A World of My Imagination...

“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attraction.”  Albert Einstein 

Until I was five, I lived on a farm where my playmates were dogs, chickens (chickens are bullies and not nice friends, by the way) and imaginary friends.  When we moved to town, we lived on a quiet street without children and Kindergarten wasn’t required, so I played with dogs, no more chickens (thank goodness) and BOOKS!

At the age of seven, when I found my classmates to be more like the chickens than the dogs, I began to write my own stories.  My sisters, being neither literary types nor child psychologists, laughed until they cried at my tragic little story, but I still liked it.  The little girl I wrote about was my new imaginary friend and I was truly sad when she met her untimely demise at the end… “All except she was already dead.” is now a famous quote in my family.

In fourth grade I was blessed with the most wonderful teacher in the world.  When I wrote she had me read to the class.  She called my mother and told her my writing was incredible.  Under the warm wing of her praise, I hatched a million imaginary friends and their stories.

I wrote tragic poetry in my teens.  I won an essay contest in middle school.  Writing has always been my passion, but I never saw it as an option.  When I got my degree, it was in something sensible…elementary education.  When I got my master’s degree it was in marriage and family therapy.  I thought any of my future writing would be serious and scholarly, but there are no imaginary friends there…just facts and numbers and names.  I began to miss my imaginary friends while I was developing real ones.

When I wrote The Wednesday Boy, I got reacquainted with imaginary friends.  I fell in love with Allie and Allison.  I even love Allie’s terrible cousin, India, for a whole different set of reasons.  As they told their stories through me and my imagination, I knew that I had arrived home. 

Last night I pushed the button to release my new book into the world.  My heart and home were filled with support, love, creativity and imagination.  Not one of the friends that attended my launch party was imaginary and there wasn’t one chicken among them!

“Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.”

Jamie Paolinetti

Recipe for a Chicken Dinner

This recipe is only 300 calories…IMAGINE THAT!!!

1 tablespoon olive oil                                  1 jar (12 oz) homestyle chicken gravy

1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic              1 bag mixed veggies (broccoli/carrots/cauli)

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts       ½ C halved cherry tomatoes

¼ teaspoon salt                                            ¼ teaspoon pepper

1.    In 12 inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat.  Add garlic and cook for a couple of minutes.

2.     In the same skillet, mix gravy, frozen veggies, and tomatoes.  Cover and cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until veggies are crispy tender.

3.    Return chicken to skillet.  Cover and simmer about 2 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly heated.

One More Time With ENTHUSIASM!!!

“A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm.” 

Charles Schwab

Intense and eager enjoyment, interest or approval

I am one of those annoyingly enthusiastic people.  I’m the crazy fan that still sings and claps to Peter, Paul and Mary while everyone else is rolling their eyes.  I’m the person that will still believe in you when everyone else has called it a day.  I really had to become a school counselor, a life coach and an author…there really was no other way!    

Because I have runaway enthusiasm, it was sad to me entering a Preschool classroom with a huge group of four-year-olds (which is any number higher than three) and being met with no enthusiasm.  It happened to me last week.  I decided to start off our school year with a rousing can-can dance to a little ditty written to the original tune by Jacques Offenbach, with words that ask, “Can, Can, Can you pay attention, do I have to mention, all the times you didn’t listen…”  Needless to say, this is a dance based on fierce enthusiasm when presented to sixth graders, but the four-year-olds said, “I’m too tired” and “I don’t want to” (spoken with the distinct whine that only Preschoolers can manage) in spite of my annoying passion and persistence.  I figure this was as good a way as any to initiate the little ones into the whacky world of school counseling.  I know that by Kindergarten they’ll be used to me.  Until then, I can’t wait to see what they do with the Chicken Dance!

Have you ever had one of those great ideas that set your heart on fire?  Maybe you were so excited that you immediately told a family member or a best friend?  You conveyed all the enthusiasm that you could muster…and someone deflated you faster than a beach ball in a cactus garden.  It might have felt like twenty four-year-olds flopped on a mat.

Where did all that enthusiasm go?  Why do we abandon it so quickly?  And why do we set ourselves up for the ultimate POP of our excitement bubble by sharing with people who are dream killers? 

Many people spend a lot of time waiting to be overtaken by enthusiasm, but the harsh truth is that enthusiasm is a choice.  You can catch someone else’s enthusiasm like an elusive butterfly, but you’ll lose it quickly if you don’t make the choice to hold on to it.  No one can douse your enthusiasm, not even a class of sluggish Preschoolers, unless you make the choice to let the fire go out.

