Monday, May 30, 2016

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY



I would like to take a moment out of Our day today to reflect and remember all those who have served and are currently serving.  THANK YOU to our military for your sacrifice and volunteerism and for keeping us safe in our country.

Although it is believed to be the official start of the Summer and a day off of work, I believe that we should NOT forget what Memorial Day is really all about.

So while you are BBQing, and going to parades, please take a moment to Thank a Vet for the gift of Freedom they have given to all of us.




Thursday, May 26, 2016

False Information Flys

One of my biggest pet peeves is the amount of false information that goes around the internet.  Granted, there are places you can go on the internet to find accurate information but it takes time to find and weed out the bullshit.  Whats even worse is that people will beleive just about anything they read, ESPECIALLY, on facebook or any support group out there, which turns out 99.9% of the time to be complete bullshit.

If you have been here before then you know that I had Gastric Sleeve surgery in September of 2014 and have lost a substantial amount of weight.  I belong to a couple of "online" "support" groups and I can not tell you how absolutely annoying some of the morons that belong to them can be.  I suppose that if you have no other support then they will have to do BUT, please do yourself a favor and look up information from credible sources or even better yet, Talk to your doctor or nutritionist for the truth as it pertains to you.  After all, we are all individuals and have different needs.

Some of the misinformation and seriously dumb shit I have read on some of these so called "support" groups lately run the gamut from, Your pouch CAN NOT stretch out, to Im sick all of the time, to can I still drink soda (really? you can't drink anything else?).   I guess what I am saying is that I just do not understand some people...How can you want a life changing operation only to keep the same old habits?  And as far as if your stomach can stretch back out, Yes Virginia, it certainly can if you keep eating like a pig, which, is probably why you are sick all of the time, maybe it has something to do with that soda you refuse to stop drinking?

Other lovely forms of misinformation that run amuck on the internet are; Rawhide being poisonous to dogs, what your pet can and cannot eat, what is wrong with your pet.  The majority of which is all, or at least 90% incorrect. There is NO substitute for picking up your cell phone (remember you can still make a call from those cell phones) and dialing your vet's number if you want to know the TRUTH of what is and is not good for your animals.

While I completely understand that people, for the most, part have every good intention in the world with spreading these falsities, we are probably the stupidest and most gullible of all species.  We only want to believe the worse of things, we find some strange comfort in believing the worst and completely inaccurate information.

So in ending, please folks, do yourself a favor, before you start "sharing" the bullshit, do a little homework, look some things up, see if what you are sharing is crap or legit.  Stop spreading the rumors and lies, a little common sense goes a long way these days!

Peace out
Jaded





Tuesday, May 17, 2016

I know...I know...


Yeah yeah, I haven't really written anything this month...I've been busy cleaning out my refrigerator.. LOL

Actually I have been trying to do some gardening but the rain this month just will not cooperate !!!  I spent $100 on flowers 2 weeks ago and still haven't been able to get them in the ground!

I dug up my front yard almost 3 weeks ago and haven't had a chance to finish it because of all the rain. Maybe I'll post some pictures when it finally does get finished.

Anyway, no one has pissed me off and I haven't really found anything that interesting to talk about lately.  Hopefully by next week someone will shit in my cornflakes so I can tell you all about it, after all, I do live in PA and work in NJ so there is always someone being an idiot around here!

Peace out,
Jaded

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Better Angels 2.0

I actually started this blog about 6 or more years ago, I didn't really have any direction or reason why I started it other than I just needed an outlet for my own frustrations and rants. When I started to find some direction with where I was going with this blog, I pulled a bunch of posts I had written while I did not have a direction.  So, even though time has past and this post is about 3 years old now.  I think that these feelings are still valid.  I had plenty of medical problems back then, this was before my bariatric surgery and I did think of death, probably a little more than what I should have.    

So today I reflect with this post I called, Better Angels...

Death, the end to a beautiful existence.  No more tomorrow, no more sorrow, pain or understanding.  This week marks the 11th year of my mother's passing. (March 25th, 2001 - 9:50pm) It never gets any easier or less painful.  I find that I can keep from crying over the loss better than when it originally happened and for years after, for that matter.  But this year, this year, It just seems worse than other years. 


Our family dog passed last week, that probably doesn't help my emotional state at the moment.  Maybe that's why it seems worse this year than it has in a while.  I have always said that I'm not really a "dog" person, I'm more of a "cat" person, but truth be told, I really miss Albany.  That's what her name was, Albany.  She was 15 years old, that Irish Weasel Hound and although we do seem to have longevity in our pets, it just makes it that much worst when they finally do go.  She went so fast, one day she got sick and two days later she was gone.  She's buried in the back yard now.
 
