Hatfield House (in the city)

Pondering Things

Friday 5th September

Taco Soup

Believe it or not...IT'S SEPTEMBER!!  Those cooler temps are on the way!  I LOVE fall...it's my FAVORITE time of year!!  Along with those falling temperatures that invite us to pull on our favorite sweaters, collect pumkins, go on hayrides and build bonfires comes my desire to make wonderful, hearty soups and stews!  One of our family's favorite cold weather soups is Taco Soup!!  Oh...it is yummy, stustaining, it's even attractive to look at in your bowl.    I hope you enjoy it!!

Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><

TACO SOUP

1 lb. ground beef or chuck
1/2  med. onion - finely chopped
1 lg. bunch of fresh cilantro - finely chopped
4-6 jalapeno peppers (depending on your taste buds & stomach lining!) - finely chopped
2 15-16 oz. cans kidney beans (UNdrained)
2 14-15 oz. cans whole kernal corn (UNdrained)
1 15-16 oz. can black beans (optional)
2 15 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 pkg (1-1/2 TB) taco seasoning
1 c. water

~ Brown beef, drain; add onion, peppers, 1/2 of the cilantro and cook until onions and peppers start to get tender.
~ Mix everything together in a dutch oven OR crockpot.
~ Heat through in dutch oven for 45 min. - 1 hour OR in crockpot for 2-3 hours on low.
~ Top with shredded cheddar or colby-jack cheese, sour cream and corn tortilla chips crumbled like crackers.

Crafting...

Sarah Palin

Daily Devotion 248

No Manners, No Eye Contact, and a Permissmon Face

I did some light shopping this last Sunday after church at the Super Wal-Mart.  We weren't in the store long, but while there, I noticed several people that I just wanted to toss on the ground and tickle till they laughed and couldn't breath.  LOL  I mean there were people in that store that look at you while pushing their cart and if looks could kill, I would have been 6 feet under!!!  ONe old lady had the most sour persimmon, or maybe lemon face on.  She looked at everyone with her nose wrinkled and her brow wrinkled and an awful look on her face and "Do not even try to make me smile" was virtually written across her forehead.  After passing her and making sure no one was looking, I tried to make the face she was making, and it honestly HURT!!!  My forehead and brow hurt from making that face.  I can't imagine how badly her face must hurt after hours and days, possibly months and years, after making that face continuously.

I try to be polite in crowded areas like this, and even if it is not my fault, will always say, oh excuse me ma'am, or excuse me sir when I walk past them, or have to swueeze up the aisle. But I get the stare down when I do.  As if, what the H#%& do you want lady???   When I am walking up an aisle and someone is in the middle of it, I will try to move over and wait until they are done to pass them, and I try not to take up a whole aisle while looking for my own purchases.  It is amazing how you can come up an aisle and all of a sudden, the woman who was so nicely helping her daughter pick out just the right kind of hairspray, will push her cart in the middle of the aisle blocking your passage, and not only that, but give you the look, as if to say, "I was here first!!!  You can just wait until we are good and ready to leave!!!!"   I see parents letting their children drive grocery carts like they are little racecars all over the aisles without supervision, and think, shouldn't you have to have a lisence to drive one of these?? LMSO  Shouldn't you be mature enough to handle all that power first, or possibly shouldn't the parents PAY ATTENTION TO THEIR CHILDREN AND DISCIPLINE THEM A LITTLE?????  I mean most parents just smile at you when their child almost side swipes you with a cart!!!!

Now when I first starting telling hubby this when we had finished our mini shopping spree and were headed home, he made a comment that older adults are treated so poorly by most, that maybe they think you are going to treat them with the same disrepect.  Then I told them, no no, these were not mature eldery people on medicare.  No no, I have fun visiting with them in the store.  They usually light up when they see Noah and he waves at them, and if I say hi to them they just beam and ask me all sorts of friendly questions about Noah and is he talking, how old is he, etc.  No, these were people between their 40-60 maybe.  These were people that are old enough to know better.  People who I am sure if their own parents were alive, would have repremanded for acting so selfishlessly and ignorant in public.

