Gratitude Journal Monday

It's going to be a busy week so posts may be short and sweet. I think that's exactly how gratitude should be. It shouldn't be complicated or overly lyrical, just take what's in your heart and send it out into the Universe in plain and simple language. Like prayer, gratitude expressed with simplicity is best.

211. I am grateful for my mom's sewing ability - thanks for being so willing to sew what seems to be the impossible and always ending up with awesome results.

212. I am grateful for my hot glue gun (what I consider to be my "sewing machine").

213. I am thankful for the special way sunshine floods through our kitchen windows in the morning.


214. I am thankful for lazy Sundays (I'll let you know if I enjoy one anytime soon).


215. I am thankful for warm, cozy socks without holes.


I began my Gratitude Journal here. I hope you feel the pull to give thanks and take the time to act. The benefits are truly amazing for the heart and soul. Have a terrific week.

Goodbye Week. Hello Weekend. Lessons Learned: Take 44.

Our beautiful school's courtyard featuring Pan, the Greek God

Goodbye welcoming bunches of new readers to this lil' ol' blog this week - thanks for being here and I sure hope you stay!
Goodbye supporting a friend through a difficult, but healing process as he continues to gain strength as a survivor.
Goodbye continuous state of awe as Super Hubby burns the candle at both ends - I can't survive on that little of sleep.
Goodbye tickling throats, lots of sleep, and taking a sick-day.
Goodbye blood work, EKG, and normal results.

Hello melting chocolate and filling molds.
Hello creating and crafting and hammers pounding and painting happening.
Hello getting closer to the big 10 birthday party and running out of time and patience.
Hello making some dietary changes, not because I have to, but because I want to.
Hello hoping to greet Monday with a great deal accomplished and lots of cross-offs on The List.

This week's lesson learned is one that comes to many of us, I suspect, as we begin the next chapter of our lives, usually when you celebrate a decade birthday. I had my physical this past week. All is fine, blood work is normal, blood pressure is close to perfect, and cholesterol levels are acceptable. I know it sounds great, and I am grateful for the non-problematic results. But, in some weird way I was hoping something would be out of kilter. Not in the way that would cause me permanent harm, just in a way to motivate me to change some of my ways (like my love for McDonald's Big Mac's). I needed a reason, a motivation, to encourage me to make changes in my diet to help prolong my future so I don't have to be forced to make changes later when it all catches up with me and the lab results are dire. But, alas, it seems I have to find the motivation within myself, not in a blood test result. What a gift to not have to be reactionary in my own health care, but rather be proactive in knowing what's right, and just doing it. So despite the fact the blood work tests came back normal, I know I should eat more fruit, drink water, exercise, and have better control over portion-size. It's the right way to live and that motivation comes from me, not a test result.

woMan Versus Machine

That time of year is upon me once again when the growing grass outside my home coaxes me outside for its weekly trim; when the dandelion fluffs scatter the yard and sway in the wind, hoping to scatter it's seed before the fertilizer gets to it. Yes, I am the yardmaster in our family, although master is not quite the right word to describe my landscaping prowess or lack thereof.

Before having a child and a blog, both of which require almost equal attention and nurturing for excellent results, I would have almost considered myself a gardener like my bloggy friend Betty Sneeringer (her gardens are amazing). I enjoyed fussing about the azaleas and puttering with the perennials. Now, I just do enough in the yard to ensure the city doesn't get a phone call from my neighbors OK that may be an exaggeration.

The grass doesn't care about my busy schedule, or my crafting project in progress, or my weekly menu planning. No, the grass does what it knows to do and that is to grow, sometimes double the length after an overnight rainfall. And it is my responsibility to take care of the growing grass because it is mine. And because it is mine, my grass, my responsibility, I should find the time amidst the haze of busyness, to hold the look of the yard to the same standard I keep for all the other areas in my life. It's time to see the lawnmower as a release from the busyness and just enjoy it as a vehicle that allows the mind to drift away into new ideas, one pass at a time, up and down, down and up, side to side and back again.

