Thought for the day - a sense of community

Some things that seem to go in waves throughout my life are the different communities that i find myself a part of.  Growing up, i had the kids in the neighborhood and my friends at church.  In college, i had my BFA class and the girls in the graduate class of 1998.  After college, i had several different circles of friends.  And, of course, when you work for a company for 16 years, there's a definite community there.  In my part time job now, we are definitely an eclectic bunch who always have each other's backs.  Each time, i made friendships that will last me for the rest of my life.  And it is always such a pleasure when someone from one of those communities pops back into life.  True friendships are few and far between and when i really look at my friendships, i realize that i am blessed with a great many of them.  Friendships to different degrees, of course, but true friendships none the less.

This past year in college i began building a new community....my social work peeps.  The longer that the year went on, the better our connections have become.  i made a very good friend in Hannah.  We were partnered in 2 different classes and, at least in my opinion, became good friends.  i told her on the last day of one of our classes that she was stuck with my for life now!  My friend Tatiana and i had 2 classes together last semester and we have the same sense of humor.  We can share a glance and know what the other is thinking.  These are people i will know for a long, long time.

And this week i had 2 different people from my swk class come into the bakery.  It was great to see people outside of class.  But, it was also great to feel like i had an ally there.  And you learn about each other.  Both girls who came in were with their significant others and it was nice to finally put faces with their names.  We all talked about our classes and how we'd done.  Today, Paradise and i were talking about us walking together next spring and it brought such a sense of satisfaction to me.  We've all worked so hard for this and it is going to be an amazing time when we graduate.  And even though, with both women, we talked about class, it was nice to know that i was talking to a friend.  That is the best ever.

This song has been in my head a lot.  Yes, it is on the sentimental side and if you were a Baptist youth in the 80's you could not get away from this song LOL  But, i sing it a lot in my head these days thinking about all of the friends from my past, the ones in my present and the ones yet to be made.

Cheers

Antique of the week

This is just something i have decided i am going to write about each week.  i love writing and i love antiques, so why not combine those two loves.  And since i want to work on my writing and do more of it, this will be a great exercise for me :)  Also, since i am not in a financial place to go and do a great deal of antiques shopping, i will enjoy the things that i do have and enjoy talking about them.  i will go ahead and say, though, that technically many things will not be antiques as they are not yet at least 100 years old.  Close, but not yet.  Thanks!

This is my needlepoint chair.  It belonged to Grandmother and i came into possession of it after her passing.  i have always loved this chair....as long as i remember. It did not always have the needlepoint on it, but more about that later.  My grandparents bought this chair to begin housekeeping with when they got married in 1933, so as of today it's at least 83 years old...holding up pretty well i'd say, but of course furniture used to be made to last unlike today.  It always had some kind of ivory upholstery on it.  The arms and legs are solid mahogany.  The legs specifically are the claw and ball style.

When you entered Grandmother's house, this was the first chair you encountered in her living room.  It was just to the left when you walked in.  Almost any time i sat in the living room, this was my go to chair.  i felt so classy sitting in it...and i still do.  Now, if company was over, chances were that i wouldn't get to sit there as company always had preference :)  Still, i always knew that was my chair.  Once, Grandmother asked me to tell her some of the things of hers that i might one day want.  Two things immediately came to mind:  the needlepoint chair and the Gov. Winthrop secretary (i ended up with both, btw)  It's just a special piece for me and i love it.

Some time in the early 90's, someone gave Grandmother a bunch of unfinished needlepoint pieces.  i believe that they had belonged to a friend of hers who had passed on and their children asked Grandmother if she wanted them.  One of the sets of needlepoint were these matching chair back and seat.  Not much work had been done on them yet.  Grandmother finished them and had the chair redone with the new pieces.  We were all amazed how great it turned out.

This chair is now in my living room.  Sitting in it brings back so many fond memories.  i will cherish it for the rest of my life.

Thought for the day

Ah, it is the middle of the week already.  Seems to be going by quickly.  Today, i am trying to worry and not worry about money.  It sucks not having any LOL  It's just this time of year.  My financial aid gets me through the semester and then it runs out.  i love my part time job and that does help and during the summer i should get more hours in because we have some people away working for the summer.  But, it's just these few weeks after school is out that are on the rough side.  The same thing happened last year at this time.  You'd think i would have prepared better this year, but, alas i did not.  Oops LOL

But, i am determined not to get depressed about it.  There really isn't any need to and it does not change anything.  i don't qualify for a credit card and i really don't want another one...been there, done that.  i know that we will be fine, it's just the meantime that is frustrating.  It makes me very hopeful for the future though.  i really am going to love when i graduate and get a paycheck for doing something i am passionate about.  That is helping to keep me focused.

Oh well, that is really about it for now.  i wish i had something more interesting to say, but no such luck!

Cheers!

