aahhh... release

so, in addition to my obsession with all things food and cooking, i am also fairly addicted to scrapbooking and card making. like i think i may have said in my earlier posts, i am not, and have never been, the artsy fartsy craftsy type, and have always admired those who are. i secretly think that those who can create (in just about any artform), are smarter than everyone else. to be able to see some thing inspiring in the most seemingly mundane, and then create something wonderful, pleasureable, and beautiful, and amazing to me!

so, i spend hours in my local michael's craft store. adoring all the beautiful individual items, big and small, that go into creating one, or several, beautiful things. the papers, the ribbons, the glitters, the pens, pencils, paints, inks, chalks, and all the do-dads that one uses to create with. i just love it! i sit, in the bed, or on my big comy blue sofa, day after day, on my laptop, pouring over, oogling at, admiring all the beautiful, creative, and breathtaking things that some of my favorite artists (see blogroll) have created. or in the scrapbook.com layout galleries. or in all the scrapbook/cardmaking/papercrafting magazines my girl glo gave me. i spend so much time oogling, that i never get my princess tiny butt up to actually do it!

i get intimidated. and because i'm not a creative person by nature, and barely by intention, i constantly question what the hell i'm doing.

so, i got my princess tiny butt up, and made my great-aunt a birthday card. and am in the process of making my cousin/brother one too. and, i got myself a set of beautiful artist grade pencils, my "prismacolor" premiere and verythin pencils, that are so inspiring i can barely stand it. i am sitting here sharpening them, and all i want to do is stare at them. i am feeling it! i am on my way!

be well

mmmm .... FOOD!

so most of you know that i am all about food. i mean really. some people have hobbies like golf, sewing, scrapbooking, blogging - mine is FOOD. and the preperation and cooking of it. i LOVE going to the markets and seeing all the veggies and fruit stacked on and on; the mushrooms, the zuchini, the little brussel sprouts, the fingerling potatoes -omg, aren't they just adorable? just being in a whole foods market almost sends me into a tizzey! you have no idea how much i miss grocery shopping....ugg!

i digress. so anyway, i've decided to occasionally post some of the dishes i've made in addition to the madness and nonsense that's in my head. ha!

so tonight, inspired by one of my fav blogs "closet cooking", i made a dish for dinner, and took some pic's of it, though nowhere near as nice as kevin's (closet cooking).

tonight i made a, hmm... i don't have a fancy name for it. ok, i made chicken breasts stuffed with honey ham (frome whole foods - yum!), gorgonzola cheese and apples and pears in a creamy marsala sauce along with a brown rice pilaf and sweet corn. - YEEEUUUMMMMEEEE!!!!

again, i still haven't figured out how to make my pictures look good and have captions and what not. still working on that...sorry. but can you see the cheese ooozing out? and the sweet ham? uuhh, the apples! i was half way through the meal when i realized that i had forgotten to put the sauce on the chicken! lol!! didn't matter, i still poured it all over what was left and finished it up. mmm! again, i didn't focus on the presentation becuase 1. we all weren't sitting down to dinner together tonight, juan was at the gym, then came home and whisked ladybug off to her bath that i had started , so he ate after he put her to bed 2. i didn't get this idea about posting an occassional meal 'til i sat down to eat myself.

i usually do what i can to make dinner look nice when we sit down to eat. and again, i'm trying to mae these pic's look nice too. like why are they not lined up? and how do you put a caption at the bottom of them? i'm working on it, i'm working on it!

be well...and strong

so happy and full

hey, you know how it feels when you've just finished a meal so delicious and satisfying that it's all you can do to wait to have it again? yes. that feeling. aahhh.

i just had the most delectible chat with my new very good, inspiring, and heroic friend.... "BBZ"

we've been emailing back and forth for a little while now, checking in and on each other from time to time. she's amazing to me. a true fighter and lover of life, love, and understanding.

i really wasn't feeling well, in quite a bit of pain, stiffness, and the weather, though just gorgeous last week, has turned into one of my many enemies. and so i hurt. my joints feel like they have glass in them, my bones feel like there are aliens inside with jackhammers. pain. i had to get up and get ladybug off to school, and she was not in the mood. plus she wanted her daddy. we were late, which never happens, because of my pain. but my dearest BOTW, one of my angels, was there for me and took ladybug in. thank god for her.

so i came home and crawled back in the bed. i had nothing to do til 4pm. mmm yes, my heating pad. and sleep.

but then i had a dream about her, BBZ. and woke up. i made a sandwich. then checked my email. and there it was.... her email, invitaion to call her. so i did.

delicious!

