Food & Fun in 2015

January:       A jovial jubilee with celebration in the air
                     Start the year with Jackrabbit stew, if you dare.
February:     A fabulous festival, now don't get the jitters
                     We'll have some fudge and fruit fritters.
March:          A merry month of marvelous mirth
                     With milk and meatballs from the
                      land of your birth.
April:            An amazing assembly alementation
                     Apples and almonds produce salivation.
May:             A mysterious mass of a mob of people
                     Eating macaroni and muffins below the steeple..
June:             A joyous jambalaya under the sun
                      Let's have jams and juice and Jamaican rum.
July:              A joking jabberwocky-filled jamboree
                      Who's bringing the jam and jelly beans?
August:          An amorous alliance, who's counting the cost?
                       Bring the almonds and applesauce.
September:     A sagacious symposium run by the boss
                       He wants sauerkraut, salsa and squash
October:         An obligatory observance is in the loop.
                       This calls for ostrich eggs and oxtail soup.
November:     The neighbors nuptials have a redneck theme
                       With bowls of nachos, neck bones and nectarines.
December:      A daring demographic dazzles the crowd
                       Serving duck and dumplings and dessert - Oh wow!

Ah - Relaxation

Life can be fun, exciting, entertaining, stressful.  All these things and more.  And when it gets just a bit too much of whatever is going on, it's good to have a way to relax.  Fortunately I have many ways to lose myself in some form of activity and just let the world go by.

One way is to do a little painting.  I'm certainly not a true artist.  No one is ever going to want to buy one of my "works of art," but I get what I need from the activity.  This painting  has no title, maybe someone can suggest something suitable.  It's done in acrylic paint, about 16 by 20, and I have it hanging in my computer room.  I enjoy looking at it.  (But then I can be easily amused.)

I'd love to hear how my cyberfriends like to relax and get away from the stresses that can befall all of us.  Please feel free to share.

Take care and may you all have a wonderful week full of holiday cheer and lots of time with good friends.  Merry Christmas to everyone.

It's Christmas

                 (This post was first published on this site in Dec. 2012.  I hope you
                   enjoy the repeat. - Karen)

It's that time again, isn't it?  So for your consideration I present the lyrics to a song I wrote a long time ago.  First, though, let's set the scene.

It's late at night, the lights are dim, a little blues music is wafting through the air.  There is a fire in the fireplace in the snug cottage as you look out the window to snow falling softly blanketing the ground.  (Think Norman Rockwell or Thomas Kincaid.)  And someone sings softly.

                         Come On, Santa

Christmas time is coming and I'm making a list
Won't you tell me, Santa, can I have what I wish?
I want someone to love me, to hold me good and tight
So hurry up, Santa, swing on down tonight.

Chorus:    I hear jingle bells and tiny reindeer
                 Please tell me Santa, are you getting near?
                 You have got my address and I will be at home
                 Come on Santa, don't leave me alone.

I've been singing Christmas carols and decking the hall
I'm getting ready for old Santa to call
Bringing what I need to fill my lonely nights
So hurry up, Santa, swing on down tonight.

Chorus:

I have been so good, Santa, you would not believe
Looking forward to what is under my tree
If Santa got my letter and he read it just right
So hurry up, Santa, swing on down tonight.

Chorus:

Come here you jolly old elf.

Distorted Life's Journey

It can happen to anybody.  You start off with a plan.  It may even be well defined and clear in your mind.  Then something happens.  You don't know how or why it happens, but all of a sudden your vision becomes distorted or a bit blurred.  You seem to have lost your way.  Do you quit, or do you find a way to go on?

It isn't always easy to go on.  How do you do it?  All I know is, you just have to come to the understanding that you can either stand still or move.  And to me, movement is always the better course.  But how can you move when things are so bleak?  A few suggestions I have found helpful:

     1)  Step back and take time to reflect on what may have happened.
     2)  If you have taken an emotional blow, give yourself time to get past it.  But not so much time you find it easier to be totally inactive.
     3)  Remember that you can't change others, you can only work on yourself.  So focus on what you need to do to help yourself go on.
      4)  Spend a little time on your Attitude of Gratitude journal.  It's always nice to reflect of the blessings you have rather than the things you feel are lacking in your life.
     5)  Rethink your goals.  Is it possible you've missed a step or tried to take a giant step when it's time for baby steps for a particularly difficult phase?
     6)  Pick a date and plant yourself in the right place to get yourself going again.

I like a quote attributed to Oliver Wendell Holmes:
     Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.

What about you?  What have you found helpful to get yourself looking forward to what can be rather than to what has faded into a distant past? 

What's Your Attitude?

I am eternally a dedicated optimist.  Oh, there are times I have my down periods, but they fortunately never last too long.  So when I decided to do a papier mache project in the form of my initial, I decided the completed form must denote an attitude.

This "K" came to mind when I momentarily had a thought of Steven Urkel, the character on the TV show Family Matters played so very well by Jaleel White.  To try to capture that attitude, I made it with a slightly backward bent with one foot projected forward while the other was placed to the side.

I put teal paint in the papier mache pulp and inserted a design of puzzle pieces.  When dried I wiped the piece with a thin layer of more teal paint  over the top of the piece, followed by polyurethane to make it water repellent.  The finished form stands about 20 inches tall.

To tie this in with my attitude I'll include a few quotes I like.

     The world is full of cactus, but we don't have to sit on it.  -  Will Foley

     I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.  -  Mahatma Gandhi

     Become a possibilitarian.  No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are,  raise
     your sights and see possibilities - always see them, for they are always there.  -
                                                                                                     Norman Vincent Peale