Food

Anything is possible…

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A friend shared the below video on Facebook yesterday (thank you, Kim)! I was curious when I saw her comment earlier in the day: “such a fantastic story. i am continually amazed at what the human spirit is capable of…” but the screenshot of the video did not spark my interest. When I got home last night, the thought came to me: “You need to watch the video Kim shared.” So I sat down to watch and by the end there were tears streaming down my face. It was just the video I needed to see.

Over the past few days my knees have been killing me. I’ve been running 6+ miles a day for a few years now, and never had any problems. We recently had issues with our treadmill and it has meant that I have done my runs outside. After a few weeks of running on pavement, my knees have been hurting. Last night I came home and took a long, hot salt bath in hopes it would help my knees to rest a bit. After watching the below video I realized my complaints are lame in comparison.

I am also completely addicted to Coldplay’s song “Fix You” which is featured as a cover in the below video. The story and a bit of “Fix You” might shift your perspective today. It is a bit long, but so worth it when you get to the end.

What did you think? Has your thought shifted?

Gobble Gobble…

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I am a bit of a holiday downer. Not a complete Scrooge, but close. I have a hard time with Thanksgiving and Christmas, partly because I think we should be grateful everyday, and I think Christmas has lost its true meaning.

I have fond memories of the holidays when I was a kid. I remember the food at Thanksgiving, and my mom spending hours cooking. Pumpkin pie, turkey, mashed potatoes. We did not have any traditions like going for a walk, watching football, or inviting other families over. Mostly I remember the food, the smells, and often we might play a family game. I remember after we had our special meal and we helped clean up the kitchen we would go our separate ways for the rest of the day. I most likely hid in my room snuggled up with a book.

As I got older and things got rougher at home, Thanksgiving went from a meal with my family, to often not coming home from school, or having a strange meal with my sister and grandma. I remember one holiday (I cannot remember if it was Christmas or Thanksgiving) we had purchased ingredients to make a meal and my sister and I realized we were short a key ingredient, which meant it was not possible to make the dish. We went out to see if we can find a substitute only to find that the only store that was open was Village Pantry (a midwest version of 7 Eleven). The only thing they had that could make a meal was some older dusty cans of spaghetti sauce. So we had spaghetti that holiday.

Not having normal holidays has made me cynical about them. I have tried from year to year to create my own traditions, and some years it has worked and other years it just has felt exhausting. So this Thanksgiving rather than try to carve out a tradition or holiday expectation, or to force any excitement at all, I am going to ponder these words from Tony Robbins:

“Trade your expectation for appreciation and the world changes instantly.”

With no expectations (gosh that is so hard for me!) I am going to just think of what I truly am appreciative of and grateful for. During this week of Thanksgiving, I will honor all that has happened in 2012 and see all the change, triumph, and joy that has been brought into my life.

With gratitude to everyone that reads this post and random olio. May you have a yummy meal (sans spaghetti sauce) and a warm and love filled day on Thursday. Happy day of gratitude!

Pepsi and saving my pennies…

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Yesterday was my grandma’s birthday. She would have been 102 years old. I was talking about her over the weekend with a good friend and Chris. She passed away over 9 years ago and she still has such an overwhelming place in our lives. I have written blogs about her quite a few times (just type Granny Smith in the search box for a few past ones). Sometimes she reigns in our thoughts because of her funny sayings, sometimes in conversations and experiences we had with her, and sometimes I am reminded about the times she was not there for me in the way I needed her. It is funny, Chris only knew her for about a year and yet he still has such fond memories of Granny Smith. What a lady. (In the photo below, she is wearing my graduation cap.)

granny smith at my college graduation…

I think I take after her in some ways. She ate the same meals over and over again. She had Total cereal every day and a glass of orange juice. For lunch some strange sandwich concoction that had ham in it. Sometimes just ham and cheese, and sometimes ham, peanut butter, and pickles. In addition to her sandwich, she had Pringles and a Pepsi. Always a Pepsi. She would never drink a Coke. Like my Granny Smith, I tend to be routine with my eating. Green smoothie for breakfast and a salad for lunch. No Pepsi for me.

