Chicken and Dumplings Using Canned Biscuits

One whole chicken

4 cans of canned biscuits(or less, we like a lot of dumplings and some will disappear during cooking)

Flour

Poultry seasoning

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Salt & Pepper

Place in pot large enough for water to

cover chicken. Set on stove to boil.

Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and poultry seasoning to water. Just a few (4 or 5) sprinkles of each (maybe 1/2 teaspoon except 1 teaspoon of salt). Swish it around in the water. 

Leave to boil until the chicken is almost falling apart. You can turn the chicken over if you feel it needs it. I usually just turn the heat down enough where the bubbling isn't

splashing over the sides and then let 'er cook. I check it after about 1 hour.

*The above notes are also good if you want to make chicken soup or chicken noodle soup. It's all about the soup stock. *

If the water is/has evaporated too

much, add chicken broth or more water to the pot.

Lay out a dough rolling cloth, sheet, or just make sure your counter top is very clean and dry. Sprinkle a layer of flour across your rolling surface.

Gather 2 - 4 rolls of canned biscuits. I use the cheaper store brand biscuits.

I then take each biscuit, roll it out, and cut it into 1-2 inch pieces using a pizza cutter.

*You can use a jar to roll the dough and a knife to cut the dough into pieces if no rolling pin or pizza cutter. *

I do all of the biscuits while the chicken is still cooking so it can be ready to put into the broth. You can use as much flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to the rolling pin, cloth, counter top, or each other.

Now it's time to remove the chicken from the broth.

I use a large spoon and a fork to lift the chicken out of the broth. If pieces fall off into the broth, you can recover them using a slotted spoon.

I put a cake pan under a colander to set the chicken into.

CAUTION!!! Chicken will be VERY hot!!

I will run cold water over the chicken,leaving it in the colander, while I pull all the meat off the bones. I Place the meat in a separate bowl and discard the bones, skin, and gristle.

Place deboned chicken back into stock pot. Add more chicken broth or water if needed. Bring to a rolling boil.

Once it's boiling, start adding the cut up biscuits a little at a time while stirring.

The dumplings will puff up, then slowly thin down while cooking. 

Add all biscuits then pour in remainder of flour that's left on the rolling cloth. Or just add a bit of flour. This will thicken up the broth.

Once everything is added, turn burner down to low and let it simmer, stirring regularly. Do this for about 30 - 45 minutes.

* It will want to stick to the bottom of the pan so be sure to stir often *

Once it gets to the desired thickness, it's ready.

Add salt, pepper, or any other

seasonings you want to suit your taste.

The Saga of the Mysterious Snack Cake

In the beginning......

Not really sure what was going on here..... 

Did he think he was going to be on the toilet a long time, thus a snack was deemed necessary?

Did he have a snack cake in his pocket he forgot about? 

Was this a drive-by snacking? 

I'm wondering how long this snack cake will sit here before he claims it and moves on. 

This is day 2 of the mysterious snack cake.

Day 4. 

Snack cake still there in same position. 

Will it be gone before we need the paper supplies it is guarding??

Stay tuned.

Day 6.

Snack cake still there.

Paper supplies are dwindling from our main source. 

The struggle as to who will remove said snack cake from its week-long resting place is still going on......

Son of a...... 

That man just came in and......

WTF am I gonna do with him??

Welp, I guess we now have ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE CASE OF THE (NOT SO) MYSTERIOUS SNACK CAKE

(Part II, Part Deaux, Part Doo, or Number 2) you decide.

Day......ah, who tf knows any more? 

Supplies are exhausted from the main paper source. 

Snack cake (Part Deuce) is still laying on what's left of auxiliary supplies. 

It's getting down to who will claim the delicious peanut buttery goodness this time around. 

It's me or him. 

May the odds be ever in his favor. ('Cause I sure don't need it) 🤣

Sooo......I look in my handbag and this is what I see. 

The snack cake fairy has been to visit. 

The other day, there was one in the cabinet with the coffee cups. 🤭🙄😄

I asked my husband if we needed anything from the store today. 

He said, "Snack Cakes". 😐

Day 209 1/2. (Or whatever because it feels like this has been going on forever)

As you can see, main paper source is down to (possibly?) one more wipe. 

Secondary paper source is now guarded by not just one, but 2 mysterious snack cakes. They are growing their defense. 

I shall thwart their efforts by going to a third paper source. AHA!!! TAKE THAT! You enticing gang of fat!!

So we haven't posted on the status of the "Mysterious Snack Cake, Part Doo" in quite a while. 

This is the current state of affairs:

Once again, we find ourselves in the frightening dilemma of having to either move the snack cakes, or go in search of another paper source. 

Luckily, I still have my hidden stash to pull from. 