Just a click gets me a vote!!! Thank you!!

What I Made Wednesday {Restaurant-Style Chicken Fingers and Sauce}

You know when you go to a pub-fare type restaurant and you get the chicken fingers that are just the right amount of flaky and light and crispy? Then, when you bite into that tasty morsel the emitting steam rewards you with a taste of juicy chicken and you think they must serve this in heaven? Yeah, you know what I'm talking about - mmmm! And, don't even talk about that honey-mustard sauce they serve on the side that's so good, you have to ask for a double serving just to last the meal. Well, here's a recipe that duplicates the restaurant-style chicken fingers and honey-mustard dipping sauce, without the waitress, the wait, or the bill, enjoy!

What You'll Need

 
Heavy-bottomed pot
2 cups flour
Salt and pepper, to taste
2-eggs
3-chicken breasts
2 cups Canola oil, or enough for an inch of oil in the pot






What You'll Do

I like to use a pot with high sides to help with the splatter of the oil. The Canola oil should measure a little over 1 inch from the bottom of the pot.

Take a small dish and mix flour, salt and pepper together. Set aside. Take a bowl and crack both eggs. Add 1-tablespoon water to the eggs and whisk together.

Cut the chicken breast into strips about an inch in width. Dredge the chicken in the flour, then the egg mix,   then again in the flour. Shake off any excess.

Heat up the oil to 350 degrees F. That's midway between medium and high heat on my stove. When you can drop a little flour into the oil and it sizzles, then you know the oil is ready for your dredged chicken. Working in batches, add about 4 chicken strips carefully, don't crowd, and turn over after 3 minutes. Fry another 3 minutes and remove the chicken strips from the oil and on to a paper towel to absorb the oil.

What You'll Need to Know to Finish
Continue frying all the dredged chicken strips. You can collect the chicken strips on a tray and keep them warm in the oven, but I found this method takes away some of the crispiness. My family takes the chicken strips as they come out of the oil and eats them right away for best taste.

If you have any leftovers, these chicken strips freeze great and make awesome snacks for another time. Just make sure the strips are fully cooled before storing in the freezer. When you're ready for snack time, just heat them up for about 10 minutes on 300 degrees F in the oven.

Did you think I forgot about the Honey-Mustard Sauce?!?!?!

What You'll Need

3/4 cup mayonnaise
3 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons yellow mustard
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 Tablespoon orange juice
Pinch of horseradish
 
 

Combine all ingredients and mix with a whisk or immersion hand blender until smooth. Refrigerate any leftovers, if there are any, that is. The sauce should keep up to 4 days if sealed in an airtight container and refrigerated. Now tell me, isn't it the best honey-mustard sauce you've EV.ER tasted??? Enjoy!

Unplug to Unleash

Flesh and blood heroes are the best!

I remember that one Saturday very well. Super Hubby and I were huddled in the home office crunching the numbers for our taxes and our son was told he'd have to "find something to do". The choice he made was not to go read a good book, to take a walk around the neighborhood, or even to play outside. That day he made the electronic choice. This choice encompassed about 10 hours of video gaming, to which I am not proud. It's not that I'm anti- TV or anti-gaming. I know it's part of our children's culture and if I ban it entirely, he may very well think the kids at school are speaking another language during lunchtime conversation, and they, in turn, may look at him like he's sporting 3 heads.

The next day, I was determined to make my disappointment known to our young son whose mind may have turned to complete moosh if I hadn't intervened. I told him he had spent too much time on the Wii the day before and today was going to be a day of no electronics, no gaming, no TV. I was still helping Super Hubby with taxes so he needed to find something to do that didn't involve the use of electrical current.

