Not Just Old. But Ancient.

Posted on January 27, 2012 by jphilo

gs 100th mark2 Not Just Old. But Ancient.

Yesterday morning, my first thought was not, “Today, I’m gonna feel old.” But thanks to the Girl Scouts – yes, those cute little cookie peddlers who sell sugar highs in a box – for the first time ever, I am feeling a wee bit ancient.

Not just old. Ancient.

The realization was gradual, increasing the longer I listened to Talk of Iowa on the radio. The topic was the 100th Anniversary of Girl Scouts, and the host interviewed some Girl Scout leaders and a couple honest-to-goodness present day Girl Scouts. The girls were about the same age I was during my short career as cookie salesgirl and sash wearer.

And they made me feel not just old. But ancient.

It wasn’t their fault. But, while they talked, I thought about how 1912 was a century ago for the little girls. Just like 1865 was a hundred years ago when I attended Girl Scout meetings after school in 1965. So if and when they watch a show like Downton Abbey, the events portrayed there are as long ago and far away to them as the events chronicled in Gone With the Wind were to me.

And that’s when I started feeling not just old. But ancient.

Not because the Civil War seemed like a long time ago when I was a Girl Scout. And not because 1912 is a long time ago to the girls in the radio interview. And not because 1912 didn’t seem like such a long time ago in my GS days. But because the Civil War probably didn’t seem like such a long time ago to fifty-five-year-old adults in my GS days, but I thought those people were old.

But they didn’t seem just old. They seemed ancient.

Which is how today’s Girl Scouts view everybody old enough to tuck an AARP membership card next to the packet of Metamucil in their wallets, old enough to wear sensible shoes, sport age spots, and wear pants with elastic waistbands.

They view us as not just old. But ancient.

Oh my, the depression is coming on thick and fast. I think there’s only one way to fight this thing. I’m gonna find a Girl Scout, buy a box of Thin Mints, and snarf down the whole box. After all, my mom says old people like me have earned the right to eat whatever they want. And she ought to know.

‘Cause she’s not just old. She’s ancient.

Three Thoughts for Thursday

Posted on January 26, 2012 by jphilo

51wMPLvZwVL. SL500 AA300 Three Thoughts for Thursday

This is the last Thursday in January, a happy thought for everybody who doesn’t claim winter as their favorite season. These three thoughts for Thursday are dedicated to anyone who’s glad to be one month closer to spring.

Yesterday, across the street from where I was parked, a crane operator scrambled up the inside of the scaffolding on the machine’s giant arm. He went at least two stories up,and then came back down. I immediately crossed crane operator off my mental list of future career options.
Has anybody else out there noticed the sun rising a little earlier and setting a little later? Hooray for Vitamin D, the comeback kid.
On Tuesday, a radio announcer said it was the birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel, known to the world as Dr. Seuss. However, other sources list March 4 as his birthday. Well, if anyone deserves two birthdays, it’s Dr. Seuss! Help me celebrate by leaving a comment about your fave Dr. Seuss book.

Mine’s The Butter Battle Book. What’s yours?

Lentil-Tomato Soup

Posted on January 25, 2012 by jphilo

Today’s recipe comes from a friend. She teaches high school Family and Consumer Science and found the recipe in her school mailbox one day. Being a woman of adventure, she made the soup at home, where it received two thumbs up from her husband and daughter.

Since I’m always on the hunt for new vegetarian recipes to prepare when the fam comes home, she passed it along to me. I made it one night when Mom was visiting. It wasn’t her favorite. No surprise since she likes meat with every meal. But Hiram did like it, which was surprising, since he usually pitches his tent in Mom’s culinary camp. My take? I can take it or leave it, kind of like meatloaf.

Here’s the recipe for you to try. Anne, who cooks quite a bit with lentils, suggests boiling the lentils a little longer than the original recipe suggests. Her suggestion is incorporated in the recipe below. Also, if you have left overs, you may need to add water when reheating this on the stove or in the microwave. The lentils tend to soak up water.

