Another WONDERFUL Weekend!

Thanksgiving Odds & Ends ...

1. We went to my son's for Thanksgiving.  I listened to people talk to one another without feeling emotionally invested in the conversation and I realized that 99.9% of what people say has everything to do with THEM and their view of the world!  We can only see what we are!  That's right.  If you see sweetness and light, hug yourself and look in the mirror!  That's how you see yourself!  If you see dishonesty and lies in everyone else, stand up to that same mirror and realize that the ONLY REASON you don't trust anyone else is because you do not deserve to be trusted and YOU KNOW IT, even though you try to pretend that it's really everyone else that farted!
   
   
2. My daughter-in-law is a FABULOUS cook!  She's not afraid to try new things or try new recipes.  It encourages me to get out the rut once in a while and try something new.  She made a terrific salad.  I just have to share the recipe:
   
   APPLE PEAR SALAD
   
   3 ripe Pears, washed and cut into bite size pieces
   2 Apples, washed and cut into bite size pieces
   Romaine Lettuce, cleaned and torn into salad size pieces
   
   Toss all three with lemon juice and add:
   1/2 Cup Walnuts (Pecans or almonds would work too)
   1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries
   
   Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste (we used just a little).
   
   In a separate bowl, mix together with whisk:
   6 T. Olive Oil
   4 T. White Wine Vinegar
   2 Shallots (Green Onion), finely chopped
   2 T. Honey
   1 t. Cinnamon
   
   Drizzle over salad and toss just before serving.  It is AWESOME!
   
   
3. During dinner, my daughter-in-law's parents spoke why they choose NOT to eat pork, other than religious reasons.  I have had a tenuous relationship with pork ... ate it as a child ... watched my Dad and Uncles raise three hogs and swore off pork for decades ... eventually recovered from the trauma of what I learned about swine and eat pork occasionally now.   I make a really good dressing (stuffing) that calls for sausage.  Several times, out of respect for those who do not eat pork, I have substituted Louis Rich Turkey Sausage (found it in the freezer section by breakfast waffles if you are interested).  I can't repeat everything her Dad shared but I'm definitely OFF PORK again.  Maybe, I'll share that at another time, but for now, let me share my dressing recipe:
   
   PILGRIM'S PLEASURE SAUSAGE & APPLE STUFFING
   
   1/2 Cup Chopped Onion
   1 T. Butter
   1/2 Pound Pork (can substitute turkey sausage) Sausage
   2 medium Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored and chopped
             to make 2 cups
   1/2 Cup chopped Pecans
   1 t. Sage
   1 t. Thyme
   1 t. Marjoram (optional)
   2 large eggs, beaten
   4 Cups Bread Cubes
   
   Preheat Oven to 325-degrees.
   In a small skillet, saute the onions in butter until soft but not browned.
   Add sausage and brown sausage, chopping finely as it cooks.
   Drain the sausage and onions.  Extra tip ... If you run hot water over the sausage, you can continue to break the sausage into smaller pieces under the hot water.
   In a large bowl, combine every thing until blended. 
   Place in greased cake pan and sprinkle top with more chopped pecans.  Cover with foil and set on baking sheet.  Bake for 30 minutes until stuffing is lightly browned on the top.  I usually uncover for the last ten minutes to roast the pecans a little extra.
   Serves 8 but recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.
   
   
4. The next day, I had my son's family and my oldest daughter's family and a few extras here at our house.  In past years when they have been with their father and later with their in-laws on Thanksgiving, I have skipped Thanksgiving.  Two years ago, I tried to make supper after they had eaten a big dinner, last year they were all here and this year we decided to do Thanksgiving the day AFTER ... next year they will all be here again ... the following year, we might do Thanksgiving on Saturday or maybe, even the NEXT weekend!  LOLOL ... Either way, scheduling holidays will become more and more of a challenge as people are added to the family ... Holidays are just a few days, but families should have family time whenever they can.  They are so worth it!
   
   
5. I cooked most of my dishes the day before so I had plenty of time to play with the kids!  Papa Joey played guitar and the kids danced on the back deck ... for hours!  They improvised and reminded me of what it's like to a kid again ... where we
   
   Love like we have never been hurt,
   Dance like nobody is watching and
   Sing like nobody is listening ...
   
   Except for one thing ... The more they danced, the more I cheered and the more they sang, the more I sang with them.  Praise carries children to outstanding places!
   
   
6. I decorated for Christmas the past few days.  I love the lights but this year the lights tested me ... Check, check and recheck the strings of lights BEFORE putting them on the tree!  After several tries and a few trips to the store, I have successfully decked the hall with white lights and crystal lights.  I think I actually heard the HALLELUJAH CHORUS when my job was done!
   
