Monday, September 30, 2013

Sept. 30: Favorite photo

Blogging challenge for today: Show a favorite photo. Why do you love it?


I have a lot of "favorite" pictures, but this one is probably the *most* favorite. Today, anyway. It's Seth's birthday eve, and I'm waxing a bit nostalgic for the little lad of yesteryear. Only sort of, though, as he's such a wonderful very-soon-to-be 17-year-old...

The picture above means so much as it depicts the two people I love most on earth, and to me tells a little story of their relationship, and the love between them. It makes a mom's heart happy.


Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Sept. 29: Celebrity Sher!

Today's blogging challenge: If you were ever to become famous, what would it be for?

Well, it's rather an oxymoron but here it is: If I were ever to become famous, I would want it to be for writing. Writing poetry, to be specific.

And how many famous poets do you know? (You can stop laughing now.) I suppose, in their own circles, there are levels of celebrity, but in a more global way, it's pretty much not what makes someone famous.

But if there were a way to somehow become famous for writing poetry, I'd take it. There's only one caveat--even I'm laughing now--and that's the fact that I am not fond of the idea of doing readings. I would like people to read my poems to themselves and be happy, or moved, or whatever. But, maybe I could hire a professional reader to go out and read for me...? Yeah, that's not happening.

So, I guess that's pretty much the final nail in the never-going-to-be-famous coffin. Sigh. And here I was already packing for the Today show. Ha.

What would you like to be famous for?


Jen and I are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. We're almost done. Are you excited for us?! I think we are!

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Sept. 28: Friendship

For today's blogging challenge: Tell us the things you appreciate about your closest friends.

What I appreciate about my friends is the ability to be real and true to myself and know that I am loved, period.

That sentence pretty much covers it.

Sure, there are lunches and coffees, walks and shopping jaunts. We laugh a lot, and on occasion there have been tears.

I have friends that I'm quite different from, in lifestyle and personality. And I have friends that are very similar to me, as well. I have friends who have known me since I was a youngster, and friends who only know me as the Mrs. I am now.

But the acceptance and affection is universal. And without it my life would be so much less.

Thank you, friends, for your love. You know who you are. ;)



What do you appreciate about your closest friends? 


Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Friday, September 27, 2013

Sept. 27: Life-changing moment of gratitude

Today's blogging challenge: Describe a distinct moment when your life took a turn.

There are quite a few of these I could write about, but when I sat down and and thought about it, picking THE ONE to share is pretty easy. (Take a look at Jen's. Mine is similar, minus the screaming and slamming of phones.)

Approaching the holidays, 2003... It had been a rough year. If you know me at all, you know why. I was catering up a storm with holiday parties and personal cheffing, and really, finally, starting to hit my stride with being a single parent and running a business. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the catering kitchen, was looking forward to a little chill time at the holidays--with Seth on Christmas Eve, and then spending the following day with friends.

It was Dec. 18--the day my niece Lucy was born--and I remember the day quite vividly. I had a lunch to cater at my previous place of employment. They were a good client and I often cooked for their management group, in addition to the lunches and personal chef dinners I dropped off.

I went in and was setting up and one of the managers came and was chatting with me. Then husband (obviously not husband then!) came in and we started talking too. This is someone I had worked with for 11 years and knew fairly well. But something that day was different. I don't know what or why, but it was very palpable. To me, at least. I left thinking, "Huh. Well. Huh," and pondered it for some time, into the middle of the night.

Fast forward to the next week, and Christmas Eve. I was running around the kitchen like a crazy lady, putting together lunches and dinners for final deliveries before the holiday. I looked up, and there he was, at the door. He brought back a ramekin I'd left at the building from lunch the week previous. I walked outside with him and we chatted for a couple of minutes. He said he'd heard I didn't have Seth for Christmas and he wanted to make sure I was okay. My heart melted. Seriously. Even writing it now, my heart swells up with how kind and considerate he was and is. I assured him that I had Seth that night for our Christmas, and would be okay. And then we hugged goodbye. What? Huh? I know, right?! It just happened. A first for us, definitely.

I went back into the kitchen and the girl who was working for me at the time said, "You know, he likes you." (It felt very high school.) I said, "You think? I don't know." But I knew. :)

And from there it began. Ever so slowly. So very slowly. As only a bachelor and a recently-divorced girl can progress. And here we are, almost 10 years later, with our own happy ending.

When I think back on that week, I am so grateful for a moment when I noticed something was different. I'm grateful that what I felt in that room was obviously felt by him too, and that he took the risk to come find me.