Lentil-Tomato Soup

4 1/2 cups water
4 medium carrots, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
2/3 cup dried lentils, rinsed
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
2 tablespoons minced, fresh parsley
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/4 teaspoon pepper

In a large saucepan, combine the water, onion, and lentils. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 40-45 minutes or until vegetables and lentils are tender. Stir in the remaining ingredients; return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for five minutes to allow flavors to blend. Serves 6.

My Name Is Still Jolene

Posted on January 24, 2012 by jphilo

Jolene Blue dress 243x300 My Name Is Still Jolene

For those of you who read the Winter Blitz supplement in the local Shopping News last week, let me set your mind at ease. My name is not Jeanne Philo, even though the “Pen to Pen” ad says it is. Rest assured, the owner of the Book Shoppe (where the “Pen to Pen” gathering will be held this Saturday, January 28 from 11 – 2) called as soon as she saw the mistake.

She felt terrible.
Really terrible.
She apologized.
About ten times.
Even after I assured her I was not upset.
And that I would still attend the event.
Though I plan to sign any books sold as Jolene Philo.
Not Jeanne Philo.

Since we’re on the subject, this is a good time to clarify a couple other things. First, I have never had a facelift. However, my professional photographer friend who took my publicity pictures, including the one above, got rid of several wrinkles with PhotoShop.

On the pictures only.
Not on my real face.
You come can to the Book Shoppe on January 28 from 11 – 2 and see for yourself.
No facelift.
Plenty of wrinkles.

Second, my body hasn’t been butt lifted either. I’d never heard of butt lifts until our pastor mentioned them in his sermon on Sunday. (If that made you curious, get the whole story by going to www.graceccboone.com. Click the “Sermons” tab, and then click on the January 22, 2012 sermon link and have a listen.)

However, for the past month and a half my butt feels like it’s been through surgery.
Thanks to my physical therapist.
She looks really sweet.
But she assigns nasty butt exercises.
To strengthen my glutes which she says are weak.
But I think the exercises were used to torture people.
During the Spanish Inquisition.
Even though the PT doesn’t have a Spanish name, face, or accent.

So now you know the truth. My name hasn’t changed, my wrinkles are real, my butt is sore, and the PT is probably an ex-marine who served at Guantanamo Bay. Anything more you’d like to know?

Or are you afraid to ask?

Top Ten Household Innovations

Posted on January 23, 2012 by jphilo

201172 DesignStamps 300x243 Top Ten Household Innovations

Have you seen the Pioneers of American Industrial Design stamps issued by the US Post Office last June? I am totally in love with them. Maybe because the sleek modern lines – with a few art deco flourishes here and there – soothe my soul. Or maybe because the Fiestaware pitchers, the black rotary dial phone, and the box camera stir up the kind of sweet childhood memories I like to carry around with me the older I get. Whatever the reason, I’m toying with the idea of purchasing a lifetime supply of these new Forever stamps.

The stamps also got me thinking about a new Forever Stamp idea. I settled upon a collection of household innovations developed during the lifetime of Baby Boomers. The featured items in that category will be near and dear to anyone – male or female – born since 1950 (give or take a few years) who’s in charge of making a house run smoothly. Here are the innovations on my top ten list.

Top Ten Household Innovations

10.   Automatic car lock fobs – While these are not actually in the house, anyone who has
tried to use a key to lock a car while carrying groceries knows it belongs on the list.
9.    Liquid hand soap for the home – How come it took so long for this one to move from
schools, rest stops, and gas station bathrooms to the home?
8.    Baby carrots – No explanation needed on this one.
7.    Stackable washer and dryer – Again, why did this take so long?
6.    Reusable grocery bags – I know, Europeans have been using these for decades, but
the bags took a long time to get across the pond. If the Beatles had used them on
the Ed Sullivan show in the early 1960s, plastic grocery bags might never have been
invented.
5.    Pampered Chef nut chopper – No explanation needed on this one, either.
4.    Pampered Chef and/or Tupperware can openers – I’m not endorsing Pampered Chef,
but these can openers have prevented cuts from the jagged metal piece left by
traditional can openers, they make the list.
3.    Self-stick stamps – No, I didn’t add this one to ingratiate myself with the Post Office
come stamp selection time. But, eery time I plop a self-stick stamp on an envelope, I
remember the horrid taste of the gummed stamps that required a quick lick to stick
and offer a prayer of thanks.
2.   Post-It Notes – Love ‘em.

