18 million voters and no where to call home.

TGIF!!!  Today went smoothly, Dad went to the Senior Center and had a good time.  We still have Doozer visiting us.  And I got slimed again tonight.  (He drools a lot.)  

Caitlyn, had her hair done today and we even have a pic to show you!!  

Dad and Caitlyn watching the Presidential Debate together….

Actually all the dogs watched the presidential debate with Dad and I.  Dad and I played “Keep Away” from the pups.  When they caught the toy we were playing with, they got a treat.  Everyone was trying to get in on the game but our big winner was Hanna.  Hanna was on top of her game.  But Doozer did catch the toy a few times too.  It was a good exercise for Dad, it helped him to stay alert.  When I debrief the dogs  (most of whom are older females, I might add) they had very good comments on the debate.  I asked Maggie what she thought of McCain and she gave a big yawn and rolled over.  Hanna (Pic, above), after I mentioned the name McCain, she said rooser, rooser (rhymes with boozer and starts with an L).  I raised my eyebrows and said REALLY, very interesting.  Then, I asked Caitlyn (Pic above right w/ Dad) what she thought about the debate and she said she thought both candidate had good groomers.  Is that so Caitlyn.  Caitlyn also thinks Marilyn did a great rendition of “Happy Birthday, Mr. President…”  
 

Well, I asked my Dad what he thought and he said he loved McCain.  I asked why and Dad went on about how he was in WWII fighting for the US ….?  Note to self:  hm, mmmm. 

To me for the first time I had a chance to hear Obama and I liked his presentation.  McCain came off as being a little pompous.  

All I know is I CANNOT wait to read this Other blog tomorrow.  It is the best political blog ever!!!   

Post Debate Thread: Beautiful theories destroyed by Ugly facts

This blog has a very good ideas and I usually agree with most of them.  (The blog has a number of contributing writers, Most of whom….liked Hillary. )  I mean catch the vision…. imagine our country being run by a seasoned, intelligent, women.  Well, what’s 18 million votes suppose to do, after their candidate loses the Democratic nomination??  We’re homeless now, that’s all I know.  What’s a girl to do.

Alligators all around, alligators all around.

An interesting sign I ran across while taking my Dad to his doctor’s appointment.  You won’t see this sign in too many places. 

Kind of a slow day today.  Dad got up early and went to his Senior Center with few hiccups.  Dad seemed to be doing well, his memory was still impaired, but he did remember the basics. 

 A small flock of Ibis around the pond this morning.  Now that we’re in fall the birds seem to be arriving at the pond much later in the morning.  I saw a Fed Ex Truck sitting next to the pond and it seemed the driver had taken to the birds as much as I had. 

It did rain most of the day, it was a really blustery, windy day.   I made butternut squash soup for dinner.  It was delicious!!  And we had two quarts left over when we were done!!  I love butternut squash soup, it’s so good (At least I think so! ( – :)!!  Dad and I went grocery shopping in the evening, it was a good work out for Dad.   He was really tired after wards and went right to bed, after he took his meds and insulin. 

My recipe for Butternut Squash Soup is really easy.  Here it is: 

1 stick of unsalted butter
70 ounces (give or take) chicken stock
2 to 3 medium size butternut squash
1 Medium onion

Cut up Butternut Squash in to halves, and set in boiling water on stove.  When you can puncture them with a fork easily, they are done.  Remove them from the boiling water and peel off the skin. 
Cut up Medium onion and saute in the one stick of butter until onions are caramelized in a large 4 quart pot.   When the onions are done, add the chicken stock and simmer.  When the Butternut Squash is tender, cut up in to smaller squares and add to chicken stock.  Allow the squash to continue to tenderize as it cooks.  When the squash is fully cooked, take a potato masher and mash the squash in the chicken stock.  If you have a hand blender, please use this instead of the potato masher, as it will lend it self to a creamier textured soup.  Allow the soup to cool 10 minutes before serving. 

This is a really nutritious soup filled with fiber and vitamin A.  It’s perfect in Autumn when the squash is in season.  There is really nothing compared to the flavor of fresh Butternut Squash.  The recipe can be easily modified, to suit your taste.  I believe when the recipe originally came to me, it required two (2) sticks of butter.  However, I think it tastes great with just the one stick of unsalted butter.   BTW, I believe nutmeg would be an excellent addition to this recipe.  I haven’t tried it yet.  But it seems like it’d be a good fit.

