stuff I like

This blog is about things I see and like, so here is a list of what I have liked lately:

•Michaelangelos Eggplant parmesan- in the freezer section at most stores- love the flavor!

•Fresh flowers- especially this time of year- still tons of snow outside- a bit of color and fragrance goes a long way! Hyacinths!  

•self check out- this is with the caveat, of when it works! loove being in control... haha

•the fiat 500- sooo cute- and looks fun to drive- I thin I am too old but would love it if one of my daughters got one!

•box wine- I know what you are thinking- but there are some great ones out there now and you don't have to worry about it going bad-  Bota Box and Gato Nigro are cheap and good quality- no headache the next day!  gotta be red of course!

• Yoga with Adrianne- she has a youtube channel and I have been doing her 30 day challenge- she is pleasant, gives you lots of options in many moves and seems to have the right spirit- I am glad I found her!

•rescue dogs- there are so many dogs and cats in need in shelters- open  your heart/home to one you won't regret it!  We have had several shelter dogs and they are just so happy to be in a warm, dry, loving place they shower us all with love.  How can you beat that?

•Spring!  we still have a ton of snow and frankly, I worry about floods, but so far the gods have been favorable- warmish in the day and cool at night, so the run off has been steady but not crazy- phew!  but I just saw our daffodils pushing through the dead leaves!!!! THAT is spring in upstate New York 

Solar power- yay!

It has finally happened, enough people, businesses, governments have put their money and expertise into the solar business that it finally makes sense to get a solar panel or two on your roof- Yay!  I hope to get this happening at our house this year- and all of you should too.

The units are now cheap enough to buy, (I was told a basic panel is $100) or you can lease the system... And the technology of connecting to your meter and sending the power back to the grid is now very doable... No major storage batteries needed, just make power when you can, "sell it to the Grid" then buy power when you need it.... SOOO Much Sense!  Let's do this!!!!

AND they are working on batteries( think Tesla) that can easily store that solar power and use it for your house- a very efficient battery that will take your house completely off the grid- if you want.... and this is months away from being available... not years, again, maybe this summer?   SO Amazing.

Climate change is your fault- do something!

As I look out on the frozen tundra of my street I can't help but think about Climate Change and all that it probably will mean for myself and all of you.

Massive storms, crazy, unpredictable, violent earth changes... and all of this because we as humans can't stop and take a look at the reality of the situation.  We are screwing up the earth and most of us know it, but somehow we aren't the ones making the decisions.

Well, that isn't entirely true. We make decisions every day that effect the earth; what we buy or don't buy, what we do with the stuff we use, how we dispose of our trash, all makes a difference.

Small?
Maybe, but if ENOUGH people stop and consider the repercussions of our daily habits, then it is no longer small, it becomes BIG, and full of change, everywhere.

The tipping point needs to be reached now- and probably it is too late for keeping status quo, but if we can prevent total destruction, that is a win as far as I can see.

SO, doing what? you ask.  Conserve, reuse, recycle, plant gardens not grass, turn off the lights, etc. You know the drill, especially if you are a baby boomer- we were taught this stuff in grade school- or maybe you missed it.  Anyway,
DO YOUR PART- that will make an enormous difference.
TEACH YOUR KIDS - they will be living with this climate change their whole lives, help them prepare and take action.
REACH OUT TO YOUR NEIGHBORS- see a way your neighborhood can do a better job of conserving?  talk about it- don't just say "oh there is nothing I can do"- people don't necessarily know what to do-

GET INVOLVED.  that is the bottom line- this isn't a practice, this is the real deal and you must play- there are no other options.

Superbowl madness

I grew up in the 60's in NY state,  so my family were Yankee and Giants (football) fans.  Anytime those teams were on the TV ( black and white, of course) we would stop what we were doing and watch.  Those were tough years to be fans of those two teams- lots of screaming at the set trying to get our team to play better- especially the Giants; with Fran Tarkington as QB-Remember Spider Lockhart? and who was that guy who always ran back 10 yards before trying to go forward?  I can't remember.  But there was a lot of screaming.  And for those of you who are younger, in those early days no Superbowl existed, very hard to remember not having this amazing spectacle each year- I wonder how we survived?

