My Sister

Let me tell you about my sister...Her name is Toni and today is her birthday...

She is the third child in our family and was born 3 years and 11 months after me. (Mama was very, very busy.) Much cuter and with a much more agreeable personality than I was gifted with, she was by far Daddy's favorite girl-child. She always had more friends than anyone else in our family. All our pets love her best.

--Just to show you how this worked at our house...when she read my post about my pet coati, she texted that she had always thought the coati was HER pet!!-- That's just how she was..so friendly, lovable and enigmatic with everyone and with her outlook on life. That is just her nature.

Of course, growing up, that means she got away with a lot...believe me...a LOT...

Strangely, I never really resented her for that. Granted, I did resent her for getting away with being messy in our shared bedroom (Mama finally had to draw a line, with chalk, down the middle of the room and tell us we each got to keep our side of the room the way we wanted.) And I truly hated her cats (on the farm we had at least half a dozen, and in Mexico, her cat ATE MY BUTTERFLY COLLECTION!!) But I didn't resent her for being cute and having friends...or not having to wash the dishes or not having to learn to cook, or not being responsible for the boys...I know it sounds like I did, but that is just my nature...I tend to not forget much....

Actually, I really admired and envied her, especially from the time we both left home and started out on our own. She always seemed to have her shit together so very much more than me...

-She got to live with Grandma and go to high school in California

-She graduated as an RN and got a good job right after

-She learned to drive and had a very cute red car as her first vehicle

-She got a really cute boyfriend (a few years younger than herself)

-She got the wedding she wanted, had 2 darling kids, and STILL HAS THE SAME GUY!

-She had a tight group of good friends to hang out with and travel and camp with

-She was always Dad's favorite, to the day he died

-She is the daughter who gets to sympathize and be kind and fun with mom (I have to

be the heavy...)

The day I realized how much I envied and admired her was the day I was riding in the back of Mom and Dad's truck, in the camper with my brother David, on the way to Minnesota to my brother, Rick's, wedding. We were speeding down I-90, when I heard a horn honking along side of us. Looking out the window of the camper, we saw Toni and our brother, Jon, tooting along in her cute little red car...AND I STILL HAD NOT LEARNED TO DRIVE A CAR!! That very day, I resolved to learn to drive! --If Toni could do it, so could I! And I did.

But I still hated that cat!!

Quick and Easy Chili

Cold weather is approaching quickly. We get hungry for heartier fare than just sandwiches and salads. But it is not quite time to have a crockpot or soup pot going all day long. So I make a quick stove-top chili.

What you see here are all the ingredients (but one!) needed to make it.

(Ah! Here is the other ingredient!)

Melt some butter in a large pan. Chop onion and bell pepper and saute until it begins to brown. Add about a pound of ground burger and cook until it is browned as well. Sprinkle with about 1/3 of a package of Chili Seasoning.

Then add 2 cans of your favorite prepared chili, a can of kidney beans, and a can of chopped tomatoes. Stir well and add about a cup of water and salt to taste. Bring chili to a boil and turn the heat down. Simmer for about 20-30 minutes, adding more water if you like it soupier.

Make a batch of cornbread, and you have a lovely dinner!

It's September

It's September

By Edgar Guest

It’s September, and the orchards are afire with red and gold, And the nights with dew are heavy, and the morning’s sharp with cold; Now the garden’s at its gayest with the salvia blazing red And the good old-fashioned asters laughing at us from their bed; Once again in shoes and stockings are the children’s little feet, And the dog now does his snoozing on the bright side of the street. It’s September, and the cornstalks are as high as they will go, And the red cheeks of the apples everywhere begin to show; Now the supper’s scarcely over ere the darkness settles down And the moon looms big and yellow at the edges of the town; Oh, it’s good to see the children, when their little prayers are said, Duck beneath the patchwork covers when they tumble into bed. It’s September, and a calmness and a sweetness seem to fall Over everything that’s living, just as though it hears the call Of Old Winter, trudging slowly, with his pack of ice and snow, In the distance over yonder, and it somehow seems as though Every tiny little blossom wants to look its very best When the frost shall bite its petals and it droops away to rest. It’s September! It’s the fullness and the ripeness of the year; All the work of earth is finished, or the final tasks are near, But there is no doleful wailing; every living thing that grows, For the end that is approaching wears the finest garb it knows. And I pray that I may proudly hold my head up high and smile When I come to my September in the golden afterwhile.