HaHAA!! You Snack Cake promoter!! You'll not get this chubster to fall for your delicious tricks this time either!!

Well, the final remnants of my hidden stash of paper supplies has dwindled down to nothing. 

I can no longer avoid the inevitable.  

I'm now forced to remove the "Mysterious Snack Cakes" from their perch. 

**I will not eat these, I will not eat these, I will not eat these** I chant to myself as I gently remove them from their months long vigil only to place them in a new location.

.

.

.

Like inside my husband's underwear drawer. Yep. He asked for it.

OK, so........

As some of you may remember, I started the saga of "The Mysterious Snack Cake" quite some time ago.

Since it began as the snack showing up on my supply of important bathroom papers, it has since devolved into the snacks being hidden in various areas of the house or articles of clothing between myself and my husband.  

It took him awhile to find the one hidden in the pocket of his shirt that was hanging in the closet. 

But I have to admit, I think it took me longer to find this one. 

He hid it in my boot. A pair of boots I wear only occasionally.  

I was on the phone with a friend when I stuck my bare foot into the boot. I didn't scream, but I'm sure there was, at least, a small grunt of surprise, fear, and me throwing that boot off my foot reeeeaaally fast. 

You see, we had a mouse problem for awhile and my first thought was that a mouse had decided to make this boot his home. 😂

The mice have been long eradicated but the fear of mouse dung on my foot is not a pleasant one. 

Needless to say, while I was at first a bit upset, I think my husband has won the 'hidden snack cake game'........for now. 

I can't wait for him to find where I have it hidden now. 🤣😂

By the way, I hid the snack cake inside one of my husband's flat caps that he keeps in the foyer closet.  Since he never reads my silly blog, I think we're safe. 🤣😂

The end......for now. 😄

Little Girl Lies

So. Are we going to continue to ignore the fact that young girls need to be educated just as much as young men when it comes to acting out sexually? 

Yes, I was once a young girl. I remember the thrill of having 'that older guy' talking to me. I remember how most girls were jealous of the girls with older boyfriends because they had a car, or could buy things for the girl. 

Back then, there were fewer young men getting thrown into prison for having a risqué photo of a young girl. I'm talking about a girl from the ages of 13 to 17 who are, and have been, considered "jail bait". 

Many young girls between those ages begin acting out inappropriately, without their parents or guardians knowledge. 

What happens, in many cases, when the parent or guardian finds out? They blame it on the older man. 

Why? 

Well, because he should have known better. 

True. 

However,  what about those cases where the young girl looks, dresses, and acts older and LIES ABOUT HER AGE??

Who should be held accountable?

If she send photos without the man asking, who should be held accountable?

Our young men are being locked up for, in some cases, most of their lives because they dared to believe a young girls lies. 

The girls? They get to go on with their life. College, marriage, and so on. 

The man? He is now a felon. He now has to register as a sex offender for many years. He is now considered a pariah to society. He is now a target of vigilantes who know nothing of his so-called "crime".

Yes. Young boys and young men need to be educated about how to treat women appropriately.  They also need to be taught that by the age of 18, they better not believe what a girl tells them. They better ask for an ID. 

And girls? Maybe it's time they be held accountable for the lies they tell that ruin lives. 

One Night Alone (A Story in One Paragraph)

There's a certain energy that envelopes you when you sit in a local bar by yourself. It's hard to define. You hear and see people that have known each other for years. You might even be drawn into the banter and frivolity. Yet you remain on the outside. A stranger. 

Laughing at Ourselves

There are times you wish you were recording the scene. 

My husband and I were looking for, what we like to call, "Squeeze Cheese". You know, the stuff that's-bad-for-you in a can that swirls or gushes out when you push the top nozzle like you do on the whipped cream cans. 

Anyway......we couldn't find any of it at one store so we went to another, slightly higher-end store in a fancier part of town. We found the shelf well stocked with squeeze cheese, so we proceeded to grab about 4 or 5 cans of the stuff. 

We get to the checkout register where a teenage boy is looking bored and ready to end his shift for the night and go home. 

He looks at our bounty of squeeze cheese with a tiny twinkle of curiosity, but proceeds to run the cans over the scanner with the usual "Hello, have you found everything, blah, blah".

The next thing I know, my husband catches the boy's eye, nudges his head in my direction saying, "Sex fetish."

Both the boy and I look at my husband wondering if we heard what we thought we heard when my husband blurts out, "Yeah. She likes to cover me with cheese and call me cracker."

I laugh. The boy turns 5 shades of red and laughs nervously. I tell him that my husband is joking and we leave the store.

Yes. We are those people that others tell stories about. 😁🤣

Easily Offended

About a week ago or so, I was poking around on messenger and noticed that I had some 'Spam' messages. So of course, I HAD to look. 

