. By the way Spain won and I won a delicious lunch at Fattousch. Thanks JW.

"You're Fired!"

"What do you want now?" These are the words a Tech strongly asked a nursing home resident yesterday. When the Night Nurse overheard her, he wrote her up. Apparently the Tech had enough complaints against her that she was fired today when she tried to check into work.
This Tech was one of the best. She had worked a 40-hour week for this exclusive Nursing Home and needed more money. She was able to work two 12-hour weekend nights and a couple of 9-hour nights during the week. It was a total of 82 hours this last week.
Good money, but no mouth control. Now, unfortunately, she is gone and not permitted on the property.
You know, it is easy to think "What do you want now?" when we have to do or say something over and over again with a dementia patient. However, when we are too tired, the words actually come out of our mouth.
A tired tongue can be a real liability!

Last night I went into the Nursing Home to work from 7pm to 7am--my usual hours.
A few Tech Assistants sat together, drinking coffee sharing their most frightening experiences as young Techs.
It was 3am and My Lady and I were in the TV room--in the right spot at the right time.
Sitting at a table and minding my own business, I overheard the Tech tell this story: “Boy did I have an experience the first time I was asked to help in the body clean up of a deceased resident." It is customary that the funeral director is called to the room and picks up a "clean" body. Then he sees to the body transfer to a funeral home.
She continued, "It was eerie to work on a deceased body. I was holding and cleaning the arm of this lady in the bed when all of a sudden the deceased lady began sitting up slowly in the bed. I freaked out, jumped back and started yelling. My experienced helper put her gloved hands up to calm me down. She was laughing so hard."
"Then I noticed that she pulled up on the deceased lady’s knee and moved it off the bed control that was hanging on the inside of the bed that was lifting the front of the bed. It took me a long time to think that this was funny. Many Tech smiles went on for weeks..."

Gotta joke... Thanks Don.

An upset woman went in crying into a pharmacy. The pharmacist said, "How can I help you?" She said, "I need some cyanide now." The pharmacist said, "I can't give you cyanide. It's a poison."

She held up a photo and said, "Here look...that's my husband in bed with a pharmacist's wife." The pharmacist took the photograph and said, "Oh, you didn't tell me you had a prescription."

What is That?!

The Nursing Home room was dimly lit. The old lady yelled, “There is it! That’s my eye!” The student Tech shivered all over. Not thinking, she had picked up a plastic brown eyeball with her surgical-gloved hands after she had helped the owner, an elderly black lady, bend over to move from the bed to the wheelchair. The young Tech quickly threw it down. Gross!

The old woman yelled, “Hey, pick it up. Be careful, Know how expensive my eye is?” The Tech looked down, grossed out, to keep from stepping on it and left refusing, “No way. No way!” It was her first day of work in this Nursing Home and she could have sworn that she heard that old lady laughing out loud as she left. Not funny! Being new, the young Tech was later encouraged as well as tactfully reprimanded.

In time the old lady and the Tech became friends. The black lady had been diagnosed with an eye problem, had surgery but she eventually lost her eye. An eye transplant was next, but her brown eye was replaced with a blue eye. She then had a black eye and a light blue one. The old lady told the Tech, “It gave me the “heebie jeebies. It was like some old white woman’s eye was looking at me.” The doctor remedied that problem with a dark brown contact to cover that blue eye. Eventually the eye had to be removed and was replaced with a brown plastic eye that would fall out of its socket when the old lady would lean over too far which brings us back to the beginning of this story.

Get Me Out of This Dream...

Late one night, I was listening to the anguish of people, in our present economy, who were talking about things they were doing to keep from losing their jobs.

That next morning, I was asleep and an observer in a Peanuts Comic Strip. Linus was carrying a bucket of blue paint and had painted himself all blue. He was trying to convince Lucy to paint herself all blue and was handing her the blue paintbrush full of dripping paint. He told Lucy that if she painted herself all blue, both of them could hide in a Smurf Comic Strip. Then I woke up.

"Ryan, Stop!"

