The Last Lecture

I have been re-listening to an audio book.  The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch..  In the book Randy fleshes out his Last Lecture at Carnegie Mellon University.  His title , Really achieving your childhood dreams.  The link to the live lecture is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

It is over an hour long but well worth watching.   The book is a background story for his children.  Randy died July 25, 2008 from pancreatic cancer.  But the lessons he teaches are pertaint and timeless.

The brick wall

One topic is the brick wall.  He talks about  brick walls, and how they are placed in front of you to prove how badly you want something.  If you cannot figure out a way to penetrate or go around the wall then you do not want (it) something {anything} badly enough.    Randy so wanted to leave a memoir for his children that he manages to write this book!!

This has made me reflect on my own brick walls. What are they and how have I dealt with them.  Sometimes I managed to surpass the wall.  At other times in my life the wall has won.  Is that a karma thing?  I believe in fate and karma so I guess that when the wall won… it wasn’t meant to be.

Randy is an inspirational person.  He is loyal to his wife and children and insisting on making the best of every day till the end.  Thus the book.  He was pondering the question;  how do I teach my children the lessons I would have taught them had I grown to old age?   The book is a memoir for his children so that they can know their dad, and perhaps answer questions they may have about him.

Randy was a warm compassionate and entertaining teacher.  He leaves a legacy of inspiration, imagination, and research.  Yes research!!  He was terrifically brilliant and I believe his legacy of virtual reality research will live on..

I almost finished the book yesterday.  Its on  my i pod.  I will complete it today and then perhaps in the next day or two I will re-watch the you tube lecture.

The lesson I am taking away from his memoir is being true to your self, working a way around the brick wall, and that loyalty and integrity are not old fashioned and need to be present in every day life.  He also illustrates that manners and politeness are extremely helpful in obtaining your ultimate goal.

I had a college professor or two that illustrated Randy’s values.  Randy, I wish there were more like you and hope  my children will meet up with inspirational profs in their college careers.

Blessings to all.  Give this book a read, either in print or audio.  If you have time go to the you tube video.  But have the tissues handy!

By the way after you watch the video leave a comment and tell me what you think!!

I miss my Kids!!

I love having the kids around….  I miss them and they have only been gone 36 hours!!.  I don’t think I will ever get over this.  There are days I just want to choke them…  [not all at once]  But for the record.  I wish they all lived at home with me!!   Mom….  I love that word.  When they start a sentence with mom my heart melts.  It flashes back memories when they just hugged you with all their heart.

I know and understand that they HAVE to leave home.  I did!…  Its part of growing up.  Its part of becoming self sufficient and a natural progression of life.  But I must say that I wish for those fun days of the past!!

I want to hunt fossils,  swim, take  photo hikes, watch Margaret dance, take the boys skate boarding,  meet in Vermont for a ski trip and more!!

So I began a bucket list for me…  I have to keep busy somehow.  I am not a sit in front of the tv kinda person.  I watch a bit of TV.  But if you ask me about American Idol, You think you can dance and that other dance competition dance show {cannot remember the name} forget about it.  I just do not watch them.  I like the crabby fisherman and NCIS…  That is it!!..

Back to the bucket….  I LOVE pets.  So Miss Inky joined our family

Miss Inky!

After Miss Inky, Miss Isabella Wiggles joined the fray…  Yes fray…  She certainly livened up the house and the kids!!..

Miss Isabella Wiggles

Bella is definitely high energy and she just loves her mommy..  meeeee  and she will never leave!!  I think that is why perhaps empty nesters like dogs and pets!!  They are enormously good company!!  I have wanted a dog for the last 30 years….  So perhaps Bella will be my only dog in my adult life.

I wanted to knit…  I already knew how to sew, smock, embroider…  knitting was just the next thing.

Felted slippers!!

First pair of socks!!

Then I added Basket weaving….  I have dabbled a bit in that…

I would like to learn to spin…  So there is a spinning wheel on my bucket list but its kinda down on the  bottom of the bucket.  But I am learning to drop spindle.  Its an inexpensive way to try spinning!!

