Bizarre

Tonight I found myself saying the craziest thing I’ve ever said and I meant it seriously, there was no intention of a joke.

"Chris, can you throw down the wet monkey? You should see it on the stove."

If you remember saying anything bizarre you never thought you would say please post it for all to see.

“What all the ads and all the whoreoscopes seemed to imply was that if only you were narcissistic enough, if only you took proper care of your smells, your hair, your boobs, your eyelashes, your armpits . . .you would meet a beautiful, powerful, potent, and rich man who would satisfy every longing . . .make your heart skip a beat (or stand still), make you misty, and fly you to the moon (preferably on gossamer wings), where you would live totally satisfied forever.

And the crazy part of it was that even if you were clever, even if you spent your adolescence reading John Donne and Shaw, even if you studied history or zoology or physics and hoped to spend your life pursuing some difficult and challenging career – you still had a mind full of all the soupy longings that every high-school girl was awash in."

Fear of Flying – Erica Jong

The world my daughters are growing up in is full of princess stories, Barbie Dolls and dreams of future romance – and they don’t even know what romance is. They are however being taught that love is important and romantic love a dream to wish for. This is everywhere –not just in toys and movies but on the covers of magazines on the grocery shelves, in the newspaper, on bus ads, even watching mommy and daddy kiss and flirt while making dinner.

What is this fascination with love? Above it feels like a marketing ploy designed to make us desire to spend money changing ourselves but what instinct are we following that makes the idea of love so powerful? Why do people crave love, acceptance and connection? It isn’t always easy and it doesn’t always work out but we are undeniably attracted to the idea of romance.

The quote at the top was written in 1973. Has the world changed at all in all these years?

Mmmmm . . . Nachos!

It is golfing season in Calgary and I have learned my new favorite math equation:

Golf Lessons + Great Friends + Nachos = Best Day Of The Week.

Sure, not everyone is taking golf lessons and maybe you are at home without any friends at the moment but you can likely make yourself a plate of nachos that are YUMMY!

First you must buy the red El Molino tortilla chips from the deli section of Safeway (special thanks to Leona for that fantastic tip). Spread your chips on a baking sheet and spray them liberally with cooking spray. Don’t skip this step, it will help make the flavor stick. Turn on your oven so it can begin to pre-heat. In a small bowl mix chili powder with finely ground sea salt (if you don’t have any in the house you can use table salt). Mix this up and sprinkle it on your chips but not too heavily because trust me there can be too much. Now you are ready to bake your chips.

While the chips are warming prepare your cheese. If you need to shred it, do that now. If you bought pre-shredded cheese, now is a great time to get your drink ready.

When your chips are warm, pull them out and cover them with your cheese. Now all you need to do is bake them until they look ready and top them however you like.

Time To Plan For Christmas

We have been trying to plan our blogger Soup & Sandwich Contest. There are 5 couples that I am trying to bring together for one night – or lunch – in order to have the contest. After many emails we still have not chosen a date. Getting the couples together is proving impossible. Just wait until I try to coordinate with the 3 official coaches and then we will truly have problems.

So, how does this affect you dear reader? Simple . . . if you want to host any event with 5 specific couples or more you need to book 3 months ahead. Are you daydreaming of Christmas and New Years plans? Book them now! Back to school BBQ’s? Make sure everyone marks their calendars today. Getaway weekend for next summer? Seriously, you should book now. Planning a Stampede social – good luck, I suggest you skip this year and book for 2009

Who is the hardest to book? Christian parents!!!!!!!! If you have school events, church events, work events, extra curricular activities like soccer and also family commitments, you have no time left over to be social. The only way to balance is to plan now.

So, how does Spring Break 2009 look on your calendar?

Drink Of The Week

Non-Alcoholic
Extra Large Low Fat Chocolate Chiller with Whipcream (Second Cup)

Alcoholic
Any Pinot Grigio

Do Something Nice For Someone Day . . .

It is Friday afternoon and I am declaring this Do Something Nice For Someone Day. You can bake bannana bread for someone, organize somebody's socks, whatever- just do something. Because it is after noon you have until Sunday morning to complete your fun task. After you do it, let us know through my blog what you did.

I can't wait to hear about you good deeds!

Catch The Wind

“This is how you catch the wind - you run!”

When I heard Claire say those words this afternoon it was like poetry. She was teaching someone how to fly a kite but teaching me much more.

I think when you “grow up” you TYPICALLY become more responsible (no surprise there). Your world becomes more about your duties and role in your family/community/society rather than your passions and wants.

Please read the comic below to see what I mean (special thanks to the good friend that shared it with me this morning).



If you are unable to read the small words please visithttp://community.livejournal.com/pearlswine/361105.html

When you are feeling attacked by the tiny Routinees you forget how to catch the wind (in the cartoon you even forget how to stand up).

Children rarely forget how to catch the wind. They dream big, they run, they try, they do. Just because we have Routinees in our life doesn’t mean we can’t catch the wind. We need to decide we want to catch the wind and make a run for it. This will be hard - very hard - but isn't it comforting that we can still try?

As grown-ups we could take a lesson from Claire.

“This is how you catch the wind - you run!”