Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone.  It sure has changed since I was a kid...  (This is the start of a story my parents would tell about carrying water everyday, but here it goes)  We walked through snow drifts, in plastic masks with no breathing holes, lugging a pillow case, collecting homemade popcorn snacks, molasses candies and mini chocolate bars.  These days we don’t dare to hand out anything that wasn’t made in a factory in China.    As parents we still sort the bag looking for any suspicious candy that could be laced with a razor blade, or in my case coconut... Coconut and chocolate.. I have told the girls that it is very dangerous to children, and it just happens to be my favorite.    I consider a good Halloween, groceries for weeks.     Hayley came home from school to report that  there was a rumor that any “older” kids out halloweening could be fined by the police.   That is crazy to me.  If anyone shows up at my door in a costume they get candy, including the parents.  I think the criminal system has enough to deal with than cracking down on a 15 year old dressed as a pirate, knocking on doors for candy.  Imagine that conversation with the parents when the police show up.. “So you pirate was going door to door asking for candy from willing strangers, on Halloween”.  Its so ridiculous that makes me smile.   Frankly,  If someone stayed home to hand out candy at my house, I would hit the streets in a costume.  I would love to hear what my daughters would say when the  police brought me home.  It would probably be along the lines of “Thank you officer... she really thinks she is 12 sometimes”.   

age and ADD

Most days, I crawl into bed and try and remember what I actually accomplished. The kids are always fed, the dog walked and at some point at least one load of laundry went in, but after that the last 12 hours is a blur. Time seems to stand still only when I am waiting for my 5 shot starbucks. This video came to my phone today, and I had to laugh....It was a great reminder that we are losing it... Embrace our ADD.... Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=6oHBG3ABUJU&vq=medium

Start the day with positive thoughts end with gratitude

Greet everyday with positive thoughts and close it with gratitude. What a concept. Usually I greet everyday with my to do list before I open my eyes. Even in those few quiet moments I have each day, my mind is already racing. Closing my day with gratitude, is a great idea. My head usually hits the pillow like a cement block, not another ounce of energy left in my body or another thought able to cross my mind. I read somewhere that it takes 21 days to make a change. Day 1 on Tuesday, changing the way I start and close my day. My first positive thought is going to be that the girls remembered to turn on the dishwasher. And right now, I am very grateful to have a warm bed to sleep in, food in my fridge and a dishwasher that probably wasn’t turned on.

What happened to my singing career?

 Today Billies soccer team the Cheetahs hit the field.  I am a lucky mom as I get to be  on the bench most of the games as I am the official manager of 13,  8 year old girls.  It is a intense job of lace tying, gate opening , and occasional tear wiper after the mean girl on the other team steps on their toes.   During one of the shift changes I told Anna that I was an expect on soccer shoes laces.  She looked at me with the most glorious big eyes to declare all of the things she was really good at.. singing...writing, dancing and obviously soccer.  I was amazed at the self confidence this beautiful little girl had.  At what point does society rob her of this gift of knowing what she is good at?  If I asked her in 5 years would she be able to tell me what she is good at with such enthusiasm?   Probably not, and tragic really... I am reading the four agreements and the first agreement is being impeccable with your words. This is a huge lesson in itself.  How easily we can say things in passing when we are  tired or frustrated  but can make such an imprint on someone else.   I know I am guilty.    I can think of many occasions when I spoke and she have been silent.    I am sure when I was 8,  I was a good singer too.  Not sure what happened to my singing career, might have been the introduction of the Organ.  Serious childhood trauma, and a entire blog for another night.  

Here we go, online dating

Sitting at dinner tonight with my sister and her husband and we were talking about dating and communication.  In the good old days the only form of communication was telephone, and most of us didn’t have answering machines.  Now there is texting, skype, facebook, tweeter and the cell phone.  If you give someone all your information and they can’t find you, they are to dumb to date.   In the 80’s it was easy to pretend to be someone you weren’t.  Now before you even go out, there is hours of investigative work on the internet.     I am now leery of anyone who has no google hits.  Have they lived under a rock?  Had no life what so ever? Or could they be so interesting that they are in the witness protection program?   This is where my new adventure is taking me, to creeping people online and social media dating.  Somehow I don’t feel ready... Maybe I should ask for advice on tweeter.  Teenagers always have the best advice in 40 characters or less.  

