Goosey Lucy or Turkey Lurkey

I have been dealing with headaches as long as I can remember. There became a certain degree of headache I consider normal and can carry on through the day without incident. When the intensity or focus of my headache changes from the usual, it becomes increasingly distracting. When it begins to include nausea, forget it… I am done. Most days it becomes a late start and a few pills, caffeine and home remedies get me out the door. Today, a late start turned into a sick day.

This headache begins at my eyebrows and wraps around the top of my head, pulls down the back of my neck and tightens all the way into my shoulder and down to my lower back. It feels like a taught drawstring. My left side feels great because if I move my head too much, it feels as though my right side might implode from my shoulder to my ear. It’s quite likely that I was grinding my teeth all night and I am simply suffering the consequences today.

Despite my headache, life must go on. I have no nausea and therefore have been able to wash dishes, prep for dinner, wash, dry and fold three loads of laundry, sweep the floor, feed the cats and dogs and head outside to take care of my farmette. The farmette is really the reason for the blog, the headache may be key to the perspective.

Goosey Lucy

As soon as the sliding door opens the extremely loud “Hooooonnnk, hooooonnnk” of our guard goose, Lucy, begins. She waddles up the hill hollering that it is late and I have not fed her yet. As I walk to the shed, she comes along nipping at my calves as the seven ducks waddle behind her quacking and grunting, much more politely. I fill a bucket of feed and put it down for them and they have at it with vengeance. I head down the hill to the pen with a bucket of grain for the goats and some feed for the turkey.

As I open the gate, the goats surround me but walk patiently with me to the trough, the turkey hops along with us. As the goats munch the grain I pour into the trough, Turkey Lurkey flys up to where I hang his feed bucket, puts his tail up and dances proudly for me as he “thump, thumps” his happy sound. I hang his bucket and watch him dive in. 

That is where the perspective hits, Goosey Lucy or Turkey Lurkey...

Turkey Lurkey

Who do I want to be?

Goosey Lucy is loud, in your face, and not well mannered. Turkey Lurkey is easy on the ears, showy, yet polite and thankful. I think they each have a certain reflection of me. At home, I expect they know what I want and if they don’t take care of it, I will likely chase them down biting and barking. Goosey got her food, but no extra. Turkey got his food, a little attention, and a little lovin’. Today, headache and all, I’m gonna aim for a little less Lucy and a little more Lurkey. How about you?

The Making of a Polar Plunge

When I came up with the idea of completing a Polar Plunge, I have no idea what I was thinking. I decided it would be a good idea to jump into ocean water in the winter to simply say I have done it. I committed to it, blogged it and talked about it. I even had a few fantastic people caught up in my excitement and agreed to commit to it as well. I may not have been really thinking at all, but it is happening less than a week from today.

It was over a month ago I began this plan… and just a few days ago realized it was crunch time. Fantastic foolish friends involved and committed, check. Team page created, check. Donations for the Special Olympics being collected, check. Hotel room reserved, check. Costume contest? Hmmmmm….

Early on, part of the fun was creating a team theme and name. Frosted Flakes; perfect! It certainly speaks to the frozen crazy chicks we are and will be. Picture Tony the Tiger, toe in the water, shivering…”The Water’s GGGGGGRRRRREAT!” It couldn’t be any more perfect! But really… a costume? A costume that would be fun, fantastic, and perfect to parade around the boardwalk and jump in the freezing cold water? A trip to Joanne’s was in order for some inspiration.

I walked out of Joanne’s with 1 ¼ yards remnant of zebra striped fabric, a box of orange RIT dye, a few yards of orange tulle, a few yards of black tulle, and two rolls of black organdy ribbon. Step one, create a tiger out of a zebra, check (with the unfortunate addition of eight orange fingers.) Step two, fun and fantastic with tulle. Roll it, cut it, loop it, check. Add a few extras from the craft collection, check. Entertain the cat and calm my soul, check.

The rest is in progress. I am afraid you will need to return in a few days for an update. In the meantime, would you care to visit this link Jen's Frosted Flakes page and make a donation in our fantastic, fun, and out of our minds honor to the Special Olympics?

(How's that for a commercial break? LOL)



Roxy, too quick for a real action shot :)

Mr. Food: Truth or Dare?

