What I Heard This Week! May 31, 2018
Be forewarned that you may consider this a bit mushy. My daughter/last child graduated from high school on Saturday evening, so I find my emotions to be a little raw right now. I was fine at graduation but there were so many friends sitting next to me, just watching for weakness, that I had to suck it up and be a big girl. 😊 But, two weeks ago as I watched her get off the yellow school bus in her cap and gown to visit teachers and students at Bess Brannon Elementary where she started public school in 4th grade, it was a different story. It pokes at my heart just to think about it. There are so many sweet memories with Mrs. Arthur, Mrs. Nordt, Mrs. Hendrix, and Ms. Kahanek-Janek. Tiny little flecks of tears entered my eyes that day, but I wasn’t alone. This growing up stuff sure happens fast. Thank you, teachers! She turned out OK. Wink.
The aim of education is the knowledge – not of facts, but of values.” – William S. Burroughs
Have you noticed the flags in the medians in LJ? The Brazosport Breakfast Lions Club places these flags around town, 6 times a year. They look so good! Businesses and individuals sponsor the flags. You can sponsor one flag or several. Just call Ronnie Martin at 979-236-8817 or run by Grapevine Gifts and sign up. See page 12 of this paper.
You never realize how little self-control you have until the chips & salsa are in front of you at the Mexican Restaurant. This is so true.
Weeknight Roast Chicken: I found this recipe about 6 months ago. The kids and I use it often. It is foolproof and perfect. Place 12-inch oven-safe skillet on middle rack and turn oven to 450 degrees. Take a whole 3.5 to 4-lb. whole chicken (I go organic because it’s hormone and antibiotic-free and I can taste a difference) and pat it dry with paper towels. Drying is an important step. Take a tablespoon of olive oil and massage it all over the dry chicken. The chicken will really like the attention so take your time. Salt and pepper. Pat it on. Tie legs together with twine (kite string at our house) and tuck the tips of the wings behind its back. Place chicken in the preheated, very hot skillet, breast side up and cook for 25-35 minutes. Turn oven off and leave chicken in the oven and continue cooking for another 35 minutes or until breast registers 160 degrees and thighs register 175 degrees. The drippings are fantastic and make great gravy, the skin is so delicious and every time I cook this I get brownie points from my kids. I roast vegetables on another pan so it’s an easy dinner worthy of company. Stuff the bird or sprinkle with lemon pepper, garlic, fresh rosemary or thyme from the garden. It’s all good. If you don’t use the drippings that night, don’t waste them. Store them in the fridge or freezer to use in something else. We used ours in pho the next night. Let me know.
On a First United Methodist Church sign in Texas: “Too hot to keep changing sign. Sin bad. Jesus good. Details inside.”
As I watch a TV report on Tropical Storm Alberto and all the flooding that it brought, I am reminded of the June 1st official start day of hurricane season. With our warming planet, it could be that the calendar may need some date changes in the future. We’ll see.
A Tesla sedan in Autopilot mode crashed into a parked car. No one was hurt. BUT, the parked car just happened to be a police vehicle. Hmmm.
Congratulations to Brazoswood Water Polo, both girls’ and boys’ teams. What a great year! Coach Brown – you’re the best!
RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Singer Taj Mahal is 76. The American blues musician’s given name is Henry Saint Clair Fredericks. TV personality Tom Bergeron is 63. America’s Funniest Home Videos and Dancing with the Stars. Actress Roma Downey is 58. Singer-actress Cher is 72. TV-radio personality Ron Reagan is 60. Rock musician Jane Wiedlin is 60. The Go-Go’s.
Actor Tommy Chong is 80. Singer Bob Dylan is 77. Actor Gary Burghoff is 75. Priscilla Presley is 73. Actor John C. Reilly is 53. His new movie ‘The Sisters Brothers’ is described as a cross between a dark comedy and a western. The trailer looked great. Racecar driver Tony Stewart is 47. Singer Leo Sayer is 70. You Make Me Feel Like Dancing. Actor Mr. T is 66. Actor Judge Reinhold is 61. Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Director Nick Cassavetes is 59. The Notebook. Actress Joan Collins is 85. Alexis Carrington on Dynasty. Comic and TV game host Drew Carey is 60. Singer Jewel is 44.
Actor Michael Constantine is 91. The Windex bottle-toting Greek father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Room 222. Songwriter Bernie Taupin is 68. Best known for his long-term collaboration with Elton John. Model Naomi Campbell is 48. Actress Jennifer Goodwin is 40. Mona Lisa Smile.
The 91st Scripps National Spelling Bee Finals is on ESPN on May 31st with a $40,000 cash prize. Then, June 1st, Cinemax will release C.B. Strike, a crime series based on J.K. Rowling’s Cormoran Strike books about a peg-legged private inspector and his beautiful secretary. I didn’t even know that Rowling had written a series like this, but that’s because it was published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. On June 8th, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, a documentary about Fred Rogers, and Ocean’s 8 are both due to release.
