Happy Hour Friday

Just last night, I was reading a newly discovered blog called Wizard of Otin and read his Happy Hour Friday post. Otin and RxBambi created this and I think it is an awesome idea. 

I have seldom  gotten to take part in actual happy hour since becoming a legal drinker at the age of 18…which by the way, shows how old I must be since the drinking age hasn’t been 18 for a long time. Oh well. Anyways…I never got to take part in it because of things like work and kids but now I can! In the virtual sense of course. Thanks to Otin and RxBambi!

The point is to list things I am happy about. I have lots to be happy about so here it goes…

First of all, I am happy that it’s Friday, even if it’s Friday the 13th.

I am happy that I get so many hugs & kisses every day.

I am happy that I have little people that are so happy and healthy.

I am happy that my little people love to dance and sing with me.

I am happy that I have a job that allows me to bring my little people to work with me, when necessary. Like today, when I have no daycare. I am happy that I get to bring them with me today. But, I think they are even happier. I am happy that the lady I care for is a friend and that her and the little people love each other too.

I am happy that my friends daughter, that lives out of state, came home last night for a long weekend as a surprise to her.

I am happy that tonight is pizza, popcorn and movie night. We are going to watch the movie Up. It is the one and only movie the little people have ever been to in an actual theater for and they loved it. And so did I. We have been looking forward to watching it again. I would highly recommend it for children and adults.

I am happy that we don’t have any plans this weekend which means that we can just hang at home or do something spontaneous should the opportunity arise.

I am happy that I will get to watch college football tomorrow. Go gophers!

I am happy that I will get to watch the Vikings on Sunday.

I am happy that I have a husband that is my best friend. I am happy that he supports my dreams and visions for the future. I am happy that of all the people I could be doing this mommy gig again with, it is him.

I am happy that because of grace and forgiveness I can live a happy life.

I am happy that our friends gave us fresh venison. Yum!

I am happy that farmers are getting their crops harvested.

I am happy that my good friends have restored their marriage and are happier then I have ever seen them.

I am happy that I have so many people here and in my real life that support, believe in me and love me on my journey is this life. Honestly, you people have been my sanity keeper, my voice of wisdom and responsible for giving me many laughs in my day.

I am happy that I have come so far in my life that I can now reach out to others in need. I am happy that I have a lot of love and compassion in my heart for others. I am happy that I have met so many incredible people because of it. I am happy they have made me a better person from what they have taught me.

I am happy that I still have not had a cigarette in over 7 months!!!

I am happy that in all the money we have saved in not smoking, it can go to something else that is much better for me and everyone else around me. Like maybe a treadmill? Which would really make me happy!

I am happy that I have the children and grandchildren that I do. I am happy that they treat me so well and know that I am always there for them.

I am happy that there are people out in the world that are making a difference in the lives of others. I am happy that I am learning how to be one of them.

I am happy that I am finally finding the courage to live authentically and be me instead of trying to be someone else.

I am happy that I have this place, my blog, to write and to be heard. I am happy that I have been finding my voice.

I am happy about the acceptance and love I have found here and around the blog world. It’s amazing!

I am happy I met YOU!

What are you happy about?

Want to play along? Go visit the Wizard of Otin or RxBambi. The more the merrier!

Happy Friday!

Hugs & Love, Lori

PS I am so happy I did this! Just thinking about and listing all the things I am happy about has made me drunk with happiness. What a great way to start my day! Don’t believe me? Try it yourself!

Living Somewhere In Between

In our day to day living, our partners, our children and those closest to us, get to see us when we are at our very best.

They also get to see us at our very worst.

What they see most often, is us, living somewhere in between.

Let me explain…

We all have the potential for greatness.

We all have the potential for badness. 

Given the best set of circumstances we can shine or we can fall on our faces.

Given the worst set of circumstances we can mess up or we can rise to the occasion and save the day.

Reality is, our day to day, circumstances will neither be the best or the worst, instead they will usually fall somewhere in the middle.

