Driving Down Memory Lane.

Today, Friday, as I was taking my walk at work on my lunch break I watched a dad and his daughter in the parking lot in what looked like an old Buick of some type. The dad was giving his daughter driving lessons. She was doing fairly well too I might add, but she seemed really nervous. I was a little nervous myself as my car was parked in this lot. It took me back in time to when I learned to drive; however, my dad was not the one who taught me to drive. My dad was in no hurry to teach me to drive in as he really didn't believe woman needed to or should drive. He's come a long way over the years since then. He sort of had no choice seeing as how his only daughter was somewhat of an independent soul. He probably would have eventually taught me to drive, but my brother stepped in to do the job before he could. I remember the car my brother had. It was so funny how I had joked him when he went looking for his first car that he would get a rusted out old junker to drive. He sort of did. He had a 1975 Mercury Comet. It was yellow and actually in decent shape except for the back fenders which were pretty much rusted out. I loved that car. It was a beater car, but I loved it just the same. My brother took me out on an old country road and we would just drive. Eventually he sold that car and got a 1979 Oldsmobile Omega. It was blue and was a really nice car. I liked it but not as much as I did that Comet. My brother was a trooper though and kept giving me lessons until one day I was ready to go get my drivers licence. I remember that day so well. First let me start by telling you that my brothers Olds had an issue with dying if you cut the wheel too hard. On the morning my brother and I drove to Ossian we made sure we were there right as they opened. I remember I was the first one going out. I had missed one question on my written test. All that was left to do was to pass the driving test. The lady got in and inspected the car. She told me that she had not had her morning coffee yet and that we would need to get this done so she could get back and get her coffee. At that time there was only one red light and about three or four stop signs in Ossian. I had been down there and practiced the driving route a few times. I was not very good at parallel parking though and was not looking forward to that part. Finally she found a spot with a car and asked me to parallel park behind it. I pulled up to the front door of the car that would be in front. Just as I had rehearsed over and over at a park in Waynedale between logs. Every time I would cut the wheel to try to get parked behind this car though the engine would die. I tried over and over and each time it died. Finally the woman got out and told me to scoot over. I did as I was instructed. She got in and expertly parallel parked my brothers car behind the one she wanted. She looked at me and asked me if I thought I could do that. I nodded. She goes OK lets go on to the next point. When we got back to the licence branch she marked my score as a hundred percent. She put I had passed with flying colors. All I remember is her mumbling something as we got back about finally being able to get her coffee. I am thankful to my brother for teaching me to drive and I am thankful that I still have the memories to cherish. So for me watching that dad and daughter practicing driving today took me back in time for a little while. Back to a more innocent time when my brother first taught me to drive. So for a while tonight you might say I took a drive down memory lane.

The Benefits of Nuts.

One of the new things in my life is nuts. I've never been a fan and hardly ever ate nuts in my past life; however, as we grow older and wiser sometimes we find a need to try new things. For me trying nuts came from a need to raise my good cholesterol levels up to where my family doctor wanted it to be. It also fills a need for a healthy snack now and then. So on my desk at work now I have containers of nuts. The three I have chosen to add to my diet are peanuts, cashews and almonds. Now you really need to be careful though with nuts that you get lightly salted or unsalted. You can do more damage to your health than good if you eat nuts saturated in salt. Peanuts are a good source of protein. Peanuts also have antioxidant's and reservatrol. Reservatrol is helpful in helping fight the aging process and it helps keep the heart healthy. Then there are Cashews. Cashews contain protein, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper and zinc. Cashews help lower the rick of heart disease, help lower blood pressure, give us a natural energy, raise our good cholesterol and help lower our bad cholesterol. There is some research that shows cashews actually help fight tooth decay as well. Lastly I have added Almonds to my diet. Almonds have virtually no carbohydrates. They are a rich source of vitamin E and they also are high in mono saturated fats. Almonds are good for the complexion, help move food through the colon and also help lower bad cholesterol levels. As you can see all the nuts help with cholesterol. You can also see how these nuts can bring some very important health benefits into your life; however, you must also be careful not to over do it on nuts. As with anything else, nuts should be eaten in some moderation. A handful or two of nuts a day is OK. Cashews should be eaten more sparingly than peanuts or almonds. Cashews are high in fats and a handful a day is more than enough. So if you haven't tried them and you're not allergic to them I would recommend you join me in replacing some less healthy snack foods with this wonderfully healthful snack. Sometimes you feel like a nut, some times you don't, but adding these little guys to your diet can help you feel better. This is after all the benefits of nuts.

What I Think About When I Walk.