I also learned a lot about saving from my Granny Smith. She lived every day like it was 1920. Then other days she would splurge and dote on us. She was not into “change.” She kept her finances just as her father set them up for her. You can imagine what that might have meant if she was around in our recent financial crisis. Having said all that, I learned a lot about being frugal.

She lived within her means, and was not incredibly extravagant. She also approached money as though it would not be there later. I think I have taken this ideal from her. I am working on looking at money in a new, none “depression mentality” way.

It makes me think about how we impact others in our lives. Do you have friends, colleagues, professors, bosses, etc. that you will never forget how they impacted your life? The ones that push you and challenge you to look at life differently. The ones that do not let you get away with your crap. The ones that are there for you when you need it the most. Or, the ones that were just there when you had no one else.

Happy Birthday Granny Smith!

Poofy sleeves, dresses, and guilt…

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Do you remember times growing up when you told adults what they wanted to hear? Why did we do that? In our youth we should have felt free to say exactly what was on our mind.

I remember my grandma would buy my sister and me a dress each Easter. It was our Easter Sunday dress. Usually I hated it. I would wear it on Easter Sunday and then hide it in the back of my closet in hopes that she would never remember that she purchased it for me (or that I never wore it again). As I got older my mom encouraged me to just tell my grandma that I did not like it and that I would like to return it. It was always hard for me to tell her. I felt awful. I always thought I was hurting her feelings. Bummer, right?

a smile for the smurf cake, not sure about that dress though…

So…I wonder…what is it that makes kids feel they cannot be upfront? What made me just want to hide the dress and not discuss it with her? Partly I think it had to do with my dad who often would shut us down if we ever got the guts to confront him (which was rare). I think it imbedded into my thick skull that confrontation and speaking my mind was a bad thing. I was being disrespectful to my elders.

Something shifted inside me in college, almost to the opposite extreme, where now it is hard for me to keep my mouth shut. Now, that does not mean that I do not hold back. It also does not mean that I just steamroll everyone. I am pointed and thoughtful about my confrontation, but I feel less and less uncomfortable with saying what needs to be said.

What if we were able to raise children that had no fear of taking risks? Of speaking their mind and confronting their elders rationally? Does that teach them how to continue in their life with strength, poise, and determination? Sounds better to me than putting on that balloon dress to avoid confrontation.

What do you think?

Clever Halloween…and tasty pumpkin…

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So for some random reason today I got inspired to dress up for Halloween. I think the last time I dressed up for Halloween was at LEAST ten years ago. However, I cannot decide what I should dress up as. Of course I want to do something unique and original, but I am not sure what. Maybe I should just shave my head and go as Sinead O’Connor. Ha. Not really that original though. I want to do something clever, but somehow I think I have maybe waited to close to Halloween to be able to pull off clever.

So I WELCOME your ideas. Please share your ideas and comments below.

I was in a meeting yesterday and I kept having a craving for pumpkin. Something happens to me at the beginning of October when the leaves start to change colors and crisply fall to the ground. There is a noise of crunching leaves as you walk, a smell in the air, sometimes of fires in fireplaces or just the crispness of autumn. In Portland, there is still the fresh greenness, mixed with the colors, and of course the rain. With all that color and smell, I think of everything tasting of pumpkin. Pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin bread, squash soup. Yum. I know I wrote about cranberry sauce the other day, but for me that just goes with Thanksgiving. Things with pumpkin I usually want to eat from October through January. Usually when I can no longer order a pumpkin spice latte, I know fall is over and winter has officially begun.

Just finished the loaf of pumpkin bread I made. Time for my next pumpkin recipe.

Happy weekend to you!