Frances Ellen Speaks!

Archive for the ‘Journaling’ Category

Okay, I’m on my soapbox again, encouraging you to write something this week about yourself. If you do, I can almost guarantee one of your children or your grandchildren will thank you someday. You are living in their “good old days.”

I can’t tell you how many times I could kick myself for not asking my mother more questions about her life. Now it’s too late. The only things I have of hers, in her own handwriting, are a few recipes she gave me over the years. At least when I see her handwriting on the page, it helps me to remember other small things about her. I’m going to share one of her recipes with you at the end of this post.

But to get back to journaling, there’s so much to write about. Some suggestions:

• any kind of travel would be good
• all of your favorite recipes
• right now, the campaign for the presidency furnishes a bushel full of options
• what television shows won’t you miss
• what movie did you see recently that you absolutely loved
• if you are reading a book, try writing your own review

And remember, there’s no rule against being humorous. You can go in any direction, it’s your show. Someone mentioned to me a few weeks ago that she started writing stuff down occasionally and she does it in letter form, as if she is actually writing a letter to someone.

Or maybe something happens in the course of a normal day that seems worthy of preserving as a memory. Here’s one from Ireland.

I was driving home yesterday amidst a flood caused by a thaw of snow. We came to a big enough pool of water that stretch the entire width of the road. We watched as the car ahead of us passed safely through the water and then to my surprise the car stopped and waited. The driver waited to make sure we passed through the water safely.

Short, sweet and cute. That’s all it takes.

If you go somewhere…anywhere, write about it. Here’s a very short travelogue and a chuckle from Walking Around. She just returned from a trip to Wales.

So there you have it, one of my pep talks to get you writing and saving your memories. Now to the promised recipe from my mother.

Italian Wedding Soup

3 heads of escarole (found in the produce dept.)
1 lb. ground beef
2 eggs, scrambled
Chicken Broth, either homemade or 2 large cans Chicken Broth (my mother used College Inn)

First roll the ground beef into tiny balls about the size of your thumb nail. Set aside.

Wash the escarole leaf by leaf in a sink filled with cool water. Place leaves on a clean dish towel. There will be loads and loads of leafy greens, but they will shrink down when you drop them into a large pot of boiling water. Keep turning the escarole with a long wooden spoon until all of the greens have been submerged in the water. Cook until tender–about 20 to 25 minutes. To cool–transfer the entire pot to the sink and run cold water into it until the escarole is comfortable to handle. To remove most of the water from the escarole, squeeze the greens into fist-size balls. Cut through each ball, using a cutting board, about 6 times, slicing in two or three different directions.

Rinse out the same pot you used to cook down the escarole, and pour in the chicken broth. Most of the work is now done. Just drop the escarole and all of the tiny meatballs into the hot chicken broth. Cook on medium heat for about an hour.

Now for the scrambled eggs. Make sure the broth is boiling, then pour the eggs onto the surface of the soup. Use a tablespoon to swirl the egg around gently on the surface, creating little bits of cooked eggs. (This is reminiscent of confetti at a wedding–hence the name.) Once the eggs are cooked, the soup is ready to serve.

Optional: Some people like to sprinkle parmesan cheese on top of their soup, so make sure you have that on the table for those with that preference.

Enjoy.  And if you have a recipe from your mother that you’d like to share, feel free to send it as a comment.

I saw three classic cars this past week! And they weren’t sitting on display at a car exhibition. They were actually on the road with someone behind the wheel driving them. The sight of each one made my heart sing.

The first one I saw was unmistakable, a Chevy BelAir.

It wasn’t black, though. It was the more familiar turquoise and white. Talk about moving back in time.

Do you remember when one of the most exciting events of the year was when the new cars were introduced? The unveiling of each new model was treated as a high point in the automotive year, and rightly so. The cars didn’t look like large boxes back then. Their bodies were sleek, daring; each one different from the others.

The second car I spotted last week was being parked by a gentleman in a black beret. I’m pretty sure that one was a ’59 Chrysler. I could be off by a year or two. It looked like this one.

If you’re now thinking there is no way I saw a Pink ’57 Ford Thunderbird; I confess, you’re correct. I just couldn’t bear to leave it out of the line-up. Is that the most beautiful machine you’ve ever laid eyes on? Too bad we’ll never see a vehicle like it in a showroom ever again. But, take a minute to think back to the days when seeing one on the road was a superb, delicious moment.

