groups

A young man finds the woman of his dreams and asks her to marry him. He tells his mother he wants her to meet his fiance, but he wants to make a bit of a game out of it. He says he'll bring the girl over with two other women and see if his mother can guess which is the one he wants to marry. His mother agrees to the game.

That night, he shows up at his mother's house with three beautiful young ladies. They all sit down on the couch, and everyone has a wonderful evening talking and getting to know each other.

At the end of the evening, the young man asks his mother, 'OK, Mom, which one is the woman I want to marry?'

Without any hesitation at all, his mother replies, 'The one in the middle.'

The young man is astounded. 'How in the world did you figure it out?'

'Easy,' she says. 'I don't like her.'

I am a collector/pack rat/ephemera maven/artist. About twenty-five years ago I began saving candy wrappers. It might have been because they were from other countries or that I thought they were pretty. The popular candy bars and boxes changed packaging and I saved them too. Some candy disappeared from shelves and I know I did not eat it all.

So here I am in a large home with cabinets full of candy wrappers. I have done my "estate" planning, but, oh, those wrappers! It had always been on my Projects List to make an assemblage of the wrappers, as artfully as I was able. When I begin to sort the wrappers I discover those that are no longer made. What is a chocoholic to do? Surely it is not the last one in existence-- or is it? What if I discarded something that was valuable? or collectible? What if my sons must deal with them?

Shall I do my assemblage? Photograph them and publish a hot chocolate table book? Keep procrastinating?

"

This story about Roscoe has evolved slightly. I have removed references to my dad, my grandmother, and myself. Instead, I've told the story using their names and in the third person.

Cooking Tips

* When a recipe calls for adding oil, garlic, and onions to a pan,
always add garlic last. This keeps it from burning and tasting
bitter.

* Make your own celery flakes. Just cut and wash the leaves from
the celery stalks; place them in the oven on low heat or in the hot
sun until thoroughly dry. Crumble and store in an air-tight
container. Those dried leaves are flavorful and great for salads and soups/stews.

* Put sliced cucumbers, onions, carrots and/or pieces of
cauliflower in leftover pickle juice and in a couple of days they
will be pickled.

* Don't discard the water in which the vegetables are soaked or
cooked. It is more flavorful than plain water so use it in making
soup or gravy.

Following a difficult week, today I've had a crash and burn and all I have energy enough for is to go back to bed and sleep. I hurt physically and emotionally but the most difficult pain to deal with is in my heart. I am taking Cymbalta but medication can only do so much. Sometimes life just happens. I know I can rely on the members of this group for caring support and there aren't words enough to tell all of you what finding this group has meant to me. This group and all of you are my lifeline. I don't have a support system in place among my family and friends. No one asks how I'm doing even though I have reached out to all of them before with little to no response. I don't know what they're thinking; I can only assume. I've always been the strong one in the family; the "fixer." Now that I need them to raise me up, they don't know how, or don't have the capacity to do that. Now that I'm showing a "weakness" (aka depression) they don't know what to do because this is so out of character for me. I'm just rambling now when what I really need to do is nurture myself by pulling the covers over my head and try to get some rest. Maybe life will look better tomorrow. I'm not trying to bring anyone down, but except for my counselor, I have no one else to talk to.

I do a lot of juicing and I hate to throw out all of the pulp. Is composting a difficult procedure and how long does it take? Would I need something else besides the pulp?