Welcome to Tantalizing Thursday on Chief 187 Chatter. Summer is still in full swing and appetites, whereas still hearty with the amount of activity one tends to get done, are lighter than the fall/winter time. Fish is an excellent source of protein and offers lighter yet satisfying fare. People I run into tend to get scared off by fish thinking it is “impossible” to prepare well at home, it is “exceedingly” expensive, or timely to prepare. These are all myths that the recipe that follows will quickly disprove.
Tilapia with Escarole and Lemon-Pepper Oil
Recipe courtesy Food Network Magazine
Ingredients:
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
12 ounces baby fingerling potatoes, halved, or small red-skinned potatoes, quartered
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 head escarole (about 1 1/4 pounds), torn into pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 1/4 pounds tilapia fillets, patted dry
2 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves torn
Juice of 1 lemon
Directions:
Heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil in a large deep skillet with a lid over medium heat. Place the potatoes in the pan cut-side down. Add the garlic and cook until the potatoes are slightly golden and crisp, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the escarole, season with salt and pepper, then add about 1/3 cup water. Cover and steam until the escarole wilts, about 5 minutes.
Season the fish with salt and pepper; place on top of the greens in the pan and sprinkle with the oregano leaves. Cover and steam until the fish is just cooked through, about 5 more minutes.
Meanwhile, whisk the lemon juice in a bowl with the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil; season with 1 teaspoon salt and plenty of pepper.
Carefully lift the fish off the greens and transfer to rimmed plates or bowls. Distribute the greens, potatoes and pan juices around the fish. Drizzle with the lemon-pepper oil.
Yields 4 servings.
I loved the fact that potatoes were a part of this recipe. I am a huge fan of the tuber and am tired of the bad reputation it garnered a few years back. Potatoes are a comfort food that, when prepared healthfully, are extremely satisfying and nutritious. I also love the tilapia fish. White, flaky, and able to absorb flavors easily, it is the perfect fish for people who don’t think they like fish. The escarole is a dark leafy green, another healthy additive, and the lemon pepper oil brightens the whole meal.
If you try this recipe, please let me know. If you have a recipe you’d like to add, please post it. And, it you are looking for other recipes featured on Tantalizing Thursday on Chief 187 Chatter, simply type “Tantalizing Thursday” on the search feature located in the upper left hand corner of this page and see what appears. I believe in spending little time in the kitchen with easily accessible ingredients and a powerfully tasty impact at the end.
Please join me tomorrow as we end the week with my personal longtime favorite, the Friday Music Blog.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Guilt
Guilt. A useless emotion, a devastating feeling, and a mixed bag of dread and propulsion that guides many through life, guilt exists and is universally felt by most I come in contact. Although I don’t feel guilt for much outside of the home, having three children I struggle daily with the feeling that I am never with the right child at the right time. But guilt is an emotion I must learn to incorporate and keep in check or it will simply overwhelm me.
As women we are taught to be in tune to our nurturing instincts. We, naturally, are the caregivers since our bodies produce life. From the time we are born we are sent verbal and taciturn cues about how to behave, act, and live. In the society in which I live, guilt is a huge part of the genetic makeup of being female. From wanting a family to wanting a career, to advocating for oneself to compromising to oblivion, the choices for women are so monumentally huge there is rarely a decision made that doesn’t have a string attached that tugs at our consciousness and hearts that is labeled “guilt”. Some women are more immune than others, but I would hazard to guess that somewhere, somehow women feel guilt during many parts of their life.
I never felt guilty about things others did. When I broke a date to go to prom with one boy to attend with my heart’s desire, I felt no guilt. I certainly felt compassionately toward the boy, but I knew I was following my heart. Before you scoff, I married the boy who was my heart’s desire. I didn’t feel the need for guilt because I knew I was doing what was best for me. When I run into other social situations that render my peers filled with guilt-ridden angst, I simply exercise my right to say “no”. I learned that I am entitled to live a life that is free from certain stresses, “have-to”s, and obligations from those outside of my family.
