The rabbit spoon rest

 I never really understood the usefulness of a spoon rest until I really started cooking.  Prior to that, they were always just little decorative items that sat on the stove top.  Grandmother had one on her stove that I remember but I don't recall Mom having one on hers. Maybe she did, but if so, I have forgotten it.  Ah, well. Now that I cook a lot, I definitely need to have my spoon rest handy!  I have three different ones that I use throughout the year. This one, with the rabbit, is the second one I bought.  I was at an antiques mall in Kernersville and saw it.  It was in a booth having a 20% off sale so I paid less than $10 for it.  While it is not an antique, more along the lines of a collectible, I love it.  I don't collect rabbits, per say, but this one is very springish to me.  And it's decorated in green, my favorite color! So why not treat myself?  And I did.  And I use it all the time.  It's the one that is currently on my stove top.  

It's the little things that make me happy.  That is all. 

Recipe of the Week - Easy Onion Soup

 There's no hiding that I love onions.  I always have.  I especially love to smell them cooking.  I found this recipe somewhere online.  I had some leftover onions that I needed to use up and this was perfect!  It's very easy and it freezes well.  It's not French onion soup, but it's still pretty darn good!

Easy Onion Soup

4 large onions

4 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

S&P to taste

4 cups beef broth

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried parsley

Slice onions thinly.  Melt butter & olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add onion, salt and sugar.  Cook 20-30 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are caramelized and golden brown.  Add beef broth, oregano and parsley.  Bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat and cook another 20-30 minutes.  Season with salt & pepper. 

You can top with some shredded cheese if you like.  Enjoy!

Mama Will Provide

 In honor of last night's Tony Awards, I thought back to the performances over the years that have stood out to me.  This was a great year for musicals:  The Will Rogers Follies, Miss Saigon, The Secret Garden and Once On This Island. All very different in style but I think that Once On This Island had the best score of any of them.  Enjoy!

Shenandoah - Robert Shaw Chorale

 The first time I remember hearing this song is from one of my piano instruction books when I was a child.  The arrangement was fairly simple but beautiful.  It became one of the pieces that Grandmother would ask me to play for her.  I was looking online one day for different versions of the song and came across this one.  And, of course, I love the Robert Shaw Chorale anyway, so this was a good fit for me.  I hope you enjoy!

Old Britain Castles by Johnson Brothers

 

I love this pattern of china. This was Grandmother's everyday china pattern. Before she had this, she had the blue willow pattern but it eventually went away and she replaced it with this pattern.  She got it from the Monroe Hardware Store since Granddad worked there.  It was a part of my growing up.  Almost every meal I had at her house except for Sunday lunch or holidays was served on this china.  Oh, wonderful memories of eating off of these dishes (and I still do!)

When we were dividing up her estate, everyone took one piece of the Old Britain Castles as a keepsake.  I chose the serving platter.  I remember many family breakfasts when this platter would be heaped with piles of scrambled eggs surrounded by sausage.  I can smell the aroma still!  Well, no one really wanted the rest of the china so of course I took it.  It stayed packed away for years with only my using that before mentioned serving platter.  I finally decided to get it all out just to see what I had.  Dinner plates, luncheon plates, salad plates, cups, saucers, serving bowls, soup bowls, etc.  All different numbers, very few complete place settings but I don't care.  There are chips and cracks in many of the pieces but I still love them.  And they do fine in the dishwasher too haha!

Sometimes, when I am out thrifting and antiquing, I will pick up a piece here or there that I don't have but not too often.  I have the dishes up in my kitchen cabinets now and I use them weekly.  One day they will belong to someone else, I hope, but in the meantime it is another way for me to honor the memory of Grandmother every time I use one of these pieces.  I love that!

Recipe of the Week - Cornbread Salad

 

This is a wonderful comfort food salad!  I found this recipe watching one of Paula Deen's tv shows.  It's easy and delicious and can be made ahead!  I have made it several times this year and it is added to my canon of go-to recipes!

Cornbread Salad

Cornbread - 8x8 pan

1 can kidney beans, drained

1 can corn, drained

1 green pepper, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1 tomato, chopped or 1 can diced tomatoes drained

1 cup cheddar cheese

8 oz ranch dressing

Cook cornbread per directions, cool. Slice cornbread into cubes and put in a salad bowl. Layer other ingredients in order, ending in ranch dressing. Chill for a few hours before serving.