My left ankle has finally healed I believe. I would have to say it's about time that I got over the pain from hurting it almost two months ago. Now though I have a new pain. One that is slowing me down some on my walks. I have sharp pain that shoots through my right shin and knee. It's sporadic and the knee feels swollen. I'm not one to let it stop me though. I am walking on. I have a goal in mind. I want to be healthier and I want to be able to live a normal life. So last week on my Sunday evening walk I encountered my first heckler. Not a supporter at all. A young guy of about twenty give or take a year either way shouted out: "Hey big mama shake that sweet ass, shake that thing." I was all ready not in a good mood so I flipped him the bird and told him to grow up. As I was walking today my actual fan club of supporters were out. It was hard for me to get motivated to walk today since my leg hurt and I didn't get enough sleep last night but I put on my shoes and my Walkman and watch and headed out. The first bend had the kindly older gentleman who shouted way to go you're doing great and keep it up. Then my neighbor lady smiled and waved and another gentleman asked how it is going for me and told me to keep walking. It was much needed support on a day when all I wanted to do was stay in bed. You see when you're heavy and a social pariah so to speak, you know people are going to look at you differently and there are those people who would have stopped walking the moment the heckler had tried to shame them or embarrass them. Not me. I won't be stopped. I'm going after what I want, but I wonder how people can be like him. It's nice though to know that the majority of people are being supportive and understanding that to start an exercise program and to change the way one eats is a form of rehabilitation. Food is an addiction of sorts. One that brings comfort to fill a void. It's the same for people who fill that void with drugs or alcohol. The trick is to realize the problem. The trick is to find other avenue's to fill that void and emptiness and not to let people tell you things that will make you do otherwise. I could get up every day and feel sorry for myself but I refuse to. I need to find the positive in the day. So on I walk. I am adding exercise bike time and weight training and Nintendo Wii activities to help me on my journey. I have the Jillian Michael's Wii training game. I did a thirty minute cardio work out last night and a fifteen minute one this morning and I am going to do as much as I can in a week. So all this went through my mind today as I walked. Along with the fact that I have some friends that seem kind of bummed lately. I wish I could pick up their mood for them, but I can't. Hopefully they just know they are loved and they are loved as whom they are. Each person needs to know that they are most important and at their best when they are their own person and understand they are loved for whom they are. I also saw and took this picture of the ambulance being towed away and wondered if it was headed back from dropping someone at the hospital or if it was headed to pick someone up and how unfortunate for an ambulance to get broke down along I69. I also thought about this field that has been for sale for over a decade now. It's right in front of the Indiana Department of Transportation. It is easily seen from I69; however, it is not so easily gotten to. There is one entry way in and one out. I am of a conflicted mind on whether I would ever want anything back there or not. I kind of like the peace and tranquility that comes with the empty land. So this is what I think about when I walk. This and so much more. Walks are very good for the mind and soul as well as the body. So what do you think about when you walk?

Remembering David Carradine

Growing up there were many shows that held a special place in my mind and in my heart. One of those was "Kung Fu" and later "Kung Fu the Legend Continues". I loved watching David Carradine act. There was just something about him that was so inviting and comforting. There was also a little mystery in the characters he played, not to mention I thought he was an
extremely good looking man. Even when he played characters of questionable intentions and virtue, such as Bill in the "Kill Bill" series, I found myself rooting for him. In as his life was filled with so many accomplishments it seems sad that it has come to an end and such a tragic one at that. At seventy-two years of age David Carradine, born John Arthur Carradine, was found hanging by a yellow silk tie in a closet in his hotel room in Bangkok Thailand. The government in Thailand announced that Carradine had taken his own life and called it a suicide; however, there were rumors that his hands may have been bound behind his back making it a little unlikely that this was a condition he placed himself in. The fact that it was a silk scarf and his appendage had black twine around it as well insinuated that this may have been a case of taking sex to the edge way too far. Some people believe that the highest state of arousal occurs when one is close or near death and some practice Erotic asphyxiation. Carradine's family has released statements that they do not believe this was an intentional act of taking his own life. For me it's just one more in a series of childhood actors and actresses that have slowly faded into the sunset. It seems everything in live is changing from the people who are living to the buildings that are no longer standing. I guess this is life and it goes on. I will continue to watch the works of Mr. Carradine and smile because his characters brought strength of character and virtue even when he was playing the villain.

