Susan's Scribblings the Blog

Tag: family

• Yule Blog 2025

  Posted at 3:11 pm by kayewer, on December 20, 2025

  The holidays of 2025 have descended upon us again. By “the holidays,” I mean Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s. And those are just the most commonly known ones. December 21 is Winter Solstice or Yule, the shortest day of the year. There is also Boxing Day (referring to the donation receptacle for the poor found at churches, not pugilism), and a little-known celebration on December 26 called Zarathosht Diso which commemorates the death of a prophet worshipped by the Zoroastrians for over 4000 years. Followers trek to temples or spend time in reflection and readings.

  For the second year in a row, I decided to make limoncello. Those of you who tuned in a few weeks ago know how the initial prep went on Thanksgiving. Since then my hacked-up finger has healed, and the infusion is now ready for simple syrup and distribution into jars to give to excited consumers who enjoyed my first batch.

  I still plan the usual beef for Christmas dinner and pork for New Year’s, though my beef this year will be a decent brand of hamburger as the eye roast prices are seriously over budget. A trip to “Ack-a-me” brought out the “Ack!” response upon seeing the price per pound. Albertson’s is having a bad year.

  As to other holiday traditions, I and others will tune into a Turner network at some point between Christmas Eve and late Christmas Day to watch Ralphie shoot his eye out with a Red Rider air rifle (A Christmas Story), and folks in Sweden will watch Donald Duck (or “Kalle Anka”) and the legacy Disney ensemble in a traditional holiday broadcast promptly at 3:00 PM on Christmas Eve. Also I will be bingeing a few episodes of my newest diversion on Passionflix, The Black Dagger Brotherhood. And for those rolling their eyes, there appears to be nothing about channel owner Tosca Musk’s character that screams negativity, so I’m checking out the broadcast story before reading the books and supporting the performers.

  The mall parking lots are the fullest they’ve been all year, a testament to the return of holiday shopping madness, so I have not set foot in any mall since before Thanksgiving. Also, the stomach virus has infiltrated nearby towns to our west, and so I’m trying to stay more than a lightyear away from anything or anybody from which I could pick up that gastrointestinal terror from the microscopic world of germs.

  Next week will be a recap of 2025 and a look ahead. One must have something to look forward to, and a major event is our 250th anniversary as a nation, flaws and all.

  Be safe, don’t overspend, and don’t forget to watch something holiday themed on television.

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  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged christmas, family, holiday, holidays, life

• Fulfilling Month

  Posted at 3:32 pm by kayewer, on August 2, 2025

  Of all the months in the year, August seems to be the one with the most mixed messages to offer in the course of its 31 days. There are no official federal holidays in August in the US, which means no possible three-day weekends or breaks in the workweek. It’s the last month in the period measuring two thirds through the calendar year. It’s named for the emperor Augustus, who conquered Egypt during this time period, formerly known as Sextilis (the sixth month in the Roman calendar, until Julius Caesar invented the Julian calendar and mixed things up in 46 BC); the new name was bestowed in 8 BC.

  Schools begin preparations for the year, with colleges intaking freshmen and others starting early for the upcoming elementary and high school students. This means that some vacations end before Labor Day. However, no vacation is complete without celebratory foods, and August has quite a list of them, including Family Meals Month. Dippin’ Dots are an interesting item on the monthly roster, which includes catfish, goat cheese, peaches, panini and sandwiches. And yes, the two are recognized separately, even though one is a form of the other.

  Remember, I said it’s a mixed message month. And the food keeps coming.

  Today, the first Saturday in August, is Mead Day, when folks should consider brews of all kinds. Tomorrow, the first Sunday, is Friendship Day. This means you should be careful not to be hung over and grumpy after overindulging on Mead Day. If, by some misfortune, you do something while grumpy from too much libation, it’s also International Forgiveness Day, which gives you the chance to nab the person you’ve wronged on the way out of Sunday services. If it doesn’t work out, find a new friend, perhaps.

  The first Tuesday in the US is National Night Out, when people are supposed to spend some time post-sundown sitting outside and being visible to one’s neighbors. Unfortunately homebuilding has not included front porches in new construction, unless you’re in the South where it’s expected or even somewhat understood to be mandatory. Don’t forget bug spray.