Jeri Brock Turkish Whorl

I have not made any yarn I am willing to show  a photograph of.  The spindle is out on loan to Bev.  Hopefully she will be able to critique me and tweak my technique so that I can get a knit-able piece of yarn from this!!  lol

I guess these are the kind of activities that empty nesters engage in.    I would not get into any of this if my kids were around…..  I would be busy taking care of my wonderful family!!

Cheers!! …….. Kiss the kids!!

Easter Monday

Ooooh   Aaahhhhhhh….  The Easter Holidays are over!!  I love it when all the kids are home….   I really like the mayhem and hub-bub of the comings and goings…

A lot of preparation occurs when the kids are around….  mostly food prep!!  One of the dishes is Homus {pronounced hum-mos}  Its real easy and a great filler for meals.  Its also a great  snack for the kids at any time of day!!

Assemble the ingredients!!

I put the ingredients into the food processor, and just turn it on.  Let it run till the beans are nice and smooth

Throw it all in!!

Let it spin!!

The final look!!.

I can tell you that its all gone!!.  I made a second batch of this and on Monday its gone!!..  A lot was eaten but the rest was sent in care packages back to school with the kids!!  They are great left over scavengers!!

Have an awesome day!!

Preparations…… for the Easter holiday!!

My kids will be home this weekend!!  YAY!!  Its Easter and while we not longer have visists from the rabbit its still fun to have them home.!!

There are a few food requests that are pretty standard …   Chocolate Mousse Cake is one.  I usually do not honor this request!!  It is a heart attack disguised as a succulent dessert!!

I thought I would play around with photographs of this delight but be warned….  They are just snapshots.  Nothing fancy, no pretty backgrounds and just my out of date kitchen counter and my stove top. I began with the Chocolate Mousse….

First I organize my helpers..... Inky agreed to keep track of where I was in the recipe!

My “helpers” had to be dealt with.  Inky thinks the entire household belongs to her.  So a thorough scouring of all surfaces precedes any cooking or baking!!

Bella prefers washing dishes to reading the recipe

Now that the tasks were assigned  its time to prepare the crust!!

Spring form pan

This recipe calls for a spring form pan.  I have several that I have lost over the years.  My favorite is this Aluminum one.  It works well.  After melting unsalted butter and making chocolate cookie crumbs out of chocolate cookies in my Cuisinart you mix  and them press onto the sides of  the spring form pan.  I place this pan in the freezer to harden while I prepare the rest of the mousse.

I am kinda a thrifty baker.  With limited cupboard space I have condensed my tools.  I plan to use this bowl to put the entire mousse together so why not melt the chocolate in it?  So while its not a traditional double boiler it works and saves time.

Next I separate the eggs.  I need 2 whole eggs and 4 yolks  to add to the melted chocolate.  The eggs need to be room temp or slightly warmer.  This I have found is the tricky part of the recipe.  The chocolate needs to be cooled a bit and the eggs need to be warmed a bit.  I put the whole eggs in a Pyrex measuring cup and place it in the hot water.  The water is not on the heat.  Just sitting on the stove.  So let the chocolate sit a bit and then go about warming up the eggs.  I do this with both the whole eggs and the yolks.  It makes the mixing of the eggs and chocolate easier.  The texture needs to be creamy.

Now its time to whip the egg whites and heavy cream.

Egg Whites

Now for the heavy cream

I am prepared to fold all in!!

Now I gently fold in the whipping cream and the egg whites.  Be gentle here!!  If you fold too vigorously you will loose the loft!  The idea is to keep this really light and fluffy!!

Now pour into the pan with the crust!!

Freezer ready!!

At this point you can freeze this.  I cut a round piece of tin foil and tightly cover.  I like to make this a couple of days early.  There are no short cuts in the cooling of the chocolate and keeping it smooth.  So its a fussy recipe.  Easy but fussy.    The day before I want to serve this I put it in the fridge.  It will slowly defrost and be ready for serving!!