The car I did see was pretty good, though. I think it might have been a ’58 or ’59 Dodge Coronet. Classic! Drink it in.

Can you believe there is such a thing as Arthritis of the Eye? Well, there is and I’ve got it.

The eye’s version of arthritis is call Uveitis. Some doctors believe it follows an infection of some type, but if you suffer from arthritis, it almost certainly is related. And it’s hard to diagnose. This is the fourth time I’ve experienced an outbreak, but it wasn’t until the third episode that it was finally diagnosed.

…This can be confounding to the patient and the doctor when the infection has long passed at the time of presentation with arthritis or eye inflammation…

Surprisingly, it even has political overtones–who would’ve thought!

Reactive arthritis has, in the past, been referred to as Reiter syndrome (a term that has lost favor because of Dr. Hans Reiter’s dubious past, one of enthusiastically embracing Nazi politics and medical abominations).

Be that as it may, I’ve got it and my symptoms are: painful eye (only one eye at a time, not both), profuse watering of the eye and, consequently, blurry vision, and a painful reaction to bright light/sunlight. The treatment prescribed for me is Prednisolone Eyedrops.

Prednisolone is a steroid, therefore, the treatment is controversial. But leaving it unchecked is a lot more dangerous according to the Mayo Clinic.

Complications

Left untreated, uveitis can cause the following complications:

• Abnormally high pressure inside the eye (glaucoma)
• Damage to the optic nerve
• Clouding of the lens (cataract) or cornea
• Scar tissue inside the eye
• Retinal problems, such as fluid within the retina or retinal detachment
• Vision loss

This is where my post ends. Evidently, looking at a computer monitor only increases the blur.

I got it into my head that I should try yoga. Pretty much, the only things I know about yoga are, it’s a form of relaxation, it helps with flexibility, it’s good for one’s balance and it doesn’t require me to bounce around too much.

I had one problem with the yoga class; it’s held at my local hospital for the 55+ gang on Tuesday evenings and, as it happened, I had an appointment to get a pedicure last Tuesday. Pretty much, what I know about pedicures is it’s a form of relaxation, your feet and legs receive a massage and it, too, requires no bouncing.

Hmm. What to choose, what to choose…

Image from

Here’s something to think about from Yoga Informer regarding relaxation.

The eye-catching promise of poise, grace, and flexibility are the common reasons why people—especially females—are being drawn to yoga classes nowadays. Having a similar stance with ballet, more and more people see yoga as a relaxing yet more elegant form of exercise.

But there’s something to be said for the pure pampering of a spa pedicure, too.

It isn’t often that a woman’s feet get to relax. Constantly on the go, with careers, family, and other commitments, the feet often take more than they deserve. Making the time to visit the beauty salon for spa pedicures rejuvenates the feet and keeps them looking their best.

Hmm. What to do, what to do…

I decided to check in on MSNBC to find out what ideas the exercise experts have beeen touting lately:

…new guidelines call for healthy adults to engage in moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity for at least 30 minutes five days each week…

…The new guidelines offered specific advice for people 65 and older, urging them to consider lifting weights, improving their strength to prevent falls, and working on flexibility exercises and balance training.

Okay, I can forget about the weight training. That’s not going to happen anytime soon while I’m dealing with a rotator cuff tear. But there’s that flexibility and balance training again. It’s clear I should give yoga a try. And as an added bonus, if I yoga my heart out for an hour each week, I’m half way to meeting the five day requirement–well, almost.

Being a firm believer in having the best of both worlds, I attended my first yoga class on Tuesday; I rescheduled my pedicure for Thursday. The choice wasn’t so complicated afterall.

Photo from

If you’ve been following my blog, you know I swept in and out of Memphis, TN with two friends for a three day weekend last month. We packed in a lot of sightseeing and activities, but we didn’t have time to visit the King’s house–Elvis, that is.

I happened to mention that fact to one of my younger co-workers shortly after I returned. And she said to me, “You call that guy who died on his toilet from a drug overdose a king?”

Not exactly what I wanted to hear after a truly great weekend adventure. I tried to explain to her what it had been like seeing Elvis for the very first time on the Ed Sullivan Show.

What I found out was, it is impossible to define the “Phenomenon of Elvis” to young people who cannot comprehend a time when there were NO Super Stars.

Then came Elvis.

