An Author's Purpose

Time off means time to think. I'm enjoying the leisure that comes with the beginning of spring break even though it doesn't feel like spring yet.  Four days ago I tromped with Madilyn and Sophie through layered snow amidst a path of trees out behind our house.  Beyond the greenbelt, train tracks were covered in ice and glistening white powder. Snug below a canopy of trees, we felt as if we'd wandered into Narnia. We traveled into one of those surreal moments that come few and far between.  I pondered over purpose.  Now, in this moment, the snow has melted, the sky remains grey, and I will write — today. 

 Some call it ADHD

         Others call it creativity

My friend calls it "diversified talent"

       I call it confusing.

There are those who know,

know why, know who, know purpose.

They ask the flight attendant for scotch

and she answers with cheap whiskey. 

The Knowers prophesy perfection,

but,

       do they ever question the blueprint?

In dark hours before dawn

           Does Doubt visit the architect?

I crave the frenzy,

     I swim in stormy waters,

               to catch the wave

of promised change.

Lenka says, "all I want to be is everything— 

at once."

Me too.

..........................................................Since the age of I don't remember,

the stories are of mothers, homemakers, writers, teachers, lawyers, poets, business owners, hairdressers, copywriters, postcard creators, interior decorators, fashionistas,  story builders.

Curiosity is the giver,

and the taker;

didn't he kill the cat?

My grandparents lived in the same house for fifty years.

I've lived in thirteen.

My grandmother, a preacher woman,

her profession was dedicated to helping others:

HER ENTIRE LIFE.

             I am what I am.
     

Study and obsess until I get good, at least proficient. 
Put in the time until time slows.

Then boredom sets in,

or I pass by greener grass, 

that damned grass!

Who tends the grounds?

How long has the landscaper scaped?

I pass another lawn,

     as green as the last,

         and I forget.

Tales told,

a cruel narrator who makes and murders.

Characters evolve, the setting moves,

onto the next.

I am the curator of my life.

Author Unknown.

SUPER easy Chicken 'n Dumplings

Snow days call for warm, comfort food like chicken 'n dumplings.  I make a SUPER easy recipe that was told to me by my dear friend Tiffany.  She shared this one with me years ago, and it quickly became one of our family favorites.  

Ingredients: 

Rotisserie Chicken

Celery-2 stalks

Onion- half yellow

Chicken Broth-4 Cups

Grands Biscuits-1 can

Milk 

Butter

Directions:

Pick up a rotisserie chicken at the grocery (told you, super easy) and remove skin and pull the meat off.  Set aside.  Next chop onion and celery and sauté in 2 tablespoons butter inside dutch oven.  Cook until translucent and add chicken broth.  Add water to the pan until half full of liquid.  Bring to a boil.  Cut biscuits into quarters and drop into boiling broth.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and stir occasionally to keep dumplings from sticking together.  Cook for 10-15 minutes until biscuits are no longer doughy.  Add chicken to the soup along with 3 Tbsp butter.  Stir.  Slowly add milk to make the soup the right consistency.  Add salt and pepper.  Simmer until thickened. 

Fill pan with broth and water

Cut Grand Biscuits into quarters.

Add biscuits then chicken.

Enjoy!  Yummmm.

All Is Well

With shimmering white hair, she sits in her recliner, rocking slowly, each sway moving her closer to Jesus.  My Nana has counted her blessings and thanked her Maker every day, all 38,450 of them. She told me this weekend she doesn't know why God has let her live this long and after living 105 years, she feels tired. These days she prays for strength. "I tell God that I'm grateful to be alive, but if he is going to leave me on this earth he will need to give me the strength to live here," she said to me as I walked her to the kitchen on Saturday morning.

   I know why the good Lord has let her stay: to bless the rest of us.  She loves with intrepid kindness, the kind of honest love that people rarely share anymore. She's funny and insightful.  She's full of wisdom. She's a straight-shooter and she's opinionated, but she respects those whose opinion differs from hers.

   She's political. The last democrat she voted for was Jimmy Carter, and as far as she is concerned, he was the most "honest Christian man to serve our country."  She has repeatedly mentioned that "it's a shame he wasn't reelected for a second term." Reagan turned out to be a "fine president from Hollywood," and Clinton should have "kept his pants on but I guess he did an okay job running the country." She has an autographed picture of George W sitting on her mantle.  She not only remembers most of the presidents from this past century, she also recalls significant historic events.

