W.o.W. Wednesday: Jump on the Train

I know, I know.  Long time, no write.  Let’s just chalk it up to being happy and busy. 

And happiness is quite easy to catch.  Hopefully this post will put you in a happy mood, maybe motivate you to make some other people happy as well.

Today’s words of wisdom come from the band Train.  All last week, Train was the house band on Rachael Ray’s show (yes, this is blatant promoting for both the band and Rachael—I love them!) and we got a taste of the new album.  I love it, truly, and thought I’d share some of my favorite lyrics today.  Enjoy, maybe go buy, and definitely watch Ms. Rachael. 

BTW–there’s no maybe about it: this is definitely my year

“Maybe This Will Be My Year”

No more—Countin’  down the hours
No more—Wishin’ you were here
I stopped believin’, although Journey told me ‘don’t’
Before I call it a day,
Maybe this’ll be my year

2012 and all I know is everybody comes and goes

Everybody sings and cries, makes the grade and takes the prize

In something, nothin’, I don’t care, because I know that you’ll be here with me
“Bruises”
These bruises make for better conversation
Loses the vibe that separates
It’s good to let you in again
You’re not alone in how you’ve been
Everybody loses, we all got bruises
We all got bruises

“Sing Together”

The sun on your face and remember the place we met
Take a breath and soon I bet you’ll see
Without you I would never be me
You are the leaves of my family tree

“You Can Finally Meet My Mom”

I’m not making light of things, but who’s to say who’s right with things like this.
There’s so much that we miss tryin so hard to be rich and famous, pretty and thin, to win.
It’s a shame that youth is wasted on the young.

So forget everything and just be with me here now, for as long as we can and whoever goes first save a spot.

W.o.W. Wednesday: Definitely Giddy

Today’s W.o.W. post probably doesn’t actually classify as very wise. But it’s how I feel. And it’s slightly corny, and definitely sing-song-y. And giddy. Did I mention giddy? Today’s post is from the musical South Pacific, and I mean it all from the bottom of my heart.

A Wonderful Guy by Rogers and Hammerstein

I expect everyone of my crowd to make fun of my proud protestations of faith in romance. And they’ll say I’m naïve as a babe to believe every fable I hear from a person in pants.

Fearlessly, I’ll face them and argue their doubts away. Loudly I’ll sing about flowers in spring. Flatly I’ll stand on my little flat feet and say, “Love is a grand and a beautiful thing!”

I’m not ashamed to reveal the world famous feelin’ I feel.

I’m as corny as Kansas in August. I’m as normal as blueberry pie. No more a smart little girl with no heart, I have found me a wonderful guy! I am in a conventional dither, with a conventional star in my eye. And you will note there’s a lump in my throat when I speak of that wonderful guy!

I’m as trite and as gay as a daisy in May, a cliché comin’ true! I’m bromidic and bright as a moon-happy night pourin’ light on the dew!

I’m as corny as Kansas in August, high as a flag on the Fourth of July! If you’ll excuse an expression I use, I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love with a wonderful guy!

Friday 5: Happy Birthday, Doc!

Today is Dr. Seuss’s birthday!  To be honest, I didn’t even remember until TMWMITW asked if I wanted to go see The Lorax tomorrow night and then it kicked in–I forgot how much I truly love Dr. Seuss!  Dr. Seuss books are my go to’s for presents for new babies. I love reading them aloud to the kids I babysit.  At the end of every school year,  I would read Oh, the Places You’ll Go to my students, no matter what grade they were in.  I’ve also taught using the good doctor…and I didn’t teach little kids!  Yertle the Turle is a great way to introduce a unit on the Holocaust and The Lorax  is always the best way to get students to think of how they can participate in society and about protecting the environment. 

So, in honor of the man who helped teach this writer how to read, and how to be a bit silly, I found my 5 most memorable lines from his wonderful books.  Here’s today’s Friday 5:

1. “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” Horton Hears a Who
2. “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant.” Horton Hatches an Egg
3. “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.  It’s not.”  The Lorax
4. “You’re on your own.  And you know what you know.  And You are the one who’ll decide where to go.”  Oh, the Places You’ll Go
5. “Today was good.  Today was fun.  Tomorrow is another one.”  One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

Rainy Days Make Me Read Poetry

Today is such a blah day that I needed a little cheering up.  And I found it with this poem by Pablo Neruda.  I truly love him as a poet and this is one of my favorites of all time.  And at least now, I understand it and the feelings behind it…finally. So, here’s some great W.o.W. to make up for my slacking yesterday…and it’s a bit of a truth-telling as well.  But I’ll let Mr. Neruda speak for me instead.

Sonnet XVII

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

Pizzelle Party (for one)

So–boyfriend told me he loves pizzelles (thin, crispy waffle-esque cookies, for those of you that might not know what they are).  I know my mother has a pizzelle maker–she says it’s not hard to make them, so I hike over to the parentals, pick up the maker and recipe (conveniently left for me whilst they are off enjoying themselves on Prudence Island), and head back home to make boyfriend a yummy surprise dessert.

Surprisingly, the recipe is quite easy…I expected at least a little bit more finesse needed, but it was fine.  the fun part came when it was time to “bake” the cookies.  The pizzelle maker is a waffle-iron type contraption

…put a dab of dough on each plate, close the lid and wait 30 second to a minute, depending on how dark you want the cookies to be (or what you think you can get done in the amount of time it takes for them to cook–you know, either one really).  Then you have to get the still soft cookies off the plate,

 

 and put on a flat surface (this is actually key, I discovered–the first half of mine weren’t on an entirely flat service and so they hardened, well, not entirely flat.  I’m sure my parents will think they are still tasty though!)