Snowy Egret, Blue Heron, and Ibis oh my…

Saw the movie Ghost Town with my Dad this evening.  It was a good movie and I heartily recommend it.  It was VERY FUNNY.   I’ll give it four out of five stars. 

I also recently saw “Burn after reading”; I have nothing good to say about this movie.  I should note that I really don’t get farces for the most part, which is how this movie is described. Why did I see it?  I saw a misleading review.  From now on, I’m sticking with Reelz movie mob.  They always steer me to the good movies. 

You know, I don’t write about my daily interactions with my Dad because I’m concerned that, what I say might be demeaning to my Dad.  Let’s face it, most of the time, you’ll find me and my dad in dialog where I’m repeating myself over and over again.  And it either because of Dad’s poor hearing where he can’t hear the high tones on my voice OR because he’s forgotten what I told him just two beats ago.  All in all it can be very trying on the nerves. 

The picture below left is of a Floridian white Ibis that we see all over the place.  Florida really has the prettiest birds.  I just love looking at the birds!  We always see them in the early morning around the pond near our house.  There is always a small flock looking for breakfast.  The picture below right is of a large flock of Ibis, usually we only see numbers of 2, 3, or 4, sometimes as many as six on a daily basis.  We see a number of great blue heron or the snowy egret as well.  I’ll need to find you a picture of these birds.  The Snowy Egret is so beautiful, there are days when it takes my breath away.  I can also see two or three Osprey nest from my bedroom window.  We do have a number of Osprey in the area.   Amazing preditory birds.  Oh and lets not forget the Turkey Vultures, circling around their latest meal, thousands of miles above in the sky.  I’m sorry to see so much development going on in Florida, because you know what that’ll mean to these birds.  It’s really too bad we’re not more empowered to stop development that destroys our beautiful land. 

 Here is a good web site to view all the bird’s I mention from Florida.  http://stevesbirding.blogspot.com/2006_08_01_archive.html

Wishing you well.

Cheer up, sleepy Jean, oh what can it mean

To a daydream believer and a homecoming queen?
Today, Dad being home and out of the hospital we were all back to our regular schedules.  Dad slept in of course.  I ran a few errands.  And asked Dad if he was up to going to the Senior Center.  He said no.  So, he stayed home all day. 

You once thought of me as a white knight on his steed
Later in the after noon I asked him if he’d like to go grocery shopping with me.  I thought it would be good exercise for someone who’d been in bed in the hospital for five days.  Dad could hang on to the shopping cart for support, and get a little walking exercise.  We picked up dinner (makings for Homemade Chicken Soup and some very special oatmeal, cherry, coconut cookies I picked up the recipe off another blog (echoword.wordpress.com) The recipe turned out great!). 

Now you know how happy I can be
Dad was really exhausted by the grocery trip.  He barely made it home.  I was really concerned and started looking for somewhere he could sit down and rest at the grocery store.  We made it home with all the groceries in due time.  Dad went to his room to lie down and rest for a while. 

Oh, and our good time starts and ends With a dollar one to spend
Dad didn’t emerge again until dinner was ready.  When he showed up for dinner, he seemed rested and ready to take on the world.  The homemade chicken soup for dinner was fabulous!  We all enjoyed it immensely.  We enjoyed the cookies as well.  Kudos to Kimberly @ echowood.wordpress.com Blog! 

But how much baby do we really need?
Our next family concern was our family member in Houston (DB) who happens to be in hurricane Ike’s path.  Dad listened to the news, connected the dots and was alarmed that our DB may be in danger’s path.  of course the rest of the family had already discussed concerns and what we could do to help.  Mostly we were impressed that Dad remembered what he did about our DB in spite of concerns with Alzheimer’s disease. 

Oh I could hide ‘neath the wings of the bluebird as she sings
We have noted on occasion that when it concerns something that Dad really cares about, he can remember bits and pieces of it.  During moments of clarity, he is able to pull it all together and make sense of it.  As I’ve mentioned before, family is really important to Dad. 

 

Many Thanks to the Monkeys for the use of their lyrics “Day dream Believer”