One of these messages was from some woman telling me that whatever it was I had made a comment on, or reacted to, was NOT funny and "how would you like it if you got raped by MS-13? OH, but you're so ugly they would probably kill you right away."

Ummm....mmkaay. First of all, she never referenced what it was that I so badly offended her by commenting on, and, really? Do you feel the need to attack someone you don't know so harshly? 

I don't condone evil by spewing evil so I probably disagreed with something blatantly false in the whole post, yet she chose to attack me as if I were the mother of all terror groups. Yes, my vagina is the devil's playground. 🙄🤦‍♀️

Chill lady. It's Facebook, not the Bible. 

However, I did agree to her assessment of my looks while judging her on her intelligence and sensitivity.  

She got blocked. I went on with my life. 

#dontcondoneevilbyspewingevil

Abandoned Memories

Imagine if these old places could talk. 

I wonder what they would say?

Would they tell us about the sadness of being abandoned after long years of service? Would they tell us how the roof leaks, the boards are rotting, and the basement is full of water? 

Would you want to hang around and listen to that? Or to step inside?

Probably not.

I prefer to believe they would tell of the families they harbored under their sheltering roofs. The joys of seeing children born, the smell of great meals being prepared in their kitchens, and the prayers they heard being said at night. The gentle way they were cared for by the people living inside until it became clear they were no longer able to shelter them any longer. And now, how they belong to the memories of generations that will love them forever. 

Think about it. What legacy do you prefer to hold in the minds of those who love you? Tell the great stories. Tell the uplifting stories. Bring joy to those around you even if you may be falling apart. What you give will be returned tenfold. Give hope, give love.

~Cynthia French Gatlin

Out to Lunch

My husband and I went out to eat tonight at a higher end restaurant. 

I had to go, you know, so I went to the ladies room. 

I sat down to, you know, and I noticed this yellow thing on the ground. It took me a minute, but once I realized what it was, I had to chuckle to myself. 

Yeah, I couldn't help but wonder how that happened. 🤔 😧😲😬😆

I mean, I once questioned the ability of corn to remain whole on it's passage through our bodies, but I never once thought it would strike out on it's own once the journey was done. 🤣🤣🤣

Fresh Evil Butter

 Each movement she made was a slow and deliberate one.  Her head swiveling to catch each twinge of her hands as they unfolded the butter from its wrapper.  Much like a newly released butterfly from its cocoon, the block of butter was revealed.  Her eyes stared at its uncovering as if enchanted by a spell.

Hungry, stomach growling, the smell of toasted bread filled the air.  It was only a matter of moments before the glorious "kichunk" of the toaster would release its captive slices.

Carefully, her fingertips lifted the toast from its cage to be placed on the flimsy cardboard plate.  She then drew the butter knife from its allotted slot in the silverware drawer preparing to use it with great abandon.

Ever anticipating the burst of joy that would envelope her taste buds the moment buttered toast filled her waiting mouth, she sliced through the butter block to grab enough yellowy goodness to layer a thick spread of heaven all over the toast.

Alas! The pat of butter, so assuredly meant to be spread on hot toast, would not move.  Getting stuck on that first dollop, the bread began to rip apart rendering the fair maiden to tears.

"Damn you to hell evil butter!", she cried.

On the Quest to Recreate Old Family Photos

My youngest brother called me up the other day. Not an unusual occurance, however, this day we ended up discussing the fact that my oldest brother was going to be in Louisiana to visit our parents soon. He currently lives in Florida and has for some years. 

I live in North Dakota. My Stepdaughter and her Fiance have been visiting for a few weeks and I planned to drive them back home to south Arkansas. 

Well, since my parents only live across the state line in north Louisiana, of course I plan to visit. I decided to arrange my trip so I can be there at the same time as my older brother from Florida, my younger brother from New Orleans, and my other two siblings live in that vicinity. 

It will be the first time all five of us have been together at my parents house at the same time in, something like, 20 years! 

Naturally, my mind shifted to those old photos of us siblings all together. There is one in particular that has always made me laugh. 

Then my mind began to wonder if it might be possible to recreate that photo. You know, like you've seen other people do.  

Creating a "Parental Units Offspring" group chat, I proceeded to get my siblings input on this venture. 

My youngest brother is going to help me try to locate some clothing. He and I are going to hit the thrift stores in our respective areas to see what we can come up with. 

I have yet to hear back from my other two brothers and my sister.

To be continued........

I have been remiss in my duty to return and complete my story here. 

Yes, we did recreate the above photo along with a few others. As soon as I can figure out how to get my photos to load here, I will share the hilarious consequence of our quest here. 