Regardless of the circumstances, if we are honest, then we have to admit that as much as we would like to behave at our best, we don’t. We fail.

We have to admit that there are times, we really screw up no matter what the circumstances are. We lose it…because we are human.

And yes, those that love us the most in this world get to see us behaving badly.

And then there are times we totally rock…we even surprise ourselves. We do the right things. It’s like the stars are all aligned over us and everything fits together. We rise to the occasion at hand. We win.

And yes, thankfully, those that love us the most in this world get to see this wonderful side of us, too.

The thing is, most of the time, in our day to day living of life, we aren’t at our very best or our very worst. As much as we can strive to do our best and not fall down, we each fall somewhere in between.

I’m talking about day to day living here…the small things in life that on certain days seem like big things because we feel like crap…the horrible no good bad day we had a work and want to take out on our kids or partner. I’m talking about life. I’m talking about being knee deep in the trenches of life.

I’m not talking about really big offenses  here. But, I suppose these could apply as well.

I’m talking about the day to day living kinds of things…that goes on in public but mostly in the privacy of our homes, or car’s,  with the one’s we love most in this world…it’s the cross words, the silent treatment, the shoe thrown across the room in our anger or just trying to figure out who’s making supper?

It’s how we act and speak when the world is not our audience but our partners and children are.

It’s when we’ve let down our guard and all pretenses and we are who we are.

It’s easy to love or like someone when they are being “good” or at their very best. Do we put them up on a pedestal and expect them to stay there?

But what about when their not? What if they fall off the pedestal we’ve put them on? Do we cast them away and give them the silent treatment? Do we stop remembering their greatness because they screwed up?

Or do we reach down, put out our hand and pull them back up?

Do we help brush off the dust or do we rub it in more?

Don’t we all hope that when it’s our turn, that a hand will be held out to us?

Don’t we all want someone to help us brush off the dust?

I would love to always behave at my very best and I really do strive to do my best…. To love fully. To care and to be kind. To respect. To smile and to laugh.To listen.To work hard. To accept. To not judge. To breathe. To hug. To be nice. To say “I’m sorry.” To play fair. To share. To be patient.

I am all of these things but not always.

I would love it if I never acted badly. Because there are times I can be rotten. I can be mean and rude. I can yell. I can speak out of ignorance. I can interrupt. I can be crabby or moody. I can be jealous. I can be selfish. I can not listen. I can be disrespectful. I can be impatient. I can over indulge. I can swear. I can judge. I can say hurtful things. I can just be plain ridiculous.

I can be all of these thing but not always.

Reality is, I spend most of my living somewhere in between.

I’m thankful, that those I love the most in this world, love me even when I’ve been at my worst. I’m thankful they don’t keep me on a pedestal because as nice as that sounds, falling off one them really does hurt.

Most of all, I’m thankful that they love me really well, while I do most of my living in between…as I do them.

Love & Hugs, Lori

 

 

Randomness

Whenever I can’t sleep, I have the most random thoughts going through my mind. Drives me crazy when I can’t shut my brain off.

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I heard on the radio last week, that in October we had more day’s in which it snowed then day’s that the sun shined. Even though the snow never lasted, that’s a lot of day’s without the sun. Lots of rain, cold, snow and grey gloomy days. Depressing.

On the bright side… So far, November has been nicer and the sun has been shining…and causing more people to smile…especially the farmers.

I’m going to pretend that I did not hear about the predicted rain and snow for the end of the week

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The nice weather and the shining sun has enabled the farmers to finally start harvesting their crops this week. What a beautiful sight to see all the combines, and tractors working out in the fields. They will be going day and night to get everything harvested and fields plowed before it’s too late. I pray for their safety.

_______________________________

I have been seeing quite a few deer on my drive home from work in the evenings. Last week, I was driving in the dark and it was snowing hard for a period of time and deer ran out in front of me. Hitting a deer is one of my fears about driving at night, at this time of year. Thank God I didn’t hit any.