Every morning when my eyes open, I have a choice to make.  Am I going to live this day with enthusiasm?  Will this be an exciting day or will I decide to make it an ordinary one? When I get to work, I plant myself at the front door where I clap and cheer when I see each child coming into school.  It’s not just my job to ignite excitement and joy for them to be at Anderson Elementary, it’s my passion.  I still see some grumpy, tired faces, but I see a lot more smiles and children running toward me with their arms outstretched, ready to meet their day, thrilled that someone, even the annoyingly enthusiastic counselor, is excited to see them.

A mother stopped me in the hall this morning and shared something with me. She said, “My son told me that you were the only reason he enjoys coming to school every day.”  And I knew that I am making the right choice!

“If you don't love what you do, you won't do it with much conviction or passion.”

Mia Hamm

Recipe for Passion Fruit Pannacota 

(For when you’re choosing PASSION!)

300 ml pouring cream

260 gm (270ml) natural yogurt

4 Tbsp honey

2 3/4 titanium strength gelatine leaves (approx. 3 3/4 tsp of powdered gelatine) softened in cold water

Seeds from 1 vanilla pod

PASSIONFRUIT SYRUP

4 passionfruit, pulp only (or canned)

50 gm castor (berry) sugar

Juice from 1/2 lime

1/4 cup water

Special equipment: 150-200 ml Dariole or panna cotta moulds

Preparation:

1.      Very lighlty grease the dariole moulds with a little vegetable oil on a paper towel.

2.      Whisk the cream and yogurt together in a large bowl until smooth. Set aside.

3.      Bring honey and vanilla seeds to a simmer in a small saucepan. Squeeze excess water from gelatine and add it to the honey -- stir to dissolve.

4.      Stir honey mixture through the yogurt mixture, then divide among four lightly greased dariole moulds. Refrigerate until set (4-5 hours - or even overnight).

5.      Make the passionfruit syrup. Combine ingredients together in a small saucepan. Simmer over a medium heat for about 10 minutes or until the liquid becomes syrupy. Set aside to cool.

6.      Just before serving, dip bases of panna cotta moulds in warm water for a few seconds, turn out onto serving plates and spoon on the passionfruit syrup. Serve immediately.

How to Eat an Elephant

“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”

– Vincent Van Gogh

Sometimes eating an elephant seems like a great idea.  Sometimes eating an elephant is thrust upon us.  Whichever it is, eating an elephant is not for the faint of heart!

My son recently decided to eat an elephant. He’s started driving a truck a few months ago and yesterday became a lease operator.  There’s a lot more potential to earn money, but the enormity of the situation suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks.  The payments are gigantic and the miles he has to drive are many.  I can almost hear him say, “Mom, I don’t know what I was thinking, but I have this dead elephant and now I have to eat it.” 

I ate an elephant last year by getting through seven weeks of chemo and radiation after surgery.  I would have preferred the vegetarian diet, but the great dietician in the sky decided I needed chewy, flavorless, tough hide instead!

Usually, the first thing we do after we start chewing on elephant carcass is to worry.  What if we can’t get it all down?  Who do we think we are, trying to show off like that, or just managing to get through it?  What if we get tired of elephant and are stuck eating it the rest of our lives?  What if we don’t even like elephant?  What if all our friends see us eating elephant and either shun us or are jealous of us?  How should we even attempt to eat an elephant?  One bite at a time!

Many people give up because they look at the whole elephant and get overwhelmed. So when the worry starts to overwhelm you, STOP and think about what you can do about it right this second?  If the answer is nothing then let it go (breathing helps).  During cancer treatment, it was tempting to look at the entire treatment and what it was going to do to me, instead of just getting up every morning and taking a bite of elephant.  For my son, it’s more worrisome to think of the grand sum that his truck is going to cost than to focus on the weekly payments.  Break down that elephant into bite size chunks and don’t forget to remove the bones.

Don’t try to eat the whole elephant at once.  I’m not sure why some people think they have to overwhelm themselves, but it will choke them eventually.  It is an effective way to sabotage yourself, however. 

Use variety when you can!  Sometimes you need to put the elephant down and eat a brownie!  Use sauces and gravies and little sprigs of parsley, if they make you happy.  Everything can’t be about the elephant you’re downing.  It’s easy to let every conversation be about that dad gummed elephant, don’t let that happen.   

Give yourself a lot of credit and praise each and every time you take another bite.  Post it on your Facebook wall.  Take out an advertisement.  Hire one of those planes with the sign on the back.  Complain a little if you need to, but mostly brag about your amazing capacity as a human being to tackle something so huge!

At some point in your life, you will be asked to eat an elephant…either by yourself or someone else.  Just remember to open wide, chew thoroughly and inspire everyone else with a great elephant recipe!

Good luck, Benjamin!  I know you’ll do well! 
Love you,
Mom

“What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step. It is always the same step, but you have to take it.