Okay, I hadn't seen my single daughter, Jen over the weekend.
When she came over and lovingly sat down with me, her Momma, her dog, Lexi, jumped up on her and started climbing all over her body and tried licking her face. The dog was so glad to see her and was so persistent and didn't stop.
It was then that Jen said, "Ryan, Stop!" (?????) I looked at her and said, "What's with that?" Ha? We both looked at each other and broke up laughing... More than I wanted to know.

Retired Liar is Happily Retired...

As you see in the picture of me and my Kid, it was fun today cutting up with her for a few moments.
I know, this is not the kinda profound comments you were expecting on this blog, but I am so happy with my retired life that I can almost sing which would be a miracle. I don't sing anymore. Actually, I stop singing when I found out that I was not singing alto, but I was really singing soprano, only an octave lower...ha!
I was so happy NOT knowing this. ha!

The older I get, I think I look more like my Mom and her side of of our family with the squinty eyes. Of course, the camera phone was real close which explains why my right eye looks like it is checking out my nose....hum?

I am minding my own business...

...and all of a sudden I get this whiff of something rank. I look around. I don't see anything dead...then I see the cow hoof that I brought Jen's dog, Lexi, to chew on. It is at my feet since I am sitting on the couch watching a movie on Streaming Nexflix...which is nice!
Stink? That must be it! However, as I reach down to pick it up, Lexi jumps up on the couch, in my face, and sticks her nose in my eye. Besides the obvious discomfort with my eye, I realize...Whoa! Lexi is the one who smells so bad. She has been chewing on that hoof and her mouth and face with all that hair smells atrocious.
Smart me! I went with the suggestion of buying the hoof instead of rawhide, since I felt that pieces of rawhide surely can't be good for a dog's digestive system. And Lexi needs to be chewing on something all the time.
"Come here, Lexi, time for a ba..., Lexi..Lexi..where are you?"As you can see in the photo, I found Lexi and the hoof on my bed with her paw on it. Lexi got that bath and I got some exercise.

Okay, this is sadder...

God created this beautiful, turquoise, dragonfly which unfortunately hovered over the water in the Gulf of Mexico.
An oil drilling platform exploded and has released millions of gallons of crude oil over the last 2 months. This dragonfly is among the many insects, birds, fish, and mammals that are in danger! Poor dragonfly...

This photo is sad for me...

I had to throw away my Birthday Flowers.
I had kept them as long as I could.
These were the last of the bunch. My Survivors! The other flowers had been thrown out
one by one.



Leaning on the cabinet in a trash bag, these flowers were living out their last moments in the apartment. Next, it was tie up the bag and Boom! Out to the trash! Good bye my friends.

Serrano Peppers! Burn!

Last week, I wanted to celebrate being with Ryan and Jeni. It was just another day, but they are so much fun to be around.
I went to a Mexican market to look for a dessert and bought two slices of Pastel de Tres Leches (Trans: Three Milk Cake). While there I saw some fresh cactus and decided to teach them how to make cactus and eggs.

The serrano pepper has better flavor than the jalapeno pepper; but in Nashville, these peppers have been mild, like bell peppers--not hot at all.
So, I bought a handfull of serrano peppers, some ripe tomatoes, an onion and decided to make some fresh blended hot sauce.
This was going to be fun cooking cactus. I took all to Jen's and asked Ryan to wash the already cut cactus. I asked Jen to de-vein the serrano pepper. She was doing this so carefully with a knife. Impatiently, I just picked up the serrano, popped it open with my index finger, like I had done with jalapenos so many times before, then proceeded to de-vein and tear out the seeds and membrane that carry the heat in the chile. I have to admit I was smarting off. Hey, I did remember to wash my hands; but had forgotten how the serrano oil was so much more potent than pickled jalapeno.
All of a sudden I started sneezing. It was the fumes of the chile at hand. I accused them both of spilling some black pepper. I had just grabbed my nose while sneezing when all of a sudden my skin under my nose on my top lip began to BURN. I had itched my eyebrow and now it was BURNING. I was on fire!!! Jen gave me some Neosporin for my face that helped. I washed my hands many times after that. Silly me!
Whew that was over! .. or that's what I thought. That night, when I got home and took off my one contact, I accidentally touched my eye with my index de-veiner finger. BURN!!! It was not over! I hopped and screamed. I washed my hands again, and again and finally took a shower! The next morning, I reluctantly opened my contact case, cleaned it and slowly moved it near my eye and thought I could smell the oil or maybe I just remembered the pain and decided to throw it ALL away...contact case and all in the trash! Whew! Finally gone. Go Nashville! Now we have HOT serranos!