Enjoy the now

I came home from my meeting tonight with the delicious smell of popcorn in the air only  to find remnants remaining.    As I ran my fingers over the buttery bowl, I thought that this is just the right amount for me.   If I had made a gigantic bowl, I would have stuffed myself to a tummy ache.   There are so many things in my life that I need to learn my limits on.    Numerous food and beverage choices, my shoe obsession and more importantly looking into the future, and hashing up the past.  The could of, would of and should have..   can occupy my brain which makes me forget about living in the now.    There is nothing I can do about the past, other than learn from my mistakes.  Nothing I can do about the future, other than take with me what I have learned.  This brings me right here in this very moment.  Enjoying the golden leaves falling from the trees,  the incredible fall weather, remnants of popcorn and sweet honey crisp apples.   Maybe my life can be enjoyed that easily.  

Power of attraction

The power of attraction, is a well written subject. In 2006 a book was written called “the secret” and it was all the rage. It really wasn’t a new idea, the bible is full of quotes "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." (Mark 9:23) I stood at the grocery line today looking at the headlines of the magazines, and I had an overwhelming sense of inadequacy. My house was out of date, my hair is out of control, my tummy needs a tuck and I am cooking the wrong thing for dinner. I was in line for 8 min. Not one positive message on any headline. If we read, watch and listen to things that inspire us, we will be inspired. Use the law of attraction to bring us what we really need. Not bigger houses, or faster cars. Better relationships, and simpler lives. If we all decided that we had more was not better, and enough is enough then drug companies would go bust. No more anti anxiety pills and heart medication. There is a great face book page called “calming your inner storm”, beautiful photos with positive messages, the best part is its free. Sometimes the best things in life are really free.

words hurt

We have some rules in this house and I am not talking about picking up backpacks or making sure your homework is done, those are rules that are constantly broken... Its put downs and my pet peeve. The girls are not allowed to say hate, or call themselves stupid or dumb. We are not perfect, sisters fight, kids name call, and its all hurtful. I was sent this photo today, and wonder how many kids are out there being told these messages. We need to be better parents even when our kids do something dumb.

Four bad days of eating and I can feel it on my body. The pants are tight, but the bigger issue is that the body is sluggish. I spent the long weekend indulging myself... I was very thankful for pies and desserts. It would not truly be celebrating if we refused the things we are most thankful for. Needless to say, when the body is off so is everything else. My brain feels cluttered, I have less energy and bad eating leads to more bad eating... As I laid down for a 20 min nap which is such a luxury, I thought about what a fantastic side effect a nap was after a weekend of gluttony. Sometimes there are rewards for bad behavior. I also realized it took a pumpkin pie, chocolate cake, creme brulee, chirro’s and chocolate sauce and oranges with rosemary to get me to rest. Divine intervention by sugar.

taking responsibility for relationships

Today was a day of relationships. Working and interacting with people, co-workers, friends and family. Many relationships are just easy and others are work. I have some friendships that I work harder at and I have some friends who work harder at being my friend. I always feel guilty about those. Not that I don’t want to see them, its much like the squeaky wheel syndrome. The the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Driving around today, sitting at the lights was an old neighbor who at one time was a very good friend. I waved, honked, roll down my window, stuck my arm out and she didn’t look over. She was stealing a quiet moment in her car, but to everyone else at the light, I was a crazy red haired road raged maniac. I reflected back on the years and couldn’t remember how we drifted apart, no fight, no lack of respect, we were just busy with families. What really happened is that neither of us chose to take responsibility for the friendship. When I got into my writing space tonight I read my emails and came across this video. Just really sums up what we need to do to hold on to those we hold dear. Its called the 100/0 principle. Take 100% of the responsibility and expect nothing in return. I know a few people just spit their coffee out reading this, but have a look before you text me this morning. If what your trying doesn’t work, maybe you need to change strategies. Keep a open mind karma sisters.

