Saying yes...

Okay, so I know I often curse my BGB (Bad German Brain), but today, it has come through for me. For the past few days my mind has been a quagmire of nothingness, peppered with dismal thoughts. I kept thinking, wait! It's 60+ degrees out! It's downright balmy! What are you morose about??? I didn't have a clue. People had their ideas... my brain was rebooting, my brain was resting. No... let's face it, my brain is whacked. My brain comes from a loooooong line of Germanic decedents who somehow find comfort in the initial dark and cold of the season. Yes, it wears around March, but for now, it is music to our angst-ridden souls. Right now, gray makes me merry and the thought of snow makes me dance with glee. It's November 30th, it's cold, blustery, and snow is imminent. Ahhhh yes, all is right with the world. My BGB is familiar with this and can run with it. It is cold and gray outside! It is cold and gray and LOTS of snow is on the way! I'm suddenly feeling sunnier...

A poem by my oldest lamblet

I was thinking about the dearth of thoughts in my brain when my 10 yr-old asked me if she could read me her latest poem. It made me rethink the emptiness in my head.

Island of Tranquility

An island in the far away sea,
this is an island that belongs to me.
This is the Island of Tranquility.

A gentle breeze softly hums
amongst the daisies and the mums.
Glittery blue oceans in calm flowing motions.
Nothing, but blue skies and waters miles away.
You're in awe and bewilderment with nothing to say.

Sea stars dwell in shallow pools.
They wade quietly and follow the rules.
This is a special place to me...
My Island of Tranquility.

Nihilistic Post???

Somewhere, somehow, after Thanksgiving, all motivation flew out of my body. I had a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy the winter holidays, but somehow, over the past couple of days, the image to the left is close to what's in my head. It's not totally black, so that's a good thing. It's not static, so there really isn't confusion... there's just not a lot of anything right now. That always freaks me out a tad because my mind is always percolating... is always thinking of or being visited by thoughts, images, etc... but not yesterday and not the day before and not today. Maybe my mind is just building up momentum for the month to come. I did fill in the calendar and noticed December is almost full and yet it hasn't even started. That act alone had me feeling a tad overwhelmed... so maybe... just maybe, my mind is regrouping... maybe. I know the momentum will come and with it, the bounty of thoughts and ideas... maybe it's the weather. It's been really balmy... 60 when I got up this morning. Tomorrow we are supposed to have an inch of snow. Maybe the crispness of the season will snap my brain out of its stupor. Maybe... As one wise commenter said... "you (i,we)do need some blank time." I will trust in that and will trust in the fact that in a day or two, I won't be able to keep up with the thoughts that keep coming in.

10 Things I Don't Need Or Want To Do

I just filled in large portions of my calendar for December and even though it's still November, I am already feeling waaaaay behind. I know it will all get done and most of it will be fun, but I'm feeling overwhelmed. It was at this point that I remembered seeing a Discovery Channel teaser about Mt. Everest climbers and I felt relief. I never, ever want to climb Mt. Everest. I do not need to add that to my list. That's one less thing I have to do! It then dawned on me that there are probably others... at least 10 things that I don't need to do... things that won't take away my time and here they are:

10 Things I Don't Need Or Want To Do

1) Climb Mt. Everest (this not only saves me the time of the climb, but also saves me the time it takes to train/prepare.)
2) Run a marathon. (I have done a 3-day, 60 mile walk and that was plenty.)
3) Go hunting
4) Watch anything WWF
5) Go to a car show (I have been to a couple and that was enough. I can safely cross this one off my list.)
6) Sing opera. (I am saving years in training not to mention the time it takes to perform one!)
7) Be a spider wrangler (or for that matter, anything that has to do with spiders other than running away from them.)
8) Do anything Brazilian on my body other than possibly doing the Samba with my body.
9) Host a "for sale at home" party. (I have gone to them and have done my part to support others, but I will not be hosting one anytime in the near future...)
10) Make sure every dead leaf or withered plant is out of my yard any earlier than spring (see previous post).

There! Now I am feeling much better! Look at all I don't have to do! Look at the savings in time! Taking care of all that must happen in December now feels like a piece of cake. And for that matter, my whole future seems a little more wide open.

What don't you need or want to do??

My yard is sleeping...

It's a balmy 58 degrees outside, but my yard is fast asleep. It is still beautiful... still full of intrigue. The once lush plants are now a tangle of angles, a labyrinth of lines. We don't clear everything out come fall, but instead leave a good portion of the depleted plants for the remaining critters that use our yard.

Our yard at this time of year reminds me of a hibernating mother bear... asleep yet still tending to those that need her. Birds still pluck seeds from dilapidated zinnias and rabbits still find shelter in a tangle of tomato vines. They are still serving a purpose.

I also like to see the shapes that the wizened plants produce. They are no longer obvious representations of what they once were, but now take on abstract forms. They become armatures for the snow, which even though it is 58, will be here soon.

