More from the road

Albuquerque, full of hustling people, big traffic, everyone in such a hurry. I forgot what the city is. Being in rural Cal for so long it was a wake up call.

It is interesting how the light and the landscape changed as soon as we crossed the state line. 

I 40 rides along, as smooth as glass. Black top glass. The freeway looms shooting out to the horizon like long ribbons. Still no trees. No grass. This is scrub land. Stark beautiful. There are plateaus in the distance and all around. The ground here has life.  The earth is different the AZ. Here it is more yellow then red. And the sunset was more orange then pink, but still the purple darkening sky. 

 

 

Just seem to ride on mile after mile. 

I got the impression that there may be a friendly rivalry between Arizona and New Mexico at a gas station on the NM side of the line. We were teasing the clerk about cactus juice. And he clearly and teasingly explained to us that cactus grew in AZ not in MN. And we travelers should just keep going. The exchange was pleasantly amusing.

The heater in my room makes a constant hum kind of like the sound of a jet engine. It is kind of hypnotic.

One sees all kinds of cars and trucks, and plates from all states. I remember Gram and used to name as many as we could when we would travel that part of 40 that runs through Arkansas.

I sometimes feel I am getting a little nuts hotel hoping. I will be relieved when we finally get settled.

My ideal location would be some place tranquil, but urban enough to stay busy, employed and have enough interesting material to continue to write.

Am I  like Jimmy Stewart in “Grapes of Wrath” only in reverse? Really like Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” trying to find that place over the rainbow, and ending up about to die at the hands of the wicked witch. Gads.

Are you a good witch or a bad witch? What has that got to do with anything? OK, I’m a good witch, and I’m following which road to Kansas? Ain’t no yellow brick road here. For now I only have I 40. That black top ribbon that stretches on and on….

 

Traveling to Kansas

The light in the desert is like no other. It is almost a pinkish brown color as it bounces off the rocks. Arizona is such a stark and yet beautiful face. I can understand how those that have come through here have been so taken by it.

Of course it is just one of the states to travel through in the next days. I haven’t been out of Northern California in three years. As the north coast is beautiful and raw in its own right, there is just nothing like the southwest.

I always wondered about the pioneers and the natives and how they learned to adapt to life here, because, let’s face it, this not a tame place. Blazing hot summers, super cold winters, very little surface water for drinking and bathing.

I wish I could paint what I could see like Georgia. I loved her landscapes, but that was New Mexico, and this is Arizona. Deserts and mountains that seem to stretch on for days, and yet there is Flagstaff- right in the middle of a National Forrest.

How many days on the road now? Left No. Cal, Saturday night, First night in Williams, 2^nd in Bakersfield, 3^rd, in Barstow,4^th in Kingman and now the 5th, in Holbrook. Tomorrow will be in Albuquerque.

I 40 is an amazing piece of human engineering. It stretches from Barstow, CA to Wilmington, NC. 2300 miles long, 4 lanes of black top through mountain and desert, planes, grasslands….

By the way, why is that barren landscape in Southern California known as the high desert, when AZ and NM are just as arid, and yet higher in elevation?

 

Why write this epic? Why travels have way across the country? The answer is to make a fresh start. California is in trouble. Its politics are a mess, the economy is way down, no jobs to speak of, not even seasonal help again this year. My former home has an official unemployment rate of 16%. What some don’t know is that number only represents the people who get the unemployment insurance. This number doesn’t represent the number actually looking for work. So in Lake County, CA, I my guess am that it is closer to 25% out of work.

 

I don’t know if KC will be any different, but jobs are being posted and the various job boards there, housing costs are lower, and moving back to a more populated area means more and hopefully better services. At least we will have a more choices in restaurants when we have money to go out to eat.

The sun is setting now; the light is changing from gold to golden pink to purple. Yes I will miss  the western sky…

 

 

A Real Question

A real question? How do know, I mean really know when to trust your faith? Do you question faith?

Faith is a funny  thing. It means different things.  You can have faith in yourself, another person, society. a Deity, an idea or concept.

There is faith in governments, corporations, and so on and so on.

And the real question is how can you keep your faith when your way of life, when everything you believe in is being challenged, made to change?

There are still families going through foreclosures, living in tents and shelters, and unemployment through the roof. It is in my part of the country.  It’s unofficially close to 20%.

So what is a body to do? How do you hold out when nothing else works?

All I know is that we can not get by on business as usual. The real truth has to come out.

At this point, I think that the only real faith is in ourselves and in our deity. our true God, the higher self… When we can change ourselves… Society should take notice, and maybe we can have some real progress.

thanks for listening. Yes, I will be going somewhere with this. Just hold on and have faith.