I think about death once in awhile.  I mean, I don't dwell on it, but let's face it.  Everyone will die eventually and since I do have some health problems it only seems natural to think about these things.  I don't believe in God or heaven or hell or even an afterlife, although I do like to dream that maybe these things are possible but in my heart, I know better.
 
I pretty much believe that once you are gone, that's it, you're gone.  Back into the earth you must go, either whole or in ash, you are nothing more than fertilizer and memories.  So that being said, I try to make my life here on earth, right now, the best it can be.  I try to treat people with dignity, compassion, have empathy towards people who have not been as fortunate or lucky as I have been. I love all the creatures, flowers and fauna and see wonders in everyday things. 


I haven't been to my mother's grave in about 5 years.  I would get so depressed for weeks afterwards when I did go.  The way I see it is that she isn't really there, only thing that is there is a very expensive headstone.  For a long time I thought that I wanted to be buried in a coffin in the ground but I am starting to rethink that option.  Maybe I should just be cremated and scattered in the garden?  The only problem with that is that I don't like fire, guess it's a hangup from my catholic upbringing, but then again, it's just the shell that gets turned to ash.  

Sometimes I wonder what people will say about me once I'm gone.  I do worry about the human legacy that I will leave behind.  As I said before I try to treat all in my world and sometimes outside my world as I would want to be treated and by the better angels of our nature, I would hope others would follow and do the same.  Unfortunately sometimes you can not lead by words only by example and then sometimes that example is just not good enough for anyone to learn from.  

but such is life...and death... 


Thursday, May 5, 2016

Happy Birthday Mom In Remembrance

Happy Birthday Mom, wherever you are.  Today would have been your 74th year had you not been taken from us at 59.  

Fourteen years have past and I still think of you often.  Words, expressions and sayings you would tell me, still fresh in my mind.  Advice that I would shrug off because I was young and thought I knew all there was to know; only to come to find out, that you never really know everything there is to know.  

I still remember the way that you smelled, a hint of earth mixed with lilacs and hand cream.  Sometimes in the morning I swear I can hear your voice on the cool dawn breeze.  Or maybe that's what I want to believe.  To believe that you are still with me now in some way.

When I am elbow deep in dirt and compost or deciding which plant or flower will go where in my garden, I think of you most.  My love of the earth came from you and your teaching.  I remember well the lessons you would teach in our yard, all the names of the different plants and flowers, both common and latin (not like I remember the latin ones anymore, but I was always amased that you knew them).  I loved the way that you taught us to respect the earth and take care of it. 

I loved your vivid imagination and the storyteller in you that would mesmerize and inspire us.  You taught me to have faith in myself and to shoot for the stars that nothing is impossible.  I remember the kindness and compassion that you showed for all living things, even when we were young and my sister would keep bringing home stray cats.  You let us keep them all...

I remember you being the coolest Mom around and always up for an adventure. I certainly did have a great childhood because of you.  

I just wanted to say that I miss you Mom and I love you.

Happy Birthday wherever you are..

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Wewalka European Doughs - Product Reveiw

I was recently lucky enough to get this Wewalka European Dough house party.  It came with a ton of cool giveaways, insulated bags, oven mitts, pens, magnetic shopping lists, measuring spoons, a very nice apron, $2 coupons for the gift bags and $15 worth of free product.  My favorite part is always the free product.

This was probably one of the better house party packs I have received in quite a while.  It had a lot of stuff in the box, it's always nice to get a decent box of stuff.  You can tell this company really cares by what is in the box.

So being that I am a post bariatric patient, and I don't really eat much bread or bread products, so I decided to make something healthy or at least more healthy than my original thoughts of Pizza pizza!  I did end up getting about 6 bundles of doughs, they have puff pastry, Bistro style pizza, and family style pizza and crescents (which unfortunately they were out of, but I plan to go back to get those eventually too).  They are very reasonably priced at about $3 in the Giant by my house.  Sadly not every supermarket sells them yet.  I also found that they freeze very well if you find them on sale and want to stock up on them.  Just leave them out on your counter for a few hours and they will be good to go.


I ended up making a spinach pie with the puff pastry dough.  It was delish!  I used one pouch of the puff pastry dough, a 10oz bag of chopped spinach, shallots, garlic, olive oil and feta cheese crumbles.  I can't tell you how great it was!  If you want the complete recipe you can find it on my Food Blog, Mangia or you can hit it up through the link to the right.

All in all this was some pretty good dough.  I would highly recommend it over the other canned ones, it is definitely less expensive and in my opinion tastes much better.


I give Wewalka 5 puppy paws and that my friends is the BEST you can get!  Its tasty, versatile and inexpensive!