Somehow when Mr. Food says ummm, ummmm, good… I believe him. There are very few things I would turn my nose up at, make terrible faces when tasting, or spit back into my napkin. My family, however, does not have anywhere near the same belief system. It is a rare occasion when the entire table agrees on a meal. I love tofu, bean sprouts and hummus. They love breaded, fried, dripping oil pork chops and green beans with fatback. We have reached a compromise; I bake pork chops and cook the color out of some of our vegetables and they eat peanut butter crackers after choking on half a dinner plate of a new dish. The only things we all love to eat in our house are brownies, and ice cream.

Easy prep!

Waiting for it to boil...

Last week, Mr. Food caught me on a healthy, no roll, stuffed cabbage recipe. I instantly thought, “If they don’t see it wrapped in cabbage, maybe they’ll eat it.” It was easy to make and smelled fantastic. YUM. My nephew was over for dinner tonight and knew there would be trouble as I read the recipe online. As we all sat down the faces began. “Aunt Jen, what IS this square stuff? Are the round things meatballs?” Stefan, just eat it.

My son, who used to love smoothies made from everything green, complained about the cabbage and told me he couldn’t possibly eat it. As the moaning continued, I indulged in my fantastic new recipe and finished my bowl. Everyone else had to make a deal to leave the table; two more spoonfuls Joe, eat the meatballs and 1 square thing Stefan, two spoonfuls... if you weren’t so smart... Caleb, now eat three. Really? Could it really be that bad? Dinner table torture as they all imagined loud gas and explosive diarrhea on the basketball court tonight.

YUM! Smells fantastic!

As I enjoy the silence and blog alone... I wonder if the basketball court remains safe or has tragically become toxic because of my cooking. Sighs and smiles...

Here’s the recipe; try it for yourself. I’d be interested to hear if you get ummm, ummmm, good or bargains and moans to leave a full bowl at the table.

Not-Rolled "Rolled" Cabbage updates a traditional European recipe for stuffed cabbage. It takes all the work out of this classic, but none of the delicious taste.
Serves: 8          Preparation Time: 5 min          Cooking Time: 1 hr

Ingredients:
1 1/4 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 head green cabbage, shredded (12 to 14 cups)
1 (14-ounce) can jellied or whole-berry cranberry sauce
5 gingersnap cookies, crumbled (about 1/4 cup crumbs)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 (26-ounce) jar spaghetti sauce

Instructions:
1. In a medium bowl, combine ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, salt, and pepper. Form mixture into 1-inch meatballs (about 1 tablespoon each).
2. Place half the shredded cabbage in a soup pot then add meatballs. Spread cranberry sauce over meatballs, sprinkle with gingersnap crumbs and lemon juice then add remaining cabbage. Pour spaghetti sauce over mixture. Do not stir!
3. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Stir gently, being careful not to break up meatballs. Simmer an additional 40 minutes, stirring halfway through.

The List: Taking Suggestions Towards 40

Here's the start of how I will I will fly into forty fabulously...

1.      Complete 40 blog posts. Feed Your Soul Fantastic

2.      Lose 40 pounds. 
     a.       Do 40 consecutive push-ups, without collapsing. J
     b.      Exercise at least 40 minutes a day, 4 days a week. This is an extremely lofty goal for me!
     c.       Complete the Dr. Oz Belly Busting Workout until it no longer makes me burn and out of breath in three sets.
3.      Complete 40 Random Acts of Kindness.
4.      Have sex 40 days in a row. I’m thinking this could change my marriage, LOL.
5.      Take control of my spending and journal each penny spent, for at least 40 days.
6.      Share an event in NYC with my son; a play, a parade, a panhandler.
7.      Photograph and frame a series that has meaning from this experience.
8.      New INK!
9.      Go horseback riding.
10.  Do something in the sky; parasail, skydive, hot air balloon.
11.  Inspire one other person to embrace their life moment with positivity.
12.  Meditate more, rage less.
13.  Music, music, music. Feed my soul with music everyday.
14.  Find out what my gifts are, and use at least a few of them.
15.  Listen to and take my own advice and allow the eternal optimist image to flow inside and out. What Was I Thinking?
16.  Try 40 new recipes.
17.  Pose for pin up style pictures with our classics, at least 40 poses.
18.  Memorize 40 verses of scripture.
19.  Volunteer somewhere new for at least 40 hours.
20.  Dance in a mud puddle, with company.
21.  Experience a sunset in a place where I have never been.
22.  Climb a lighthouse.
23.  Send 40 handwritten notes by mail.
24.  Purchase $40 worth of scratch off lottery tickets.
25.  Have professional family photos taken.
26.  Reduce my own carbon footprint. Easy Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
27.  POLAR PLUNGE! It’s on- Feb 4, 2011!
28.  Make contact with, make time for, and make memories with friends; old and new.
29.  Make a gallon of wine from honey or fruit.
30.  Experience a girls weekend!
31.  Participate in a local festival I have not experienced.
32.  Do nothing. Suggested by one of the wisest women I know.
33.  Unfriend 40 people who really aren’t my friends on facebook.
34. 
35.
36. 
37. 
38. 
39. 
40. 