Kimberly

http://thebishopscandle.net

 

Grilling Tips for a great 4th

Hey Gang- I found another great website full of helpful infromation. As grilling season is in, and the fourth is this weekend here are some great tips form http://www.simpleanddelicious.com/. Enjoy and and have a happy holiday

 Basic Grilling Tips
 Grill season is just around the corner. Before you start cooking, make sure that you get your grill cleaned and in tip-top shape. Be sure to check back often as our Grill series continues.

Clean Your Grate

Make sure that you purchase propane or charcoal so that you are ready to clean your grate. Then if your grate has burnt-on food from your last grilling extravaganza, you’ll be ready when it’s time to fire up the grill. After about 15 minutes, scrub the grate with a stiff wire grill brush until all food particles are burned or scraped off. Let it cool down and cover.
Spray the cold, clean grate with PAM® for Grilling Spray (and your utensils, too). Then preheat grill about 15 minutes before starting to cook.
After cooking, scrape grill down with grill brush to remove burnt-on particles. ‘Cook’ another 15 minutes to help burn off remaining traces of food. Brush once more and extinguish fire. You will have a clean grate for your next meal.
Prepare Your Foods
Meats
Choose a thicker cut of meat and fish for more tender and flavorful results.
Trim excess fat from meats, leaving only about 1/4 inch of fat for flavor. Less fat helps avoid flare-ups and makes cleaning easier.
To avoid cross-contamination when handling raw meat, always bring out two plates when grilling—one for the raw meat and one for the cooked meat.
Vegetable

Wash and cut veggies in half or into 1/2 inch thick slices that won’t fall through the grate.
Smaller vegetables can be skewered for easy grilling—or use a grilling basket.
Spray vegetables lightly with PAM®; season with salt, if desired, before cooking.

Choose Your Tools

Use long-handled tools and long barbecue mitts to protect your hands from the heat.
Use tongs to turn and serve the meat, not forks—you will pierce the food and lose flavorful juices.
Use a meat thermometer to help determine internal temperature.
Before You Grill
Spray PAM® For Grilling on the cold grill and tongs.

 

Grow Up!

Grow Up?

 When you were a kid, what did you want to do as a grown up- A cowboy, a nurse, a super-hero? We all had a dream right? I bet no one at the age of 5 or 6 said I want to run my own business and be wildly successful? Or maybe you did.

What happened? How did we get from the childhood dream to stuck in rush hour traffic going to a job we cant’ stand? Well the “responsibility” bug bit us. And we all trotted off to college and then to work. Then we all got married, started a family and bought a house in the ‘burbs. We can be such sheep. Or we think to ourselves if “Bob” did it, then so can I, and I can do it better.

So you go for the bigger house and the corner office, 2.4 kids, the dog, soccer practice, and ballet, or maybe piano lessons. Where did your life go?

Where did the funny, creative kid go? What happened to the “super-hero”? The one running around the backyard with the old towel for a cape? Remember to wanted to save the world, you wanted to be a hero.

 Remember what I said about running your own business and being wildly successful? When you do this, yes you are taking a big risk. The good news is that with big risks sometimes comes great rewards.

You just need a plan and proper support, and Network Marketing lets have that. Your sponsor should be there to help you find the right recourses and be a shoulder, mentor, and teacher.

You can still be a super-hero. Become a sponsor yourself. It is a wonderful feeling knowing your helping someone else live their dreams too.

 

More later

Kimberly

http://thebishopscandle.net

 

New website stuff and a plea

Well, looks like the Recession drags on. Are you one of those people out of work, or are you afraid of being out of work? Then it is time to take back our futures. It is time we take the financial reigns. Network Marketers and Internet Marketers say they are having their best year ever. What about you?…

I don’t often offer my opinion in public, but maybe it is time.  I have a new rewrite to my business website. That is my into

I am a quiet advocate for small and home based business. Well, I’ve been trying to make a go a one for 1 and 1/2 years now. I must say that I have learned a lot in that time.

Many people today are struggling to pay the mortgage and put food on the table. There is so much bad news on the TV about the state of the world economy.

Let’s examine that for a moment. How do you feel after watching the evening news? Are you sad, depressed, angry?

Well here is a solution: Turn it off.

Turn it off you read correctly. Turn it off. Early evening is the best time to take a walk  with your family. If you need the back ground noise, watch something funny, inspiring, uplifting.

If you are trying to take care of your future, your family, then don’t put that negativity in your mind.  If your trying to run a small business you don’t need it. You don’t need it; your home business doesn’t need it.

Personally I would like to see more corporate responsibility. I believe that business has a duty to serve it’s community, not just make money. Don’t get me wrong, Money is a good  thing. It is the best tool we have to get things done today.

Corporate responsibility should look like giving back to the needy and homeless; yes employ them if possible, but if they can’t then a certain percentage should go to taking care of the individuals who can’t, or are down on their luck.