Our Justice Today

Ok. Gonna rant for a minute. Or more.

Many of you don't think twice about the people that get locked away behind bars. I know I rarely, if ever, did before the unthinkable happened to my family. I always thought, "Well, they must have done SOMETHING to be put in there."

 How naive of me. How little did I know that it really doesn't take much when you don't know much. Being ignorant of the law because you, or people you surround yourself with, do not or have not been involved with the criminal justice system can eventually become a big problem in your life.

 When you're facing the fact that someone you love has been ripped away and you don't know what to do to help, you know they don't know anything about how the cops, investigators, prosecutors, and others work, and you have absolutely no way to talk to your loved one, you scramble to find a lawyer and pray that he will be the kind of person to fight with everything he can to help get your loved one out. You pay as much as possible because you believe this lawyer will do everything in his power to work for you.

 Then, when the air finally clears, you find out that the prosecutors are charging your loved one with ridiculous charges that you know are not right but your loved one has already signed the plea bargain because his lawyer told him that you can never win against the Feds and your loved one is pushing just to get all of this over with, you just decide - ok, we will get through this. We will survive this.

 Then you find out that these ridiculous charges also come with a ridiculous amount of time because, even though you know your loved one never harmed anyone and never "attempted" to harm anyone, those "attempted" charges come with the exact same mandatory minimum as the full blown actual crime. All because, during those old "tough on crime" days, our legislature allowed the Bureau of Prisons to recommend sentences for crimes, and made those sentencing guidelines part of the Federal regulations that must be followed, with no leeway given to judges or juries to adjust that sentence based on the individual case.

So now, your loved one is facing an extraordinarily long time behind bars with very little or no chance for an appeal or parole. Ok, we will face this. We will continue to pray for some type of criminal justice reform that will allow people to have their case heard over, or looked at again, or have those minimum mandatory sentences repealed and retroactively applied.

 So.....now we find that, while in jail or prison, the food is horrid and inedible in many places, there are some jails and prisons that are run more by the prison gangs than the Corrections Officers, and there are some places so full of mold, bugs, and other contaminants that your loved one has the potential to get sick. And then, he may or may not get the medical attention he needs. It just depends on the way that particular jail or prison is run.

 So.....now we figure out that we can put money on the "books" so our loved one can buy commissary items to increase his daily caloric intake, keep his basic daily hygiene routine, wear shoes and clothing that don't fall apart, and continue to stay in touch. All of these basic items, food, soap, shampoo, socks, shoes, underwear, toothpaste, stationary, envelopes, stamps, books, magazines, HAVE to be purchased through the prison canteen. Phone cards also have to be purchased through a prison approved corporate business.

These items are not priced like your local Walmart. A single block of Ramen noodles is almost a dollar. It's not unreasonable to pay up to, or over, 25 cents per minute for a phone call. And if you have a problem with a product or phone call? Good luck getting restitution.

According to the BOP, all people in prison should be placed within 500 miles, if possible, from their families because regular visits reduce recidivism rates. Great! So why, in all the Federal government wisdom, do they continually place people far enough away from their loved ones to make it hard to have regular visitation? It usually takes a good bit of money when you have to travel. Gas, food, lodging, airfare.

Then you have the restrictive visitation regulations once you do get a chance to visit. Many people get turned away because they happen to be wearing something that the visitation guards deem "inappropriate". You cannot take anything in with you except for money for the vending machines and it's a limited amount. The visitation rooms are generally uncomfortable and crowded.

I'm sorry this was so long but my point is: Don't think it will never happen to you.

Learn about the criminal justice system in your country. Vote for those legislators that want to reform this system into a more humane approach to rehabilitation over punishment.

The Glorified Toilet

Ok, so. This is me telling my brother about me, my son, and my son's fiance's experience at a nail salon one random Friday afternoon. 


Yeh, I love the massage chair.
But, the bathroom at this place was the best. The toilet was equipped with a control pad on the side of the seat. You had heat, bidet front, bidet back, dry, massage, and I think that was it.
I went in there and saw it when we arrived. I LOVED the heated seat. Then I tried the bidet. It wasn't a torrential stream and it didn't hit the exact target but it cleaned. I kept thinking it was going to stop automatically so I sat there for a while before noticing the "stop" button. I then hit the "dry" button and felt a few little poofs of air. I used paper to get an actual dry. LOL.
I thought about the massage but decided I had wasted enough time and didn't want everyone thinking I was pinching a loaf. 😂
When I got back to my pedicure seat, I told Zech and Kaleiah that they HAD to use the bathroom before we left.
Zoom to after their toenails were dry and we were getting ready to leave. I remind them to go check out the bathroom.
Kaleiah goes in. When she comes out, we discuss having the same lengthy wait on the bidet thinking it would auto stop, and how it didn't exactly stream in the right direction. She did mention it had different strength levels you could set and how the heater had different temp settings too. She said she tried the massage button but it didn't do anything.
Ok, by this time, Zech had gone in and come out and we were heading out the door.
Zech said he didn't poop but tried the bidet. He said that stream of water hit him EXACTLY on the booty hole with hurricane force. He said it cleaned back to last week. 🤣🤣
I asked him if he tried the dryer. He said, "No, way."
I asked him if, after the bidet experience, he was afraid the dryer would blow strong enough to make his nuts flap around and bang together like wind chimes. 🤣🤣🤣
I was crying laughing so hard that it took me awhile to start the truck.

