A few pictures

I have taken a ton of awesome photos lately and I have barely done a thing with them.

So in order to rectify that wrong I will begin by putting a few here.  These are just a few, as I MUST WALK!!!

I just have the need to put these out!  My joy has mostly returned, people!  whew!

More pix and explanations to come!  :)  And a bit more joy.

Ups and Downs

Life is full of ups and downs, isn't it?  I always forget that when I have a couple week long up time, that I am in for a crash.....  There is always some minor thing that triggers it, but it is like my release valve has to be tripped.

My giddy summer is coming to an end.  My happy time of exercise, eating too much, frolicking where I want, traveling here and there and blissful peace is at a halt.  I am staring another school year in the face  and my brain is beginning the transition.  It is not a peaceful or easy change......  it is troubling, it is difficult and you who do not know me, you who are not teachers, you who are not free spirits should not judge.  Don't tell me about my summer "off", do  not insult me with your- Oh it was bound to end.

I have the need to decompress, to eat chocolate and sit and sulk and I will feel better tomorrow

Except for the 10 pounds.....

I really feel like crying

I have not exercised for a few days, for reasons somewhat out of my control, I have not eaten badly, but I have not eaten real well.  I had a great weekend, but I am always under a lot of pressure, external and internal.  People disappoint me, surprise me, and break my heart.  I sometimes feel trapped and I need to hide or run.

So, if you don't like unhappy posts, sorry

I am not thrilled with them either.

where is my joy today?

Momentarily paralyzed

I am facing a short term crisis,  of course of my own doing.

My house is about to be resided.  I have known about this for a while.  I need to move stuff away from the walls outside, move things from next to a window that will be removed, things need to be rearranged and set for this. I have almost nothing done, and I still have to go get some cash, groceries for the MA and yeah.... pack.  So WHY am I blogging about it??  Because when I am suddenly overwhelmed, I avoid things.  Which is just this side of insane.  And I have the urge to eat chocolate, bagels and anything else that I can find.  Plus play mindless games on facebook, but at least I am not doing that right now.  And I really want to rearrange my closet, too.

I am traveling to see my son, daughterinlaw, GRANDGIRL, and my mom.  My sister will be coming too, so this is a big old win for me.  And there could be shopping.....

UGH.  I have to go now, as I have about a million more trips up the stairs to do and go to town and pack.  Now why isn't this done already???  Oh right- I went to Madison for the day on Saturday and spent Sunday recovering from that trip, and another stressful thing that I just won't go into.

Ok, now that I have identified this problem, and I have talked myself out of a chocolate covered bagel I will drink a big glass of water and continue on my moving and rearranging and packing.  Yeah, I better get moving.

I'm hoping to find some joy later in the day!

Happy birthday Jon!

Happy HAPPY Birthday to my joyful oldest baby boy!

Don't worry honey, 31 really isn't all that bad!  :)

sorry for the poor photo quality- picture of a picture...

What a joy to raise this boy!  

Raw Pad Thai Salad

I must say that the look of this was what attracted me.  I am a sucker for bright colors!!  :)  I came across this wonderful recipe at "Oh She Glows" and it is great!!  Pretty pretty!!

I loved the whole julienne with a device idea that she discusses there, so I found a nice little tool that will do that..... and yes I bought a kitchen item for use in one recipe!!  I will use this again!  :) 

 Safety note!! Keep things on your cutting board, don't hold the veg in your hand......  just trust me on that!

Basically, you shred, julienne or slice very thinly zucchini, peppers, carrots, onion (not shown) and cabbage.  Add some edamame and then make the dressing......

  

I used my fake "Magic Bullet" as I only had crunchy peanut butter, though I am not convinced that chunks of peanuts or almonds would not be awesome. And of course I was in a hurry and forgot to take a pic of the dressing ingredients and/or finished dressing .... 

There are also a number of things I will change next time:

1. a little salt would have been good I think.....
2. some kick of heat- cayenne, pepper flakes, sriachi sauce, something just for a tiny bit of spicy
3. I will replace the water with a couple tablespoons of light coconut milk.
4. Either add some chopped peanuts or almonds or not "blend" the chunks out of the crunchy peanut butter and almond butter that I used.

It was so crunchy and light, but very satisfying.  Wonderful summer side or a meal the next day!  :)

 Rainbow Raw Pad Thai

Yield: 2 large servings (this is also really heavy on the dressing- pour with discretion)

• 1 medium zucchini, julienned
• 2 large carrots, julienned
• 1 red pepper, thinly sliced- I used tiny cute lil peppers
• 1 cup thinly sliced red cabbage
• 3/4 cup frozen edamame, thawed
• 1/2 white onion- thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon hemp seeds** and/or a teaspoon of sesame seed
• Optional topping of chopped nuts of your choice

For the dressing 

• 1 garlic clove
• 1/4 cup (creamy or chunky) natural peanut butter and/or almond butter ( I used half pb and half almond)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium tamari
• 2 tablespoons water  -- definitely consider coconut milk
• 2.5 teaspoons pure maple syrup (or other sweetener)
• 1/2 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger (I used more like a tablespoon)
• **cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes or some sort of hot sauce for heat

1. Prep vegetables. Add the zucchini, carrots, pepper, and cabbage into large bowl. Add edamame and onion.  Toss

2. Prepare the dressing by processing all dressing ingredients in a mini blender or a whisk. The blender will smooth out the dressing.  I am thinking nut pieces would be nice. Pour over veg and toss.  Add only 2/3 - 3/4 dressing at first.  A lot of water will be released by the zucchini in a short time.

3. Top bowl with  hemp and sesame seeds, and chopped peanuts, cashews or almonds perhaps??  Enjoy!

**note about Hemp seeds- these thing are so tasty!  And are protein packed- worth finding and trying in all sorts of things.  I put it on my cereal with blueberries sometimes........  YUM


You will definitely find some joy in this one!

And another week begins...... ready.......... GO

Apostle Islands and/or Bayfield AGAIN this week???  I should think so!!

So here in Park Falls, once Flambeau-rama has ended so has summer as far as the locals are concerned.  These lovely people up here really need to be more positive.  This is one of the times that I still don't consider myself a local, even though I have lived here longer than I care to admit.  Now don't get me wrong, I like living here most of the time.  Hey, no place is perfect, right?! But this whole "well,  once you hit Flambeaurama, the summer is about done." mentality drives me just a little nuts.  It is only the 5th of August for pity sakes.  And then they ALL start talking about the "S" word.  Talk about joy stealing, sheesh.

So my week-

The first thing I really need to do is sweep up all the dog hair, sand and grass off the floors from the weekend.  Shove the dear MA out the door, and get at that!  He actually took most of Friday off (shockeroo) and so there is even more of said flotsam and jetsam than usual...... well, I imagine the doggies could have had something to do with it as well.

I get to continue my birthday JOY and have lunch with my partner in tattoos- Nettie- then hit ye old gym.  NEW program there, headed towards even more heavy lifting!  :)  Ah life is good.  I had planned to walk this morning, but it was raining, which was a great thing. We NEED a bit of rain, now.  So I will do that later!

I do need to start moving some things around- soon- as my house is about to undergo a major transformation: siding!!  Mostly, I have to figure out where to stash my mosaic materials for the time being.  I hate to put it away away, but it will need to be moved for the event.  Plus there are a couple interior walls that need to be addressed a new window, a new door on the side......  a few things.  Plus finding a new frig (long story) and  few other internet searches are needed to find just the right house and garden shed items.

One of the days this week will involve a trip up to Bayfield again to get  raspberries!  Oh that will be so sad to go up to that gorgeous location and we might be FORCED to eat breakfast at Coco's again......  It'll be hard, but we will muscle through!

Wednesday will find me involved in an S word activity- I have to go through mentor training up in Ashland.  We have quite a few new staff members this year, and they need mentors from experienced staff, sooooooo  we have to be officially trained.  Really though, they just need someone to help them with our Infinite Campus and to bring them treats in about February when you want to simply fly to Florida for the day (Adam: we DO need to do that) or lock your door and not allow the students to enter.  But, I'll go to Ashland with my favorite Mad-Science Teacher EVER, have some coffee at the Black Cat and enjoy lunch somewhere cool.  Yes, I think I will!!

Later in the week there is a potential trip to Madison for the farmer's market (bahahaha) and just some general weeding, art work, possible cooking, lots of exercise and any other thing that might happen.  It is after all summer and you never know what might crop up!  Let the joy continue!

I can also feel a photo blog post, as I have not published too many lately..... and you KNOW I have them.  I just haven't edited them all.

Alrightie, I need to get on with this day- I want to try and jam as much summer into the following weeks of summer as I can manage!  It is the joyful thing to do!


Until next time- Be a JOY GIVER!!!


Vocabulary list for the day:

Flambeau-rama:  Local celebration that lasts the better part of a week, always involving the first FULL weekend of August.  Beer is consumed, parades will be seen. Children (and their dogs) come to stay for the weekend.  That's all you need to know.

S word:  I think we all know what that means......

Joy stealer: Anyone who wants to suck the joy out of another's life, whether a conscious or unconscious effort is involved.  These people are generally best avoided.  But some are definitely worth the effort to rehab!

Bayfield and Ashland: Desirable destinations on Lake Superior that have great coffee, great food and LOTS of photo ops for those of us with a photography fixation.

Sarcasm:  Sarcasm- the habit of saying one thing - frequently said or written with an evil, malicious grin- but meaning the opposite.  The Mad-Art teacher has been known to occasionally indulge in this sort of behavior!  Sarcasm is implied not pointed out! So  you won't find that word in the text above, but it is implied and it is NOT the S word, which if you don't know what it is yet, then you are just beyond my help and probably need to go back to sc.......  oh, never mind.

Joy giver: anyone who -  has a smile for you anytime, will text or email you randomly and frequently,  has a positive word of encouragement, likes life and the people around them, do not seek to bring up every negative thing happening in the community, state, nation and world with the express intent of trying to convince you that life and people suck...... because it and they don't.  At least not in my world!!  :) Joy givers can be found everywhere and occasionally will have bad days.....  so don't worry.

It truly was a Happy Birthday

Birthdays traditionally are all about you!  About getting gifts, about remembering the past, about eating cake, being treated like a special person, about doing what you want to do!  And while I did a bit of this today (yeah, I know I did a bit of this for the last 2 months) I really want to mention the fact that it really should be a day of counting your blessings.

It struck me in the afternoon when I finally got back home from my lunch/massage/eye appt. that I am indeed pretty lucky.  Of course the MA tells me this all the time- and of course he is referring to himself, the comedian that he is- but I mean it in a much more holistic way I suppose.  I checked facebook and I was blown away by the number of people that wished me a happy birthday, there.  It ended up being well over 100, which is an astonishing thing!!  It could mean that I have been yakking on and on about birthday month for so long that people are thinking: thank God that's over, it could mean that facebook reminder is really an effective Happy Birthday giving tool, but I really think that I am so lucky I know such a fantastic group of people!

Besides that, I received text messages, tweets, instant messages and even a few emails, not to mention the actual people and phone calls and even a drive by stop and hug while I was walking!!  THAT is when I really stopped to smell the proverbial roses.  I had my sister and niece with me in the morning, which was the culmination of a spectacular few days with them, lunch with the hubs, a fantastic massage, visited the farmers market, where I ran into one of my best and dearest friends who I haven't seen all summer, saw another bestie at the library, got unexpected hugs and even kisses,and just generally communicated with a lot of people! During the remainder of my walk, I was thinking about all of you!  I have wonderful, supportive people in my life- people from all different places.  And I am in awe at the differences in their origins, personalities, strengths, and lives.  I have quiet friends, raucous and rowdy friends, photographer friends, fitness friends, former students, fellow loseit users, local town people, family members, fellow artists- people who are shy, noisy, fearless, happy, depressed, going through major life changes- including a major illness,  enjoying an equilibrium, brilliant, artsy, and/or extremely logical and "businessy".  And I haven't even touched on my family members.....  who need their own post, really.  ALL of you have made my life better in so many ways and I can't seem to find a good way to tell you how lucky I really am to have you in my life.

I know this is a bit sappy, but I don't care.  You should definitely know that about me by now.  I had a day that was full of joy and love and friendship and even a little tiny bit of sad. Which to me pointed out how really unimportant that cake and a bunch of gifts and even parties and things like that really are.  Because I know that I could seek out and find, or talk to all 100 plus of  you who wished me that Happy Birthday yesterday.  And that communication, that connection is incredibly amazing.

And it gives me so much joy!!  And I hope I return even a small amount of joy to you as well.

From my heart to yours- Enjoy that birthday month when it comes, everyone, use that time to count your blessings and enjoy your friends and family. Whether it is 100 or whether it is 10 makes no difference- because they are what is truly important.