Thought Process

Morning Sun Bath - Willow and Dart 

“And this mess is so big 

And so deep and so tall, 

We cannot pick it up. 

There is no way at all!” 

― Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat

Going Under

Because there is only a lifetime,

Not enough time to show you what you mean to me,

Now I understand that’s why there is heaven.

The way you hold me, safe.

The way you turn your head to watch me, when you walk away

Is heaven. The way the sunlight

Shines out of your eyes like two flames of fire.

The way you move and  the way you wait,

Your patience with me is beauty beyond words

To me. That you can speak to me soundlessly

Words that are just between the two of us,

And the way my skin tingles and I shiver.

Because you seem to know

Every moment how much I need you.

Although you overpower me

The overpowering is such a beautiful thing

That I don’t mind at all even though I nearly slipped beneath the

Surface of life, close enough

To be overwhelmed by hopelessness that is 

Without end, yet ends. It ends when you raise me up again. 

Then I understand the lesson. You are my very breath. 

So can we do that again?

Man can alter his life by altering his thinking. 

William James

“Don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.” 

― Robert Fulghum

Try not thinking of peeling an orange. 

Try not imagining the juice running down your fingers, 

the soft inner part of the peel. The smell. 

Try and you can't. 

The brain doesn't process negatives. 

Doug Coupland 

If I had a flower for every time I thought of you...I could walk through my garden forever. 

― Alfred Tennyson

“Hide-and-seek, grown-up style. Wanting to hide. Needing to be sought. 

Confused about being found.” 

― Robert Fulghum, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten: Uncommon Thoughts on Common Things

“...a person that started in to carry a cat home by the tail was gitting knowledge that was always going to be useful to him, and warn't ever going to grow dim or doubtful.” 

― Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer Abroad

“Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.” 

― Nicole Krauss, The History of Love

Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose. 

Bill Gates 

Pizza on summer squash actually tasted way better than I thought it would.

   
     These two pictures are my attempt to demonstrate our efforts to have simple, healthy food at our house.  We have a couple of rental remodels going on in Cody and one in Arizona.  This involves me taking several deep breaths daily.  Jerry likes to remind me that we have a lot to do by listing off some of the things he has on his mind before he goes out the door every day. I know, however, that what he mentions is only a partial list.  This does not decrease my stress but I'm glad it seems to works for him.   It is clear that our motivations are sometimes rather different, but I think this is quite normal for couples. I find it both quite difficult and thoroughly fascinating  to work through the reasoning process from his point of view.  It is good brain exercise, it's good for me.  Think http://www.lumosity.com.

      One of the things I love to do is go to the grocery store.  The produce department with it's palette of beautiful and colorful options is a feast for the eyes.  Yellow bananas, apples of pink, green, red and yellow, vivid lemons and limes, forest green avocados.  Golden grapefruit, green grapes, blueberries.  Lettuce, spinach, herbs, orange carrots, purple cabbage, yellow and white onions, green broccoli, white cauliflower.  The deeper the color, the better for vitamins, so I check out the blueberries and the raspberries, and choose the one on sale to add to a smoothie or just eat by the handful for a bedtime snack.  Pick up a kiwi or two for topping a salad or adding to a smoothie.  Selecting the perfect peach.  Smelling.  Are the strawberries good?  The cantaloupe ripe?

      The best food is simple.  It's hard to top the taste treat of a good mixed salad and a fire grilled pork chop with a side of applesauce or a slice of cantaloupe.  If you grill a second pork chop at the same time as the first, slice it up for a cold salad topping the next day.  A lunch of a salad in a jar is hard to beat for a mid day flavor sensation.  Your tastebuds will have a blast.

      A good stir fry is a work of art.  Cabbage is fairly inexpensive, lasts well and can be used in a salad, in tacos, in stir fry, so it's a good choice.   Red peppers are high in vitamin C, and are wonderful on the grill.  Add some some chopped zucchini to the onions, broccoli and celery of your stir fry for flavor and cook it all on the grill.  Mix in some bite sized pieces of warm, juicy, spicy, cooked chicken and dinner is ready.

       Having several selections of fresh fruit and vegetables on hand works because we are so busy in the evening.  Jerry likes a quick supper so he can get started on his evening project and I like having options when I open the refrigerator after a long afternoon concentrating on book work.  I don't participate in the local Bountiful Baskets because I just don't want to commit to going for the pickup and whatever else it takes. That is just too complicated for me right now, but I did enjoy a quick stop at the Farmer's Market. I have to wonder, as I survey my fresh meats and vegetables on the conveyor belt at Albertson's, that ahead of me someone has a stack of frozen chicken pot pies, and bottles of pop, what the real cost differences are between my beautiful fresh meats and vegetables and their pre-fab "food".   I feel proud of my selections and excited so see what meals they will become.  I have some ideas in my head, but time constraints will decide.

          Being healthy costs money whether it is taking care of ourselves now, or fixing ourselves later.  I have an aunt who is 80 plus  years old and goes to exercise class three times a week.  She's been doing it since she turned 55.  She doesn't have children of her own, so that was some of her motivation to be active and fit well up in years, but she is really incredible. The difference in her abilities is so striking when standing next to others in her age group, that really, there's no comparison!  She laughs about it, and it's no wonder.

        Okay, I know.  Pepperoni is not the healthiest source of protein.   It is my favorite pizza, however, so I decided it would be a good way to see if this type of crust would work for me.  I had my doubts, shall we say, but it was delicious.  I think I will try a few healthier toppings next time.  I like green pepper and onions, Jerry is a fan of olives.  Some sausage would be excellent.

        Simple food, easy to prepare for a quick and easy salad, or just slice up and put on the table next to an easy main dish is so tasty, often comparable to the meals we've selected at our favorite restaurants. And the best salad dressing?  Cottage Cheese.  That's my opinion, anyway.  Custom portion sizes are a huge bonus to fixing our own meals, because there's no need to decide whether to eat half of it and take the rest home, and try to re-heat it, or over-indulge now and be miserable for the next 6 hours.

       Because I'm usually on my own for lunch, my mid-day meal is often eat and run style.  Two hours later, I often can't remember if I've eaten or not.  Grabbing several handfuls of grapes on a pass through the kitchen is sometimes as good as it gets.  The reality is that life is sometimes that hectic, and it can be a real battle so plan my snacks so that I'm not ravenous by 5:00 p.m.  Maybe that's why my kids are struggling with this whole healthy eating regime.

        The reason for this post and these two pictures, besides reminding myself of my goals to eat smaller servings more often, is to help the kids through a stretch when it seems eating correctly is as important as it is difficult.  Maybe in the process, I will be more mindful of getting 6 meals a day instead of a haphazard, semi-starved three.

        Several years ago my daughter was given a Robert Fulghum poster.  It listed "Everything I need to know about life, I learned in Kindergarten."  Hanging by our dining room table, it served as the family misson statement.  Aha.  I don't know if you've noticed, but kindergarten kids get snacks!  Just ask the mom of a kindergartner who just this week sent Bugs in a Boat (celery filled with peanut butter with golden raisins on top) to school for the class.  There have been several studies that have proven that eating smaller meals more often enhances weight control.  It sounds simple.  I just need to remember to take my little baggies of veggies tomorrow when I head to my flight. Airport food is so expensive.  Besides, traveling can be hard work!