My brother said it was the longest poop story he had ever heard.

Me:
Ren French you know you loved it. 😂
Plus, I think Kaleiah might have, unintentionally, set Zech up when she, possibly, messed with the bidet stream controls and, unknowingly, set it to "super blast" level. 🤣

Visitation Day

You could feel the abundance of emotions in the air as we all glanced at each other with a quiet, "Good morning" expelled before looking away to find the clipboard with forms to fill out. Happiness, anguish, nervousness, anxiety, with an undercurrent of deepest melancholy. We all knew why we were there on this frosty Saturday morning. We were ready to brave the fear of visiting a Federal Prison just to spend a few hours with someone we loved.

Surprisingly, the form was basic and the guard was helpful and in a good mood. We handed over our keys and identification, placed our clear baggie (with no more than $20 in change) and our jackets in the tub to go through the scanner, walked through the metal detector, had our hands stamped, and went into the next waiting area.

Here, I had the chance to talk to a couple of the women who were waiting. An older woman was visiting her son. She had to get her niece to drive her from Kansas City because her other son was busy with work. She had been to this prison on visitation day a few other times in the past so already knew what to expect.
Another lady was there to visit her son also. She came with her daughter-in-law, a niece, and, I think, a daughter. They all had flown in from Detroit. It was her first time to visit her son in over a year. It was also her first time visiting at this prison.

After some small talk, which NEVER includes what our loved ones were charged with, we had our handstamps checked by another guard and we were led into the visitation room.

As you walk in though a short hallway, the first thing you notice is the restroom on your right marked "inmate restroom". Then you notice the room has cinder block walls. Most were painted an off white color. The wall on your left had murals of an eagle and flag, a pinkish heart filled area, and a purple butterly filled area, and the visitor restrooms. The far wall had murals of an outdoor cabin with a lake at sunset, and the mascots of the Vikings and Packers divided by green and purple lightening. The right wall was blank but had the desk where the guards sat watching during visitation.  The wall behind us as we walked in was where you found the vending machines.

It's a good thing Toby came with me so we could bring a whole $40 in for food and drink. A regular sized Minute Maid orange juice, that you would pay around $1.50 for at a convenience store, was $2.50. A small bag of chips, $1.50. A nasty microwave cheesebuger, $5.75.
I bought my son as much junk food as he wanted. LOL. Toby and I did not eat. Toby did, however, get coffee that cost $2.50 per cup.
Robbery. And they think the people in jail are the bad guys. Pfft.

The seating arrangement for visitation was much like going to a bus station or airport. Five seats connected together in a row. There were a couple of the areas with the seats facing each other so you could grab a short plastic "table" to set your food and drinks, or play cards.
The cards they have available are a conglomeration of different decks where you have to sort them out to make sure you have a full deck of 52 cards. They also have Uno and Phase 10 card games and dominos
Once the visitation room starts filling up with people, it starts to get loud which makes it harder to hear.
There is a childrens area for the kiddos to go play. They must have only had one childrens movie, Shark Tale, or something like that, because it seemed to be on a continual loop for the two days I was there to visit.

Seeing my son and being able to hug him for the first time in 10 months caused me to shed some tears. I apologized to my son because I really didn't want him to see me like that. LOL
The first thing I did was look into his eyes because I wanted to see if that sparkle had been stolen from him.
It was muted, but it was still there, thank you Jesus!
I was able to finally ask him all of the questions I had bottled up inside for so long. Most of the answers were, pretty much, exactly as I suspected all along.
The rest of the visit was filled with conversations about friends and family, what he will be doing while incarcerated, and playing cards. All this with one interruption for count and the hourly call out for inmate bathroom break.

I never thought I would ever end up visiting someone I loved in prison. I never believed circumstances, misunderstandings, and the powerful fear of the Federal prosecution would end up making a plea bargain, with a mandatory minimum sentence stealing a huge chunk of a young mans life, a very real possibilty in my life.