It is reported that Daniel Craig could earn as much as $25 million for starring in the new James Bond movie, Bond 25. When asked in 2015 whether he would star in another Bond movie, he replied, “Now? I’d rather…slash my wrists…” hmmm. What a difference a day makes…and $25 million. That is a massive paycheck for driving fast cars and drinking martinis which now makes him the highest paid star in Hollywood. Since 1962, there have been 24 movies and six actors have portrayed Bond with a combined gross of over $7 Billion. Ian Fleming wrote his first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, at the age of 44. He also wrote the children’s favorite Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for his young son.
So, Anne-Elisabeth prepared for graduation with new red shoes (made from recycled water bottles – you can wash them in the washing machine), a beautiful embroidered dress, earrings that were a graduation gift from me and her brother, and her cap decorated to look like a Pantone color swatch in UH Cougar Red. She did not forget the words to the Pledge of Allegiance and I believe that she pronounced everyone’s name correctly, then smiled our way as our ‘family of friends’ hooted and hollered for her from the stands. A rainbow appeared as the choir sang and the thunder & lightning didn’t become obvious until graduation was over, when we were on the field taking pictures. The raindrops held off until we approached our car to head home. Classmates arrived at our house for movies and breakfast which was served until 4 am when I pulled out pillows and blankets for those that decided to spend the night and enjoy ‘leftover’ waffles, fruit salad and sausages the next morning. It was such a great night but I’m still so tired. No joke. I fell asleep on the floor the next day. Twice. You only graduate from high school once and I think hers was perfect, but I couldn’t help but have twinges of guilt every time I thought about Santa Fe and what their graduation ceremonies must be like this year. I can’t even imagine. In our new world, we need to take time to not only appreciate the BIG moments in our lives but the small ones as well.
National Hug Your Cat Day is June 4th. Watch out, Winnie and Sully, our adopted Harvey alley cats who have brought nothing but love and compassion into our lives.
Seen on Facebook. As we come closer to the one-year anniversary of Harvey here are 10 Things that some of us learned from the 2017 Texas Flood: 1. Social Media apps saved lives. 2. The Cajun Navy and Texan Navy are better equipped than the Federal Government and much faster. 3. Race does not divide us; the media divides us. 4. JJ Watt and Mattress Mack are faster than FEMA. 5. We will find the means to cook in any situation. 6. All Lives Matter…including animals. 7. No water is too deep nor too shallow for passage. 8. A Cajun and a Texan can launch a boat anywhere. 9. Our strength is “Togetherness.” 10. Under no circumstances will we be defeated. #TexasStrong
“Remember, half the doctors in this country graduated in the bottom half of their class.” – Al McGuire
At Miller Outdoor Theatre, Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, based on the story of the “coat of many colors” in the Book of Genesis, is playing June 6-8.
New explosions at the Kilauea Volcano continue sending more lava and toxic air into our world. Thousands and thousands of masks have been distributed because of the poor air content. There are more evacuations and serious health concerns as it seems that there is no end to this major natural disaster. Tourism is down on the islands 50%, even in the unaffected areas.
The American Cancer Society now says that people should start getting screened for colon cancer at age 45 instead of 50. The group lowered its guidelines after research showed people are getting colon cancer at younger and younger ages in the US. I wonder why.
Active Shooter is a controversial new video game that was due to be released on June 6th. It is a School Shooter Video Game where players could choose to be members of an elite SWAT team or an active shooter. It will not be released after all. Gosh. Why was this ever, even a possibility.
ABC canceled “Rosanne,” the No. 1 show on television, almost immediately after Barr tweeted what is believed to be racist tweets. I think she is just plain mean, not funny. Rosanne apologized and blamed it on a ‘joke that was in bad taste’ and ‘Ambien’ tweeting. What?!? Drug maker Sanofi says, “While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication.” Now, just think of all the people that she left without jobs because of her narcissistic need to pretend she is funny. Free speech and tweeting (and everything else in life) should still involve manners. If only people would stop to think about how the consequences of their actions affect so many people around them, in EVERYTHING they do.
When my kids were little, they loved band-aids so therefore band-aids appeared in their Easter baskets, Christmas stockings; there are simply fun band-aids everywhere you shop. Some look like bacon, chocolate, pickles, tattoos, macaroni & cheese, cowgirls, princesses…you name it. Recently, I was trying to use up an old can where the yellow band-aids looked like crime scene tape with, Crime Scene Do Not Enter written on it. As I took out the last band-aid, (because I had succeeded in burning my leg with a soldering iron) I saw something rolling around in the bottom of the can. It was a little, bitty, tiny plastic gun to further the humor of crime scene tape. It was cute, but Santa Fe is still so fresh that it takes away some of the fun that was meant to be. How our world has changed recently.
Don’t forget to tear out the chicken recipe and thanks for reading this.
