Gifts of the Heart

I had a gentle reminder last week about the importance of gifts from the heart.  First when I witnessed it and second when I saw the photo that captured the simple joy of giving.   My grandson, Cristiano, gave his mother some “flowers” for her birthday.

It was a sweet moment for both of them.

The immense joy on Cristiano’s face tells a story of  the joyful act of giving  .

After seeing this photo I started to think of gifts I have received that still stay in my heart and bring a smile to my face.

Some of those  gifts include:

• time together
• listening
• someone’s undivided attention
• prayer
• a small act of kindness
• a “real” piece of mail
• a smile or helpful hand from a complete stranger while out and about
• a random compliment
• gratitude
• a hug
• a gentle reminder of all my blessings
• laughter
• being there
• shared tears ..joyful and sad
• support
• inspiration

Cristiano gave me a gift as well.  I will never look at those “dandy” lion flowers again without smiling.

Forsythia is another flower that brings me joy.  Not only is it one of the first signs of spring but it reminds of the a piece of art work my daughter Julie brought me from pre-school.  Admiring the brown painted stems with globs of yellow paint at the end I asked Julie..”Wow Julie are these forsythia?”   She scrunched up her face and said “No!, they are for you Mommy!”

Yet another gift that brings me a smile…each and every spring.

What  do you receive and give on a daily basis, not just to others but to yourself as well?

We  know the importance of exercise and good food to nourish our bodies but don’t forget to nourish your spirit as well.

Go pick a few dandelions and put them where you can see them to remind you to give and receive gifts of the heart.

I am going to get mine now…it will do my heart good, yours too!

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Would you like fries with your latte?

I used to be a proud non-coffee drinker.  Couldn’t stand the stuff. I really wondered what the fuss was all about .

My husband disliked coffee as well so when coffee drinkers came to our house they were out of luck.

When I gave a party if a guest offered to bring something I would ask for coffee…

and filters….

and the coffee maker…

and most important of all…. a person to make the coffee.

And then it happened, gradually but it happened.  I  fell off the non coffee band wagon .

It would be easy to blame Starbucks.  I was feeling a bit left out.

It seemed like everyone was meeting at Starbucks, drinking coffee, connecting in person and via laptops.

It was the “cool” place to be.

It was cool to act like “Sally” from “Harry Met Sally” and order a venti, non fat, whip, light foam, double shot, hazelnut latte.

To order a tea seemed so , mmm, ordinary, uncool.

I spent ALL of my adolescence being  “uncool” with a VERY cool older sister so NO I was not going to be the “uncool” one again.

I discovered with enough milk, sugar, and flavoring,  a latte was palatable.

My favorite drink rolled off my tongue like I was born at Starbucks and had lattes in my baby bottle.

The caffeine grabbed me and wouldn’t let go.

My husband was starting to think I might need a 12 step anti- coffee anti- caffeine program.

No worries.  After  an amusing incident this summer I am climbing back on the non-coffee wagon.

I discovered McDonalds is serving specialty coffee  as in “would you like fries with your latte?”

So in a “I have no other choice but to get my latte at McDonalds” moment  I  ordered a latte at the Golden Arches.  Twenty minutes and much confusion later I walked out with an iced coffee iced dishwater.

Ding, ding, ding…an “aha” moment for me.   A few nuggets from my noggin to…

McDonalds...stick to what you do best…clogging arteries and contributing to the obesity epidemic.

Starbucks….do NOT start serving burgers.  Do what you do best …draining peoples wallets and pushing caffeine.

As for me ( and possibly some of you) I am going to stick to what I like and do what I do best.

Oh and if you come to visit you may want to bring the coffee….and filters…and ….coffee maker.

I am going back to tea.

Shhh..don’t tell my sister..I hear it’s the next “cool” thing!

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Aren’t we all kind of a Big Deal?

This photo says it all.  Little Miss Ava is a charmer in every way, beautiful blue eyes, a head full of curls and that wonderful toddler attitude that the world revolves around her,and ONLY her.

Put her in this tank top and the package is complete!

I just laughed when I saw her sporting this affirmation of who she is and what she is about.  We all think she is a big deal with or without the t-shirt !!     Wouldn’t it be great if we all had the self confidence to sport a shirt like this???

Why not?  Aren’t we all kind of a big deal??  No “kind of” about it.

When was the last time you gave yourself credit for anything and everything??

I am constantly amazed by the people I know and the people I meet who overcome incredible obstacles, follow their dreams despite all the naysayers, and just keep plugging away!!  They are a BIG DEAL and deserve lots of credit.

BUT so do you!!

We are great at giving ourselves credit for the big things.  What about the little everyday things??

Give yourself credit for taking out the garbage.  Take it from someone who left old shrimp in the kitchen garbage while away for a week-end.   I thought we would never get the smell out of the house!

So your assignment for today is to pretend you are wearing Ava’s tank top!   You ARE a BIG DEAL.  Start making a list of things you do and give yourself credit for them..give yourself an “ata boy or ata girl”  Keep the list going and look at it when the sun isn’t shining in your heart.

I’ll start…I am a BIG DEAL because  … I ate healthy this morning, I vacuumed up the dog hair, I wrote my blog ,  I  laughed, I replaced the toilet paper without yelling at someone and I was patient with myself!!

And lastly copy this quote and put it on your frig to remind yourself  how really wonderful you are!