I, like many others in this country, miss my loved one. Not a day goes by that I don't think about how much he is going to miss in his life. Not a day goes by that I don't think about how, with a few questions and by blocking a person on the phone, all of this could have been avoided.
You stole my son from me because you thought he was something he was not. You ruined a life while you continue to live yours. I hope you find peace in what you've done.
He will survive this. He will grow strong. He has already learned that you can't trust talking to people on the internet that you don't know.
So, thank you for that.

Until the day he gets to come home, I will treasure every opportunity I have to get that hug, to see his face, and to hold my little boy just for those few moments on visitation day.

Diet and Exercise

I suppose I would consider myself to be Christian. It is the religion of my parents and the one I've most closely aligned myself with as I've grown up. However,  I refuse to identify with any particular organized Christian religion because there does not seem to be any more agreement among them as there is with political parties.

I try to keep my mind open and seek to understand those that I may not necessarily agree with. I want to think for myself. I am a product of my raising, just like all of you. However,  I refuse to remain a one dimensional person when this world is changing faster than most of us can grasp.
Aren't you tired of the fighting? Aren't you tired of always trying to prove your point of view?
Do you believe there must be a middle ground somewhere? A place where we can all find an understanding and finally find peace with each other?

In science,  they say we are all simply made of particles of matter. Cells clumped together to create a human being. Well, you know how you can change some of those particles to make yourself slimmer or fatter? By diet and exercise. 

Imagine changing the particles of your brain matter to be able to grow fatter with knowledge. The knowledge to help you gain a firmer understanding of other human beings.
Imagine slimming down the particles of baggage you've been carrying around. The baggage containing all those strong held thoughts and unyielding beliefs.

You feed your brain with a diet of reading, listening, and watching.
Read books about other cultures, other religions, other places, and other people.
Watch programs you wouldn't normally watch. Not with an eye to disagreement but with an open mind to honestly watch what is being shown.
Listen to radio stations, programs, and podcasts that you never listen to. Your initial reaction will be to turn it off or change the station. But give it an honest listen with an open ear. Start with at least a half hour.
Do this with all things and people that you know nothing about. All things that you may not have ever considered as something you would agree with. Your mind will expand as you gain a better understanding of those things and people that are not like you.
This is not a diet designed to "brainwash" you, unless your mind is easily bent. It is simply a way to help you kickstart your mind to think for itself and shake up those strongholds that refuse to let you view the world in a different light.

You exercise your brain by visiting new places. It doesn't have to be far. Visit a new church. Maybe one of a different religious affiliation.  Will you feel weird? Most likely. Will it make you feel like you are "sinning" against your God? Well, there you have it. If your religious upbringing has such a hold on you, that you can't visit the church of a different religious affiliation for a single service,  then maybe your mind has been stuck in a rut and needs the exercise to help it expand.
If you have the means, visit a different country or a different part of your own country. The USA is so different from one end to the other. We all have these stereotypes stuck in our minds about what people from the south are like, people from the north are like, and people from the west coast are like, that we will never be able to see the differences as a bonus to our own way of thinking unless we can visit that part of the country to see for ourselves. 
You might be surprised to find that most people are just like you. Hard working, family loving, and just trying to get by every day.
Stop and talk to a street person. Yes. Do it. You might find that they were once like you. No, you don't have to give them money or help them. Unless you feel better about yourself if you do. I find that most charitable giving (to street people or panhandlers) is done because one feels better about oneself by doing it, not out of any real need or desire to help that person.

We all want so badly to believe that whatever we have been taught, whatever we have learned, whatever we have been telling ourselves for all these years is the "right" way to believe, that we tend to only listen to, read about, and align ourselves with others exactly like us. It takes diet and exercise to change our bodies. It also takes diet and exercise to change our minds.

Golden Rule

Consider how you treat others.
Not just in what you do for or against them, but also how you talk to them or about them.
What you do, what you say, and how you act reflect who YOU truly are.
Don't blame your actions on something you heard, something you were told over and over to believe, or something you refuse to give up on even though it may no longer make sense.
Think for yourself. The post below says "God". It can mean "the higher power or creed" you live by. None of us live, breath, think, or believe in the same way.
Why then, do we continue to use and abuse others, whether by deeds or words, simply because that person refuses to see things the way we do? Stop trying to force others to change their views or opinions. Calling them names isn't going to suddenly change a person's mind.  In fact, it may make them hold tighter to that opinion because they believe your attack on them is justification that they are correct. 
All of this division we see is created by us.
Not by "them", not by "they", but by the collective "US".
Next time, before you go on a rant, stop. Think. Consider your words and actions.
Next time, before you start telling some juicy piece of gossip, stop. Think. Consider your words and actions.
Next time someone makes you mad, stop. Think. Consider your words and actions.
Ask yourself if what you are about to say or do reflects your true self.