Hey Gringo, about Cactus...Part 2

Back to the cactus You will be looking to buy the one on the left not the right. Do you see the difference?
As food, cactus is available year-round. Cactus leaves are at their peak in the spring when their young tender paddle-shaped leaves give off a juicy cactus flavor which is something like eating a string bean, bell pepper and a hint of lemon. When these cleaned flat leaves are cut into small pieces or strips they are called Nopalitos. To order a plate of nopalitos in an authentic Mexican restaurant, you will receive an omelet of cactus and egg.

To make your own cactus meal, you will need to shop a Mexican market where you can purchase fresh cactus (look for the smallest, most tender) or sometimes you will find the cactus cleaned and diced in a zip-lock bag. You don't need much. "It goes a long way."

Here in Nashville, I get excited when I pass by the front yard of a home where someone has been nurturing a flat-leaf cactus plant (Yay!!) and it has new tender leaves. I try to remember where it just in case I get hungry for a fresh cactus omelet--- A knife blade, a bag and darkness...that's all I need.

Instructions to Prepare Cactus: When you purchase cactus, be sure to wash it before you slice and dice it. If you wash it after you cut it, the water will act like okra juice--viscous and stringy. (No matter, throw it in anyway! ha!) Use a heavy skillet on medium high heat. Add a little flavorful margarine to saute a small fist-full of diced onion. After a couple of minutes, add a large fist full of fresh cleaned diced cactus. After cooking together for about another 3 minutes, add a sprinkle of garlic powder and about half a cup of average-size cut fresh cilantro leaves. When all of this has meld for another 2 minutes on medium high heat, add about 4-6 well beaten fresh eggs and lower the temperature to finish cooking the egg. Add salt to taste at this time. If you like spicy flavor, add some hot sauce to taste. Delicioso! Serve on toast or tortillas or just eat as is.

Hey Gringo! Let me tell you about Cactus...

Cactus Leaves or Nopales (noh-PAH-lehs) are leaves that make up a Mexican flat leaf cactus called nopal.

In Mexico these cactus are readily visible as very large living barriers to separate one property from another. Cattle ranchers have used walls of this flat-leaf cactus as hedges all around their homes. They are also an inexpensive fence for ranchers to use to keep their cattle from crossing a road.
For example, after the Pan American Highway that goes from Texas through Mexico to Central America was built, many a tourist, going 50 miles an hour around a corner, had been "taken out" by a cow or a horse that just happened to be crossing the Pan Am Highway. There was a lot of safety complaints so Mexico had large tunnels built under the Pam Am so that Mexican ranchers and their cattle could cross this Highway without fear of losing the cattle or the rancher's life.
Matter of fact, I have a lawyer uncle who lived in Mexico City and boasted that he drove his American Cadillac 100 miles an hour through Mexico. In the 1970's, he and his wife were "taken out" on a secondary highway in Northern Mexico--the authorities thought it was done by an animal, but nothing was left except a broken speedometer that read 100--but that's another story.

Check out more about cactus: www.sierramadrecactus.ca/

This book is a very good read if you love music and Nashville. As I read, it gave me more insight into My Lady, her visionary husband and her very talented daughter.