_________________________________

One year ago today, little lady got the “pretty pink” cast taken off her leg. It was snowing and the roads were bad so the school I worked at was called off. We celebrated the cast removal by her finally getting to take a bubble bath.

I am grateful that she has not had any more incidents of getting hurt.

_______________________________

I had a blast with my girlfriends this past weekend. We talked and laughed…and ate junk food…sang and danced…and watched movies…and talked some more…and we stayed in our pj’s all weekend.

I am truly blessed and honored to be called their friend.

_________________________________

My youngest son flew home here this past weekend to see his best friend, who has been stationed in Italy for the past year and is home on leave and is being sent to Afghanistan for the next 12-15 months. I took care of this young man and his sister when they were quite young, in my daycare. The 2 of them have been best friends ever since. He and his family are very special to us. I pray for this young man and his family.

Even though I didn’t get to see much of my son, he took the time here and there to spend with me…and to play with the little people that love him immensely!…he took the little people and I out for lunch yesterday(he paid), then spent the afternoon with us and ate a family supper with us. My oldest son was able to join us too which made it that much more special. I love cooking for my family!

I took him to the airport early this morning. He has flown back to the home he’s made for himself. The hardest part is that I don’t know when I will see him again.

It is always hard for me to let go.

Yet, I am thankful for the kind of person he is and that he is out pursuing his dreams…that he is out living his life and living it so well…so I must let go.

My home feels empty tonight without his presence. I miss my kids. I miss my grandchildren.

When I was looking for a pen in my desk tonight, I found a piece of paper that had these quotes on it.

Reading these made me remember the truth…

Hold your children

with open arms, so

they always know

they can come

home to you.  

Khalil Gibran

Don’t cry because

it’s over, smile

because it

happened.

Dr. Seuss

…and they made me smile.  I have a lot to smile about.

__________________________________

This is my 200th post. Wow!

Do you have any random thoughts you would like to share? I hope you share them with me!

Love & Hugs

Lori

Cooking with Emeril and Rachel Ray

Remember a couple of posts ago when I wrote about making an Apple Upside Down Cake recipe from Jan? My two little cooks, Emeril and Rachel Ray finally got a chance to make it today.(In case you don’t know…the little people pretend they are Emeril and Rachel Ray all of the time.)

We might have made a big fat mess of our kitchen but nonetheless we had a blast.

Here is our cooking episode in pictures…

 

 

When Jan writes on her recipe to “resist the temptation to eat the batter straight from the bowl(yeah, it’s THAT good)”.She was NOT kidding. It started with one finger and then his whole hand went in!

So we moved it to the table where I could keep a better eye on the hand finger dipping!

They sat next to the oven and watched the cake bake.

They drove me nuts with asking “how much longer”, until I begged made them to help me make biscuits for supper.

Cool! More baking fun.

Before long our cake came out of the oven. It smelled and looked so good we wanted to eat it instead of before supper.

 

We hurried to eat our stew and biscuits so that we could eat our cake. Yummy in our tummy's! It was delicious! Emeril and Rachel were very proud of their cake.

I would so recommend making this cake if you like apples. It is so moist and not overly sweet. To get the recipe and make this yourself, go visit Jan’s Sushi Bar.

I know we will be making this again!

I will be leaving Friday morning, with a couple of friends, for a girls only weekend, at our girlfriends house, up north. We get together for this weekend every year while her husband goes deer hunting. I am so looking forward to this time with my friends. As a bonus the sun is suppose to shine, but I am NOT holding my breathe on that one! Rain or shine we will have fun!!

Whether it rains, snows or the sun shines, where ever you are, have a great weekend!

Hugs & love ya’ll ! XXOO

Lori

How many hugs have you had today?

"We need 4 hugs a day for survival.

We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance.

We need 12 hugs a day for growth."
Virginia Satir

I just came across this video the other day. I was amazed by this concept. How did I not know about this? It is nothing new. In fact I think it’s a couple of years old. Maybe I like it so much, because by nature, I am a hugger. Hugging makes me feel good. And most of the time, it makes the person I am hugging feel good too. At least I hope so anyways.