Enjoy!

Following the same cooking directions

 

The kind of bacon I was hoping for but, alas, did not happen!

Sometimes, following the same directions does not always work out.  I need to be careful with that when it comes to food because I do not like to waste food. Last night I burned bacon.  I cooked it like I normally do now, in the oven, coated with flour.  I like the texture that adding flour to it brings. I cannot remember where I saw that technique, but it has been a while, and it became my go-to way of cooking bacon ever since. This was some thick bacon but a brand that I had not purchased before. You know me and buying things that are on sale!  Well, anyway I cooked it the normal time and temperature that I always do but this bacon apparently did not need to cook that long.  When the timer was up and I took it out of the oven, it was definitely crispy.  I tasted a piece after it cooled down and yeah, definitely burnt. I tried to convince myself that I could just call it blackened as that is a gourmet thing to do LOL  I always say that "blackened" is one of those words used to increase the price of a dish haha! I ended up tossing it in the trash as I did not even want to put it out for the squirrels or raccoons or whatever.  Why make them suffer for my cooking mishap?  Lesson learned, though, and next time I will keep a close eye on the bacon.  Even with it being on sale I hate to waste food!

10 Favorite Board Games

 Board games were a staple of my childhood.  I still have several of them but haven't played them in years.  I think the last time I played a board game was at the beach several years ago when we played Monopoly. It was fun but I believe we stopped after a few hours LOL Still, I would love to find some people to play board games with again.  It's definitely a nice way to pass the evening.  Today is Mom's birthday and in honor of her and all of the fun times we had playing games, here are my top 10 favorite board games!

1. Connect Four

2. Scrabble

3. Monopoly

4. Big Apple City

5. Yahtzee!

6. Trivial Pursuit

7. Boggle

8. Aggravation

9. Clue

10. Sorry!

I know there are others out there that I have forgotten!  Feel free to let me know of some of your favorites I may have missed!

Thought of the Day

 

The other day on Facebook I made a remark about how I need to be a better person. I was not saying that because I think I am a bad person.  Quite the contrary.  I think I'm pretty good person overall.  What I was referring to is I need to/want to be better about keeping up with people.  Yes, I write letters which I love to do but this is different.  Once upon a time I really kept up with people in my life and I knew what was going on in theirs.  I don't really know those kinds of things anymore. I want to work on that. There are a lot of people who were in my life decades ago that I just let those relationships slip through my fingers.  Nothing happened to cause that other than time and separation. I let too much time go by and when I search for them, they are no longer living.  I just hate that I do that.  I googled someone I knew when I was around 18 and his obituary was the first thing that came up.  It is just a deflating experience when I learn things like this.  I don't know why, but it is.  Another friend that I was once very close to passed away of cancer several years ago and I never even knew she was sick.  A mutual friend told me sometime over the past year.  It's just things like that I would like to improve on.  I realize that keeping up with people is a two-way street but I want to make sure that I am doing my part.

That is all.

Daily Challenge for June

 

I missed doing the daily challenge in May, so I am trying to come up with a good one for June.  It's already an incredibly busy month for me and it is only day one.  With work and school and family things to keep me occupied.  I am already starting in the hole because of being sick, but oh well.  I will persevere! So, I am trying to come up with something that is relatively easy this month.  It's not that I am afraid of a harder challenge, it is simply thinking about what is actually doable at this time for me.  I want to be able to have a sense of accomplishment each day that does not come from work or school.  Something that I know is achievable on a daily basis.  Hmmmmm. 

I think, since we are coming upon the end of spring and the beginning of summer this month, that my goal is going to be to get outside every day. And that could be going for a walk or sitting on the porch or working in the yard. So many possibilities.  While, technically, I have to go outside to get to my car, that will not count as getting outside LOL I need to take advantage of the weather while I can.  It will do me good not only to get myself out of the house but also take in some fresh air.  I need that in my life.  We shall see how that goes.  Here's hoping for success!

I'll Never Fall in Love Again - Dionne Warwick

 There's no hidden meaning behind my choosing this song today LOL  I just really like it.  I actually heard the original version from Promises, Promises this morning on the radio and thought that Dionne had recorded it as well.  Of course she did.  Her voice and Burt Bacharach's music go hand in hand.  She charted with this one up to #6.  I always enjoy a good Dionne vocal! Enjoy!

