This was easy to make and had a very light taste.  Of course, people who want to can substitute the sugary versions of the sugar-free ingredients, or the fat-free versions.  I can't tell you how those would taste.  This is good.

1 15-oz can of pumpkin
2 small packages instant Vanilla or French Vanilla sugar-free pudding
2 cups half-and-half
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup sugar-free Cool Whip

Mix everything together except the Cool Whip until well blended.  Stir in the Cool Whip.  Refrigerate for 4 hours.  Serves 8.

I'm thinking of making this for a potluck, and garnishing the top with pumpkin spice flavoured candy corn (although that ruins the sugar-free aspect).

From Sister Hyde (of course), telling me my cat didn't need to go to the vet -- he only needed holistic healing.

I didn't listen to her (of course) and took him to the vet.  Turns out the cat had spinal cord cancer.  She's immorally irresponsible.

Steel Magnolias.

This woman was told not to get pregant for health reasons.  Rather than try to adopt a needy child, she selfishly gets pregnant anyway.  She dies, leaving her loved ones in grief.  Does anyone not see the cause and effect here?

Like Water for Chocolate

Instead of running away with the woman he loves, this guy marries HER SISTER so he can be close to her.  Does anyone not see what's wrong with that?  EWWWWW!

We Were the Mulvaneys

This guy can't look at his daughter b/c she was raped.  So she is banished from the family.  When he dies, she's allowed back.  What is wrong with these sick people?

I made crepes today, for the very first time, in my very own crepe pan.  They were much easier to make than I'd anticipated (crepe mix) and they were almost as delicious as the crepe I had in Rome.

It also made me think of my mother.  No, not in any idyllic, "fond memory" way.  Quite the opposite, in fact.

When I was 14 and Sister Hyde was 21, she found a restaurant called The Magic Pan.  It was in a mall that was a bit of a distance from our house, but still, every so often she was able to take me there.  We both enjoyed the crepe dishes at The Magic Pan and my smother knew it.  So one day Smother came home from the store with a crepe pan.  She brandished it in the air before us:  "Look!  I bought a crepe pan!" 

For a minute we were happy; we'd taken the bait.  "Oh, great!" we said, "We can make crepes at home now!"

"Oh, NO!" stated Smother.  "You can't make any crepes."

"But you bought a crepe pan," we said, once again trying the logic that never worked.

"Oh, no," she insisted.  I think, if I remember correctly, her excuse was that it was too messy.  Everything was either too messy, too loud, too early, too late, too big, too small, or just too much.  There was always a "too" reason why we couldn't do anything.

Like the Ice Capades --

( Read the rest... )

I considered this one:  I get knocked down, but I get up again, and they're never going to keep me down....

I actually do not own that cd, but the lyrics fit with my nickname, Tenacious D,   

Maybe Elton John's I'm Still Standing...I'm still standing after all this time.

Or Kate Bush's Song of Solomon:  Don't want your bullshit -- just want your sexuality.... 

But Lord, do people want to heap the bullshit on, yes they do. 

Before I went to Italy, I made a number of preparations.  These are the things that came along with me that proved very useful:

The Battle Purse:  This bag converted from a shoulder bag to a sling bag to a small back pack.  It served as my decoy as I kept all my valuables in a neck pouch that went down the front of my shirt and was held in place by my bra.  The battle purse also sometimes held my medications and other things like pens, purchases,and the occasional water bottle:( See the photos... )