A Full Birthday Bucket

How full is your bucket? Do you immediately think of your mounding to do list and your overflowing plate? That is not where I am going… your bucket overflowing is an amazing positive thing! I love grand visual theories and I just learned of one that could really impact your life. It came to me on the perfect day… my 39^th birthday. The birthday intended to kickoff a year filled with a list to help me fly fabulously into forty.

Imagine each of us has a great big invisible bucket. When your bucket is empty, you feel horrible. When it is full, you feel fantastic! Imagine each of us has a great big invisible dipper. If you use your dipper to fill another’s bucket, your bucket is also filled. When you use your dipper to empty another’s bucket, you draw from your own bucket as well. (Tom Rath, 2011) We face the choices of bucket filling and bucket dipping everyday, the decisions we make in a moment can leave us enriched or depleted.  

I know some of you are saying, what the buck-et is she talking about? Whether you call it The Golden Rule, Kharma, Fruits of the Spirit, or the Dipper and the Bucket, it is all about giving what you would like to receive. When we say or do things to increase another’s positivity, it also increases your own.  This gives you a positive outlook and makes you stronger, more optimistic and produces better outcomes. When you say or do something to decrease another’s positive energy or intentionally increase negativity, you in turn decrease your own positivity. This decreases your strength, poisons your perspective and produces less than desirable outcomes.

I realized that my list is simply bucket filling. If it doesn’t fill a bucket, especially the bucket of another, it is not list worthy. I begin this journey with an overflowing bucket. My birthday morning began too early, and I do not embrace morning. I was interrupted with buzzing and buzzing of my phone, annoying me as I was trying to pay attention to a work planning session. I was surprised with notification after notification of facebook birthday wishes. Texts, calls, cards, songs, smiles, fun and sparkly gifts followed all the way through the meeting, into an evening of youth basketball and continuing into the next day. May your next move, and mine, be a drop in a bucket.

 

 

Tom Rath. (2011). The theory of the dipper and the bucket. Retrieved from http://strengths.gallup.com/114082/Theory-Dipper-Bucket.aspx

Bustin' Caps with My Man

Bringing together hearts and homes leads to many new perspectives. He grew up with guns under the bed, behind Mama’s chair, maybe even propped beside the front door. I grew up with guns only around the few gansta guys I chose to run with. Joe and circumstance have taught me that guns are not just for trouble, but out here in the country- you may actually have an opportunity to use it for something worthwhile. (Being cornered on your porch by a coyote can change any girl’s perspective.) Big, little, shiny, camo; a gun’s a gun to me. I learned to handle them safely, load, unload and shoot. I am not at the ready to carry concealed or understand the common citizens need for an automatic weapon, but I am comfortable with the idea and respect others varied opinions.

For Christmas, one gift I gave my hubby was a shooting range package. It was an awesome Living Social deal that I couldn’t pass up. This morning I spent over two hours bustin’ caps with my man. We fired 22s and 9mms; one with a little kick and one with a bronco’s buck. It was a blast. We started with just a couple of people shaped targets, moved on to some more challenging little circles, and actually had a photo target of a lifelike man pointing a gun at me before we finished. I did pretty well. I had some trouble figuring out one of the sights and missed the entire target about 5 times. (Really now- I had to give my hunny something to puff up his chest about.) Towards the end, I actually shot a few rounds better than he did, YEAH ME! Picture me; plastic ear muffs, goggles, black boots with 3 inch heels and big silver hoops… jumping up and down in the testosterone full shooting range with my tongue out… “I did better than you!” 



