Down the Block Cafe

Menus for the week of July 30, 2007

Monday
Chicken Alfredo
Potato, Ham, & Cheddar Soup

Tuesday
Chicken & Dumplings
Southwestern Corn Chowder Soup

Wednesday
Meatloaf
Loaded Potato

Thursday
King Ranch Chicken
Creamy Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

Friday
Smothered Pork Chops
Taco Soup

Saturday
Salmon Croquettes
Chefs' Surprise Soup

It's a crying shame...

Courtesy of Webster's online:



Main Entry: 1shame

Pronunciation: 'shAm

Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English scamu; akin to Old High German scama

shame1 a : a painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt, shortcoming, or impropriety b : the susceptibility to such emotion

2 : a condition of humiliating disgrace or disrepute : IGNOMINY

3 a : something that brings censure or reproach; also : something to be regretted : PITY b : a cause of feeling shame



2 weeks ago, my grandson, who is 7, did something shameful.



His babysitter called me and I called his mom and then his grampits. We all talked to him. I was not privy to what his mom said but I can tell you that his grampits and I both said, at different times, that we were disappointed, sad, hurt, confused, angry, upset and mad. We both said, at different times, that we did not understand but that he needed to know that his actions affected not just himself, but everyone who loves him. We did not seem to be getting through.



My daughter, an excellent mom, took him to visit with our priest. My grandson has known our priest for almost 1/2 of his life and loves him. Father John told the little man that when he acts in that way it makes Fr. John ashamed to be his friend. Father John got through.



This got me to thinking. Am I so afraid of scarring the child's psyche that I forgot about shame? and guilt? and sin? Shame is an honorable emotion. Guilt is an honorable consequence. Sin is a dishonorable separation from God. Maybe by being so conscious of the baby's (yes, I know he's 7 - he will always be the baby) ego and self-esteem, I have been neglecting his conscience and his soul.



I know that I am not his mother. I am not solely responsible for his upbringing. I am, however, family, and as grandma, at least as responsible as my Mom was for my kids. Thank God, and I do, for such a wonderful example.

Don't pay the ransom - I've escaped

Sorry for not blogging in such a long time for those of you who check. My apologies.

The "Down the Block Cafe" menu did not get updated this week - partly because I evidently have been in "one of those" moods and partly because they were not serving Taco Crunch.

This is just gonna be sort of a catch all today because my mind is incapable of any sort of coherent anything.

I did see, hear, and read some things that amused me.

This quote is from an article in Texas Monthly magazine - I laughed out loud when I read it and am thinking of taking it as my own personal mantra - "She went from normal to flat-out crazy without even taking the time to pause at peculiar."

My daughter and grandson and I were tooling around town the other day in neighborhoods that we usually don't see. There is no way to explain this without sounding like a bigot so ~ the sight of several small Hispanic children playing croquet (properly, I might add) just cracked me up.

Snow cones - how had I forgotten the absolute summer deliciousness of a snow cone? Thanks, little man, for sharing and for reminding me.

I have some HEAVY thoughts rolling around in my head but will save them for a later post. I hope that all of the ladies at Blogher have a spectacular time and that no pictures are posted that shouldn't be!

treasures

Yesterday, my daughter and her son were in the car at a stop light. Next to them was the UPS truck. My grandson waved at the driver, who waved back. They continued conversing with each other with the windows closed and my daughter asked her son what he was doing. He said he was talking to the driver. She asked why and he said that he learned it from his grandma. She said, "learned what?" and he said, "to be nice."

And I melted.

He then proceeded to tell her that she just wasn't a "peoples person."

DTBC

Daily entrees and soup selection for the week of July 16, 2007

Monday

Lasagna

Loaded Potato

Tuesday

Salmon Croquettes

Ravioli Soup

Wednesday

Meatloaf

Spring Chicken

Thursday

Chicken Fried Steak

Chicken Tortilla

Friday

Mozzarella Chicken

Taco

Saturday

Chicken or Shrimp Alfredo

Chefs' Surprise

Eavesdropping 101

Conversation overheard:

"I wonder why the flags are at half-staff."

"It's for LadyBird Johnson."

"The flags are at half-staff because Hank Hill's dog died?"

Farewell

Rest in Peace, Lady Bird.

The Gravy Boat.

I never thought it strange as a child. Whenever we had family holiday dinners, we would eat in the dining room and we would use the good china. The furniture would be polished (the legs were my responsibility) and the china, freshly removed from the hutch, would be hand washed and dried before we set the table.

The menu for these dinners rarely varied. We always had both turkey and ham since I dislike turkey and my sister does not care for ham. If it was one of the winter holidays, we had sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top and the green bean casserole. If it was Easter, we had glorified rice. It was my mom’s recipe, with cooked rice and pineapple and whipped cream and coconut. It always did, and still does, taste like spring to me.

We were not rich. We were not poor. We were comfortably well off; at least we were when I was young. I was a late-in-life baby and my parents had much more when I was growing up than they did when my sisters and my brother were young.

Anyway, my mother makes wonderful gravy. I do not have the knack but my mother could make gravy out of anything. So, on holidays we would get out the special pickle dish and the divided cut glass dish for carrot and celery sticks and the cut glass cranberry dish. The table would be set and it would all look just lovely. Then dinner would be served and the gravy, in it’s Pyrex measuring cup (the big one, the 2 cup one), would take its place on my mom’s table.

None of us thought it odd. It was just one of those things. Then my oldest sister got married and I guess her husband said something. Next thing I knew, Mom and I were at St. Vinnie’s (the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store) buying a gravy boat. It was beautiful. It didn’t match the dishes but it was beautiful. I’m not sure the gravy ever tasted as good or stayed as hot in the gravy boat but it was beautiful.

Last week, I was in our local senior citizen’s thrift store looking for some Mason jars.

I bought the gravy boat.

Picky, picky, picky

I just finished reading the news and I would like to point out the following things:

Shepherds do not herd cows, not even in India.

Burglars do not dance while robbing stores just as
Robbers do not dance while burgling stores.

I am sure there are WAY more things that would irritate me had I continued reading. I guess that, for today at least, I would rather be irritated than informed.

Previous 4ths, part 2

Same child. Different year.

When CJ was 5, he was visiting his Grampits and me for part of the summer. On the 4th of July, our boss' family always has a HUGE party with massive amounts of explosives - I do love living in Texas!

We stopped by for a bit and CJ got to meet their grandkids. The littlest one had been watching "Meet the Fockers" and was just running around saying, "ahss - whole" and making her Grandma nuts.

The boys, who are 2 and 3 years older than CJ, had control of the lighting devices and were very busy igniting the world (and the wrecking yard next door, but that's another story). They had the very enthusiastic assistance of their little sister/cousin who was 4.

That just left one little princess, who is CJ's age or maybe 6 months older. Every time we turned around, they were hand in hand, heading off into the dark - to see the goats, to see the cows, to go "adventuring." It took one full grown man all night just to ride herd on these two little adventurers.

CJ just moved back here and he and the little princess are still - well, not hand in hand - but the last time I saw them together, she was driving her ATV and he was sitting behind her. We grow our princesses tough out here.

This story continues when we got home that night but that's it for now.

Have a happy, semi-sane, and ultimately safe 4th of July! and kiss a Veteran!

DTBC Menu 7/2 through 7/6

Monday

Chicken Spaghetti

Hearty Cheese Soup

Tuesday

Smothered Pork Chops

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Wednesday

Closed

Thursday

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Tuscan Tomato Soup

Friday

Meatloaf

Creamy Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

Saturday

Beef Stroganoff

Chefs' Surprise