Are you talking to me?

There is often a specific group of people I have in mind when I write a blog, sometimes one specific person. And, yet, they never seem to read it.

By contrast, people I'm not at all thinking of as I write anything read it and think I'm talking about them or to them. Fascinating.

Someday I'm going to write a novel and offend all the people I don't really care about, who think I wrote it about them. Should be fun.

Why I don't believe Catholics that say they are "pro life"

A Facebook friend wrote an inane rant about how aborting a pregnancy was the same as killing a child or an infant. That includes a fertilized egg - the second the sperm pierces the egg, it's a human, to her.

She is proud to be a devout Catholic and works for a Catholic agency.

Before unfriending her, I decided to go through her newsfeed. In the last 12 months:

• She has made no post whatsoever about the ongoing revelations that Roman Catholic priests have molested children.
• She has made no post whatsoever about the ongoing revelations that the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church has repeatedly protected predator priests, protecting them from law enforcement investigations and prosecution.
• She has made no post whatsoever about the immigrant children in cages on the USA/Mexico Border.
• She has made no post whatsoever about past but recent Catholic scandals, like women enslaved in the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, their children abducted from them and given to families, and in some cases, women and children murdered, their bodies dumped in hidden graves. She has made no post whatsoever about Catholic priests who participated in the Rwanda genocide. She has made no post whatsoever about Catholic priests telling people in Africa that condoms cause HIV/AIDS.

So, yeah, pro-life? My ass. Unfriended.

Broccoli & Butternut Squash soup that tastes like Broccoli & Cheese soup

Recipe:

Broccoli & Butternut Squash soup that tastes like Broccoli & Cheese soup

(additional veggies optional - and you can add cheese if you want)

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

1 ½ - 2 cups of roasted butternut squash or 12 oz frozen squash puree

1 big head broccoli or frozen broccoli (You can also throw in some cauliflower, what the heck)

½ onion to 1 onion (depends on your taste), chopped

4 tbsp flour (can be whole wheat)

3 tbsp butter or margarine (some recipes say this is optional but, in my world, no)

3+ c vegetable broth (I use Better than Bouillon, and often use 4 cups instead)

1 c 2% milk or 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup cream

salt and pepper, to taste

OPTIONAL;

1/2 cup shredded cheese (sharp cheddar, colby jack or Mexican shredded cheese). Can be reduced fat cheese

1 tsp garlic powder

1 large carrot, finely chopped

Absolutely fine to use frozen bag of mixed cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots.

Instructions

• If using FRESH squash: cut into halves lengthwise, then cut into quarters, and oven roast for 50 - 60 minutes at 400 degrees until very soft. Rub butter on it periodically (at least twice) to keep it from drying out. Then, using a blender, puree cooked squash with 2 cups of vegetable broth until very smooth. Transfer to large saucepan over very low heat. If using FROZEN squash puree: thaw on counter or in microwave. Heat in large saucepan and add 2 c of vegetable broth. Stir or whisk until the puree is smooth.
• In a separate pan, saute onion using butter or nonstick spray. When onions are soft, add the flour, coating the onions. Cook 1 – 2 minutes longer, until the flour is slightly toasted.
• Add the onions to the squash puree, stirring well to prevent the flour from clumping. Add 1 c vegetable broth and the milk or cream (if using fresh squash, you can use this liquid to “clean” the blender). Puree.
• About an hour before you are ready to serve the meal, chop and steam broccoli (and, if you want to include it, cauliflower and carrot).
• Finely chop approximately half of the cooked broccoli (and cauliflower, and ALL of the carrot if you included it) and add the finely chopped stuff to the soup. Cook until the soup is at desired thickness. If the soup is too thick, add additional broth.
• If you want cheese, add the cheese in one-three batches, stirring while the cheese melts. Roughly chop the remaining broccoli (and cauliflower, if you have it) and throw it in. Then add the roughly chopped broccoli (and cauliflower). Cook until hot.

Serve with fresh bread.

cc

Soooooo goooood....

Pay it forward

Back in the Fall of 2000, when I found out I was moving to Germany, I emailed everyone I knew, asking if anyone knew anything about Bonn or about living in Germany. No one did. I posted to Her Domain, an online community for women in Austin, Texas who worked in tech in some way, asking the same question. One woman wrote back, saying she'd lived in Germany for a while, and she invited me to lunch, where she gave me wonderful advice about living in Deutschland - like knowing that no grocery stores whatsoever are open on Sundays and that it's okay to sit for four hours in a restaurant or café. Another woman wrote me, saying she was German, now living in the USA, and she asked if I knew how to find an apartment. I said no. Long story short, she looked online, found an apartment within walking distance of where I would work, called the landlord, talked to him on the phone, negotiated with him and got me the place reserved for when I would arrive - me and my dogs spent our first night in Germany, in February 2001, in our own bed that we would have for the next several years.