Speaking of  the news, I get so sick of hearing about how many people are getting layed off, how big our budget deficit is… etc.

It just freaks me out. So I go on news fasts from time to time.

In trying to run my business, I need healthy, fresh, informative information that has not been sensationalize to make me ,as I said , freak out.

I heard about a woman who is giving 4% of her salary to help her school system. Imagine if Exxon-Mobil gave 4% to help schools and our children learn and get a better education? Wow! If they are giving money and time to charity, and to our schools then great. It is just we never hear about it in the general population, or on the nightly news. All we get is how many billions these large corps make each quarter, especially the oil companies.

I think that is why I am an advocate of small business and home business.  Because those people seem to have more philanthropy than most of the rest of us.

If you already give to your comminty, Great. If not don’t you think you should start?

thanks for listening

Kimberly

http://thebishopscandle.net

 

Faith and Goals

Sometimes when you are feeling low, it is good to go back over things. Old wish lists, and notes. It is important to remind ourselves sometimes why we are on the path.

Sometimes our path can take unexpected turns, and their are new decisions to be made, so it is important to have our goals in front of us.

Let me tell you about the impotence of creating your wish lists. This morning I ran across a wish list that I wrote six years, ago. On it are things like get out of debt, write more, learn to paint, etc, and at the top of the list- Is retiring at 45.

At the tender age of 45 I “retired” from my old job. Talk about the power of intention!

Setting intentions for the future is important. This is one way you can set your goals in your mind, and in the “mind” of the universe.

What is next? Maybe you to take cruise, maybe you’ll write that book, maybe…So what do you want to attract? More money? A bigger house? A big downline for your business?

Well, you need to be specific. How much money? How big is your house? Where is it? How many people in your downline? So write your wish list, and put it away some place safe, and watch what happens, some things just might be yours in the future.

This is part of the law of attraction. Another part of the Law of Attraction is gratitude. Oh gratitude. … You can’t forget to be grateful for what you have already received.

Being grateful and giving thanks makes us better human beings. When was the last time you said “thank you” to yourself? Oh we say to our friends and colleagues when they have helped us. We say thank you to God for the blessings in our lives, but when was the last time you thanked yourself for the things you do?

My point is never give up. If you are willing to fight and sacrifice a little now for an important goal, oh like financial freedom, then later it

 

Dark Times

Did you ever have one of those times in your life when you felt like nothing was working? Everything you tried to do went awry?

 

Couldn’t find a job? Money ran out? Relationships were falling apart? You felt like everyone was mad at you? And on top of all that you were in the middle of the biggest crisis of faith of your life?

 

I have been through this once before, but this time it feels worse. This times stakes are higher, there is more to loose. I felt guilty about walking away from everything the first time.  This time there was no place to go.

 

Let me start at the beginning.  The first time my world crumbled, I was 24. I couldn’t find a job, my boyfriend left me for someone else. I wasn’t doing well in school, and I was frustrated to say the least.

 

I had dropped out, let a very depressed woman move in with me, because I thought I was helping.  I believe the famous quote is “what sweet hell is this?” 

 

Anyway my only way out was to move in with family in another state. The Grandparents sent me back to school, sent me to church, and screened all my friends to make sure I wasn’t going in with the wrong crowd again.

 

Why do I say this time is worse? There are no more grandparents. Somehow I need to do my own rescuing.

 

Some how in there I received a calling to do something more, but what? As much as learned and gained going to church with the grandparents, there was still something there that gave me the willies. Maybe I didn’t truly understand. After all why am I here again? Was something missing? Did I do something wrong? Is this just karma?

 

Or is this really about forgiveness? The ability and the willingness to really forgive ourselves, and others is rare. Can we really forgive? Can we really learn to love our neighbor as ourselves as Jesus taught?

 

Maybe in answering those questions is really where true wisdom begins. Yes?

 

How do you find your way through the darkness? I mean really you feel so lonely sometimes. Or is “darkest before the dawn” really just BS. Sometimes I just want to scream. Then there is that calling again. The calling to be more of what I am.   

 

There are questions that keep swirling in my mind. How did it get this bad? What will happen next? Is it a question of faith? If there really is a devil, is he here in my house?

 

This little writing is about finding faith. Sometimes, I think when things are darkest, is exactly that point when we find our faith and strength to push forward. Some times when things are the absolute worst do we learn who we really are.

 

Easter Dinner

Almost Easter- Do you have favorite dishes for this holiday meal? How about a spiral cut Ham and scalloped potatoes? Do you make homemade rolls?

Our family sort of does. Call it a new tradition. Mom get a honey baked ham and reheats with the glace. She puts champagne mustard on the site for who ever want it. Yummy. Of course peas. I think spring peas are her favorite food.

