totally biased w W. Kamau Bell

     I am very excited about a new show.  The first episode was brilliant.  It pushes and pulls at very serious issues but does it with comedy...a mixture I have always loved.  W. Kamau Bell...I can't wait for more!

Brene Brown and Vulnerability

     I watched an inspirational speaker tonight thanks to a "share" on Facebook by my dear, Theresa.  I know I have watched bits of Brene Brown before but today the timing was special.  I have been walking through life on such a mission but occasionally there is a weak spot and I falter.  They are getting more infrequent and less substantial but they happen nonetheless.  Today, I took a slow car ride home on a curvy back road and tried to listen to the messages.  I took in the beauty of the scenery.  I listened to a lovely song.  I felt the warm air on my skin.  I let the tears fall.  I tried to practice the very lessons I try to teach others.  I tried to practice the ones for myself.  But it isn't always easy. 
     The very things I heard in the video clip were the very things that keep coming up with the people I care about.  They have also been a theme.  The vulnerability, the numbing, the shame, the love...it is all intertwined.  It is what causes destruction with the people we care about the most.  They are the very things that stop us from living the full life that we could be living.  We have to reach out and be vulnerable.  It is hard.  And yet I practice everyday.  In fact, today I told a friend that I loved her and told another that I missed her terribly.  I send out random emails, messages and texts lately telling people how I feel.  I ask when I need help.  I nag when there is silence.  I put my hand out to the stubborn.  Sometimes it is unbearable but I do it anyway.  Maybe if we all did it nobody would have to get hurt.  Maybe if one shows others that it is ok...more will follow.  Maybe we could all put down our weapons and just be kind.  Somehow I doubt it but the listening to this wise "researcher storyteller" made it all make just a little bit more sense for me tonight.  And I needed it.  So thank you universe for answering the question.  Thank you even more for giving me the gift of the people who answered it!  ;)

ENJOYED Back to School Shoe Shopping

     It has become tradition that Gramary comes on out a few weeks before school starts to get the kids some new kicks.  The amount of enjoyment one gets out of this activity is somewhere between the dentist and cleaning out the garage.  Alright, so I'm exaggerating but it is usually a long tricky session of huffing, squeezing, bickering, pleading...well...you get the idea. 
     This time I went in with my new and improved attitude.  I knew it would be awesome.  I believed.  Not only did each child come out with the perfect collection of shoes but I had one of my hardest laughs in years.  Tears poured.  I could barely breathe.  Mary was squatting near the rack of shoes and leaned back on a shelf and popped it right out of the bracket.  A cascade of shoes followed her to the floor.  (No one was injured during this episode so feel free to smile...nobody will know.) It reminded me of the I Love Lucy episode where the bread just kept coming out of the oven and though you knew it was in no way possible you laughed anyway.  I could not believe how the shoes just KEPT COMING.  There were only so many on the shelf and yet they seemed endless.  I tried to pick them up but the laughter got the best of me.  The sales associate could not even get angry because I was such a giggling goon.  I will laugh each time I see the new shoes. Talk about a gift that keeps on giving!!!
     Thanks to the best grandmother EVER for another great shopping spree and one of the best laughs yet!!!! Love you, Gramary!!!

Raining Cats and Dogs

     We had a theme with a mission this weekend at MudWorks.  We wanted to help some animals find some homes.  Together with Safe Haven (a group that fosters pets until they find families), Kitchen Chemistry, the 4H, Popcorn Buddha, several area artists and the love and dedication of the staff at MudWorks we gathered for a day of hope.  Some nice people found some new furry friends and a community came together.  It was nice to be on that side of it...and we look forward to making it a tradition. 

Steel Stacks

     I have seen Sheryl.  In fact, I have seen her WITH Jenne.  So how was I going to swing this as a new thing?  Well, I have NEVER seen any show at the brand new Steel Stacks in Bethlehem.  They took a nasty mess of a place full of lost hope and ghosts and turned it into something wonderful.  The tall stacks loom over the backdrop of the stage with dancing colors of lights. 
     Jenne treated me to a night for the girls.  It was a summer night with perfect weather and the perfect friend to share it with.  We did some dancing and some singing while we watched a woman we simply could not believe was 50.  She was rockin' it in between stories of her children and switching out instruments.  I sat there and listened to lyrics I have heard a million times before and yet they meant so many new things to me now.  Some of them brought tears to my eyes.  Some made me sing a little bit louder.  It also served as a reminder of the thing that I keep trying to convince myself of but tend to forget...I am the youngest I will ever be.  A big birthday is coming quicker each day and yet there is a feeling of peace with it all.  Besides, if Sheryl can make 50 look that good there is still hope!

    And to Jenne I say...May we always be the girls that get yelled at for standing up to dance and sing at a concert no matter how old we get!!!

Claressa Shields

     "I don't like boxing!", I blurted as soon as I saw it on the television.   We have been watching and thoroughly enjoying so much of the Olympics but I was drawing the line at watching two individuals beating each other in the head. 

     Then came the back story.  Damn...those back stories.  I should know better.  They get me every time.  In fact, as it started up I sighed and knew in a matter of moments I would be giving in.  Claressa Shields has had a tough life.  She has taken those challenges to the boxing ring and made it into something good.  By the end of the story I was eager to watch as she competed.  I was rooting for her and what it took for her to get there.  I was cheering for her spirit. 

She took the gold. 

     All of these months later and I still blurt that I don't like something every here and there.  It's rare.  Most of the time I welcome new things with an open heart and the gratitude for the gift that it is.  But the deep ones...the long running ones...sometimes are stubborn.    I just needed someone to knock it right out of me and remind me to be open.  I'm just glad she did it with a story and not a real punch!!!
Congratulations to a woman that made us all proud.  A first for the country and a new thing for me. 

Risotto Milanese

     I purchased a box of arborio rice so long ago I don't even remember when it was.  I know I was mesmerized by the thought of making my own risotto for years after watching it being made on all of the cooking competition shows.  It intimidated me so.  I mean Gordon has been screaming at his blue and red chefs for years about making it ALL WRONG...so how could I possibly swing it?!?  I was even given a cookbook dedicated JUST to risotto years ago that has sat unstained and clean with neglect.  You know the recipes that I love by how dirty the pages are.  A few weeks ago I came home to the smell of pure heaven.  Seems a pot of chicken stock had been made complete with herbs, veggies and spices.  Immediately, I thought of planning ahead a bit and I busted out one of my latest cookbooks for some recipe ideas.  There it was a again taunting me...risotto.  I froze some in containers complete with a page number to a recipe that would guide me through the steps.  Someday.... when I was brave enough...in a good enough place...feeling bold. 
     Wednesday, August 8th was that day.  I lined up my ingredients, put on music that made me happy, cleared the space of distractions and dug right in.  It was effortless.  Seamless.  Fun.  It was also one delicious bowl of creamy goodness.  The best part? My new Weight Watchers book smiled at me as I stirred the heaven.  A girl can battle a fear, keep to her points and have a bowl of yummy all at one time!