Strawberry treats for your loved one.

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Ready In: 15 Minutes
Servings: 18
"Strawberries stuffed with lightly-sweetened cream cheese and walnuts are perfect for that romantic evening. They go great with champagne! Pecans also work well in this recipe."
Ingredients:
20 fresh strawberries
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese,
softened

2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
1 1/2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
Directions:
1. Dice two strawberries and set aside. Cut the stems off of each of the remaining strawberries, forming a base for strawberries to stand on. Starting at the pointed ends and cutting most of the way, but not completely through the stem end, slice each strawberry into four wedges.
2. Beat the cream cheese until fluffy; stir in the diced strawberries, walnuts, and powdered sugar. Spoon or pipe about a teaspoon of mix into each strawberry.

Happy Birthday My Valentine Baby

Today is my granddaughters 8th birthday. I would give anything to be spending it with her. She is so sweet and funny. The other day my son got a package from the kids with pictures and drawings and he just broke down and cried. We miss them both so much. We can't wait until this summer when they come out. Happy birthday sweetheart. We love you.



I told Rick what I wanted for Valentines day.

"I want you to grill a steak".
"Ok," he said.
" I want steamed asparagus".
" Yum", he said.
"Fresh made bread".
"Oh yeah, sounds good", he said.
" And a nice bottle of dark red zinfandel, plus my perfect rose".
"Sounds great," he replied. " I can do that".
Then I said, "after dinner we can curl up on the couch and watch Pretty Woman".

No way. LOL. You can only push them so far

Would you vote on something you hadn't read?

Man I sure wouldn't. You always have to read that fine print. That's where all the clauses are that can totally screw you up. But you know what? Our government is voting on the stimulus plan and not a single senator has read it!

They don't want to read it. That way they would have to admit they knew they were voting in socialized medicine. They would have to admit that they knew this was going to end up costing each and every tax payer more money then we make in years. That way they can sleep at night. But how could they. How can they look themselves in the mirror everyday and not vomit. They have betrayed the people who voted for them. They have betrayed their morals, but more important. They have betrayed the very believes this country was built on.

The media is to blame also. What has happened to good reporting? In the old days some gung ho reporter would have found out what was in that bill. He would BREAK THE STORY. Hold the presses. The mainstream media of today. CBC, ABC, MSMBC, they are supporting the bill, blindly. They haven't read it. And they don't care to either.

The really terrible stuff about the health care reform is being voted on. Reduction of medicare reinbursement, coverage, pharmaceutical reform, its all there. You can only take the name brand med? Too bad. Your 70 and have bad kidneys. Well, make you final arrangements. Diabetic because your obese and don't exercise 1 hour day. Well you deserve what you get.

Oh, and Acorn are getting a big ole chunk of this money. And not one thing pertaining to a reduction of taxes.

Don't you get it people. The people who voted for a Democratic government have been lied too. Openenly. Blatantly. Actually....it didn't matter who you voted for. Government almost always lies to you. The only non lie I heard this year was when Obama said we are all going to have to dig deeper in our pockets. Boy is that true, well for the taxpayers at least. Government is also getting a nice fat little bit of pocket change with this new bill.

They wanted it passed fast so we didn't start demanding too see it. They wanted to get it past while everyone was still on their honeymoon with The Man Who can Almost Walk on Water according to some media reports. Its like the man who married the beautiful woman only to find out when she takes off her hair extentions, the false eyelashes, the bootie lift and uplift enhancing bra, the make-up and girdle that they have just a average looking new wife after-all and those tempting looking breasts are fake. We've been duped.

Well, actually I haven't been duped. I am old enough, and have been around long enough not to believe anything that comes out of politicians mouth. Being I don't blindly vote a straight ticket I have the option to check out all the candidates stories and look for the hidden adjenda. So I pretty much got what I expected. Unfortunately in the worse case, best case scenario, I think I am getting the worse case.

This is the last year I think for the lifestyle we are used to. Maybe it will be good in some ways. People have gotten ridiculous on the things they think they have to have. We will be forced to go back to simpler times. To start with. Then leaner times. Then ........

You know Karl Marx said, " The Meaning of Peace is the Absence of Opposition to Socialism", which is why they want the fairness doctrine reinstated. Well.... I oppose. He also said, " Democracy is the road to socialism." Just reminders.

Friday the 13th

Doesn't bother me, does it you? Heck, if they called and told me they would do my surgery today I would go, may not fly though. Any excuse not to fly.

I have some photo's I took the other day. Didn't get anything out of the usual but I did like the geese flying right over my head. Made interesting shots. Click on the photo's to see them larger, they look better. The collage below was this old farm house. I bet it was a beauty in its day. Sad to see it all neglected and falling apart. But in my mind, I can picture it in its glory days.


Yesterday I woke up with what looks like another spot on the other side of my face by my jaw. It looks like a sore. Hopefully it is a sore. You know how you scrape yourself and never pay any attention. I suppose now every time I get any little thing I be slightly nervous about it.

My other spot started out looking like a pimple. I was surprised to see it because one of the nice things about getting older is you just don't get them often. The sore got bigger and bigger and felt firm and then started scabbing over. Nothing I did made it better. I started putting triple antibiotic cream on it, peroxide, you name it I tried to get rid of it. Finally I decided to have it checked. So I guess I watch this new spot and see what happens. If it is still there when I have my surgery I'll have it removed also.