~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry~

Recipe for Fudgy Frosted Cake (for when you’re sick of chewing elephants)

6 squares of semi sweet chocolate                   ½ C butter or margarine

1 C brown sugar                                                     ½ C evaporated milk

1 package white or yellow cake mix (w/pudding)

Generously spray 13x 9 inch pan.  Line bottom with wax paper and spray again.  Heat chocolate, butter, brown sugar and evaporated milk in a saucepan, low heat, stirring until smooth.  Spread on bottom of pan, prepare cake and slowly pour batter over chocolate mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.  Cool for 15 minutes.  Use spatula to remove from pan.  Sprinkle with chopped nuts or coconut.

Enjoy!

Just One More Thing...

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”

Confucius

My sister had family visiting from California recently.  In the midst of her cleaning frenzy, she noticed the old bedspread in her guest room.    It was worn, tired and a little threadbare after twenty-odd years.  She had been talking about replacing it for years, and decided it was finally time. She’d bite the bullet, and get a brand new bedspread before her company arrived.

She called and told me that she had purchased one bedspread, but her husband decided on another one, so now she had two new bedspreads.  I was really happy and excited for her because this had been something she wanted for a long time. 

 

The next day when I called my sister, she was out of breath.  When I inquired, she told me that the paint looked dingy up next to that beautiful new bedspread so she decided to paint the bedroom. 

 

I called later to check on the painting progress.

“Well, when I got started painting, I realized there were some places I needed to mud and sand, so I’m busy getting that done,” my sister told me.

The next phone call didn’t surprise me at all.  The ceiling looked shabby so new paint was being applied…and then the carpet looked really ugly with all the new paint around it.  New carpet was on its way.

When I called again, she told me that they had decided that they were going to give the old bedroom furniture to their son.  It just didn’t go with the new bedspread, walls, ceiling and carpet.  They were busy tearing down and moving in bedroom suites.

Those of you who know my sister, Donna, know that she always has a project that she’s working on and that she never does anything half-way.  My sister, Linda, and I laughed at how the bedspread had turned into a major renovation, but as I thought about it, I realized that it’s just like life.

Once we make a change, it just creates more changes…like ripples in a clear pool.  If we start exercising, it can make us start to eat healthier.  If we decide to be diligent in one area, it will make us more conscientious in every other aspect of our life.  And like my sister, we may wait years to change something…we may decide the work is too hard, or there are too many risks to change anything at all, but if we make the smallest change, it leads to greater things than we can even imagine.

Pick something, anything at all…just one little thing, and be diligent about it for three weeks, then let me know what differences you see in your life!

"One good turn deserves another."

- English Proverb

Low-fat Carrot-Pineapple Cake

4 C grated carrots                                       1 C sugar (or molasses)

1 C crushed pineapple                                1 C prune puree

4 large egg whites                                       1 tsp vanilla

2 C flour                                                     2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking soda                                       ¾ C flaked coconut

In a large bowl, combine carrots, sugar, pineapple, prune puree, egg whites and vanilla.  Stir to blend thoroughly.  Add remaining ingredients, except coconut.  Mix completely.  Gently stir in coconut.  Pour batter into 9x13 baking pan, coated with non stick spray.  Bake 45 minutes at 375. 

Celebrate!

Sunday is my birthday, and I have just finished editing my new book, The Wednesday Boy, so, I am taking the week off!   Sometimes we must take the time to celebrate our lives and accomplishments!  Hope you all have a fabulous week!
Catie

Sisters

"For when three sisters love each other with such sincere affection, the one does not experience sorrow, pain, or affliction of any kind, but the other's heart wishes to relieve, and vibrates in tenderness... like a well-organized musical instrument."

Author: Elizabeth Shaw

I have two blood sisters and a dozen sisters from different mothers and my advice to you is…if you don’t have a sister, make one!  Everyone needs sisters…lots of them!

Every week when I write this blog, before it is posted, I read it to my sisters.  In every accomplishment my sisters share and in every trial my sisters support me.  I have sisters that advise me on grooming my Westie and sisters that edit books for me and sisters that write blogs about me and sisters that have been there with me for decades and sisters with whom I share a family history and DNA.

My radiologist calls my sisters “the committee” because I’ve never been to an appointment without my one or both of my sisters and several of my heart sisters. Without their support and love I’m not sure I’d be here today. 

Sisters aren’t the same as friends (whether you’re related or not).  There’s a depth to sisterhood that doesn’t exist in any other relationship.  My sisters have taught me to work through my anger because I depend on the relationship and besides that there’s no escape.  My sisters have taught me to develop my sense of humor because they know my patterns and my stories and are not afraid to use them (especially at family holidays or in front of complete strangers).  My sisters have taught me that I’m not the only duck in the pond…and, being the youngest, have taught me that I’m just lucky to be in the pond.  My sisters have taught me faith because they may not always understand me but they still support me. My sisters have taught me creativity because paybacks are hell!  Most of all my sisters have taught me genuine selfless love just because they are my sisters.