Social Media Hatred

Every time I see a media post, it's something sure to draw division. Why do you continue to take the bait??
I see people spewing hatred at others simply for voicing their opinion.
I see people denigrating each other over a post that may or may not even be factual.
You do realize, don't you, that the person you are hating on may be someone you could actually be friends with if you didn't let social media thwart your opinion?
When will we all wake up? When will we all realize that the hate mongers are out there and doing extremely well since social media became their favorite playground?
Stop taking the bait. Stop allowing yourself to get so caught up in your own opinion that you don't even realize you are being used as fodder for the social media grinder.
Think for yourself.  By all means, please, form your own opinions. But, for heavens sake, realize you are being used when you allow that opinion to become your justfication for annihilating another's self worth.
Remember,  when you are tearing down another person, you are saying something about yourself. Even, or maybe especially so, when its a person you don't even know.

Justice?

The wheels of justice turn slow.
Especially for the accused when the prosecuting attorney wants to make a name for herself.
Did you know that you are NOT automatically appointed an attorney when you ask for one?
No - you have to go through the process of filling out an application.
What happens if you don't fill it out correctly??
They ask for your income. Well, by golly, if you put what you were making BEFORE being arrested, you make too much to get a court appointed attorney. 
They ask if you have a job waiting on you. If you say yes, because for some reason you don't understand that you may not be getting out any time soon and your employer isn't going to hold your job, then you get denied a court appointed attorney.
So then, to remedy this, you have to write a letter to the judge letting him know that you messed up and that your situation has changed. No income (why would they even think you had one when you are sitting in jail?), no potential income, no job, and no job waiting on you.
To top that off, you have had no attorney for 5 days, your family can't afford $10,000 UP FRONT to hire one (and that's the lowest I've found), you've had little to no interaction with the outside world (so how the hell, even if you could afford it, are you supposed to hire an attorney?), nobody will answer the questions your family has because, well, you are an adult, and it's the weekend so you know that judge won't be back until Monday.
Plus....it's the holidays, your first hearing is scheduled for early January, and you still have to wait on legal representation.
Legal representation. The ONLY person that can get in to see you, help you with these confusing legal matters, advise you on what to do or say, and let you know that you matter to someone on the outside and, against all popular and media opinion, you are NOT a piece of shit. You are a human being that did a stupid thing and fell into a spider web laid carefully by the prosecution.

Nightmare

I'm not here but I'm not gone. Taking a mind vacation from the pain.
💔
Please don't ask. There's nothing to tell.
Hearts and minds can have a personal hell.
We dwell in a world of human deceit.
Where the pure of heart are often beat.
Don't let the lies of demons make you believe
That everything you read is not meant to deceive. 
The truth lies somewhere in between
And right now I pray it's all just a dream.
~Cynthia French Gatlin~
12-12-18

Socially Demonized

Someone pulled out my brain. Someone stopped my heart.

I thought everything in my life was going pretty darn good. Then the other shoe dropped. The monkey flung poo in my direction. The bottom fell out of the bag.

When they say no good deed goes unpunished, they mean that. People are heartless and evil. Never trust someone you meet online, even if you think it's somebody you want to help.

I was floored. Devastated.
My 24 year old son was getting arrested for "Patronizing a minor for commercial sexual activity - with intent to engage with minor"

This is the boy who tried to save everyone. He was always the one who would befriend those with no friends, drag home kids that needed a good meal or a night away from an unhappy home life. 

The story I was told by his friends is that he was trying to help a girl get away from the mother who was attempting to sell her online.
I don't know if that's true but I could see him doing something stupid for the right reasons. Problem is, the woman turned her phone over to police who then started talking about money, etc.
Can anyone say "Sting Operation"?

I don't know what he was thinking. Obviously,  I failed in my attempt as a parent to get through to him that you can't trust people.

Now he sits in jail awaiting his bond hearing. I have no idea what they have as evidence. No idea if he has a lawyer. No idea if I will be able to afford to pay for bail or even if he will get bail.

He got $150,000 bond, CASH ONLY. No leaving the county (no worries there, judge, nobody can make that kind of bail), no contact with anyone under the age of 18 (duh), he can live with someone with their written permission (well, even if we could make bail, he knows nobody in that county).