A few years ago, when the series The Mitford Years, was popular she added the orange cake. Every Easter dinner is different.

 

In more traditional homes its lamb. After all, lamb is served at Passover, which is closely tied to Easter.

After all Jesus was Jewish. The “Last Supper” was the Seder meal for Passover when he made the new covenant with his apostles.

Here is a great Lamb recipe:

Lamb and rosemary is a match made in heaven. Meat will be tender and oh-so flavorful, with a wonderfully caramelized exterior.

Butterflied Lamb with Fresh Rosemary

6 pounds boneless leg lamb roast, butterflied

 1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon salt

1 bay leaf

1. Trim fat from lamb. Discard fat and place lamb in a pan large enough to hold it flat.

 2. In a small mixing bowl, blend olive oil, lemon juice, rosemary, pepper, garlic powder, salt and crushed bay leaf.

Coat lamb with mixture and marinate in the refrigerator for 4 hours. Before cooking, let lamb sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

3. Preheat broiler.

4. Place lamb in a broiler pan and cook 5 inches under broiler for approximately 15 minutes on each side; this will produce a medium-rare roast. Remove lamb from heat about 5 degrees from desired doneness* and let sit for 10 minutes loosely covered with foil. This allows the meat to finish cooking while the juices distribute evenly throughout the roast before slicing.

Makes 16 servings.

*Cooking temperatures: Rare 140°F, Medium 160°F, Well Done 170°F.

For me if you are going to serve lamb, then skip the peas, and serve asparagus instead. First wash the spears. Take one end in each hand. And snap them.

You want to cook the tender tips. Save the ends for soup. Put them in just a little boiling water with some salt, butter and lemon juice.

Cook until barely tender. Scalloped potatoes are still a go.

Don’t forget to hide the Easter eggs for the kiddies!

 

Kimberly

thebishopscandle.net

 

Laws to Attract?

Ever since the movie “The Secret” came in 2006 there has been a lot of chatter on the internet about how easy it is suppose to be.

Let us break it down really quickly.
1. Ask for what you want.
2. Believe with all your being you are going to get it.
3. be open to receive it.

I watched the movie;I read the book; I have visited the website of the various “teachers”. So you do everything they tell you, you’ve written your affirmations, you’ve given thanks, and you are truly grateful for your life, friends, gifts, etc…, you’re so open you’re practicality emotional.

Nothing, Nothing, Nothing.

So you go back and you ask why. You’re told one of two things, “Wait, be patience this takes time, when the universe feels that you’re really ready, you’ll receive your thing. Gee there is nothing about patience in their teaching. So the next step is sell you a program about being patient.

Or, you get this one, you don’t believe enough. So let me sell you this other thing about believing. And one question keeps coming back to me.

Is this the biggest scam of the 21st century? OK, that and the government is going to save us from the follies and criminals of Wall Street.

On the darker side –Does that mean we need to teach a teenager to control her every thought conscious and unconscious about how to guard against rape, because LOA says it’s her fault if it happens?

I find this outrageous. We do not want bad things to happen to us and our families. Tell me something if I send hundreds of dollars to that person, is that really going to attract something good in my life, or am I just a fool?

You have to admit these guys are marketing geniuses, or they hire them. Because there is always just one more piece they need to sell you in order to get it right. What is that saying” a fool and his money are soon parted” Or “a sucker is born every minute.”

That’s right, we believe them, we want our 15 minute of fame, and we want the beautiful house, the new car, and tones of money.

Wouldn’t life just be so easy? If just got everything we asked for? Well there is another saying I heard it on Star Trek, yes, Star Trek, Mr. Spock said “You may find that having a thing may be different experience than wanting a thing”

Basically what is meant by that is that reality sets in, the fantasy is over, and now that you have the thing, not only do have to take care of it, but the thrill of fantasizing and wanting is gone.

The Law of Attraction teaches that everything in our lives we attracted either consciously or unconsciously. So does that mean the 9 year old attracted the bully to steal her lunch money? Does that mean the woman attracted the abusive husband she married at 19? Does that mean we attracted the banking fiasco?

We have a wonderful guide already. For the last 1700 years this guide has been helping hundreds of people live better, happier, healthier lives with out the entire BS. It is called the Bible.

Yes the Bible. The Bible says “ask and it is given to you” That doesn’t mean you’ll get a new car and lots of money. That passage means Ask, and the Kingdom of Heaven is given to you”. Those that follow the teachings will be taken care of. I don’t’ think we have a real clue as what the “Kingdom of Heaven really is, but sounds like it might be worth the effort.

Think about this, if we give it up to God, Don’t you think we will be totally taken care of? Don’t you think we will have everything we need? We need to stop being so selfish and stop sending the scam artists and vultures our money, because then we will have the money for what we really need.