And now, for the top household innovation since 1960…..

1. DOUBLE ROLL TOILET PAPER – Need I say more?

That’s my top ten list. But, let’s go for the top twenty. Leave a comment to add your favorite household innovation since 1960.

This is gonna be fun!

Light Stronger than Darkness

Posted on January 20, 2012 by jphilo

Winter Full Moon 300x200 Light Stronger than Darkness
In winter, the extra hours of darkness
Weigh upon my shoulders,
Press upon my eyelids,
Make me groggy and slow and stupid.

Still last week, when the moon was full,
And the air was winter-warm,
I took my camera into the darkness
As the sun waited patiently to start her day
Until after the moon went to bed.

The darkness was too thick
And my hands too shaky
To capture the glory of the moon,
And finally I quit trying,
Trudging home with shoulders bent,
Eyelids drooping in a darkness
That lingered until yesterday
When I finally looked at the pictures.

Disappointments, all of them but one,
Where the bright moon waited
In the blue-black sky.
Not behind bare black branches
As it was in reality,
But in front of them,
Eclipsing them,
Engulfing them in silver light.

Looking at the picture,
My shoulders straightened,
My eyes opened wide,
When I saw the truth.
Light is stronger than darkness,
Waiting patiently to be found by those who seek it.

Three Thoughts for a Chilly Thursday

Posted on January 19, 2012 by jphilo

1100979 beware sign 1 Three Thoughts for a Chilly Thursday

My, my, my it’s cold outside today. Apparently, winter’s a little upset about not being invited to her own party in 2012 and is now making her presence known. Maybe these three thoughts for Thursday will melt her icy little heart!

If you think our world isn’t a safe place, think again. The Apostrophe Protection Society’s vigilance in keeping punctuation terrorists at bay is constant and well-documented at their website.
When I grow up, I want to go to high tea with Maggie Smith at Downton Abbey. Provided she’s not at Hogwarts that day, of course.
The Super Bowl-themed coupon flyer in our Sunday paper was puzzling. First came the ads for football snack foods. Then came disposable diapers, Depends, and feminine hygiene products coupons. At the end, more ads for munchies. Do you think the advertisers were sending subliminal suggestions about what to do if the halftime show is a bust?

So, what will you be doing during the Super Bowl halftime?

Corn Bread with Corn Kernels

Posted on January 18, 2012 by jphilo

Leslies corn muffins 200x300 Corn Bread with Corn Kernels

Last week you met my niece, Leslie when she shared her recipe for cheddar cheese muffins. Today, she shares the recipe for the other muffins she made for our extended family Christmas celebration. Our celebration got so busy I forgot to take a picture of the corn muffins when they were finished. So you’ll have to be satisfied with the recipe and a picture of the baker scooping the batter into the pans. Don’t you love her red hair?

Leslie, if you can leave a comment about where you found the recipe, please do. It’s always nice to give credit where it’s due!

Cornbread with Corn Kernels

3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar (I would cut this down)
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 cu fresh or frozen corn kernels

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease either a 9 x 13 pan or 24 muffin cups.

Put butter and sugar in a bowl and cream them until light and fluffy with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In another bowl, stir together cornmeal, flours, baking powders, and salt. Using mixer on low speed, add to creamed mixture in 2 increments, alternating with buttermilk. Beat until smooth. Fold in the corn kernels until just evenly distributed. Do not overmix.

Pour batter into pan or muffin cups. Bake pan of cornbread for 35 – 40 minutes. Bake muffins 25 – 27 minutes.

Look Good! Feel Great!