A Suggestion for President Obama:

My mind is always turning and spinning and sometimes so much it even makes me dizzy. Here recently I got to thinking about how people come into our country from another country, get a green card, get a TAX EXEMPTION, and send their money back to their own countries. I really don’t feel this is fair. I think if you are working in the United States and you are not a United States Citizen you should have to pay a flat tax for your privilege of working in our country. Say twenty percent. Yes twenty cents for every American dollar you earn and every American job you take. I for one Mr. President am sick and tired of foreigners taking our jobs and getting all the free health care and government assistance and they don’t pay taxes either. What the heck is up with that? No, they don’t get any special benefits from paying it. They are here in our country and that should be the benefit they get for their money. If they want fair let them LEARN ENGLISH well enough for everyone to understand them and let them become an American citizen. With that it means respecting our laws, our taxes and most importantly our FLAG! No they don’t need a social security number. Give them a green card ID number which they will use to pay their taxes and we can also use to track where they are in our beautiful country. Now with that being said here is one more thought. Let’s put PRIDE back into our working world. That means you employers out there need to start being proud of your products and your employees and the fact that your business is here in the United States of America. Let’s stop saving the pennies we use to spend on making our properties beautiful. Keeping your lawns done, your buildings in good shape and flowers planted helps keep everyone feeling good about their environment. When did we become so greedy we would rather see our properties in ruins? As for that matter that goes for home owners to. If you are on a budget the government does have ways of helping with free paint and free flowers. The programs are out there. We also need to stop big business from shipping our jobs over seas. Again, if all our jobs are gone and we can’t work, who is going to buy these products. I say tax the heck out of companies that ship jobs over seas. I say stop gas companies from raising our gas prices at the pumps just because its summer and you think we don’t have high heat bills at home so you are freaking entitled to our money. The government horns in on everything else and it’s about time that you take a stand and fight for us. That is why I voted for you Mr. President. Because I believe you will, but I also believe Americans have to help. We have to do our part and we have to get back to having pride in ourselves and our work. We have to get back to earning the respect we want and living to our means not to what we would like to be able to afford. Flowers grow by God’s hand into beauty. He works to make this world beautiful. Now it is time for each and every one of us to work to make it beautiful as well. One thing I know is if you live in the U.S. and you are not a citizen you should not have the right to not help fix up our country. You should pay a tax for that right. You should help to improve this country you came to take advantage of. I know it’s only my opinion, but I also know the FLAG blankets and afford me the opportunity to speak freely under our constitutional rights. I’m proud of our country. I would love to see it get back to where workers and families and all take pride in their work, their products and in their lives.

Fried Green Tomatoes

On Sunday I took a drive up to Auburn Indiana to meet my parents, my brother, my nephew and my niece at Ryan's. There use to be a Ryan's restaurant here in Fort Wayne on Clinton in front of the Scott's. I miss that restaurant at times, but the management that had taken over there had let it become a less than appealing place to eat. It didn't look clean and there was no variety towards the end. If you're going to eat buffet foods you want variety. We had eaten at the Ryan's on Clinton for years but in the last few months had rarely entered it's doorway. The Ryan's in Auburn had started out trying to make a fresh start. I don't know if they thought the name of their restaurant would be marked as bad because of the decay of the one in Fort Wayne or not. It opened as a Fire Mountain about four months before Ryan's closed and it just recently renamed itself back to what it actually is. If you like southern cooking it's a good place for you. It is like the old Ryan's from years ago. There is plenty of variety and lots of southern food to be found. One such item was being introduced this weekend was fried green tomatoes. My dad had never had them, which I found a little odd seeing as how he grew up in the south and I had the opportunity to eat them on more than one occasion, but I prodded him to try them and he did. When we came back to Fort Wayne he was out looking to buy some tomato plants. Mom said he really liked them. Yes there was even a movie made from the name of this delicacy. They are quiet good and you may find recipe's at:

http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/001506fried_green_tomatoes.php

Auburn isn't really that far up the road and if you're looking for a pleasant drive and a good meal at a fair price I would definitely recommend this restaurant. I would also recommend the fried green tomatoes if you haven't tried them. I really can't say I liked fried pickles very much though. In case you're looking to go you'll find the directions right here. Take a drive and go hungry. That way you can savor every southern bite.

AUBURN, IN - Ryan's 1411 SHOOK DRIVE AUBURN, IN 46706 (260) 920-1170

A Bill Cosby Style Breakfast.

One of my favorite comedic bits is one of comedian Bill Cosby's. In it he tries to explain to his wife why their four year old daughter is eating chocolate cake for breakfast. He goes into how it has eggs and milk. He says the eggs and the milk are in the chocolate cake. Saturday as I watched my niece and nephew and the yard sale my nephew around nine-thirty in the morning finally proclaimed he was hungry. I asked him what he wanted and he said he didn't know and went in and opened the freezer. I asked if he wanted eggs or bacon or cereal. Nope he wanted corn dogs. Really? Corn dogs for breakfast? Well that is what he wanted and my niece quickly agreed. So I fixed them. Ketchup and mustard and they were all ready. I suppose it wasn't the "motherly" type thing to do, but since I am the aunt and it's my duty to spoil and do things out of the ordinary I believe I fulfilled my auntly duties. Either way it's a new one on me. I mean really corn dogs for breakfast? Bill Cosby would be proud after all this was a Bill Cosby style breakfast.