Recipe of the week - pork stroganoff

i made this the other evening for dinner.  it's quick, simple and quite delicious.  It was in a Taste of Home cookbook.  Definitely a keeper!

1.5 lbs pork stew meat, cut into 1.5 inch cubes
1.5 cups water, divided
1 tsp instant chicken bouillon
2 tsp paprika
1 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tbsp cornstarch
3/4 cup sour cream
2 tbsps fresh parsley
1 12oz package egg noodles

Brown pork in a saucepan, drain.  Remove meat and set aside.  In the same pan, bring 1.25 cups water, bouillon and paprika to a boil.  Add pork, onion and garlic.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer 45 min or until meat is tender.  Combine cornstarch and remaining water; gradually add to apn, stirring constantly.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir 2 min or until thickened.  Remove from heat; stir in sour cream and parsley.  Serve over noodles.

* I used boneless pork chops instead of stew meat.
**  i substituted the 1.25 cups of water and bouillon for chicken stock, turned out great!

ENJOY!

Thought for the day - silver

It's a gentle spring rainy day here.  So i am staying inside for the most part, getting things done around the house.  Some things that i need to get done such as laundry and some things that i am choosing to do.  i have just spent the last hour polishing some of my silver.  i am sure that most people might think i am crazy, but i enjoy polishing silver.  It relaxes me.

For one, it brings back a lot of memories.  Whenever i use my silver, including polishing it, it reminds of my Grandmother and her sisters.  Today, i polished a bunch of silver plate flatware from a chest that belonged to Granny B. (my Great Aunt Billie).  In this day and age, it is not worth a great deal as far as money goes, but it is worth a great deal to me.  When we were cleaning out Billie's house, no one really wanted to plate, so of course my grabby self snatched it up.  i haven't used any of it yet, but that will change.  One of my goals from now on is to actually use the stuff i have.  Anyway, i enjoy taking the time to clean each piece and shine it up. It's a form of instant gratification to see the tarnish wiped away, literally.

And as i am polishing, i am thinking of all of the occasions that i might use it.  We have started to entertain more and i am all about bringing out my stuff for those occasions.  Setting a table is something i did hundreds of times with Grandmother and it holds special memories for me. And it makes me sad that the generations behind me don't really want silver.  It's not the prized possession that it once was.  i don't know if either of my nieces have any interest in such things.  i hope they do.  They love history, after all.

Oh, well.  i will keep on polishing and counting and inventorying my silver.  i enjoy it, so why not?  And i will use it...that's part of the fun of owning things like silver.  Or anything.  Why have it if you do not use it?  A philosophy i am slowly adhering to.  But, as i looked out my kitchen window at the cool rain falling....it was the perfect time to turn on my music and polish my silver.

Cheers

10 Things That Make Me Happy

1.  My In-laws
2.  Care packages
3.  Hershey Bar Cake
4.  Going Antiquing
5.  Long walks on cool spring evenings
6.  Eva Cassidy singing Over The Rainbow
7.  Road Trips
8.  Feeling needed
9.  Sitting on my porch listening to music
10.  Punching the heavy bag in the garage

thought for the day

It has been a long month full of ups and downs.  Mostly ups, but some downs.  School is done for the semester. I finished the semester with a 4.0...all A+'s this time and i am very proud of that!  That definitely helped my GPA.  i had my interview with the Greensboro Housing Authority for my field internship next year.  It went very well and i am very excited about working with them.  i still have some hoops to jump through over the next few weeks as far as financial aid and the registrar's office are concerned.  We shall see how that goes.

i had a melt down a few weeks ago.  Dad went into the hospital and it upset me immensely.  Through a set of unfortunate circumstances, i thought i had been the last to find out about this.  But, Dad did try to call me earlier that day, but my phone never rang (i had it on all day) and he said that my phone told him it was no taking any voicemails.  Ah, technology.  Anyway, i got really upset and angry over this and jumped to some conclusions.  i realized, after the fact, that even though the conclusion to which i came is not incorrect, how i got there was.  So, i did take my FB post down about it because it put people that i care about in an awkward position.

Speaking of FB, i have deactivated my account for the summer.  i did not delete it, just deactivated it.  i thought long and hard about it and came to the realization that it simply is not something that i need right now in my life.  The overwhelming need to document everything i do and everything i feel (even the bad, crazy stuff) was really eroding my soul.  It, FB, was replacing real human contact and that is what i truly crave.  As a result, i am now 2 weeks sans FB and am really enjoying it.  i spend a lot less time on the internet, either via computer or phone, and i am starting to make some actual contact with people again and that feels really good.

Now, as for my summer plans....not much as far as vacation goes.  i am going to focus on self care this summer and do things that i need to and want to do.  This will be good for me mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually.  It's time i started forming some good habits.  Here's hoping that i'm successful at that.  Only time will tell

Cheers