Thursday's Thoughts and Friday's Favorites

Good morning!
Today I am taking my computer in now that the part is here and while my computer is being rebuilt I am going to be grandparenting my little earth angel Gretchen .
I enjoy each moment I am able to share with her she is my heart...
I have made some french onion soup for our supper and some ginger cookies for dessert!
I may be a few days away due to the computer re-build so I will post Friday's favorites as well.

           Laurie's Ginger Cookies

http://www.flickr.com/photos/84143785@N00/2417291404

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup of butter
1/2 cup - 1 cup crystallized ginger minced (amount depends on how strong you like your ginger flavor)
1 large pinch of ground cardamom
1 small pinch of nutmeg
1 small pinch of black pepper (if you like a spicier cookie)
1 cup of white sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup dark molasses
1/3 cup cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F
Sift your flour, ground ginger, baking soda,cardamom,cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper together in a bowl,mix and set aside.
In large bowl cream together the shortening, butter and sugar add egg,molasses, crystallized ginger.
Gradually add the flour mixture until soft dough forms.
Roll into balls about 1" in diameter, flatten ball gently with fingers in cinnamon sugar to coat each side.
Place 2" apart on cookie sheet
Bake for 7-10 minutes, top of cookie will have small cracks when done.
Enjoy!
I will to be back very soon, in the mean time take the time to enjoy the small pleasures in life...it is too short to rush through without taking notice of the world around you and it's beauty,be sure to share it with someone you love, until later my friends.

Wednesday's Wish

Good morning all!
I hope that this post finds you all well.
Today I am going to share my wish with you in the form of a poem.
I did not write this poem it is one that has been around for many years, it has touched my heart and expresses my feelings so well, I share it with you today...

* I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.

* I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.

* I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.

* I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.

* I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

* I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

* I wish enough hello's to get you through the final goodbye.

My friends, I wish you enough! ---

Lazy Tuesday

Good morning!
I hope this post finds you and yours well.

I awoke this morning to find I had slept  until 9am!
I have no idea why I slept so long, 10 hours and I usually sleep for 4-5 if  I am lucky!
How many hours of sleep do you require?

Today I am not planning on doing a whole lot except clean out and organize a few cupboards as I am still feeling tired if you can believe it.

I had my first feed of corn of the season last night, and it was delicious!
Funny how that makes me feel a bit sad when I see the local corn ready, it tells me that the summer has only a few weeks left...I do love the summer months.

I enjoy the fall weather too, I enjoy the beautiful colours that the autumn brings,
the wonderful harvest of vegetables and of course the apples.

In the fall I start shopping for the items I will need to do my Christmas baking, picking up a few things each week until my cupboard is full of all the ingredients I will need to fill my christmas cookie orders.
What does the start of corn season mean to you? 

Craving Daddy's Chip Dip

All weekend I have been craving a chip dip my Dad makes and plan on making it very soon for company.
I know he will not mind if I share it with you.
                       
   Daddy's Chip Dip

1 tub of sour cream
4 small dill pickles chopped fine
3 buds of garlic chopped fine or one heaping of pre-minced garlic
12 olives chopped fine
1 small onion chopped fine or 3 green onions chopped fine which ever you prefer
4-6 teaspoons of dill pickle juice (or more if you like)
salt and pepper to taste
Mix together and refrigerate for atleast an hour.
Enjoy!

 Good morning!
I am back until Thursday, when the parts for my computer should be here.
I will be sure to post Friday's Favorites on Thursday  afternoon before I take my computer in again.
I hope I won't be away for more than a few days and will be looking forward to returning...alas I am addicted!

As  most of you know by now I have been making numerous trips to the doctor and hospital for the last 15 months trying to determine what is causing the pain I have been dealing with.

Due to the fact that I already have IBS I at first figured that was the problem until I started having symptoms that could not be attributed to that and then after having to go to the emergency room they discovered after a CAT Scan that I have acute epiploic appendagitis, unfortunately  that is suppose to come in attacks as does the irritable bowel and the pain continued my family doctor was wonderful and booked every known test to find out what was going on with me.

Now after many tests and specialist appointments I was lucky enough to have a student doctor point out something that noone else noticed, my Superior Mesentric Artery is blocked, this is the artery that comes from the aorta and feeds the bowel and intestines so even though my appointment with the vascular surgeon is a month and a half away I am very thankful to that student doctor for being so observant and finding this out as I was to the point where I truly was considering putting myself out of my misery with no end in sight to the pain I have been suffering.
I thank God for answering my prayers and sending me in the right direction to be diagnosed.
I am sure my family is sick of hearing me complain...I know I am sick of complaining.
If any of you have heard of this or can offer some advice on dealing with the pain for the next month and a half (meds do not touch the pain as it is like an angina attack but in the abdomen and nitro spray doesen't work for that) I would be truly thankful for the advice.
I am going to post links to both the sites for the Epiploic Appendagitis and Mesentric Artery Ischemia  for anyone that is interested in learning more about these conditions.

I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday !

http://www.mssurg.net/Team5Conferences/2005-6/Epiploic%20Appendagitis.pdf
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/191451-overview

Absence

Well I changed my IP and my son is building me a new computer and needs this one for a few parts so I will be away for the remainder of the week, hopefully I will be back on-line by the weekend.
Have a great week, bye for now!

The Waiting Game

Good morning!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

I have big plans for the day...laundry and making the rounds looking after my girlfriend's cats and my parent's cat as well as doing some banking and grocery shopping and if there is time out to weed the much neglected gardens.
It was too hot to cut the grass last week and the heavy rain we received made it much too wet so now it will be quite a chore to cut it as it is more than ankle high out there so it will take priority over the weedy gardens.

What are your plans for this sunny Monday?