But, once I started having children, my world got off kilter. One child was certainly not the problem, at first. I was fortunate to choose to stay home to raise my child. Consequently I fell into a situation that many like me do, I built my self-worth and value into his failures and successes. While it is great to be supportive and guide the child, his foray into the world is just that, his. But if he failed, I blamed myself. I didn’t spend enough time, teach him well, or provide the ample opportunities needed for success. By adding a second and eventually a third child into the mix, I was unable to distinguish for myself the difference between doing the best I can at any given moment for my growing family, prioritizing the best way I knew how, and simply always choosing wrong. I was so wrapped up in my children’s lives, comparing the infancy/toddlerhood of my second and third child against the idyllic time of my oldest at the same ages. I was guilty about everything from not spending enough quality time playing and reading to not investing enough patience during the feeding times. My role as a mother had changed but my unrealistic expectations of how I needed to mother had not. Guilt was my go to emotion and I was drowning in the mire.
My husband, my hero, champion, and partner was incensed by his wife beating herself in this way. Loving me as he does, he could hardly stand by and allow me to focus on the negatives of my life and my mothering skills. He fought me for years and I tried to let the words sink in, but guilt is a strong and strangling emotion. I’ve started to get my head out of the clouds and fully realize how my children are separate entities from me. That no matter how well (or not) I do my job as their mother, they will have strengths and weaknesses. They will fail and succeed. They are intrinsically independent creatures who have the right to do these things without it being my fault. This is a very hard lesson for me to learn. And, even though the intellectual side of me completely understands and agrees with this, when a bad grade on a report card comes home or a race is lost, I still feel that all-too familiar twinge of guilt. But I’m tempering that with all that I’m discovering on these pages. My children are freed by my absolving myself of the guilt that helps nobody. They are provided a saner more positive mother when I simply do my job to the best of my ability on any given day. And, when I truly remember that my children gain character and valuable lessons through failed attempts and disappointments, it, too, strengthens my resolve. Although I haven’t been able to evict guilt from my life totally, I certainly have learned to keep it in check better and for that we are a happier family.
As women we are taught to be in tune to our nurturing instincts. We, naturally, are the caregivers since our bodies produce life. From the time we are born we are sent verbal and taciturn cues about how to behave, act, and live. In the society in which I live, guilt is a huge part of the genetic makeup of being female. From wanting a family to wanting a career, to advocating for oneself to compromising to oblivion, the choices for women are so monumentally huge there is rarely a decision made that doesn’t have a string attached that tugs at our consciousness and hearts that is labeled “guilt”. Some women are more immune than others, but I would hazard to guess that somewhere, somehow women feel guilt during many parts of their life.
I never felt guilty about things others did. When I broke a date to go to prom with one boy to attend with my heart’s desire, I felt no guilt. I certainly felt compassionately toward the boy, but I knew I was following my heart. Before you scoff, I married the boy who was my heart’s desire. I didn’t feel the need for guilt because I knew I was doing what was best for me. When I run into other social situations that render my peers filled with guilt-ridden angst, I simply exercise my right to say “no”. I learned that I am entitled to live a life that is free from certain stresses, “have-to”s, and obligations from those outside of my family.
But, once I started having children, my world got off kilter. One child was certainly not the problem, at first. I was fortunate to choose to stay home to raise my child. Consequently I fell into a situation that many like me do, I built my self-worth and value into his failures and successes. While it is great to be supportive and guide the child, his foray into the world is just that, his. But if he failed, I blamed myself. I didn’t spend enough time, teach him well, or provide the ample opportunities needed for success. By adding a second and eventually a third child into the mix, I was unable to distinguish for myself the difference between doing the best I can at any given moment for my growing family, prioritizing the best way I knew how, and simply always choosing wrong. I was so wrapped up in my children’s lives, comparing the infancy/toddlerhood of my second and third child against the idyllic time of my oldest at the same ages. I was guilty about everything from not spending enough quality time playing and reading to not investing enough patience during the feeding times. My role as a mother had changed but my unrealistic expectations of how I needed to mother had not. Guilt was my go to emotion and I was drowning in the mire.
