No person, no place, and no thing has any power over us, for 'we' are the only thinkers in our mind. When we create peace and harmony and balance in our minds, we will find it in our lives.
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Showing posts with label serenity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label serenity. Show all posts
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Take Flight!
Diagnosis heard
Leukemia was a shock
Need a new flight plan
We are a blended family who took flight in June of 2009. To say that our six shared children integrated to become a family far more easily than we ever thought could happen is an understatement. We took our time, and choreographed situations so they could get to know each other on their terms with shared experiences. In January of 2013 we were thrown when we found out the second oldest, his son and a college freshman, had leukemia. The other 5 kids selflessly made the accommodations needed to allow his father to be with him as much as possible, and to do what we had to in order to include their "brother from another mother" and meet his needs. For better or worse, being with "him" has been the best flight ever, with some turbulence, and yes it came with baggage, I just had the power to choose what I took at baggage claim, and I can say that I got all of the gifts he brought that day and let the rest sit on that carousel.
Time and New Habits
I will catch up here on days three and four together, first up, "time." Here is where I will mention "him." Time with him is my serenity; he makes me laugh, he irritates me, he talks with me, but most of all the time spent with him I find myself full of contentment. He spends hours with me in "the green chair," watching tv/movies, reading, laughing. I used to think content sounded like settling, like good enough. I know now that true contentment is something so deep down and that few are probably lucky enough to find, it is the gift of being in the moment in the very place that I am. Satisfied. Not needing more. Planning for the future, but not at the expense of that day. Having the privilege of falling asleep with him every single night, a precious time of day I look forward to every night. Time is what you make of it, and that can be a powerful tool when you exercise it. Time is where you can find your serenity (note picture below, you too can budget and plan so you have time to lay here and watch the sun set with your serenity).
It does lead into day four's "new habits" theme. My daughter working through the application to colleges process is forcing me to establish new habits, of saving, of learning the ins and outs of colleges, of looking ahead at my financial future. I've been successful the past years at moving money into an account for college, but I recently realized that, "I've been teaching twenty years!" also means "I've been teaching twenty years and can retire in ten, at which point all kids will be out of high school, and we can look at options to move and try something new!" Looking at colleges has opened my mind to new geographical areas. I've been grounded here, no lie- I live 25 mins. from my sister and parents, 45 from my brother, lived at home in college and haven't ever made a bold move like moving to a new city hundreds of miles away. But we are talking about it...a new habit that these realizations has brought us to- talking about a future beyond being parents, making lunches, getting to sports games...starting that map that is going to keep us in our serenity, together...and discussing what we habits we have to include to get us there (Note: Online shopping, because I despise stores, is greatly impeding this habit, so another new habit is going to be limit that, maybe every purchase I DON"T make but want the money goes into a savings sub-account for that move!).
It does lead into day four's "new habits" theme. My daughter working through the application to colleges process is forcing me to establish new habits, of saving, of learning the ins and outs of colleges, of looking ahead at my financial future. I've been successful the past years at moving money into an account for college, but I recently realized that, "I've been teaching twenty years!" also means "I've been teaching twenty years and can retire in ten, at which point all kids will be out of high school, and we can look at options to move and try something new!" Looking at colleges has opened my mind to new geographical areas. I've been grounded here, no lie- I live 25 mins. from my sister and parents, 45 from my brother, lived at home in college and haven't ever made a bold move like moving to a new city hundreds of miles away. But we are talking about it...a new habit that these realizations has brought us to- talking about a future beyond being parents, making lunches, getting to sports games...starting that map that is going to keep us in our serenity, together...and discussing what we habits we have to include to get us there (Note: Online shopping, because I despise stores, is greatly impeding this habit, so another new habit is going to be limit that, maybe every purchase I DON"T make but want the money goes into a savings sub-account for that move!).
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Orange you glad it is a rainy Sunday?
Hokey joke (in our family we call those John and Linda jokes...)...but seriously, was one of those days where I had the luxury of taking a shower and putting on clean pajamas, and that doesn't happen too often! Watched "Sarah's Key" (good movie!), getting ready to drink some wine and steam some shrimp with some Old Bay and homemade cocktail sauce, roast some veggies, and hang out with my love. But then there is dessert, thus the reference to "orange..."- a heavenly and light orange pound cake- you can see the flecks of orange zest in the cake, and the ricotta makes it super moist. Just one of those things that makes me smile! Try it yourself!
Giada's Orange Ricotta Pound Cake Recipe from Food Network
Giada's Orange Ricotta Pound Cake Recipe from Food Network
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