2011 Integrity in the Sun

I want 2011 to be good, a new start of sorts, a new beginning in a pleasant attitude. Let it be just that. I want to honor those that I love, I want to be a better person and I want to grow leaps and bounds above my own indiscretions of the past.

It was good to sit today and watch my friend of many years son play soccer. The day was beautiful and I learned how complicated families can be. I think that I often take the act of family socialization for granted. I come from a very small family and my extended family is almost non-existent. I watched my friend today play a ever so delicate shell and ball game when it came to the people around her today. I was proud of her integrity and that she made choices that benefited herself and others. Pure selflessness at its finest. Lesson noted on my end. I need to be more considerate of those around me, no matter my social awkwardness.

Yes, today I am thankful for the pressing sunburn that seems to be getting worse by the moment because it reminds me that sitting in the sun among a good friend is worth it all.

Maybe Orange is the Color of the Season!

I wish I had a funny story to write about or something silly to share but on this cold and rainy Sunday morning I stare out a window watching the cloud's teardrops fall onto orange flowers. Each drop that falls is almost in sync with the pounding of my headache. A headache I am sure caused by the continual thinking of a red and white season. Give me one week and I will provide you with a happy person, a person not wound up and ready to unspin at anyone willing to pull at the string. My Scroogeness is being worn on both sleeves now. But, in the attempt to be 'merry', Stephanie and I mushed and mashed a bunch of ingredients yesterday and then I cut and baked spices into holiday shapes. Yes, gingerbread men, women and shapes were born right here in this quaint gray abode and then I smothered their little beings and created personalities, with ties, tennis shoes, snow hats and gloves. Lucky them, they get a new wardrobe before finding themselves entering into a cave of doom.

Today (when I muster up the energy) I will haul out the 'paper of festive', tape, scissors and enough will to wrap the few gifts I have been out to purchase. Once I have accomplished this task hopefully I will be able to pull myself into the car and fare the other soaking crabby wet people as we strong arm each other for those last minute gifts. There goes my head pounding again.......OUCH.

Maybe there is hope, I just looked out and saw a little hummingbird flying in the rain while sticking it's needle into the orange flowers. Perhaps perseverance is key. That is the lesson learned today..........................and a good headache med is calling.

A Beacon of Hope

That time of year is here folks, it is time to put on your Santa hats and roam the stores searching for that deal of a life time. It is the season to drink hot chocolate (COFFEE IN MY CASE), cozy up under a warm blanket, turn off the lights and let the Christmas tree shine as a beacon of hope.

Decorating

I gathered enough energy yesterday to pull down a few boxes of decorations and several hours later we only had the tree decorated (my little elf and the tree above). There are plastic bins all over the house begging to be emptied and their contents distributed into little vignettes. I am electing this year to simplify the Christmas Cheer in our house. I am tired of looking at the same old Christmas mouse with her little red Santa hat sweetly laid perfectly on her head. I want new, exciting (and less work) decorating to go on this year. So, I am going to skip the traditional topper on the Christmas tree and do something new. Pictures to follow if it turns out positive!!!

Baking

Last year I baked up a storm and I can't decide if I want to do the same this year (see right for last years sweets). I made a list and there are about 10 people or families I would hand yummy treats to so I suspect that I will be in the kitchen at least one whole day this December. Question is, what do I make? Again I don't want to do the same stuff so I am going to do a little research and compile a new list of sugar confections. Hopefully the new stuff will taste good! Perhaps I better throw in some traditional stuff that I know I can make (just in case).

Today

I have plastic boxes calling my name and a hearty dinner to be cooked and a blanket wrapped around me keeping me hostage. Liberation is in order if I want to turn this house into a modern day Winter Wonder Land.................... I am off to find my little elf!

It's a Turkey Week and YES......I am the Turkey!

It's 5:05 pm on a Monday night and I just poured myself a cup of coffee. A steaming cup of brown goodness that I suspect will keep me up into the late hours of the night. Yes, this makes me a turkey because I know better, I should not drink one ounce of caffeine after 2:00 pm. But, it is cold outside and I am not a lover of the hot chocolate powdered mix junk so I sacrificed sleep for a 5 minute pleasure. This is me being a coffee drinking turkey...........

Do turkeys walk around aimlessly in the wild in complete boredom? I too find myself with little to do. I've finally have come to the conclusion that I need to have a fast paced life style and my brain must always be on or I start thinking BAD thoughts. This is me walking around being a bored turkey............

Laid out and sprawled out with a heap of stuffed bread, looking all plump and over processed on a Thanksgiving Day table. I hate to admit, I am relating more and more to turkeys. This past weekend I was sprawled out on the couch watching a little television and I was also stuffed with a yummy croissant. STUFFED WITH BREAD! This is me..........an exact replica of a Thanksgiving Day Turkey....................

 

 

HalloTurkMas Stew!

It's that time of year to haul out your pumpkins, fake fall leaves and prep the excitement of pine in the air. We are already mid Halloturkmas season and I am a wonder how everyone is feeling about it this year.