He understood my intent and agreed to the request. I stepped into the home office and closed the door. When I finally emerged, the site before me changed my perspective forever. Right before me was undeniable proof that TV and video games are, indeed, killing the creative brain cells of our youth. I entered my son's room to find it completely converted into a pirate ship. He had made the ship's wheel out of construction paper and taped it to the wall underneath his window. He took the Crayola Washable Window Markers that were collecting dust and drew the ocean and sun onto the window. He drew an octopus when he had to fight one out on the high seas. When the octopus was defeated, he'd erase him and next he drew an island. Land ho! Time to find the hidden treasure, but be careful of the natives. He gathered reserves in a shoe box consisting of pretzels, Pringles, and fruit chews.

The imaginative play I saw before me was the creativity my son had always shown, but at times was robbed of while video controller was in hand. I'm all for balance, it's important. The day he played for 10 hours was a mistake on all our parts. We as parents were busy, our son was bored. It happens. But, when you say the words, "Find something else to do now," you give your child an opportunity to entertain themselves without zoning out. Unplugging means unleashing the imaginative creativity that is already there, just waiting to burst through. Don't deny our children the opportunity to use it fully.

Gratitude Journal Monday

Saying thanks is simple. But, gratitude is another concept entirely. Gratitude must be felt, deep in the heart's core, and be genuine to be effective. It's a new way of thinking for many of us Type-A personality people. It's been a difficult transition in my life, anyways. Not because I'm not thankful. My handwritten thank you note would be the first to reach your mailbox for the simplest of gifts. No, it's not that I can't feel thankfulness for gifts or kindness, I do. It's the other side of gratitude with which I sometimes have trouble. It's the part of accepting that all I have is all I need. At times, the concept scares me, leading me into a fear that thinks me complacent, resting on my laurels, so to speak. But, then I look back from where I came when I began this simple Gratitude Journal and I know that sowing an attitude of gratitude does not plant you in complacency, it, in fact, does the opposite. Gratitude roots you in your own values so you may freely grow higher in contentedness; and being content is not complacency, it's happiness.

206. I am forever thankful that the good Lord places in my heart and mind the right words each morning to share with those reading this blog.

207. I am grateful to Super Hubby's unending genius and creativity in planning our son's birthday party (I'll share afterwards and you will be amazed).

208. I am thankful and honored that we are godparents to two little angels.

209. I am grateful that the ailment I had as a child seemed to fade away as I entered adulthood and, with faith, continues to get better and better with each passing year.

210. I know I've sent this out into the Universe before, but I'll send it out again and again because I am so grateful for the beautiful friends I have surrounding me. You truly are ladies to cherish and I hold you all near and dear to my heart.

When it comes to gratitude nothing is too big or too small to mention so, thank away! Have an enjoyable week!
 

Goodbye Week. Hello Weekend. Lessons Learned: Take 43.

Goodbye long week of busyness and happenings.
Goodbye school program, Evening of Art and Music: the kids rocked the house with their musical talents and made Picasso look like a chump.
Goodbye turning 40 and forging ahead to wherever life takes me.
Goodbye cool tour of the school's organ room and my son pretending to be Phantom of the Opera.
Goodbye Dick Clark and thanks for doing what you did, the way that only you could do it.

Hello long-awaited breakfast/lunch with close friends.
Hello Kohl's shopping for new shoes for all since I got the golden ticket (30% off - woo-hoo!).
Hello taking it a little slower to recuperate from the week.
Hello naps, movie-watching, and hot tea when those thunderstorms come rolling in.
Hello Baby #2's baptism and being honored godparents to such sweet angels.

This week's lesson is an easy one and more of an acknowledgement. Thank you, thank you for all the warmth and love sent my way this week as I celebrated my 40th birthday. The e-mails, cards, wall posts, comments, phone calls, and hugs just warmed my heart and made me appreciate how many people really do care. Thank you for your kind words and reminding me how important friends are to having a complete and wonderful life.

Do you have any exciting weekend plans?

Winner of the LEGO Star Wars T-shirt: Comment #1 from Pat. Congrats!!!