The major issue I had with making these is that the dough makes a lot…and you can only make them 2 at a time.  I was making pizzelles for an hour!  I did not want to be on my feet by the end of it…as I was finishing, I seemed to have a flashback of my great-grandmother sitting at the table making them.  Now I know why.

amount of dough I started with

 

 

sometime halfway throughlast two scoops! (an hour later!)

Pinterest is My Bitch…and makes dinner so much yummier

So, I admit it.  I have succumbed to the Pinterest obsession.  But I’m making it work for me–in my oh-so-anal retentive way I’ve organizes my boards and I’m systematically going through and trying things.

Today’s post is a result of being “pinterest obsessed” and craving a not-so-usual sandwich.  I saw the pin for caprese grilled cheese and decided I HAD to do it.  Of course, I put my own spin on it.  Check it out…it was delicious!!

1. I got some healthier bread: whole wheat french bread…so good!

2. Then I got some yummy Laughing Cow cheese…In this case, mozzarella, sun-dried tomato, and basil.  Fantastico!!

3. Cut up a good tomato.

4. put them all together.

5. brushed my Rachel Ray grill pan with EVOO and grilled, smashing occasionally as it grilled up.

The result was delicious!

W.o.W. Wednesday: Friendship!

In honor of President’s Day (yes, I know it’s not this week, but I just had to share this one now!), I’ve got a great W.o.W. post for you.  I hope you like it!

“If friendship is your weakest point, then you are the strongest person in the world.”  Abraham Lincoln

W.o.W. Wednesday: Family First

I’ve been a strong supporter of putting my family first, no matter what.  That being said, I really, truly feel that there are just some people in our lives who become family.  They are just as vitally important as the one we are born into, and bad days and birthdays, holidays and  ’holy-shit-days’ just wouldn’t be the same without them.

Today’s W.o.W. honors those people in our lives that are family…even if they’re not.  You know what I mean. 

“Family isn’t always blood.  It’s the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are.  The ones who would do anything to see you smile and who love you no matter what.”  ~Unknown

Truth (or Dare) Thursday: Hmmm…

Today, despite what my Spotify playlist might say (check it out!), the song running through my mind is “Things that Make you Go, Hmmm.”  I’m wondering, quite seriously, about families.  More specifically, mine.  Most specifically, how the meeting of my parentals and my boyfriend will go this weekend. 

I’m terrified of it, actually. 

I love my parents.  I do.  And the new boyfriend, well, I’d like him to be around for…well, let’s just say awhile and leave it at that, in case he’s reading (Hi, sweetheart!).  But, he’s definitely a keeper.  So, I want the people I lo–I mean, the people I care about (I’m not going there yet, people….you can wait for it) to like and care about each other.

I think part of my issue is that my parents only want the best for me, and are protective.  Especially considering I’ve not made the best choices in the past.  In my defense, I was not the only one fooled, but we’re not going back there. 

Boyfriend is honestly, genuinely, one of the best men I know.  And I know some great ones.  He won’t disappoint them, not in the way they’re worried he will.  I actually think (or at least hope) they will all like each other.

I think what I’m actually worried about is someone observing and judging our family dynamic.  I said to Uncle Pain-in-the-Ass yesterday that we treat each other horribly sometimes.  And I stand by that.  We’re just not nice to each other a good deal of the time.  Maybe it’s that, “you hurt the ones you love the most” adage, but I’d really like to think we can find a way to be kind to each other. 

I’m worried Boyfriend will see this and think less of me–even though he knows these are less than ideal circumstances.  Disease alters a family, and Alzheimer’s is certainly doing a number on ours.  My mother and I can normally work through things, though feelings get hurt on a regular basis and we do a lot of apologizing.  Hopefully, what he’ll see will be a family struggling to get through a tough time. 

I think he will.  I hope he will. 

My dare isn’t for anyone other than myself this week.  I’m daring myself to be a better daughter, granddaughter, and niece (though the last part is said with a bit of vomit in my mouth).  Someone has to start the trend of treating each other better.

Friday 5: Things to be Thankful For…Again

Hello all,

So, today’s Friday 5 is, again, dedicated to some things I am thankful for…because, unlike last week, this week, I wasn’t desperately searching for something good within the chaos (that’s how I ultimately described my week to TMWMITW–and yes, I’m sticking with that title, until he tells me otherwise).

Hope your week was as good as mine.

1. Lori McKenna.  Concert.  TMWMITW.  My Saturday into Sunday was amazing.  We went to the concert, and it was great.  I met some of his friends the next morning, and they were great.  Everything is just so freakin’ great.  I’m trying to believe it.  I really am.

2. Monday night dinners with Liz.  French restaurants that don’t look nearly as fun on the inside as they do on the outside.  Much needed girl talk and general happiness.  Delicious cheese platters, yummy, glasses of wine, and an apple torte that just made my night.

3. Wednesday night Mom time.  And yes, we talked about TMWMITW.  And no, I didn’t have to cover my ears and yell “SACRED VOW!!”  I was an adult.  And i don’t know who was shocked more.  But I do know that I love my mommy time, and no matter how old I get, I always will.

4. Mommy time of a different kind with my bestie.  She needed a break, and I needed a kick in the ass–so when we found a living social deal for 5 yoga classes, we took it.  And it was worth it….what was also great was seeing her visibly de-stress. 

5. 2pm Fridays.  After work today, my oh-so-lovely assistant and I are heading across the way for a 2:05 beer.  I want to say I haven’t had a drink that early in the day since I taught–and I will, because I don’t think my birthday or Prudence Island parties count.  So there.

Well, that’s my week in thanks.  I hope you all had just as amazing as a week.  And enjoy your long weekend, if you get it.  I’m looking forward to doing nothing, at least for most of the day tomorrow.