Let me also add that in my case, it is mostly the women who are treating me and acting like this.  I don't understand it.  Now, there have been a few men who have given the death glare, but most are nice and polite and say excuse me ma'am, or will move out of the way for you to come down an aisle when needed.  I think it is mostly gentlmanly politeness, and maybe it is simply because I am a woman, but I enjoy it, and I thoroughly expect my husband to be like that with other women!!!  He opens doors for me, but for other women as well.  If we were on a bus and there was no place for a woman to sit, he would stand up and let her sit while he stood next to me.  I want him to be polite and help a little lady out if she has dropped her groceries in the parking lot, and I have seen him do it before too!!

So tell me ladies, have any of you experienced this same thing??? 

Please make sure, at any age, that you are not one of these sour puss faced ladies!!!  Remember when you are out and about, that you are supposed to be showing them who you are, a Child of God.  Show them the love and respect, and unselfishness that God would want you to.  Even if you only see that person for 5 seconds, make sure you are polite and they remember your smile and kindness instead of your sourpuss face and rudeness!!!

In fact, even when I am in line at the store, I make sure to speak politely to the check out guy or girl.  I have watched while standing in line how rude customers can be.  Crossing their arms and huffing and puffing and complaining about how long of a wait they have, and whispering loud enough I can hear, so I know the check out gal hears them as well, about how slow she is.  I started thinking one day about how they must get that all day long!!!  Or the people who just see them as "woking class" and don't think they have it in them to speak to someone who is "beneath" them on the ladder of success.  Yeah, I have seen this many times in line as well.  You can tell they want to hurry up and get out of there and hopes no one talks to them before they do.    I have found out that I get better service where I shop or eat when I speak to the check out lady or the waitress.  If I see a name tag, I will call her by name and say, sorry you got stuck with me in your line today, I have 2 carts worth of groceries!!!  LOL  (We shop monthly)  And that usually breaks the ice, and she will repond with no problem, its my job or something.  I will ask her when she gets off work and what she plans on doing after work.  This usually gives me a little information about her, whether she is going home to fix dinner for hubby and the kids, or whether she is going home to do homework, etc.  I just keep light conversation while she is checking me out, and I always try to say thanks for taking care of my groceries for me, and tell her to have a nice day before going.  I always leave her with a smile, and even the most sullen faced, tired, aggrivated check out gal, or waitress will return my smile by the time I leave.

So, my other question is, do you converse with people at the store, or the resturant??? Or do you treat them like workers, and that this job is theirs to do??  Oh how I hope you all are the first!!!  Remember these servers and clerks are people too!!!  They work hard for the money to take home.  They leave their family and friends to work and deliver your food and sack yoru groceries!!!  Don't treat them like you have absolutely no appreciation for what they do.

Just think about it next time you go into a resturant to eat our, or the next time you go into a store, whether it be a large chain store, or a small mom and pop store, to be personable.

Finally a Pair of Overalls That Fit (Especially for you Pregnant Gals!!)

I am so sorry, but I could not resist!!!  LOL  The first thing I thought of when I saw this was, that would come in handy while 8-9 months pregnant!  LOL   Ok, I am not sorry!!!!  LOL  I think it is hilarious.

For anyone who sees this and might be offended:

Get over it!!!! LOL  Loosen up a little and have a great laugh once in a while.  And wipe that stern look off your face.  LMSO   I crack myself up!!!  I really do.

Carl's Garden

Carl's Garden

Carl was a quiet man.  He didn't talk much.  He would always greet you with a big smile and a firm handshake.

Even after living in our neighborhood for over 50 years, no one could really say they knew him very well.

Before his retirement, he took the bus to work each morning. The lone sight of him walking down the street often worried us.

He had a slight limp from a bullet wound received in WWII.

