Blog Week

I still have one more blog to write this week. It is now Saturday and I am just now finishing the third one. The one question I have though is, since Saturday is our class period does the week start on Saturday or is our blog period a normal week of Sunday to Saturday?

Cooking

One of my favorite things to do is watch cooking shows. I also love cookbooks. They are my favorite things to read. Right now I am watching Hells Kitchen. I just love Gordon Ramsey. He is one of those people that you will always know what he is thinking because he will tell you. I could not be on his show because I don't feel that I have the talent yet. I love to cook when I can but I have not cooked as much as I could have for my age. I know that if I did I could be a lot better. My mother, grandmother, and my aunts are incredible cooks. I wish I had half of their talent. Food can be so many things for people and you can never be without it. I feel it is a good skill to have. Hopefully one day I can be great at it.

Peace

Peace.
It does not mean to be in a place
where there is no noise,
trouble or hard work.
It means to be in the midst of those things
and still be calm in your heart.

-unknown

Television

I put off getting a coupon for the converter box for my television until a couple of weeks ago. When I finally requested them I saw on the news that they were not sending out any more coupons. I was left to wonder what I would do at that point. My true self tells me that I don't want to have tv's. I truly feel that they are time wasters, when you can do so much more with that time. You can visit friends, read, do creative projects or spend more time with those you love. I would follow this thought process of no tv except that I have a college student that when he comes home would absolutely not know what to do with himself without a tv. That leads me back to square one. I do not want to get cable or dish because I just would not have the time to watch it and since I do not watch tv much now it would be a waste of money. Then I thought maybe I will just buy a new tv, but once again if I do not watch it much do I want to spend the money. I have pondered these thoughts for the past week and lo and behold today I received my coupons. So, maybe I will keep the tv....you know, just in case.

Thoughts of the day

I feel I may have an addiction problem... I am addicted to books. Don't get me wrong I don't feel this is necessarily a bad thing. I feel reading broadens your mind and makes you think about things that maybe you necessarily would not have. It can change your life or aspects of it anyway. My problems lies with purchasing them. I at least purchase one a month sometimes more. I have a few hundred. I wish I could go to the library, pick some out, read them and then purchase them if I liked them well enough to read again. That just does not seem to work out for me. I never can seem to find the book I want at the library, it seems to only be when it is displayed so nicely on the shelves of Barnes and Noble or Borders or which ever place I am that the books are lined up on. I hope this year to try the library more at least until the lure of a new book draws me back.

A New Year

I have started out this year reading a daily book called Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach. It is about how everyday your life can be an expression of your authentic self and lead you to a happier, more contented life. Each days article starts out with a quote. The quote on one day states, "You only live once-but if you work it right, once is enough"-Joe E Lewis. It makes you stop and think about what changes you would make in order to make that statement true. A person would definately want to live their life without any regrets. Knowing that everything you did was with a purpose or a goal in mind or just because it is something you wanted to do and enjoy. As I get older I make a list, a "bucket list" so to speak of things I would like to do or experience in the lifetime that I have. I want to learn to play the piano, to go to Washington D.C., to see the Buffalo stampede in South Dakota and to see Pearl Harbor. I want to raise chickens, grow a beautiful garden, can fruits and vegetables, become a great cook and make a quilt from scratch just like my grandma. I want to truly feel and enjoy to experience of every moment and not "sweat the small stuff". In the big picture there are a lot of daily things that happen to people that really does not matter. Like being stuck in traffic..and then getting angry about it. The past few months I have made a conscience effort when I get upset with something to ask myself, is this going to matter tomorrow or next week or even next year. If not I try to let it go. So far it really helps me. I feel the little stuff fading away and not even mattering. Hopefully this is a start to having a life of simple abundance.