What's your distinct moment, when your life took a turn?


Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Sept. 26: I would die without...

Blogging challenge for today: What items to you just simply never leave home without?

This is a pretty simple challenge.

Though, if you were to ask Seth, he'd say it seems rather complicated--if you count the number of times I have gotten part way down the driveway or road near our home, and turned around to go back for the following:
*Phone.
*Wedding ring/watch.
*Security fob for the office.

Those are the things that I most often leave the house without, absent-mindedly, only to turn back. But if I were to ever be minus:
*Clothing (it's never happened, but it seems like something to be mentioned anyway...).
*My purse/wallet.
That would be a bad thing. :)

And then there are the things I just really like to have on my person:
*Lipstick/balm/gloss.
*iPad.
*Extra hair thingys--rubber bands or clips or such. Just in case there's a hair catastrophe, don't you know.

I probably won't turn the car around for the last couple... well, OK, I have. Just depends on how late I am zooming into town.

What do you absolutely have to have with you when you leave the house?


Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too (sort of)!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Sept. 25: Fall soups!

Yesterday I had my first cup of butternut squash soup (with coconut milk!) of the season. It was delightful. The night before, I made potato-white bean soup, with red potatoes from our garden, which is also quite lovely. The weather has turned so quickly, and the darkness at both ends of the day is creeping in without regard for my love of light and sunshine. But, it is fall, and my love for autumn weather is well noted, so I'll just zip it (my mouth!) and keep making soups.

Here are a couple more that I am looking to make very soon:



Don't those soups just shout out, "Fall!"? I think so.

Besides soups, I am also looking forward to roasting vegetables more--the root ones and brussels sprouts especially--and enjoying pomegranates and various citrus fruits too. (Trying to look on the bright side, as I am already mourning the fresh fruit, berries and waning tomato crop... sigh.)

What autumn food are you looking forward to making? Do soups make your list?


Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Sept. 24: Coming up empty

Today's challenge: Discuss a time when you were very afraid.

Well, I've been scared of this day all month! The day where I've got nothin'. Zero. Zip.

I've thought and thought and really can't come up with anything.

That certainly doesn't mean I've never been scared. But this week I just haven't got the energy to sort the ridiculous (Seth jumping out of a closet at me) from the all-too-real (being a brand-new caterer/brand-new single mother with mild panic attacks) from the nostalgic (getting chased around a boarding school campus by a weirdo in the middle of the night).

So, go see Jen. Really. She's a great story-teller and has some real scary ones--who has a car flip all the way over their car on the highway?

Have you every been heart-stoppingly scared? Tell me! 


Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Monday, September 23, 2013

Sept. 23: Blogging origins

Today's blogging challenge: Why did you start blogging?

This seems a little too related to Saturday's post. Who came up with these prompts, anyway? ;)

Since you already know why I started blogging, I'm going to share with you some stuff I've read recently that I've been saving to share. This is one of the things I enjoy most about blogging, even if it's not exactly why I got started in the first place!

A very interesting piece on the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator, and why it's hung around so long when it appears to be somewhat sketchy in its accuracy.

Clean office or messy office? I totally take issue with the findings of this study that says a disorderly desk space invites creativity and new thinking. I can't think straight in a messy space.

So, James Franco wrote a book? Ha.

Favorite tweet from last week, relative to IOS7 rolling out:


Also in the IOS7 realm, this rundown of new ringtones is hilarious. The descriptions are quite elaborate. I never would have thought of a ringtone as having a backstory. Who knew?

Read anything interesting lately? Tell me!


Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Sept. 22: Retail therapy

Today's blogging challenge: What are your top 5 places to shop for you or your kid(s)?

How easy is this? Ha. Maybe a little revealing, however... But, my favorites/usual haunts are:

1. Boden
2. Eddie Bauer
3. Ann Taylor and LOFT
4. TJ Maxx (bargain girl to the core)
5. Garnet Hill

For Seth, equally easy:

1. Old Navy
2. Target
3. Macy's
4. Redbubble and Glennz (both graphic T shops)
5. Eddie Bauer

It is very telling about our local retail experience that I didn't list anything I can't get to online. Alas, that's reality. It makes a fun shopping day like I had last weekend with my SIL Kim all the much sweeter!

Where do you like to shop for yourself and your kids? Any great ideas to throw my way? That would be awesome!


Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Sept. 21: Changed forever by blogging?