Posted on January 17, 2012 by jphilo

505032 Look Good! Feel Great!

In the mid-1960s, my mom enlisted Debbie Drake, the female counterpart to Jack Lalanne, to make me fit and trim. I was on the chubby side back then, sedentary and clumsy. More inclined to grab a glass of milk and a handful of cookies before curling up with a Little House book than going for a bike ride in the fresh air.

Mom must have been really concerned about her couch potato middle child. Why else did this woman, who never bought anything without much deliberation and angst, purchase a non-necessary item at full price? Especially something as frivolous as a record album.

923567 vinyl record Look Good! Feel Great!

For those of you too young to know, record albums look like this.

641354 record player Look Good! Feel Great!

And the records spun on machines like these to make the music play.

But she bought Feel Good! Look Great! Exercise Along with Debbie Drake, brought it home, and sat down to plan my daily exercise regiment. At first I was pretty gun-ho. Debbie Drake’s leotard with it’s crisp, white collar was a little dated. But it was pink. And secretly, I loved pink. And the title’s liberal use of exclamation points matched the exclamatory level of pre-teen girls everywhere!

Even though our English teachers said to use them sparingly or not at all!
Debbie Drake’s title was proof that the times, they were a-changing!
Unfortunately, the title was a lie!
The exercise routine Mom created, ala Debbie Drake, did not feel good!
Nor did it make me look great!
It just made me sore!
And the music!
Well, let’s just say the tunes Noel Regney and his sappy orchestra played to accompany the stretches and knee bends, and contortions were embarrassingly out of date!
At least for preteen girls in love with pink leotards and exclamation points!

I think I made it through all the exercises once. Then I buried the album at the bottom of a dresser drawer and forgot about Debbie Drake. Until a month or two ago when my knee started hurting and I went for physical therapy.

The therapist was named Katie, not Debbie.
She wore street clothes, not a pink leotard with a crisp, white collar.
No orchestra played sappy background music.
Exclamation points were not lurking in corners or lying on treadmills.

Still, I suspect Katie is a Debbie-Drake-and-my-mother throwback. Why? Because she planned an exercise regime to strengthen my glutes to correct my stride so my knee will feel better. But so far, all it’s done is make me ache in places I didn’t know had muscles. It has not made me feel great or look good.

So much for making me feel great Debbie, Mom, and Katie!
You should be glad I gave up on looking good ages ago!
Though if I had a pink leotard with a crisp, white collar, you could talk me into trying again!

Hiram Went for a Run Yesterday

Posted on January 16, 2012 by jphilo

Yesterday afternoon, Hiram went for a run.

The event hardly seems worth mentioning when compared to news of the cruise ship that capsized near Italy, the secretary general of the UN chastising the king of Syria, the race for the Republican presidential nomination, or outgoing governor Haley Barbour pardoning more than 200 convicted felons during his last hour in office.

But Hiram’s run is worth mentioning.

Because this is January in Iowa, a month written off by most joggers as too icy and cold for running outdoors. But this winter, the roads are still ice free and the temperatures much warmer than usual.

But excluding the weather, Hiram’s run is still worth mentioning.

Because it is a grace beyond what many men my husband’s age have been granted. We are surrounded by evidence of this reality. Hiram cares for patients who can’t walk because of serious heart issues. The memory of my wheelchair bound, fifty-five-year-old father in the nursing home never leaves us. We are praying for friends our age and younger who’ve recently had knee surgeries and hip replacements.

But Hiram’s run is worth mentioning for another reason.

In the past year and a half, four friends have lost their husbands. One to cancer. One to suicide. One to the effects of Agent Orange exposure in Viet Nam. One to a brain aneurysm. Two of them were younger than Hiram. Two were older, but not by much.

But Hiram was alive yesterday and went for a run.

His run is worthy of more than a mere mention. It is worthy of thanksgiving, even when my alive-and-well husband who went for a run yesterday forgets to take out the garbage. It is worthy of gratitude, especially when his sweaty running clothes in the bedroom hamper make the room stink. It is an event for which I am usually not grateful enough.

Except for today, when I thank God for my husband who went for a run yesterday.