I actually cried(happy tears) while watching this. And then I had to watch it again.

I hope you take the 3 minutes and 39 seconds to watch this. Even if you don’t read all of this post and just watch the video…I promise it will make you smile.

Didn’t this make you feel good?

I love the energy in this video. It made me smile and feel so good. I just had to share this with you.

After watching this a couple of times, I went to this web site, freehugscampaign.org where I found all this information.

Sometimes, a hug is all that we need.

Free hugs is a real life controversial story of Juan Mann, A man who's sole mission was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives.
In this age of social disconnectivity and lack of human contact, the effects of the Free Hugs campaign became phenomenal.
As this symbol of human hope spread across the city, police and officials ordered the Free Hugs campaign BANNED. What we then witness is the true spirit of humanity come together in what can only be described as awe inspiring.

How it all started:

“I'd been living in London when my world turned upside down and I'd had to come home. By the time my plane landed back in Sydney, all I had left was a carry on bag full of clothes and a world of troubles. No one to welcome me back, no place to call home. I was a tourist in my hometown.”

“Standing there in the arrivals terminal, watching other passengers meeting their waiting friends and family, with open arms and smiling faces, hugging and laughing together, I wanted someone out there to be waiting for me. To be happy to see me. To smile at me. To hug me.”

“So I got some cardboard and a marker and made a sign. I found the busiest pedestrian intersection in the city and held that sign aloft, with the words "Free Hugs" on both sides.
And for 15 minutes, people just stared right through me.”

“The first person who stopped, tapped me on the shoulder and told me how her dog had just died that morning. How that morning had been the one year anniversary of her only daughter dying in a car accident. How what she needed now, when she felt most alone in the world, was a hug. I got down on one knee, we put our arms around each other and when we parted, she was smiling.”

“Everyone has problems and for sure mine haven't compared. But to see someone who was once frowning, smile even for a moment, is worth it every time.”

Juan Mann

Thank you Juan Mann for starting such a beautiful campaign. Thank you for not giving up even when they tried to ban hugging. Thank you Sick Puppies for a great song with wonderful words.

Reading the story behind this, touched my heart. I think about the risk this man took in starting this campaign. And how contagious the hugging was…I think about the people in this video, who joined in and stood with “Hugs for free” signs…what courage they had…and how blessed and over flowing they must have felt when it was over.

This made me think of all the times in my life when I was alone and would have done almost anything to have someone hug me. I felt like the leper, who no one wanted to touch. Even though I was the one that had put myself in this position of being alone, I still needed a hug, even though I was too proud to ask for one.

I remember the first time I was hugged in the healing sort of way. There was nothing sexual about it. He was basically a stranger. He was the spirit filled priest that came to visit me when I was in drug treatment almost 25 years ago. I remember like it was yesterday, how it felt in those moments to be hugged. He was without a doubt my heavenly visitor…my Jesus with skin on.

I also think about all the people I have known in my life time. The many desperate people that have been alone and no one to hug them. I think of the times I have hugged the desperate, the sad, the lonely, and the depressed. I am glad that I was taught to hug them.

I think about the people that have been damaged by the wrong kinds of hugs and no longer want anyone to touch them…or hug them. This breaks my heart into pieces.

I think about all the people out there right now, that need a hug but have no one to hug them. This makes me sad. I hope a stranger hugs them today and they walk away feeling better.

Did you know….

Hugging is good medicine. It transfers energy, and gives the person hugged an emotional boost. You need four hugs a day for survival, eight for maintenance, and twelve for growth. A hug makes you feel good. The skin is the largest organ we have and it needs a great deal of care. A hug can cover a lot of skin and gives the message that you care. It is also a form of communication. It can say things you don't have words for. The nicest thing about a hug is that you usually can't give one without getting one.  Author Unknown

Even doctors recommend it…

A DOCTOR'S PRESCRIPTION FOR HUGGING:

by Mark Katz, M.D.

