A Bucket List of Different Sorts!

As I was looking for quotes on joy for a post, I came across this one by Mark Twain: “I’m glad I did it, partly because it was worth it, but mostly because I shall never have to do it again.”
I thought it was very fitting for some things in life, a little bittersweet, a little humorous, but very true. There are some things in life that you just have to get done and hope that you will never have to do it again. It is a different kind of bucket list, sort of a “Just Get It Over With” list.
Here are few examples: These are not so bad: potty training a puppy, or a kid for that matter, going through puberty, going back to school, starting over in a new city, going to Disney World.
These are bad: having to bury a parent, cleaning out a rental home with some not so nice tenants, running a marathon, okay, so maybe I will DO that one again, but I can say that it is done.
So we all have things we have had to do and we just keep saying, “Let me get through this!”
I know there will be a lot more things on my “Just Get It Over With” List, but I am hoping it never gets as filled up as my “Wow. That Was A Great Adventure” List!
So what about you? What’s on your list?

Want a warm, easy recipe?

Want a warm, easy recipe? This recipe goes from morning to evening, the only difference is how it is dressed! In the morning, it can be a warm, easy, healthy, yummy breakfast or in the evening, it can be a wicked little dessert.  The choice is yours!

Easy, Healthy Breakfast
One packet of instant oatmeal (I like the maple brown sugar or vanilla almond)
One piece of fruit (apple or pear sliced very thin)
Chopped Nuts (walnuts, pecans or almonds)
Water (whatever amount is listed on packet of oatmeal)

Sprinkle a little oatmeal on the bottom of the bowl
Slices of fruit
More oatmeal and keep layering the fruit and oatmeal until finished
Sprinkle the nuts on top
Carefully add water to the bowl
Then if you are feeling a little needy, dot a little butter on the top
Microwave according to oatmeal directions

Easy Wicked Little Dessert (Makes 2 desserts)
Same as above, add a little brown sugar to the top and a few dots of butter
Serve with a scoop of ice cream that is drizzled with caramel! 

Note:  I like to add extra cinnamon when I use apples in both the breakfast oatmeal and the dessert.

Love Is In The Air…

We are nearing the end of January and all of the stores are aglow with Red, and Pink and White! You know that holiday right after Christmas that gets a lot of publicity and puts a lot of pressure on men to get just the right gift for their special lady!!
I am still trying to get all my Christmas decorations put away and here is another holiday to celebrate!! Now mind you, I could let my child get the flimsy, premade, character cards and pass them out to her classmates, but I insist that the homemade ones look better. I mean they are coming from the heart, right, so shouldn’t she be making them instead of Scooby-Doo or Barbie?
Okay, enough of that, now onto the important stuff, like what I want for Valentine’s Day! Flowers, yes that would be nice, I think I got those once, on my birthday, during the courting years. But my husband says they are going to die, so what is the point. Chocolates, no, I don’t like chocolate. I know I am an oddball, but I would much prefer sweethearts. Dinner out, well of course, but that usually involves a babysitter and then you are looking at a lot of bucks just to eat.
So here is my wish list for Valentine’s Day. Take out from one of my favorite restaurants, a child with brushed teeth and in bed and ASLEEP by 8:30, an hour to watch one of my favorite shows and then a cuddle with my favorite guy before I drift off to sleep by 9:15. Sounds reasonable right? Maybe I should just ask for the diamond eternity necklace, I am more likely to get that than the fabulous night ahead. Anyway, whatever cupid decides to bring me, I will embrace it and move along to that other famous holiday. You know the one with little green men and pots of gold?
So what is your wish for Valentine’s Day?

Time after Time after Time…

Do you have those movies that when you surf by on TV, you just have to stop and watch, doesn’t matter what point in the movie?  Next thing you know all those plans of cleaning out the closet dissapeared into 2 hours of bliss?  Here’s a few favorites:

Time Traveler’s Wife – I swear I ball at the end of the movie every time

The Shining – Here’s Johnny!  Can you change the channel?

The Lake House – Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock who would have guessed?

Jaws – “We’re gonna need a bigger boat…..”

Hope Floats – Can beat the look of Harry Connick Jr.

Death At A Funeral – still one of the most hilarious movies

When Harry Met Sally – even if its past the deli scene

The Alien Collection – like a train wreck you gotta stop and check it out

Pulp Fiction – you just can’t breeze past the comeback of John Travolta

Fast and Furious – OK, maybe just A LITTLE eye candy?

Back to the Future – 88 miles per hour!  OK, gotta watch this one!

Sure we know the outcomes, sure some may make us cry every time, but we’re drawn to these great movies as an escape.  What would you add to the list?

Words of wisdom from Charles Schulz

Sometimes we need to get our heads out of the clouds and look in the mirror.  Take three minutes to read simple words of wisdom written by Charles Schulz the creator of the “Peanuts” cartoons.

You don’t have to actually answer the questions. Just ponder on them.  Just read the article straight through and you’ll get the point.
1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade’s worth of World Series Winners.

How did you do?
• The point is, none of us remembers the headliners of yesterday.
• These are no second-rate achievers.
• They are the best in their fields.
• But the applause dies.
• Awards tarnish.
• Achievements are forgotten.
• Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here’s another quiz. See how you do on this one:
1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special!
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Did you find that easier?

The lesson:

• The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials.
• The most money…or the most awards…
• They simply are the ones who care the most.

Maria’s Day!

