K Is For Kale, Kiwi, Kiefer---Anything But Cuties!

Today was the first day back to work after a wonderful Spring Break. During that time I must have hiked about 20 miles with my dog, blogged about 30 more hours, watched catch-up TV for 10 hours, had a wonderful Easter Dinner and generally had a great time! (I'm a lover of simple things)

Today the life-after-break avalanche that was waiting to happen let loose. I got buried by it . I left home at 7 am and returned 11 hours later, after work having done errands with son J, including getting his driving permit, shopping, and battling commute traffic back home. Just the everyday grind. But I love doing mom things, so this wasn't a bad thing.
Except for one item---my food choices.  I didn't plan well. I went too light in the early part of the day because I was rushed and didn't bring enough nutritious food. I skipped the vending machines because I was trying to be good. But 3 o'clock rolled around and I was a little starved (OK, a lot starved). When we went into the grocery store, I wigged out. If I had been smart I would have stuck with some great foods like:
Smoothie Made With Kiefer

Maybe a Kale & Kidney Bean Salad

Perhaps a few Kiwi's 

I would have been in great form having any of these great choices. And if I had planned right, I could have.  But by the time I got to the store, I was pretty ravenous. The thing that caught my eye was this box in the freezer section.

Cuties

Yeah, of all the things I could have picked, it was this. Notice that there are 8 per package. Each has 130 calories and 16 grams of sugar. Guess how many I ate? Just 7. That's all, just 7. Epic Fail for sure! Any of the K foods would have been so much better and better tasting too! But a person who is too hungry doesn't think reasonably. How silly of me! Cuties doesn't even start with K!

Lesson learned. It's one I've had to learn and re-learn many many times. When will it end? 

What is a crazy food choice you've made when you've been super hungry?

J is For Jenner #AToZChallenge

I am sad to say that oftimes I am late to post. I get distracted by all of the offerings out there, including participating A To Z Challenge blogs like Brits In The USA, Shells Tales & Sails and Albom Adventures. Today I was thoroughly distracted by different snippets of video. One of those was a sneak peak of  an upcoming event. It seems that Bruce Jenner is going to do an in-depth interview with a major news organization on April 24th about this and that. But it's apparent that he's going to talk about his on-going sex change.

 
In 1976, he was "twirling the nation like a baton, so high up on a pedestal that it would take a crane to get him down," said Tony Kornheiser. He had just won the Olympic Gold Medal in the decathlon and done it in rousing fashion, breaking his own world record! He was mega-famous, even making it on the elusive Wheaties Box!

photo credit

But sadly, we may be saying good-bye to him forever. He's changing into a woman. I'm sure it will be a huge event, this interview. What will he say? What will he reveal? 

Of course, he will be changing his name at some point. So no longer will we have a Bruce Jenner, who is male. We will have a female. 

There are many people who are wondering what her name will be. I have a suggestion--what about Brunehilde!
It's really close to Bruce, the closest I have seen. And the story behind the name I imagine to be quite fitting! Legend has it that Brunehilde was a beautiful Amazon-like princess and vows to marry only a man of the most outstanding qualities and one that can surpass her in strength. One problem, she always had to wear a viking hat, pretty much mandatory if you have the name Brunehilde!

I can imagine Bruce Jenner's female self to be like this Brunehilde. She can't just end up with anyone. Naturally, she would only be happy with someone who has the same outstanding athletic qualities and the same noteriety and fame. But maybe that is the tragedy. Maybe there is no one that can ever make this legend truly happy...and so this is why the search is continuing, just in different form.

I Is For Insightful and Inciteful #AToZChallenge

Insightful - To show deep understanding and thoughtfulness of something
Inciteful - To instigate or rouse anger, provoke action.

When I think of the word insightful, I think of the great early heads of state and national government - men like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Thomas Paine, Ben Franklin, and the great John Adams. I think of them laboring for days, trying to craft a document that would stand through the ages. The Constitution has done just that, with our nation coming up on 240 years of independence under that document! They were not thinking of their own immediate futures, but of the distant future of a nation. 

Photo credit - Wikipedia

When I think of the word inciteful I think of the Ferguson protestors. They were angry because of a verdict that was handed down by a Court of Law. They burned buildings, they robbed stores, talked hatred, and eventually shot an officer. In the end, it only exacerbated an already tense situation. A lot of people actually changed their opinions of the verdict because of the crazy and irresponsible behavior of the protesters.

 

Being insightful is a rare and great character trait. Too many people only think of the here and now, not looking into the future and the outcome of actions done today.

Being inciteful is usually done out of frustration and anger. Those who are inciteful are usually very impulsive.  Sometimes the consequences can be disastrous. It is rare when a good outcome is realized. 

What are some examples of insightful and inciteful that you can think of?

