A Sad Story

There is a man in Northern New Jersey that is dying of cancer.
Right now.

This man has worked hard his entire life; he doesn't have a degree, but has been working ever since he was a young adult. He has kept a job, paid taxes, and contributed to the economy like each and every one of us. A hard worker, never asking for handouts.

A little while ago, he got a new job at Walmart, but he had only been there a little while when he found out he was very, very sick. His insurance hadn't kicked in yet, so when he went to the doctor and was told that his lung cancer had spread into other parts of his body, including his shoulder, they told him there was nothing they could do for him. He didn't have insurance, so he wasn't able to pay for any treatment. In fact, the very Doctor that diagnosed him refused to see him again, because he couldn't pay.

He applied for and received some benefits, and has been able to participate in chemotherapy. He has been able to come up with some money to pay for his medications.
His loving family organized a benefit for him, to assist with these bills.

He has a wife, and a home, and people who love him very much. But, because he is not insured, he was turned away again today because there was nothing the hospital could do for him.

I know there is more to this story than even I know. And I apologize to his family if I have incorrect information in this post. But my heart absolutely breaks for this man, and his wife, to know that because he doesn't have silver-lined pockets he isn't quite worthy of the same medical attention that I would receive tomorrow, if needed.

You see, I have health insurance right now. And the funny thing is, I'm not even employed full-time! I am "lucky" enough to be married to someone who is, and who has damn good benefits. I am "lucky" enough to live in a part of the country where the healthcare system is excellent--some of the best in the world. (i.e. Mayo) I am "lucky" enough to have a savings account that could help pay for my medical bills right now, for awhile, if I needed them.

Am I more worthy than the man in New Jersey?

Flop

Okay. Because I REALLY don't want any of my friends and readers to be overly impressed with my newfound "Martha Stewart meets Rachel Ray" attitude, I have to share my most recent story.

After my successful Sunday baking Halloween cookies and homemade applesauce, I decided that since the Kitchenaide mixer was out on the counter anyway, I'd go ahead and try another new recipe that looked good, to take to a potluck I had today. The recipe was "Spice Cookies with Pumpkin Dip".

Would you believe that I flopped them both??

I have no idea what I did wrong with the cookie dough. It said to mix it all up (and I followed step-by-step) and then put in the fridge to chill overnight. So I did. I guess I thought it was a little bit runny (maybe needed more flour??) when I was done, but I thought the "chilling" would take care of that and firm it on up! NOPE! When I went to pull it out today to "roll into 1 inch balls", it was like playing with pudding. So I just plopped spoonfuls of it down on the pan instead. Even after baking it for 5 minutes longer than suggested (6 minutes), they were still a soupy mess on the pan and all mushy inside.

Then, the pumpkin dip called for 2 Cups Confectioner's Sugar. Now I know that this fancy name is what I refer to as plain out "powdered sugar", but I was moving along too fast and ended up dumping 2 cups of granulated sugar into the bowl before I caught my mistake. I "tried" to remove most of the granulated stuff, but a lot soaked into my dip before I could remove it. I then added about 1.5 cups of powdered sugar...but to no avail. It was DISGUSTING.

So the whole thing went down the drain or into the garbage.

I contributed my usual to the potluck: Triscuits and cheese dip. Straight from Walmart.

(Beezatches: You really have to be careful how much you compliment me.
1. Garlic Bread
2. Bars soaked in cooler water
3. The above story.)

Baking Sunday

I was inspired by my friend Leah and decided to bake some Halloween cookies with Gage. He had a blast, but enjoyed licking the spoon and eating the finished product the most. I also decided that I needed to make applesauce in the crockpot, since we bought so many apples at the orchard AND I have a potluck on Tuesday so I made up the dough for Spice cookies and will be serving those with a cream-cheese pumpkin dip. SHEESH. (Don't) call me Rachel Ray!

Gage was a really good helper. The one thing about having your kids help out in the kitchen---you CANNOT stress out about the mess, or nobody will have any fun. This is something that only having a 2-year-old has helped me to learn. It all cleaned up just fine, and we all had a great time!

