How Are Your Wrapping Skills?

This past year I was blessed to have had opportunities to volunteer at a couple of wonderful charities and community centers. 

There are many benefits to volunteering:

1)    You meet the most courageous people.

2)    It reminds you to count your blessings.

3)    It makes you see just how small you are in this big, big world.

4)    You make a difference in the lives of others (even if it’s just one person.)

5)    It feels AMAZING!

If you’re unable to donate money (like me ;) ), you can still donate your time and give of your heart to help give people back their humanity.  I’m talking about the basics here - food and shelter.  You can find a local food bank in your community and ask them if you can help in any way.  Don’t put limits on how you can help.  If you can help serve food, mop the floors, separate the bulk food, etc., do it.  Go into it with an open mind and open heart.  I promise you, you will grow as a human being.  

Especially now that the holiday season is upon us, and so many people are struggling financially, kindness is of the utmost importance. 

On to the my wrapping skills…  I was very excited to hear about volunteer opportunities at Shelter Our Sisters.  Shelter Our Sisters is a New Jersey based organization that helps women and children who are the victims of domestic violence.  There are multiple ways you can help, but I have chosen to volunteer in their holiday gift-wrapping fundraiser.  I’ll be wrapping presents for patrons at a mall for a couple of hours and all donations will go directly to the women and children at Shelter Our Sisters.  Hopefully, they will donate before they see the finished product.  It’s been a while since I’ve wrapped a present that had to look pretty.

The dates, times and locations are listed on their website, along with other ways to help.  (Please note: I HATE dislike malls!  If I can do this, anyone could!) 

Don't get me wrong, I love my iPod, couldn’t survive without my GPS, am rather fond of my DVD player, and would do illegal things to someone if they damaged my laptop!  The bottom line is, life is about people.  It's true that here are some stinky people out there, but, I've learned that most people have the best of intentions and are inherently good.  

Reach out this holiday season.  Smile at a stranger.  Help an elderly person carry their groceries.  All that good stuff. 

You never know what someone is going through…  kindness is contagious!  

How does a vegetarian spend Thanksgiving?

I officially became a vegetarian on October 20^th of this year, and, so, have just experienced my very first Thanksgiving without eating turkey.  It was strange.  There sat the turkey just to the right of the candied sweet potatoes, looking shiny and golden.  Turkey with gravy or cranberry sauce has always been one of my favorite meals.  It felt odd to not miss eating it, although I did miss the feeling of tradition.  I guess as I learn more about being a vegetarian, I need to begin my own traditions.  Any ideas?

It has been a difficult year!  I tried hard to think about what I was thankful for.

Here are a few things I came up with besides my family and friends:

Ø    My father making it through all four surgeries and slowing making his way back.

Ø    Bella’s (my golden retriever) seizures/anxiety attacks finally being under control

Ø    Flavored coffee

Ø    A roof over my head

Ø    Fantastic writers/books

Ø    My library

Did I mention it has been a REALLY difficult year?  I’ll be happy to say goodbye to 2010!

Tonight's dinner was on the healthier side.  

Grilled veggies included broccoli, eggplant and carrots with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Bottom tray had sweet potato and parsnip fries sprinkled with cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and cloves.  

Veggies were eh..  fries were delicious.  Baked both at 400 degrees for 40 minutes but I think the carrots needed more time. 

Also made some grilled tofu with honey.

First I wrapped the tofu in a paper towel and pressed between two dishes to get out the excess liquid.  You can use anything with a little weight to it to help squeeze out as much liquid as possible.   Then I put it on my George Foreman grill for 10 minutes.  I love my GF grill!  Yum!

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving.  Gobble, Gobble!

Sad News...

Saturday night I noticed that my guinea pig, Lovey (aka LoveBug), hadn't eaten her tomatoes and carrots.  I was immediately concerned because she would normally munch up all her veggies and then squeak for more.  I took all the veggies out just incase she decided to eat them and they started to go bad.  Then yesterday she didn't eat her veggies again and was really mushy.  I tried feeding her with a syringe (I happen to have it from the last time she got sick and I had to use it to feed her.)  I mixed this green superfood powder I have with a little bit of water and put tang in her drinking water and fed her as much as I could of both.  Sadly, this didn't help...
Today my heart is heavy as I say goodbye to Lovey.  She was almost 7 years old and gave me a lot of joy with her sweeter than sweet disposition and little miss diva attitude.

