It Was a Good Week

A couple of weeks ago I wrote that I'd changed Murphy's law to Karita's law.  Well last week I changed it back!  Things have a way of reversing itself - if you let it.  It had not been going well.  I couldn't find the paperwork to a van I was selling,  my car failed smog, my water line broke.  Last week went better.

I went to the DMV,  begged mercy, and walked out with the transfer to the van with the title coming in a weeks time.  The buyer of the van emailed me he had been dreaming about the van and still wanted it.  Transaction consummated!

I told you it cost $300.00 to get the car smogged and tags.  But I decided to keep this car.  I just couldn't part with it.  It was my husband's and my date car.  We called her Black Beauty.  Now that I've decided to keep her I feel good!

My daughter and son-in-law went on an extended vacation via Amtrak to New York.  They then rented a car and went to Toronto and Montreal Canada.  I picked them up at the train depot.  I asked my son-in-law if he knew how to fix a broken water pipe.  He said no.  I told him he was going to learn the next day.  I called a friend and asked him to check on him to make sure it was done correctly.  He obliged, and walked Marty through the process.  Marty did an excellent job, the pipe got fixed and he learned a new skill!

I love it when a plan (or things) comes together!

So this week I'm optimistic, and I plan to stay that way!

Chicken Mole Recipe

Something happened to the link and the website for the Chicken Mole recipe that appeared in my blog entry You Can Get Married Now, October 2010.  So I am reprinting that blog entry here.

The Mexicans have a saying when a woman can prepare a delicious meal; she can get married now.

I was on a Chicken Mole kick a while back, after having tasted a wonderful dish of it.  I asked for the hostess’s recipe, but never followed through.

Thus began my quest for a dynamite mole recipe.  I found it on the Internet and it was easy to prepare, and delicious.

I prepared it and the consensus was - I could get married now!  Try it.  You’ll be able to get married too!

Chicken Mole

 Chicken Mole for Tostados

2 TBSP. Lard or Vegetable oil

2 Semi heaping TBSPS. Peanut Butter

1 Medium onion, minced

2-16 ounce cans diced tomatoes

1 TBSP. Mexican sweet chocolate*

2 Pkgs. Chili Seasoning mix

1 Boiled chicken (Or you can bake chicken pieces and add them to the sauce

4 Cups chicken broth

Salt to taste

*No Mexican chocolate - use semi sweet chocolate chips and 3/4 tsp. cinnamon

In dutch oven, saute minced onion in oil.  Add rest of ingredients except chicken meat.  Cook just until boiling.  Add chicken.

Serve with Spanish rice.

Murphy's (Karita's) Law

 Friday before last I was about to sell my husbands Volkswagon Vanagon for way more than he paid for it.  Problem was I couldn't find the paperwork.

Every other vehicle file was there except the Vanagon's.  I went through the entire filing cabinet that morning.  Still no papers.  Sale postponed.

Last Monday I needed to have my car smogged.  It failed.  It was an additional $300.00 to get the tags.

Last Wednesday, I drove into my driveway and noticed water seeping up from the ground.  The water pipe had broken.  After my husband's death, I had thought about getting the insurance the water company offers, set the paperwork aside and forgot about it.  My sons who know how to fix pipes were out of town and wouldn't be back for a couple of days. 

So this morning I awoke thinking about Murphy's Law.   I began wondering where this set of laws originated.  No one really seems to know, but I believe if you've lived long enough, and experienced life for any length of time any one of us could own it!  From here on out I'm going to call it Karita's Law, because I know for a certainty anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and  if there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong.


That was last week. But I'm not so naive as to forget this other law of Karita.  Just when you think things cannot get any worse, they will. We'll see how this week turns out.  Have a nice week!

Becoming a Man

That's how a woman described her life after  her husband died 5 years ago.

"All the things he did around the house I had to learn to do. I had to learn to clean the pool, run the rototiller. Fix the stuff  around the house my husband always repaired."

I know exactly what she's talking about!!  There were things my husband did that I didn't give a second thought to.

Like rototilling the garden.

My husband loved to garden.  He was particular about it too.  When we were first married, he didn't like the way I pulled weeds.  I wasn't thorough enough.  He asked me not to help him pull weeds in the garden.  He thought he had offended me.  Ha!  Not in the least.  I would sit and watch him pull the weeds.  When the harvest was ready, I'd go out and pick the produce of his labor.  It was that way for 28 years!

 The garden grew weeds this summer.  The energy just wasn't there.

I thought I would like to plant a winter garden.

I got in last month and pulled weeds.  Perhaps not as thorough as my husband would have been, but I did a decent job.  After pulling weeds, I rototilled. His old, man sized, rototiller was a hand-me-down from his father. He must have had that thing  at least 15 years.  There was no way I could have maneuvered that thing.  It broke down last year, and Barry couldn't get the parts  to repair it.  When visiting his father, he brought home a smaller hand-me-down rototiller.  He called it a piece of junk.  But it worked for me! I mixed the gasoline with the oil to the ratio it said, poured it in, and fired the rototiller up!  I was delighted!  I rototilled the garden. I then proceeded to to plant kale, mustard greens, collard greens, chard, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts and  lettuce.

The other prepared bed will have carrots, beets, parsnips and rutabagas.  I  know  rutabagas are basically turnips, but my daughter said she loved the sound that word made. So instead of turnips there are rutabagas.

 Barry understood the therapeutic value of gardening, and I hope to learn that value also.

 I feel pretty good about my garden.  I'll keep you posted as to how it is growing.

Counting Your Blessings

They say cancer patients have good days and bad days.  Dealing with grief is kind of like that.  It can be a bright and sunny day, then all of a sudden a dark gloomy cloud rests overhead.  Out of nowhere.  It could be a smell, a song, a phrase, or just looking at a photo in passing that triggers it.

I've been told the pain softens over time, but time seems to be dragging!  I realize it's a process that one must go through to be healthy on the other side.

At the end of each day  I try to think of a blessing  I received that day and write it down.  It may be  simply  my daughter's safe return from the next town, or getting the resources to cover a hefty utility bill.

Karita's Book of Blessings

To cope, I have to look for the blessings in that day. As the pain softens, and time passes, I may look back at my book and be able to count many  blessings!

I hope so.

This Old Truck

My husbands truck needed to be smogged this week.  He was so proud of this truck.  He bought it at a car auction for $1.00.  He was outbid for the truck he wanted to buy. Walking away dejected, he decided to return to see what other trucks were going for.

When the auctioneer, in frustration after no one was bidding on this truck, exclaimed "Can't I get anyone to give me a dollar for this truck?".

Dollar Truck

Barry said "I'll give you a dollar."

The auctioneer further frustrated said "Sold for one dollar!"

What a coup that was!  All the parts to the motor were in the back of the pickup.  Not only that, there was an electric shaver that actually worked!  There was a ream of computer paper, and numerous other interesting things.  The pickup even had  a metal tool box across the back.  Certainly he did not get burned on that deal!

Barry spent the next afternoon putting the motor back together and drove it home the next day.

That truck served him well.  So in the aftermath of his death, of course, I would keep his dollar truck!

So today I was nervous and saddened when I took his truck to get smogged.  Barry always got his cars to pass smog.  He took pride in them passing.

What did I know about getting a vehicle to pass smog?  Nothing, so I put in a new air filter, put some goober juice in the gas tank to clean the carburetor and the fuel lines.

Guess what?  It didn't pass!

Tears began to flow.  I've never had to deal with this.  I left his truck there for them to find and fix the cause, because I needed it to pass the smog test.  I needed to keep his dollar truck operative!