Watching him, we worried that although he had survived WWII, he may not make it through our changing uptown neighborhood with its ever-increasing random violence, gangs, and drug activity.

When he saw the flyer at our local church asking for volunteers for caring for the gardens behind the minister's residence, he responded in his characteristically unassuming manner. Without fanfare, he just signed up.

He was well into his 87th year when the very thing we had always feared finally happened.

He was just finishing his watering for the day when three gang members approached him.  Ignoring their attempt to intimidate him, he simply asked, 'Would you like a drink from the hose?'

The tallest and toughest-looking of the three said, 'Yeah, sure,' with a malevolent little smile.

As Carl offered the hose to him, the other two grabbed Carl's arm, throwing him down.  As the hose snaked crazily over the ground, dousing everything in its way, Carl's assailants stole his retirement watch and his wallet, and then fled.

Carl tried to get himself up, but he had been thrown down on his bad leg.  He lay there trying to gather himself as the minister came running to help him.

Although the minister had witnessed the attack from his window, he couldn't get there fast enough to stop it.

'Carl, are you okay? Are you hurt?' the minister kept asking as he helped Carl to his feet.

Carl just passed a hand over his brow and sighed, shaking his head.  'Just some punk kids.  I hope they'll wise-up someday.'

His wet clothes clung to his slight frame as he bent to pick up the hose.  He adjusted the nozzle again and started to water.

Confused and a little concerned, the minister asked, 'Carl, what are you doing?'  'I've got to finish my watering.  It's been very dry lately,' came the calm reply.

Satisfying himself that Carl really was all right, the minister could only marvel.  Carl was a man from a different time and place.

A few weeks later the three returned. Just as before their threat was unchallenged.  Carl again offered them a drink from his hose.

This time they didn't rob him. They wrenched the hose from his hand and drenched h im head to foot in the icy water.

When they had finished their humiliation of him, they sauntered off down the street, throwing catcalls and curses, falling over one another laughing at the hilarity of what they had just done.

Carl just watched them. Then he turned toward the warmth giving sun, picked up his hose, and went on with his watering.

The summer was quickly fading into fall Carl was doing some tilling when he was startled by the sudden approach of someone behind him.  He stumbled and fell into some
evergreen branches.

As he struggled to regain his footing, he turned to see the tall leader of his summer tormentors reaching down for him.  He braced himself for the expected attack.

'Don't worry old man, I'm not gonna hurt you this time.'

The young man spoke softly, still offering the tattooed and scarred hand to Carl.  As he helped Carl get up, the man pulled a crumpled bag from his pocket and handed it to Carl .

'What's this?' Carl asked.  'It's your stuff,' the man explained .  'It's your stuff back.  Even the money in your wallet.'  'I don't understand,' Carl said. 'Why would you help me now?'

The man shifted his feet, seeming embarrassed and ill at ease.  'I learned something from you,' he said. 'I ran with that gang and hurt people like you we picked you because you were old and we knew we could do it  But every time we came and did something to you, instead of yelling and fighting back, you tried to give us a drink. You didn't hate us for hating you.  You kept showing love against our hate.'  

He stopped for a moment. 'I couldn't sleep after we stole your stuff, so here it is back.'

He paused for another awkward moment, not knowing what more there was to say. 'That bag's my way of saying thanks for straightening me out, I guess.' And with that, he walked off down the street.

Carl looked down at the sack in his hands and gingerly opened it.  He took out his retirement watch and put it back on his wrist. Opening his wallet, he checked for his wedding photo. He gazed for a moment at the young bride that still smiled back at him from all those years ago.

He died one cold day after Christmas that winter.  Many people attended his funeral in spite of the weather.

In particular the minister noticed a tall young man that he didn't know sitting quietly in a distant c orner of the church.

The minister spoke of Carl's garden as a lesson in life.

In a voice made thick with unshed tears, he said, 'Do your best and make your garden as beautiful as you can. We will never forget Carl and his garden.'

The following spring another flyer went up. It read: 'Person needed to care for Carl's garden.'