The actual  lifelike target described.

This experience was amazing. It wasn’t on my list, but it is list worthy. If you haven’t done it, try it. Shooting ranges will give lessons, lend guns, sell ammo. There is something new in my core being today. I’ve taken a gun safety class, shot here and there, have my own with a cute pink carrying case. Firing off almost 500 rounds in a few hours, washing the lead and gunpowder off my hands, knowing I can pick it up, load it, fire, trouble shoot a jam, a-l-l-b-y-m-y-s-e-l-f. All thanks to bringing together hearts and homes, and a new perspective. Thanks and I love you Joe. Today, I am even thankful for a few of the things I didn’t think I liked.

A girl’s gotta just do it. You’ll walk a little taller that day forward. Local ladies, hit me up… we’ll go together.

A List for a List

My entire life I have felt some sort of satisfaction by crossing items off a list. As a child, I would create my own goal charts and add stars for myself. I do not remember this vividly, but my hoarding tendencies have allowed me to experience pulling a few of my own charts out of the tattered box I’ve been lugging around for decades. (I should tell you, my fear of becoming the crazy cat lady certainly limits my saving.) I think I started summer reading lists before they were handed out and, I don’t even have an older sibling. My summer list contained things like, make 3 mix tapes from WBLS from the top of the Empire State Building and 1 from 92rock7, teach Freddy how to ride his bike without help, and solve Rubik’s Cube without taking any stickers off. I would write, rewrite and cross things off my list. I can remember sometimes adding things to a list just to be able to cross it off. Thirty years later, there’s a list on my kitchen counter, a list hung on the wall outside my son’s bedroom, a few lists on my desk at work, a faded penned note between my thumb and wrist… what in the world made me think I could manage Flying Fabulously into Forty with just one list?

Today, blog readers, I will be not only making lists related to my list, but I will be creating a binder to collect the data of my journey. There will be sections for counted items, calendars, and protector pockets for tickets or something. I can feel the excitement burning in my soul… For those of you with prominent OCD elements, I know you are wondering what you could create along with me. For those of you who are still wondering what “WBLS from the top of the Empire State Building” is, google it. Go on with your day in bliss, write a few things you wish to accomplish or even just know you will do today on a list, if crossing it off makes you arch your back, takes your breath away a bit, or just makes you smile… list on baby. List on!

Recipes: 3 down, 37 to go!

I have decided to post my collection of newly attempted recipes periodically. This week, we tried a bunch. First, I watched Dr. Oz and was excited about a healthy noodle pudding recipe. While in nursing school, I was a home health aide and one fantastic couple I worked with was Pearl and Sam. As I assisted them, they taught many lessons, cultivated fruits of the spirit, and imparted a love of brie and noodle pudding. The sheer mention of noodle pudding brought me back to fond memories of my time with them. I could taste that noodle pudding. Dr. Oz never knew Pearl, because that recipe sure didn’t come from her! It was ok, but I’ll be searching for a recipe more like Pearl’s to try in the future. Here’s a link to that recipe, Dr. Oz's Noodle Pudding , hopefully I’ll post a more Pearl-like noodle pudding soon. 

I love to throw a few things in the crock pot in the morning and have dinner ready when I get home. A dear friend gave me a book, 1001 Slow Cooker Recipes, for Christmas and I’m sure you’ll see more from that here. Here’s my first try, the family loved this one. It was made with cheap chicken thighs, something I never buy… but will again.  

Surprise Chicken Thighs:

Serves 4-6 

2 pounds chicken thighs

¾ cup chili sauce

¾ cup packed brown sugar

1 (1 ounce) packet dry onion soup mix

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Rice, cooked 

Arrange chicken pieces in a sprayed slow cooker. Combine chili sauce, brown suger, dry soup mix, cayenne pepper and ¼ c. water in bowl and spoon over chicken. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-7 hours. Serve over rice.

This one was off the back of the generic frozen meatballs, so easy and YUM! A hit at a potluck party!

Barbecued Glazed Meatballs:

Serves 6-8 

1 jar (12 oz) currant or grape jelly

1 cup barbecue sauce

32 original frozen meatballs  

Combine jelly and barbecue sauce in a large saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until jelly melts. Add meatballs. Heat over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, or until meatballs are hot and glazed, stirring occasionally. Serve in slow cooker set on low, if desired.