Friday Leftovers: April 19, 2013

** Wow.

I’ve had a rash of negative missives lately (see: Facebook), and it’s had me thinking for weeks. Questions like, when did we become so mean? And, have we lost all semblance of kindness? And, is criticism the plague of our generation?...

So I turned those questions inward and didn’t like what I found. I struggle with an impulse to critique, to deconstruct, to dismantle. I too easily write people off and assume the worst. I am undoubtedly my own worst enemy. I see sharp edges that need softened, and I realize every problem has the same answer:

More grace.

This just might heal the world, mend relationships, sooth our inner turmoil. It could grease the machine of humanity and keep it running rather than grinding to a halt, stalled out for lack of mercy. It reminds us we are brothers and sisters, not demigods over one another.

... I will name the little lovely things, the beautiful moments, the good parts. Small victories deserve noticing. None of us are good at everything, but all of us are great at something. No rule requires focus on the parts we get wrong. There is always, always something worthy to honor if we’re brave enough to live like that.

... take away the need to be right, to be the winner, to nurture the injury like a little pet, keeping it safe and thriving and growing. Now add grace – undeserved maybe, unexpected perhaps. Persistent, warm, selfless mercy can turn even the biggest ship around. (Jen Hatmaker)

**Another quote that really resonated with me.

Life is a constant series of navigations. Figuring out what makes sense, directing, recovering from mistakes, celebrating success, opening vs. closing, riding the waves, surviving the lows, listening, learning, choosing, taking action. (Ali Edwards)

**I read these words -- "So yes, it all disappears quickly but it leaves behind a moment more fully lived and relationships more deeply realized." -- about the true beauty of cooking and sharing a meal. It made me think back on all the times I've sat down and enjoyed a meal with loved ones -- whether its a five-course culinary extravaganza, a special holiday tradition, or a simple tomato sandwich. The food may be long gone, but the feelings and memories are alive, building blocks of my life. The tables where I've sat. The people who've shared those tables with me. The conversations, the photos, the tastes. They get trapped in my mind, resurfacing like treasure chests, sometimes making me crave a particular dish, other times prompting me to seek out someone who shared that meal with me to "remember when." The food nourishes the body in the immediate, but it nourishes the soul in the long term.

**It is apparently "leftover quotes from blogs" this time around.

I feel like lately I've been hearing so much about how you're supposed to be "real" when you blog/tweet/instagram/facebook and it seems like most people think "real" = "negative"... but it's not necessarily so.  At least not for me... I'm authentically not negative by nature. (Kim, "Just My Type")

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Friday Leftovers: February 22, 2013

**I came across a new product on the shelves at my local grocery store. I needed some chopped tomatoes for a recipe I was making for dinner and Pomi tomatoes happened to be on sale. They are in a carton, not a can, and the only ingredient in that carton is tomatoes. Just tomatoes. I decided to give them a try. I am so glad I did. Wonderful!

**I am not sure what to make of the "Lackey positive press campaign," but if this reinvention of his image in Boston is for real (and comes with some actual notches in the win column for the Sox), I am fully on board!

**It used to be that one of my favorite Bath and Body Works scents was "Moonlight Path." Over the past several weeks, though, it seems I cannot wear it anymore. The consistent smell of the lotion would start to give me a headache after about an hour, and then, no matter how many times I washed my hands or layered on another scent, the headache would progressively grow worse. I had to give away a half-used bottle to one of my co-workers.

**I am probably the only person alive to feel this way about it, judging by the enthusiasm people show and the number of them who have tried to convince me I need to go at least once, but I could not possibly have less interest in Vegas. None. Not even a hint. I don't care to gamble. Or see weird shows (Cirque de Soliel La Nouba at Downtown Disney creeped me out more than anything). Or  do the whole nightlife scene. Before you declare me a bore and a fuddy-duddy, though, I just feel that with a long list of other places I can actually name wanting to see in my lifetime, visiting one that has never sparked so much as the tiniest bit of interest in me doesn't really generate any consideration. I mean, c'mon, there's not even a (major league) baseball team there to entice me!

**I have been really drawn to the color combination of pink and brown recently. I'm not usually much of a pink person (although I did spend a good piece of my childhood wishing I had a pink bedroom, instead of yellow) (I am still not a fan of yellow to this day), but something about pink and brown together is just appealing to me all of a sudden.

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Friday Leftovers: January 11, 2013

**On New Year's Eve, I went looking for the wine stopper. It wasn't in any of the places it could possibly be, or any of the places I didn't think it should be, but looked anyway. I got it at Disney World several years ago and kept it in a little red box in one of the utensil drawers in the apartment. (Aside: That last sentence made the apartment sound a lot bigger than it actually was. Trust me.) I cannot imagine why it wouldn't have made the move. I don't have any lingering unpacked boxes. It is just...gone. It's bugging me and now I need to get a new one.

**Those chain-letter-type Facebook guilt trip posts? Just don't. If I am your friend, if I love you, if I want to keep you in my life, you don't need to post those things to get me to tell you so. In fact, *because* I am those things is the very reason why I won't. I respect your intelligence and our relationship more than that. Furthermore, if you continue to try to guilt trip me, I may start to become suspicious that this toxic (and annoying) behavior indicates you've become a pod person. Pod people scare me and I will be forced to strongly reconsider our association.

**Back on January 2, I tweeted something of which I want a more permanent record: There is no way to sugarcoat that constant bitterness is entirely unattractive and repelling.

**This is the mature way in which I have responded to things which have displeased me lately, including a husband being a boogie, the meteorologist on the local evening news with his stupid mid-80-degree forecast, and that time I dropped a piece of chocolate on the floor at work (there is NO Five Second Rule here, trust me).

(One of my favorite scenes from "It's a Wonderful Life.")

