Make Your Holiday Count This Year

Over the years I have seen stores that would close down for days to celebrate holidays.  Not every holiday, but the ones that people travel to visit distant relatives and keep the spirit of family alive.  Nowadays, things have gone too commercial.  I understand that in today's world, that everyone doesn't share the same values in celebrating holidays.  Some people don't celebrate any holidays.  The point that I am going for is that I live in the United States.  I live and work based on our calendar.  I have grown up and founded my own traditions based on the holidays on that calendar.  So, if I expect certain for myself, then I think others should be able to do the same, and whether they do or not is solely up to their discretion.

The first sign that stores care nothing about anyone and that money is the sole purpose is the placement of seasonal items.  This year, our local big-box store was placing Christmas items on display...before Halloween.  Quit shoving seasonal merchandise in my face two seasons early.  Secondly, the advancement of "Black Friday".  Growing up, stores would open up early the day after Thanksgiving with big, but limited, specials to encourage sales.  Also, it would help out the numbers for their final quarter of the year to help show a profit.  To a point, that doesn't bother me.  The point that it seems inappropriate is when people go out and fight over minuscule and trivial things they don't really need.  "I want this for my kid!" "My wife needs this more!" So on and so forth. Guilt lies on both parties in this situation, but that adds to my point.  Stores should not limit quantities and encourage such behavior.  On the other hand people should plain out know better.  Less than 24 hours ago this person was telling their family what they were thankful for, and now they are fighting of some sort of greed burning inside for something they want.

The commercialism doesn't just affect people on the outside.  It is now taking family out of the equation.  This goes to the families that are missing a Mom or Dad during a family get together because they have to work.  "Black Friday" sales are now starting in a lot of places on Thanksgiving evening.  That means someone is cutting family time short to go service people who also cut family time short to go fight over a *sale*.  Who wins?  The store.  Labor costs may go up, but sales will win every time.  That is, unless I can pass my influence on to anyone else.

I want to be the one responsible for teaching businesses a lesson.  First of all, we don't need any special deal.  We quite frankly don't need to buy anything out of the ordinary.  The main purpose of the holidays are to spend time with your loved ones, regardless or religion or belief.  We don't need to rack up debt and overspend on unnecessary things to show we love someone.  That is purely a *want*.  If you want to show someone you love them, give them something they can't buy.  Your time and affection.  Once you're gone, they can't buy that.  Will your kids remember that football you got them or will they remember "Daddy was always there to play football with me after Thanksgiving dinner."  If I can be the person that can get people to stay at home with their families and build value with their loved ones instead of the value of a stores bank account, that would be the best present I could ever get.  

I'm not against business.  People have to make a living somehow.  That's not what I'm trying to change.  I feel business is overstepping it's boundaries and stripping away the morals and foundation of families everywhere.  I want to motivate people to empower themselves.  The only way that one person can make a change is to have the help of others.  If we can stand together and take back family holidays, we can stand together and make the country a better place for our future generations.  But one person can't do it alone.

If you agree with the message I'm trying to get across, please help me share this and spread the message please click the link below.  The link will open a pre-filled tweet with the following information:

Take your family back.  <Link to this blog> #KeepingFamilyFirst

If you want to share to other networks or different networks there are buttons directly below this article.  My goal is to get this message to as many people as possible and hopefully encourage and motivate people to take back what they deserve.

Here's the link the share on Twitter :Share on Twitter

Remember to do something good for someone other than yourself, Pay It Forward.

My Little Frog

The picture above is of an ultrasound of our baby at about 7 weeks.  While we, my wife and I, were watching the screen we both thought the same thing.  The baby's shape looked like a sitting frog.  Therefore we nick-named the baby, "Frog".  I couldn't wait to scan the picture into the computer and trace it out and share it with others to show my new bundle of joy off to my friends and family.  And for anyone that thinks the other little spot is ANOTHER baby, it's not.  It's the yolk sack, we double checked.

Like with our other children together, we started planning out how things would change, and so forth.  We would spend a few extra minutes in the baby section when we were getting clothes or diapers for our other little ones, and think about whether it would be a boy or girl, and what kind of outfits we wanted to get.  Bringing a life into this world seems to have an effect on the mind that makes some people constantly visualize the future with an imaginary child sitting in the buggy instead of a bump on your wife's/girlfriend's belly.

