Good-bye!

Last night before going to sleep I made a "date" for my next birthday...sometime during the year!  FUN!

Tonight I leave you and we get on with our lives.  You may email me at ohappyday815@aol.com.  I'd love to hear from you.  If you have a different email address, continue to use the one you had.

I am truly blessed!  I thank God for having brought you and yours into my life.  nj

Baffled!

The month is ending, and the current situation at my house is just what I have been saying..."I am baffled!"  11:23 p.m., and the doorbell just rang.  Who was at the door?  A resident of the home who was told at 7:22 p.m., "No, you can't ride your bicycle to your friend's house, go to the basketball game, bicycle to the city park around the library, and then come home by 11:00 p.m.  You may be driven to the basketball game and even have your friend ride with you, via automobile.  And, you may call for a ride or walk home before 11:00 p.m."  

Child said, "That's alright."  And went downstairs...not to be seen again until 11:23 p.m.--ringing front doorbell!  Grandparents are out of town.  Grandfather has been gone all week.  Grandmother left this morning, after children left for school.  Mother is to be taking care of the children.  

Mother?  Yes, she has been here for a few days.  I can't recall, but blogs know, her coming and going this week.  She arrived one minute before five year older got off of school bus this afternoon and left with two younger children thirty minutes after nine year older was off the bus.  She not here and her babies ain't neither!  

Baffled!  Of course I am BAFFLED!  I hope you think I am insane for allowing such nonsense in my home.  Well, I thank you for reading me this month. 

Oh, 11:35 p.m. and doorbell rings again.  Nine year older.  "We couldn't get in the garage door."  [ The "we" is Mother and two babies.]  Why of course they couldn't...The alarms were on.  It is LATE!  

Aren't YOU SCREAMING..."What?"  My reply, "Baffled!"

Teenager is on phone with grandmother...long distance.  Mother was stunned when I told her a 30 second bit about the evening.  She KNOWS standards of acceptability for children's actions--in my house.  (Of course, we won't even start to explore where was Mother with babies.  Seriously, I won't go there.)  Baffled!

...for a moment I was knocked off of the internet!  Teenager still engaged in "the story" long distance with grandmother.  And, she is NOT innocent, even for the specifics of the evening.  There is some conversation that teenager talked with grandmother again after the "No!"  Let's just go with "Neither my older sister or I knew that he was not in the home.  And, we still don't know where he went tonight."  (Truth is:  I don't know HOW he left the home.)  Baffled...

Well, I didn't dial 9-1-1!  But, the grandmother phoned the local police--long distance?  She called me to tell me they might be over to the house???  I not certain WHY.  I not need police.  I need to prepare for bed so that my sister, nephew, and I can attend a workshop in the morning.

Really, I do have a couple of things to do for myself, and I need to check to see that my sister is in bed comfortably.  There is humor around me, even at times like this.  I really am calm...

OOPS!  My niece lost her wallet somewhere in her travels...and she is unglued.  But, is she putting her babies to bed?  I really do need to check on my sister and get on with the things I need to do before sleeping.  [Yesterday my sister, the grandmother, lost her house/car keys.  I don't know IF she located them prior to leaving town.]

I heard a strange noise...back to explaining something humorous.  Part of me was ready to race to another floor of the house to check out the unusual sound.  Turns out NJ left laminator running some time ago--earlier in the evening.  (Humor is...not everything that is out of order is beyond ME!  I need to remember to check myself and my actions, too!)

One person has offered me a solution to my being Baffled.  (Have family members leave home.)  Any other suggestions?  

I thank those of you who have told me of websites that I could share with others.  I thank those of you who have emailed words of wisdom.  I have a request...please pray for my household!

I am ending the blogging tomorrow!  I don't know what my special project will be for March, but for some reason I do think it will be really good...even grand!

Thank you so much for reading me this month...and there is still tomorrow!  God bless you.  Love, nj

P.S.  I phoned my sister and asked that she and her family move out of my house by the end of March!