Quick Capstone Update

 

Well, I am into week 3 of my capstone project class.  It's going ok, to be honest.  It is a lot of reading and researching things online.  That is fine and I need to keep reminding myself that it is fine.  I am doing some evidence-based research and so it's not exactly hands on active. So when I feel like I'm not doing anything, I have to remind myself of that.  I am on the right track and that is what matters.  Each week, we have competency reviews and that is going ok too.  I am looking back at classes I have taken and drawn from them. I know I can do better with them if I will start earlier in the week with them.  I tend to do things in a linear way and that is always at the end of the line. I need to shake up my way of doing things to produce a better product.

Anyway, I have reached out to some people and communities about LGBT sensitivity training for their employees and trying to find out what has been successful and what has not.  I have not heard back yet, but I am not giving up on that.  I am also sitting through as many online trainings as I can that are available to me.  It has been informative and even if it is not quite as on topic as I would like, I still find something useful in them.  Like I am finding training on DEI as opposed to specifically LGBT and I still watch those because I can cull from that as well.

It's a good process so far but being sick has put me way behind this week.  I know I can get things done, it will just take careful planning. Even sitting at the computer for more than one hour exhausts me.  Oh, well.  No one said this would be easy!  But I'll get it done!

No adulting for me this week

 

I am taking a break from being an adult for a few days LOL  I tested positive for Covid on Tuesday and it has wiped me out. While I am definitely on the mend, each day presents new and different challenges and symptoms.  Today it's like a very severe cold.  But that beats the fever I had and the aching joints.  Still, I am putting aside my adulting duties while I recover from this. God bless my roommate and the people I work with for taking such good care of me.  And I will admit, it is nice to be the one taken care of for change!!

Normally, I have my list of things I have to get done every day.  I have thrown that one out the window this week.  I need to rest and not stress myself over domestic duties. I also need to focus on my schoolwork.  I have not felt like doing anything these first few days of the week but I need to focus what energy I have on that because there is a lot to do between and now and Monday.  I will get it done, it is just going to have to be in different intervals and I am going to focus on some different things this week.

As much as I don't like being sick, it could definitely be worse.  I will get done what I absolutely have to and leave everything else by the wayside until I'm back up to par. That is all.

Being sick

 I don't enjoy being sick.  I don't think anyone does. And after 5 years of avoiding it, I finally have covid.  It has been a rough 48 hours but I'm feeling better today.  Just incredibly tired right now.  Anyway, normally when I get sick, I get depressed. But I'm not this time.  I am in a relatively good mood for feeling like complete crap LOL

But I've been thinking about how being sick when I was growing up was never a scary time for me.  Mom was a great nurse, and she always made us feel cared for. In the late 70s and early 80s, we did, in fact, have the saltines, ginger ale, chicken noodle soup and The Price is Right to cure whatever ailed us.  That and love almost always seemed to work.

While I have all of those things in stock just in case, I doubt that they cure covid LOL.  But that's ok.  I'm taking things slowly and will be better.  It is just nice to remember being taken care of back in the day.  It's comforting. 

50 at 50 - travel

 One of the things that I want to do this year is get some travel in. I haven't really traveled in a long time.  Not even weekend trips here and there.  It has not really been in the budget, but I do know there are ways around that. And I will be looking into those ways this year. But I also have not really made the time to do it.  I have not planned in advance, which I really need to because of work.  There are a few places that can be day/weekend trips that would not be affected by my work schedule.  I just need to coordinate better so that I can make it happen.  These are places I have been to and want to revisit.  I will post later the places I've never been to that I would like to travel to. Here are a few of the places I'd like to go this year:

Charleston, SC - The last time I was there was about 15 years ago.  I did not get to do much sightseeing as we were there for a wedding and that took up most of the weekend.  Would be lovely to go exploring the city again.

Old Salem, NC - This one is just one county over, so I really have no excuse other than my laziness for not going. And it's been over 30 years since my last visit!

Wilmington, NC - I used to go here every summer when Aunt Billie was living.  I have friends there that I would love to go for the weekend and visit.  One of my favorite cities!

Colonial Williamsburg - It has probably been 40 years since I was there.  Mom and Dad took us for a family vacation once.  I still have the fife that we bought as a souvenir!

