Category: This crazy life

Looking for the good in everything

I tend to be a little bit negative about life in Florida.  I know, I know, I know…that’s an understatement. Usually I’m griping:

  • When the weather is good, there are too many people here
  • When the people aren’t here, it is too hot
  • Job prospects in the area we live are horrible
  • Hurricane season makes me a nervous wreck
  • Fire season (the dry season) makes me a nervous wreck
Recently, after going through a little bit of a rough spot, I decided that I needed to start appreciating the good things about living in Florida.  I’m trying to look for the good in everything.  Here are some of the reasons I love Florida.
Great Blue Heron and Roseate Spoonbills
Roseate Spoonbill
Little blue heron
Stork in a tree

 

Stork flew away

 

sandpiper
Interactive Fountain Laishley Park Punta Gorda FL

 

Mockingbird
Pretty flower
Fluffy red-shouldered hawk
gecko

 

snake

 

pretty

 

I love the clouds

 

Clouds are impressive

 

Puffy

 

Looks like cauliflower

So, from now on,  I’m going to try to find something good in everything.

Reeling from a great loss

When this week started, I did not think that our community would soon be reeling from the terrible tragedy that struck a member of the Punta Gorda Library family. Mary Knowlton – wife, mother, teacher, librarian, book lover, volunteer, friend, and mentor – lost her life in a tragic accident.  The circumstances surrounding her death are so bizarre that it is hard to wrap your head around it.  News outlets have been hounding the community with insensitive questions such as, “What do you think about how she died?”, “Where were you when it happened?”, “Do you have any comments about the Police Department?” I know they are all looking for that “sound bite” that will get their story national attention, but these soul sucking vampires have put the sensational ahead of the humanity of the story.  While the reporters wait for more about the circumstances leading up to Mary’s death, they finally started reporting on who Mary was.  I have learned so much about this wonderful woman that I didn’t know about her.

I first met Mary Knowlton when I was transferred from the Port Charlotte Library to the Punta Gorda Library in February 2012.  At the time, she was the President of the Friends of the Punta Gorda Library Board.  She fought passionately for the Punta Gorda Library and the community and even after passing the baton to the current President, Katie Mazzi, remained fully involved in supporting the library, the library staff, and the patrons who use the library.
During a particularly stressful time at the library, Mary took me aside, put her arm around me and offered her support to me.  She told me to reach out if I ever needed something.  Her kindness toward me will never be forgotten.
One of the things I admired most about Mary was how welcoming she was.  I have experienced her greeting homeless patrons at the library in the same manner that she greeted national best-selling authors who visited.  I keep expecting to hear her walk into the library and say, in her sing-song voice “Hi Kathy.  How are you?  What have you been reading lately?”
It is my hope that the world will remember her kindness, passion for education and libraries, and all of the things she did for the community.  My prayers are with her family and friends.
The Friends of the Punta Gorda Library posted a wonderful memorial to Mary on their website.
Thanks for reading.

Pokemon Go at the Library

I know this is a book blog but I have to make a very difficult confession. It is one that I am almost embarrassed to admit.  I LOVE POKEMON GO! Yes, it is true.  I have caught Pokemon Go fever. I blame my husband.

The one and only time I won a gym battle

One of the reasons that I have been enjoying it so much is the fact that the library where I work is a Pokestop.  This means that every 5 minutes, I can visit the Pokestop and refresh my supply of Pokeballs, potions, and various other things needed to play the game.  Here are some of the things I have caught since I started playing.   Please note, these were caught during break time or while preparing a Facebook post on the library Facebook page.

Look who showed up for work! Drowzee
Meowth wants to come home with me

 

You never know when you will see an Oddish shopping at Target

 

Magikarp looking for a DVD to watch

 

Ekans was sitting in my coworker’s hand

 

Koffing chilling at the check-in station

 

Someone keeps on putting Lures out at the library where I work and I catch the weirdest stuff

Soon, I will return to my regular book reading and blogging, but I had to let you know that I did get sucked into this crazy new game.  Gotta catch ’em ALL!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!! – Barbecue for two.

With no family nearby, planning a 4th of July barbecue is a little lonely.  What is a girl who loves to cook to do???  Make a special barbecue for her husband and herself.

I started up the charcoal grill and threw on two turkey burgers and two steak burgers.
While the burgers were cooking, I sliced up some onion and dusted them with flour, cornstarch, salt and pepper. I then fried them until they were golden brown and crispy.   I also spiral cut a zucchini and did the same.
When the burgers were cooked, I threw American cheese on the steak burgers and some feta cheese on the turkey burgers.
Here is the steak burger with bacon, frizzled onions, and cheese on a pretzel bun.
Here is the turkey burger with frizzled zucchini, onions, and tzatziki on a pretzel bun with some frizzled zucchini on the side.
Both of us were FULL….but we left a little room for dessert.
Mike had strawberry shortcake.
Since I am allergic to strawberries, I had black cherry shortcake.  It was delicious because I cooked some fresh black cherries in some black cherry balsamic vinegar.  OH YUM.
So, it is possible to have a delicious, gourmet 4th of July barbecue for two.
I have to make special mention of the turkey burgers.  Heartland turkey burgers from Walmart were a BIG surprise.  Delicious and juicy without that weird turkey taste.  I recommend them highly.
Happy eating!

