Like everything else in Punta Cana, the farm wasn’t a commercialized tour. The family was gracious in sharing their lives with us and even allowed us to tour their home. It didn’t look anything like the houses we are used to but everything was exceptionally clean. They had something cooking on the stove when we were there and even with cooking, the kitchen was scrubbed clean.

They grow coffee, cinnamon, fruit and a number of other things. They even had honey for sale. They also made a drink our tour guide called Dominican Viagra. Wow! It wasn’t light on the alcohol content.

Here’s a picture of where they process products for the market. It’s a family run business. The woman in the picture is the owner of the farm. As you can see the tools are pretty primitive I don’t think they even had electricity but if they did it wasn’t to run grinders as they did it by hand.

Like the house the grounds and buildings were exceptionally clean and well kept. The tour director explained that the house, like a lot of local houses was constructed of palm wood. The termites don’t like it. Most of the homes in this style are painted in bright colors. Pinks, Blues, Greens and combinations are popular. They take pride in their homes and paint them every 2 or 3 years.

It was an experience to see the local culture first hand and one that was worth the trip on that road to get to it.

I have some super guys who work court security who always cheer me up and one of them gave me a kiss for valentines day. I’ll post the picture here. We also have a wonderful cupcake bakery here in Pensacola called Oh Snap. I treated the staff to cupcakes. Yum.

Spouse brought home a big heart shaped cookie from the mall and a box of chocolates. He also brought bourbon chicken.

Basically a food fest here. How was everyone else’s holiday?

Okay, I’m a complete nutcase. I posted this on the 15th and my day is the 20th. So, this is not a rerun you’re seeing. Thanks Lavada for letting me know. Eep.

Every once in a while God blesses me with the gift of friendship from extraordinary people.  These are people who enter your life and leave fingerprints upon your heart—touches so deep and so rare that you know in an instant they are very special and will have meaning in your life for a long time to come.  A short time ago, I spent a Saturday afternoon with two extraordinary women whose gifts of friendship I will cherish for a very long time to come.

Bobble-head Gilbert’s real name is Zenia—there’s just something special about her name.  I knew the moment I came across it several years ago that she would be a woman as lovely as her name.  Clutter—Tina—is her sidekick and niece and together, this duo leaves me with sidesplitting laugher and tears in my eyes.

The circumstances surrounding our introductions are not important to this writing, but they set into motion a trio of friendship that survives long periods of inactivity, and bridges the gaps in our lives.  As I was preparing for my visit at their home, I knew the time would be filled with laughter, some tears, sharing of our faith, and moments of hilarity.  I was not wrong!

Circling a kitchen table filled with fresh fruit, cheeses, crackers, bread, and various other dishes, we three sat and ate and talked and shared and laughed and cried until our tongues were tired, our sides ached, and our stomachs were full.  The gifts these two bring to my life are treasures that don’t seem to come along as often as a person would like.  My father always told me—during difficult times growing up—that the true friends in life are oftentimes the ones met during adulthood.  He wasn’t wrong.  Sure, I have people I stay in contact with from high school, but they’re not the people in my life that I turn to when I’m down, ill, or wanting to share happiness with.  Those that I turn to are my friends.  The ones who pick me up when I’ve fallen.  The ones who love me despite the fact I’m slightly odd—I admit it even if they don’t!

Tina has touched my heart on so many occasions that I just know she has a direct phone to God.  I’ve gotten cards or calls or email on days when I’ve been put through the ringer.  Days that I just needed a gentle touch or a smile.  I can’t repay that kind of care.  Do you know what I mean?

Bobble-head Gilbert is as un-self-involved as they come.  She’s humble.  She’s gracious.  She’s able to laugh at herself.  Plus she has a crown that proclaims her to be queen—but that title has never gone to her head!

When we get together—whether a great length of time has lapsed or not—we’re able to pick right up where we left off, and that’s usually in the middle of laughter.  The richness they add to my life cannot be measured in dollars or gold or silver or jewels, but I know with each hug I receive that I have been blessed.  That God hears our laughter and chuckles to Himself and knows that I value what He has given me.  I hope there is a Bobble-Head Gilbert and Clutter in your life.  I hope you know they’re a blessing.  I also hope you’re a Zenia or a Tina to someone else.

Until next time, hug a friend and I guarantee you’ll exercise your smile muscles!

February started out rather badly this year. With great sadness I have to report that our dog Kodi went to Doggie Heaven. Although we tried as hard as we could we could never get her diabetes under control. She was an amazing patient through the whole ordeal, taking her shots and blood tests without even a flinch. In the end she was almost completely blind, which just broke my heart. It was almost like she was begging us to help her. So we knew it was the right time and we couldn’t have asked for a better veterinarian staff, so compassionate, and for that we are thankful.