   
7. I had a little time to work in the yard this afternoon.  Joey and I put in a small block border around another flower garden ... (two more to go) ... I thought it would be quick work to help place the blocks ... so I went out there barefooted and without gloves ... (It was in the high 70s here in South Carolina ... no worries to those of you who might be in snow) ... but I lost my footing and dropped a block on a block with my hand in between.  I have a skinned knuckle and a new reminder to ALWAYS WEAR GLOVES and TENNIS SHOES even if I am only going to be out there for 5 minutes!  OUCH! 
   
   I went inside, rinsed my hand in water as hot as I could stand, used a small sewing scissors to cut away the flap of skin, poured peroxide over the whole mess, rinsed it in cold water, soaked it with peroxide again, lightly toweled it dry, put neosporin on the knuckle and covered it with a knuckle band-aide ... I've had to "doctor" my knuckles before.  You'd think I'd have the glove thing burned into my brain by now!
   

This has been a weekend chalk full of goodness and mercy and lessons and play time and chores and even a few monumental tasks ...

I'm looking forward to Monday!  How about you?

 

 

 

 

Tags: Apple Pear Salad, Pilgrim's Pleasure Sausage & Apple Stuffing

SusanBranch.com for the holidays!!!

Giving Thanks

I am thankful.

 

Please be thankful too.

My life is better because of each of YOU!

 

Hugggggggggggggggggz,

 

Taylor

 

Counting My Blessings (Instead of Sheep)

 

Bing Crosby sang this song to Rosemary Clooney in a Christmas Movie produced by Irving Berlin called WHITE CHRISTMAS.  It has always been one of my favorite holiday movies, but on this week, the week of Thanksgiving, I have found myself singing it more than once.  This year, I am choosing to recognize and honor the many things to be thankful for ...

My week has been elongated ... All the kids will be with their in-laws on Thanksgiving Day (I get them all every other year) but we agreed to get together here on Friday so I'll be cooking on Friday instead of Thursday ... That's not exactly accurate!  I've already been cooking for the last week!  LOLOL ... While I've been cooking, I've been thinking about friends and family that I have shared other Thanksgivings with ... Some are gone now, but the blessing of sharing thankfulness placed them in my memory and my heart for always.

As I tenderly remembered each of them, I touched the memory delicately like a glass Christmas ornament, softly letting my heart hold them in love and sending them or their families a quiet prayer of thankfulness that I knew them and that they touched my life in such a beautiful way.

My Thanksgiving table is full of reminders of them all ... warmth, spiciness (they know who they are!), bounty, goodness, and laughter ... always so much laughter! 

 

You know, we can spend the other 51 weeks of the year "being sad" for all the things that haven't gone our way, but on this week, I'm counting my blessings!

 

Counting Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)

 

When I'm worried and I can't sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep counting my blessings
When my bankroll is getting small
I think of when I had none at all
And I fall asleep counting my blessings

I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads
And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds
If you're worried and you can't sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you'll fall asleep counting your blessings

I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads
And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds
If you're worried and you can't sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you'll fall asleep counting your blessings

 

 

I wish the goodness of gratitude

to you and your family this Thanksgiving!

TGIF ~ Five Things I Am THANKFUL For !!!

 

1.

I am THANKFUL for ...
... the kind of family that never ceases to amaze me!

Yesterday, I went over to my daughter in laws to help her hang some pictures and rearrange for my granddaughter's birthday.  IN the process, we got to talking about making a photo collage and she showed me some old pictures of her as a baby.

 

I looked at the picture and froze.  Of course, I can see my kids in my granddaughter's face, but my daughter-in-law could have been one of my own children.  She looked SO MUCH like my own kids when they were young!

I haven't totally sorted out how I feel about the whole reincarnation thing, but it's moments like this where I feel something so familiar (much like some of you here) that I think ... maybe ... I think we know so little about God and what's possible.  The older I get, the more I am filled with WONDER at the possibilities.   

  

 

 

2.

 

 

I am THANKFUL for ...
... my Grandma Happy's 95th birthday! 

Grandma turned 95 this week.  She's in pretty good health.  I have written about her before many times.  Perhaps it says it all to say that the four generations that have followed her all refer to her as "Grandma Happy"!  I can't help but WONDER ... How many of us wouldn't LOVE to reach the end of our lives with the same?
       

 

 

3.

I am THANKFUL for ...
... the kind of friends that make me THINK! 

Artists ... whether they are painters, photographers, musicians or writers or poets ... have always spoken of their muses.  The people who were touch points and sparks for their creativity.  My life is full of people just like you and new people are coming into my life every day!  

 

With your arrival, you bring new ideas and thoughts that have sent me on the most wonderful adventures.  I am learning to much to measure my life in years when so many moments are filled with WONDER!