Blogging challenge for today: Discuss the ways that blogging or social media have changed you.

I started blogging as a way to record a few things specific to me: recipes and gratitude. Back in the day (2008), the blog tagline reflected that: A little food, a little gratitude. Jen served as inspiration--she'd been blogging for nearly a decade by then. My brother has also blogged off and on over the past few years, and he helped me through some early technical snafus.

While I wouldn't call this blog an online journal--I would be more transparent there--I do share what's going on in my life. I'm very sensitive to husband's privacy, and Seth's too, to a lesser degree--he used to like being featured, now he's neither here nor there about it; Mom blogs? Whatevs.

What I am mostly conscious of, and pay the most attention to in my tone, is presenting a "la la" view of the world. I mean, hello?! The blog name is Sweet Tea & Sunshine. If I could tell you how many times in the past five years a girlfriend has sweetly but mockingly said, "Well, yeah, Sher, but you ARE Sweet Tea and Sunshine." I get that. In many ways, the blog name is a nod to an almost-45-year history of my sunny disposition. Thankfully, though, I long ago gave up thinking that I had to choose between being my sunny, optimistic self AND being a "serious thinker." Who knew? You can be both?! Awesome.

But, as is often the case, the sunny comes out first and is much more marketable--does anyone really want to know when I'm feeling down or crabby or had an argument with my son or husband, or what I'm pondering about gun control or health care or...? It is certainly not my first inclination to share that line of thought in this venue--or anywhere, really. So I'm cognizant of that--that I'm sharing mostly the pretty and yummy. I know bloggers who do a great job with relaying their trials and tribulations, their highs and lows, their bitchy days as well as their happy days. Whenever I have tiptoed out there, it just feels inauthentic. It may be a muscle I flex at some other time, in some other setting, but for right now blogging about what inspires me is what makes the most sense, to me.

One of the best parts of blogging, and social media in general, are the connections. I have "met" bloggers that I would never meet otherwise--Janet and Chel both come quickly to mind, and Lisa has become an IRL friend too, having met initially through our blogs.

As for Facebook, there are countless examples of people who have come back into my life that make me smile (and Jen is one of them). Just when I think I couldn't possibly dig up a past connection, another one finds me, and I'm blessed for that. (Famous last words, I know. Knock on wood.) And for those who I see regularly, Facebook still provides a keep-in-touch aspect to our busy lives, little windows into what's happening even just three pastures over, or across town as kids grow up and people change jobs.

I am occasionally annoyed by Facebook, by the changes that don't allow me to see updates from those that I really want to see, or by posts that irritate me. But I remind myself that I can easily just turn it off, and having a busy work life certainly keeps it to a lower level of interaction than it used to be when I was home during the day and more easily distracted.

Twitter is Twitter. I like it well enough, but am not ambitious enough to actually USE it to an end. I continue to see it as a wave to be ridden, coasting along on top of a massive swell of information. Dipping into it on occasion has worked well for me, and I understand that some people really appreciate the pithy microblogging platform. For me, it's a side dish, hardly the main entree. (Let's see how many different metaphors I can stuff into a paragraph, eh?)

Pinterest is a joy, pure and simple. It's social enough, with existing friends, but not a place to meet people (in my experience). I will follow anyone who shares my interests, but striking up a conversation is a whole other ballgame. I just pin, and am content with that.

Instagram is my newest joy, and I've really enjoyed playing around there the past year or so. I have met people there in a way that Pinterest doesn't facilitate--commenting on someone's picture is a much more common experience than with Pinterest, and getting followed back is natural, and conversation just comes from that. There are amazing photographers on Instagram, of which I am not one. I just love to document various aspects of life, and then share the images elsewhere--Facebook, Twitter and the blog. (And I love to see what my niece Maizy is up to too!)

What am I missing? Foursquare? No thanks. Snapchat? Not for my generation. Vine? Not for my attention span. What else? Who knows. I'm sure something new is being invented even as I type.

Connections. Sharing. Being shared with. It's (generally) all good.

Or, we can hear what Louis C.K. has to say about things in this vein... which is worth a listen. (It's mostly about texting, but you know that half of the people he's talking about texting and driving are really Facebooking and driving. Or tweeting and driving. Or Instagramming... You get it.)


How do you feel about social media/blogging? Any changes to your life because of it?


Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Friday, September 20, 2013

Sept. 20: Friday night grateful list: Holiday time!

Today's blogging challenge: What is your favorite holiday and what are your traditions around it?

