Am I Preachy??

I made some of the best chili for dinner tonight.  It turned out so damn good that you might think it was a commercial recipe but, in truth, I didn't use a packaged seasoning.  I made it in our cast iron dutch oven and let it simmer for a couple hours.  Now it's inevitable outcome is being felt and *enjoyed*.  Thinking of how Bratfink would love to have had some so she could torture Sheldon and the cats...LOL.

I had a friend email me re:  this blog who accused me (I know he was kidding) of being *preachy* about loving family and friends plus saying that we should remember to tell them that we love them every time you talk to them.  He did say that he started doing it and was so glad to take that piece of advice when he had told his aunt this one night (after speaking to her on the phone) and he got a phone call the next day from her daughter telling him his aunt had passed in the night.  She was almost 90 and not in great health but no one expects that unless they are in the hospital for some terminal illness or something.  I offer him this piece of *preachiness* as consolation.  He did everything right and I am sure she held his love close to her heart when she went to bed that night.......

*In the blink of an eye, everything can change.  So forgive often and love with all your heart.  You may not have that chance again.*-Zig Ziglar

He often spoke of his aunt to me when we chatted.  He lived close to her home and would often go over to help mow her lawn, take her to the doctor or help his 
sister when she went over to clean her house for her.  He happens to be 6'5" tall and his sister told me that she made him clean cobwebs that would get into corners or dust on high places that she couldn't reach without a chair...LOL.  I always complimented him on his kindness to her but he said she was still a great cook and he thought helping her was small payback for the meals she would make for him and his sister (plus other family members).  He always took her to church on Sundays and then would help her make the Sunday meal that they all shared later that day.  Everyone contributed something (which I thought a great family tradition).  He had given his aunt a journal several months back to have her put some of her recipes in for everyone to have access to (another suggestion I had given him when he bragged to me what a great cook she was).  He is now in the process of putting them together for the rest of the family so everyone has a copy of the ones she put in it.

I got the idea for the journal from Bratfink, actually.  Several years ago, Bratfink sent me a binder she had put together that I could share memories that might be lost once I have passed as well as recipes, pictures, etc.  I really hadn't done much with it until about a year ago.  Mainly, it was because I had given no thought to the idea that I might not be around forever.  I would love to be here when my great-grandchildren graduate, get married, have children, etc. but had to face the fact that I might not be here for those things.  

No one likes the idea but I started to really use it once I faced that Old Woman in the mirror....LOL.  It will be a way to share some things that they might not know about my life, my family memories from when I was young (if I remember them correctly!).  I realized then that Bratfink had a great idea for all families.  So I shared the idea with my friend.  He said he read it and cried like a baby at some of the things she had written in the journal.  He even read a few things at her funeral to the other family members.  Even her daughter had not known about the journal until she found it while going through her mother's desk.  She had left instructions that it was to be returned to my friend when she died to do with *as he pleased*.  

The Beast went to the dermatologist today for his second treatment of the skin cancer on his face.  He didn't look quite as bad this time after the treatment but it just took longer for the affected areas to turn bright red.  They can do the treatment for his arms for two months.  It reminds me a bit of chemotherapy but on the outside instead.  The cream has to be one the skin for an hour and a half then he goes under the light for an equal amount of time.  His arms are worse and he was told the time would be longer for them.  He is going to hate that part of it.  At least when his face is being done, he could lay back with his eyes closed and take a little nap.  Having to keep his arms in one place for so long will make him crazy.  Tee hee hee!  I am so bad!!!

He should have known better but he tried to go outside when it was overcast to just walk Baron over on our lot next to the house and his face started to burn so he ran inside (I had warned him since I remember his experiences the first time his face was done but he never listens to me!).  I ended up walking over with Baron after I got home from the store so that Baron would poop.  He needs to run around for a bit before he can so I threw a stick for him (which I then had to try to get back since he thinks it's a *tag* game!).  Who was exercizing who???

I took my *nap* around 7pm and woke up around 11pm, refreshed and ready to take care of my FB page as well as do this blog.  I also have to go through my email yet (not fun for some things since my Yahoo address informs me of any FB things that I may have missed being posted...and that can be a LOT!).  My gmail address is the one I use for family and friends to cut down on the spam we all seem to get.  

I have no idea when the Beast finally went to bed.  He never woke me but I suspect it was an early night for him.  He's afraid to use a soothing cream on his face because he forgot to ask the doctor if he could use one.  He doesn't want to have to undergo this again for a while because he wants his arms to be done.  The skin cancer he has on them is just awful!  You can feel them all if you run your hands along them.  Yikes!

Time to go and get this posted.  Love you all.  Be good.  Be kind to one another.  Smile often, laugh with all your heart.  Dance like no one is watching.  ***Hugs***