JUST DO IT!
I love life and I happen to love my life.. This past week-end has been wonderful, spending alot of time with my friends and my gorgeous daughter.. It filled my soul with pleasure, beauty and laughter… It’s amazing how a few hours spent with a few good friends can make you feel fantastic, especially when they allow you to be you!
In the words of Dr. Seuss:
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.“
Gypsy Soup
GYPSY SOUP: A spiced and delectable brew of Spanish and Dickensonian Origins…
I eat vegetables 99% of the time, practically every day (84)… the best way to eat a whole lot of vegetables is in soup. This recipe has been with me for 10 years and it is still my fav.
It is supposed to be a secret recipe but its just too good to keep under wraps. I overdose on the spices as I like alot of cinnamon and paprika.. more like a vigorous shake than a pinch. I also double the sweet peppers…ENJOY
Gypsy Soup
3-4 Tbs. Olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, passed through a press
2 cups chopped, peeled sweet potatoes
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 cup fresh tomatoes, chopped
3/4 cup chopped red pepper
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
3 cups stock or water
Seasonings:
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of cayenne
2 bay leaves
1 Tablespoon tamari
In a saucepan or soup kettle, warm the oil and saute the onions, garlic, celery and sweet potatoes for 5 minutes. Add the seasonings, except for the tamari, and the water/stock. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the remaining vegetables and the chickpeas and continue to simmer for 10 minutes more, until the vegetables are as tender as you’d like. Stir in the tamari and adjust the seasonings.
These past few days have been heavenly for me…
During the holidays, I did eat more than my fair share of cookies and many pieces of chocolate cake. I did drink more than one glass of red wine, I stayed up late and I stayed in bed past 9…Oh la, la
However, the most amazing aspect of this holiday has been the relaxed and easy pace my family and I maintained. We spent an enormous amount of time doing nothing, hanging out and miraculously I did not feel guilty about it. I stayed in my pyjamas on more than one occasion, read several books simultaneously and managed to finish two awesome books – What I know now: Letters to My Younger Self by Ellyn Spragins and Marc Allen’s book – The Greatest Secret of All.
I feel refreshed and raring to go! 2010 – I am ready for action!!!
Things I am working on (or have already done):
92 – I spent another 3 hours decluttering my office and upstairs bathroom
57 – I won a free Indian Head Massage at a Christmas Party – I made the appointment for next week-end!
31 – I created a Shutterfly Book to give to my family at Christmas – “Farm Livin’ 2004-2009″
76 - I am currently working on my first scarf in my “collection of scarves”
45 -I am taking a DIY course at St. Lawrence College in January – stay tuned. Know how to use power tools (5).
This holiday season I am lucky to work for an organization that closes down for the holidays!
Of course I am spending my time wisely – reading in bed of course!!!!
The Greatest Secret of All
A Woman Among Warlords
64 days have passed since I started my list… I simplified the H & E page (which stands for health and exercise) to make it easier on me. I made a major change to my list – instead of yoga 3 times a week, I do crossfit (1) 3 times a week… This is something I have been able to maintain consistently and it makes me feel good and I am all about feeling good… I reviewed my list and I had totally forgotten about creating photo albums using Shutterfly (31), however, it must have remained in my sub-conscious mind because I am almost done creating my first album for my family members…
I also have to remember that this blog is a way for me to keep track of my list and not to take it too seriously!!!! Me serious? Oooooo yeah – as I have a tendency to over-think and over-analyze… So what if I did not post for a few weeks – that’s ok… I realize though that the saying “out of sight, out of mind” can cause me to temporarily forget about my list that took me a few months to concoct… so – Note To Self – review list Sunday mornings!
Now that I am back, I look at what I have been able to cross off in a short period of time… and I LOVE that. I know deep down, that I am an obsessive, list-maker. I have journals full of lists to do and I re-write them over and over again…The very nature of writing with a pen onto paper makes me juicy and excited inside… Yes, it excites me to write with a pen… I can spend vast moments of time, re-writing the same word over and over again. I love writing words curvaceously. It is sort of a meditation for me.
RECAP – 64 days in – and I have been able to:
(1) Do crossfit 3 times a week
(2) Learn 2 new recipes with my crockpot
(11) Watch 3 interesting – no fluff – movies
(14) Clear my wardrobe of outdated clothes – just about done that!
(16) Open a bank account for my Europe trip with Kassandra (and put in money too!)
(20) Meet a “real psychic”
(23) Read a book a month
(31) Create shutterfly books
(43) Organize “for the love of creation” workshops – I have created and worked on the website – although far from completion, I can expect to do the first one in fall 2010
(47) Write 1 gratitude a day
(69) Attend 1 musical
(72) Buy myself flowers once a month
You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world, but it requires people to make the dream a reality. – Walt Disney
My favorite quotes from H.D.T – Philosopher
“Most people live lives of quiet desperation”
“All men are children, and of one family. The same tale sends them all to bed, and wakes them in the morning.”
“A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.”
“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.”
“Being is the great explainer.”
“Beware of all enterprises that require a new set of clothes.’
“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.”
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.’
“It is what a man thinks of himself that really determines his fate.”
“Do not worry if you have built your castles in the air. They are where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.’
“Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.’
“Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.’
‘A man’s interest in a single bluebird is worth more than a complete but dry list of the fauna and flora of a town.”