Sad to say, we lost our little Frog 12/30/2012.  That was the first time I had seen an ultrasound and no movement or anything.  My world dropped off in that very moment.  What seemed to make it worse for both my wife an I, was the doctor sent her home, and made her get a second ultrasound the next day, and then proceeded to remove the lifeless child from her.  The day was New Year's Eve.  It seemed like everyone that day could only say, "Sorry for your loss, Happy New Year."  For that very reason I will disable comments on this post.  I'm not posting this for any sympathy or feedback.  I mentioned in an earlier post that this is the start of something that I intend to pass on to my other children to give them a little more insight into some of the things that they may not understand now.  This isn't our first child that we lost.  This was my second and her third loss.  We have our ways of dealing with it and aren't looking for any outside help.

I look at it from a natural point of view.  I have raised and even hatched my own chicks before.  I have seen eggs fully mature as expected and then a few days before they should start pipping (breaking from the shell) a blood-ring appears, meaning that the chick died.  If it was close enough to have a somewhat formed chick in the egg, I would open it to see what happened.  The most common occurrence I saw was a malformed chick, which wouldn't have survived long if it had hatched on schedule.  With that in mind, I can look back and find some peace knowing that the child didn't have to suffer, and that we wouldn't have to watch it suffer and then have to mourn even longer for a child that we have actually held and started the entire bonding process.  That may seem somewhat selfish, but it's the truth.  All in all, I don't want any living thing to suffer, and I wish everything was always perfect, but it's not.  That's just how it is.  I don't have to like it, but I can accept it.

I know a lot of my posts have been, from what I recall just sitting here, upbeat, positive, or just plain food oriented.  This may be a sad time in my life, but I will carry on.  So, I want to end this in a positive way.

Things in life don't always turn out how you want them.  That doesn't mean everything stops.  It might slow you down, or even stop you cold in your tracks for a moment, but you still have to pick up and drive on.  Handle each and every obstacle fully and move on.  Don't let it make you a cold and heartless person either. Everyone goes through down times.  Some people even feel at times that it will never end, but it will.  The only thing I have ever found that will keep a person down is themselves.  For every excuse you make to not be happy, is a lost opportunity to find a way to move on and be happier.

I hope that this finds the right person and lifts their spirits enough to keep on trying.  Don't give up.

One of the best way to feel better about yourself, and help someone else, might just be doing something good for someone other than yourself.  Pay it Forward.

Love For Your Pets - The Kitty Pillow

I feel that most of my posts have been food oriented, so I want to change up a little.  Well, if you consider going back to what I started out doing as changing.

I snapped this photo a few nights ago, and thought it was cute, but it also held something a little stronger.  I don't usually break down photos like this, but I felt like this was was *talking to me*.

If you look at my Daughter, she is no doubt comfortably asleep.  The blue thing you see in the bottom left side of the photo is her *Bunny* that she normally falls asleep with.  On this night she replaced the *Bunny* with the Kitty-Cat.  She claimed this cat as soon as it came into our home, and has loved it and played with it since.  We named the cat, but we always refer to it as "Her Cat".  We see how she interacts with this Kitty-Cat every day.  Everyone here knows how much she loves that cat.  And I think that it is reflected in this picture how much she loves it.  She fell asleep with it instead of her favorite stuffed animal.  For a child her age, that must be love.

Now on the other hand, and what caught my eye was the cat doesn't seem to mind her holding on to him.  He's not asleep, but I think that's from where I was moving around to catch the picture.  But he's not trying to get away from her.  I think it I had been a little more quiet when getting the picture, I may have caught them both asleep.  He's just laying there, seemingly enjoying his affections.  If you were to see the way he acts towards her when they are playing during the day, this picture would explain it all.  My Daughter will pick him up, carry him like a baby, and then play with him.  And he goes along with it.  It almost seems like he understands her affection towards him and reciprocates it back the best he can.

To most people that may read this article, they will see a picture of a girl snuggled up with a Kitty-Cat followed by the ramblings of a madman.  When I see this picture, I see the epitome of love.  People may have many pets during a lifetime.  They may be cats, dogs, birds, fish, or whatever animal suits you as a person.  But it's those special pets you have during that lifetime that make the biggest impact.  Sometimes you come across that one pet that seems like it was meant for you to meet.  Once that bond has been made, that pet is forever a part of your life.  That bond.  That love. That's what is seen in the photo above.

If you are ever capable of having that type of love for an animal, just think if you could love a person the same, if not more.  Try to have that kind of love for your fellow humans and see how much better we could live.  And that my friends, seems like a good note to end on.