"How important are hugging and physical and emotional contact for people affected by life - threatening illnesses? In my work, I have found that people who receive nurturing maintain a better outlook on their situation -- and historically, positive attitude is an important factor in long-term survival. Hugging and physical contact, make a difference in a person's frame of mind, and may help their medical condition. Best of all, hugging has no side effects and does not require a trip to the doctor.

Hugging is a good thing!

"Hugging is healthy: it helps the body's immunity system, it keeps you healthier, it cures depression, it reduces stress, it induces sleep, it's invigorating, it's rejuvenating, it has no unpleasant side effects, and hugging is nothing less than a miracle drug.

Hugging is all natural: it is organic, naturally sweet, it has no pesticides, no preservatives, no artificial ingredients, and is 100% wholesome.

Hugging is practically perfect: there are no movable parts, no batteries to replace, no periodic check-ups, has low energy consumption, high energy yield, is inflation-proof, non-fattening, has no monthly payments, no insurance requirements, is theft-proof, non-taxable, non-polluting, and is, of course, fully refundable."

-- Sharon Lindsey  -- 

I have no clue to who Sharon Lindsey is but I found this quote by her and thought she summed up the benefits of hugging quite well.

Whoever you are, Sharon Lindsey, thank you.

I wish that I could give each one of you a hug right now. Since I can’t…a virtual one will have to do.

((((((HUGS))))))

I hope each one of you, have at least one person to hug today. I hope you get in your quota of hugs before the day is through!

XXOO Lori

To be grateful

Today, I choose to be grateful.

I choose to not let the pain I am in stop me from doing everything I had planned for today. It may stop me from doing some things but not all of it. For that I am grateful.

I choose to focus on those things I am grateful for instead of the pain or worry. I refuse to let “this” beat me down or stop me from living today…even if that means I have to let go of my agenda for this day and the guilt for not following it in it’s entirety.

I am grateful that my little people are not sick and that even though the noise they are making and the commotion of their busyness is difficult to be around, I am still grateful that they are here. I am grateful for every one of their kisses and hugs.

I am grateful for my husband. I am grateful that I have someone so wonderful to lean on. That he does all the things he does, not because he has to or that I’ve asked him to but on his own free will. I am grateful that he has learned to read me and my pain level and without my asking him, he steps up to the plate and takes over. I am grateful that he won’t think I “owe” him because of this. I am grateful that he enjoys football with me and makes it special with the food he prepares for it.(I told you I am spoiled by him.)

I am grateful for my children. That they call me often. They keep me in contact with my grandchildren and update me with pictures of them. Which makes me grateful for my computer and  the internet that keeps me in constant contact with them. I am grateful that they are so loving and kind to me. Most of all, I am grateful that they each are out living their lives, even if it means to be so far away from me and are people I would choose to be friends with.

I am grateful that my son took time to have supper with us last night and for how good he is to the little people.

I am grateful for my job and for the friend I care for. I am grateful for all that she teaches me. I am grateful that we have each other.

I am grateful that I don’t have to go to church to feel God’s unconditional love and grace for me. I am grateful that I get to serve him. I am grateful that he saved me from the life I once lived.

I am grateful that the snow is gone for now and that it has stopped raining. I am grateful to see the sun shining and the blue sky this afternoon.

I am grateful for what I have learned and continue to learn through the eyes of pain. I am grateful that it has taught me compassion for anyone that hurts, physically or emotionally.

I am grateful that being in this amount of pain today does not dictate what will come tomorrow. I am grateful that tomorrow is a new day.

I am grateful for how loved I am. I am grateful for the abundance that is mine.

Today, I choose to be grateful.

In closing, I share with you my grandchildren and my youngest children enjoying the fun of Halloween 2009.

Are you grateful? What are you grateful for?

 

An apple a day keeps the doctor away!