The 100/0 Principle | Simple Truths

www.100-0principle.com

The 100/0 Principle will guide you to developing effective relationships to help you succeed and improve relationships. Get the 100/0 Principle today.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We are all rubbing our bellies wishing that we hadn’t gone back for another piece of pie, or perhaps you are wondering why the white bun always seems like such a good idea. Tums should be passed around with the coffee. Thanksgiving is really about be thankful for the bountiful harvest. Most of us are not working the fields to produce a harvest, but we all have reasons to be thankful. Family, friends, food and new shoes are always great places to start. But, if you dig deeper what would you be most thankful for? I had dinner with a friend and he spoke of his cancer like a gift. It was a cleansing in his life. Sometimes the greatest hardships bring the greatest gifts, and those gifts we can be most thankful for. Happy gobble gobble...

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/stacey_kramer_the_best_gift_i_ever_survived.html

Stacey Kramer: The best gift I ever survived | Video on TED.com

www.ted.com

TED Talks Stacey Kramer offers a moving, personal, 3-minute parable that shows how an unwanted experience -- frightening, traumatic, costly -- can turn out to be a priceless gift.

Steve Jobs RIP

Steve Jobs died this week and to most people he was just a really rich computer guru who made billions on apple. All this information is true, but what most people don’t know is that he was a college drop out, ran off to India, became a Buddhist, and was so broke in the 70’s ate free meals with the Hare Krishna's. He was one of the founders of Mac computers, pushed out, started again, and then eventually his new company bought out by Mac. He didn’t have the education to be who he became, he didn’t have the upbringing, he just had passion. He followed what was true for him and he made his mark on this earth. One of my favorite quotes of his “We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life” Steve Jobs 1955-2011

Here is his talk about living before you die. So worth the watch
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/steve_jobs_how_to_live_before_you_die.html

Steve Jobs: How to live before you die | Video on TED.com

www.ted.com

TED Talks At his Stanford University commencement speech, Steve Jobs, CEO and co-founder of Apple and Pixar, urges us to pursue our dreams and see the opportunities in life's setbacks -- including death itself.

discount email

Every morning I wake up my phone is filled with emails. I am always a bit excited to to see who has dropped me a note. Instead it is offers of fantastic vacations, cheap dinners or merchandise at 50% off.    What savings!  Should I really consider a week at a time share resort with a bottle of Mexico’s best water waiting for me in my room?    We are bombarded everyday everywhere with marketing ads.   Marketers are hoping  society is searching for happiness in trips and discounted stuff.   Maybe happiness is just waking up to only two emails from friends?   I am cleaning up my inbox today and un-subscribing to everything.    And when I decide to take a vacation,  I will just book it with no fine print and no bottle water.  

Glee night.. Yippee

It is glee night here, its the only show I watch on T.V. Not because I enjoy the music or the plot of the show, it is the only show we can watch together as a family. Somehow everyone seems to make it home in time. There is always an underlying message, about friendship, forgiveness and then they wrap it all up in a nice bow at the end of the hour. It usually costs the itunes account $4.00 as they girls download the newest songs from the episode. This is the precious family moments that I appreciate, with lots of girl gab during commercials. Crazy family time is over a bunch of 20 somethings trying to play high school students. I’ll take what I can.

Blogger Block

I am having trouble writing and for lots of different reasons. I really don’t consider myself a serious writer, just a blogger. Writers block is something that apparently everyone gets, but bloggers? They should re-name it bloggers block. There are lots of expressions about “blocks” like.. road blocks, cellblock and mental block. Blocks happen in everyones life. How do you get over a block? Remove the obstacles or go around would probably be the tangible right answer. My issue is not physical so now I have to find out what the block is. Way to much work.. l am going to give this blockhead a rest, maybe something insightful will come to me tomorrow. More sleep would be start.