i am so glad that we have connected. i mean truly connected. we are connected and in so many, many ways. through her god reminded me just how blessed i am. how so many bless me, my life. inspire me, encourage me, lift me up. amazing this little life of mine is.

so now, i feel better. much better. the pain is still there, but i am much to happy because i am high from the delectible, delicious feast i've just had. thank you BBZ. i love you.

be well

p.s.... i'm starting that paris jar today!!

a season of HOPE

hey all.. many of you know that i am a politics junkie in a major way. i spend probably too much time watching those channels and listening to talk radio, both local and national, and both "sides".i'm really not big on party affiliation - i am very much an independant and just vote the issues.

and unless you've been up the amazon or under a rock, then i'm sure you all are aware of the quite riveting political drama that has developed/is developing between hilary clinton and barak obama. just fascinating!!

now look, i'm not good at commentary, especially social and political, eventhough i love it myself. so bare with me while i use someone else's words..

i've been discussing with so many the "obama dilemma", and why so many african americans have been reluctant to support him, openly. there are so many deep wounds, psychological and real, in this "community". my community. some i can relate to, and so many i cannot.

now look, i'm not good at commentary, especially social and political, eventhough i love it myself. so bare with me while i use someone else's words, my new blog buddie 'that johnson boy' (http://kojohnson.blogspot.com) . he has managed to capture how i, and so many others, have felt, been feeling and in a way, the "why" of it. please take a read, and think about it, and stop by his spot too!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm Asking You To Believe."Not just in my ability tobring about change in Washington...I'm asking you to believe in yours."

-Presidential Candidate Barack Obama

"Not yet, Mr. Obama... not yet."

Those were my thoughts about Mr. Obama's Presidential aspirations. I met Mr. Obama a few years earlier at a Chicago fundraiser for his first Senate bid. I found him and his wife refreshing and most of all, the real thing. I've worked in the political arena on both the national and local level. Refreshing is a rare commodity. When Mr. Obama announced his Presidential bid, I didn't hesitate to point my mouse to http://www.barackobama.com/ to make my campaign contribution. In the recesses of my mind, those words continued to resonate... "not yet, Mr. Obama... not yet."And then came Iowa.I vacationed in Iowa immediately after first meeting Mr. Obama. There were cornfields aplenty and several really nice art galleries. But the talk of the town was all about Obama. Senate candidate Obama had blazed a trailed thru Golena, Iowa a week earlier and folks were still on fire! They were actually giddy over Mr. Obama (as in Ala-BAMA). So, I wasn't shocked when he won the Iowa Presidential caucus. However, I was shocked that my silent mantra was still playing out in my head... "Not yet, Mr. Obama... not yet." My apprehension was logical to me, even if steeped in a kind of ethnic protectionism. Why would anyone want to face these facts:

Fact: The next President of the United States of America will inherit a mess of historic proportions. From the economy to foreign policy, the President-elect will be knee deep in mess. I'm talking the kind of mess that invokes memories of Cedric The Entertainers' Presidential Stress Response of "just tell 'em I ain't home."

Fact: By all indicators we are already immersed in a recession. Then again, who needs an indicator. How's your raise? Your mortgage? Your credit card debt? Your tax bill? Are you oversleeping or can't quite sleep through the night?

Fact: There is no quick fix to the war. The only silver lining? Buy some Halliburton stock. Then again, you might do well to just say no to this blood money.

These facts, coupled with America's pattern of assassinating African-American leaders, form the basis for my Obama dilemma. Why would I want my candidate to inherit this mess? Six months into the new Presidency, the American public will forget who created the mess. I honestly don't want the Nation's first African-American President to be crushed under the weight of the Bush administration. I acknowledge and accept that African-Americans must often do more with less, and have historically made the best of bad situations. But Damn! This is about as bad as it gets. So you see, this cannot be your time, Mr. Obama. I felt strongly about my position - that is - until I heard your Iowa victory speech...

"They said this day would never come..."

Now that alone was enough to capture my full attention. But his message was bigger than the civil rights movement. He then followed with...

"This is the day America rememberedwhat it means to HOPE."

On that victorious evening in Iowa, Barack Obama stopped being too young or too inexperienced. His youthful outlook and lack of time inside the political machine will be invaluable assets. I vowed that I would combat any fears about his safety with prayer. Most of all, my support wouldn't be based simply on the color of his skin. He's my next President because he is the best candidate for the journey that lies ahead. As my good friend, Dr. Dickerson, would say "he came into this world fully prepared for this journey.

