Easter Menu

It was just too good. I have to share:

Ham steak cooked on the grill by my fantastic Dad. Honey glaze, little crunch. Perfection!

Deviled eggs from Mom. She added jalepeno, but I would leave that out. So perfect and traditional.

Quinoa, tossed with lemon juice, red onion, salt, diced cucumber, diced celery and mint.

Carrot soup - sauteed sweet onion and garlic, boiled with chicken stock, water, carrots then transferred to food processor until pureed. Served with sour cream and mint.

Green beans and red onion stir fried in EVOO

Fresh whole wheat French bread

Zucchini bites - 1-inch slices of zucchini halfway hollowed, tossed in olive oil, thyme and basil, topped with cherry tomatoes tossed in the same. roasted at 425 for 25 minutes. Careful, tomatoes smoke the oven.

Sugar free pistachio and lemon pudding with graham cracker, splenda brown sugar mix parfaits for dessert.

Lots of champagne, beer, red and white wine. We had all our alcohol bases covered.

Snapshot

Social Media is an interesting thing. I've been reading how parents aren't allowing their kids online because it harms self esteem and can make kids compare themselves to what they read about others online. Perhaps because I'm an adult and not in high school, I find it to be the opposite result. I have a poor self esteem issue - always have. But I've been focusing on the good in my life and doing what I need to do to make myself happy. It's working. And - this is going to sound terrible - FBland is helping.

It really became obvious while everyone's family Easter pictures popped up online last night. Kids in tights, big smiles, running around picking up eggs, big family moments. Person after person that was the hot, super fun, popular kid in high school who everyone wanted to be is now married in the burbs with multiple kids. And they look totally happy, so good for them. But it sounds like my personal version of hell. And none of those super skinny hot bodies exist anymore. None!

I, on the other hand, cooked a super healthy, diabetic Easter for my Mom, Dad, Bro and Sis in Law and Boo all in our apt! That 900 sq feet has never felt smaller, but it was perfect. I had one of those moments where I looked around the table at my amazing boyfriend and us together hosting my family in our home, and the table full of good food, the laughing, joking, drinking and got a little teary-eyed. (We polished off a few bottles). It was a moment I put on pause, took a mental picture and am carrying around with me. I couldn't have painted it better. I love my urban living, my home (which is almost fully decorated), my relationship, my business, my Misty-Miss. I am a super lucky, blessed girl and I wouldn't trade my life with anyone.

You can't see the future when you're in high school, or even college for that matter. But hopefully I can help my kids (when that time actually comes around to have them) feel confident in their decisions and the life they choose to live. I wouldn't trade places with anyone!

Ode to the Poor

May I just be frank? Money sucks. I mean, blows. We should just live on a barter system. Or somehow there's a master rating scale of how hard you work and that's how much money you make, regardless of industry or pay scale. I bust my arse and I have nothing to show fiscally to show for it. I do have to clarify "fiscally" because there is quite a bit of fantasticness, just no money.

I overdrew my account for the first time in years this last week. Because I do not receive a paycheck. I just didn't realize the gas here, the groceries there, the SF red bull here and here - and poof! Throw in a car payment and my account is empty.

Ugh!

Outsourced

Have you ever seen the TV show "Outsourced?" I haven't, but I'm curious if it's funny or frustrating to watch. I, personally, just had an incredibly frustrating customer service phone call, no doubt an outsourced call, for my Satellite radio in my car. I'm just trying to continue service once my trail is over.

I don't fully blame the girl on the other end. She couldn't understand my sentence structure and I couldn't understand her English. Not entirely her fault. However, that doesn't make it any easier or less confusing. I ended up repeating the same sentence, rewording it as many ways as I could think, no less than six times. She didn't get. Again and again and again. She didn't get it.

Once my blood was boiling, I was close to a raised voice, we landed on the same page. I'm pretty sure this could all be avoided and a few more jobs created at home. I'd much rather listen to someone talking to me out of the gap in their teeth and telling me I "sound purdy" than deal with the language barrier every single time I need to change service on my air conditioning, radio or television.

Dear God

Thank you for today.

- Amen

In my Heart

My Mom asked me this morning for the words I said at my Mamaw's funeral. Re-reading them makes me a little sad, but also makes me remember how much I loved her. Our family just finished cleaning out the estate and selling the house so now I have items all over my home that were hers - things just to look at and things I use every day. They all keep her and my Papaw's memory alive in my heart and my daily life.

Here's what I shared:

I grew up spending vacations, holidays and 3-day weekends with Mamaw & Papaw. I remember sun tea brewing by the pool and getting lunch on plastic plates under the umbrella table. Mamaw & Papaw’s house meant riding the train, going to the zoo and riding the skytram, playing in the pool and food. There were always meals. We ate at every table in the house and every meal was an occasion.

Now that we’re older, when Mamaw got sick, I was hesitant to hang out with her for hours each week. I didn’t know what I was going to do with my grandmother the whole time.