    She remembers the dust bowl and the New Deal, the roaring twenties and the WPA.  She can recall both World Wars.  She lived in Alamogordo during the Manhattan Project and at one point worked in an artillery plant to support the war.  She was living in Texas when Kennedy was shot, and she mourned the loss of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when many white southerners did not.  During her lifetime, she watched technology change our world.  She went from living on the farm with no electricity or plumbing to owning a cell phone.  Hers is a flip, but she asks me why my phone is so smart. She understands that I can use my phone as an encyclopedia and she's curious. "How can it know that information? Does it pull it from up there?" she asked me and pointed to the sky.
Honestly, I had never pondered the inner workings of Google.  I gave her the best answer I could, "it's magic, Nana."

   The magic lights the lamp, illuminating Nana's words.  In a phone conversation last week Nana told me she wasn't feeling well but at the risk of complaining, she changed her mind. She said she would say what the woman in the Bible said, "all is well." She asked me if I knew the story and I told her no.  She proceeded to give the account of the woman who proclaimed to the servant on the street that all was well when in truth her son lay dead at home.
     Nana continued on and said, "The woman kept her faith in the midst of turmoil. Once she reached the prophet..." she paused momentarily, searching for the word.  "Oh, you know the prophet...I can't remember his name, but you know who it is."
    "Isaiah?" I answered.
    "No, no.  Well, anyway, the prophet, Mr. What's His Name, brought the boy back to life.  The woman believed God would restore her son, and so I will say the same--all is well."
    "Which book is that story in, Nana?"
    "I don't remember."
 
    This past weekend while I visited her, I told her that I had looked up the details of the woman and read it for myself.
   "I found it in Kings," I explained.
   Astonished she quipped, "You mean you found it on that?" She pointed to my phone.
   "Yes.  It's in second Kings, chapter four."
   "I don't understand how that thing works," she thought for a moment.  Slowly shaking her head sideways she retorted, "I don't belong to this world; it has passed me by."
   I thought for a moment how it might feel to live in her world. A world that was built on the backs of her generation but then to be left behind when sore bones could no longer keep up. I wanted to assure her she was okay and she always had a reservation as long she wanted the room.
  "Nana, don't worry.  I don't understand how it works either. All is well," I said, hoping to believe it.
 

Our sweet Nana.

   
 

New Year, New Perspective.

Why bother making New Year's Resolutions?  We all know that we will break them, right?  We vow to eat better, work out, spend less money, but why do we make the effort when we know by late February we'll be back to our dessert eating, tired, on-line shopping ways? HOPE is the reason we make our resolutions, and a life without hope is a dark one indeed.  So, I say rejoice in those resolutions and even if you break them, at least you've attempted to create a better life for yourself, because isn't that the point? Isn't improvement of ourselves the goal of our many trips around the sun?

My resolution:  Maintain a positive perspective in regards to myself and others.  Here are my three new mottos:

1. Compare not.  
• I compare myself to EVERYONE I meet and I am not even slightly joking.  I think my heart starts in the right place; I want to become the best version of myself, but in doing so, I constantly assess my place among others I know. This practice places a person on a quest that can never be fulfilled. Why? Someone will always be prettier, smarter, skinnier, richer, and overall more successful than I and knowing that makes me feel bad about myself.  But in the same sentiment, someone will always be less fortunate than I and that view is worse than the first.  It leads to a prideful heart. And anyway, why should I decide who is what?  So instead of all this comparing, I strive to remember that we are all God's children, and we all have our place and purpose and the superficial stuff doesn't matter. So, instead of coveting, I choose gratefulness and change my envious thoughts to a prayer thanking the Almighty who gave me blessings beyond measure. 
2. Live and let live.
•  I have my life and you have yours.  Why do I want to meddle in your business when I can barely manage mine?  I think others, including myself, attempt to control another out of fear.  Let's focus on helping others instead of telling them how to live, which leads me to my last motto.
3. Love, don't judge.
• I've found that if I shift my view and if I question why I'm judging another, I can get to the real issue bothering me, which usually has nothing to do with the other person or group. People judge for all sorts of reasons; fear, misunderstanding, insecurity, and sometimes judgement comes from a genuine desire to help, but it is fueled by a misdirected perspective. Instead of wasting negative energy by judging,  I can create positive energy by loving.  