Here is what I wrote after being able to visit him for the first time and finding out that he had just filled out the application for a court appointed attorney and that he had been denied said attorney the very next day:

The wheels of justice turn slow.
Especially for the accused when the prosecuting attorney wants to make a name for herself.
Did you know that you are NOT automatically appointed an attorney when you ask for one?
No - you have to go through the process of filling out an application.
What happens if you don't fill it out correctly??
They ask for your income. Well, by golly, if you put what you were making BEFORE being arrested, you make too much to get a court appointed attorney. 
They ask if you have a job waiting on you. If you say yes, because for some reason you don't understand that you may not be getting out any time soon and your employer isn't going to hold your job, then you get denied a court appointed attorney.
So then, to remedy this, you have to write a letter to the judge letting him know that you messed up and that your situation has changed. No income (why would they even think you had one when you are sitting in jail?), no potential income, no job, and no job waiting on you.
To top that off, you have had no attorney for 5 days, your family can't afford $10,000 UP FRONT to hire one (and that's the lowest I've found), you've had little to no interaction with the outside world (so how the hell, even if you could afford it, are you supposed to hire an attorney?), nobody will answer the questions your family has because, well, you are an adult, and it's the weekend so you know that judge won't be back until Monday.
Plus....it's the holidays, your first hearing is scheduled for early January, and you still have to wait on legal representation.
Legal representation. The ONLY person that can get in to see you, help you with these confusing legal matters, advise you on what to do or say, and let you know that you matter to someone on the outside and, against all popular and media opinion, you are NOT a piece of shit. You are a human being that did a stupid thing and fell into a spider web laid carefully by the prosecution.

The visitation process was an eye-opener for both me and his brother. First of all, visitation is from 1-4pm Tuesday and Thursday only. An inmate gets one (1, uno) single 20 minute visit per Tuesday or Thursday.
You don't get to see your loved one in person. Oh, no.....it's via video phone. The handset is there for you to talk to them but they aren't behind a glass window. You have no idea where they are.
He is only allowed 2 visitors at a time so if you have a big family all wanting to visit in that 20 minutes, you better time each person. And if someone goes by to visit before you get there, well tough shit for you. He's already had his visitation for the day.

I used to believe that our justice system was good and fair. Everything that has been happening so far has destroyed that belief.
From the first damaging media article that came out BEFORE he was even arrested, to the fact that lawyers want so much money up front, the court system drags its heels when you need legal representation,  bond is set sky high to keep you in jail, the investigation continues to steamroll while you have nobody there to even explain an application, the only way to get a message to him is via voicemail that you have no way of knowing that he got or by snail mail, and during this time, the media (tv stations on social media)  has already convinced the public that you are a monster.

God forbid a Mother should try to defend her son on social media. You are condemned as "just a mother protecting her young". Is that so bad? The other woman is being lauded for taking her phone to the police to "protect her young", while nobody knows any of the extenuating circumstances that led to that. They accept it without question that the man in this picture is the bad guy. Poof. Monster. Evil.
Well, honey, women can be evil too.
Why didn't she just tell my son to leave her alone and block his number off her phone?
He lived over 200 miles away, had a job he went to daily and sometimes worked weekends, paid his bills on time, and wouldn't have had time to be a stalker.
He would have left her alone if she had told him to. What was her motivation for getting the law involved?
Now.....who is really in the wrong here?
Yes, he was extremely stupid for saying the things he did, but should he spend years paying for his stupidity? He never hurt her or even met with her during this time. Everything was on text only.  Could it be some type of role play they had done before? What were their conversations like up to the point of her turning her phone over?
I'm so ready to have a defense attorney try to get these questions answered.

I have since found an attorney. Things are moving forward at a snails pace but at least they are moving.
I've done a lot of thinking, a lot of reading, and a lot of soul searching over this period of time. While this case is just beginning, I'm learning that God's time is not my time and all truth will be revealed and all wounds healed in His time.
His initial hearing has now been moved to February. I'm praying for the best outcome possible.

My Life Today

I've never been good at selling things.
Sure, as a kid, we had the lemonade stand, even a comic book stand.  That was fun but trying my hand at this network marketing stuff has been a whole new ballgame.

I decided to start selling CBD oil after trying it and finding out that it actually worked for the pain in my knees.
I had been working in the oilfields of North Dakota for a few years when my body started to betray me.  Pain like I've never felt before began to take hold.

My friend introduced me to CBD oil. I used it for about a week when I realized the pain had started to become less annoying.  I passed it off as having a couple of good days.  After a couple of months, I realized it was actually the CBD oil.

I was amazed at the health benefits I was noticing throughout the day. I had more energy, I was less anxious, and I was able to continue working without having to call in on the really bad days.

Sure, I know it's not going to cure anything.  But, OMG!! am I ever so glad I decided to try it!!

So now, I'm still living in North Dakota, I'm still dealing with occasional pain due to the severely cold tempeatures we have here during the winter months, but I'm definitely not as pissed off or mad about being here.  LOL

I also am no longer working in the oilfield. I found a new job indoors with a great company and some of the best and funniest co-workers I could have ever hoped to be cooped up with.

Loving Life!!