"In the words of the late Martin L. King, Jr., "there are some difficult days ahead." Indeed America must reap the bitter harvest sown from the Bush administration's seeds of arrogance and blatant disregard for humanity. The bible teaches us that ineverything there is a season. I believe the 2008 Presidential election challenges us to pick the candidate best suited for the coming season.

There is a time for a politician.

There is a time for a war hero.

There is a time for a diplomat and a time for a shrewd tactician.

But, today... today is not that season.

This is the season of Hope. This is the season of change. We need a leader who can inspire the light within us, even as the foreboding shadows close in all around us. This is the season that they said would never come. I'll never understand why the naysayers doubted its arrival. Then again, the messenger was just some wet behind the ears, 34-year old minister talkin' bout "I Have a Dream." What would he know... right? Right!"

-excerpt from "That Johnson Boy Said What?!"

i want it NOW!!

i've been browsing all my favorite blogs like luvbabz, resigntodesign, a bit east, a muse news, as well as new ones, and .....

I WANT MY BLOG TO LOOK AMAZING TOO!!!

i want it to do all those neat tricks like play video, and have links to other neat things, and what not. but, i don't want it to be too busy though - that i don't like.

so, i am going to be working on it. learning how all these neat features work. maybe playing the colors. figure out how to post pictures correctly. and slowly but surely, i will get the blog site i want!

stay tuned!

on this day of love....

why this day? not every day? why set aside a special day?

so how many of you have gotten special little somethings from someone else? how many of you have given gifts of flowers, candy, cards, trinkets.......and have given yourself? how many of you show your love every day in thousands of little ways? yep, i thought so.

and how many of you give, give, give, that there's almost nothing left for you, yourself? uh-huh. i knew it.

well my dears, on this day of love, in which you are usually supposed to be focusing on others, please spend some time giving to and loving yourselves.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY EVERYONE!!

party mama and good friend

well, i've recovered from jet lag, but am now coming up for air from the father daughter dance.

what has happened in the last 10 days? lots of unnecessary drama, so much DRAMA, i won't bore you with teh details, the who said what. just that it was the kind of drama that happens when you have a person who is a "spotlight person" (as my good friend BOTW puts it), someone who must create drama to be the one to fix it, so they are the one that gets all the positive attention, all while putting down everyone around them. drama. and unnecessary.

and i am suffereing because of it. and it's my fault. yes, the drama was due to and created by just one person, a person with a toxic personality (i don't think she realizes it). but as we all know, it only takes one, but i still know better. no, i didn't help create it, nor participate, but foolishly thought that it wouldn't affect me because i wasn't "in it", just around it. but alas, it has. and i now realize that it always does. i should have removed myself from the project.

but i wanted to be a part of it because i really wanted my daughter to see her mommy participating in her life in that kind of way. for her to know that i am not so sick that i can't do those kinds of things. plus, i know that she loves seeing me at school, around school, "like the other mommies". to her, it means that i am not so sick anymore.

so here i am, curled up in bed. sick. but i will be better soon. i'm too stubburn!!

one another note... my favorite little neighborhood mommy/daughter owned scrapbook store is closing! i am so very sad about it. so they sent out invites to they're special sale and i went last week with a "crafty" buddy of mine, glo, so i got to see her! we met at our local micheal's and she turned me on to the cricut die cutter. she is a great crafter and i can't wait to get over to her house to try out the cricut! and she really makes me laugh. i don't think she realizes how right on time her cracks are for me, and how her emails always cheer me up. the other think she did that's made me feel good is that she gave me alot of her old papercrafting, scrapbooking, and cardmaking magazines, i just love looking through these kinds of books!! but they are also my problem... i spend so much time looking through them, oooh-ing and aaah-ing, that i never get around to actually scraping!! lol!!
so you can see by the paris pic's that we got another camera. it's a nice one, a canon, but i want the canon dslr. oh i dram about it! well, i said this to say that i'll be posting some of my scrap layouts and cards soon. i just have to figure out how to post pictures better than what i've done!! i look at other blogs like "resign to design" and think "how sad is my poor little sight?!?" lol!!

be well!

jetlag.... uggghh!!

i've been recovoreing from delayed jetlag. it hit me late! i was prancing around for the first few days after we got back, thinking "humpf... this jet lag thing aint so bad". then.... WHAM!!

so not only am i feeling sick and jetlagged, the weather is just awful to boot. rain, wind storms, hail, snow flurries. i hurt! so i am under the covers while it all pours down around me. i love my heating pad.

i better get it together because i am the co-chair for ladybug's school's annual father daughter dance, and i'm head of the food and beverage committee. what was i thinking?!?!

be well