  Then, if you missed out on Mead Day, the first Friday is an excuse to make up for it, on International Beer Day. Just be careful not to freak out if you see somebody in greasepaint and a colorful costume, because the first seven days in August include the observance of International Clown Week. Seems appropriate more than a mixed message, though, considering the behaviors of some folks when they’ve had a sip too much recently.

  August 13 and 14 celebrate filet mignon and Creamsicles, respectively. August 15 celebrates Lemon Meringue Pie Day, followed by days devoted to rum (16) and vanilla custard (17), potatoes (19), peaches (which get their own day and month) along with pecan tortes for some reason, on the same day (22). If you want to live a 600 lb. life, follow up with these lauded foods on their respective August dates: waffles (24), banana splits and whiskey sours (25), bananas by themselves along with a day for the baked custard pots de creme (27), cherry turnovers (28),chop suey (29), and trail mix (31).

  Save room for a sip of water afterward.

  August may be the best month to undertake a new habit (or break an old one), start or finish a project you’ve neglected all year, or simply prepare for the last four months to come barreling toward us before you know it. That’s what August really is; the clubhouse turn in the year’s race. Try to make the most of it.

  And have a banana split.

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  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged august, family, food, life, recipe, travel

• What Price Pleasure

  Posted at 3:26 pm by kayewer, on June 28, 2025

  Before I begin, I must warn you that this content is for adults and may cause extreme negative emotions, as well as some trigger reactions. Reader discretion is advised.

  Women these days often lament the issues associated with being single and unable to find a partner who can be a true human companion. Married women or those supposedly in a committed relationship also offer up commentary about how their significant others misbehave. We, as women, are having a tough time in this age of what we call enlightenment.

  In my lifetime, I have seen men degenerate from treating us like we deserve equality and respect to acting as if we’re despicable lower life forms. I could go on to write a full-blown rant about how the relationship dynamic has changed in a few decades, but I want to focus on one thing: the “O” word.

  That peak of pleasure sought after by any living creature with a hint of hormonal activity in their bodies is, in my opinion, undervalued as a commodity. Male creatures with antlers (such as rutting moose in mating season) have died entangled while jousting over who gets the females. Male praying mantises will seek out a female and lose their head for that opportunity. Really, she will bite his head off and remain conjoined with the corpse afterward, and the males don’t care; instinct overcomes all common sense.

  Of course, we are humankind and should know better.

  I could go the easy route and say that one second of bliss for us humans can set you back over a third of a million dollars; the average cost to raise a child to age 18 is about $375,000 (US), so if sperm are anywhere in the vicinity of their pre-programmed target ovum, that’s the expense you’re talking about for the next two decades. The quest for sexual pleasure has brought down kingdoms, divided nations, and ruined countless lives. All for a few seconds of existential nirvana.

  This past week I was subjected to a social media post from somebody I greatly admire for being a decent man; his name is Robbie Harvey. He has a wife whom he stood by and gave loving support during a cancer battle. He talks about human decency and values, and isn’t afraid to call his fellow men out for being anything from simple jerks to totally inhumane monsters. When a recent article he posted came into my feed, I was just as shocked as he was to watch it (link is at the end of this post).

  I will give you my best slightly enhanced TLDR (too long didn’t read) version.

  A woman delivered a baby by Caesarian section. This is the surgical birth of a baby through the abdominal wall, meaning a doctor cuts through the belly’s many layers and opens the womb to free the infant inside instead of being forced through the birth canal. This is major surgery. Women are expected to recover over many weeks while their abdomen heals. There are still baby activities (feeding, changing) needing to be done while handling breast milk, post-partum depression and all that comes with it, and post surgery comes with the specific warning of no intimacy for the duration of recovery time.

  This woman’s husband wasn’t having it. He “had needs.” She felt compelled by him to disobey the doctor’s orders, and she gave in to her spouse’s demands for sex. She ended up returning to the hospital and having additional emergency surgery, and she want into cardiac arrest during the procedure to repair her ripped-up surgical scars, which were likely pounded open by her husband’s quest for that one second of release.

  So the “big O” can also nearly cost human life, and one can only guess how much that husband cared.