Well, this is what I get for blogging late in the day: I look like a big, fat copycat. Jen already posted about Thanksgiving, and that's my favorite holiday too. Thankfully, I have lots of documentation of my holiday love, not the least of which... it's the day husband and I got married!

There are a lot of great quotes about Thanksgiving and gratitude/thankfulness, but I am always very grateful to find a new one that speaks to me. Just today, I saw this on Facebook, and my heart sang with joy:

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder. -G.K. Chesterton

To prove my love for all things Thanksgiving/anniversary, here's a rundown of posts since the blog began:
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012

As Thanksgiving approaches this year and we contemplate our time with family, I think about all that I enjoy: the food, the family, the relaxation of the day. I love autumn, so I will undoubtedly be past the grief of losing summer fruits and veggies, and by then I surely will have embraced all things pumpkin. I will be happily wearing sweaters and boots and appreciate the chill in the air and the lack of yard work.

Our traditions are fairly simple:
*Turkey dinner with all the fixings (turkey substitute too). We have many "stand bys" but there is usually a little room to experiment--though, not with the pumpkin pie. Husband needs the pie to be regular--none of this "sour cream pumpkin pie" or "pumpkin struesel pie." Pumpkin. Pie. That's all he asks.
*Decorate a bit--leaves and pumpkins and candles.
*Wake late, eat breakfast, then lay around for awhile before thinking about dinner.
*I have stretched the boundaries of Christmas decorating to include possibly decorating the tree on--or near--Thanksgiving, if I am home. This may confuse some, but I enjoy it.
*Watch movies and/or football. Surely there's a 007 marathon on somewhere?
*Nap.
*Maybe go for a walk if we're not too groggy.
*Make dinner.
*Eat dinner. Recount our many blessings.
*Lay around some more.
*Depending on how large the celebration is, play a game of hearts, or Taboo, or Pictionary.

Don't we sound like a barrel of fun? Why yes, we are! Ha. We have even been known to combine Thanksgiving, a couple of birthdays (Ma & Pa) and Christmas into one big (and multi-day) festival of family love, which we call Thanksbirthmas. It's pretty spectacular.

Tonight I am ever so grateful that Thanksgiving exists, and that it is coming up in the not-too-distant future.

What is your favorite holiday, and why? 


Jen and I (and occasionally my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Sept. 19: Grown up dreams

Today's blogging challenge: As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up, and did you come close?

When I first formed the idea of being a grown up professional, it was around the idea of broadcast journalism. And I fixated at the ripe old age of 12 on Jessica Savitch. Not Barbara Walters. Not Diane Sawyer. Not even Jane Pauley or any of the other morning ladies. The funny thing is, I don't even remember ever watching Jessica do the news, to be honest, but from somewhere I got the idea that she was a pretty cool cat. (Like my early '80s lingo?)

When I think about the idea of being in front of a camera every night, I have to laugh. There's really not much that appeals LESS to me than that. I am legendarily awkward when a video camera is turned on me, and I know it. Luckily I reached this awareness by the time I entered college and somehow settled on the very practical mass communications degree, with a concentration in journalism and an art minor. Somewhere between 12 and 17 I arrived at the idea of the written word being far more appealing to me than the spoken-in-front-of-a-camera word.

During college, I thought about changing my major a few times--actually did once, but quickly changed it back--and focusing more on literature and creative writing than journalism. But, in the end, I'm not sure how much of a difference it would have made to what I've actually done with my degree in the (cough, sputter) 25 years since acquiring it.

My trajectory looks somewhat like this:
Copy editor
Production coordinator
Managing editor
Director of production
Caterer and personal chef
Stay-at-home mom/wife
Projects (part-time)
Director of web services

Not much Jessica Savitch glamour in that resume. But, I am a-ok with that.

An interesting, but not unusual, side note is that when I started my career post-college, the idea that I'd currently be working primarily online and with websites would never have occurred to me. Well, it couldn't have occurred to me, as the world wide web wasn't yet world wide. Amazing what the past 20 years have brought.

If I were to do the college thing all over again, I would focus more on business, organizational leadership, marketing and a bit of design. In my college days, the business students all seemed quite stuffy and obviously headed for a lifetime of accounting and I avoided that department as much as possible. Not sure why my perception was so strong in that arena, given that I grew up in a household where the idea of business and entrepreneurial spirit was respected; I think now that I just didn't correlate the business concepts I knew with the academic side of it. I feel very lucky to have learned a great deal about business by being part of a great company and also by having a desire to learn more and read and study as I go.

