- Xanax
- Fall
- Heavy cream in my coffee
- My children
- My family
- My little dogs
- A fresh haircut (best day in a woman’s month!)
- Happy music
- Brie cheese and tart apples
- Sunshine
- Crisp white wine
- Words that inspire me
- Kindness from others
- Photographs
- Cell phones
Month: November 2010
Guilty pleasures
Ok, I admit it: I’m a Food Network addict. I don’t watch everything (I do work and have a life) but I frequently have the channel on in the evening as background noise. This allows me to tune in when there’s a program on that captures my attention.
I LOVE the Guy Fieri show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. It’s such a great vehicle (no pun intended!) for publicizing the authentic mom and pop type restaurants throughout the country, and I’m happy to see these small operations get great free press. And Guy’s enthusiasm about the dishes he samples is fun to watch. I also like the quick demos that accompany the dishes that are profiled. Even if you don’t plan to attempt a knock off recipe, it gives you a basic idea of what goes into the dish if you want to incorporate either flavor or technique into your own cooking.
I also enjoy some of the contest shows like Iron Chef America. That’s kitchen theatre! Some of the featured ingredients are pretty standard, but now and then, I’ll admit there is a theme ingredient that I’ve never even heard of. I’ve learned a lot about cooking methods watching the chefs and their staff work on the show. The speed of the preparation and the imagination that the chefs put into their dishes is amazing.
Another favorite program is Chopped! The premise of this program is that four chefs tackle a surprise basket of ingredients for an appetizer, entrée and dessert. After each course, one of the chefs is chopped from the competition. The variety and increasingly bizarre nature of the ingredients in the chefs’ baskets gives an interesting twist to the show. There is also the interaction among the chefs as they vy with each other for the winning spot (and the $10,000 cash prize). A three judge panel critiques the dishes, and their interplay with the chefs is the best part of the show.
Probably my favorite has to the be Alton Brown “Good Eats” series. This is a seriously zany production, to say the least. The premise of the show combines the scientific backdrop of what is actually occurring in the various cooking processes, how the ingredients are interacting with each other, etc., but the really entertaining factor is the unique plot line that Brown uses for each show. Lots of characters, props, and interesting factoids make the show a little off-beat, but ultimately entertaining and educational. And the recipes and cooking methods are given in very precise terms…no chance of getting lost in jargon here!
Most of my leisure for tv time comes in small segments, so I often watch only a few minutes of these programs. But this fare is far more interesting to me than traditional game shows, reality shows, soap operas…after all, the main theme of the channel is FOOD, and there’s not a lot that’s more interesting than food that is well prepared and entertainingly presented. Add larger than life hosts, and the formula is magic, as the Food Network has taken to the bank.
“How can I love you better?”
A few weeks ago I came across a simple but intriguing question: “How can I love you better?” Catherine Newman, writing in the October 2010 issue of the magazine Whole Living, describes her experiment with asking that question of her family and the surprising results. She anticipated that their responses would require some difficult sacrifice or change on her part, but found that the reality was much simpler. The requests weren’t big ones after all, and yet simply asking the question had a profound impact on her spouse, her children, and the author.
Isn’t it an unspoken expectation in relationships that you are always trying to love others better? Does asking the question remind those in the family, the marriage, the friendship of that goal? Do relationships deteriorate because people quit trying? Who can consciously try to love the others in their lives better every day?
Maybe that’s where the simple act of asking the question comes into play. None of us is perfect. None of us can love the others in our lives more each day, every day. We have more capacity to love, to give of ourselves, to be unselfish, some days. Less ability other days. But when we ask the question, “How can I love you better?” we remind the people in our lives that we are paying attention, we care, we are noticing our behavior. We are trying. The times we are successful at loving better carries us through the moments when we fail. And isn’t that what relationships are about anyway? We try, sometimes we fail, we forgive each other, we try again. Loving better is a never-ending quest, a reach for perfection that none of us can ever fulfill. But we can ask the question, we can consciously try.
I asked my own children, grown now and living on their on, how I can love them better. My son tells me if I understand more of his interests, I can be a better friend to him. Fair enough, I can do that. My daughter’s first response, which she self-edits even as she speaks it, is that we live closer to her. But at the moment that’s not feasible. So I am waiting for her answer still. But she knows I want to love her better. My husband knows. I like the self-challenge to be more engaged, to be consciously and actively looking for ways to demonstrate what is truly and deeply in my heart: that I want to love them all better, more deeply, with intention and ferocity.
Learning to trade
I’m learning a new life skill: My husband has introduced me to the world of the stock market and trading. Although not a broker or trader by profession, he has had an interest in that world for many years, and over time has honed his skills. He is now attempting to use trading as a serious cash flow engine, and to further that goal, recently enrolled in a formal training course.
The add-on for me is that he is able to have a guest audit the training, so I‘ve been able to access and complete the modules for free. Let me tell you, to a novice who has barely followed the markets, this is a whole new world! It has its own language and complexities, far beyond the simplistic ups and downs of the stock market numbers that are so frequently quoted in news headlines. Puts, calls, straddles, vertical spreads, Greeks…the terms are strange and sometimes funny. Who knew Wall Street vocabulary could be humorous?