My husband, my hero, champion, and partner was incensed by his wife beating herself in this way. Loving me as he does, he could hardly stand by and allow me to focus on the negatives of my life and my mothering skills. He fought me for years and I tried to let the words sink in, but guilt is a strong and strangling emotion. I’ve started to get my head out of the clouds and fully realize how my children are separate entities from me. That no matter how well (or not) I do my job as their mother, they will have strengths and weaknesses. They will fail and succeed. They are intrinsically independent creatures who have the right to do these things without it being my fault. This is a very hard lesson for me to learn. And, even though the intellectual side of me completely understands and agrees with this, when a bad grade on a report card comes home or a race is lost, I still feel that all-too familiar twinge of guilt. But I’m tempering that with all that I’m discovering on these pages. My children are freed by my absolving myself of the guilt that helps nobody. They are provided a saner more positive mother when I simply do my job to the best of my ability on any given day. And, when I truly remember that my children gain character and valuable lessons through failed attempts and disappointments, it, too, strengthens my resolve. Although I haven’t been able to evict guilt from my life totally, I certainly have learned to keep it in check better and for that we are a happier family.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Simple Joys
Welcome back to Simple Joys. Started as a one off on Chief 187 Chatter to express my gratitude, this feature quickly became the most popular and well-read post I offer weekly. With the world in the state it is in, the financial forecast icy, political climate lackluster, and nightly news depressing, the success of Simple Joys proves that people are aching for positivity, optimism, and hope. My Simple Joys may be uniquely mine, but the goal is for all who read to get in touch with their Simple Joys, recognize them, enjoy them, and be more aware of them each and every day. Now, without further ado, is this week’s Simple Joys.
Days Off. My husband was able to take two glorious days off of work to enjoy the visit of his family, his mom and dad and his maternal grandfather. They all descend this time of year to celebrate our oldest child’s birthday. Upon hearing the plans I made while his family was visiting, my husband realized he didn’t want to miss out on priceless memory making. All too often we put work ahead of all else. Of course my husband feels lucky to have a job, but his family is the most important thing to him. The time together was wonderful and ended much too quickly. Mostly, his children, parents, grandfather, and wife will remember these days all the more because he was around the whole time. Having my husband take a couple of days off in summer is a sublime Simple Joy.
Kindness of a Friend. While the extended family was in New Jersey my parents invited them all to their lake house for a swim and a boat ride to a local restaurant on the lake on which they live. We sat ready for a fun-filled, scenic, and relatively quick ride to the restaurant when the boat stopped running. My father made one phone call and within minutes his friend Dave appeared with help for the boat. He had us back and running in far less than a half hour and our fun day was able to continue. There is nothing better than knowing someone you can count on to help, fix the problem, and answer his phone when you call. Knowing Dave has been a Simple Joy for years!
Good job. I am fortunate to do my job from home. Whether writing, caring for my children, or doing my Internet radio programs, I do the majority of these jobs in my home. In the last week I have been experiencing great joy from how well things continue to go in my career. From lining up guests to creating new contacts and from getting greater exposure to a wider audience to meeting fascinating new people, I am finding that work is a glorious word that puts a smile on my face from the inside out!
Dressing up. Getting dressed up, looking sexy, donning my jewels, and flirting with my husband is one of my favorite past times. We had opportunity to go out on Saturday night and I couldn’t have been happier. Getting the time to spend together when we look our best is a Simple Joy I hold in the highest!
Family. For my son’s 9th birthday family from both sides surrounded us. Celebrating this milestone with multiple generations and reminiscing about life through the years is a nostalgic Simple Joy that I never want to relinquish!
Cake. What’s a birthday without cake? My son requested a cake I have made before and even featured as a recipe in Tantalizing Thursday a couple of months ago. The marble cake he wanted is so moist and rich that it requires no frosting. Being a Bundt cake it was so large it fed adequately sixteen people! Creating, baking, smelling, and eventually eating this divine cake, especially at the request of my son for his ninth birthday was a most scrumptious and rewarding Simple Joy.
Having part of the family leave makes me a bit sad, but remembering the Simple Joys of the previous week reminds me of all the fun we had together. And, knowing that I just need to keep my heart and mind open to finding more Simple Joys encourages me to keep on keeping on because at any moment my next Simple Joy is lurking, waiting to make my life all the more pleasant. My wish for all of you, whether you write them down or simply list them mentally, is to find the Simple Joys that enhance your life each week.
Please join me tomorrow for another original post in which I get to wax poetic!