~Truly, Cinderella (the middle-class, thirty-something, working-mom Cinde, of course)

Taco Stew: waste not, want not

Nom, nom!

   It is a cardinal sin to throw away food: a sentiment taught to me by my father, echoed from his Italian heritage, and by my Nana who survived the Great Depression. So, when Madilyn and I shared a rotisserie chicken a couple of days ago, we had plenty left over. What to do, what to do? There it sat on the second shelf lurking, taunting me from inside the refrigerator. With stern frugality I answered, "I shall make Taco Stew out of you." 

    Not only can you use leftover chicken, but Taco Stew is also a great time saver because you can make it in the crock-pot.  If you don't have leftover chicken, then first poach or bake 2-3 chicken breasts instead. 

Ingredients needed: 

Chicken

Drained cans of:
2 cans of Ranch Style beans

    (One with jalapeños if you like spicy)

1 can of Rotel
1 can of diced tomatoes

1can of tomato soup

1can of corn

1 package of taco seasoning

1 package of Ranch dressing mix

Dash of chili powder (optional)

Dash of garlic powder (optional)

Shred the chicken into the pot and add the rest of the ingredients. Stir and simmer on low for 4 hours. 

Ready to sir and simmer!

Easy-peasy! Serve with tortilla chips or crackers and a side salad. Perfect for a chilly winter's night. 

Made With Love

  Sifting through my recipe box is like rummaging through a time capsule filled with culinary memories. Card edges are lovingly crinkled and soiled by splatters of food prepared with love, honored by tradition. Throughout the holiday season my little treasure box is "loved" on even more! I frequently reach into my crowded pantry to pull out the box adorned in a vibrant print of grapes and pears. I place it on the kitchen counter so that I can sort, sort through moments photographed in casseroles and cookies. Even the box itself was a gift from a dear friend. She gave me the box as a birthday gift and put a few of her stand-out recipes inside. Recipes like Shortbread Sugar cookies; actually, she taught me, hands-on, how to make them during the Christmas season so that my girls could leave goodies for Santa.
      My mother didn't cook...ever. Every dish or dessert I've ever prepared has come from someone or somewhere else.  Recipes are collected like postcards, I choose the ones that best represent the time and place of a moment.  Sometimes I wonder what recipe box I would own if the cards were my mother's, but I don't dwell on this long because in that fantasy kitchen I wouldn't possess the cornucopia of delights I have now.  Like the recipe for fudge borrowed from Country Cooking, the First Baptist Church of Smalltown, Texas' cookbook or a recipe for cornbread dressing taken from an excellent cook with whom I used to work; I might not have Nana's green jello salad delight or Donna's pecan pie.  Some of my favorite recipes have been given to me by The Cheryls, women who have positively impacted my life, significantly changing its course for the better. My pseudo mom, Cheryl T's recipe for breakfast casserole is the perfect brunch dish for a family gathering; my sweet Step-Mama, Cheryl C's recipe for lasagne, or comfort roast, or the holiday delight, cherries in the snow are all crowd pleasing recipes. I cannot imagine a collection without these dishes in its repertoire.
    As Christmas approaches, I plan to cherish every recipe, every dish made.  To cook with love means to honor the recipe maker, and mark the memories with good food and loving family.

Ten Steps to Maximize Your Time!

I am writing this while sitting at Love Field waiting for my daughter to board.  Then, when I leave here I'm booked with clients who are ready to get their holiday hair on! On the drive over here, I pondered over ideas on how I want teach the Dystopian unit in my classroom.  I attempt to utilize every minute given. Yes, I am a energetic enigma, hairdresser and school teacher, but we all wear different hats and shift from one role to another in our daily lives.  With all this changing and moving, how do we best maximize our time?  Here are ten tips that help me and and might help you. 

Ten ways to make the most out of every minute.

