My New Hair

For the first time in my life, I went to get my hair colored in a salon. (Yes, I realize that's odd.)  I went with a good friend and we had fun. But we sat in the chair for 3 hours and it was beyond expensive!  I was thankful I had a gift card.
That afternoon, I wore my hair down to work, which I never do, and I got a lot of compliments.  Really, though, my hair didn't look all that different except a slight tint of red in the brown. The real test was going to be whether my husband noticed when he returned from his business trip.
He got home and the kids all ran to him like a football line intent on tackling him.  We formed a giant group hug.  We asked him how his trip went and then we all settled back into our normal routines.  A few hours passed and the kids headed upstairs to get ready for bed. I couldn't wait any longer, I had to ask.  "Did you notice anything?"
He gave me a quizzical look.

Kathy    

A Long Day

Yesterday was a long day.  There was work and violin lesson, late meetings and another trip to the grocery store.  We finally got home around 8:30 p.m. I had promised the kids I would make them spaghetti and meat sauce, so I started cooking the pasta.  When the angel hair was delightfully al dente, I proceeded to the sink to drain it.  My daughter, who was helping me cook, was talking to me and somehow as I was bringing the pasta over to the bowl, we bumped.  In slow motion, I watched the noddles squirm out of the colander. I tried to catch them but they only swam to the floor faster.  There on the floor in a steaming pile, sat our dinner.  "Quick, Mom, get them."  I felt a little uneasy serving my kids noodles that had just been all over my not too clean kitchen floor.   So we all stared at them for a moment.  The kids wondered if I might lose it and decide we were all going to eat cereal instead.  But I started laughing and reached for another noodle box. By the time dinner was done, I was exhausted.
 The kids started getting ready for bed and the phone rang.  It was my 89 year old grandpa.  He sounded tired too.  "How ya doing Gramps?"  I asked.
"Well, Tiger, (he has called me Tiger ever since I can remember), I'm awfully tired.  It's terrible I don't seem to have much energy these days",  he said.
"Well, what have you been doing? "  I asked a little concerned.
"You know that pine tree out in the front yard, it got hit by lightening last year, so I chopped it down today and I hauled the wood in the wheelbarrow to the back.  Then I started making a raised planting bed in its place.  You should see it.  I think it will look real nice." He said, excited now about his future planting space.
"Wow Gramps, that sounds like a lot of work. All I did was go to work and make dinner", I said.
"I know but I used to be able to do so much more",  he sighed.  Then I remembered him telling me how he hand dug the foundation for his house with a shovel back in 1946.  He spent 3 weeks digging, every night after work. Finally, he had a large enough area to build a house with his own hands for his young family.  All of a sudden I didn't feel like my day had been all that long.

Kathy

Food Fit for Columbus

On Monday my son, who is in first grade, learned about Columbus Day.  They did an activity at school showing the kinds of foods Columbus brought with him on his ship for the long journey across the ocean.  Then he was supposed to draw the items that he would bring.  I was a little unsure as to what they were so I asked him.  He pointed to the pictures and said, "I would pack strawberry milk, Cheese-its, edamame (soybeans), and lollipops."  I looked at the pictures and now I could see all those items.  He was very proud of his work.

 I chuckled.  "Great job, I love your drawings", I said as I thought about how all my advice on choosing healthy foods must be only partly sinking in.

Kathy

Kids at the Grocery Store

I took the kids to the grocery store.  I had a list.  We were going to run in, get the 5 items on the list and get home.  It didn't quite turn out that way.  The fruit and veggie aisle didn't cause much trouble.  My son, who's 6, asked for watermelon and I couldn't turn him down seeing that it was watermelon.  We got the milk and yogurt, and then turned into the other aisles.  First thing I hear, "OOH Mom, look at this.  Doesn't it look soooo yummy?" my son asked pointing to some chocolate covered boxed doughnuts.    

"Oh yes but that isn't very good for you."  I replied trying to quickly move away from that area.  At least my son was in the cart today so I could steer him away. 

Then I heard my 12 year old saying, "Mom we should get this for our lunches it looks quick and easy."

I took the frozen package from her and glanced at the ingredients.  It was longer than my "To Do" list.  Most of them I couldn't even pronounce.  I try to stick to the rule that we don't eat things from the chemistry lab.  So I said, "No not that." Then we went down the cereal aisle.  I should have known this was a mistake but I needed more oatmeal.  This time all three of them started talking at once. 

"Can we have this one, no this one, no this one."

"You guys, you know these are filled with high fructose corn syrup.  We can't have that."  I replied exasperated. 

My 14 year old then wandered to the ice cream section.  There she was looking at all the different kinds. "Mom, Dad said he really wanted ice cream.  I think we should get this chocolate one for him." She said with a sly smile.