Lovey is on the left .  She looked like an Oreo with her black face and booty and white body.  Taz is on the right.  He passed away about 5 years ago.

My two girls.  Here is Lovey lying on the bed with my golden retriever, Bella.  See what I mean by Lovey looking like an Oreo?  A double stuffed Orea, at that.

Rest in peace, Lovey.  You will be missed.  

True Love & National Novel Writing Month

We have all read a book or watched a movie that had two characters that were destined for each other.  Soul mates.  How many times have we witnessed it in real life?  I’ve always known that my mother and father loved each other but the last three weeks have touched my heart.  My father has been in the hospital for three weeks, and still is, and my mother has not left his side unless she was forced to.  This is nothing new.  He has been in the hospital before and she always stood by his side.  This time around though, I saw a deeper level of their love.  The worry and concern and tenderness on my mother’s face, the tears she cried when having to leave him, all hit me right in the face.  They made their 53^rd wedding anniversary last week and they are just as in love as ever.  If this doesn’t make me believe in true love, I don’t know what would.

On to a pressing matter… tomorrow is the first day of NANO!  Start your engines folks, this is going to be a wild ride!  Due to the craziness with family issues the last three weeks, I haven’t been able to do as much prep work for NANO this year.  Yikes.  I’m so glad I was able to recruit another writer to join in with the craziness.  Author Anna Dawes saw my blog about NANO and has decided to give it a shot.  Good luck Anna!  You can do it!  Check out her neat blog.

Good luck to all those participating in National Novel Writing Month.  Visit me on their website, we can cheer each other on! 

NANO is Only One Month Away!

2010 has just been disappearing!  Poof! Nine months gone, just like that.  However, this is my favorite time of year and I'm welcoming it with open arms.  One of the many lovely things about this time of year, other than the leaves changing colors, scary movies and pumpkin spice coffee, is National Novel Writing Month.  NaNoWriMo is for insane writers who crave less sleep, piles of dirty dishes and endure no clean underwear, in their quest to write 50,000 words in 30 days.  It's fantabulous!  I've participated in Nano for five years now but have only hit 50,000 words ONE TIME (2008)!  I am "positively, absolutely, undeniably and reliably," going to win this year.  I'll be sure one of my many coffee mugs is filled endlessly with my favorite coffees (i.e. pumpkin spice, vanilla bean, hazelnut - yum, yum, yum.)  SO, herein lies my dilemma...  As just mentioned, I have a lot of mugs.  Too many, I'm sure.  It's a small addiction, one in which I am not willing to give up just yet. 

The amazing people at NaNoWriMo.org have just posted new products and one of them is an adorable diner mug.
Take a look-see:

I SO want to buy this mug!  I SO don't need it!  Although, it's not like it won't get used, often.  In November I'd use it every day.  But if I buy it, I will only be feeding into my addiction and making even less space on my mug shelf.  What to do?  What to do?  


Stay tuned to find out who wins the battle, me or... me. ;)

Apple Picking & Carnivals

Yesterday was a long day, long and lovely.  Started off with the breakfast of champions (pancakes, courtesy of my mom) with my 8 yo niece.  The two of us then set out for a music filled two-hour drive to Ochs Orchard in Warwick, NY. http://www.ochsorchard.net/   I’ve only been apple picking once before, a very long time ago, and don’t really remember much about the place, and so, don’t have much in which to compare.  With that said, Ochs seemed… OK.  The pumpkin patch was cute but most of the pumpkins were small.  The gravel road to get to the store and orchard was long and quite narrow in parts.  All of the workers were nice and friendly.  The best part of visiting Ochs was the lesson in humanity.  I was reminded that there are good people in this world, when a lovely Asian family, who barely spoke English, shared the strawberries they had just picked with us.  The woman opened my hand and put a napkin filled with strawberries in it.  I was touched by their generosity and kindness and that inspired me to share with the next family we passed.  We all got to enjoy sweet strawberries and a smile.

Once we picked our apples and pumpkin, we set out to find Heaven Hill Farm in Vernon, NJ, which is only five miles from Ochs Orchard.  http://www.heavenhillfarm.com/   This place was lots of fun!  My niece had a blast going on all the rides and watching the pig race.  All of the pigs had names that played off famous people like, my niece’s favorite, Taylor Ham.   We saw horses and goats, baby ducks and baby chicks.  They also had face painting and sand art, as well as a big Halloween store and tons of pumpkins.  Giant pumpkins!  If you have little ones in your life, I would recommend visiting Heaven Hill Farm. 