  What have men in these times done to deserve us? What have we done to deserve treatment like this? The man had needs? What about the woman’s needs? I had several viscerally unprintable thoughts about how to nail the point home with that Neanderthal of a husband.

  I don’t blame Robbie Harvey for posting the story, because it brings to light some of the terrible mindsets men have these days. He has done compilations of awful things men have said to women about their looks, or after miscarriage, and brought attention to the cringe-worthy fringe men of our society who don’t seem to have a clue about how to be human. The videos are thought-provoking and worth attention. However, this one haunted me all week. What kind of person is so desperate for that one moment of what amounts to a sexual sneeze, that he would put the life of his child’s mother at risk?

  What we don’t know is whether she has left him. For all the difficulties of single parenthood, I would hope that would be the better choice for her than dealing with that buffoon.

  Yes, it makes me glad I’m single.

  https://www.facebook.com/therobbieharvey/videos/1453233082523841

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  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged family, marriage, women

• Farewell 2024

  Posted at 3:25 pm by kayewer, on December 28, 2024

  Another year has gone by. For me, life goes back to what I call normal after that first day in January. Once the forty or so days of holiday madness come to an end (I measure by when Black Friday comes), the world enters a new kind of madness revolving around the weather. Day to day we worry about how cold it will be, will there be rain or snow, or even a polar vortex.

  A few years ago, we had three of those. At my job, we (or rather, I and the administrative team) fed our workers for over two weeks while the powers of nature dogged our every waking hour. Now that we don’t go to the workplace anymore, I don’t need to worry about a shopping run, how many plates and forks we need (or how many excess knives we must deal with), or if the corporate credit card will accept another big bill and whether the old ones were already accounted for. When I shop, I shop for me.

  January is when the bills from late November and December start to roll in, and the tax documents also remind us of where our money came from and went for a whole year. I took the time to amass a collection of receipts from food shopping this year: since we were blessed with the first regional Sprouts market in 2024, I began getting my daily produce and dairy there, and the many slips from that location show just how healthy I managed to eat. I didn’t save any stubs from eating out, which I kept to once weekly on average. Unfortunately I can’t say the healthy eating affected my weight.

  In 2024 I managed to cut back on frivolous spending. I turned down nearly everything, and only indulged in one thing I still enjoy collecting. Instead of stuff, I channeled my spending to experiences, going to an occasional social event or a new production, and those served much better than finding storage space.

  As for the home, I only did one improvement, taking the entrance to the side room back to where it began; with glass-paned doors. Originally my parents took down and discarded a pair of similar doors, opting instead for shuttered levered versions. The hardware gave out after decades of use, and the cooler temperatures in the room caused the air to escape through the slats and cool the bigger spaces down. Despite being part of the home and its heating system, the room is down about ten degrees. After getting new windows throughout the year before, I also opted for the old/new doors (which required custom fitting), and part of the problem was solved by doing so. Now I need to get to the bottom of the cold air, which may be due to no insulation in the roof. Eventually that space will become my office.

  I gave up my original fashion choices when I left the building to work at home in 2020. Now I feel fashionable but comfortable, and still have a handful of brands whose clothing I trust to last and fit. My discovery of Duluth Trading is making winter easier to endure. Their outerwear is great. The other clothes are going into donations or rags. My clothing budget went down to practically nothing.

  The other day, I ended the year by killing my shredder. It was an old one which was relegated to one sheet of thin paper only, one at a time, because it had reached the final moments of its lifespan. The new one was on standby for when the oldie cut its last. In my haste to get junk mail out of the way, I neglected to pay attention to my latest request from the March of Dimes. They glue a dime to your donation slip, hoping you will return its equivalent with your (much higher) donation, and I popped the entire thing into the old codger shredder, forgetting to remove the dime, which then got lost in the works and is probably mangled beyond the ability to recover its value. I’ll let you know if I can retrieve it before the deceased goes out to trash collection.

  My resolutions will go into effect this coming week, and I’m not sure I will meet all of them, but I do know that such a tumultuous prediction of how 2025 may go will spur me to take better care of myself and do all I can to make things better, healthier, happier and balanced. My weekly posts should reflect some of this, and I hope you will join me.

  Here’s to balance in 2025.

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  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged Books, decluttering, family, food, travel

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