Sock Talk: Poetry Monday

 

Poetry Monday's once a week.

I bet you know which day.

I don't participate every time,

But today I've come out to play.

My friends assign each week a theme,

Socks is what they chose.

Now it's up to all of us,

to put our thoughts into prose.

 

 

Sock Talk

I've written about socks before, 

in fact, a time or two.

Today I'll tell you 'bout them,

(and I'll end with something new).

Once I wrote a poem 'bout

their disappearing act.

It's always in the laundry and,

oh, how I tried to fight back.

What would drive me crazy?

I'm as organized as can be.

PurDude? He'd grab just any two,

as you can clearly see.

Don't leave out my other son,

he's more than happy to wear,

footwear that's more hole than sock,

(much to his mom's despair).

In The Love Theory I even wrote,

shocking though it may seem,

about sock, ran away with fork,

"love is love" (not food) was the theme.

 

Blackberry Cream Cheese Muffins

 

Me? I'm at my happiest,

when going sockless, though.

"Unless," PurDude says, "it's because,

you've broken where they go."

 

 

 

 

Wait!

Read more poetry, 

you're not through.

Some talented writers

are in this crew:

 

On the Border

Messymimi's Meanderings 

Mother Owl 

 

Blackberry Cream  Cheese Muffins         

                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup oil

3 oz cream cheese, softened

1 egg

3/4 cup milk

6 oz fresh blackberries, quartered

3 TBSP cinnamon baking chips

1 TBSP sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
*Grease or add liners to the wells of a 12 well muffin tin. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

*In a bowl, mix together the brown sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

*In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, cream cheese, egg, and milk.

*Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and mix just until incorporated, don't over mix. Fold in the blackberries and cinnamon baking chips.

*Divide into the 12 muffin liners. Mix together the sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle over the tops.

*Bake for 20 minutes, or until the center of the top springs back to the touch. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing.

Answering Rena: Secret Subject Swap

 

 

Today's post would normally be our monthly Secret Subject Swap. The way it works is that bloggers pick a secret subject for that month, send them to me, I put them in my sorting hat, and send them out to another participant. We each get a unique subject to write about or question to answer.

Although still a Secret Subject Swap, for this post, we each have individual prompts, not sent in by each other, but submitted by just one person.

For the past 8 years, our friend Rena had participated in this and many of the other challenges I run. Rena died unexpectedly in the middle of March. I was finally able to write about it just a few days ago, I hope you'll check it out, here's the link to Rena: Mourning to Missing.

When Rena died, she'd signed up for this Secret Subject Swap challenge through the year. I had 9 of her prompts sitting in monthly documents waiting for assignment to different friends. I could not get myself to delete those prompts, it just felt callous, disrespectful. I thought I might address them, over time, in my own blog posts, but then realized that maybe some of her other friends would like to join me. Some did.

Rena took the time to ask some questions. Today her friends are taking the time to answer some of them.

So, each of us have a subject, prompt, or question, sent in by Rena. We're answering in memory of a friend, a collaborator, a valued and missed member of our blogging community.

I have Rena's August prompt, and my subject is: If you could go back to school to become anything you'd like, what would it be and why? 

I'm going to start with the two guesses I think Rena, well probably all of you, would have made.

Then I'm going to say WRONG! 

First, writing. Truth is, I thought a lot about it. I had a middle school teacher who, after I'd turned in a writing assignment, suggested it. I even took over running my dormitory area newspaper for a while in college. But, when it comes to writing, I do best when I feel the stories, when they almost pour out of me. I'm not sure how I'd handle a career of being assigned the story and having to make a deadline. Sometimes, yeah. As a side gig, yeah. But daily? I don't know.

Truth is, I wonder if all of that structure, of the subject matter being out of my hands, whether it might diminish my love of writing. Or maybe it would actually hone my skills, provide focus and growth. Hard to say. 

So how about being an author, writing fiction? I love a good mystery. In fact, I did start my own book. I wrote the first sentence. That was 10 years ago . . . Still got that sentence. Nothing else, though.

OK, so you're thinking along the culinary lines.

Perhaps I'd want to be a chef, or a baker, or both. Maybe work privately, or even open my own restaurant.

I could apply to Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Or more locally, both MIT and Harvard have culinary arts majors.

But the food industry is grueling. Chefs are, for the most part overworked and underpaid and, unless they can afford to go out on their own, unable to nurture their own creativity.

Truth is, my recipe development often comes from a place of stress relief, a creative way to get out of my own head for a while. My recipes tend to be more pedestrian. My creations are always geared towards the specific tastes of my family. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

BBQ Pork Corn Chip Nachos

I'll tell you about one thing I have loved my whole life, as far back as I can remember, and still to this day. It's ballet.

If I could, I would love to be a ballerina. Yes, it's a difficult life, both physically and emotionally, but I'd make the sacrifice. Any and all of them.