Now we just have Daisy who is very lonesome but getting better every day, although she doesn’t want us out of her sight. We finally have gotten to the point where we leave her outside when we go to town. When we get home she always runs to the barn looking for Kodi. Kodi used to hide from her just to get some rest. Daisy has lots of energy and really needs a 10-year old boy to play with, but for now she is stuck with us. We plan on taking her camping with us this spring, that should be fun!! She prefers to stay on the farm but I prefer to have her where I can keep an eye on her. We’ll see how that works out.

Basketball season is coming to the end of the season. Both our boys and girls made the playoffs, the boys finishing in first and the girls in third. District started last night with our girls winning their first game and guaranteeing them a slot at state. We play again on Saturday with both our boys and girls playing for District Champions. Should be fun and at least it isn’t freezing or snowing so traveling will be good. Win or lose we’ll have state game somewhere next week and then hopefully off to Coos Bay for the rest of the State Games. A long way from home, but so much fun!!

Always a struggle to make sure someone is around to feed the cows and take care of Daisy. I can remember leaving our other dogs out at the barn. They had all they wanted to eat and drink and were very healthy. Boy, have we come a long way since then. Inside dogs—lots of vacuuming!! Even with all the hair I wouldn’t change her to an outside dog, not for a minute.

I’m off to work on some scrapbooking. I have tons of pictures and this was the winter I was going to get everything “caught up”. That’s not happening—I think I’ll blame too much nice weather!!

February is getting better, we should have a few nice days this week and Daisy and I are going to walk at our city park. I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day and that you enjoy my latest picture of Daisy.

posted by Laurie Ryan

With Valentine’s Day tomorrow, I thought I’d pull out a Christmas recipe. Confused? Well, my daughter brought home this recipe from her Junior High Home Ec class. Do they still have Home Ec classes, by the way? They made them for Valentine’s Day. I suspect that made making the cookies more interesting for teen girls? Since then, they’ve become a Christmas favorite with my family.  And the nice thing about them is you can change the shape to match the season.

Valentine Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup margarine or butter
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Cream together margarine, oil, and sugars. Add beaten egg, then rest of ingredients. Mix together well. Set for one hour in the refrigerator. On flour covered board, roll out and shape cookies (I use cookie cutters or, if I’m lazy, a regular drinking glass rim). Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

For frosting, mix 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, milk and powdered sugar to the consistency you want. Color with food coloring as desired.

I thought I’d end with a couple interesting Valentine’s Day factoids I found:

• Verona, the Italian city where Shakespeare’s play lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters every year sent to Juliet on Valentine’s Day.
• Every year around 1 billion Valentine cards are sent across. After Christmas it’s a single largest seasonal card-sending occasion.
• In the Middle Ages young men and women drew the names from a bowl to see who would be their Valentine. They would wear this name pinned on their sleeves for one week. This was done so that it becomes easy for other people to know your true feelings. This was known as “to wear your heart on your sleeve”

Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day tomorrow, everyone!

We booked the tour for 8:00 in the morning and it was combined with what they called the Dominican Experience. Our first clue should have been when they picked us up in open four wheel vehicles. The first part was down the highway and I use the term loosely. Picture a U.S. freeway in 1940’s. Then we turned off on the ‘country road’ for a trip up the mountains. This picture doesn’t do the road justice.

As we climbed we slipped and slid and sometimes had to back down and take another run. Definitely an experience and not the commercial tours we’re used to.

When we got to the zip line center I breathed a sigh of relief. It was much better than the road would have led us to believe. They got us into the gear and went over how to do the runs. English at the center was surprisingly good compared to what we’d encountered so far. In fact it was better than most of the employees at the resort spoke.

One of things we had to do in the process of getting geared up was to tuck in our shirts. Oh goody, I haven’t tucked in my shirt for ummm let me see, can’t remember. Now I’m really vowing to get into shape (when I get home-OF COURSE).

So the Experience:
There are about a dozen people doing the zip line and by this time we are all looking at each other like ‘what did we do?’ As we make our way to the first platform this thought doesn’t leave me. To make matters worse, the woman behind me tells us the story of how her friend broke her arm on a zip line. Oh and lest I forget, “I AM SCARED TO DEATH OF HEIGHTS.”

Okay now we’re on that first platform and Jack, me, Linda and Rick are last. Well except for one guy bringing up the rear and he seems to be one of two that knows something about this. I had asked back at the start about what happens if you stop in the middle of the line. They explained that you have to flip around and pull yourself hand over hand to the destination platform.

As I watched a woman looking as scared as I felt, got on the line and about three quarters over stopped. We all watched and thanked our stars it wasn’t us. To make matters worse we could see her on the second line and she did it again. Except this time she was only half way across.

When it came my turn there was no way I was going to stop on that line. I willed myself to just let go and as you might expect I sailed over that line. My first clue to how fast I was going was the look on the mans face at the end. His eyes kept getting bigger as he signaled me to slow down with his hands. I can only imagine what he was thinking. Probably that he was glad that he was on the first and slowest line.