Anyway, so jump forward to today- still kind of tough to be a fan of either franchise- some good players but not many great plays... and in terms of the Giants, it has always been that way- even their last Superbowl win was so incredibly lucky you can't feel like it was their right to win... but what a great game!!!

SO, this year's Superbowl was a bit of a struggle, no Giants of course, and the east coast team was the New England Patriots- oh! the fellas we beat to win that unlikely game...!

 I have never been a Patriots fan, I don't hate them like most Jets and Giants fans do, but I just find their arrogance a bit unsettling... Belachak needs to smile sometimes, and Brady is just kind of smug in some of his answers.  Of course this year they gave more ammo to the haters with the deflated ball fiasco- really?!?! but they totally won that game, whether the balls were unequal or not- their defense didn't allow the other guys to do anything...

And they were playing the Seahawks- last years winners and a great team of young fabulous players. I like them but just couldn't cheer for them to win a second time... I was actually for the Broncos last year, when poor Peyton never recovered from that first bad snap...

So, here are the two best teams in the NFL, at the Superbowl,  I do believe this is true, and they play a great game. A boring first quarter, but after that, both teams got their mojo on and started to play.  As everyone in the world knows it came down to the last minute with that spectacular catch by the Seahawks and a simple rushing touchdown by Lynch- the best of the best-  to end the game.  But that is not what was called- and a rookie for the Patriots -Butler-  earned his place in history by making a spectacular steal/ interception on the 1 yard line to deny the Seahawks a repeat.

Pete Carroll is a great coach- but choosing to pass will haunt him and his team for years, and gave Tom Brady the win that had eluded him 2 previous times with freakishly similar scenarios- a spectacular catch and a TD to just be beaten... But this time, he got to hold the Lombardi trophy- How sweet it must have been for him!

What do we do now?   Wait for baseball season to start:  no Derek Jeter to stir the hopes of the Yankee fans, and plenty of chances for  them to be mediocre again, and then on to the Fall and the NY Giants!  My husband is preparing for more screaming at the TV... it seems his fate

Living life and Memorial services

I have recently been to a number of memorials for people who were about my age, give or take 5 years, and who died unexpectedly.  How do you reconcile this with your own sense of being 20+ ish?  I guess the only thing to do is to realize that age is creeping up on me, and I need to do all the risky things now before it is too late.  I have a quote on my facebook that goes something like this.

 I do not want to go to my grave all tidy and neat, well pressed and proper, I want to slide in sideways with a glass of wine in one hand and a box of chocolates in the other hollering "whoo wee what a ride!!!!"

Looking at these people I knew,  I have to say only one did this- the others were living their lives and doing good things for their families and friends, and may have had some moments when they explored this, but only one, truly lived his life on the edge, on the outside, doing his own thing and TOTALLY enjoying the people and circumstances of his life. Did he die rich?  famous? Nope to both, but he did die doing what he loved, he did die on his own terms, and I gotta believe there was a small smile on his face.

Here's to living life to its fullest- what ever that means to you - because you never know when that cold turns into pneumonia or when you aren't feeling well and your heart just stops ticking.... you just never know.

Be sure to tell the ones you love everyday how much they mean to you, so you have no regrets and they know you loved them.
Be sure to  howl at the moon now and then, and ride that roller coaster now, not next time...
 AND be sure to say yes to every adventure, every thing that comes along from a new business to a wild adventure, so you will know you did it all in the end...

List for the Universe to fulfill

January is a month of renewal and introspection- where am I on my path?  How can I get to my desired goals? what do I need to do to move forward? What is it I truly desire?  Is the Universe just waiting for me to decide?  I think I will post what my true desires are and see how I fare in 2015.