“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

Well I hope so anyways because we are all finally healthy. (Smiling big)

This little lady loves apples. On the rare occasion that we go to that fast food place that starts with an M, she orders apples instead of fries. And she usually eats half of my salad. She loves all the healthy foods that we eat. I know…she’s kinda strange. Don’t let that fool you though because she loves candy with a capital L. She will even ask to have it for breakfast. Little man? Not so much. He does like apples but he loves his fries with a capital L and doesn’t care much for salad or candy. I know…he’s kinda strange too.

She is crazy about apples.

It’s  a good thing we all love apples because recently, we went to help my parents with the apple harvesting. And we came home with lots of juicy red apples. Thankfully, it was one of our sunny days so it was a perfect day to spend outside. They had a very good crop of apples on their tree’s this year.

We picked lots and lots of apples.

We picked until the tree’s were bare except for the few we left for the birds.

Little man was excited to go up on the loader on Grandpa’s tractor.

And of course little lady had to have a turn too.

We filled pail after pail…

…and made lots of trips on Grandpa’s golf cart, to haul the trailer full of apples, up to the garage.

  

We took breaks from the work to pretend that we were the drivers…and of course to eat some apples.

Once we picked all the apples, we sorted through all the apples…

… some for apple pies and apple sauce…and of course for sharing…

…the best apples… were kept for eating just as they are.

My job was sorting and it really was hard because many of the apples were perfect huge crisp apples. Perfect for eating. In my sorting I came across the cutest little baby apples so we kept a bucket of them for the little people to eat. In my sorting I found these twin baby apples that shared the same stem. So cute!

The apples that are bruised or damaged in any way, get washed and then cut up and then go into this apple press that my dad built a couple of years ago. It makes pure apple juice.

Once all the apples were put through the press we hauled the 5 gallons pails of juice into the house. We poured the juice through cheese cloth to strain it and then it goes into containers that we freeze.

Of course, then it’s clean up time. Makes for a long day but there is nothing like hard work in the fresh air of autumn. I like that the little people got to take part in all of this and be such helpers. After such a long day of working and playing the fresh air, I thought they would fall asleep on the drive home. Instead they talked and talked about all the fun they had helping.

We came home with lots of red juicy apples for eating and freezing for pies, crisps and sauce and we have lots of fresh apple juice in our freezer.

And of course I had to take some pictures of my happy apple eaters with our apples and pumpkins we got from Grandpa and Grandma.

My husband made an apple pie already…yes, I have a husband that bakes and cooks and I must say he does it wonderfully. I love the example that this sets for the little people. Actually he spoils me rotten but that’s a whole nother post for another day.  Anyways, the pie tasted wonderful made with these apples. Now that the pie is gone, I was wondering what we could make next. I wanted to make something different, that we haven’t already made.

I didn’t have to wonder long, because Jan from Jan’s Sushi Bar posted a wonderful sounding recipe for Apple Upside Down Cake. If you have never been there you must go visit. If you like to cook or bake and like honest funny people, you will love her like I do.  This isn’t a cooking blog per say because she does write about daily life stuff too. She has a heart of gold and a lot of wisdom that you don’t learn in a book. She posts the best recipes and I seriously think she needs to either write a cookbook or have a cooking show along with her husband, Beloved. They both crack me up with their antic’s so between their good humor and mad cooking/baking skills I think they should take it on the road!

We were going to make them right away but need to go to the store first. So, this weekend, my little man, whom pretends to be “Emeril” when we cook and little lady, whom pretends to be “Rachel Ray” when we cook together, are going to make Jan’s cake.

They pretend to be Emeril and Rachel even when their pretending at their play kitchen or pretending to make food out of play dough. They love watching the cooking channel with us. When we watch shows in which a husband and wife are cooking together, they get excited and say “Their just like you guys cooking in the kitchen!”

I bet you can  guess who their favorites are? You’ll never guess who I am when we cook?  I’m  Emeril’s  and Rachel’s mom of course!

Do you have any favorite apple recipe’s that you would like to share?