My daughter was also part of the history involved from 1994 through 1999. She was part of the Blair Music Scholarships that were available for Pre-College high school students. My Kid auditioned and received the Blair Myra Jackson and Potter Scholarships her four years of high school. She was in the Nashville Repertory Orchestra and the Nashville Youth Symphony. Cassie found her at a Nashville Symphony clinic for middle school children when my Kid was in the 7th grade. Her instrument was the clarinet and Cassandra Lee, Nashville Symphony clarinetist, asked to teach her personally. Cassie told me she was really impressed with my Kid because she knew how to "tongue" which was a scary thought for this Mom.

Her senior high school year, My Kid won generous Vanderbilt Scholarships for four years to go to Blair School of Music or Vanderbilt. She had already been on this campus for 5 years learning music, but had a desire to be a doctor. I knew it was time to move on to another university. We bartered using Blair's offer and as a result, my Kid went to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA with 5 Scholarships and Grants when Carnegie matched and surpassed what Blair had offered. To her success she minored in Music Performance in the School of Arts and majored in Biology in the School of Science--working both two separate degrees at the same time which Carnegie Mellon University welcomed.

My Funeral Instructions...for the record!

In 3 hours I will be 66 and expect to cause trouble into my 80's; but I got this list of questions recently and decided to type them out tonight FOR THE RECORD!
This was a good suggestion in the Tennessean to discuss death and funerals:
I hope you use these suggestions so that you know how I’d like my Memorial (funeral) handled:

• Full name Sylvia Jeanne Westrup

• Date and place of birth: May 12, 1944 San Antonio, Texas, USA
• Parents’ names: Henry de los Santos Westrup and Agnes Quinones Westrup
• Preferred funeral home: Christian
• Whether you want to be cremated and if so what you want to be done with your ashes: Cremated and put in a large gum container and buried secretly at night in Shelby Park. Then it will be Mom's Park! ha!(Maybe next to Jerry the bird.)
• Where you want to have your funeral service: Wherever I die...
• Where you would like to be buried..in Shelby Park or a park where I live.
• What readings you would like to have included: Bible: The return of Christ where we all will be raised to meet Jesus in the air.
• What songs or hymns you would like: Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus, again and again and again. Hum it at first, then sing it softly, and then have everyone join in...sounds like fun.
• What you would like to wear: cremated first, buried, then the Memorial. Bright colors for those attending! A joyous occasion!
• What, if anything you want to be buried with you: a small rock, of course.
• What you would like to have on your grave marker: No grave marker, Kiddo
• What kind of flowers you prefer: Give money in lieu of flowers (for the cremation).
• Any other special instructions: Make it a celebration because I will be watching and don't want to be bored...ha! I could use a Banner written in English Text at front table that says,"The shell has been cremated, the Nut has gone to be with Jesus." I always loved that thought!!!
• Suggested pallbearers: None needed.
• People who should be notified at the time of death and their contact information: Whoever is alive who would care.

If I am in an accident, let the relatives know that I loved them dearly. My dream death is being found dead with earphones on listening to my favorite music. If I am old and die a natural death, let anyone know that it was about time...ja!

Just remember that I am with Jesus so this should NOT be hard. Keep Him first in your life. Remember that death is just the doorway to be with Jesus, then you should be happy! I am now and I will be when it happens. I love you and today I am 66 and waiting for those Kids you, Jen, will have so that I can spoil them.

The Nashville Flood. May 2, 2010.

Yes, Nashville has had a devastating flood but it did not receive much media news because there was no looting, no violence, and people were helpful to each other to save lives in the flood. As you see, it did not match the criteria for news media today. However, there is 1.5 billion dollars worth of repairs not counting the millions of dollars for the Opryland Hotel and conference center which will be out 300,000 visitors for the next 6 months.
However, Nashville is back! Electricity is back on and soon our second sewer processing plant will be up and running so I can wash my car. ha. Seems little compared to the thousands of people who have been affected in Middle Tennessee. God is Good! Only lost about 11 people due to the flood.
Check out the video The Nashville Flood. May 2, 2010 on You Tube.
The cow pictured that ended up on the roof as the waters subsided, reportedly fell off and is doing well as you can see. Ha. Reminds me of a story my Mom told me about when she was a little girl and San Antonio, Texas flooded. Her family had to escape, but when they all returned to the house after the water subsided, Mom says that they went inside the house and found their dog on top of an armoire (clothing closet furniture before closets were built in) waiting to be rescued. ha.
I was little when I heard that story, but it impressed me. She tried to explain how it happened, but I never got it until I saw this cow on this roof...then I remembered the story. The Lord permits us to keep things in the back of our heads. Hopefully it is for our good and not anger or regret that will surface when you least expect it. I guess that it why it is always good not to go to bed Angry...that stuff will surface...when you least expect it. Click on: The Nashville Flood. May 2, 2010.