Days Off. My husband was able to take two glorious days off of work to enjoy the visit of his family, his mom and dad and his maternal grandfather. They all descend this time of year to celebrate our oldest child’s birthday. Upon hearing the plans I made while his family was visiting, my husband realized he didn’t want to miss out on priceless memory making. All too often we put work ahead of all else. Of course my husband feels lucky to have a job, but his family is the most important thing to him. The time together was wonderful and ended much too quickly. Mostly, his children, parents, grandfather, and wife will remember these days all the more because he was around the whole time. Having my husband take a couple of days off in summer is a sublime Simple Joy.
Kindness of a Friend. While the extended family was in New Jersey my parents invited them all to their lake house for a swim and a boat ride to a local restaurant on the lake on which they live. We sat ready for a fun-filled, scenic, and relatively quick ride to the restaurant when the boat stopped running. My father made one phone call and within minutes his friend Dave appeared with help for the boat. He had us back and running in far less than a half hour and our fun day was able to continue. There is nothing better than knowing someone you can count on to help, fix the problem, and answer his phone when you call. Knowing Dave has been a Simple Joy for years!
Good job. I am fortunate to do my job from home. Whether writing, caring for my children, or doing my Internet radio programs, I do the majority of these jobs in my home. In the last week I have been experiencing great joy from how well things continue to go in my career. From lining up guests to creating new contacts and from getting greater exposure to a wider audience to meeting fascinating new people, I am finding that work is a glorious word that puts a smile on my face from the inside out!
Dressing up. Getting dressed up, looking sexy, donning my jewels, and flirting with my husband is one of my favorite past times. We had opportunity to go out on Saturday night and I couldn’t have been happier. Getting the time to spend together when we look our best is a Simple Joy I hold in the highest!
Family. For my son’s 9th birthday family from both sides surrounded us. Celebrating this milestone with multiple generations and reminiscing about life through the years is a nostalgic Simple Joy that I never want to relinquish!
Cake. What’s a birthday without cake? My son requested a cake I have made before and even featured as a recipe in Tantalizing Thursday a couple of months ago. The marble cake he wanted is so moist and rich that it requires no frosting. Being a Bundt cake it was so large it fed adequately sixteen people! Creating, baking, smelling, and eventually eating this divine cake, especially at the request of my son for his ninth birthday was a most scrumptious and rewarding Simple Joy.
Having part of the family leave makes me a bit sad, but remembering the Simple Joys of the previous week reminds me of all the fun we had together. And, knowing that I just need to keep my heart and mind open to finding more Simple Joys encourages me to keep on keeping on because at any moment my next Simple Joy is lurking, waiting to make my life all the more pleasant. My wish for all of you, whether you write them down or simply list them mentally, is to find the Simple Joys that enhance your life each week.
Please join me tomorrow for another original post in which I get to wax poetic!
Monday, August 15, 2011
Monday Movie Blog
Welcome to the Monday Movie Blog on Chief 187 Chatter. The summer is starting to wind down and the urgency to squeeze every last bit of fun out of it is peaking. The summer blockbusters are fading into the sunset and the next big time for major releases is the period between November and January. The armchair and couch are the places to watch movies so the Monday Movie Blog will assist in finding the right one to fit your mood.
This week’s focus is movies that are set during summer. List your favorite movies that are set during the summertime. Be sure to include a list of well-known actors, a brief synopsis or a review of the film.
To access former Monday Movie Blogs simply type “Monday Movie Blog” in the search feature located in the upper left hand side of this page. If you are compelled to add to archived lists, be sure to do so. This resource is for the entirety of the Chief 187 Chatter readership and exists for endless use and updating.
Please join me tomorrow for Simple Joys, Chief 187 Chatter’s most popular, widely read, and uplifting post of the week.
This week’s focus is movies that are set during summer. List your favorite movies that are set during the summertime. Be sure to include a list of well-known actors, a brief synopsis or a review of the film.
To access former Monday Movie Blogs simply type “Monday Movie Blog” in the search feature located in the upper left hand side of this page. If you are compelled to add to archived lists, be sure to do so. This resource is for the entirety of the Chief 187 Chatter readership and exists for endless use and updating.