"Oh fine we'll get ice cream."  I said. I couldn't wait to get out of the store.  We made it home and as the kids and I unpacked the groceries, I realized that I had forgotten two of the items on my list.  Great, I thought.  I have to go back to the store tomorrow.

But after dinner we all enjoyed a big bowl of ice cream.

Kathy    

The Stars Aligned

Usually I go through a day adding more items to my "To do" list than I manage to cross off.  By the end of the  week it looks like a book.  Sometimes I wonder if  a list even helps or if it just showcases my procrastination.   Yesterday, however, I managed to cross off 6 of the tasks on my list!  I don't know how it happened... maybe the stars were aligned for productivity.  Whatever it was, I didn't think about all the reasons why I couldn't do something, I just did it.   It didn't even take all that long to accomplish each item. I ended the day feeling great and I wasn't any more exhausted than normal.  I think I was even energized by the feeling of accomplishment.  If only I could repeat this daily, maybe my list would disappear.  But then I guess adding to the list is the only way to keep moving forward.  I don't really want to come to the end, I just want tasks crossed off sooner.  I'll take it one day at a time and hope that today I can continue doing instead of making up excuses.

Kathy

Carrot Cake

Today was my daughter Alyssa's 12th birthday.  She wanted a carrot cake.  I told my son we had to make a cake for her and he asked, "Why don't you just buy one?"  Good point,  I thought, but for some reason I wanted to bake it for her.  I had never made a carrot cake before so I found what seemed like a good recipe online.  I don't have a food processor so I started shredding the carrots by hand on a box shredder.  The first one went fast.  By the time I got to the 5th carrot, my arms were getting tired and I tried to remember why I didn't go buy a cake.  It would have been so much easier!
Then the aroma of whipped butter, sugar and vanilla wafted through my kitchen.  I added the carrots and the batter transformed into a beautifully orange fluffy concoction.  As it baked the kids all gathered around the oven to see how it was progressing.  After about 25 minutes it was a wonderful golden brown color.  I whipped the  cream cheese and powdered sugar frosting while the cake cooled.  Getting the cake out of the pan was definitely a challenge.  First it got stuck, then it sort of came out in large chunks.  But I pieced it together and smothered it with frosting before anyone could see the damage.
I brought out the cake.  Alyssa's eyes widened and she smiled her beautiful smile. "It looks delicious, Mom." she said. We sang "Happy Birthday", she made her wish, and blew out her candles.  I don't know what she wished for, but my wish had just come true. Yes, it would have been easier to buy her a cake, but all the hard work of shredding carrots was well worth the satisfaction of knowing I had created something special for her.
"Mom, this is amazing!" she said, taking her first bite.


Kathy          

Where Are the Keys?

Late as usual, I rushed the kids out of the minivan and into their piano lesson.  I locked the door and as I was closing it I got a funny feeling, "Don't close the door, don't close the door", but my actions were too fast for my hurried brain to stop what it was doing.  As soon as the door was closed, my brain caught up to what was happening.  "Arrggghhh!  I think I just locked the keys in the car!  Great!" I muttered to myself.  The kids had already gone into their lesson.

 I walked into the lesson frazzled.  I could feel my face heating up with embarrassment.  "I just locked my keys in the car", I announced.  

Luckily the piano teacher just said, "Oh no, don't worry you can use my phone and call the police.  I think they can open it for you."  She looked up the number for the local police department and handed me her phone.  I was afraid it might mess up the rest of her day, if we had to hang out at her house and wait for the police.  I knew she had more students coming.  But she showed no annoyance only sympathy for how I must be feeling.  She simply continued the lesson with my daughter, while I sat waiting, hoping the police could open it. 

I don't know how he arrived so quickly, but it must have been no more than 5 minutes and the policeman showed up.  It took him less than 3 minutes to open my door, and there on the floor between the front seats, laid my keys.  I had put them there to hand the piano books to my daughter. I thanked him profusely, but I got the feeling that I wasn't the first frazzled person he had unlocked a door for.  I went back into the piano lesson which was just wrapping up.  I thanked the teacher for helping out and we left on time.  As we piled into the van, heading for a school concert, I started laughing and soon the kids joined in.  I couldn't believe that so much had gone wrong and yet we were still on time, because the piano teacher had helped me fix the problem instead of dwelling on what was wrong.     

Life is too short to dwell on the negatives, I thought.  Even the Mayo Clinic agrees.  On their website at http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/positive-thinking/sr00009 it states that positive thinking can:

·         increase life span

·         increase resistance to common cold virus

·         reduce risk of heart disease

 "One theory is that having a positive outlook enables you to cope better with stressful situations, which reduces the harmful health effects of stress on your body."

 Though I will try my hardest to never again lock my keys in the car, I know eventually, it will happen.  But this time I will laugh sooner.

Start with a smile, it will help you face the day!

Kathy