My yard is sleeping and I still find it infinitely interesting.

The ghosts are always bigger at night...

That is what my father always says... the ghosts are bigger at night... what you can put into perspective during the day or maybe just ignore somehow takes on bigger weight if you're awake in the wee hours.

I woke up approximately around 1:30am... I wake up often in the middle of the night, but many times, am able to go back to sleep before the ghosts of the past, present and future get my ear... not last night. Last night I woke up and poof, I was awake with about a million thoughts in my head. They ranged from, "have the girls done all schoolwork they needed to do before school starts up again?" to "why is only my left nostril plugged???" to "if you had a 40's kitchen in the 40's, would it seem modern or as depressing as they seem to me today???".

I'm sure I had a full 20 minutes of chat with the Ghost of Self-Doubt, followed by my next appointment with the Ghost of Cosmic Doom who was then followed by the Ghost of How Did I Get To Be This Old???

Why don't the happy ghosts visit at night? Why only the nay-sayers? Where's the Ghost of Bounty? The Ghost of Bad One-Liners? How often do we wake up snorting from a good joke instead of gasping from imagined peril? Rarely if ever... And if any of you do wake up snorting from a good joke... I want that ghost's number...

My visiting ghosts are smaller now that it's daylight, but they are still here... I can feel them... it feels like the gravity has been turned up too high. I think I'm going to go out and run some errands and I am hoping that once I return, they will have realized they overstayed their welcome and will be gone.

I'm still full...

We spent this past Thanksgiving at Grizzled's sister's house in lovely Salt Lake City. I had never been to Utah before. It was an interesting place. To the left is a very bluuuuue photo (unfortunately the camera was set for tungsten...) of our two lamblets along with a cousin on Ensign Peak. You had a gorgeous view of the city on one side and the Great Salt Lake on the other. The trek up to Ensign Peak was listed as "easy" and it was... for our legs... however,  Grizzled and I suffered from flatlander lungs. We did a fair amount of walking, hiking, checking out the surrounding scenery. We saw some intimidating bison at Antelope Island. Supposedly the bison were there for our amusement, but I couldn't help, but think that we humans were amusing the bison. We were acting all goofy while they looked rather bored and were more concerned with nibbling on the local flora. That was good for us. No one needs an irked bison in his path.

Aside from taking in some of the local color, we did what most people did... we ate and drank enough to last the rest of the year. Sister Grizzled is an awesome cook and had no fewer than 8 dishes for Thanksgiving dinner along with 4 dessert choices.  We could have walked home from Utah and still had calories to burn... but ohhhhh! It was worth it!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

                               

                    Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Saying yes... is going to be off for a few days and would like to wish everyone who stops by a very Happy Thanksgiving! And in the vein of a famous Chicago saying...

                        Eat early and eat often!!!

  (We're going to need sustenance for the impending Holiday Bake-Off!)

It's gobbledy-good!

Okay, Thanksgiving is not only about being thankful, it's also about sharing... so in the spirit of sharing, I am putting up my Great Grandma P's (it's a looooooong name and I'm not typing it out!) wonderfully fabulous and oh-so unforgettable Cranberry Wonderment! Okay, she didn't call it that... I honestly don't know what she called it. My mother has it written down as "Cranberries N' Cream". Whatever it was originally called, I do know this... IT'S REALLY GOOD!

If anyone needs an extra side dish (almost a dessert) or needs to figure out a way to include the much maligned and underestimated cranberry, you might want to give this a try. It is so incredibly easy. Have I also said it's really tasty? Well... it IS! It will stay in the memories and arteries of those you love.

So... without further ado... I give you GGP's Cranberries N' Cream!!!

Use: 2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
       1 pint of heavy whipping cream (whipped with 2 Tbs confectioner's sugar)
       2 cans of WHOLE cranberry sauce

To assemble: Layer the ingredients starting with the crumbs, next a layer of the whole cranberry sauce (you can use the Ocean Spray variety... it's a heck of a lot easier than making your own). Next comes a layer of REAL whipped cream (NO USING COOL-WHIP! I don't care if Sarah Tucker is your aunt!!! You MUST use the real thing in this instance).

Repeat above layers until all ingredients are used. Mom usually ended with the REAL whipped cream layer and then lightly dusted with some graham cracker crumbs. If you have a deep, clear bowl, this looks very pretty in it.

Make it the night before or early in the day so the layers can meld a tad.

The above recipe serves 12 regular people, but maybe only 8 snarfy ones.

If the planet's a rockin'...

...war won't come a knockin'... or at least that's what Donna Sheehan and Paul Reffell are saying. They are the thrusting force behind the Synchronized Global Orgasm... Apparently it's all happening on Dec. 22nd (the winter solstice... we will not go quietly into that dark, winter night!!!). I kid you not. They even wrote about it in the NYTimes and you know they never lie...

So come on America!!! Do your part. Let's all let out an AHHHH, YES! for peace!