Please join me tomorrow for Simple Joys, Chief 187 Chatter’s most popular, widely read, and uplifting post of the week.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Friday Music Blog
Welcome to the Friday Music Blog on Chief 187 Chatter. Music soothes, inspires, energizes, and calms me; not at the same time usually! There is little that pumps me up more than knowing my iPod is chock full of my favorite artists and songs. New editions add depth to my collection and the Friday Music Blog provides weekly opportunities to enhance my ever-expanding collection of music.
This week’s topic is songs that have the word “Tuesday” in the title or lyric. Be sure to include the artist as well as the song.
This week has proven to be another great one for Chief 187 Chatter. In two days, Tuesday through Thursday of this week, Chief 187 Chatter swelled from 21,000 pageviews (achieved early Tuesday morning) to rushing past 22,000 pageviews (Thursday afternoon)! One thousand pageviews was mindblowing for me when it took the site a week to earn because that was a record pace! With these numbers I am left dizzy, disoriented, and soaring! Fluke or not, foreshadowing for what is to come or not, I am a happy, excited, and humbled person by the interest for these articles.
Please continue to check this Friday Music Blog throughout the day and weekend for new responses. And I invite you to return on Monday for another all new week of original posts. Thank you for your continuing interest and support!
This week’s topic is songs that have the word “Tuesday” in the title or lyric. Be sure to include the artist as well as the song.
This week has proven to be another great one for Chief 187 Chatter. In two days, Tuesday through Thursday of this week, Chief 187 Chatter swelled from 21,000 pageviews (achieved early Tuesday morning) to rushing past 22,000 pageviews (Thursday afternoon)! One thousand pageviews was mindblowing for me when it took the site a week to earn because that was a record pace! With these numbers I am left dizzy, disoriented, and soaring! Fluke or not, foreshadowing for what is to come or not, I am a happy, excited, and humbled person by the interest for these articles.
Please continue to check this Friday Music Blog throughout the day and weekend for new responses. And I invite you to return on Monday for another all new week of original posts. Thank you for your continuing interest and support!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Tantalizing Thursday
Welcome to Tantalizing Thursday on Chief 187 Chatter. We have entered the “Dog Days of August” so making huge dinners on the stovetop or oven is not warranted. Finding cool ways to feed people while still providing highly satisfying meals is the goal. Today’s recipe offers a great option for dinner. This recipe utilizes the bounty of summer, the ease of the grill, and the colors of healthy dining. Enjoy!
Grilled Steak and Summer Vegetable Salad
Recipe by Everyday Food July/August 2010
Ingredients:
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for grill
2 sprigs rosemary
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 1/4 pounds hanger steak
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 medium eggplant, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 yellow squash, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1/2 pound cherry tomatoes on the vine, or plum tomatoes, halved
1 bunch scallions
1 sweet bell pepper (any color), cut into sixths, seeds and stem removed
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
Directions:
1. Heat a grill to medium-high. Clean and lightly oil hot grill. In a small ovenproof pot, combine oil, rosemary, and garlic and place on grill. Cook until oil begins to bubble, 2 minutes. Remove herb oil from heat and set aside 3 tablespoons in a small bowl.
2. Brush steak with herb oil, season with salt and pepper, and grill, turning occasionally, about 10 minutes per side for medium-rare (move steak to a cooler part of grill if it begins to overbrown). Transfer to a cutting board and tent with foil. Let rest 10 minutes before slicing thinly against the grain.
3. In batches, brush vegetables with herb oil, season with salt and pepper, and grill, turning occasionally, until tomato skins are split and vegetables are tender, 3 to 5 minutes total. Transfer to a serving platter, along with sliced steak. Add vinegar and honey to reserved oil and whisk together. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then drizzle dressing over steak and vegetables.
If you are like me, you use recipes for ideas, flavor combinations, or techniques. I rarely follow a recipe “to a tee” because I find I prefer shortcuts, substitutions to suit my family, and store bought help. For this recipe I would omit or at least lessen the amount of rosemary as I don’t enjoy its strong, woodsy aroma that permeates everything I eat. I would substitute a lesser herb that would still flavor the oil. If time was truly of the essence I would use a store bought salad dressing as the marinade/dressing. What’s important is making the assembly of a meal a part of the evening where everyone pitches in, spends quality time together, and employs a feeling of good will. Eating together in any time of the year is what makes dinner a Simple Joy.
Please join me tomorrow as we close the week with the always fun and interactive Friday Music Blog!
Grilled Steak and Summer Vegetable Salad
Recipe by Everyday Food July/August 2010
Ingredients:
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for grill
2 sprigs rosemary
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 1/4 pounds hanger steak
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 medium eggplant, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 yellow squash, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1/2 pound cherry tomatoes on the vine, or plum tomatoes, halved
1 bunch scallions
1 sweet bell pepper (any color), cut into sixths, seeds and stem removed
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
Directions:
1. Heat a grill to medium-high. Clean and lightly oil hot grill. In a small ovenproof pot, combine oil, rosemary, and garlic and place on grill. Cook until oil begins to bubble, 2 minutes. Remove herb oil from heat and set aside 3 tablespoons in a small bowl.
2. Brush steak with herb oil, season with salt and pepper, and grill, turning occasionally, about 10 minutes per side for medium-rare (move steak to a cooler part of grill if it begins to overbrown). Transfer to a cutting board and tent with foil. Let rest 10 minutes before slicing thinly against the grain.
3. In batches, brush vegetables with herb oil, season with salt and pepper, and grill, turning occasionally, until tomato skins are split and vegetables are tender, 3 to 5 minutes total. Transfer to a serving platter, along with sliced steak. Add vinegar and honey to reserved oil and whisk together. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then drizzle dressing over steak and vegetables.
If you are like me, you use recipes for ideas, flavor combinations, or techniques. I rarely follow a recipe “to a tee” because I find I prefer shortcuts, substitutions to suit my family, and store bought help. For this recipe I would omit or at least lessen the amount of rosemary as I don’t enjoy its strong, woodsy aroma that permeates everything I eat. I would substitute a lesser herb that would still flavor the oil. If time was truly of the essence I would use a store bought salad dressing as the marinade/dressing. What’s important is making the assembly of a meal a part of the evening where everyone pitches in, spends quality time together, and employs a feeling of good will. Eating together in any time of the year is what makes dinner a Simple Joy.
Please join me tomorrow as we close the week with the always fun and interactive Friday Music Blog!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
I Believe... Do You?
There is much in this world I do not know. As a parent, that is a difficult thing to admit or, at the very least, to explain to my ever-curious children. But, in my years on this planet, living, learning, studying, and, in case I didn't stress it enough, living, there are some things I can tell that I do believe. I am comfortable telling my children and anyone else willing to read/listen.
I Believe:
I believe in celebrating Birthdays. I do. I think that a birthday isn’t nearly enough time to celebrate the person of honor; a week or even a month is more fitting. What better way to honor the person you love (including yourself) than to do up the time surrounding the birthday. So many people get down of aging, worry about numbers, and fret attention. I say allow joy to permeate the people around you, blow up balloons, serve cake, and sing! Life is too serious without wonderful occasions like birthdays to celebrate. I believe in celebrating birthdays. Do you?
I believe in Santa Claus. I do. He exists as surely as love and charity. I believe because without Santa Claus the world is bleak, unloving, and cold. Magic, wonder and excitement exist and so does Santa Claus. I leave my stocking out every December 24 and every morning of December 25 it is filled with surprises from the Big Man. I believe in living my life like Santa Claus; I help those who need it, surprise people unexpectedly with kindnesses, and try to sprinkle a bit of magic in all I do throughout the year. I believe in Santa Claus and always will. Do you?
I believe in love. I do. There are millions of songs, books, movies, and magazine articles that discuss heartbreak, separation, lost love, and divorce, but I chose to revel in the ones that optimistically spout about love. I take my cues from romance novels where the heroine stays with the hero. I agree with “Midnight Train to Georgia” when Gladys Knight sings about, “I’d rather be in his world, than live without him in mine.” I believe in reinventing oneself and the relationship to keep it moving forward. I believe in sticking out the years together and having no regrets about what might have been. I believe that making love a priority is enough to keep a relationship going. That valuing one another is the key to sticking it out when the going gets tough. These ideas/ideals are not easy. They are indeed the paramount of hard and difficult. But, I do believe that anything worth having is worth working hard. Do you?