NY would be the place to go. Although some colleges do offer dance programs, it's almost true that by the time you get your degree, you're almost too old for the industry. So Julliard, Joffrey, School of American Ballet are where I'd be battling to be accepted.

One problem, though. Well, there is the whole talent issue. But more than that is the constraint that's insurmountable by effort, and practice, and guidance, and even luck. 

Seems I've been unable to change the fact that I'm only five feet tall. 

I want to thank Rena for her years of support and friendship. And I want to thank everyone who wrote these posts today, for standing by my side as we honor a friend lost way too soon. 

 

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts in honor of Rena. 

Climaxed 

What TF Sarah 

Part-time Working Hockey Mom 

On the Border

BBQ Pork Corn Chip Nachos         

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
3 boneless pork loin chops

3/4 cup of my Blackberry BBQ sauce or the BBQ sauce of your choice, divided

2/3 cup canned black beans, drained

1 green onion, chopped

1 (8.75 oz) can corn kernels, drained

3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar, divided

1/4 cup drained, sliced pepperoncini

1 bag (8 oz) scoop sized corn chips

NOTE: I often make barbecued grilled pork chops for dinner, making sure to have enough leftovers to use the next day for these nachos. If you're using leftover pork chops, you'll have to warm it before mixing with the other ingredients.

Directions:

*Marinate the pork chops in 1/2 cup of the BBQ sauce in a resealable bag for 24 hours, turning now and then. 

*Grill the pork chops until completely cooked through. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. 

*Heat the beans in the microwave for about 1 minute, just until warm. Chop the pork into very small pieces, mix with the beans, green onions, corn, and 1/4 cup of the cheese, then toss with 3 TBSP of the remaining BBQ sauce. 

*Place in the center of a round baking dish. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese, then the pepperoncini. Surround with the chips.

*Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cheese melts. To serve, drizzle with the remaining TBSP of BBQ sauce.

Rena: Mourning to Missing

 

A month and a half. It has been 45 days.

Not that I've been counting. Not in the literal sense, anyway. But when I started this post, that number at the top had been 3. It had been 3 days.

I wasn't ready.

Day after day, I changed the number and moved this draft to a further date on my posting calendar.

Friends sent me messages, asked if I'd be writing something. I told them the truth. I wasn't ready. 

I was starting to think I might never be ready. Maybe I couldn't do her justice, or maybe I just couldn't face it head on, the finality. But it nagged at me, the feeling that I would regret never having acknowledged her loss, paid tribute to who she was, and just how much so many of us have been cheated of experiencing with her in the future. So I set a date. Today. Forty-five days to gather my thoughts and do my best.

I've moved through some of the stages of grief, others linger. I'm not mad at her any more, but I can't get past the regret. The wanting a do-over. For her, of course, but for me too. Because I should have pushed harder.

Rena and I had been friends in the blogging world for about 10 years. She joined in almost all of the challenges I ran, but our bond was about so much more. We bounced ideas off of each other, helped each other with projects, shared our lives and our thoughts and our secrets with each other.

Rena died on March 18th. 

The day after she died, I posted our last conversations in a private FB group full of mutual friends.

I said:

{{Through the tears, I've given this a lot of thought and decided to share here because I know that in this group, Rena was loved and supported. She was a sharer, I believe she would have approved.}}

Friday morning 3/17:

Me: How are you this morning? Did you sleep?
Rena: Not too good last night, I had to cancel hip doctor, wasn't up to it. Very shaky and weak today.

Me: Low blood pressure?

Rena: Yes 80/68

Me: Did you eat?

Rena: Yes.

Me: Take it slow and easy. Did your doctor assess whether any of your anxiety meds could lower your blood pressure?

Rena: I'm going to doctor at 3 and I'm going to pack a bag for the hospital.

Me: I hope it doesn't come to that. Let me know what happens when you can.

Friday afternoon:
Rena: I'm at home. They pushed my oxygen up. He wants me to go back in the hospital.

Me: If he wants you to go back in, maybe you should. It will take a while to work out the right mix of oxygen and meds, and that is best done in the hospital where you can be closely monitored. I know you don't want to go, but think it through, talk to your husband, make a medically sound decision.

Rena: Probably go in the morning. We will see. That's exactly what he said. We had already packed a bag.

Me: I'm surprised you didn't go, I assumed you packed the bag because you planned to go if the doctor recommended it. I want you to just get this over with. Get the conditions under control, the meds and oxygen at optimal levels, and be able to move on. I don't think, if there are issues, you are better off at home, scaring yourself and scaring and stressing your husband. I think you're better off in the hospital until you are stabilized. Did you just not want to go today because it's Pat's birthday? I kinda get that.

