Charlie wrote in message
...
On Tue, 5 Jun 2007 13:19:14 -0400, "Rachael Simpson"
wrote:


I generally use them dry - i guess we do more "burning" here. with the
kids
and all - i don't always have the time it takes to smoke the meat. you
never know what will happen from one minute to the next with a 2yr old and
a
4 month old! dry chips cook faster to me, but of course, you don't always
get a strong hickory, mesquite, etc., taste to the meat. If i know i'm
gonna have help around (or if the hubby will be in early) and I have time
for it to cook - then i will wet the chips before lighting up the grill,
and
smoke the meat. so to me - the preference of the chips (wet or dry) all
depends on my prep time.........

oh yeah, on your earlier post about the aluminum and Alzheimer's, I've
read
a little about it - ( i was a nurse before we decided for me to stay home
with the kids). I, myself, still use aluminum. I know that Alzheimer's
is
more of a hereditary thing. Unfortunately, it runs in my family. So I
don't really understand how they can think that there is a link there. I
just mark it as something's gonna get you one way or the other. that
doesn't mean that I go about my life more dangerously, mind you. That's
just my take on this matter. Would be interested to know if anyone has a
newer report on this - say something from the last couple of years - I'm
kinda out of the medical loop these days.............other than peds it
seems. (lol)

Rae

Hmmmmm.......life sure is funny.

My D-I-L is a ped nurse. Other D-I-L is a special ed teacher.

My son, nurses's husband, is a mostly stay at home dad, when he isn't
working here with us. Grandson is here then too, as well as lots of
other times.

My Lovely taught, and then we decided that she would stay home with the
boys. Led to homeschooling (thanks to series of articles in Mother
Earth News) thru eigth grade....got their heads right enough that high
school didn't hurt them too much.

That's cool! I was homeschooled by my grandmother. Well, actually I was
practically raised by Nana & Papa. My dad left when I was 7 and my sister
was 6 months. So, I had to grow up at an early age. Things were very bad
then - when my dad left - he left us with nothing but the clothes on our
back - quite literally. My mom had taken us to spend the day with my
great-granny and then we went to church from there (it was a wednesday).
When we got home, the whole house had been emptied out. We found out the
next day that he had already told the landlords that we were moving and he
had arranged to have the power and phone cut off too. My Papa went and
bought us a trailer straight out and had it put by their house. I went to
public school thru 5th grade - then Nana taught me from there. In turn, I
basically raised my sister and taught her. Mama worked almost 24-7 it
seemed. She was the breakfast manager and the night shift manager where she
worked. So by the time she would get home at night which was usually around
1 or 2 in the AM, of course I would already have my sister in bed long
before then. She had to work like that to make ends meet. She had no help
from my dad and no help from the government. As a result at the age of 12,
I had gotten a public job to help with the income. I also sang at local
churches for love offerings. It still burns me up how I could see the
"system" help the "lazy's" and turn down those who really tried.

Managed to go broke yet again. I'll skip how we got to where we are,
just the where of it. I've been fighting the system for a long time,
and was offered the chance to keep it up, from within one of the
systems.

I definitely know how broke feels. Been there all my life. I am the queen
of cutting corners and watching spending budgets. My husband has his own
hay farming operation, and he helps out other farmers around here. We don't
want for anything we need, but of course there are always the wanting for
things that we don't really need. My internet service is my only splurge.
I was forced to come out of work while pregnant with wyatt. I almost
mis-carried 17 times in that one pregnancy. So that's when we decided that
if God let that baby live, then I would stay home with him. I will go back
to work if need be, but right now, we get by. Besides, with gas prices and
daycare fees, it's more reasonable to stay home.

We live in a group home. (got yer 'tention with that, eh?)

oh, yeah, you did.

We live with four people with severe and profound mental retardation,
and who have varying degrees of physical disabilities. We are
responsible for all areas of care, personal planning, scheduling....the
whole bit, with nearly complete autonomy, for a variety of reasons.