I ran across this little tidbit while looking for a nice picture of Jessica online. It made me laugh. Seeing that I think, "Oh, I could have done that job! It's really just about bossing people around." Ha.

 

What did you want to be when you grew up? Did you make your dreams a reality, or did your dreams change along the way?


Jen and I (and occasionally my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Sept. 18: My happy place

Blog challenge for today: Show us your happy place.


If this picture is being taken it means:
1. I'm not driving.
2. Which means either my son or husband are driving.
3. Feet up = I'm on a road trip.
4. Which means vacation.
5. With my guys.

Truly my happiest place on earth is not a place at all, but wherever I can be with the two guys I am blessed to live with.


Jen and I (and occasionally my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Sept. 17: Corn salads for end-of-summer goodness

Well, I'm officially mailing it in. While Jen and I were texting random nonsense yesterday, and accusing each other of creating challenging blog post topics (it's a blog challenge, doh!), I threw out the idea that maybe a recipe didn't have to be one that we'd actually MADE. Rather, it could be one that we are hoping to make at some point in the near future (who would know if that never happened, the blog police?).

At the time, I had every intention of coming home from our weekend away and making one of the recipes you'll see below. But, I'm not sure what was really going on upstairs (add that to the things to work on: be more realistic about expectations), as time went skittering away quite rapidly upon our return home last evening.

So, I submit to you, three salads (see, not just one!) that I have every intention of making before this season's corn is gone for good. (Which means, in the next week or so!)











The biggest question is: which one should I make first?

What's on your list to make before the summer produce runs out? Or have you already transitioned to fall food? Tell me where you're at with seasonal eating!


Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Sept. 16: Things to strive for

The blogging challenge for today: What do you wish you were better at?

This was not a hard list for me to come up with, not because I am hard on myself, but because I like to improve and have goals, and know that I'm not good at everything I put my mind to.

In no particular order of importance:

Singing. I have often said that if I were a gifted singer I would be hard to be around--I would always singing some song or other. Which is humorous, because I sing a lot as it is. My poor family.

Calligraphy. This is one where I know I would get better and better, if I just put the time in. Someday...




Being graceful. Not sure there's enough time in the world to turn me from this:


Into this:


But a girl can dream, can't she?! I have often referred to my awkward stage as one that began at 14 and hasn't ended. That's not quite true, but I do know that I'm built more for energetic movement rather than graceful movement. (So now I sound like a sprinter, and that's not at all the case.)

Sticking with an exercise regimen long term. This relates to the fundamental disconnect between me and my motives for exercising. Is it health (hmmm, sure, if you say so) or is it to stop the jiggling of the thighs (closer to the truth). A few weeks/months in, the jiggle stops and so do I. Not a big mystery, but a repeated trend I'd like to shake up a bit. Surely by my mid-forties, I should be able to exercise for the health of it?

Sewing. Much like calligraphy, a little time (and some increased patience, which I feel I am acquiring in my old age) would do wonders toward turning me into a quilter.

Then I would turn out pieces like this:




Yes, I want to get better at things such as being flexible/spontaneous more quickly (I need a few minutes to adjust to changes, any changes) and being a better listener. I would also very much like to end my life as someone who has mastered the fine art of forgiveness and unconditional love. Again, a girl can dream, right?!

Onward to continual improvement, whether sewing a straight line or singing on key!

What would you like to get better at? Taking any steps to do so?


Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Sept. 15: Advice

Today's blogging challenge: What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?

Advice is a tricky thing. I think we've all been in a place where hearing what someone else thinks you should do is simply not where you're at. And we've all been in a place to receive good advice, too, and apply it where needed. The absolute worst is the bad advice at a time when you're not wanting ANY advice. Thankfully, this blog post is not about THAT! (But maybe a future one will be, if I can unblock the memories of the worst advice I've ever gotten.)

The advice I received below came at the right time, and from the right people.

From a friend of a friend (on the occasion of my marriage ending): "Get angry." I was having some difficulty staying mad about the circumstances for more than an hour or two. Her take was that I wouldn't truly start to move forward without some fire in my belly. I really had to work at that--anger is not my middle name--but I did get up and get moving, soon thereafter.

From a friend's husband (also on the occasion of my marriage ending): "Always take the high road, no matter how difficult that feels at the time," speaking from his own experience, a decade post-divorce. Now that it's been that same amount of time for me, I do still agree that the high road is the best course of action, but you also can't forget to stand up for yourself and what's right, too. Sometimes that requires speaking up, from the high road.

From husband (when I was negotiating on the lease for my catering kitchen): "Don't talk a lot. The person who talks the most usually gets the worst end of the deal." And voila! It worked. I had never heard that advice before, and as hard as not talking is for me (!), I have tried to use that in other situations since. Not every gap in conversation needs to be filled!

I asked a couple of other people around me this weekend what good advice they've received as well:

Husband (he couldn't remember who had shared this with him): "Things are evolving. Enjoy life while it's good, don't get too worked up when things are bad." Agreed!

SIL Kim (from her mom): "Stop trying to please everyone." Amen!

What's the best advice you've ever gotten? Who was it from, and were you ready to hear it at the time?


Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Sept. 14: A chance to air my views

Well, as luck would have it, the next two posts are supposed to require some thought, and "real" writing, and where am I? On vacation with family. Yes, a more thoughtful blogger would have planned ahead, I do realize that.

I'm not going to bail completely, but maybe tread more lightly than I had planned, and circle back around for a more "ranty" post later. The challenge for today: What has happened lately in the media that make me want to rant?

Well, there is always something, right? If it's not some social issue, there's popular culture or politics. So many diverse opinions, so loudly stated, one can't help but take issue with not only the message at times, but also the delivery method.

A couple of weeks back, the VMAs and the Miley/Robin Show got everyone chewing on a variety of topics ranging from the obvious (foam fingers? teddy bears? Beetlejuice suits?) to the more nuanced (a little white girl dancing with large black women all around? what's that about?). It was very interesting to read the various takes on the performance, and for a few minutes it seemed like everyone forgot that the ability to provoke and enflame is pretty much standard fare at the Video Music Awards. And of course, it's all pretty much died down now, and the media seems to have largely moved on.

A blogger I follow posted the video below, soon after the VMAs. There wasn't an overt written correlation to that performance, but for me the link is clear. Women as accessories to men, or women as "female wallpaper" in a male setting aren't issues I have had to deal with on a daily basis. And yet, they are issues in many settings, and as a woman who cares about how women are perceived, the video below bothered me greatly, and stayed with me.



Rather than a rant per se, I am left with many questions about why women conduct themselves in certain ways; why when so much progress has been made, and so many options are available to women they would choose to relegate themselves to riding on surfboards, climbing under plexy desks and sculpting their faces and bodies in the quest for youth and beauty.

I am sure there are many--men and women alike--who would say these are valid choices that women make, and who am I to judge those choices? I think Narelle on her blog said it excellently when she penned: "It is about women and the radical disavowal of responsibility, the profound unwillingness to be at the source of our lives."

I am grateful to live and work and love and participate in a place and with people who value me for who I am. I have no doubt that culturally and socioeconomically I am blessed with many circumstances that encourage this freedom. But I am also sad. I am sad for women who feel the choice to be valued as a person and not a thing is somehow beyond them, or that they might not even be aware of their voice in this conversation.

What's your thought as you watch this video? Did you have a strong opinion about Miley's performance at the VMAs? Did you think Robin Thicke should have taken a bit more of the pushback in the aftermath?


Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Friday, September 13, 2013

Sept. 13: Friday night grateful moment, or: what is your favorite quote, and why?

Ah, Friday. So good to see you.

The blog challenge for today is to share a favorite quote. In the singular. Ha ha ha. Favorite? My favorite changes quite regularly. It depends on mood, weather, moon cycles, you name it.

So, obviously, I can't share just one. And I'm going to mix in the gratitude with the quotes. That's the kind of cleverness you have come to expect here on the blog, I know. And I aim to deliver.

This week was a mix of work and non-profit-ish work, which felt a bit like play, except for the hours spent s.i.t.t.i.n.g. I am not used to that. My stand-up desk keeps me somewhat spry, and when, on the second morning I planted my butt in the same chair as day 1, it spoke up and said, "Hey, don't sit on me again." Seriously. But the conversations and discussions and presentations were all lively and interesting and louder than my butt, thankfully. So grateful for thoughtful minds.

Last night I was grateful to get to spend time with dear friend Kate, and we wandered the Queen Anne farmer's market and a few other shops. There were some really fabulous looking/smelling food trucks there, from mac-n-cheese to quesadillas and artisanal ice creams.