The flyer went unnoticed by the busy parishioners until one day when a knock was heard at the minister's office door.

Opening the door, the minister saw a pair of scarred and tattooed hands holding the flyer. 'I believe this is my job, if you'll have me,' the young man said.

The minister recognized him as the same young man who had returned the stolen watch and wallet to Carl

He knew that Carl's kindness had turned this man's life around. As the minister handed him the keys to the ga r den shed, he said, 'Yes, go take care of Carl's garden and honor him.'

The man went to work and, over the next several years, he tended the flowers and vegetables just as Carl had done.

During that time, he went to college, got married, and became a prominent member of the community.  But he never forgot his promise to Carl's memory and kept the garden as beautiful as he thought Carl would have kept it.

One day he approached the new minister and told him that he couldn't care for the garden any longer.  He explained with a shy and happy smile, 'My wife just had a baby boy last night, and she's bringing him home on Saturday.'

'Well, congratulations!' said the minister, as he was handed the garden shed keys.  'That's wonderful!  What's the baby's name?'

'Carl,' he replied.

Still Praying for No Sicknesses!!!!!!!!!!

Noah went right to bed last night, after the second time he threw up and I had to change him, and the bedding.  Bless his heart.  He is so good about it though.  LOL  He was confused as to where his favorite stuffies and pillows and blankies were but most were dry adn ready to go for his naptime today adn he was so happy about that.  I told him at naptime, we needed to go get Rusty and Cat, etc. out of the dryer, and as soon as I opened the dryer door (wish we could have hung them to dry, but it has been raining and chilly here for the last 4-5 days) he almost crawled in!  LOL  He found Rusty and cat immediately, and I found his taggie blankie (a present from my mom at Christmas before she died in March of the following year, so it is super special), and then buried under tons of other things was bunny.

So, no more sicknesses last night, and I feel fine, but we are still covering the household in prayers of good health.  It sounds silly to some that we pray for this, but it works!!!  Last year when Noah and I got the flu for the second time, Matthew pranced around the house praying and quoting scriptures and claiming health and wellness for himself.  I sked him if he wanted me to sleep on the couch so I didn't "breath" on him.  LOL  It is silly, but I didn't want him to get sick either!!!  He said no of course not.  Breath on me baby, my God is keeping my health for me even if you breath on me all night long.  He didn't get that flu either.  He used to get EVERY cold, sickness, runny nose, flu, etc. even if he was only with that person for 15 minutes.   Prayer works people.

So, today I went to the Health Department for my "official" weight check and blood pressure check (I go in weekly), and blood pressure was peachy, and the official numbers on weight loss is 15.  My unofficial amount at home is 18 and this is because..............I have to wear clothes when I go to the health department. LMSO  It is chilly here today so, I was bundled a little more than usuall.  I figure 2-3 pounds of that is clothing.  And then, upon leaving, I treated myself to a fish sandwich adn a small orange pop at McDonald's. LOL    Anyway, the other reason we were there is to get our vouchers for WIC for Noah.  He is underweight. and ai had to jump through a few hops, but Doc suggested I get him signed up with WIc adn they would pay for the Pediasure he wants him on.  So, I came home today with almost $100 of the 24 oz Pediasure bottles in every flavor they have for.....................FREE!!!!!!!!  I am so thankful for this too, because we simply don't have the money to spend over $100 on just drinks for Noah.  This high calorie drink should pack on some pounds hopefully.  And yes, we feed him lots of protein (he loves peanut butter), but he still isn't gaining.  So, we will see how this works for Noah in the next few months.

Noah and I are staying home tonight and Matthew is planning on stayin in town after work adn going straight to Bible Study and then come home.  Noah's schedule has been off today since he didn't get to be for real sleep until after 11pm last night, and since we both slept in late today as well.  So he is taking a late nap, and I will get him up in 1 hour instead of two.  Hopefully by this weekend, we can get him back on schedule.

Well, that's all for now.  I will check in on all of you soon!!