Today I have physical therapy for my wrist and shoulder. My shoulder is still sore. I suppose now that I can finally use my hand the original shoulder injury is getting stirred up. My wrist is getting better and better. Still not very strong but the swelling is way down and the scars look much better. Less infected looking. I am wearing a compression pad to keep the scar flat and soft that the therapist gave me. Seems to be working. I also see the shoulder doctor today. He is pretty nice and I like him. Unfortunately it seems the more I use the shoulder the original pain comes back. When I was guarding the shoulder more it was getting better. You have to worry about a frozen shoulder then.

Oh man, I just realized this entire entry is all about health problems. I always hated it when every time I saw certain relatives the only thing they wanted to talk to me, the nurse, about was their medical problems, LOL. And here I am.

I keep my blog or journal like I used to keep my written one. More just a log I can look back on to see what the weather was like, anything new that happened, a way to remember certain things etc and to jar my lousy memory. so just ignore these boring entries, LOL. I promise I am on the mend and then it will be on to a different topic. Maybe I had better steer clear of politics also. There are so many that do it so much better then me. I used to have a journal that was just for ranting and raving. Here it all goes in this one. Because Gee, how can you not rant with all thats going on....right?

It is suppose to lightly snow today. I am thinking if I can stay awake we might go listen to some live music and chill. I can't remember for sure if it is tonight or tomorrow though. And last night we watched Outsourced. Anyone seen that movie. It turned out to be really good. I recommend it.

Well, off to do my exercises and my meditation. I find it helps to do my meditation after my exercises to help my muscles relax again. Tomorrow is my granddaughters birthday and I want to call her today also. I sure miss them. Oh, and the eagle has laid a egg. You get a great shot right inside the nest this year since they moved the camera, so check that out.

So..... what do you think of the pictures? Can you picture what that old house must have looked like?

Tentitive surgery date

I saw the plastic surgeon. She is so nice and I feel reassured again after talking to her. I really like the way she pays attention to detail and she has a way making you trust her. She is really funny and reminds me of an old hippy except she is way younger then me.

It was a good news bad news visit. Good new because she has done several of these and knows exactly what to do. She will try to not leave a horrible scar, but as she told me and I know, the most important thing is to get the cancer out. The scar will depend on how much cancer is in there. Hopefully it is almost out. The facial nerve she is worried about is the one to my eyebrow. She said I might not be able to raise my eyebrow afterward. I was worried about facial droop so I guess this is OK.

I decided to not be put under again so will have it done under local sedation. This can take awhile because they take some out, send it to lab and wait for results and then take more, send it to lab, etc..... Hopefully they will get it all out with one more cut. Maybe I should bring a good book but they will have me in la la land.

I mentioned the severe nerve pain again and asked if she thought I might get that again and she said he might have nicked a nerve or it might have been the anesthetic they used to numb me so she can't say for sure, but they will give me something for pain this time. The worse case would be is if the cancer has spread so far that she can't get it all, so then she closes me up and sends me to the doctor in Omaha I was going to see. Now part of me is saying, I should just go to him then right off the bat, but most of me is saying I think it is almost gone and I will stay here where it is cheaper. Plus, I trust her to worry about the cancer first, but still worry about the scar.

She is not going to use sutures. She was teasing me about how I always have to have something out of the norm. I really like her.

Now for the not so good news. She has me for sure down for the 3rd of March. 3 weeks away and pretty close to having to go back to work. But I get the first cancellation. One of the patients hasn't shown up for her pre-op visit twice so I might get her spot on the 24th. And if anyone drops out because they are sick or something I get their spot. Plus her regular nurse is back from vacation Tuesday and she will know if there is someone they can switch around.

So....one of these days I will be having surgery and getting this past. Thank goodness. And I am praying, isn't this selfish that someone gets sick and has to cancel surgery real quick. They can have the 3rd of March, I will take now.

I had PT yesterday. My shoulder has been really bad again and I am not sure why. I hate that. Since the shoulder is a work comp thing I hate that it gets better and then bad again. You always feel like they don't believe you. Since I am off work and never missed any work because of it, what benefit would there be in lying? But they don't say that, I probably just feel that way because so many people do cheat on this which has ruined it for those of us really hurt at work. I truly do just want to get better and back to work. Something about making money and paying bills really appeals to me. Why would I want to cut my income down 2/3's?

We had a lovely day in Sioux Falls Tuesday. So relaxing. I am slowing adding photo's to my Photo journal. We saw the eagles but they stayed way to high to get good shots.



Well, time to get busy cleaning house. Skin cancer tip of the day. Most common spot to get skin cancer? Ears, nose and lips on the face. So, use that sunscreen, use a chap stick, SPF 15 or higher. Don't forget to put that sunscreen on your ears. Easier to do that then go through what I am having done. Taking chunks off your nose or lips really looks bad and if you tan, please think about stopping. This old person disease is showing up in 20 year olds.

Watch out

funny

'MARIJUANA FILLED FIREWOOD'

'Hello, is this the Sheriff's Office?'

'Yes. What can I do for you?'

'I'm calling to report 'bout my neighbor, Virgil Smith....He's hidin' marijuana inside his firewood! Don't quite know how he gets it inside them logs, but he's hidin' it there.'

'Thank you very much for the call, sir.'

The next day, the Sheriff's Deputies descend on Virgil's house. They search the shed where the firewood is kept. Using axes, they bust open every piece of wood, but find no marijuana. They sneer at Virgil and leave.

Shortly, the phone rings at Virgil's house.

'Hey, Virgil! This here's Floyd... .Did the Sheriff come?'

'Yeah!'

'Did they chop your firewood?'

'Yep!'

'Happy Birthday, buddy!'

(Rednecks know how to git-R-dun).