We wandered back to Kate's car via a shop that had the following quotes available--and many more--very simply typed out. I looked for quotes I haven't seen before, or quotes in a larger context/paragraph, which I'm also a big fan of.

So these are my favorite quotes. Today. As Jen said in her post, ask me next week, and they will be different!







I am also excessively grateful to be with family tonight. Spending time with my brother and family is a favorite of mine, and it's been toooooo long. Looking forward to some of our traditions (football for boys, shopping and Indian food for Kim and I), quiet time, naps, walks, movies, food... all the good stuff.

Wishing you a lovely weekend, full of all the good stuff you enjoy!


Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Sept. 12: Long overdue cookie joy!


This summer we had our annual summer picnic at work, with the theme of a country fair. My husband's sister does an amazing job of planning the company gatherings down to the smallest detail; she is really quite gifted at events. I was in charge of cookies--blue ribbon state fair winning cookies, to be exact.

After a fair amount of research,  we arrived at the following cookies:

Snickerdoodles with white chocolate chips (Utah)

Molasses cookies (Ohio)

Chocolate chip cookies (Island County Fair)

Peanut butter cookies (Maryland)

Ultimate dark chocolate chip cookies (Wisconsin)

Healthy oatmeal cookies (Virginia)

I have to give big props to Pinterest once again (what else is new?). It was a very valuable search engine for finding official blue ribbon recipes, better than Google in some regards. And, of course, a handy way to save recipes for making later!

I am not a big molasses fan, but I heard more compliments on that cookie than any other. The snickerdoodles were good but had a tendency to dry out (crisp) rather than stay soft as I had hoped. My absolute favorite was the ultimate dark chocolate chip cookie, as it had craisins, dried apricots, two kinds of nuts AND chocolate. A really packed cookie, and very flavorful.

Husband's favorite was the healthy oatmeal cookie, which was similar to the dark chocolate, except not quite as packed with fruit, and only one nut. And healthier. :)

My big takeaway from the cookie making extravaganza (I made upwards of 300, just to cover my bases) was that I'd forgotten how easy cookies are to make! I remarked many times, "I need to make cookies more often!" And have I? Um, no. But still, it was a good reminder that when a sweet tooth hits, warming up the mixer and throwing in some ingredients is not a bad way to go!

What's your favorite cookie recipe? I'm always up for a new one!


Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Sept. 11: Remembrance

Blogging challenge for today: what do you remember about this day in 2001?

Funny that I just blogged about Corinne, as she figures heavily into my 9/11 memories, as well. I guess this is just her week for being featured prominently on the blog! (You can thank me later, C.)

I was in San Diego on business, a conference that is heavily attended by my work and many others in the health care marketing arena every year. There were many of us from work there--maybe almost 20.

On the morning of Sept. 11, I woke up around 6 a.m. PT, and went down to the hotel gym. I got on a treadmill and started walking, and then looked up at the TV. I think the first tower had already been hit, and I stood there and watched the TV for a while before just picking up my stuff and walking back to my room, and turning on CNN there. I sat, glued to the screen, for some time.

I called home, talked to my then-husband, and Seth--who was coming up on 5--and then somehow (how? we didn't have cell phones?) learned from Corinne, who was on her way to see me from the Central California Coast, that she was stuck in some pretty extreme traffic on the way to San Diego.

Anyway, the day was a blur of TV watching. When I went over to the conference center, the huge 20-foot screens were all filled with images of the towers, the Pentagon, the field in Pennsylvania. Soon enough they were filled with Saddam Hussein, and talk of al Qaeda involvement. The conference as it had been planned simply disappeared. People from the east coast immediately started driving home. My co-workers spent time each day for the next couple of days calling Alaska Airlines asking when they would be flying again. The ticket agents would take our names and give us flight numbers and seat assignments, but when those times rolled around and there were no planes flying anywhere, we'd call again. It was a weird, futile exercise, but it somehow helped us feel like we could manage something, control something, when quite obviously we could not.

Corinne brought her daughter, Adrienne, with her--she was just a few months old at the time--so we had something cute and bouncy to pay attention to. We decided to keep our dinner reservations at a restaurant in La Jolla, and drove down and had a quick meal, but I don't remember it very well. It was a highly distractable time.

Finally on Thursday it was decided as a group we would drive home (to my memory, Corinne stayed one night and then drove home Wednesday). There were a few rental cars already rented to those in our group, and we divided up and hit the road around noon. By Friday night we were home, and very glad to be.