Switching Gears

I’ve just finished a full read through of my paranormal romance WIP. I cut a bunch of stuff and realized just how much work it still needs. I need to add characters and figure out the ending. I know most people probably finish their novels before giving them a read through, however, I was and am struggling with this story and needed to re-read it before I did any more work on it because I was STUCK!

Instead of trying to figure it all out, I think I am going to switch gears.  I'm going to put my paranormal romance aside and let it percolate for a bit and work on another story. I have a plot idea, (which is SO different than anything I’ve ever written before) that I really want to explore. It’s not a mystery or a paranormal. It might fall under the Heart & Home category for Harlequin. It’s about family and love. Very different for me! I don’t have any characters living in my head yet (ok, maybe one, but she’s not a major character.  I don't think...) This plot is literally two days old, but I feel compelled to explore it and see where it may travel. Maybe switching gears will help jog my brain and I’ll be able to figure out what’s happening with my paranormal story?

Now, if only the characters would come and introduce themselves. ;-)

Finding Your Courage

Here’s the thing about writing... you can’t do it without emotion. 

Well, you could, but it would be flat and boring and un-relatable.  And, what would be the point then, really?

No, emotion is the critical point of writing.  It IS the writing.  Characters pull emotions from the reader via their actions.  As each scene, whether it’s a description of a beat up old orange couch with kitty marks and soda stains or two characters shooting the breeze or maybe spilling their souls to each other, pulls emotion from the reader.  The reader begins the story, any story, looking for an emotion.  They want to feel.  They want to be grossed out by the soda-stained couch, ease drop on someone’s conversation and feel their heart break when a love is lost.  They want to get lost in someone else’s world and forget their own for a small moment in time.

The writer, however, must feel that emotion first before they can get it down on paper and breath life into their story.  What happens when you, as the writer, do not want to feel any emotions?  What if someone you care for is not well and you are sad and frightened and are unable to face those emotions?  What if being in touch with your emotions is the very last thing you want or can handle?  What if facing those emotions through your writing makes the last thread of composure you were holding onto, slip right through your fingers?

But, what if, you face them?   They break you?  They envelop you and send you crawling into your bed and under the covers shooing everyone away? 

What if, when you push those covers off your head, you rediscover that thin, pathetic, resilient thread and there are a few more hanging out with it? 

Before a reader can laugh, cry, scream or get lost, the writer must find their courage to do so first.

Carbon Monoxide

If you don't have carbon monoxide detectors in your home, I urge you to go the store right now and buy one!  Carbon monoxide is a silent, odorless killer.  We have two CO detectors in my house and they both went off resulting in a visit from the Fire Department.  As it turned out, we had high levels of CO in our basement.  We all had to sit outside while they used fans to air out our house.  The culprit was our water heater and that was replaced two days later.  If we did not have the CO detectors, we may not be here right now.  A few bucks for something that could save your life and the lives of the people you love.

Pyometra

Sometimes life just gets in your way, steps into your path with flailing arms, screaming, and you can't ignore it.

Please forgive my absence.

I feel strongly about sharing something with all pet owners out there. My 9 year old female golden retriever, Bella, started to have trouble with her back legs but since she had started blood pressure and seizure meds only a few months prior, I attributed it to her body handling and adjusting to the medication. I also attributed her mushiness to the meds. One night she didn't eat her dinner, one night turned into two and warning bells went off. I made an appointment with my vet for that coming Saturday. The night before the appointment she had an accident in the house, something she hasn't done since she was house broken as a puppy. I had a bad feeling. My vet, who is fantastic, examined her and said he believed Bella had something called Pyometra. To make things harder, it was Memorial Day Weekend. My vet sent me straight to NJ, where they were staffed to handle emergency surgery. The vet in NJ took Bella into surgery right away. She was officially diagnosed with closed Pyometra. Her uterus was so full of pus; it could've burst at any moment. Horrible, scary! To say I am grateful we made it in time, just doesn't even come close to covering the truth of my heart. It's been a month now and she is doing great. Her nine-inch booboo is healing nicely and she's back to her old silly, funny, sweet, demanding self.

Pyometra is an infection in the uterus. If your pet is not spayed, they could fall prey to this disease. There are two types of Pyometra, open and closed. The closed type has no symptoms! This disease is sudden and if left untreated, deadly. Ask your vet about it, do some research and get the facts!

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_pyometra.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyometra