Boil - 2 cans of tomato soup, with 3 cans of water. Throw in 1 pound of ground sirloin (mashed up in the liquid with a potato masher). Throw in 2 bouillon cubes, a couple of bay leaves, and an onion. Simmer that for a while, stirring occasionally so that it does not burn and the meat is cooked well. Meanwhile, boil a pot of water and put in about 3/4 cup of barley - Simmer it about 45 minutes. You don't want it to get soggy, but you also don't want it crunchy. Strain the barley well and then toss it into the soup mixture! Vwa! La! Soooo good, that I'm sure it will even cure the ebola virus! ... View Post
After The Last Rain Falls
"That's a GREAT Book!" I told my patient's daughter, who was sitting in the corner reading her Bible. She looked up and smiled. "Are you a Christian?" she asked. "I am," I said. That was the conversation that took place, immediately following my crying out to God, asking Him to "step into my day" - My crazy, chaotic, seemingly out-of-control busy day at work. As if He were not already intimately involved in the circus I felt I was in, I begged Him to "show up!" And show up, He did! (But He was there all along.) The very busy assignment I had in one room, kept me from spending much time in my other room, where my patient's daughter sat in the corner reading her Bible. But each time I was in the room, we talked about Jesus, and I knew that what my patient needed far more than ... View Post
Irish Bread (“Little Allan” Version)
INGREDIENTS: 5 cups flour 5 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp soda 1/8 tsp salt One pint buttermilk 1 egg 1 cup sugar Fist-full of crisco (about 1/4 cup) 1 stick margarine (or butter) DIRECTIONS: Put all ingredients in mixer, mix, and "dump" into 2 loaf pans (or 1 larger baking pan), and cook about 50 minutes at 350 degrees. Tastes good with just butter on it, warm or cold! This recipe came from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada! Memory: I can't help but remember good times growing up when I smell Irish bread baking in the oven. Fiddle music, and Dad step dancing, "tuning" with my sons on his knee when they were little. ... View Post
Who’s Your Father? (Newsflash! It’s Not About Your Parish)
"PEDESTRIAN!" That's what Private Smith wanted stamped into his dog tags when I asked him what his religious preference was. "PEDESTRIAN!" He proudly chuckled! "That's what I'll be!" "Not catholic? Not Protestant? Christian? Baptist?........ Are you SURE, Private Smith?" I asked, (with a perplexed look on my face I'm sure!) "I know that I am none of those. So, I'll just be a ......... PEDESTRIAN!" He laughed as he answered me. So I typed the letters into his dog tags. P-E-D-E-S-T-R-I-A-N. That was in 1982. I still remember, and often wonder if Private Smith ever became anything other than a "pedestrian." Just a few years ago, someone asked ME, "Are you catholic?" I answered, "No." "Well, are you Jewish?" they asked. "No." I answered once again. ... View Post
Dear Younger Me, (An Encouragement to Younger Moms)
Recently, I've become hooked on a song called, "Dear Younger Me." On my 30- to 40-minute drive into work, it sometimes plays over and over. I'm not tired of it yet. The words of that song, specifically, "If I could tell you everything that I have learned so far........" have left me on a daily basis, not only finding it difficult to fall asleep with the song stuck in my head, but with all of my very own "THINGS that I have learned so far," and "what I would tell MY younger self" running through my mind!" Daily, it seemed for about a week, I added to the list more things I would tell myself. It became a list of my own mistakes and it left me looking back with regret and condemnation at all of the poor decisions I had made, all of the people who had hurt me, AS WELL AS those that I was ... View Post
Please! STOP Abusing the Nurse!
A nurse smiled sweetly and returned a wink to my Dad. That smile and that wink took away Dad's fear. Finally, he was able to rest. And even after NEVER having given a first thought to becoming a nurse - That wink changed the course of my life. And that's why "The Wink" was the very first chapter, in my very first published book. I wanted to take people's fear away. I wanted to comfort those who were sick, maybe even going to die. I wanted to hold the hands of frightened patients. I wanted to do what she did for Dad - A kind, simple, loving gesture that brought him peace, and for me a new career. A year later, my very first patient in nursing school was an elderly African-American man. I gave him a bath with a classmate, and he passed away just a few minutes following that. I ... View Post
At the Kitchen Sink
Just a short story that I hope my sons always remember........... Uncle Al and Aunt Jean never had a dish washer. We stood at the sink after dinners washing dishes in hot water, taking turns drying them and putting them away. "The hotter the water, the faster they dry," said cousin Scott - and I so often remember him saying that...... But while drying the dessert dishes after devouring an entire lemon meringue pie (Aunt Jean's is THEE best) - Uncle Al said something to me that I have NEVER forgotten, will not soon forget, and pray my kids never forget either. "Rita, some of the most meaningful conversations you will ever have with your family, will be at the kitchen sink while washing and drying dishes." The other night as I jumped in to start washing dishes after my very first ... View Post
Oh! So, You are “Just” a Stay-At-Home Mom?
Okay, STOP IT! Stop saying "JUST" before thee single most important "job" you'll EVER have! Try saying it again. Just Do it! But take OUT the "just!" "I AM A STAY-AT-HOME MOM!" (And hold your head up when you say that!) Sheeesh!!! I talk to a LOT of people - Not only because I am a registered nurse and spend a lot of time with my patients and their family members, but also because I just happen to have inherited the "Gift of Gab" gene from my Father's side.......... Wait a minute. Let me RE-PHRASE that. I didn't "just happen to"........ No. I DID inherit that gene! I'm HAPPY to have that gene! (See? I took out the "just!") And I am appauled...... Yes, appauled, at how many stay-at-home moms (or housewives) insert that little "just" word before our title. (I ... View Post