Happy Halloween!

I just love dressing up.  And I'm lucky that I have great coworkers (and an awesome hubby) who get into the spirit of the holiday as well.

 (click to enlarge)

Last year we bought over 500 pieces of candy and ran out within half an hour.  I think we have kids bused in to our neighborhood.  One year the police set up a mini-substation at the end of our block just to make sure things didn't get too out of hand.  It's completely insane.  This year we're actually going to join the droves, as we take the boys' little brothers trick-or-treating.  We haven't done this for years, as the boys staunchly refused to let us accompany them for the past few years.  I'm so happy to be able to "participate" this year.

Have an awesome Halloween everyone!!

2012 Can Suck It But I'm Still Not Making Any Resolutions

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I totally forgot that the world was supposed to end today until Ralph mentioned something about it this morning.  That now means that everyone is going to have to face the reality of another year coming upon us, like it or not.

Twenty-twelve was not quite a total disaster, but I'm not sorry to see it go.  Looking back at my posts for the year (there aren't many of them) I can see the depression and deep sadness seeping through.  I'd like to be able to work on having less of that in 2013, but there's only so much I can control.  I know, I know, positive thinking and all that.  But when depression sucks you so far down into the muck, it's a bit hard to keep an upbeat view of it all.  And when life dumps a whole truck full of lemons on you, it's all you can do just to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

I think what I have to do is just LET GO.  Let go of any expectations of what this coming year might bring.  Let go of trying to control all difficult situations that might arise (and I'm sure there will be plenty), and let go of trying to solve all my problems of the past, present, and future and JUST BE.  (Oooh, do I sound all new-agey?)

I can't look ahead to 2013 yet because I'm just trying to focus on the next five minutes.  I think I only have the capacity right now to focus only on taking the next step.  And maybe that's just what I'm supposed to be doing.  Maybe in this season of my life, that's the best thing for me to do, so that I don't get so overwhelmed with what's ahead.  So no resolutions this year, and no picking a word or anything like that. (Although, I suppose if I picked simple ones like "breathe" or "blink" I might be successful.) Don't get me wrong, I like the idea, and I know it's good motivation to set goals for yourself.  I look forward to reading about other people's goals/words for the upcoming year.  It's just not for me right now, not this year.

I think my main goal for 2013 is to try and make it through the year without stressing too much about stuff that is completely beyond my control.  That, and allowing myself to not set high (read: unrealistic) goals and instead focus on just taking care of myself, even if that means not having a clear idea of what direction I want my life to take right now.  I think this will also help me appreciate the good things I do have in life, like a supportive husband, good friends, my health, a good job, and many, many little joys that pop up every day.

And if I can keep from having a nervous breakdown?  Added bonus.

Corned Beef, Cabbage, and That Wet Dog Smell

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone. We're getting a lovely rainstorm here in SoCal, which for me is a nice change from the dryness. Maybe it will even green things up a bit!

The only downside?

Filthy dogs.

The Pig Dog, still being a puppy, needs to be closely monitored when inside, and we are training her to go outside when nature calls. Unfortunately, she still loves to pee and poop on the carpets for some reason, (even when she's just come back inside!) so we are putting her out a lot. Not that she minds the rain. It makes for lovely mud puddles to dig in. When she comes back in, though, as with all the pooches, she's filthy, and doesn't smell so great, either.

Rough life.

So there will be a full round of baths later today. Probably after our corned beef and cabbage. Mmmmm....

Shmalentines

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"Valentine’s Day... may be a good idea in theory, like communism, or the carb free diet, but in actuality it is pretty much oppressive." (source)




Hope you all have a fantastic unimaginative, consumerist-oriented, entirely arbitrary, manipulative and shallow interpretation of romance Valentine's Day ;-)


(Who am I kidding? I love any day where as a general rule, chocolate is a requirement.)

“The Time Is Always Right To Do What Is Right.”

"Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal."


"If we are to have peace on earth, our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective."

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'"

"Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better."

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."

"Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love."

"Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend."

"It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it."

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree."

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”


“It does not matter how long you live, but how well you do it.”

"Whatever your life's work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better."

All photos are from Beaumont Enterprise.com.

All quotes are Dr. King's.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope you all had a great holiday season and are starting January with pleasant memories. I always expect January to start with a bang, as if I'm going to accomplish all my goals for the year in the next couple of days. Ha! I'm not even setting any resolutions this year, as I know my past track record, and it's pretty dismal. Although last year I did do pretty well at the 21-day challenge at A Bowl Full of Lemons. I definitely need something like that to keep me on track. This year, though, I see as more of a contemplative, slower-paced year. Not sure why, but I do. Anyway, before I get to waxing more about that, I just wanted to share a few pics from Christmas. It was quite relaxing this year. Right up my alley.

I decorated a bit, but didn't feel the need to go all out.

Just a bit on the mantle,

some lights to cozy up the place,

and some greenery thrown around a bit here and there.

Understated but still festive. And a whole lot easier to clean up.

We started off the holidays by getting to babysit some cutie patooties (aka little brothers)

and then hosted Christmas Eve for some of Ralph's family.

Lots of laughs were had by all

even if the teenagers didn't want to admit it.

Christmas day brought lots of silver and black, natch.

And wait, are those actual smiles on teenagers' faces??