I was actually really shocked to find out what a smart-alec she was. She was hilarious. She had this dry wit and would come out of nowhere with these comments. I remember in the ER over Christmas the nurse taking forever to do something and she sat there and rolled her eyes behind the nurses back and we held back our snickers. Mom said the second the tube came out the first time she was intubated she could barely speak, but she made sure Mom heard her and said, “Don’t do that again.” It was kind of shocking to see that side of Mamaw.

I think Mamaw spent most of her life being proper. But towards the end, when she’d lost all of her pride, I saw her as this real person. She was funny and she had a sharp wit. She loved having afternoon tea, her favorite was green tea. She loved Atkins chocolate coconut bars and Pirates Booty. She liked to watch Golden Girls. She loved spending time with her family. Her face would literally light up every week when I came to see her. We would sit for hours and talk. We chatted about runway shows and how many women did Tiger Woods really cheat with. I wasn’t her nurse and I didn’t help her with anything medical, but we became friends.

I held her hand when she was sad over Nellie and I hugged her when she missed Papaw. I covered her walls with pictures of her family and made sure she told every nurse that came by about each person on the wall. We bonded over diabetic snacks. She shared stories about her life before Papaw I’d never heard before. I miss her.

Last Saturday I celebrated my 30th birthday at home. I was able to see her calm and peaceful - completely happy and content. She talked about the birds feeding schedules outside her window and how great the food was at her new digs. She bowed her head to pray with us and sat calmly across the hall while we ate dinner. And every time we’d look over at her she’d give us a thumbs up and occasionally yell over that she couldn’t hear a thing we were saying. I sat down and played piano for her for an hour. And we just talked. She looked at me and said, “I know I don’t have much longer, but I’m so grateful for being home.” She was happy. She knew. And she was ready.

I will forever cherish the fact that I was able to see her as more than the Mamaw that put salt on her watermelon and was back in the kitchen fixing the next meal the very second we finished the first.

I have two favorite verses: 1 Cor 13:13 and Phil 1:3. Chapter 13 of Corinthians is known as the Love chapter. I have never seen two people that better exemplify love than Mamaw & Papaw. I hope that one day I can set that example for the generations beyond me. It isn’t a coincidence that she joined Papaw in time for their 63rd wedding anniversary. She wanted to be with him again. And perhaps my all-time favorite is Phil 1:3. I thank My God every time I remember you. And I do.

The Letter

I went to a breakfast this morning for my alma mater to hear the football coach speak. I don't attend a lot of alumni events, but I've heard here and there that's he's a very spiritual man, a genuine man and a truly loving man. So I was looking forward to seeing him off the sidelines. I was so impressed listening to him speak this morning. It was well worth the 5 o'clock hour wake-up.

He outlined six daily keys to succeed. Not keys to success, but to succeed as your best self. I'm going to put that in a blog on my company site. But the most impressive part to me was his story about Elvis, by way of Wayne Newton.

He had a chance to meet Wayne Newton, who was a huge Elvis fan and memorabilia collector. Apparently, the night before Elvis died, he was at the Las Vegas Hilton. He returned home and died 24 hours later. As the cleaning ladies were touching up his hotel room, they saved the crumpled pieces of paper with notes and lyrics. Wayne Newton spent thousands at an auction buying these papers and framed them behind his desk. When he fell on hard times, he took Elvis' final words and put them to music. The Coach saw him perform this song, and was given this story firsthand. He was so moved by the song that typed out the letter himself and carries it around as a daily reminder every day since.

Years later, when he had the chance to meet Wayne again, Wayne wrote a personal note to the Coach on this letter that he still carried around. The following video is the best I could find and it isn't able to embed, only link. So check it out. But I'll type the lyrics below anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNFfy2v5IGE

"The Letter"

One more phone call from a friend

Just to say how hard it’s been
How their hopes and dreams have scattered
With the wind
They don’t see that I’m there too
How it breaks my heart in two
Just to make it through this night’s all I can do

Help me Lord
I need the son to drive away
The shadows in my mind
Help me Lord
I need someone to guide me
When the path is hard to find
Even though the crowd surrounds me
I’m still standing all alone
When I know I can’t go on
Help me Lord

As I awake again today
And my pain won’t go away
And the face I have to wear
Shows a smile
Now my nights are so alone
I just wish I could go home
I don’t know if I can make it another mile

Help me Lord
I need the son to drive away
The shadows in my mind
Please help me Lord
I need someone to guide me
When the path is hard to find
Even though the crowd surrounds me
I’m still standing all alone
When I know I can’t go on
Help me Lord

I feel so alone sometimes
The night is quiet for me
I’d love to be able to sleep
I am glad that everyone is gone now
I’ll probably not rest tonight
I have no need for all of this
Help me Lord

Help me Lord
I need the son to drive away
The shadows in my mind
Please help me Lord
I need someone to guide me
When the path is hard to find
Even though the crowd surrounds me
God I am so all alone
When I know I can’t go on
Help me Lord

Won’t you come and take me home
Help me Lord