I believe in a Higher Power. I do. I cannot explain everything there is to know about the Higher Power, but I do believe in its existence, its omnipotence, and its import in my life. I can attest without a shadow of a doubt I have been witness to my Higher Power’s power. The details are private, personal, and not for a public forum, but I do believe. And, having come from a place and time when I didn’t believe, believing has made a world of difference. I believe that there is something much more powerful than “me”. Do you?
I believe in my children. Having children is rewarding, yes, but so dang difficult that it can crush you if you don’t find a way to handle all of the stresses. Having children forces one to be so much less selfish and so much more “someone else”-centered. By putting time, patience, education, love, energy, support, and faith into my children, I am investing in their future as well as mine. I believe that they are the best part of their father and me and yet are so vastly different because they are uniquely themselves. I believe that I would be friends with my children even if they weren’t my children. I believe that is a very important thing, to raise likable children. And I believe that putting the time and effort, discipline and indulgence, and a whole lot of love, hugs, and kisses is a small debt for a large payoff in the end. Do you?
These are some of the very important things I believe in my life. This list is not meant to be preachy, pushy, or directed at any one person or group. I believe in sharing my life and beliefs on these “pages”. I believe that I am leaving a very lovely legacy with my thoughts for my children to read one day. The fact that you all stop by to read simply adds to my belief that the world is full of good, kind, and wonderful people. Do you?
I Believe:
I believe in celebrating Birthdays. I do. I think that a birthday isn’t nearly enough time to celebrate the person of honor; a week or even a month is more fitting. What better way to honor the person you love (including yourself) than to do up the time surrounding the birthday. So many people get down of aging, worry about numbers, and fret attention. I say allow joy to permeate the people around you, blow up balloons, serve cake, and sing! Life is too serious without wonderful occasions like birthdays to celebrate. I believe in celebrating birthdays. Do you?
I believe in Santa Claus. I do. He exists as surely as love and charity. I believe because without Santa Claus the world is bleak, unloving, and cold. Magic, wonder and excitement exist and so does Santa Claus. I leave my stocking out every December 24 and every morning of December 25 it is filled with surprises from the Big Man. I believe in living my life like Santa Claus; I help those who need it, surprise people unexpectedly with kindnesses, and try to sprinkle a bit of magic in all I do throughout the year. I believe in Santa Claus and always will. Do you?
I believe in love. I do. There are millions of songs, books, movies, and magazine articles that discuss heartbreak, separation, lost love, and divorce, but I chose to revel in the ones that optimistically spout about love. I take my cues from romance novels where the heroine stays with the hero. I agree with “Midnight Train to Georgia” when Gladys Knight sings about, “I’d rather be in his world, than live without him in mine.” I believe in reinventing oneself and the relationship to keep it moving forward. I believe in sticking out the years together and having no regrets about what might have been. I believe that making love a priority is enough to keep a relationship going. That valuing one another is the key to sticking it out when the going gets tough. These ideas/ideals are not easy. They are indeed the paramount of hard and difficult. But, I do believe that anything worth having is worth working hard. Do you?
I believe in a Higher Power. I do. I cannot explain everything there is to know about the Higher Power, but I do believe in its existence, its omnipotence, and its import in my life. I can attest without a shadow of a doubt I have been witness to my Higher Power’s power. The details are private, personal, and not for a public forum, but I do believe. And, having come from a place and time when I didn’t believe, believing has made a world of difference. I believe that there is something much more powerful than “me”. Do you?
I believe in my children. Having children is rewarding, yes, but so dang difficult that it can crush you if you don’t find a way to handle all of the stresses. Having children forces one to be so much less selfish and so much more “someone else”-centered. By putting time, patience, education, love, energy, support, and faith into my children, I am investing in their future as well as mine. I believe that they are the best part of their father and me and yet are so vastly different because they are uniquely themselves. I believe that I would be friends with my children even if they weren’t my children. I believe that is a very important thing, to raise likable children. And I believe that putting the time and effort, discipline and indulgence, and a whole lot of love, hugs, and kisses is a small debt for a large payoff in the end. Do you?
These are some of the very important things I believe in my life. This list is not meant to be preachy, pushy, or directed at any one person or group. I believe in sharing my life and beliefs on these “pages”. I believe that I am leaving a very lovely legacy with my thoughts for my children to read one day. The fact that you all stop by to read simply adds to my belief that the world is full of good, kind, and wonderful people. Do you?
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