Savannah, GA - when I was at Tybee Island with the Abernethy family about 16 years ago, we took a day trip into Savannah.  It was a wonderful time, and I would love to go back. 

Hopefully I will make it to several of these places this year.  And if I do not, I will keep them on my list of things to do and adventures to have!

Gifts for others this year

 While there is no question that I love giving gifts to people in my life, I think that this year I am going to start doing something different.  I want to give some gifts to people that I don't know.  Since I do not have an immediate family of my own and by that, I mean having children and grandchildren, I feel like I could use my resources to make some child's Christmas better.  I do realize that we are half a year away from Christmas, but why wait to get started?  

The thought occurred to me the other day when I was on Facebook and a picture of a Holly Hobbie tea set showed up on my feed from one of the holiday groups that I belong to.  It's something that Santa brought to me when I was about 4 years old. I loved that set and wish I still had it.  Oh, well.  Anyway, remembering how special Christmas is to children really got to me because Santa coming was such an event to me as a child.  While Santa did not bring me everything I wanted, I cannot imagine what it would have been like to wake up on Christmas morning and Santa had not been there at all. By the way, I have rectified Santa's oversights and bought some of those missing toys for myself.  

Yes, I bought her for myself after Santa forgot!

So, my goal this year is to set aside a certain amount of money each month and go shopping for toys.  With the tariffs upon us and prices rising, I know it is going to be doubly hard for some people to provide for their children at Christmas. I would love nothing more than to be that Santa for kids who might have to go without.  It's just something I have been thinking about, and I really encourage others to do something similar. Giving to others is often the best gift I can give to myself. 

Multitasking

 I am not a very good multitasker. I never have been.  When have to many things going on at one time, I never seem to get them accomplished.  And if I do, then they are not up to the level that they should be if was focused on only one thing at a time. That is one of the things that makes trying to balance home life with school difficult for me.  I have a lot of things I need to get done around the house each week while at the same time I have a lot of schoolwork to get done as well. I know that I can get lots of things accomplished if I put my mind to it. I just need to find a system that works better for me.  

I make a daily list of things to get done around the house.  I'm thinking that I need to start doing the same thing with my schoolwork.  Map things out and get them checked off one by one instead doing a little here and a little there. I believe that will motivate me more to reach the goals I want to.  I really do wish that I was one of the helicopter people with octopus arms that could do a thousand things at the same time but alas, I am not.  Not even close. Tonight, I am doing laundry.  I have schoolwork that I need to be doing as well but I cannot focus while I've got laundry going.  Yes, it sounds weird, but it is what it is.

Everything will get done.  I will see to that. It just may take longer than I hoped but the end products will be what I want them to be.  That is all. 

Easy Street - Annie

 The film version of the musical Annie opened on May 21st, 1982, 43 years ago!  I loved this movie so much and was obsessed with this record.  I still have it!  Our whole family went to see this one Sunday after church and I just was mesmerized!  One of my favorite numbers from the film is Easy Street.  Enjoy!

Why do I enjoy doing my household inventory?

 One of the things on my 50 at 50 list is to complete my household inventory.  I know that may not sound like much of an achievement in the long run, but I put it on there because it is truly something that I love to do.  Strange, I know haha!  And I've written here before that it all started with Aunt Sara's estate.  She did two household inventories:  one of her possessions and one of the family items.  She lived in the family estate after all and there were things still there that belonged to all of the children, not just her. I loved reading those documents.  They are history.  And that is what I want to preserve.  I am not sure who the history would be for, but I still enjoy doing it.

I love the learning that comes along with doing this inventory.  Looking at each item and writing down the history that I know of the piece.  Who it belonged to.  How that person came to own it. How long they had it. One of my pieces of furniture has "lived" in Wingate, New York, Virginia, Tennessee, Raleigh, Wilmington, Monroe and now Greensboro.  It's done a hell of a lot more traveling than I have! Then I like to look things up and learn more about the pieces.  I learn styles, patterns, manufacturers. I love what things were used for, how they were part of everyday life in different eras. For example, I have a celery dish.  Who uses those anymore?  Well, in all honesty, more people than I thought still have these and use them.  Not necessarily for their original purpose because having celery on your dining room table doesn't have the same impact that it had 150 years ago! It is also a good escape for me. Looking at things from the past and imagining what life was like in those days. I wonder how my family members used these things and cherished them. I love that. 