Job Opportunities with FAA

For 18-31 year olders...

faa.gov/jobs/job_opportunities/airtraffic_controllers/

Pass it on!  nj

Cooperation, Sincerity, Purpose, Beauty...

Essential Mission...You have to have a longer view than the present moment.  You need to have a PLAN.  Not just a dictatorship, but collaboration is absolutely necessary in order to have success!

What the heck am I writing about?  I don't really know.  I lifted a few words from TV that is in the background and strung them into sentences.  I'd continue the process, but I don't think that is fair.

What would YOU do if you saw a woman with a child on the street, and she asked for money so that she could get some food to feed herself and her child?  They are hungry--right now.  This really happened to a friend of mine a long time ago.  Let's say she gave the woman $20.  Then she continued and did her errands.  When she returned, the woman was still there and had the same story.  My girlfriend told her she was going to "whip her ***" IF she didn't stop requesting monies at that location at that time.

A friend, another friend, interpreted the above scenario by saying "Your giving has nothing to do with the recipient and everything to do with YOU, at that moment.  When giving it is a matter of your desire to give, your personal need for what you give, and nothing much to do with whether or not the person needs the money or what they will do with the money."  It has everything to do with YOU.

A third person traditionally would take that person on the streets to a neighboring restaurant and get them some food.    This person would give the asking person FOOD.

Questions:  How would you have reacted many years ago?  What would you do today?  Baffled!

Suggest Recovery/Stimulus Projects for Your State

In Illinois look at...

recovery.illinois.gov/projectideas.cfm

Your state probably has a similar thing going on.  THIS is your opportunity to make suggestions for using the stimulus money that is coming to your state.  I have submitted two suggestions for my city/county.  The first is to have a Basic Carpentry Training Program for 50 Men, Women, and Young Adults.  The purpose would be to train them to do home repairs and home improvements.  Several homes would be done to aid in neighborhood stabilization.  20-50% of participants would be capable of getting jobs in the building trades within the year.  I think the future employment could be 20-100 people with jobs.  Cost--$1,000,000.  Partners would be local community college and high school.

The second project was a partnership between the state, biology department of the university, and local boy scouts.  What would be done?  Planting trees along the natural creek beds in our community and surrounding towns within the county.  My observation is that there are many mature trees in the woods that have fallen.  (I think ice storms last year might have caused the trees to fall down.)   For $800,000 I think 50 people can clean up the inorganic materials around the creek beds and plant new trees.  The estimate includes enough money to do some sampling of waters, soil, etc.  Also, there could be some identification of plants that haven't been seen since I was a child.  A bonus might be the finding of a few arrowheads.

Free Prescription Drugs

A friend said that IF your income is less than $40,000, you are probably eligible for FREE prescription drugs from monies set aside by the pharmaceutical companies.  What you are to do is look at the drug manufacturer's website and find out what their program/policy is.  You will then need to contact your doctor who probably already has the form for applying for the free medications.  If your medical bills are very high, your income could be $100,000 and you still be eligible for the free drugs.  

My niece came in today.  Baffled!

A Recipe for Banana Bread, Really!

White Banana Nut Bread

1 cup sugar 3 1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 cup oil 3 cups flour

2 T. soft butter 1 cup mashed bananas

1 egg 3/4 cup chopped nuts

1 tsp. salt

Mix together all of the above.  Pour into a greased pan and bake in a 350-degree oven for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Yield:  2 loaves.

I want you to have this recipe because...while out west I shared cookbooks with a few people.  Someone phoned me after receiving the book to tell me that they had made the white banana nut bread, and it was absolutely perfect.  This person bakes a lot, had not found a "best" recipe until this one for banana nut bread, and has a son who was going to win the national rib barbecue contest soon.

I haven't tried it.  I'm getting my banana nut bread these days from the local grocery store for $3.99 per loaf.

My sweet treat at this precise moment is the Best Actress salutes...right now!  How incredible to see the five past winners!  Wow.  Baffled!