Try to practice the love you just read about above.  The best way to start is by doing something nice for someone else.  Pay It Forward.

The Critter and Buggy Android App

This is going to be a short article.  I took some free time today and played around with a few different designs for an app for this blog, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and an RSS feed from this site (a quick way to view several articles at once).  I settled on 2 designs that I liked.  A "Plain Jane" version the had social features like commenting, liking, and sharing.  The other didn't have the same social elements, but was a lot cleaner looking, and easier on the eyes.  I thought hard about it, and made my decision.  And to solidify my decision, I showed my wife the same 2 apps and made her pick one as well.  She picked the same one, so that's the one I'm going to share.  Below you will find a link to install this to your android device.

Things to know about this app:
It is free. (YEAH! Free is Great!)
This is a basic app, it' won't make you breakfast and coffee in the mornings.
This does not install from the "Google Play Store".
To be able to install it you must got to "Settings" -->"Applications" --> and then check "Unknown Sources"
I don't have the funds to add it to the market, so this is how I can keep it free.

There are 2 ways to install it.  Download it on a desktop computer, move it to your phone, and then install.  The other way is to visit this page directly from your phone, click the link, and when it downloads, install it.

Here's the download link:  Download App

I just wanted to pass this along to anyone that wanted it, wanted to play with it, try it, test it, or try it to give some feedback.  I have tried and tested this on my own phone and everything works properly.

Sorry iOS users, I don't have an Apple version.

Have a great day, and do something nice for someone else.  Pay It Forward.

A Proud Papa Moment

I know I already wrote a post earlier today, but this one is more of a journal post than an article. I wanted to share a collection of moments that just touches my heart, from a Daddy's viewpoint. My wife and I rarely go out anymore whether it be because of a lack of time, lack of money, or just pure lack of "get-up-and-go". We finally got to go out by ourselves the other night (Thanks Grandma!). While we were out we took pictures of each other to share on the "Socialwebs" that we got a date night. We finished our date and got back home. My wife saved the picture of me as the wallpaper on her phone and our youngest daughter saw me on the screen. The screen only lit up for about 10 seconds and would go out. Our daughter took Mommy's phone and was playing with my picture and looking at me grinning. When the screen went out though, she would literally throw the phone back at Mommy (we know throwing stuff at Mommy's isn't nice, but we made the exception because it was so funny to watch). She threw the phone back until Mommy would turn the screen back on, which she would play with my picture, and turn towards me and grin. This cycle went on for a while. Below is a video I shot of her before we stopped and got her ready for bed.







My other daughter, "Critter" is older and is also my little shadow.  She refuses to let me out of her sight most of the time, and she wants to do, or help do anything that Daddy does. Since she is older, we do quite a bit of stuff together, that Buggy will get to do when she gets older too.  I have posted a few YouTube videos including her doing the little things...wait a minute, let me say that a different way...I posted videos of her doing things that are common and simple to me, but mean the world to her.  And that's all I really look for, is trying to find ways to make wonderful memories with my children.  I'll post some of her videos below if you care to see them, or you can visit my YouTube channel by clicking the tab at the top of the page.















These are just a few of my Proud Papa moments.  They happen all the time, and if I posted every one of them on here, I don't think I would ever get a break from writing.  So girls, when you get older, and if you ever read this, Daddy loves you.  You better KNOW it.
Now, it's time to go play with my "youngins".
Remember, do something nice for someone else.  Pay It Forward.

How to make a Kickin' Chicken Stew

Part of my family's traditions when I was growing up was going to "Chicken Stews".  For some people a Chicken Stew is an event.  For others it may be the actual stew cooking in the pot.  For me it was being around the people I enjoyed being with, and getting to chow down on some good food.  A few weeks ago, I was telling my wife about the Chicken Stews I went to growing up, and she had never heard of them, and I proceeded to tell her what they were, and tried to show her...but there wasn't hardly anything online about it.  The only thing I truly found was a Wikipedia article that gave a brief description and I believe a 1-2 sentence basic ingredient list.  I was so disappointed in my findings that I set out to be quite possibly the first person to share this recipe online ( I doubt it too, but I can dream.  Besides, I couldn't find one, so it's a first in my eyes). So get your pen and paper and get ready to be schooled on the next best thing you may ever eat.