 

 

 

4.

 

 

I am THANKFUL for ...

Continued mysteries at HEALING Creek. 

Last week, I mentioned the strange music that floats along the river valley to our house ... Now that more of the leaves have fallen, I can hear it more clearly.  It is a continuous loop of choral music.  I love it.  It sounds like angels singing!  WONDER where it's coming from?  We are no closer than we were to figuring out where it comes from.  I think I'll buy a poinsettia to give to the person as a thank you gift when I find out WHO they are!

I still see "my hawk" but the other one has not been around ... WONDER where they went?  I am hoping that Petra is right when he says the other one might be "home" waiting for the other to bring supper?  It is amazing to watch them soar ... even more relaxing than an aquarium of fish!

 

We have a new bird ... I think ... hanging out by the creek.  Usually late in the afternoon, we can hear it squawk ... It makes a noise that sounds like, "Quaw-arrrrrrrrrrk!"  WONDER what it is?  Any ideas?

 

 

5.

 

I am THANKFUL for ...
WARMTH! 

The weather is turning colder, which means I get to use some of my favorite things:

Warm Sweaters

Soft socks ... Okay, true confessions ... I LOVE socks!  All colors, especially the SOFT ones.  I must have 100 pair and when I go shopping, I often look for more ... I wear holiday socks and bright colored socks and "fun socks" (except those individual toes things ... They make me crazy!)
Cozy Throws and quilts!  Is there anything BETTER than snuggling in a quilt or a comforter or a throw?!!!
LOTS and LOTS of HOT TEA!!!  My kids LOVE this TEA and it's easy to make!

     RUSSIAN TEA (also called Friendship Tea)

     1/2 cup Instant Tea
     1 cup Tang

     1/2 cup Instant Lemonade
     1/2 cup Sugar (optional ... sweet enough without it, to me!)
     1/2 tsp. cloves

     1 tsp. cinnamon

     Mix well and store in airtight container. 

     Stir 2-3 teaspoons in a cup of hot water.

The Glow of Candles and Oil Lamps
The Warmth of a Fire Burning ... in the Fireplace Inside or the New Fire-pit Outside.
The "Excuse" to SNUGGLE ... (wink) ... I know the temperature didn't NEED to be quite so low some of the times, but isn't it fun when they are?!!!

 

 

 

 

And with that,
I close my eyes and send
Good Energy ... Happy Thoughts ... WONDER
to all of YOU.
I hope you are having a WARM weekend,
as we draw closer to the season of
THANKFULNESS !!!

 

 

 

 

 

Good Morning!

Wow!

 

I woke up early this morning, made a cup of hot tea and sat all snuggled up in my living room and watched the sun rise ... BUT the Eastern sky was still dark from thunderstorm clouds, so the sunrise actually happened in the Western Sky, where way above the retreating thunderclouds, the sun was still shining bright!

 

The wind was still blowing and what leaves are left are clinging straight out from the trees like little flags, holding tight to their tree ... for now, anyway!

 

Better get busy with the rest of my day!  After all, I got an early start!

 

Hope you all have a SUNNY day!

 

 

 

 

Accountability + Consequences = Day of Reckoning

 

 

I am quite sure that this won't be the most popular thing I have ever written.  I know even before I commit it to paper that some people will not like the idea of consequences.  I understand.  There are a lot of things I don't like either.  I am almost 50 ... and I'm not too fond of gravity but it hasn't changed one thing about the effects of gravity on me!  So, whether you believe in consequences or not ...

 

Every action, good or bad, every purposeful or accidental choice you make has consequences!

 

Whether you choose to be accountable is almost insignificant.  If you steal, someone will steal from you.  If you take something that does not belong to you, you have just given the universe permission to take something from you!  The score is always evened.  The balance is always maintained.  It's just the way things are.  People have accepted cause and effect for centuries.  Generations of parents have told generations of children ...

 

You will reap what you sow.

A penny saved is a penny earned.

Waste not and want not.
Honor your father and mother so that your days will be long.

What goes around comes around.

If you live by the sword, you will die by the sword.

A soft answer turns away wrath.
You lie down with dogs.  You will get up with fleas.

You made your bed.  Now you will just have to lie in it.

Pretty is as pretty does.

Be careful for what you ask for.

 

Personal accountability is not so popular now.

Let me give you a specific example of what I am talking about.

 

A lady once asked me to look at some of her mother's jewelry and give her some idea of what it should sell for.  She took me through her mother's house and as the daughter of an auctioneer, I saw thousands of items that should have and could have gone for 100 dollars each and many items that would have made Antique Road Show drool.  She asked my advice and I gave her my BEST advice.  She also asked me to pray that her mother's estate would sell HIGH. 