1. Live your life; don't watch someone else's on television.

Americans spend an average of five hours a day watching television according to New York Daily News.  We spend another three hours perusing social media (New York Times) and although there are some benefits (like finding awesome projects on Pinterest or de-compressing with a fun episode of the Voice), most of those hours are buried in wasted time graveyard. Think about what might happen if instead of watching mindless hours of television or spending countless minutes checking out "the Joneses," people spent quality time with their families, served their community, or even read a great book.  Honestly, we could pioneer a new world with that kind of time. Now I'm not advocating TV or Social Media abstinence, (we all know that Twitter celibacy is impractical) but practice safe tweeting!  Set boundaries like designating a time limit on how long you allow yourself to creep on Instagram or Facebook.  Don't fall prey to a life lost to voyeurism.  The next time you sit in front of the tube or go for your phone, ask yourself if what your watching is worth your time? Then ask if your time could be spent better doing something else?  

2. Prioritize your time.

Life happens but don't let life "happen" to you.  Create your moments.  That diabolical Father Time will rob you a life well-lived if you don't consciously schedule your days. Decide at the beginning of the month what makes the calendar. Your time is important--keep this in mind as you schedule. Get mandatory events penciled in first then begin scheduling the "other." And remember, people matter not things. Make time for the ones you love first, then schedule the rest. Of course, we all must spend X amount of time on our responsibilities (like our jobs) but most of us create obligations that aren't necessary. Do you really need to join another committee or register your kiddo in another extracurricular? Leave a little free time for serendipity; every second passed is lost forever to Father Time.  Make your seconds count. 

3. Learn to say goodbye.

Do you ever find yourself in a exhausting conversation with someone who possesses a negative outlook on life?  These "energy vampires" will suck out all the inspiration from you. Learn to kindly step away or redirect the energy curmudgeon. Remember, you author your book. Write the moments the way you want and don't allow others to take away your pen. 

4. Invest your time in who and what matters.

Make time for family and good friends because the return on this investment is priceless! When I reflect on choices I've made over the years, I never regret spending time with my girls. If anything, the regrets are that I have not spent more time with them. Also, hanging out with friends is good for the soul.  Best friends make the hard times better and good times great.  I couldn't live without my fabulous girlfriends.  Lastly, organize your work schedule that reflects value. What I mean is prioritize the hours spent at work to gain the most from them. Now I'm preaching to the choir because I am the worst when it comes to spending countless hours on a task when it should have taken one. I envy those who have the gift of "assess and act." My problem is that during the assessment stage, I assess EVERYTHING and end up racing down the rabbit's trail. I end up losing track of the rabbit I was supposed to be chasing! Sooo....

5. Avoid the rabbit's trail and forget about perfectionism.
When you find yourself obsessing over details--STEP-AWAY! Walk away, grab a drink, and relax a minute. Chances are when you go back you will notice what needs to be changed. Make a conscious decision to leave it alone and move on. When you think about it, even perfect can be improved.  Be confident in your strengths and recognize your growth. The rest is blurred in the background. 

6. Sift and chunk the junk.

De-clutter your mind and your environment. Stay organized to maximize time by purging stuff you don't need.  When your mind gets cluttered, focus on what matters. News flash: you control your thoughts. When you find yourself agonizing over situations that are out of your control-stop thinking about it. Let it go and don't crowd your mind with useless, counter-productive thoughts. 

7. Less is more. 
The more "stuff" you manage, the more time it takes.  Simplify your life.

8. You're not tired; you're inspired.
When you feel exhausted and your list is long, make this your mantra. Think about how much energy you have when you are looking forward to a vacation.  You are pumped and it doesn't matter that you stayed up late packing and your flight leaves at 6 am: You are inspired!  Harness that energy and apply it to the ordinary Monday night when you have worked all day, and you still need to cook dinner, help the kids with homework, and prepare for work the next day. You can do it and do it well because the payoff is that you've provided for your family, you have made a healthy home-cooked meal, and you have contributed to the success of your children. 

9. Use every second.
Everyone needs down time to rest and relax but do so with intent.  Take advantage of spare minutes. Check your email while waiting in line, listen to an audio-book while driving across town, listen to the news while getting ready in the morning; seize the day! 

10. Fear not.
We only get so many minutes around the clock, so I plan to wear my best party dress and have a heck of time spinning!  Don't be afraid to make time for new adventures. When the dance ends, when the clock stops, go...go knowing you made the minutes count.

~Truly, Cinderella (the middle-class, thirty-something, working mom Cinderella, of course)