Before I move on to the ingredients and how to make it, I want you to know that I wish I had the photos and video to walk you through this step by step but I don't.  I will make this promise though.  If I get an overwhelming response to this post I WILL make a video from start to finish of how to do it.  I'm not lazy, but it is a pretty hefty task of cooking and trying to film by yourself with a couple of kids running around.  Okay, now on to the goods!

Ingredients:

• 1 Whole Chicken
• All Purpose Flour
• Whole Milk
• Butter / Margarine (Pref. Butter)
• Salt
• Pepper

Extra Stuff that makes it better:

• Chicken Stock (Homemade if possible)
• Chicken Bouillon Cubes
• Hot Sauce
• Saltine Crackers

If you are one of those people that measure out things to the exact drop and go strictly by a recipe, then you need to run and hide right now.  I cook by the seat of my pants?  Kind of.  I cook until the food looks and tastes right to me, and the may mean altering or changing stuff along the way to make it happen.  Cooking is really about preference.  I will give some substitutions along the way, but overall, I'm sharing this the way I would serve it to someone.

To start off, put your whole chicken in a large pot or crock-pot.  I prefer the crock-pot, but a pot is fine if your in a hurry.  You can use chicken breast instead of a whole bird but the flavor just won't be there.  Most of the flavor in this dish comes from the slow cooking on the bone just like a barbecue is done.

One you have the bird in the cooking dish of choice, cover it as much as possible with chicken stock.  I save my leftover stock from one stew to the next, which seems to intensify the flavor a little more.  Store bought stock will also be fine.  If you don't have stock on hand, or don't feel like getting any, water will work also, just add a couple of chicken bouillon cubes to the water.

Cook times vary on the chicken.  If you do the crock-pot method, you can put it on before bed, and you'll know it's ready by the time you're ready to cook dinner the following day.  If you cook it on the stove top, you need to make sure the chicken is cooked all the way through.  When you start to break the chicken down, if you notice any pink or bloody spots, don't fear.  Keep on breaking it down, and add it back to the pot with some stock to cook a little longer until done.

Once the chicken is done, you have to remove the bone and shred the meat.  I usually cut the wings and legs off first.  Then I cut the breast and tenders away from the spine.  Always double check for little bones.  I do the dirty work of cutting all the meat away from the bone and cartilage, but I cheat when it comes to shredding it.  Shredding it by hand works good, especially if you use a fork or two.  I cheat.  I place my meat in a "Ninja" food processor, and cover all the meat with stock and *blitz* it a few seconds at a time to achieve a small but sizable shred of meat.

Now is the time to strain your stock and set it to the side for a minute.  If you use the processor method above, be sure to strain the stock first.

If you use the processor method, just pour your blended meat back into the pot.  If you shredded the meat by hand or other means, add it back to the pot, and cover with strained stock.  This is where preference seems to come into play.  I don't use all of the stock that I got from my chicken to cover it back with.  I tend to like mine a little bit thicker, so I lay off of some of the stock.  Bring your stock and meat up to a slight boil and add in about a cup of whole milk.

I use flour to thicken my stew.  The trick is you really shouldn't add flour to hot liquids because it just clumps and makes the stew lumpy.  A way around this is to pour about a half cup of whole milk and mix in enough flour to thicken the milk some.  It should be about equal parts milk and flour.  Now you can pour the flour/milk mix into the stew while stirring without getting the flour clumps.

Adjust the flour and milk to achieve the thickness you want.  Thicker means more flour, thinner means more milk.

Now for the butter.  I generally add a whole stick.  This is completely up to your butter preference.

Add salt and pepper to taste.  I also throw in another chicken bouillon cube or two for good measure. You can also add the hot sauce to it now, but we usually let everyone do that on their own because of the kids.  We also serve it over saltine crackers, but again that's just preference.

I know this might look like a lot, but it really isn't.  I was just trying to describe the steps in lieu of photos and video.  There isn't anything really hard about making a chicken stew.  Just remember to try not to rush it.  Take your time and take pride in your work.  When you take pride in it and love what you are doing, the food will speak novels via taste that your mouth could never explain.

If anyone out there was curious before about how to make this stew, I hope I quenched that curiosity well enough.  Feel free to ask questions below or on one of the social sites.  If you feel I left something out, please share it below for everyone else.

As always, do something nice for someone else and always try to Pay It Forward.

Who are you?