He's wearing Mr. Potato Head glasses. Your guess is as good as mine!

Fall Fun

What a FABULOUS weekend! It truly couldn't have been better. As Tim was gone all of last week for business in New Orleans, I was "itchin'" for some family time, and so was Gage. And, we had company all weekend long!
On Friday night, my dad came up for an overnight visit. We just hung out at our house Friday night and relaxed, not doing anything special.
On Saturday, Dad and I went to "da Fleet Farm, yah" to be those crazy people who think they have to be there on the day that the toy center opens. I have never been one to try to get there on opening day...but can I just tell you that my Christmas shopping is over half done, and Gage is completely finished! It's a great feeling--one that I've always wanted, but have never had!

We then headed to Stillwater to Aamodt's Apple Farm. There, we took a wagon ride, drank apple cider, ate apple donuts, played on the toy tractors, climbed on hay bales, rode ponies, went in a hay bale maze, bought a bunch of apples...

and then Tim and I went into the winery and taste-tested some featured wines. 4 purchased bottles later, we headed home so that my dad could get on the road.

Then my mom and Ken came up for Saturday evening, AND my sister picked up a Minneapolis trip and I went and got her in time for dinner. We had a fabulous "fall" dinner....pork roasted in cider, with potatoes and apples. YUM! Ken and I polished off 2 bottles of our new wine...
and then we went to sleep!

On Sunday, we spent the day baking in the kitchen, but that is the next post....

Bumpa Tom, Daddy, and Gage on the hay wagon.

I love this serious face!

On Thursday, I went to Farmington to spend the afternoon and evening with Yvonne and family. She had invited me over for dinner as she knew Tim was out of town. Before going to her place, we met at a petting zoo/pumpkin patch set up alongside the road that has perfect "picture spots".

(I did say "perfect picture spots", but I DIDN'T say that I was a perfect photographer! Truck AND person in the background. Sheesh! Good thing I don't claim to be good at it!)

The ever-so-famous "Cheeeeeeeeeeese" face.

Gage and Gabby

Playhouse Disney Live

It's fun to have connections! I don't consider myself one to get many opportunities "out of the ordinary", so when a friend of mine said, "Hey, we have access to free suite tickets at the Excel...would you like to go to Playhouse Disney Live with us?", I jumped all over it.






Gage loved the show. All of the kids did. There were 5 families in all, yet only 2 husbands "had" to come (smile). Tim was one that lucked out, however I think he was really disappointed to not be able to go. He loves watching Gage's excitement at events such as this.

If you've never been in a suite at a venue such as the Excel before, it makes you want to never have to go back to a "regular" seat! You have a nice sized room with high top tables, fully stocked refrigerator of beer, pop, water, and other bottled drinks, and you can have food and snacks "catered" to your room! We ordered a bucket of popcorn and left it at that!

There is also stadium seating in the front of the suite, which seats 16-20 people. The kids could sit down, stand up, run around, yell, play....all during the show and there wasn't a worry that they were bothering anyone. It was GREAT!

Update

Yet another update that is really quite boring!
Tim has been gone this week for work, and I've been doing the single parent thing since Friday. I had some help over the weekend, as I was in my hometown for a jewelry show and my mom and Ken helped out for an evening and part of a day. But other than that, Gage and I have been bopping around between our weekly visits to the Y, library, and a friends house or two. Pretty uneventful!

This weekend my dad is coming up on Friday night and staying through Saturday for a visit. Tim should be home Friday afternoon as well. We plan to go to the Apple Orchard/Pumpkin patch in Stillwater for a few hours on Saturday, and I hope to get some fun fall pictures taken to post on the site as well as to hang in my house! I've been a poor photographer lately.

My mom and Ken will then be coming up on Saturday night and into Sunday for a visit. It's been awhile since either of my parents were here to visit, so we like to try to get visits in every couple of months or so.

Gage has been busier than ever being a normal 2-year-old. He does the exact opposite of what I tell him, says "Noooooo!" to everything, and comes up with some of the funniest things that crack me up! The other day he responded to me with, "Yes, Mama". It just blew me away the way he said it; so matter-of-fact. He's a hoot, and is talking up a storm.