I personally am not overly excited about the holidays this year, as a matter of fact they could go by and I really would not care. Gave way to the years of hopping into the car and driving into the desert to spend a windy Thanksgiving with family I hardly even knew. These were the best Thanksgivings EVER! Sand in your turkey, butt nakedness at the local hot water springs, meeting strangers that told you that you reminded them of some woman you've never met and the sleepy ride home watching the sun set over the red mountains gave me hope that the world was a scene out of a Norman Rockwell painting. Phewy! Years go by, family moves away, people pass away, divorces happen and soon you are left to make your own memories with a deck of cards and 5 people that really don't care about a season that does nothing but remind them that life has taken a path in the opposite direction of what was anticipated. Put on that smile and inhale the turkey sent while we all scream Uno!

Halloween turned out better than expected, I do have to admit that. Walking streets with a family known through my daughters school made me realize there are people in the world that still want to put on costumes, run after children with a de-chained chainsaw and make us adults pee our pants (yes, I almost had the dreaded stain of yellow pee down my jeans that fateful night). I have never seen a neighborhood so dedicated to fright. There were no Hallufests, no trunk trick o treating at the church parking lots and I clung to the last adrenaline memory of my childhood this night. At least my daughter experienced what I like to call Halloween Wildness for one night. Thank you scary man that jumped out and scared my friend Jackie who was dressed as a voodoo lady, her ju-ju magic kept us safe this evening!

Christmas, Christmas, Christmas..................what can I say. This year just does not feel the same. I want nothing more than to re-live the Christmas spirit from when I was young. Yet, I know this can never be. Hopefully as the season goes on my Halloturkmas funk will turn into a fun filled moment of hope. I am anti Christmas music, lights, decorations and cinnamon at the moment. Hopping on a plane and flying to an island on December 23rd is sounding really good at the moment.

Watch but Don't Judge

Do you ever sit in a moment and wonder why you are participating in that exact moment? This week I have been overly conscience of every moment, ever ticking second and every flurry of action others exert around me. I can't help but to let my mind wonder during meetings or watch people from across a table and analyze every little movement their muscles so slightly control. Little twitches, eye rolls, deep breathes, frowns, smiles, shift in weight, ticks and eye movements have somehow become my new personal reading material. So much so, I have become overly aware of my own body telling stories I don't want others to know. Yes I am overly expressive and yes most of the time I wear how I feel on my sleeve, but I usually put it out there because I fear others are doing the same to me. Why not put all of you out there? Why do so many people hide? I find it more intriguing at the things people are hiding and yes that might mean I am a little more sick and twisted than I want to admit. But it is true! True, true, true............how many things can you say are true in life? The little eye roll you do when someone says something you completely disagree with? The heavy breathes you exhale when you are biting your tongue? The smile you conceal because you don't want that person to know how you really feel? The shift in your weight when you suspect people are far removed from the current conversation and you know they are not invested? Well, I suggest you take a moment and look around the room. Body language speaks volumes and the more you learn someones nuances and talk with them the sooner you decipher the folded hands in lap, the leaning back in a chair and the gaze out a window is an elected pondering moment and not the suspected uninterest in conversation.

This comes with a WARNING, if you elect to participate in the "eyefull watch" be aware you may learn more then you care to, you may find out truths or even conjure up lies. Know today someone may tell one story and tomorrow the plot may change and you must always be willing to leave judgement at the door. Elect to watch out of curiosity and you will learn more about people, humanity and become more intuitive than you could ever expect to become. Carry on my friends and watch the world.................

Off the Beaten Track, Just Like Columbus!

Hot Damn, it's Columbus Day and that means.............NO WORK! Out of all the holidays throughout the year, Columbus Day has to be one of my favorites. You ask why, well, kid and hubbie have school and work and I have the house to myself and my own schedule to manage. What to do, what to do? I could go bear hunting, I could sleep all day, I could read Mad Magazine but I initially choose to wake up, get my daughter off to school and putz around the house until my fingers turned an awful shade of blue.

Vote: How many of you think I did any of that? I at least got my daughter off to school.

True are the days where nothing you plan happens and you roll with the minutes. My mom and I trekked off to Ti Pan Trading Co. Have you been there? Let me tell you something, that place is a man's nightmare. Everything to decorate your house is in that place. WARNING: If you take your husband, boyfriend, or whomever into this store, make sure you are ready to cook a really good dinner or are willing to give him some "dessert" because his eyes will glaze over after seeing the ample amounts of glitter, flowers, bows and wreaths. If you are not married and end up going into this store, PLEASE CALL ME, I want to tag along!

After my lovely decorating trek I briefly volunteered in my daughters class. Boy was that an eye opener. 3rd graders at the end of the day already need a bath. I love them, I love them a lot and I have to envy their energy to generate that much sweat. It made me wonder if I ever came home covered in sweat, number 2 pencil smudged all the way to my elbows, and blacktop goo under my eyes closely resembling a line backer ready to take on the opposing team. Holy cow, those little munchkins could have whipped the Colts butts while assigning character leads in their recently choreographed blacktop play "Monster High does Clare Cherry" (Need to know what Monster High and Clare Cherry School are? Goggle it). These kids were perfect in every way! Listening to them and hearing their little minds work a mile a minute gave me hope, even if they are having issues spelling. Their creativity, dedication, and nature were truly inspiring.

Now, we are going to try making homemade ice cream tonight for the first time and that idea was not on the Columbus Day agenda. Like Columbus, I got a little off track but the rewards have been great.