It is just interesting for me to learn these kinds of things.  I love learning.  I didn't always love learning, but I do now.  And that's one of the main reasons I love doing it.

"What if?"

 There is a difference between simply looking back on life and spending way too much time wondering "what if?". I fluctuate between those two. I need to spend more time simply looking back and growing from what has been, using those things to move forward. I need to let my history be part of who I am now yet remain history.  I cannot change it, so why dwell on it? 

I tend to spend a lot of time in the land of "what if?" when things are not going well.  I know that I am not the only one who does this.  It's a natural thing to do. It just does not help me. Yesterday was a hard day for me.  Not bad, but hard because I had a lot of what I call "adulting" going on. I went to get an oil change and came out with a new tire. While I was at the garage, I got a text about my Dad's health. I talked to him later that evening. He was doing ok, but I can tell it was weighing heavily on his mind. 

In the time after I got off of work and until I went to bed, I was in the land of "what if?" off and on throughout the night. It made it hard for me to concentrate on what I needed to be doing, ie homework. I finally just stopped and tried my best to clear my mind. Thinking about all of the things I could have and should have done was not helping me.  It is time to start thinking about what I can do and will do. That will be better for me.  Easier said than done, but at least I will give it a try.

Taking my car in

 I will be the first person to admit that I know very little about cars.  It was never my thing.  I am not opposed to learning about cars these days, it is just not at the top of my list.  And so, it is very comforting to know that I have a garage that I can trust where I take my car to. I know that I pay more for things that I could, technically, learn how to do myself and save some money.  But, oh well.  We pay for convenience in our society, and this is one area where I definitely am willing to do that. 

I took my car in after work to get my oil changed and a new set of wipers put on.  I asked them to check one of my tires because I have had to put some air in it several times over the past month.  I figured there was a slow leak there somewhere that could be patched.  Of course, I was wrong.  While there was a slow leak caused by a nail in the tire, it could not be patched. I needed a new tire.  Not exactly what I wanted to hear.  My budget is tight right now because of paying tuition.  I did actually consider waiting but then I realized that could do more damage if something happened to the tire while I was on the road.

I got the new tire and paid for it.  That hurt LOL I have a credit card specifically for my garage, but I decided not to use it.  As much as I want to see money in my bank accounts, I thought back to something that my Dad and others have said to me before:  if you can't pay for it with cash, you don't need it. So, I chose to pay with my own funds.  I do have a credit card that I use only for necessities now. Not that this tire is not a necessity, it is just the principle of paying for it on my own.  

Ah, well.  It's all done now.  At least until I take my car in later this week to get more things done LOL I might end up using the card then since pay day isn't until next week!!  We shall see!

Sunday mornings

 It is Sunday morning now and as I sit here sipping my coffee, my mind has taken me back to 401 Brookgreen Drive and the Sunday mornings I spent growing up there. Church was always a must on Sunday mornings unless one was sick. We would be in the car by 9:30 ready for the 10:00 Sunday school to begin.  When I was younger, Mom would brew a large urn of coffee for her Sunday school class, and it was always my job to keep it stable in the car ride to church.  I'm happy to say that I never spilled the coffee!

The Sunday paper was always an important part of our ritual.  Of course, Dad was always up before the sun, and he'd usually have most of the paper read by the time we got up. After reading the paper, he focused on the crossword puzzles until it was time to dress for church.  The Sunday paper was always exciting as a kid because it meant two things:  the funny papers and the weekly tv guide. Back in those days, and it feels strange to say that but oh well, the funny papers were huge.  It was a 6 to 8 page, large, in color, insert that we poured over.  Ziggy, Garfield, Peanuts, For Better or Worse, Hagar the Horrible, Family Circus, Dennis the Menace.  I loved them all. And the tv guide!!  Kids today just do not understand the planning to took to schedule one's tv viewing.  You had to really pick and choose, especially in the days before VCRs, not that kids today know what those are either haha! It was some serious stuff!

There was rarely any tv on Sunday mornings. The only instance I remember is when Mom let us watch Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas on HBO.  That was the first time I ever saw that, so it is permanently burned into my memory.  Now, if I'd spent Saturday night at Grandmother's, she would let me watch tv before getting ready for church.  Jem and Kids, Incorporated!  Loved them both. Then, of course, we had to actually get dressed for church.  This was back in the day that you didn't wear anything casual to church.  Sometimes I miss that, but I suppose people need to be comfortable these days. From  6th grade on, I wore a tie every Sunday.  I didn't hate wearing them, I just was (and still am) no good at tying them!