So, here was my dilemma. How could I possibly explain about the young Elvis that the world fell in love with? How could I tell her what a fresh faced boy he was back then, when all she is familiar with is the unfortunate last act of his life. In a way, it broke my heart, because I grew up with Elvis and I know that, although it appeared he had “everything”– money, fame, adulation– he also had a really rough ride. He was literally trapped in his compound at Graceland. He agonized and begged to be able to make movies that would allow him to act, but the studios insisted he star in movies that they believed his public craved, and maybe we did. His music was the only freedom he was afforded.

Of all the movies he starred in, he liked only one–Jailhouse Rock

To top that off, Elvis had no idea what it meant to be an internationally known Super Star. Why? Because he was the first. He was “it.” How does a kid who grew up in a small country town handle that? Who can instruct him? There were no footsteps to follow.

Superstar! We have plenty of them today, but none– repeat none–come even close to the King’s popularity. He was known throughout the world. Here is a statue of him in Jerusalem.

January 8th was Elvis Presley’s birthday. People all over the world remembered him especially on this day. Following is a comment posted on a blog that originates in Ireland

Elvis Presley was remembered here in Ireland as our national radio service RTE1 played his beautiful music on his birthday.

Did ever a vocalist’s voice reach right around the globe like Elvis’s did? and light up millions of peoples, lives like no other, before or since.

They loved him in Germany then and now

In the quaint little town of Bad Nauheim, it was “big love big heartache” every day when young ladies back in the 50s wrote their phone numbers with lipstick on the typical German garden fence outside the king’s villa. Aging German locals report that every night the wooden fence would be cleaned to make room for more love notes.

“He still preoccupies us, he’s well-known across the generations, and he brought about a sexual, musical and social revolution,” said the head of a German museum that hosted a recent Elvis exhibition.

Unlike any other performer before him, he spawned an industry.

Elvis Impersonators

He met Presidents and Heads of State. Crazed crowds of people clamored to see him at every airport.

And when he passed on to the stardom in the sky, many countries outside the U.S. built monuments for him like this one in Germany.

So, “To answer your original question, dear, Elvis remains The King, in spite of his final curtain. I doubt there will ever be another like him.”

PHOTO FROM

It doesn’t happen that often, but when it’s time for me to buy a new car, I cringe. Last Saturday, I thought I had myself talked into visiting some car dealerships to test drive a few cars. But when Saturday rolled around, I couldn’t make myself go. My insides seized up, my head began to pound and I think I actually had a panic attack. I couldn’t leave the house.

By Monday, after giving it some serious thought over the weekend, I decided there must be a better way. Maybe if I didn’t have to deal face to face with a salesman, I might be able to hold on to my sanity. I decided to try out internet shopping. Did you know almost all car dealers now have an internet management group?

Don’t be thinking it’s all peachy keen, though. In some cases, you still have to put up with salesmen who prefer to give you information that they want to give you, instead of information you ask for. And there are still a few holdouts who won’t divulge their out-the-door price. (That is the bottom line that includes price of car, taxes, dealership fees, option costs, rebates, etc.). Fortunately, when you are working with this type of salesmen via email, you can just “delete” them and erase them forever from your life. It feels heavenly.

But for the most part, internet salesmen are happy to answer all your questions; to let you know what cars are in stock and, best of all, dickering over price is much more time efficient. Instead of sitting in the showroom waiting for the sales manager to bestow his reluctant blessing on each and every price reduction, you are sitting at home checking your email whenever it’s convenient for you.

Forays into the land of the hard sell are kept to a minimum, because it’s a lot more difficult for a salesman to pressure you via email, and those that did make feeble attempts to push, I was able to weed out the first day. Finally, I decided to concentrate on getting the best deal I could get on a Toyota Corolla.

There are three Toyota Dealers in my town and I spent three days corresponding with each of them. In the end, I decided to do business with Andy. He works out of a dealership named Courtesy Toyota; their name says it all.

Courtesy Toyota

Although price was my major concern, finding a likeable saleman also enteres into my equation. As the days wore on, it was Andy who patiently answered all my questions, made suggestions, made concessions. When we finally talked on the phone, he worked out a few more minor issues that were troubling me, such as, how could I get two cars to my home since I wasn’t planning on trading in my old car. His solution: two individuals from the dealership would follow me home.

All in all, my car buying experience was painless. I never thought I’d ever say that in this lifetime.

So, here you have it. Yet another reason why you should learn to make your computer work for you. Blogging and writing memoirs are a plus, but when the computer can save you time and money, it’s time to get on the bandwagon and make 2008 the year you’ll learn to utilize your computer to its fullest.