Simple, but good

I went to the grocery store today, and loaded up on groceries. I bought some ground beef and hamburger buns, and some sloppy joe mix. I hadn't had SJ's in a long time. So, I'm back home, putting away the groceries. Chris comes across the SJ mix, and looks at me and said "SJ is to me, like LeSeur English Peas are to you". Uh oh. Cross that one off the list of future meal planning.

So, I back tracked just a tad and made hamburgers and fries instead. It was simple, but it was good! I was happy with the way it turned out. I spiced them up a bit, and all of the spices worked together. (luckily) The meal came together in about 20 minutes. Hardly any mess. Gotta love the simple, but good things.

Anyone need any SJ mix?

(Chris read my blog today and reminded me that we did eat the SJ's, so they are back on the list and you can't have the SJ mix -- he's going to post a comment, so be sure you read it).

Oh no I didn't!

Three words:

LeSeur.English.Peas.

I hate them, I have always hated them. My mother made us eat them when we were kids. Thank goodness our dog Fritz liked them. When the parents left us at the table until we cleaned our plates, Fritz made his rounds and ate the peas for us.

I have gone out of my way to avoid English Peas.

I cooked supper tonight, and thought Chris would like something green. (I'm anti-veggie) And, I found myself opening a can of LeSeur English Peas!!! *Gasp*

They still smell as gross as I remember them. Chris enjoyed them though.

Gripe Gripe Gripe

I don't normally blog about gripes - but I'm going to today. This morning, I'm sitting at a stoplight, waiting for it to change. Sitting in the lane next to me is some young guy in a pickup truck. He has his music so loud that MY car is vibrating. The "music" was awful, I'm not even sure it classifies as music.

It just made my skin crawl, and made me irritable in just that short time. I'll bet he must always be in a bad mood if how it made me feel is any indication.

So, if YOU want to listen to loud, bad music - fine, but don't make me listen to it too.

End of gripe.

Stationery

The loss of a friend of 30 years this week has understandably left me a wee bit emotional. I'm finding myself stumbling across a memory and all of the sudden, I'm crying. Sometimes I'm laughing.

I am kind of amazed at how much joy a box of old letters has brought me.

Today, I sat down and wrote some letters to friends. It felt good. I highly recommend it.

I've always had a love of paper. Growing up, just give me some stationery and I was a happy girl. I guess that scrapbooking was a natural progression. When it came time to write the letters, I couldn't find any stationery! Bummer. So, I opted for whatever I could find.

Tonight, after a trip to Bass Pro, then Carrabba's, we found ourselves at Wal-Mart. I was strolling along and saw "stationery". Jackpot! Or so I thought. Wal-Mart, you are officially ON NOTICE (as kindredly would say). Where's the stationery?! I feel you misled me. I walked up and down that aisle, but there were no pretty pads of paper and matching envelopes to choose from!

I was disappointed. I ended up buying a notebook with a pretty cover. So, until I find some real stationery, the lined paper torn out of a notebook is just gonna have to do.

And you know what, that's perfectly okay! Every letter Ronda wrote me was on notebook paper, and they brought me just as much joy as if they'd been written on the finest stationery you could find.

Eron told me Ronda's funeral was beautiful. I would have loved to have seen the photo montage of her life. I'm so glad Eron was able to go. I went down to the river today, and walked along the paved path while her funeral was underway 1,000 miles away. I laughed and cried. I miss my friend, knowing that we'll never have that reunion, at least not on this earth. I'm comforted knowing she is in Heaven.

Comedy Central

Lovin' Comedy Central tonight, they are looping the Southpark episode that makes fun of Kanye West. (we've flipped over to the channel and it's been on several times tonight already).

I'm not a Southpark fan, but I think it's funny that they chose this way to voice their opinion.

Never liked Kanye, and now I have more reason to dislike him.

Congratulations Taylor on the VMA award, and for your class in handling an awkward situation.

Pancreatic cancer sucks

Sorry Mama about the "sucks", but it does. As I was sitting there, thinking of Eron being at Ronda's visitation and me wanting/needing to be there, but not able to. I was thinking about how bad pancreatic cancer is. It strikes so fast and so visciously. It took Ronda. And then, what pops up as the breaking news headline? Patrick Swayze dies at age 57 of pancreatic cancer.

So, yeah, pancreatic cancer sucks.

Bucket List

Do you have a bucket list?

I don't actually have one, but thinking of Ronda, I'm reminded of how short life can be. I have a few things about which I've said "I'd like to do that before I die", but that's about it. I may have to start my bucket list.

• to visit every state in the United States (am about 2/3 there)
• to go to Scotland / Ireland
• to actually SEE the Alps instead of standing in Zurich and imaging them because you can't see them because of the clouds
• to visit New England in the fall
• to go on an Alaskan cruise
• to learn a new language

Most of mine involve travel. I'm not much for physical stunts like bungee jumping or skydiving.

I'll have to think about what I'd like to add to the list.

Letters

I went in search of my yearbook from the year Ronda and I were in 9th grade together. I can't find it anywhere, and I'm bummed. I know I have a few other pictures of her, but where those are escapes me at the moment.

While on the search for the yearbook, I ran across a couple of boxes of old letters - jackpot! I found a stack of letters from Ronda. I read several of them, and oh -- what problems we had at age 16. I was laughing out loud at some of them. At least I'm able to smile some in the midst of the tears.

Several times over the years, I've thought that I should just throw those boxes away, but tonight, I'm so glad that I never did!

That's one thing I miss in the age of email and chat and text messaging - is the tangible letter, seeing the handwriting, the extra expression in the words expressed with underlining or hearts to dot i's.

The letters from her span several years, so I'll sit down, probably tomorrow and read through all of them.

I also ran across names long forgotten and names of those I still love and keep in contact with.

Maybe I'll write someone a letter soon.

Ronda update

September 12, 2009 about 3:46 pm Tulsa time, Ronda passed away.

Godspeed Ronda. You'll always be in my heart.

Update on Ronda

Eron was able to visit Ronda today. She said it was one of the hardest things she's ever done to see such a good friend in such bad shape. She was able to tell her that we both love her and are thinking about her. That makes me feel better to know that she was able to tell her, esp since I'm not able to be there.

I pray that her remaining time is spent without pain. God bless.

Thinking of Ronda

Just a few days ago, I learned Ronda, my friend of 30 years is dying of pancreatic cancer. She is in an end of life facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I've been trying to recall when it was that I last saw her. I remember the day I saw her, I just don't remember the year.

My friend Eron and I had been trying to find her because we'd lost touch for a while. We tracked her down and when I visited Tulsa, Eron and I took a trip down the Indian Nation Turnpike and made a visit to her. We had a great time.

I guess in the back of my mind, I've always thought there was plenty of time for reunions, visits, emails, Facebook, chat... but turns out there isn't. The end of life facility, the Clarehouse, only accepts guests (it is free of charge) who are enrolled in a hospice program and have a prognosis of less than one month to live. She's been in the Clarehouse about two weeks.

I called today, but she isn't able to talk on the phone. I left a message, to let her know that I called and that I love her and am thinking about her. They assured me that they would pass it on to her.

Eron is going to try to see her within the next few days. She said she would definitely give her the message.

She is foremost in my thoughts ever since I heard the news. I'm praying that she is not suffering and that the medications are allowing her some measure of comfort.