I'm happy to pray with someone anytime, but I didn't know at the time that this woman had cheated the IRS for 20 years, working for under the table money and not reporting it.  This same woman later told me that she and her sister had scammed their mother out of thousands of dollars!  In the course of getting to know her, she told me story after story of times that she and her sister had cheated other people and yet she expected God to bless her mother's estate auction!

 

I have attended hundreds of auction sales and something happened at this auction that I have never seen happen before.  I watched people, not just a few, but dozens, move things from lot to lot, tuck things into their pockets, take additional boxes that were not their's.  I am bold and I did speak to a few of them and asked them what they were doing.  Every single time, they acted surprised and said they had made a mistake, but they and I both knew that it was no mistake.  I have never seen such blatant thievery!

When the auction was settled, both sisters were disappointed with the final tally and who do you think they were mad at?  They were mad at their mother for not marking things more clearly.  They were mad at the Auctioneer for not having more security and for selling things too cheap.  They were mad at the buyers who stole from them ... but saddest of all, they were mad at God!

The whole event was absolutely loaded with more greed than I have ever witnessed.  It's certainly NOT my place to pass judgment on the woman, her sister, her mother or anyone else.  I am only using her as an example of what won't work.  You can't spend your entire life ripping people off and expect God to bless you, no matter who asks!

 

Cause and effect.  If you have made a mess of your life, who else but YOU is going to clean it up?

 

If you don't take care of your body, you will get sick.

If you don't feed your mind with sound wisdom and good knowledge, you will waste your mind on foolish thinking.

If you set your heart to the pursuit of unsatisfying things, you will not be satisfied.  You will only end up feeling more depressed and anxious!
  

We can search and search and search the whole world over but our answers are NOT out there!  Our answers are inside each of us, tucked safely inside our hearts, but we have to KNOW OUR HEARTS to find them!

 

Can we take better care of our bodies?  Do we eat and drink things that aren't good for us?  Do we get enough sleep?  Do we get enough exercise?  Do we do things that will lead to good health or do we put off doing the things we should for the sake of convenience, fast food, quick drinks, not enough time and all the other excuses?

 

Can we use our minds more effectively?  Do we waste our time worrying?  Do we read trash and garbage or do we read things to improve our minds?  What do we watch on tv?  What do we listen to on the radio?  What movies do we watch?  Our minds are just like computers ... Garbage in and garbage out!

What are the desires of our hearts?  If you were leaving this earth today and you only had today to have the thing you always wanted, what would that one thing be?  You don't have to tell me or anyone else.  You will not get caught.  One day to do anything.  What would YOU choose?

 

Most of you instantly had a first thought.  Maybe, it was travel.  Maybe, it was wealth.  Maybe, it was good health.  Maybe, it was being surrounded by your family.  Maybe, it was something exotic.  Maybe, it was the cure for cancer.  Maybe, it was one last plate of waffles with your Mom.  Maybe, it was finishing that book.  Maybe, it was writing the best piece of music you have ever written.  Maybe, it was finishing your greatest painting.  There are a thousand answers and you thought of yours almost as soon as I asked the question.

 

Know your heart.  Look at your answer.  That's your truth.  That's your starting place. 


Life is cause and effect.  Our lives are not just about the good or bad works that we do.  BUT our actions do reflect the condition of our hearts.  If we do good, good will come back to us.  If we do bad, bad will come back to us.

 

Even though I am writing about it, I don't have everything figured out.  I don't have all the answers.  I have experienced cause and effect in negative ways. 

 

I was attracted to angry men and they hurt me.  DUH!  I thought I could "help" ... but angry men are too angry to even admit to themselves that they need help so my "dream" was doomed from the start!  The other side of that coin is that a "bad guy" finally thought he had found a "good woman".  I made him feel special but he had all these bigger issues that made him feel worthless and when I didn't shine bright enough to remove all those worthless feelings, it was easier to just blame me for not being good enough ... How many times did I dance that very same dance before I realized that the steps would always bring me to the very same place?  I hate to even count!

I was reaping what I sowed.  I didn't need to be "helping" anyone else as much as I needed to be "working on me"!  I'm not being hard on myself.  I'm just telling the truth about my own life.

 

 

Why oh why would we rather sit on our butts whining about how bad our lives are when life would immediately improve if we got up and did something ... ANYTHING is better than NOTHING, even if it's wrong!

 

That's it!  NO MORE WHINING!  I'm not going to let myself whine and I'm not going to listen to anyone else whine either!  Life is TOO SHORT for any of us to waste one more minute!  Get up!  Let's put our big girl panties (or big boy Pants) on ... Comb our hair, brush our teeth, hold our head up high and get started on the REST OF OUR LIVES! 

 

 

 

Tags: Recovery, Healing, Personal Responsibility, Accountability