So today I’m sending love and gratitude to all my sisters and wishes that you have a sister in your life!

“Help one another, is part of the religion of sisterhood.” 

~Louisa May Alcott

My Sister Donna’s Cheesecake

(one of the reasons I love her!)

1 large can Milnot (chilled)                            1 pkg. lemon Jell-o

1-8oz pkg. cream cheese                                1 C sugar

1 tsp vanilla                                                     1 small can crushed pineapple

½ lb graham cracker crumbs                         1 heaping tsp. powdered sugar

1 cube butter                                                  1 C nuts

Dissolve jello in 1 cup hot water and cool until syrupy.  Beat Milnot until very stiff.  Beat Jell-o until foamy and then beat it into the Milnot.  Cream the cheese with sugar and vanilla and add small amount of Milnot mixture.  Fold in drained pineapple.  Add nuts. 

Mix cracker crumbs, powdered sugar, melted butter.  Put ½ mixture in bottom of pan (9X13).  Pour in cheese mixture and sprinkle with other ½ crumbs and chill. 

Add blueberry filling or thickened blueberries (or any fruit) to top and garnish with whipped cream!

SHHHHHHHH!

"Be still and know that I am God."  Psalm 46:10

Every morning I write my gratitude list, my goals list, I read my vision statement and then I meditate.  Mediation is an amazing experience where I can be still and know.

It's usually dark when I meditate because it's so early in the morning.  I sit in the recliner and take three deep cleansing breaths, in through my nose and out through my mouth.  I focus on that still small voice inside.

"You've forgotten something," the still small voice says.

"Shhhhh!  I'm busy being quiet," I say in my grown up voice.

"But I know it's really important," the still small voice continues to whine.

"It doesn't matter!  For right now I need to listen," I insist.

"Then listen to me because I think the dogs need water.  What kind of person are you that you just sit here in the dark and let the dogs thirst to death?"

"Shhhhh!" I remind myself and the voice, that is no longer still or small.

"I hate to bring this up now, but you really screwed up that presentation.  I thought you were better prepared!"  Now the still small voice is just being hateful.

"You're right.  I really did mess that up!  What was I thinking even putting myself in that situation?"  I concede.

"Yeah, remember when you were fourteen and nobody came to your birthday party?  You were kind of a loser even then, hu?"

Why can't we just shut up?  The chatter in our heads never seems to stop! And yet, in order to KNOW anything, we must be still.  We are constantly plugged in to some device or some other person and, even while we sleep, we have noises buzzing around us.  The more information we are privy to the less we really know; ironic, isn't it?

At what point do we prioritize the stillness, the chance to tap in to the mind and heart of God?  The opportunities to know are endless, but we resist it and then wrestle with it and then completely fight it like the silence is our enemy.

"Whatcha doin' now?" the voice asks.

I picture still water where I can see my reflection.

"Hey, remember that guy that cut you off in traffic?  That was rude, hu?"

"The reflection momentarily gets fuzzy and then comes back into focus.

"You're being kinda rude now," the voice points out.

The reflection becomes very clear and still and the voice gets quieter and quieter until it is the softest whisper and then becomes very still.

And the answer I am seeking becomes perfectly clear!

Meditation is over.

"Hey, you're going to do this again tomorrow, right?" the voice asks.

"Yes, I am," I answer.

"Okay, well, I'll be here!  I have a lot to tell you...important stuff!"

Sigh.

"So, see ya tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow."

"For those who wish to climb the mountain of spiritual awareness, the path is selfless work.  For those who have attained the summit of union with the Lord, the path is stillness and peace."   Bhagavad Gita

                                                       Thai Chicken Salad
2 chicken breasts (cooked and cut into strips)
1 medium red onion, chopped
3 scallions, sliced (including tops)
3 slices ginger (minced)
1/4 C cilantro (coriander leaves) chopped
Toasted sesame seeds (for final garnish)

Dressing:
1/4 C olive oil
2 T hot chili oil
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/2 C rice vinegar
3 T tamari
2 dried red peppers (or to taste)

In a bowl, mix together the chicken, onions, scallions, ginger and cilantro.  In a separate container, prepare the vinaigrette by combining the oils and garlic.  Next, whisk in the vinegar and tamari.  Add the peppers.  This dressing will get hotter the longer it stands.  Toss the chicken salad with the vinaigrette.  Sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds.

Makes enough for 4 salads.