Sunday mornings were full of love in our house. Our house was full of love every day of the week, but today I am simply remembering this one specific time of the week. 

Recipe of the Week - Fancy Green Beans

 

This is a tasty and easy recipe that you can throw together quickly.  It makes a wonderful side dish to a casserole. It's one of those recipes that I normally have everything on hand at a moment's notice, which makes it doubly delicious!

Fancy Green Beans

1 clove of garlic, chopped

3/4 cup onion, chopped

1/4 cup celery, chopped

1/4 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp dried rosemary

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp dried parsley

2 cans French green beans, drained

Cook garlic, onion and celery in butter for about 5 minutes.  Add basil, rosemary, salt and parsley to pan and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in green beans and heat through for 5-10 minutes and serve.

Enjoy!

Fancy green beans with Grandmother's chicken casserole and some marinated tomatoes

50 at 50 - adding to my list

 I found several things that I have added to my 50 at 50 list.  Even though I may not achieve everything on the list, it is fun to dream!  We shall see how it goes.

Attend a marching band competition

I have always enjoyed going to marching band competitions.  I didn't always enjoy competing in them since we almost never won LOL But I loved going to them.  When Bill was in marching band, we would drive to competitions to see them perform and had a great time.  I have also been to some regional drum & bugle corps competitions and they are fantastic!

Volunteer

I want to be able to give back to my community and this is a great way to do that.  I have volunteered in the past and I really enjoyed it.  I don't know what kind of volunteering I would like to do, but the possibilities are endless! And I might even be able to volunteer some place that would help my career.

Try 2 new recipes each month

This may seem like a no brainer, but I have been slack lately in my cooking experiences.  I have so many cookbooks and need to utilize them more.  I just love reading recipes and I need to try some and make this growing collection justifiable haha!

These are just a few of the things I have added.  I am definitely still open to suggestions as there are still a few spots left on my list!  

The last class begins

 

Well, I have officially started my last class of graduate school.  At least I hope I have haha! I am going into this capstone project with a mixture of anticipation, excitement, and complete fear.  But that is good because it will keep me on my toes and make me work hard. This week is short, however.  Before I received the syllabus, I just assumed that since the classes began on Wednesday, that the first week's assignments would be due the following Wednesday at 8:00 a.m.  That's the normal time when weekly assignments are due. No, this week they are due on Monday at 8, so I have to cram two extra days' worth of work into this one.  Well, it's the first one so I think I can handle it.

I am going to have to be careful though.  I know myself and how I operate.  I do very well scholastically under pressure.  So, I do not need to be waiting until Sunday night to start my two short papers.  I will not do that!!!  I will do some outlining tonight and then flesh things out over the next two days.  I have done a lot of research already but there is still so much more to do over the course of the next 6 weeks.  I really am truly excited about it.  I know what I am doing, and it is time for me to show that and be proud of my abilities. 

That is all. 

I Shall Believe - Sheryl Crow

 This is another song that came to me first on a mixed tape.  Thank you, Courtney! Something about these lyrics really speak to me on many levels.  And it's also a beautiful song that I find haunting.  I hope you enjoy it. 

50 at 50 - small update

 And we're well into May now.  Nothing is on hold as far as my 50 at 50 list goes. It's just going at a very slow pace haha!!  And that is ok.  Today, I am getting closer to my goal of getting my master's degree.  I start my final class today.  I am both nervous and excited about it. So, that is one goal that I am inching towards.  Keep me in your prayers for that one!

Last weekend, I went to see Newsies at the High Point Community Theatre. This helps me with both seeing new shows and local business patronage.  I have never seen Newsies before, and I quite enjoyed it.  The cast put in a lot of work in that show, and they should be very proud. I also was supporting one of our local arts organizations.  And these times, that is very important. Before the show we ate at a place called Smash and Sizzle, another local restaurant. It was delicious.  All in all, a great evening.

So, as I work on my master's I am hoping that I can get some more of these things checked off.  We shall see.  Wish me luck!

