Focused at Fifty

With my last blog post, I have surpassed 100,000 individual "hits" on Frazzled at Forty. I am truly humbled by this. I still consider myself a very small fish, maybe even a minnow in a very very large sea. I am astonished and amazed that I have hit this milestone. I wanted to take a moment to thank my readers who have been with and supported me since the beginning of my blog back in April 2010. I am still going strong 315 published blog posts later with several dozen drafts waiting to be polished and put up. This blog is my love, my burden, my unpaid job, and sometimes my frustration. I do consider it like my child. I started this blog 6 1/2 years ago. My mother, during her last week of her life, stated she wanted me to do something with my writing. I had wrote since I was a young boy but had considered it nothing more than a past-time hobby which I would do every now and then. I vowed for Mom on her last week here to write regularly ...

The other day while driving to work, I was listening to a great interview on NPR and thought that parts of it were meaningful enough to pass on. A woman comedian was being interviewed and was talking about how to get through various awkward situations and I felt that others could completely relate to it. One of those was situations was when someone asks a single person "Why are you still single?"   Maybe people do not realize it but this is a pretty rude question. It's no one's business. It seems though that during family or holiday events, a glass of sangria, spiked holiday punch or eggnog will chuck all decorum out the window.  Do you stop to think how small that makes a person feel as if being single is bad and wrong? Don't you think they'd like to meet someone??? So for my single friends, when someone asks you that, there are some retorts you can toss their way. Question:   Why are you still single? Answers:   Why are you still m...

My friends, we are all still here. The world has not imploded. My candidate did not win. The other guy did. I am disappointed and angry. Not my first, second, or tenth choice. Our system worked and the candidate who won the electoral college is now our President-elect. (((shudder))) Life goes on for now. We will continue working, continue paying taxes, and maybe drink more in this time of uncertainty. If you feel the electoral college needs to be overhauled or abolished, then work towards that. There is nothing that can be done now about that at this particular time except starting or joining a movement to abolish it. For many this is a bitter pill to swallow. For others, your voices were heard. Let's hope he lives up to the hype that his supporters perpetuated. We need to come together and start to heal the wounds of this divisive election. Many of you say that is impossible. I hear you but disagree. I think we need to to remember that the US is a special country, a count...

Mom's Beef Stew I remember Mom making this recipe only a couple of times. My sister Sheryl remarked that Mom only cooked the beef stew when she could afford to buy the beef cubes. Unfortunately, we did not have a lot of money back then so this was a special treat when she did make it. It reminds me that I'm very lucky for what I now have. Mom served it over rice or with a side of buttered egg noodles. I looked online for hints and suggestions on a simple beef stew recipe and there are so many variations it will make your head spin. There are variations on cooking time, specific steps, seasonings, vegetables etc. It is a bit overwhelming. I added a little more direction here and there but this is 95% Mom's own recipe. You can add thyme or a couple bay leaves for more flavor. If you add the bay leaves, make sure you take them out before serving. Some people also add chopped up celery when adding the onions, potatoes, and carrots. Others sauté garlic when browning th...