I found this picture on the inspired room website while looking for decorating ideas…As I start to declutter my house, I also have a need inside me to declutter and clean up other aspects of my life. What does this mean? In a time starved culture, it means only put energy and effort into the things that you value most.I value my daughter so I bring her to her music and dance. I value my health so I go to Crossfit at least 3 times a week. I value wine but we won’t go there right now as I am on Crossfit’s challenge which includes no alcohol…
Growing up I didn’t value my home, never really felt that it could contribute to my well-being. I was anxious to leave it, strike out into the world, gain my independence. I left early, searching for that elusive “perfect home” and moved at least a dozen times and I am not even 40.
As I dig a little deeper into this because I’m suddenly feeling displaced and off balance and want to stand on solid ground and build a foundation (metaphorically & physically), I realize I have no concrete definition about “home” and what it means to me. So I want to put myself to the test and see if what originally intrigued me about this picture: “when life inspires your home, home inspires your life” is true…
I will come back to this and post my definition of “home”! I would like to hear your definitions too!
I am currently reading two books at the moment – Half the Sky (which I am almost finished) and Reviving Ophelia.
Both books are a must read, especially if you are a woman and especially if you have young daughters! Although set in completely different locations -underdeveloped countries vs developed countries-the message is clear. All around the world, women, in particular young women, have unbelievable challenges…Even today, in North America, these challenges go deep within our psyche. The messages that we receive are clear enough for me to understand – be a SIZE 0 – be nothing – disappear into THIN air. Be sexy at 12, look stupid and pretty, don’t speak, you are 0 – you are just a hole that men can play with…
I know that sounds pretty harsh (look at me, always being cautious – when that is, I believe the reality) however, here is an example of what I mean:
I sometimes get the privilege of hanging out with my daughter and her friends, quietly in the background and I listen to their conversations.. These girls are smart, come from relatively good homes (no poverty, no real abuse that I can see), they laugh, talk, scream, have opinions but holy christ, when a guy makes an appearance, boy do they change. They become demure, soft spoken, doe eyed, play self consciously with their hair.. I do not even know if they know this or not. I am too afraid to ask them, however it makes me want to vomit!!!!
Now, don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with lookin’ and feelin’ good, as long as it is defined by YOU and not some unrealistic portrait on the cover of a magazine..Also, studies show that when we stop defining ourselves as being feminine or masculine and allow ourselves to be, human beings are better adjusted with an androgynous outlook.
Yeah, that’s great, especially at my age, I have the capacity to understand this and work on things that are meaningful to me instead of using my energy to plan for my next SIZE ZERO DIET (hey, that would be a good title for a book as the diet industry is a multi-billion dollar industry). Yet, how do we explain that to the developing 14 year olds out there?
I almost bought a new “cookbook” that featured recipes using a crockpot – ALMOST. Right now I am on a “Do NOT buy” campaign unless I really, really need it (like chocolate for instance – hee, hee).
I was in Coles the other day while I was waiting for my daughter to finish her shopping (she actually needs new pants as she keeps growing taller everyday – she was looking abit like Alfalfa from the Little Rascals)… I had 3 books in my hand – the recipe book, a knit book and a fiction book. I was so close to buying them. At the last minute, I snapped and put them down. Why did I need to purchase those books? Surely I could find recipes on the net or library, I already had several knitting books at home (it would take me a lifetime to knit everything in those knit books) and the fiction book – well, I had about a dozen to read before I could read that one…
So I put the books gently down and mentally appreciated all the books I already owned and was happy that I cleverly convinced myself that I did not need to buy anymore books.
However, my search for recipes has begun. Stay tuned!
(93) Have 1 session a month of de-cluttering (3-hours long)
Yesterday was my first time de-cluttering – OMG what a nightmare! Start small, I say to myself and I did. One closet, one little 4 by 8 closet and so far I threw out two bags worth of garbage and 3 bags for the Agape Centre and I am not even finished…
One of the problems is the amount of old books & magazines that I have, a serious addiction.. seriously.. I keep old magazines with the intention of going back to them but I never do. I also don’t know what to do with all the old books. Many of the books are “information” books, not classics or keepers with outdated information. Like, “how to design a website” with 5 year-old technology. What use are they to me now? Do I give them away, burn them, keep them? What about the hassle of lugging them to a different location? Does this make any sense?
And the amount of jeans, jeans and more jeans that I own, with the hopes that I could still fit in them as I did when I was 18. Oh la la ! yeah right! I compromised- I kept three pairs around- hey – I can still dream.
Do I really need the old Jane Fonda video tapes when I do Crossfit?
Do I really need a dozen photos of the same subject back when digital cameras didn’t exist – not too long ago?
Do I really need those pair of shoes that I haven’t worn in three years but think one day I might?
Ok – I am freaked out about how much we accumulate over time. How many computers do we need? It doesn’t help that both Mike and I both previously worked in hi-tech, nor the fact that in our old jobs we both received “free” laptops – however, currently we own 3 laptops (of course, one for each of us) and 1 hard PC. We have 3 hard pc’s in the closet and two old laptops. And this after we have given 2 pc’s away to our mothers. What do we do with all this hardware? I used to think a 75 Pentium was awesome and I still remember the days when I worked on Windows 3.0.
Perhaps that is what retirement is for. You spend all those working years, accumulating and accumulating; DVDs, books, movies, VCRs, videos, CDs, spoons, knifes, remote controls ’cause you keep losing them, and 30 black pair of pants, etc… to spend your retirement days going through your “STUFF” . NOT!
I think I need to RETHINK this whole de-cluttering issue a little bit and use it as a catalyst to understand my mechanisms and triggers of how I spend my hard (& easy) earned money… I also want to watch the Story of Stuff on a regular basis to reinforce the message that accumulation of products is too easy in this society and one needs to hold restraint when buying on impulse