Another fav is Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins.  This is a recipe I wrangled from a wonderful baking friend!!  While its kinda a fall recipe the kids ask for them year round.

We prefer mini muffins.  I hate muffin papers.  They just do not peel off a freshly baked muffin.  So I use a spray oil on my muffin pan and am happy not to have to purchase muffin papers.  One thing I have done is purchased a real nice heavy muffin pan.

Wilton muffin pan

I used to use dollar store pans but had issues with burning and uneven cooking.  A nice heavy pan spreads the heat evenly and baking results are predictable.

I like to assemble the ingredients

Muffins are a snap. The trick is not to over mix.

Let cool 2 or 3 minutes

I just spray the pan, mix the ingredients, plop mix into the pan and bake.  Between batches I wash the muffin tin.  When I re-bake I get burnt on oil.  So I wash and only spray enough openings to finish the mix.  Now usually 1 batch of these will not do.  But there will be plenty of other sweets in the house along with the healthy food.  So I am being stingy..  and only baking one batch.

Now perhaps you are wondering what do I do with the left over pumpkin?  I freeze it in sandwich bags in 1 cup quantities..  The next time I want to bake these I have pumpkin measured and waiting.!!   I do the same with shredded zucchini in the summer for Zucchini Bread!!

Have a wonderful holiday!

Feels like Sunday

Tuesday is the second day of my work week and it feels like the Sunday after working my usual 7 day shift.  Monday began with a vengeance!

Our team is short 1 co-worker.  That alone is difficult!!  The substitute went home sick.  AND to make matters worse the Emergency Dept and the hospital was in full tilt boogie!!  I mean just slamming.  I understand that the ER is unpredictable.  There are patients with real concerns and illness in the waiting area and the ambulances are double parked out back.

Meantime back at the ranch the floors were on double time with orders.  Most of the time if the ER is busy the floors seem to be at homeostasis, that means there is a steady flow of draws that can be handled as they come in.  The orders can be taken care of in a timely fashion and good service can be given to each patient and RN.

In a perfect world no one would be sick.  One aspect of our health care is that there are so many people out there that do not have a primary care physician.  That is a tragedy.  I have no answers nor helpful suggestions.

This is the situation…..  Health care in the US is broken.  I know its broken, I work in it and see it misused by some and off limits to many that really need its services.  As I stated before I have no idea how it can be fixed.

I know if many had a primary care physician that would be helpful.  I know that if the people with a sore throat or an earache went to a clinic or their primary that would help.  I also know that if you ask for a drink and you complain about the drink brought to you to the RN that is also attending to a heart attack, you need to go home.

If your turkey sandwich is soggy,  GO HOME!!  You are among the population of patients that perhaps would be better served at urgent care or better yet,  call your primary physician, call someone other than the ambulance to drive you there and follow Doctors orders, take the medication as prescribed and give said meds time to work.

Come to the ER if you have a stroke, heart attack, Chest pain,Bleeding from places that you should not bleed from, seizures, blood clots, intense migraines uncontrollable vomiting, the list of serious illness is endless.  Do not come if you have back pain, ear ache sore throat.

Become a part of the solution for health care in our country, utilize the emergency room for emergency and help the severely ill get the health care that they really need by calling your family doctor.

Rant over!

Props!!

As a professional Photographer I need props.  Some of the best props come from accomplished craftspeople.  I recently ran across Rachel Ewen.  She is an awesome knitter!!

On her Etsy shop are hand knit props for newborn photography!!       http://www.etsy.com/shop/WithEveryStitch?ref=pr_shop

Quality props are essential for quality photography.  Oddly enough I learned to knit so I could knit my own props…  Yes good luck with that  lol  Her diaper covers and cocoons are awesome!!  Talk about sweet hats..  Oh My!!

Soo I guess the moral of the story here is that even though I knit I think I may be heading over to With Every Stitch Etsy shop the next time I need newborn props for my studio!!  You should too!!