I'm over it

Thanks for all your kind words, I was in a funk, but I'm over it now. One good thing that came out of my last post is that an old girlfriend who reads my blog reached out and her husband offered to give my son guitar lessons for free. So we took a long ride out to their house this afternoon and she and I caught up for hours while the guys played with guitars in the garage. It is impossible to not be happy when I am around these people, they are the human equivalent of sunshine. It went so well, they invited us back next weekend!

Let me tell you something. True friendship is hard to come by. I've screwed it up with her twice in the past. We were best friends in high school, she is my son's godmother, and I love her and her husband dearly. I'm a very lucky lady to still have these people in my life, I think I'll be trying harder to not screw things up with her in the future!

p.s. a word to the wise, celebrating your first day of senior year by doing Kamikaze shots at 7am is a baaaaad idea.

Envy

I've had a couple of people ask where I've been. Thank you for your concern, everything is okay.

Things have been strange, and I'm having trouble adjusting. Mom and my sister, Shoufie, arrived home about a month ago. Mom stayed in my room, so I didn't really have as much access to my desktop as I would have liked. Mom is gone, now, but Shoufie remains. Shoufie is my special sister that lives with me. Which presents a whole new set of problems. For both me and my son.

Add to that I've recently been reacquainted with some old girlfriends on facebook. While I'm extremely happy for them that they are doing well, I'm envious as hell of their life styles. And I've been reluctant to talk about it. Hello? Pity party of one? We have a seat for you!

Why the hell was I not born as smart as the girlfriend who makes more in one week than I do in a month? We're both single mothers, our kids are 3 months apart. Yet, she's a brainiac that travels the world doing computer jobs and I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to pay the electric and cable, and get my son uniforms and books in time for school to start.

The worst part about the money situation is the poor kid had someone give him a guitar. All the kid has wanted since his birthday is guitar lessons, which I cannot afford. Football starts on Monday, which is the only sport the kid plays, and I cannot afford that either. The kid deserves so much better. I'm having a difficult time rectifying my issues. My son deserves so much better than what I am able to give him. I would give him the world if it was within my reach. It is not.

I'm overwhelmed right now. And I'm probably going to wish I hadn't shared all of this. Even reading other people's blogs seems like too much, never mind commenting on them.

Never mind dealing with the special sister who keeps tattling on the teenager because she is mentally younger than he is. And dealing with the teenager who can't stand having his special aunt living with him.

So, I'm envious of people with more money than me, I'm envious of people who don't have special sisters living with them, I'm envious of people who have extra bedrooms for their mother to stay in, blah, blah, blah.

I guess this is a start. Admitting the envy is a way to overcome it. If you're my friend on facebook, you know I'm playing a lot of the game Mafia Wars. It's an easy fix to a complex situation. It doesn't require anything more from me than showing up. And right now that seems to be all I can handle.

Fritters

Wondering what to do with all that zucchini and summer squash in your garden? I have a delicious way to help you out. I didn't say a healthy way to help you out, you should have figured that out with the "Fritters" title for yourself. While not healthy, I swear to god this recipe will make you friends.

This recipe will make eight good sized fritters. I wasn't sure how my Tuesday night dinner crowd of 6 adults and 2 kids were going to like it, but apparently I should have doubled it. For every one that didn't like it, there was a person willing to take two of them. One of my nieces actually intentionally licked one so no one else could claim it. One of my other nieces had her feelings hurt that I didn't save her more than one...

So, here we go:

Fritters

3 cups grated veggies
*(zucchini, summer squash and onion; or zucchini, potatoes and onion; or potatoes and onion; or fresh corn and onion; whatever floats your boat - throw in some fresh grated carrots too! Flavor and color are the name of the game. Whatever ratio you use, make sure only about 1/4-1/2 cup is onion. Also be sure to put the grated veggies into a colandar. Then squeeze all the juice out before you put it into the mixing bowl. The only exception would be with already cooked corn. Remember "Don't squeeze the Charmin"? Don't squeeze the corn.

Put the squeezed veggies in a bowl, add grated black pepper, a generous helping of Kosher salt (about 2 TBSP), some chili powder, and whatever else floats your boat.

Then add 1/4 teaspoon baking POWDER (not baking soda, make sure it is the baking POWDER to make it light and fluffy), 1 cup flour and 3 eggs that you have already scrambled in a bowl.

Stir it together well. It may go through a couple of phases where it looks really dry until the egg kicks in, but by the time you stir the shit out of it, it will almost look watery. At this point, you can let it sit if you need to make sure the rest of your dinner will come out on time. If you absolutely need to prepare it in advance, stick plastic wrap on it's surface and stick it in the fridge so it doesn't crust on top.

When you are ready to fry the fritters make sure you have a fry pan with high sides, otherwise use a dutch oven. Preheat vegetable or canola oil, about an inch deep in the pan, over medium to medium high heat. The oil is ready when you have a few drops of water on your fingers and shake them into the pan, and the oil spits.

Using a 1/4 cup measure, pour each pancake into the hot oil. Let heat until each pancake seems to be cooked up it's sides. Only when each pancake seems 3/4 of the way cooked through - flip to cook on the other side. This will help cook the veggies inside and prevent running. If running occurs do not be alarmed. Adjust the temperature as necessary if the cakes are cooking and browning too quickly. The running also makes for deliciousness in the frying arena.

Serve with ranch in smaller measures as an appetizer, serve with dinner in larger quantities. I have a hard time thinking there is a way that this won't be eaten and loved!

Your loving son

Many years ago, a young couple moved in next door to us. They were younger than I was, but that didn't seem to matter. The father had custody of his son who is a year older than my son, almost to the day. Their birthdays are 4 days apart. The boys never went to the same school, but have remained friends since then. We all have remained friends.

Believe me when I say these people have seen me at my absolute worst and remain non-judgmental.

The funny thing is, sometimes you meet people with whom you have a few things in common and somehow you become family to each other. Their son is like my son from another mother, and they feel the same about my son.

They recently moved out to New Hampshire. They came down and picked up my son a couple of weeks ago and brought him up to stay with them for a week. I was happy to reciprocate, and was given a 16 year old last night to spend the week at our house. I'm not kidding when I say I love this kid like he's one of my own. I also wanted to steal their almost three year old giggle monster little girl, but they weren't giving her up. So I guess I was stuck with "my boys".

Apparently, "my boys" decided sleeping in the same bed wasn't cool, and one sleeping in the bed and the other sleeping on the floor wasn't fair. So they chose to sleep in the living room - one on the couch and the other on the love seat.

If you know me, you know I love taking pictures. I especially love taking pictures of sleeping children.

Considering "my boys" are both rapidly approaching six feet, I would have loved to have taken a picture of them sleeping cramped up on a couch and a love seat. Throw in a dog, and I'm practically drooling.

As a matter of fact, I may have taken a picture of sleeping boys just a few weeks ago when there were four of them in my living room, and a very happy puppy making her rounds.

So, I was completely surprised when I woke up this morning and found this note:


I'm not quite sure what he's trying to say. I think it has something to do with his love of God, and also his love of me.