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.  M. Williamsom

Make it a really BIG DEAL day!!!  Smiles,

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Back in the saddle again

Its been awhile since I wrote a new blog post. Have I ever mentioned that I have turned procrastination into an art form?

Actually procrastination is not the right word. There is no right word for this but a phrase “putting what I love to do last on the list”

Turns out I have plenty of company in this unofficial club which consists mostly of women. We have good intentions but our daily to do lists are impossibly long and if the things we truly love to do make the list at all its at the bottom.

Since it is now July, all tried and true procrastinators are now finding time to make their 2010 New Years resolutions and mine is to put what I love to do at the top of the list. So the good news is you’ll be seeing more blog posts. That could also be the bad news but hey there is always the delete button!

Feel free to join me on this adventure of making New Years resolutions in July.  Its fun to break the rules!  Put what you love at the top of the list.  Make an appointment with yourself and KEEP them. Think of yourself as your friend waiting for you to keep the lunch date, movie date or whatever and make it a priority.

In addition to my New Years in July resolution I am embracing a word for each season to keep me aware of the many pleasures the different seasons bring.

My word for the summer is “savor”  Savor the summer and all its delicious offerings.

• Take in the sun
• Eat juicy fresh fruit and vine ripened tomatoes
• Buy outrageous fun flip flops
• Catch fireflies
• Picnic…at a park or in your own backyard
• Teach someone to swim
• Do nothing
• Watch the sunrise and the sunset
• Put yourself at the top of the list and SAVOR your own loves!!!!

And in the words of those famous infomercials “but wait there’s more” There is always something more to savor, take a look around and drink it in, long cool sips of what you love about yourself and this season.

I’ve had quite a few adventures this summer ( some on purpose, some not) so stay tuned!

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Tasty Tuesday..an apple and a carrot a day….

Many of you probably thought I got lost in a snow drift here in Virginia.  It was a possibility considering we got almost 5 years worth of snow in Jan and Feb.  Guess that means we won’t get any for the next 4 years.  Not likely..makes me long the days we lived in Hawaii.

Nevertheless I am back.  And every Tuesday will feature a recipe that not only I have tried but so has my family and more importantly lived to tell about it.

When it comes to new recipes, especially those that involve the words healthy my family would like it if I hired a food taster or at least find that kid, Mikey, from the old Life Cereal commercials..

“Let Mikey try it, he hates everything”

MMM..that kid is probably in his thirties by now.  Wonder if he is for hire.

Since a big part of staying in shape and being healthy involves food it came to me that I should share some of these recipes.

Perhaps you should know that I DID  NOT inherit the family cooking gene.

That gene went disproportinately to my two sisters and sister in law .  Okay she is only related by marriage but she somehow got the gene as well.  arghhhh

This is actually good news for all of you.  The recipes I will be sharing are simple, yummy and good for you.  If your family shudders at the words “good for you” or equates that phrase with castor oil or brussel sprouts just leave it out and DO NOT share the ingredients until they already love it.

Also one other word of comfort from those familiar with my original cooking.  These are recipes from real cooks..all credit is given to the cook….

I hear a huge sigh of relief from those who have experienced my original recipes first hand .

This recipe comes from a great book  ” Eat for Health” by Dr. Joel Fuhrman.    It doesn’t last long in my house and my husband has NEVER noticed that I didn’t use mayonaise.

Okay now he knows!

Who can not like something called Sunshine Slaw ??  Try it , you’ll like it!

Sunshine Slaw ( from Eat for Health by SDr. Joel Fuhrman)

4 carrots grated

1 1/2 apples, peeled and chopped ( I use 2 or eat the other half

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup slivered or sliced almonds

1/3 cup low salt mayo or Vegenaise ( found in organic aisle) its great!

Directions:  Toss carrots and apples with lemon juice, Add raisins and almonds, Mix in low salt mayo or Veganaise.

ENJOY!

I tried to include a photo but come to find out grated carrots and apple pieces , raisins and almonds are camera shy.

Stayed tuned tomorrow for “Whatever Wednesday”

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Great book, questionable gift giving technique!

My husband is very supportive of all my crazy ideas and adventures.  One bonus of signing up to do the triathlon is he had all kinds of new ideas for gifts for me.  He gets stressed over the holidays which sort of puzzles me since here is the list of people he buys for:

1. Me!!

He claims that the reason he stresses is because once he comes up with a good gift idea  he immediately has to come up with another because my birthday is in early Jan.

( Jan 4th to be exact if any or all of you want to send me a Happy Birthday greeting!)

On Dec. 26th the conversation goes something like this.  “Oh no, your birthday is in 9 days…now what am I going to do, I am out of ideas”   Geez excuse me for being born in Jan.  By the way I have a special place in my heart for those born in Dec. and Jan..more on that in another post.

In our family when you hit big with a gift we call it good gift giving technique…in other words you have put some thought and time into it.

I’m sure Paul thought he had used GGT on the following gift related to our upcoming triathlon.

Pay attention to the title.  SLOW FAT TRIATHLETE!

Gee thanks sweetie, my heart is warm all over…NOT!

Fortunately knowing my husband we all got a good laugh.   The added bonus is this is really GOOD book..its written with humor and really helped me get ready for my first triathlon.  Jayne Williams is the real deal and tells it like is.  She doesn’t gloss over any mistakes she has made , she shares them and moves on.

So while it was questionable GGT, I still use the book, still smile about it and think it ended up being a great gift.

More gift ideas for your triathlete in my next post!!  Cheers, Jenn

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