Thank you

A Christmas feast, indeed.  Crab legs, crab cakes, shrimp, tiny potatoes, old bay, lemons, and real butter.

And a glass of vino.

  Hubby wanted to take some down time after working  night shifts and fixing crains attached to box cars on the railroads.  The night before christmas break, he was stranded on a box car for an hour and a half at 4 a.m.   But that's another story for him to tell.

  Guess he just wanted  our favorite meal and.....just us.  The night before we celebrated with my family to great success.  Traditional turkey and trimmings and wonderful gifts abounded.  We exchanged gifts with his family a few days before christmas at his request.  His family is large, and a cast of thousands was not on his list of relaxing things to do.  We received so much from everyone this year.  I felt sheepish and low in a way.  But, I suppose family knew that we struggled with a lot of issues this year.  Least of them was unemployment and the threat of losing the house.

I mulled that one over so many times.....there are family members, but no where realistically to go.  Not with the pets......the child.........the vast array of things we possess now.....NO WHERE TO GO.

People remembered us this year, and for that I am grateful.  Homelessness is a terrifying prospect.  Not for me, but for our child.  I feel as though I could endure through anything.    But my child.......I cannot destroy his life.  My "business" has been null nov. and dec.  Oh, the guilt.  But, as hubby said, it was our turn to receive.

I think I enjoy giving more.  I feel so vulnerable and beholden to a degree, upon receiving great gifts. 

But I really need to just say thank you.  Thank you for having a home to raise our child in.  Thank you for my father.  Thank you my child is in regular school.  Thank you for our health.  Thank you for my sister's healthy outcome after colon resectioning surgery.  Thank you for the bountiful christmas feast.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.

If I am in a tizzy of anxiety in the morning because of petty problems, the two word mantra is there for me to take.

Thank you.

Death Penalty for pedophiles

I'm not going to use stats in this post.  I'm just writing from the heart since I'm the only one who reads this blog.  I strongly feel pedophiles who have enough strong evidence, particularly DNA evidence against them.....should be eliminated from this world.  After reading about Sandusky, hearing about someone here in Illinois who was repeatedly molested by a catholic priest, reading about the constant rapes of children......there is no answer but to eliminate the problem.

Kill them.

I have worked with children my whole life and I am a parent of an 8 year old boy.  I would feel this way regardless of that, but I know if someone did anything to my boy......let's just say I would fear for them.  My husband would go berserk.  We would be maniacs.  The rage we would feel is huge.  I feel horror  for the victims now.  The unnamed victims out there who are suffering now at the hands of some hulking Sandusky-ish person.  The ultimate monster under the bed.  The evil ghost in the closet.  The boogeyman. 

I am talking about the type of pedophile who grooms children with gifts and trips and money.....then rapes them repeatedly over a number of years.  Usually the children are dumped after they reach puberty.  These guys, (and they usually are guys, rarely women) keep molesting over and over and over and over and over.....until they are caught and put in jail  or until they die. 

They don't stop the aberrant sexual behavior because they cannot.  If there is one absolute in life it is this:  Pedophiles will return to sexually abusing children repeatedly forever.  They do not rehabilitate.  They do not get "cured".    They do not stop.

I think we need to get medieval on their asses.  They need to be put to death.  Electrocution, gas chamber, beheading, firing squad....whatever.  They don't need to be put up in jail, have meals delivered to them, and have air to breathe.  They don't need short sentences, getting out of jail for good behavior, probation, psychiatrists, or counselors.

They need to die.

They murder the souls of children and let their bodies live.  Meanwhile, "survivors" are left to deal with the carnage that is their"life".  They frequently become alcoholics, drug addicts, promiscuous, depressed, and more often than not, suicidal.

If there is a God within our construct of thought and prayer, let pedophiles be put to death.

Long live the innocence of children.

God bless us everyone

Best Christmas cookies ever

I'm not the best food photographer.  That's obvious.   But these cookies are the best I have ever had (tied with chocolate chip cookies).  They are soooooo delicious you won't believe it and they are easy. 

Recipe:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees, mix 1 cup butter, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp. salt,1 and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp. almond extract, 2 cups of flour.....Chill dough for an hour.  Form into balls, put thumbprint in and  fill with whatever filling you like.  I like cherry pie filling, but my son likes just plain.  I know the pic doesn't look that great, but believe me, they are divine.  Bake for 15 min or so until edges are light brown.  Cool, then sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Serve with hot chocolate.  They don't have any chocolate in them and I love them.  Unbelievable.  Merry Christmas!