If you ever read the Forsyth Family blog, then you will see that I post over there near the end of the week. Last week, I posted a blog about “Make Your Dreams Come True Day”. Well I just found another interesting day. “The Nothing Day!” This is a day where you do absolutely nothing! And believe it or not, someone actually made this day up! According to holidayinsights.com, newspaperman Harold Pullman Coffin created this day in 1973. There is not a lot of information about this day, but it seems to be a recorded holiday. So this got me thinking, if we can have a “Sleep-in Day”Do Nothing Day”, “National Butter Crunch Day”and “Squirrel Appreciation Day,” why can I make up my own day?
Let’s see, if I could make up a day, what would it be? “Run with a friend day? Eat lunch with your friends’ day? Go see a movie day? Get a Pedi and Mani day? Go to the Beach and hang out day? Eat dinner outside at a great restaurant day?” Yeah, that sounds about right!! All of those rolled into one. The perfect mom day! But of course, I would add that my child gets to have her own day too, which would probably be similar to mine, but with her own friends and a little more electronics involved!
While this might seem like a lot..it is my day..and if we are all going to make up their own day, then I get to chose what happens. So if you could make up a day? What would it be? It might be as simple as “let’s all get dressed and out the door on time day”, but then, where is the fun in that? The sky’s the limit…pick a day..any day..just for you!

“That burns me up!” (What burns you up?)

Since we are all iced in, perhaps this would be a good time to think about what “burns us up!” Many, many years ago, my family experienced one of those magical moments when the video camera was running. You know those moments that you watch repeatedly for years and laugh until your sides hurt. Kalee, our daughter was about seven at the time when she walked up to the video camera, looked right into the lens and with every ounce of emotion you can imagine, she said, “He burrrrrnnnns me up!”

She was angry with her cousin, nobody can remember why, but the phrase lives on in our family stories and videos. I think it helped her to express her frustration, so I hope it helps me to express my frustration now.

Two things have really “burned me up” lately – bikers and joggers on Hampton Road. Now I realize everyone has the right to jog and ride bikes and I have learned to accept the simple fact that almost everyday I will be delayed due to bikers and joggers on Idols Road, Dock Davis Road and Hampton Road . I’ve even learned to accept that I might get behind large, large numbers of bikers on the weekends. Before anyone get’s too upset with me, I might mention that my husband and I have enjoyed riding bikes over the years.

What “burned me up” however was the bike race that occurred on a morning when the news reported near zero visibility due to fog. The second thing that burned me up was the jogger who was jogging at night on a dark road. I wonder if he knows that my husband and I came dangerously close to hitting him? Does he know that even with his reflectors, we couldn’t see him due to the curves in the road?

Ok, I have had my say, “What burns you up?”

A New Year, A New Toy!

So I always seem a little behind the newest technology, so this year I asked for the latest new reading gadget, the Nook Color. I had seen it on commercials and was interested in it because, although I would like to read, I am usually never at home long enough to sit down and read and when I am on the go, I usually forget to take along anything with me. So, I thought this would solve my problem. I could slide this snazzy little reader in my purse and have instant access whenever I want.
The first problem in my plan occurred when I could not get my new Nook Color to stay turned on. It kept cutting off and then would not restart. I had to keep manipulating the buttons in random ways to get it to turn on. After 2 hours of being on the phone with a horrible connection and repeated questions, I finally got the confirmation that I would be sent a replacement Nook. After a week, it came and since then, I have had no problems, knock on wood, with this one. I have downloaded lots of free books for me and my daughter, I have played Sudoku and I have listened to Pandora radio.
So far I am enjoying my newest technological device and my reading time has gone up, which was one of my goals for the New Year!
So far, so good! Did you get any new savvy toys for Christmas? If so, do share, I like to try and at least be knowledgeable about the latest trend!

May you have a Good New Year! (Forget the Happy!)

Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.

This year I am going to withdraw my usual, “Happy New Year!” It will replaced with, “May you have a Good Year!” Happiness seems void, for some reason it just seems like so much less than a good year. It seems to me that if we focus on our own happiness, it is unlikely to occur, yet if we concentrate on doing good in the New Year, we just might find ourselves to be happier people. What do you think?

It is worth repeating . . .
Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.

For some reason this quote does not seem overwhelming, it actually seems possible. It does not say do more good, it simply says do all the good you can. That simple word “can” makes this phrase possible to me.

So . . . May you have a good, good year in 2011 and may you do all the good you can and in that simple reorientation of life may you discover a new joy and great happiness

Do all the good you can,
by all the means you can,
in all the ways you can,
in all the places you can,
at all the times you can,
to all the people you can,
as long as ever you can.
(John Wesley)

Time to Put the Decorations Away!

As we all know, Christmas is over. Now comes the depressing and never-ending clean-up. I mean when does it end? The tissue, the gift bags, the decorations!!
I really love decorating for the holidays. It seems to go by so joyfully and you can just add new little things as you go along. Christmas carols are playing and pretty ornaments adorn the tree. Sparkly packages all sit so nicely under the Frasier Fir tree. The anticipation grows every day until the Big guy arrives and then…the let down.
It seems to take 5 times longer to take everything down than it does to put it up. Not to mention that I never have enough storage containers to put everything. I think my ornaments multiplied while on the tree.
Maybe it is due to the fact that we are heading back to school and work and I want it all packed away neatly so the house it not a mess, because if it doesn’t get packed away soon, it could possibly sit there until spring break or summer vacation. Or it could be that since it is January 3rd, it is time to put Christmas things away and start the New Year.
So as I sit here typing this blog, I look around and realize. It is not going to get done tonight. We will start the school week, with Christmas nick-nacks still hanging around and boxes to put up. It will get done and we will move on with 2011.
And before you know it, 355 will pass and we will all be celebrating that wonderful holiday again!!
May 2011 bring you peace, joy and happiness and may you get those Christmas decorations put up before Valentine’s Day!!