Oh, yeah, especially since they got the video games they wanted. [Side note: Teen 2 said that one of his friends asked him why he didn't buy the newest video game right when it came out. He replied, "Why buy it with my own money when I can just wait for Christmas and get it for free?" Smart kid.]

So lots of family time

accompanied by lots of food

(one of my few culinary successes, wish I'd taken pics of Ralphs' AWESOME pozole)

left us all fat and happy.

Looking ahead to 2012, I've tried to do what some others have done and pick a word for the year to focus on. Words like "believe," "love," "simplify," and "look" tend to be bandied about. I've tried to think of one, and even came up with a list, but none seem to just jump out at me. I think I'll need longer to contemplate it. I know most people do this before the new year starts, so they're all ready. Being the procrastinator that I am, I'm behind as usual. But since I have the feeling that this year is going to be a more slowly-moving, (hopefully that means peaceful?) year, I'm not going to get to worked up about it. Some of the words I've come up with so far are:

seek

purpose

do

trust

fearless

choose

rejoice

believe

create

focus

clarity

calm

strength

Do any of you do this? How do you go about picking a word? Or does the word pick you? In either case, happy picking, and Happy New Year.

Perspective

Lately I've been thinking about how my perspective has changed over the years. For example, my stepsons used to be smaller than me. Little cherubs that gazed up adoringly at me. (I almost choked on my coffee writing that last part.) From my perspective now, things are a bit different.

Exhibit A

We recently marked each person's height in the entryway to the kitchen. (I'm 5' 3 1/2".)

Do you know how hard it is to scold someone while you're looking up at them? (And they're looking down at you, laughing...)



Exhibit B
(as if the height humiliation wasn't enough)


Comparing shoe sizes.
(I wear a 7 1/2 - 8, so I don't have tiny feet.)

So yeah, my perspective's had to change, whether I like it or not. The same has happened with my perspective on the holidays.

I love Christmas, but I've always set high expectations for myself that I can never achieve:

• Completely decorate the house for Christmas so it looks like a winter wonderland, complete with handmade crafts in every room.

• Bake/create homemade goods for all the neighbors and wrap them in adorable packages.

• Find the perfect gift for everyone and have it bought, wrapped, shipped and sent out soon after Thanksgiving so I can relax and enjoy the holiday season with all items on my to-do list done!

• Take the perfect picture for the Christmas card and send them out the day after Thanksgiving.


Now, factor in that I'm a major procrastinator and the fact that I don't manage stress well and you've got a recipe for disaster in melt-down proportions.


Something had to give. And that something was my perspective of the "perfect" Christmas. Last year really helped with that. Due to various circumstances, we ended up not seeing family on Christmas Day. Instead of the usual racing around and trying to fit everyone in, it was just the five of us.

And it was one of the best Christmases I've ever had.

It was so relaxing, so void of insane expectations, that right then and there I gave up the idea that the perfect Christmas had to be filled with everyone you know and love.

Other ideas changed too.

• Decorating the house: I have the tree up and some lights and other baubles thrown around. Not a handmade craft in sight. And you know what? It's just fine.

• Neighbors: Last year I baked cookies on Christmas Day just so I could finally bring them a gift. Not doing that this year! The neighbors are getting tins of popcorn for Christmas. They're already in Christmas tins, so no wrapping either!

• Gifts: I still struggle with this, but we cut way down on our gift list this year so we are not racing around trying to find a gift for everyone. Not being around too many people will help this. Unfortunately, I ordered one gift a little too late, and it won't get here til after Christmas. There is NOTHING I can do about it, so I'm determined not to go crazy about it. So far, so good.

• Christmas card: I learned early on that my idea of the "perfect" picture just wasn't going to work in my family of stoic men. Asking them to smile for a picture at the Christmas tree lot after picking out the "perfect" tree got me this:

It looked like I just told everyone their grandma had just died.
(And look! They were still smaller than me!)

I wised up and realized that my trying to force them into fake smiles and festive outfits (ha!) just made everything worse. So I just started taking pictures of the real us.


One year I didn't even bother to tell them to behave.

I just wrote "From Our Wild Bunch to Yours, Merry Christmas."
Everyone who got the card that year loved it.


I may be the only one smiling in this year's picture, but at least I'm keepin' it real. It showed us together as a family, and that's the important thing.

And it was a LOT less hassle.

How has your perspective of the holidays changed over the years?

Thanksgiving 2011

Eh, I'm only two weeks late with my Thanksgiving post. Truth is, I'm enjoying relaxing. This season I'm determined not to run around like a crazed maniac just because society and the retailers say I should. I did not, nor do I ever plan to participate in Black Friday. I did however,

Eat. A. TON.

Most of my pictures from Thanksgiving either show us cooking food or eating food.

Sounds about right.

Here's me and my mom racing around the kitchen doing last minute prep.

And Ralph giving some fatherly advice on making gravy.

And carving The Bird.
(Which only took two hours longer to cook than originally planned. Sweet.)

The next day I felt bad for having starved my parents the day before, so we decided to have Ralph's mom and fiancé over for more food.

Yes, there was more food than this.

I love men in the kitchen.

I did finally decide to extricate myself from the table and my parents and I waddled around The Getty museum for a day. Its architecture, gardens, and views are just as impressive as the art.

We also forced the boys into some mandatory physical activity.

The rest of the time was spent mostly doing this:

Relaxing, sleeping, lavishing attention on the mutts.


All in all, a lot less stressful than I thought it would be.
I hope Christmas is the same.