Last fall, when Corinne and I went to NYC for my birthday, one of our first stops was the 9/11 memorial at the former WTC location in lower Manhattan. It's a solemn place, to be sure, but very beautiful and still. It's hard to even fathom now how gutted the city looked after the events of 9/11--I've been to Ground Zero four times since then--solo, with husband, with Seth and with Corinne--and each time it is more healed, but what happened there is still very present. Never forgotten.

I have a book that was published on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, called September Morning. It is a collection of poems and readings from the memorial services over the years. There are notes to parents, to spouses, siblings; words about loss and remembering; poems from many well-known writers that fit the mood and the moment of a memorial.

One of my very favorites, "The Names," written by Billy Collins and read by him in 2002, was re-read in part by Mayor Bloomberg in 2003. The final lines:

Names etched on the head of a pin.
One name spanning a bridge, another undergoing a tunnel.
A blue name needled into the skin.
Names of citizens, workers, mothers and fathers,
The bright-eyed daughter, the quick son,
Alphabet of names in a green field.
Names in the small tracks of birds.
Names lifted from a hat
Or balanced on the tip of the tongue.
Names wheeled into the dim warehouse of memory.
So many names, there is barely room on the walls of the heart.

When you walk the memorial (panorama above), and see all the names cut out of metal and lit from behind (below), the loss of life is heart-stopping. You can hear the number: 2,792. But when you see 2,792 names, one after the other, it hits home, much like hearing those names read as they do each year at Ground Zero.


What do you remember about 9/11? Do you do anything special or different to commemorate the day?


Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.




Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Sept. 10: A review (product)

The challenge for today is to write a review of a book, a place or a product. Well, dear readers, here's a confession... not reading much outside of work. Haven't been much of anywhere, lately. But products, oh yeah, I've got those a'plenty.

The product I am choosing to review is a very practical product for the pet set... it's OXY carpet cleaner, by Woolite.



See, we have a new pup in the house. Not a new new pup, but new to us--well, since Memorial Day. He's a sweetie, but it's been an adjustment for all. And little wee marks have been found in a variety of carpeted places. Odd to have wee marks from a seven-year-old dog, but there you have it.


OXY rocks the pet urine. That's all there is to say. I've tried many over the years (Chief's been known to mark a time or two, himself), and OXY is hands down the best pet stain remover I've found.

There you have it. Spray and walk away. Well, more or less. Spray, wait and vaccum.

Do you have a favorite product, something you can't live without? Tell me about it!


Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Sept. 9: Monday morning inspiration + blog challenge: Fantasy time!

The challenge for today is: what would you do with three months off as an escape from your current life?

This one is not hard in the slightest. Didn't have to think for more than one teeny tiny second.

I would travel. I would take husband, we would pack up a couple of bags apiece, and we would hit the road.

Month 1: Road trip around the USA.

I have always wanted to do this. Back and forth and all around. In an RV, one of those really big road-hogs that guzzles gas. With slide-outs and satellite TV and everything. I know, pretty gross (in a green/climate concerned sense), but also, how fun! Ha. And one month. What can one month hurt? I would want to zig zag around the country, hitting some well-known spots (Grand Canyon, ) and also some out of the way places I have always wanted to see (Florida Keys, Maine, etc.).

We could take this:



Or this:



Or--how fabulous, this beauty:


Month 2: Europe.

My mom and dad did a few weeks in Europe this summer, some by boat, some by land. Check out their blogs here: ...And the Livin' is Easy & Shower Wisdom. There's lots of inspiration there, in their July and August posts, about a variety of places around the Mediterranean.

My must-sees in my month abroad:








Instanbul (how could I resist this picture, really?)

Month 3: Beach time.

By this point, I think I'd be tired of traveling, to be honest, and ready to just park it on a beach for a while. I am flexible on where the beach is, but I do know that I have always wanted to spend some time in the Maldives.

So before the oceans rise and swamp all those beautiful huts over the water (I have been reading too much about climate change recently, it seems), I would spend a month looking at this:


I would occasionally hang out here:


On an especially energetic day, we might go for a helicopter ride and look down on our hut (it's the second one in on the right):


Or maybe a bit of a swim:


On a quiet night we might eat out on the dock:


I have a feeling we would come home very rested.

Right about now I feel like a selfish ninny for plotting three very ME ME ME months. Alas, that is what the challenge called for, and I responded!

What would you do with three months to do whatever you wanted? (I assumed that meant cost was not an issue, so you can play by that rule too!) Where would you go? What would you do?


Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

 
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