I didn't know either of these women before I posted to the group and asked for help. And here they came, out of the blue, offering me information and assistance that was nothing short of life-changing. I remain eternally grateful for all they did for me.

I have encountered so much of this type of kindness. And that's why I offer so much free advice online and am happy to answer emails from women deploying in humanitarian work to a country where I've worked or lived or a woman learning to ride a motorcycle - because I want to pay it forward. They are always "so sorry" to bother me. The people who actually DO bother me never apologize for it.

I also get a very particular rush helping a woman do something regarding her job or regarding traveling.

I got an email earlier this month from a woman who wrote me because she had interviewed for a six month job in Iraq. She'd never been to a post-conflict zone. She's never been out of the Americas. She wanted advice. I gave her what I think was very realistic advice and a lot of encouragement. Her email I just got talked about her experience in Iraq so far - her wonderful experience. About the wonderful local people, the beauty of the land, the wonderful food... it made my January, truly. It's the kind of email that let's me know that kindness is the right thing to do.

I find it interesting that this blog turned out to be all about women helping women... I meant for it to be about paying it forward, in general. But as I've read this, I've realized it's been women that have helped me the most, and women who have reached out to me the most. Hmmm.....

Jacob Walter Anderson won't have a criminal record - but let's help the Internet never forget him

Jacob Walter Anderson, 24,  of Garland, Texas and the former president of Baylor University’s Phi Delta Theta fraternity, forcibly sexually assaulted a fellow student, according to a Waco, Texas arrest affidavit. The arrest affidavit said the woman, then a sophomore at the university, was given a drink at an off-campus frat party and became very disoriented. She was lead outside by Jacob Walter Anderson, according to the report, who took the woman “to a secluded part of the grounds behind a tent in order to get some air, however once away from everyone else attending the party” he sexually assaulted the woman. McLennan County court documents stated that the victim lost consciousness, but awoke alone a short time later in the same outside area before returning to the house and finding a friend, who took her immediately to the hospital.

Jacob Walter Anderson, who was originally indicted on four charges of sexual assault, was offered a plea deal for a lesser charge of unlawful restraint, which is a third-degree felony. Jacob Walter Anderson pled no contest. He will not serve any prison time. He will not be required to register as a sex offender. Instead, he will pay a $400 fine and receive counseling, the Waco Tribune reports, as part of a plea deal offered by the district attorney’s office. If the 24-year-old completes three years on deferred probation, he won’t even have a criminal record.

If Jacob Walter Anderson is 24, then he was probably born in 1984.

And I'm sharing all of this because so many articles don't put his name in the headline, and his name is often buried in articles I've read. I want to make sure that, for the rest of his life, whenever anyone - particularly a potential employer - types the name Jacob Walter Anderson, or Jacob Anderson, into Google or Bing or whatever, and the result is a guy from Texas who was born in 1984, I want to make sure this information comes up. But do remember that there are other people also named this - always double check the results.

Happy 2019 - Hire Me!

If only hiring managers believed this...

Why We Need Older Women in the Workplace
It's from August 2015. And I have to admit that the headline does more for me than the article. The author misses the non-child-care reasons women over 40 start dropping out of professional work - we aren't hired, we're passed over for promotions, or our job gets eliminated. Women who have never had children, have no home-healthcare issues, start facing problems getting and keeping jobs once they reach 45 or so.

I have so much to offer a workplace. But my experience actually seems to count against me.

Happy New Year - stay annoying

Mark my words: in 2019, the mantra of the GOP is going to be "People are tired of the investigations. People don't want any more investigations or threats of impeachment." It has NEVER been more important than this year for you to *regularly* write your US Representative and US Senators - even if they are in the GOP - and every press outlet you read regularly, and tell them you WANT investigations, you WANT impeachment. Write Nancy Pelosi as well - I know I'm going to get creamed for saying this, but she is not going to stay strong if we're not being VERY vocal and publicly demanding that she stay strong - so write her too, respectfully, and thank her EVERY time she does the right thing. Make the commitment now.