Nashville Under Water 5/1/2010

Opryland Hotel suffered serious rain damage in Nashville. It will take 6 months for the Hotel and Conference Center to be brought up to working again.



After 2 days and 13 inches of rain, Nashville was flooded last week. It has taken a week to dry out. Schools are still closed. The Cumberland River flooded downtown which the mayor says is about a billion dollars damage.

Silent Knight is what it says...

Well, this is a new experience for me. The Silent Knight is a pill crusher. In the Nursing Home, the nurse puts a pill in the little bag, ties it with a rubber band and places it behind the black part of the metal. He or she then proceeds to push down on the handle again and again and again to pulverize the dickens out of the poor little pill. (I have seen chimpanzees on nature shows get the same results with a large rock.)
This process can be for administering something as simple as Tylonol. After doing this, the pulverized Tylonol will then be placed in a spoon full of flavored sugar-free yogurt in a 2oz. cup. It will be thoroughly mixed and be given to the resident on a disposable spoon followed with a chaser of cold water through a flexible straw. This goes on all the time.
The "Silent" part of Silent Knight is a joke. The nurses are heard and seen slamming it down to break up a variety of obstinate little pills. The noise is heard by the residents in their rooms down the hall and are known to say "Come In!" repeatedly.
BTW: McDonald straws do not bend.

Just about the time you think you have eaten most things...

I went into my neigh bor hood Kroger grocery store for some California Roll Sushi. Those of you that eat it regularly know how good it is. However, facing me among the Sushi, in the refrigerated counter, was this Sea Breeze Salad that was bright green. The girl behind the counter told me that it had agar agar and jelly fish in it.
Regarding the jelly fish-- well, since I have been stung by jellys while swimming in the Gulf, I thought it would be poetic justice to take a bite out of one of them. Ha.
At home, after I gingerly had eaten most of this salad, I Googled "agar" and found out that it is a "gelatinous substance derived from red algae." However, to my surprise, I also found out that it is used as a laxative. Oh great?
Surprisingly, it was very good. Crunchy, kinda sweet and tart; but the thin long crunchy strips kept getting caught in my teeth. Ha!
Reminded me of when I was a kid and kept losing the coin toss bets with my younger brother who is 6 years older. (I think it was rigged cause he thought it was so funny) Every time I lost the coin toss, I had to eat a chocolate square of the New York Macy's chocolate covered ants. Their little legs and antennae kept getting caught in my teeth-- frankly, a little like eating coconut.
By the way, try the Sea Breeze Salad...it's a tasty experience.

That's What I Get for Offering...

Very early this morning, I wheeled My Lady over to her usual table and sat down with her. Due to a blank look on her face, I thought I would offer my new Spanish "People" magazine for her to page through. I was excited since I had just gotten it in yesterday's mail. However, I wanted to finish reading my AARP leaflet and did not notice that she was folding and creasing each page. Ha! What is that about?
I just let her do this until she got tired of it. :( Oh well.
It is just a new creased magazine. No problema.

Why Is This Funny Lookin'?

Today I was crossing the parking lot at Kroger Grocery. I looked down and laughed out loud. I remember that as I was growing up, I would see newsprint cartoons with a banana drawn that looked just like the one in this photo. Someone drawn would always walk up on it and slip.
However, it was so large and obvious that in "real life" it would not be natural to slip on it. After I laughed, I had to stop and take a photo of it. ha! Looked like a set-up. Am I on Candid Camera??