{{it's eating at me, how much I want to take that last part back.}}

Rena: Yes, and it's cold and rainy. I was freezing and just wanted to get under my blankets. It's been pouring all day. Mostly because it's his birthday, and I know he's been waiting on KY to play tonight.

Me: Please take it easy.

Saturday morning 3/18:
Me: How are you this morning? Any decision about the hospital?

{{Rena died way too soon. But she died in her own home, in her own bed, and with the man she adored for over 30 years. That's going to have to be enough. Not today, but some day, for all of us who have loved her, that's going to have to be enough.}}

Rena and I talked almost every day. And the day before, we also had a conversation. One I'd like to finish now.

Thursday, March 16:

Rena: I'm concerned, my BP is 90/64 today.

Me: Be careful getting up. Did you call the doctor? Is the nurse coming in today?
Rena: No, I go to the doctor tomorrow. My daughter told me to eat something. I want to take a shower.

Me: I'd eat something, then wait a bit, I'm not sure standing in the shower is a good idea at this point.

Rena: I have a seat. I'm out now, it's up to 97/62.

Me: Better. Maybe you should leave something beside your bed to eat in the morning before you get up.

Rena: That's a good idea. Some club crackers or something.

Me: One of those packets of peanut butter crackers might be a good idea.

Rena: I hate peanut butter. Don't like chocolate, coffee, or cheese.

Me: What? I was thinking peanut butter for a bit of protein. Maybe get a package of individually wrapped protein bars that don't have any pb or chocolate in them. My son has an oats and honey flavor, but there are many other flavors too, just be sure they are the protein ones.

Rene: Ha, ha, don't like oats either.

Me: Who ARE you? 

She didn't answer, of course. She wasn't meant to. But today I'm going to try to answer for her. 

Rena was a woman of passions, her family was first and foremost. 

Alzheimer's awareness was another. Rena and I both lost a parent to Alzheimer's, but she nurtured, protected, and took care of her mother for years as Alzheimer's progressed inch by inch. Awareness was so important to her that she started the blog The Diary of an Alzheimer's Caregiver. 

The third was her mission to empower women through helping them spotlight their voice. She started a business supporting people in maximizing and perfecting their vision for their blogs. But more than that, if you weren't a client and had a question, she answered. Period.

Rena often told me I was her closest friend on line, but (to myself) I laughed, betting she said that to many people. Because Rena's superpower was supporting, spreading warmth, sharing her love with everyone in her world.

She had a moral compass that was unwavering, was furious about the division in this country, the state of our politics. But most of all, she was offended by the bigotry, the hatred, the lies, the abuse of power, the moral degradation and manipulation. And she ranted against it. Loudly. Often.

Rena was a genuine person, she worked hard to overcome, but never to hide, a painful childhood and a life altering accident as an adult. Despite physical limitations and emotional trauma, she made the choice to be a person who spoke the truth, grew and changed, helped where she could, railed against injustice. She shared unabashedly, reached out when she knew she was in needed, and returned the favor without question.

I grappled with whether or not to include a recipe today. But Rena, who confessed to not being a cook (and having inherited that from her mom), had, over the past few years, started to embrace the kitchen. And the garden. She was growing her own fruits and vegetables, more every year, and had started to see the fun in playing with recipes.

So for today I did decide to develop a recipe. Lemon Blueberry Crinkles. They're bold and soft, sweet and tart, complex and simple. My tribute to a friend who was all that and so much more.

Lemon Blueberry Crinkles

 

The day Rena's daughter offered me her sympathies, I broke a little. But I also broke through. 

I now accept that I will always miss her, may never stop saying to myself "oh, I can't wait to hear what Rena has to say about this . . ." Like trump's indictment, oh, how she would have loved that! But in order for me to do justice to our time together, to the memories and to the friendship, I need to stop associating those thoughts with pain, and accept them as the results of the gift of her friendship.

So, who was Rena? 

She was an empath. She didn't feel FOR you, she felt WITH you. 

Rena was a woman who loved with all of her heart. 

And I would know, I can feel it still.

Lemon Blueberry Crinkles         

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
6 TBSP butter

1 box lemon cake mix

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1/4 tsp lemon extract

2 eggs

1/4 cup blueberry jam

1/3 cup powdered sugar

Directions:
*Melt the butter. Set aside to cool slightly. Mix together the cake mix, lemon zest, lemon extract, and eggs, then mix in the butter.

*Whisk the jam to loosen it a bit. Pour over the batter and, using a knife, cut in, just until barely incorporated into the dough. Don't completely mix in.

*Enclose the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover baking sheets with parchment paper. Pour the powdered sugar into a bowl.

*One by one, using wet hand as the dough will be sticky, form the dough into 30 balls about 3/4 inch in diameter. Roll around in the powdered sugar, and place onto the baking sheets. Leave room, the cookies will spread.

*Bake for 12 - 14 minutes, until the cookies have spread and are set. Allow to sit on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before removing to cool completely.