How to be a good library patron

I have been working in a public library as a Library Technician for 5 years and I am still shocked at how poorly people take care of the materials they check out.  Today we had a patron return a book he had just checked out because when he started to read it he noticed pencil marks throughout the book. I will now be spending several hours erasing all of the markings in a 200 + page book.  Torn pages, spaghetti sauce, sand, water damage – you name it, we see it.  My favorites are books returned with water damage that are still damp, but the patron claims that it was this way when they checked it out 9 weeks ago. Yeah…right.

I thought it might be good to create a “how to” list to help people be good library patrons.

HOW TO BE A GOOD LIBRARY PATRON

  1. Don’t lie.  If you spilled something on the book you checked out, bring it in to us. We are more than willing to work with you if you are honest.
  2. If you know that your dog likes to chew on books, don’t leave your library books where your dog can get them.
  3. READ the circulation policy handout we give you.  This will help you avoid fines.  Claiming we never told you that late fines for DVDs are a dollar a day per movie is not an excuse.  We give EVERY new card holder a copy of our circulation policies.
  4. Peanut butter & jelly + little fingers + DVD = a DVD that won’t play. Please supervise your children when they are using library materials.
  5. We understand that you need to study for your GED, SAT, Praxis, nursing exam – but please don’t check out the study guides and never return them.  There are others that need to study too.
  6. Writing in library books is NEVER acceptable.  If you want to write notes in the margins of books, buy your own copy.

 

Epcot Food & Wine Festival Day1

After arriving at Port Orleans Rverside around 9am, Mike and I headed to Downtown Disney to await a text message saying our room was ready. After a leisurely stroll and some fun shopping, we headed back to the resort to check in our room around 1:30pm.

At 4pm we decided it was time to head to Epcot. First I have to say – WOW are there a lot of people here. If you don’t like crowds, don’t bother to come for the food and wine festival.
Our first food stop was Hawaii for Kalua Pork Sliders with Sweet and Sour Dole Pineapple Cutney and Spicy Mayonaise. This was a tasty little morsel that proved that Mike CAN eat mayo and not have it kill him. We shared a Kona Brewing Company’s Big Wave Golden Ale, which I enjoyed a lot but Mike said was “okay”.
Next we tried Dole Pineapple Fritter, which were so good I forgot to get a picture of them.
Our first “must try” spot was Canada for some Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup. I wanted to get a vat of this delicious soup. With the soup I tried some La Face Neige Apple Ice Wine. This was a very strong and delicious wine reminiscent of hard apple cider.
Since the foods we tried were just little bites, I was feeling hungry and knew what I was going to have when I saw “Fish n Chips” in England. This was the second best fish n chips I ever had. (The best was Sullivan’s Gaslight Inn in Franklin, NJ.) I even tried it with malt vinegar. YUM!!!
We continued through the countries and shops and, in America decided FUNNEL CAKE!  Even better…pumpkin spice funnel cake.
It was the best funnel cake I ever ate.  This is what did us in. After our funnel cakes, we were full. No mas food in ze belly por favor.
We road the Three Caballeros boat ride and hobbled back to the resort with our eating plan ready for tomorrow. Watch out Poland…you have some Keilbasa & Potato Pierogis with MY NAME on them.

Looking forward to visiting the Epcot Food and Wine Festival

My wonderful hubby, Mike, and I are finally heading to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival next week.  All week I have been checking out the menus and pictures of the food that they are serving this year.

Check out the website here: Epcot Food and Wine Festival

Stay tuned for blogs from the festival.  You may want to cover your keyboard with a towel…you will be drooling.

Valentine’s Day – a day early (Baked Shrimp and Feta)

On Thursday’s I work until 7:15pm.  This isn’t too horrible, unless you want to cook a nice romantic Valentine’s Day dinner for your hubby and the holiday falls on a Thursday. Sigh…what’s a girl to do???  Well, even though it is Ash Wednesday, I decided to make the special dinner tonight. As a Catholic, this means no meat.  Shrimp it is!!!!

One of the best things I’ve ever made is Baked Shrimp with Feta.  It is an easy and very flavorful recipe.

In a sauce pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat.

Dice one medium onion and cook for three minutes, or until onions are soft.


Add two cloves of minced garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Stir in two cans of no salt added diced tomatoes and bring to a boil.
Add one tablespoon of dill and one tablespoon of parsley and stir.


 Spray your baking dish with cooking spray.  Spread your cleaned and rinsed shrimp in the baking dish and season with salt and pepper.
Pour sauce over the top of the shrimp.

 Top with crumbled feta cheese.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes in an oven preheated to 425 degrees F.

Serve over angel hair pasta. DELICIOUS!!!

Baked Shrimp with Feta

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans of no-salt-added diced tomatoes, do not drain
1 tablespoon of dried parsley or 1/4 cup finely minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon finely minced fresh dill
1 1/4 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Heat the oil in skillet over a medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer for about 5 minutes, until the tomato juices thicken.
Remove from the heat. Stir in the parsley and dill. Spray baking dish with cooking spray and place shrimp in dish. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the feta over the top. Bake until the shrimp are cooked through and cheese melts, about 20 to 30 minutes.