A gift from today's e-mail:
Some words to live by, or at least think about.
Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, of the Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio.
"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons
life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written.”
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick.. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath it calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, and wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, and then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come...
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.
=========================================
Ordinarily, I would have deleted any of these that have to do with God since my (lack of) belief in and relationship with a supreme, divine power normally prevents me from putting him/her/it forth. But after reading #32, I decided to leave them in. Do with them what you will.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
I'm getting fat!
Latest installment in the cookie baking going on at my home. Two more recipes today.
The ones on the left are Willow's delicious cranberry-walnut shortbread cookies. I am not a fan of shortbread but SWMBO is so I passed Willow's recipe on to her. She made them. We BOTH love them.
The ones on the right are Lemon Pepper Cornmeal cookies. They are also delicious, with a taste of lemon and an aftertaste of black pepper. Amazing test sensations.
Take a closer look.
I know. I know. You're probably getting tired of all this. But think about me! My waistline is beginning to look like Mario Batali's! Ooooohhhh, but they're so goooood!!!
The ones on the left are Willow's delicious cranberry-walnut shortbread cookies. I am not a fan of shortbread but SWMBO is so I passed Willow's recipe on to her. She made them. We BOTH love them.
The ones on the right are Lemon Pepper Cornmeal cookies. They are also delicious, with a taste of lemon and an aftertaste of black pepper. Amazing test sensations.
Take a closer look.
I know. I know. You're probably getting tired of all this. But think about me! My waistline is beginning to look like Mario Batali's! Ooooohhhh, but they're so goooood!!!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Me and the Duke
I was reading an e-mail from a friend today and she mentioned something about John Wayne. Whenever I hear his name, it takes me back to a day in the 1970's when I was a television news reporter in Phoenix, Arizona. To make a long story very short, I wangled (you can look it up, it's in the fictionary) an interview with Wayne on the back patio of his home in Newport Beach, California.
I always said the caption on this picture should be "Isn't it about time for you to get the hell out of here, young fellah?"
Actually Wayne could not have been a nicer guy. He had been in the hospital a short time before and he died not too long after this interview. But on that day, he was fantastic. He treated us well, took a great interest in my photographer's camera, took us inside to show us his huge projection cameras in his screening room, let us fondle his Oscar for True Grit, told us what he thought Richard Nixon should have done with the tapes, and shared a few "inside" stories about his co-stars. He was a great guy and he even seemed sad to see us leave. In a 30 year career in radio and television, I have always maintained this was the highlight.
The Duke. I think we all miss him.
I always said the caption on this picture should be "Isn't it about time for you to get the hell out of here, young fellah?"
Actually Wayne could not have been a nicer guy. He had been in the hospital a short time before and he died not too long after this interview. But on that day, he was fantastic. He treated us well, took a great interest in my photographer's camera, took us inside to show us his huge projection cameras in his screening room, let us fondle his Oscar for True Grit, told us what he thought Richard Nixon should have done with the tapes, and shared a few "inside" stories about his co-stars. He was a great guy and he even seemed sad to see us leave. In a 30 year career in radio and television, I have always maintained this was the highlight.
The Duke. I think we all miss him.
Monday, December 6, 2010
More cookies!!!
Yes, SWMBO has been imbued with the holiday spirit of late. This dish should have been filled with these apricot/pecan pinwheels but I've been devouring them like a starving man.
Yummy!
(If you double-click the photo you can almost taste them!)
Hoopin'
As gawd is my witness, I read about this video in the Sunday New York Times. What to do when you're bored out of your mind. (And you have a bodyguard close at hand.) Enjoy!
Saturday, December 4, 2010
The softening of Scrooge Catalyst
After my annual Christmas screed last night, I got one of the longest e-mails I've ever received from the BRD. And it was one of the sweetest. She remembered many happy things that happened to her on Christmases during her childhood. One of her fondest stories was about the year she circled several items in "the Christmas catalog" that she'd like to get but did not mark the doll she really wanted because she knew it was too expensive. Nevertheless, when the presents were opened on Christmas morning, there for her was the doll. She was amazed and extremely grateful. But, she said, she was so nervous about it's beauty that she never took it out of its box to play with. She would look at it, occasionally straighten it's dress, but she kept it prim and pristine for over 20 years! She finally gave it to her younger sister to give to her first daughter when she got old enough to appreciate it. Now that's a Christmas story to melt any old Grinch's heart.
And to compound it, SWMBO and I were talking about it and she said the same exact thing happened to her when she was a girl. Her mother later told her when it arrived in the mail she knew it was a mistake because there was no way they could afford it. She had a serious moral dilemma that she fought over in her mind for days. She resolved . . . and this is a woman who had a somewhat casual relationship with religious belief . . . by determining that the doll had come for her daughter by divine intervention. Well! What can I say?
What I had forgotten when I was garrumphing (you can look it up, it's in the fictionary) was all the Christmas goodies. And today that started, with SWMBO's first Christmas cookies coming out of the oven.
Needless to say, they're delicious.
Man, I love the holidays!
And to compound it, SWMBO and I were talking about it and she said the same exact thing happened to her when she was a girl. Her mother later told her when it arrived in the mail she knew it was a mistake because there was no way they could afford it. She had a serious moral dilemma that she fought over in her mind for days. She resolved . . . and this is a woman who had a somewhat casual relationship with religious belief . . . by determining that the doll had come for her daughter by divine intervention. Well! What can I say?
What I had forgotten when I was garrumphing (you can look it up, it's in the fictionary) was all the Christmas goodies. And today that started, with SWMBO's first Christmas cookies coming out of the oven.
Needless to say, they're delicious.
Man, I love the holidays!
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