We've been at this for, over twenty years if you count, the partime
schticks Mona did since eighty-four.

With out going too much into detail, we've developed the whole garden
and patio thing in response to the needs and behavioral issues that
some of the folks had, plus it quite neatly dovetailed with our needs.

It's amazing what the great outdoors (when cared for properly) can do for
people.

Nearly totally accessible, as well.

In a nutshell, we have seen some *marvelous* results by removing people
from the absolute mayhem and frustration of a "day program" and helping
them quielty enter into life with "normal" people. To the degree that
they are able *and* want. The garden area has had a marvelous calming
effect on two people in particular.

I know exactly what you mean. I have seen that result with my Papa (he had
parkinson's, that was complicated with a touch of Alz) Before he retired he
was a county extension agent, and after retirement he worked as a
dealer/agent for Asgrow Seed Co. He stayed with Asgrow until his health
made it impossible for him to continue work. She kept him at home as long
as she could on her own. (we had already moved by then, but still visited
once or twice a week)

One good indicator of the results was the fact that frequent dr. visits
ahve dwindled to basically a yearly physical and *lots* of meds have
dropped and reduced, some were the nastier psychotropes, with which you
are no doubt familiar.

Oh, yeah............difinitely know those.

Anyways, this whole bit has received alot of attention and we often get
people "touring" just to see what we're all about(thats why the short
leash bit, preps for it and finishing touches...tour was this morning)
and as a result of our early efforts, years ago, our agency shut down
the day program about ten years ago and everyone supported by the
agency is "integrated" to the best of their abilities and desires.

We won't even go into what dietary changes have been accomplished (for
the folks we support, I still like my bacon and will eat anything if it
holds still long enough)

A couple of the other homes are now gardening and nearly all are doing
some outdoor and planting, cooking stuff.

Anyway that's where we're coming from and why I am able to be online so
often. I am always looking for new ideas for anything adn everything

I felt there was a reason I liked you.

Same here

Mysterious ways, eh?

most definitely

Love ya, keep it up, yer one of the good ones
Charlie (I really am a Charles)


Same to you!

BTW........wonder why I hate poisons?
hahahahaha (sarcastically) yeah real wonder ain't?

--
I think that if ever a mortal heard the voice of God it would be in a
garden at the cool of the day. ~F. Frankfort Moore, A Garden of Peace

Thanks for sharing with me. I can really understand where you are coming
from. Feb. 06, my other grandpa became ill. (he was actually my step-dad's
father, but with me and Pops, we were closer than he was with his own flesh
and blood grandchildren.) When he came out of the hospital, a majority of
the family wanted him in a nursing home. He was 82, he had lived his life
they said. He was perfectly fine for his age, he just needed help getting
up and down, etc. I saw it as an opportunity to help him in the ways that I
couldn't help my Papa. He moved into my mother's house. (our trailer was
too small for a wheelchair and all that he needed) I took care of him
everyday until he died on oct. 21, 06. My mother is disabled now, so she
couldn't do much for him. I became pregnant with Breanna Grace during that
time. The Lord blessed me to have a normal pregnancy that time so I could
continue to be with Pops and look after him. How he loved it when we would
go outdoors and he could see the garden and direct the gardens care. He
especially loved the rides around the country to see the farms and fields.
My only regret is that I couldn't keep him here long enough to see my
Breanna. If your grandson is anything like my son, then the others that
stay with you probably get just as much enjoyment out of having him around
as my Pops did having Wyatt around. Wyatt provided endless hours of
entertainment to him.

Oh well, I need to get off here - it's only taken me since 6:30pm to get
this response typed out. I had to stop to check the supper pots, change the
diapers, etc. Anyway - now it's time to get the munchkins to bed.

Thanks again for sharing. I'm a good ear for medical venting
too..............
maybe i didn't bore you with part of my story.

love,
Rae