He is going to be Superman for Halloween. The costume should be here by the end of the week or early next week. Those should be some cute pictures!

Everybody Needs a Jenny

Several years ago, while working at the company where I met one of my dearest friends, Jenny, I made the comment that "I could never run more than a mile". Jenny refused to let me say this, and she began to encourage me to start running with her. We started out going for very short runs; maybe 1 mile or close to 2 without stopping. Jenny has a tendency to map out runs before I run them with her...then tell me, "I'll tell you how far you went when we are all done". Each and every time she has surprised me.

When I lived in Minnesota, she and I would meet two times a week, and sometimes on the weekends, to run different routes. They were usually 1.5 miles one way, and then 1.5 miles back with a short walk in between. This was "just enough" for me. Jenny is just what I need when I'm running. If I say anything negative when I am running, such as "I am going to need to stop and walk", or "I really don't think I can finish" (and I do tend to say things like this a lot, but I'm getting better, she even said so!), Jenny will simply say, "Yes you can (finish)", "You are not going to walk, you are going to keep going", "You can finish, you are doing great."

Then we decided that we were going to sign up for a 5k. So, in October 2005, just weeks before finding out I was pregnant with Gage, we each ran our first 5k race. My goal was to make it under 30 minutes without stopping. I didn't stop once, but I don't think I made it in under 35 minutes...which was just fine! It was quite the accomplishment! We then did a 10k together in April 2007, in which I did not stop one time either, so I was definitely proving to myself that indeed, "I could run".

Even since I have moved, and Jenny has gotten married and changed jobs, we still try to meet once every few months to run together. Today was one of those days. Today was actually supposed to be our 3rd 5k run together, as it's the Twin Cities marathon weekend, but I really have had a difficult time getting back into running since being pregnant this summer. Therefore, I basically told Jenny that I was chickening out of the race, as I didn't want to disappoint myself and have to stop, or come in a lot later than my past times. These are ridiculous excuses, I understand that, however I just didn't feel like paying the money for the race and having to be there at a certain time, etc. BUT...
I still wanted to run, and so Jenny and I decided to meet at Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis for a run around the lake.

The day started like all of our past runs; Jenny told me that she would tell me how far we had run AFTER we were done. About halfway around the lake, Jenny tells me that we are running around the lake TWICE.

What?!?!?!?!?!

I can see the building from where we started, and it wasn't even halfway around the lake yet!!! I cannot run around this damn lake nearly 1.5 more times!

I stopped twice; once to use the porta potty, and once just to take a short breather....BUT I did it! Jenny kept up her old ways, telling me "You are going to keep running", "You are not going to stop", "No, Jill, we haven't ran a 5k yet"....etc., etc., etc.

When all was said and done??

--We ran around the lake TWO times.
--I only stopped two short times.
--The run was 6.2 miles.

I had just run a 10k, when I didn't think I could do a 5k.

Pretty Amazing.

Everyone needs a Jenny. Not only for a running partner, but for a great friend!

THANK YOU, JENNY!

Friday Humor

As much as I'd LOVE to take full credit for these, I cannot. I was forwarded these pictures in an email today from my friend Marilyn and seriously had to hold myself to stop from peeing in my pants. I laughed SO HARD!

My two favorites?? The Olsen twins and Brittany Spears. And even though I am not a fan of Tom Cruise, that one made me smile as well.

Enjoy!!

How Celebrities Would Look If They Came From North Dakota

Pamela Anderson

Sara Jessica Parker

Sharon Stone

Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen
(I swear these two were at my Junior Prom in 1994)

Gwen Stefani

Brittany Spears
(She's mad because she didn't win her $100 back on her pull tabs)

Cameron Diaz

Ashlee Simpson

Tom Cruise

John Travolta

Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony

Johnny Depp

Jennifer Aniston

Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones

Almost missed it by one day!

So my "great idea" to go out for dinner at Jake's Supper Club in Menomonie came at the perfect time...
we went back for the first time in 12 years on Sunday, September 21st....and they closed their doors for good on Monday!

I just thought that was interesting...