So here it is:
1.  I want to win the Publishers Clearinghouse sweepstakes and start receiving $5000 a week for life. or the TOH sweepstakes - the house on Nantucket would be perfect for us!
2.  I want to lose the Menopause weight I have gained and get stronger- I will do this by running, yoga, the 7 minute workout and eating less.
3.  I want to travel to other countries this year- I have all my shots from my trip to Africa last year, so it is a good time- Turkey, Italy, Greece, South Africa, Ireland, Scotland, England, most of South America is on the list as long as it is relatively safe...ah the constant issue there... And any island nations.... starting with the Caribbean.
4.  I want to do meaningful work for this community.
5.  I want to write a book and publish it and make money from it- enough to pay the bills
6.  I want to finish our house- rooms still need trim and paint and the kitchen needs to be gutted and designed and installed- need money for this last project, see #1
7.  When I have won the sweepstakes I will set up a foundation to fund grants to groups/individuals
doing good work in Oneonta and the surrounding area.
8.  Pay all outstanding bills and be debt free- see #1 again.
9.  Continue to have a strong relationship with my husband and children. I am extremely blessed that we are so close and good with each other, I want to be sure to foster that loving, caring environment with all of them.

As you can see this list counts heavily on goal #1 so I am focussing a great deal of positive energy and desire towards that goal.  All the others will come with this secure money source.  If #1 doesn't happen (soon enough)  then #5 needs to be successful at the same rate- $5000 a week.

In looking at this list I think this list is a good one for me, specific to my needs and wants, but I also think this list is probably pretty similar to everyone else's list.  Enough money, a comfortable home, good family relations, meaningful work and giving back to the world as well as traveling to see more of it.  What do you want?

Handmade Christmas and Pinterest

We made it to 2015! Yay! Our Christmas was really wonderful with the exception of no snow :( , but the Homemade Christmas proved to be really terrific.  My family, it turns out, is very creative and talented!

There were lamps with shades made from old slides- beautiful wood projects made by Elf Raphael using wood from our basement- including beautiful floor lamps made from old shutters... hand sewn hand warmers, and journals with stunning cover art, and exquisite wood wall hangings with paint and cooper worked into the ancient grooves.  I will add some pics to give you the idea.  But it was just really great to see what each person came up with and how thoughtful and beautiful the presents were.  

I do think everyone enjoyed not only Christmas but the process of creating for Christmas; it added so much love to the presents, and goodwill to each person who worked so hard to make it special. 

I know that most of us got at least starting ideas from the website Pinterest.  I had only  taken a cursory look at it in the past, but with the need for new ideas I asked one of my daughter's how you got into it and she showed me the steps.  Easy really, and I was quickly able to access 100's of ideas, many with instructions of how to make the item, and it just made me realize that most people love to create and share.  If this had been around when my kids were little, wow!

I'm not sure if I have shared this, but each year my daughters and I would make a family gift- that we would produce enough of to give to all our family members, neighbors, teachers, anyone we wanted to give a gift to- sometimes we would make 30+ gifts!  

It was a family project, where we would have to come up with an idea, figure out how to make it, and choose to make it for everyone.  The choosing process was part of the fun- when they were little it was usually a hand painting project-but as they grew older the gifts got more sophisticated and we often made a "boy gift" and a different "girl gift".  Also, as we were creating them, we would decide who it was for- so it was personalized in some way, at least in our heads!   We didn't have Pinterest, so we looked at craft magazines, and books and went to craft shows in the area, or saw a store bought item and figured out how to make it.  

Not all the gifts were a success, but they always were loved by us, and given with love to others.  I know this year's Christmas reminded us all of this yearly process, and I know there was sharing of ideas between various family members to make just the right thing.... I think what we did was very Pinterest like- I guess you could say we were the precursor to Pinterest.  

Anyway, with Pinterest, the world of great homemade gifts is at your fingertips- and you can take ideas and combine them into something new and uniquely yours.... I am so happy to have this wonderful site and pleased by the sharing that is there- people creating and sharing is how we improve the world.  Thank you Pinterest!