We went to a trading seminar in August that was a revelation to me…there are actually all sorts of diagnostic tools, charts, graphics, complicated software, etc., etc., that help people make sense of this world. And books…you can spend a fortune on books! You can trade stocks, options, bonds, futures, commodities, foreign exchange funds… the variety of ways you can make a living in the financial markets is staggering.
So what is the point of all of this? To make money, of course, and to learn a bit more about the way the world works! Anything can impact the markets, from tech news to current events to currency values…you never know how the market will interpret information.
I have made a little money in my IRA account so far, doing my very own trading, thank you! I’ve had some coaching from my husband, but I’ve made a couple of decisions on my own too. I’m finding that I prefer to buy stock in companies I like, whose products I buy, whose quality I value. I make it a bit personal. To date, I haven’t lost money yet; I’ve made something on every order. I’ve also not made the maximum I could have made, but that’s part of the game too…be happy to walk away with a gain, rather than bemoan the fact that you missed out on part of a run up. (By the way, that’s easier to say than to do; but good advice, none the less.)
My new phrase is “I like to buy money.” That’s what you’re doing if you’re lucky…spending money to make money, and bottom line, that translates to buying money. Will I get rich doing this? Unlikely, and I’ll be fortunate to pad my IRA account a little here and there without doing serious damage. But it’s fun, it’s stretching me, and I’m learning a new language.
FYI…we used Investools, from TD Ameritrade, for our education/training. Check it out; it’s expensive, but hopefully worth it in the end. And no, I’m not receiving any reimbursement for the mention…and in the best tradition of financial services firms, let me hasten to say that I am not recommending this program, just sharing information that this is the company we used for our training.
Good luck if you decide to dive in!
Do you know “Flylady?”
I can already hear my family, and maybe even a few of my friends, begin to groan: not “Flylady” again! I first became acquainted with this site several years ago when I saw an article in a Denver paper profiling “Flylady” and her mission.
Let me explain: this is a site designed to help people who are challenged with self-organization in every way. If your home is cluttered, Flylady is for you! If you have difficulty getting your bills paid on time, Flylady is for you! If you are looking for exercise or encouragement to eat more healthy meals , Flylady is for you! This is a site that offers gentle and positive messages to people who need help overcoming self-defeating behaviors.
One of the nicest things about all of this encouragement is that it is free. There are various products that the site offers for sale, but there is no requirement to purchase to be an email subscriber. I don’t follow all the recommendations offered, but I have picked up some great ideas, and I love the positive attitudes of the people who host the site, as well as the enthusiastic subscriber comments. It’s a great virtual support group and members have the ability to be passive observers or as active as they choose.
Flylady is very family oriented and incorporates ideas for children as well as adults. The tools and suggestions work for everyone: married, single, young, old, empty nester, or in the thick of child rearing.
One of my favorite phrases from the site is “Progress, not perfection.” There is an anti-perfection message at the heart of the Flylady system that emphasizes the crippling nature of that spirit. The goal is to recognize that doing your best is doing enough, to respect and value what is being accomplished rather than to focus on what may yet need to be done. This is the positive, hope-filled, and an empowering message of the site. Look beyond the graphics (a bit corny for my taste) and let me know what you think.
Fairy Cake, Yum!
- Fairy Cake
Happy Birthday Stephanie!
Today is my daughter’s 27th birthday. This has been an exciting year for her. She finished her master’s degree, became a full-fledged teacher, she and her husband bought their first house, and, most importantly, she became a mom to Riley. Some years just seem to hold more than others, to be more meaningful than others. And now she is marking her first birthday since these events occurred…all grown up and part of the adult world now! No doubt about it!
This year I’m not doing my ususal lament…where does the time go? How could she be 27? I’m just happy that she is well, productive, and experiencing the joys of her own little family. What more could I ask for her? And the fact that we are able to talk frequently, to share our lives, is icing on the cake.
We’ll be together at Thanksgiving and at Christmas…good opportunities to catch up on baby time! But also, I’m excited to continue to have a part in Stephanie’s life. The little person that came into my life has blossomed into a beautiful, capable and humorous woman. I don’t want to miss the unfolding story before me as I watch in awe the child/woman I gave birth to, now continuing the cycle with her own daughter, and still teaching me about life through this new chapter.
Do you know “Pandora?”
This is a great find my husband showed me a couple of years ago. For anyone who loves music, lots of different types of music, there is a fabulous free internet radio site, “Pandora,” to enjoy. To explain more fully, this from Wikipedia:
“Pandora Radio is an automated music recommendation service and custodian of the Music Genome Project. Users enter a song or artist that they enjoy, and the service responds by playing selections that are musically similar. Users provide feedback on approval or disapproval of individual songs, which Pandora takes into account for future selections.”
In case you are not in the know, you can download Pandora for free on your computer, your phone, and if you have internet access through your television (don’t ask me the exact details), your tv. You sign up for an account, which is also free, and then you begin to build stations unique to your taste by selecting songs or artists you like. If you have more than one application the account will be updated, so anything you choose in one environment will show up in others. How cool is that?!
There is a wide range of music available, everything from classical to country to pop to religious to seasonal…you get the picture. I can’t promise that they have every song ever recorded, but I would guess most are available.
There is a paid subscription option to Pandora, but honestly I haven’t felt the need to do that. The free site is great and works like a charm. I love technology! (At least sometimes!)
Grace and Life 