Going to the dentist

 

As an adult, I do not mind going to the dentist.  It has taken me decades to be able to say that.  When I was a child, I absolutely hated going.  I did not hate my dentist, Dr. Gibson, but I hated what he did. It was not his fault; he was simply doing his job.  I just hated having cavities filled and I had plenty of them.  Tooth care, unfortunately, was not something my parents were incredibly strict about.  But the sight of that needle to numb me up completely terrified me.  Once I had a cavity filled without any Novocain simply because I was afraid of the needle. It was not fun, but I made it through. 

Now, I don't mind it at all.  And now they numb the area of the shot before giving the shot, so it all works out.  What I hate these days when I go to the dentist is coming out with one less tooth than I had when I went in.  It has happened to me several times now.  While I do take much better care of my teeth than I did as a kid, all of those years of not taking care of them like I should have caught up with me.  I brush, I floss, I rinse.  While I know all I am doing right now is preventative care and slowing the process down, I feel better about myself for trying my best to take care of my teeth.  Or take care of what's left of them.

Do not get me wrong, I still have the majority of my teeth.  And for what I have put them through, they are still in decent shape.  But I still get nervous going to the dentist when I know there is an issue going on in my mouth.  Today's appointment is only for a cleaning.  However, I have been having extreme sensitivity to cold and hot on two of my back teeth.  My fear is that my dentist, who I really like, will tell me they need to come out.  I am tired of that being the "go-to" answer for my dental problems.  I hope that after I explain to him what is going on that he will at least try to solve the issue without using the word "extraction". 

I have about an hour before my appointment this morning, so we shall see how it goes. On the bright side, if they do have to come out, at least I will not weigh as much as when I went into the office LOL  Ah, well. So ends another escapade in adulting.  Wish me luck!

Thought of the Day

 

As I get ready to begin my final class for grad school, I am really going to have to work hard to stay focused and put my energy where it needs to go.  As an adult, I have always had this issue of not focusing on what I should and wasting time on things that did not matter in the end. I have a lot of work ahead of me over the next 6 weeks. I am going to have to find a balance between work, school and life and divide my energy accordingly.  I do not want one area of my life to fall behind because I am super focused on something else.  I know myself and I will do better if there is a good equilibrium in place.  I can do this, it is just going to take some discipline.  Luckily, I just need to follow the example set for me by Mom and Dad and I will be able to do this without issue.  That is all. 

Today's Moment of Mindfulness

 

There is great truth in the familiar saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover." Be aware of how we pre-judge people by their appearance, among other things. Being mindful means seeing everything in the present moment and not leaping to unfounded conclusions. 

Mary B.

 Today is Mother's Day.  It is the day we officially celebrate the women that we know as Mom.  Although, personally, I celebrate my mom every day.  While many of us, luckily, have or had the best mom in the world, Mary B. was the best mom in the world for me, and I am so thankful that I had 21 years with her. I celebrate her in the way I get up and face the world every day.  I celebrate her every time I am in the kitchen cooking.  I celebrate her when I sit down to write a letter. I celebrate her when I go antiquing and when I listen to music and when I cross stitch. I celebrate her every day. 

Mary B. embraced my differences the moment I came out of the womb.  And, believe me, I came out differently.  She encouraged me to be whatever I wanted to be and to do the things I loved to do.  As a gay child in the 70s and 80s, even though I didn't realize why I was different from other kids at the time, she was always there to let me be myself. She let me play house.  She encouraged me to play school. She took me to the library week after week so I could check out Cinderella books and the Mary Poppins records. She gave me my first Strawberry Shortcake miniature for Christmas.  Well, Santa gave it to me but, you know LOL I didn't know at the time exactly how much strength that took from both of my parents, but I am so grateful that they did that. 

Mary B. dealt with terminal illness with grace and dignity.  She showed me that life does not stop simply because of a diagnosis.  She never missed a concert or a play that I was in. She would proofread every paper I wrote in high school and didn't hold back. Her illness did not get in her way of a being a friend to those she loved.  The side effects of her chemo would not prevent her from baking a cake for anyone's birthday or for any other occasion. She taught me how to always look for the good in other people. She had an amazing network of support in her life, and I realize that it was because of her incredibly big heart. 

Mary B. set the bar very high for me and each day I do my best to live up to what she knew I could do. She watches over me and is with me still in this amazing journey called life.  Happy Mother's Day, Mary B. Fornes!