If I could have stopped there I would have, but zip lines are like gravity. What goes up has to come down. Getting off at this point wasn’t an option. So on to line #2. With the look of the poor guy I had just left still with me, I made myself slow down at the end. They told us to hold our elbows out but with being scared witless I didn’t. So there was a bit of pain, but at least the guy at the end didn’t swallow his teeth.

The rest of the party was still going. Linda and Rick was behind me and Jack was in front. Biting the bullet I again let myself be hooked up to the third line and was rewarded by a perfect landing. And again I was at a no stopping point. On to line #4 and they are getting steeper and faster. This time when I landed it was again good, but my legs felt like noodles. No way was I going to another line without crawling to the next station.

There were 8 lines and I finished 4. Not bad or least that’s what I’m telling myself. Will I do it again? I seriously doubt it. I crossed it off the bucket list it wasn’t on and I’m calling it good.

For those of you who know I have a cat named Dude, this isn’t about him.  And, since there’s a movie with that name, I’ll just debunk the theory here that this has anything to do with that.

This blog is all about memory. Have you ever walked out of a mall and had those few panicked seconds when you can’t remember where you parked your car? Please tell me I’m not the only one that’s happened to. Or have you walked into a room, then stopped, wondering what you came in there for? Or, like me, do you have a bad memory for people’s names?

I thought it might be a good exercise (for myself) to learn about ways we can improve our memory.  As I began doing a little research, I realized this might be information we could all use.

First, I looked for foods that could enhance the brain’s memory-making capacity. I found a list of 10 foods at symptomfind.com that have memory-boosting properties, like antioxidants:

•  Blueberries
• Apples
• Salmon
• Spinach
• Red Onions
• Nuts and Seeds
• Lean Beef
• Grapes
• Rosemary
• Caffeine (in moderation, I am guessing)

 Foods which can be harmful to memory:

•  Alcohol
• Artificial Sweeteners
• Foods high in sugar
• Fatty foods

 Beyond foods, there are things we can do to improve our memory, like:

•  Exercise the body AND the brain (crossword puzzles, Sudoku, cards, etc.)
• Focus (when trying to remember something, avoid distractions)
• Use the senses (smell, or touch, or hear to help you remember)
• Review (repetition helps)
• Association (like visualizing a flower to remember the name Lily.)
• Socialize (reduces stress and depression)
• Get adequate sleep

That’s about all I’ve come up with so far. Have you learned any tips that help you remember things better? I’d love to hear them.

1 ½ pounds ground beef
½ cup chopped onion
1 can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes with juice
(I put these in the blender)
1 can (14 ounce) tomato sauce
1 can kidney beans
1 can corn
1 package taco seasoning
1 to 2 cups water
Salt, pepper to taste
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Brown beef in large, heavy kettle; drain and add onions. Cook until onions are tender. Add remaining ingredients except cheese; simmer for 30 minutes. Ladle into bowls; top with the grated cheese. Serve with salad and Scoops (chips).

But it’s been so fun watching him develop a personality. Technically we call “uh-oh” his first word, but he’s been growling like a polar bear, squealing out his impression of a horse’s neigh, and trying to meow like the cats since December.

He also took his first steps the beginning of December, and he mastered walking just after the new year. I love those few days right after babies make the transition to toddler, when you turn around and realize that head you saw about two and a half feet off the ground in your peripheral vision is supposed to be there. Not quite as freaky as if the cats suddenly went from four legs to two, but still an adjustment.

Squeaker has two favorite toys. One is whichever’s closest. The other is whatever his brother’s playing with. His favorite foods are bananas and cheese (though not together), and when his daddy gets home from business trips, Squeaker toddles as fast as his little legs will get him, letting out a squeal that still makes his nickname appropriate.

We’re still trying to figure out if he’s going to be a red-headed lefty, but we love him to pieces. Happy birthday, Squeaker!

“Not to worry,” I said. “You have your Ipod touch.” Yep. I did. It was dead, too. Forgot to charge it. “But, wait, Jillian there’s actually an Ipad in the car. Use that.” It DID have battery life so I was super excited. By now, I was at Surf Burger, one of my favorite beach restaurants. I popped out of the car and snapped a picture with the Ipad. I chose not to take more than that one as I needed to get back to my office.

Okaaaay. Once I got home, I decided to email the picture from Ipad to computer to post with this entry. Guess what? NO PICTURE ON IPAD!! Where the heckfire it went, I have no clue. I snapped it. I swear I did. Alas, I shall have to use an old pic of the beach for this post and taunt you all with Surf Burger another day. Here is their website: http://www.thesurfburger.com – They have what they say is the best burger in paradise. I, for one, happen to agree. Their secret sauce is super. And the hula fries are marvelous.

On another note, when I got home, I also had a thank you note from the lady in charge of the event last week and it said, in part, “Your photographs are wonderful. You have a gift for capturing character.” Yeah, I guess I might. If I can remember to have charged batteries!