Who are you?  I know exactly who I am.  I'm that guy you may or may not have passed in the street.  I'm that guy that teaches his kids to stand up for what is right, by standing up for what he feels is right.  What is right?  Is something right based on your opinion?  Is it right because it sounds good? Maybe it's right just because it's right.

I know my last post kind of went slightly into a rant of sorts.  Oh well, I said my piece on it, and I still feel the same way, and it's time to move on.  I don't intend for my writings to be rants, but more along the lines of thought provoking.  Or you could call it brain prodding if you believe contrary to my ways, which is fine too.  I don't get into politics and votes and all that mumbo jumbo, which I will explain why later.  But interwoven in the political scene is something that catches my attention and bothers me at the same time.  I don't want to debate morality of the issue, but more so the concept behind it.

What catches my attention?  People starting their own campaign for elected positions.  I can see someone already holding the position and wanting to be reelected, which doesn't concern me.  But I feel that if someone is to be elected to a position the people should pick that person or persons and go from there.  Not so much the, I want to run for this title, and so do these guys, pick one of us.  I am also a firm believer in "job-advancement", where if someone holding a position does well, and would like to be elected for a higher position, they should be first in the running.  If I'm not mistaken many years ago holding a public office was a great symbol of pride bestowed upon an individual, where now it just seems to be about the money and the topics of debate.  It doesn't seem like anyone want to advance our country from where it was, but more like once someone is placed in a position, everything they do is geared towards the next PERSONAL advancement for themselves.  Don't get me wrong.  I love my country.  I spent 4 years in R.O.T.C. learning military values.  I served proudly in the U.S.Army and was Honorably Discharged.  I have read and even lived the ups and downs of the country I live in.  With that said, I want to see only the best for my country, and I don't think the tactics I observe from day to day are the right moves for that to happen.  What do YOU think should change to make our America the best it could be?

Why don't I get involved with politics, voting, this ballot and that?  It's pretty simple.  The entire format doesn't fit into what I feel is fair and right for my country, much less my county, district or state.  I alone cannot change how it is done aside from sharing my thoughts with others.  Maybe the right people will read what I have written and passed along and share it to the point that I start a movement.  A movement in what I believe is in the right direction.  At that point I will gladly stand with my fellow countrymen and women and help reconstruct our nation.  Hey, I may dream big, but at least I'm dreaming.  I guess my overall point for having nothing to do with politics is this.  If you only have choices A and B, and you don't approve of either one are you better off picking the lessor of two evils and hoping it works, or not choosing either and knowing you're not responsible for the messes they make?  I feel that sharing my thoughts with others may get some people out there to think outside of the box, and as a whole, we can make things better.  Until then, it's just hoping.

I want to know what you think.  Am I nuts for my way of thinking?  Should I just assimilate?  Do you have a different point of view to share with others? I'm all ears...oh, and part brain too.

That's all for today.  Please take a little time out of your day to do something nice for someone else.  Pay it Forward.

Who and What.

Who and what are "Critter and Buggy"?  Those are the nicknames given to my two daughters, among many others.  Granted this entire blog won't be completely about my daughters, but I also won't hesitate one bit to put something about them on here.  Like any proud father, I talk nonstop about my kids, so it isn't too far-fetched for me to name something after them.  This entry won't be very long, basically because I don't have a lot to write about right now.  I was getting tired of seeing a blank page where my blog should be though.  I decided to start this after I read about another family that was documenting their sick child's life.

The inspiration fueling this blog was baby Avery, a child diagnosed with SMA.  I still don't know all the details about the disease other than it is fatal in nature.  I'll include a link to their blog at the bottom of this article.  There, you can find out more about the disease and also see how moving the blog is.  I considered it both awesome and sad at the same time.

I didn't start this to copy their idea, and I highly doubt this is 100% original in concept, but I felt compelled to write again.  Whether it be about inspiration, a new recipe, my kid's activities for the day, or just plain old anything.  I've been trying to video different things through the years and put them on YouTube so that when they were older they could readily go back and see how things have changed, and hopefully show their own kids.  To go along with that, I kind of want to have written word for my kids, grandkids, and so on to read from me.  That way even after I'm gone, they can still get a sense of who I am/was.  Maybe even add on to what I have and start a tradition to keep on rolling through the family.

Please take a moment to read about baby Avery.  I hope you find the story as moving as I did.

Baby Avery Link: http://www.averycan.blogspot.com/

That's all for now.

Do something good for someone else, pay it forward.

Bill Shelton