**I had plans to venture over to WDW this weekend. I haven't been there since early December when we went to see the Spectacle of Dancing Lights and ride "new" Test Track, so I am suffering some major withdrawals is what I'm saying. I have also been chomping at the bit to see New Fantasyland with my own two eyes and my camera. And then ::music of impending doom:: I discovered that this is a "marathon weekend." These are all fine and dandy, if that's your thing, but for me, they mean bigger crowds and frustrating detours, and I just avoid Disney property like the plague, if at all possible. So hmph. Maybe next weekend. See that photo up there? That applies to this as well.

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Friday Leftovers: March 23, 2012

Somewhere, buried in my Google Reader, is a blog that posts "Friday Leftovers." Those thought fragments or bits of an idea or blurbs that don't really constitute a whole post of their own, and yet they are still a part of life. I wish I could give credit where credit is due, but I need to find the blog first...and if you saw my Google Reader, you would understand why this is something of a dilemma.

** I am beyond thrilled to learn that Bath & Body Works is bringing back last Spring's limited edition "Signature Vanillas" for a short time. I discovered, far too late, that I love the Vanilla Apricot scent, nearly as much as I like their Christmas scent, "Vanilla Bean Noel." By the time I realized just how much I liked it, it was long gone. And I was sad. My mission today, after work, is to go straight home, check my stash of coupons, and then go straight to my local Bath & Body Works to stock up. Even better? They are running a "buy three, get two free" sale. I am happy!

** Happy is a far cry from how I was feeling yesterday evening. That was more along the lines of thoroughly annoyed with myself. Why? Well let me tell you what a stupid head I've been. ALL WEEK.On Sunday, I did my grocery shopping. I knew the ground beef I bought wasn't needed til Thursday and Monday was the "sell by" date. I should have put it in the freezer until Wednesday, but I didn't. I also had some Philadelphia Cooking Creme that this new recipe for stuffed shells uses. When I was putting things away, I needed to stack items, because the refrigerator was getting full. All week long, the refrigerator thermometer was reading between 40 and 50 degrees, no matter how high we set the temperature control, and it was running almost constantly--and yet this whole time the freezer was at at zero degrees without issue. T was getting annoyed because it had been working fine until it suddenly wasn't, and our new appliances are barely a month old. When I went to start dinner yesterday, the ground beef, which was already pushing it by not being frozen until needed, was looking...not good. Because it had been in a 50-degree refrigerator at times, I refused to take chances with it. I tossed it and asked T to go over to Publix for some fresh meat. (1. I am annoyed with myself for wasting a pound of perfectly good meat, throwing $5 in the trash and spending additional money. While the $10 is not making or breaking anyone's bank account here, it just irritates me in principle.) While he is at the store, I finish prepping for my meal as best I can, while waiting for the ground beef replacement. I take the Cooking Creme--creamy pesto flavor--out of the refrigerator...and it is FROZEN. Now I am confused because how on earth is the entire refrigerator running warm, the ricotta I also took from that same shelf is the proper consistency, and this stuff is rock solid?! I open the refrigerator to check the other contents of that shelf--yogurt, sour cream, another container of cooking creme which had been buy-one-get-one--and they are all fine. And then I see it. When I stacked the items on Sunday? I had BLOCKED THE VENT that cools the refrigerator. The only thing getting blasted with constant cold air was the offending item, while the rest struggled to keep cool and the refrigerator worked its butt off. (2. Now I am additionally annoyed because I have wasted MORE money. I had to toss a $3 container of cooking creme, because cream cheese is a yucky consistency after freezing and thawing. I also wasted whatever dollars it took for the refrigerator to run nearly non-stop Sunday through Thursday.) I sigh at myself and improvise with the other cooking creme, which is Savory Garlic flavor. (3. I am disappointed because I was really looking forward to the Creamy Pesto flavor.) T comes back with the ground beef, I tell him about my refrigerator theory and the cooking creme, and I carry on with my dinner preparations. I finish dinner and start eating...and then realize I forgot to use the baby spinach I wanted to use up before it spoiled. It wasn't part of the recipe, but I had it from something else and I hate wasting food if I don't have to. (4. And now I am annoyed that I have to toss this spinach which really can't wait any longer. Normally wouldn't have bothered me *too* much, but I felt like I spent dinner preparations just tossing money in the garbage disposal.) Just slap a big L for loser on my forehead. Oh and the refrigerator? Running perfectly again. I am embarrassed, because I know better.

** I had grand plans to go to Animal Kingdom this weekend. I like to see the animals before the Summer heat is full force and they get all lazy and sleepy. In full defiance of my plan, Mother Nature has cranked up the heat to the upper 80s, and it's going to rain both days this weekend. Hmph.

** I am ridiculously happy with the paper products being made for the wedding. They amuse me. They make me smile. They are coming out exactly as I pictured them. The person I am working with on Etsy has been a dream!

** On the wedding front, I ordered the first pair of shoes I am considering for the wedding. They are due to arrive any day now. And if I don't like them for any reason? Zappos has a 365-day return policy (provided you have the box and the shoes are in new condition) and free shipping. Both. Ways. I can't go wrong with that, right??

** Today marks the one-year anniversary of my surgery. I am stunned that it has been an entire year. And I still like my scars, faded though they be.

** I have been lax about having delicious candles burning since we moved.  I have no excuse. I know where the candles are, and I have quite an arsenal of seasonally-appropriate scents from which to select. Truth be told, none of them can compete with windows thrown wide open to welcome the perfume of orange blossoms, but sadly, their time is coming to a close. I need to break into my stash of Spring candles soon. And on the topic of Spring, I need to do something about the banner on this blog. The snowflakes are not only stale, but they are not even the correct season!

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