H Is For Having Fun! Disc Golf Style #AToZChallenge

Today was the first time I've been out disc golfing this year. It was a gorgeous day! Our usual course is 'Creekside' Park in Holladay, UT. When we travel, we like to golf wherever we go. I can tell you right now that I could never be a pro. I do it because my husband loves it, and it's fun to get out and do something besides "work out." Just enjoying the outdoors and seeing the sights is enough for me. Basically you take a disc similar to a frisbee and throw it in order to land it in a basket. It is scored like golf--with terms like ace, birdee, and par. Below is a shot of a teepad, where you launch your initial drive.

If you are at an official course, there are teepad signs that give you the distance you are throwing, the location of the basket or hole and other pertinent info!

 The baskets are usually waist height, but occasionally you'll run across a taller basket, just to give it some variety! Or maybe I'm just really short...you decide!

Sometimes there are mandatory routes, "mandys", that your disc needs to go through. It makes it a little interesting at times! And there are always those darned trees obstructing the way! But ask any veteran of the game and they'll say they'd rather have a more technical course with obstacles to deal with rather than a wide open field to play.

Many times you have gorgeous views and vistas to, from and on the teepads. Oops, my bad, I happened to get in the way of this view!

 By the time we walked the course and had done the 20 holes, we had walked about 2.5 miles. Pretty good little outing, if I do say so myself! Once in awhile, though, it's nice to have a seat and take a breather!

 Thanks for coming along with us as we played some great disc golf on an absolutely beautiful day!

G Is For Guinnesian #AToZChallenge

If you have the distinct honor of being a Guinnesian, you are indeed in a very select group. You are a Guinness World Record Holder and have been listed in one of their annual almanacs! You'll have to agree that they are an odd lot, many of them having very bizarre talents and abilities!

Using conventional things in unconventional ways:

Building Strange Contraptions:

Serving Record Time In  Curious Occupations:

Eating And Drinking Crazy Things:

Amassing Curious Collections:

 One doesn't need to be human to qualify:

Just Extremely Talented:

Do you think you have what it takes to be a Guinnesian? Here is a list of criteria used to qualify potential candidates!!

1. Measurable - Is it the fastest / longest / heaviest / most?
2. Breakable - Can the record be broken or repeated by someone else?  All our record titles must be open to being challenged.
3. Standardizable -  Can the record title be done universally? For example, it cannot be related to something restricted to a region. 
4. Verifiable - Can the claim be proven? For example, a claim such as ‘the man who never drank water’, can never be verified unless the man spent his whole life from birth under surveillance by a witness.
5. One Variable – We can verify the Largest painting but would not consider the largest painting by the most people.
6. Absolute records not categories - For example, Fastest 100metre sprint but not the fastest 100 metre sprint by a Fireman
7. Universal - The proposal must be something, or about something that is known to the world’s majority. It cannot be too specific / regional.

Thanks to the Guiness Book Of Records Site for the photos. Click on the photo for the link!

F Is For Fajita Moment #AToZChallenge

 Have you heard the expression "She had a 'Fajita Moment'"? It's basically a very embarrassing event, something that usually happens in front of a lot of people. It became an expression when observers noticed shy people ordering fajitas in a restaurant. They become embarrassed when the waiter brings them in. The fajitas generally come with lots of steam emanating from them, lots of plates with extra add-ons, which attracts lots of attention. Shy people don't like attention.

 A Fajita Moment isn't necessarily humorous. It can actually be mortifying at the time. I can think of one such fajita moment. It wasn't so much fun!

As I have stated before, I work at a remedial high school in a self-contained classroom. I was on a field trip with my gang of high school, SpecEd, Mild-Moderate, Self-Contained boys and my 2 other male co-workers. It was toward the end of the school year, in May. The weather was starting to warm up very nicely and fashion diva that I am (not), was wearing knee-length peddle pushers, my first foray into summer attire. My legs are neon white until they get a bit of sun and so I thought I'd be considerate and put a little self-tanner on that morning. I was in a rush, as usual, but thought I had done a fairly thorough job applying it.

Apparently not! As we were walking back to our bus after the activity, I noticed that the tanner hadn't soaked in very well in some spots and was a bit blotchy. I mentioned, casually, that my tanner was rather blotchy to one of my co-workers. He started inspecting my legs and blurted out, "Wow, Helena's blotchy!" I couldn't believe he threw me under the bus like that. Now I had  8 males checking out my less-than-perfect self-tanned legs. Definitely nothing I wanted attention drawn to! Sure enough, they all start making comments like, "Orange you glad it's Friday?" "She may be blotchy, good thing she isn't b*tchy too!" It was humiliating, but I lived through it!

So with that experience and several others in mind, here are my suggestions for getting through a Fajita Moment:

1) Now that everyone's attention is on you, make the most of it. Laugh and smile as if it is the least of your concerns.

2) Is there something you'd like to bring to everyone's attention? Now that you have everyone's attention, it's the perfect time to have the floor. Request a General Pay Raise, more food in the break room, reminder that it's your birthday next week, request your favorite meal, etc. Always have something ready to pull out of your pocket for opportune moments such as this!

3) Create some fun conversation. Divert people's attention from yourself by asking about others' Fajita Moments. Everyone has had one or two and they could prove to be very entertaining!

4) Acknowledge that this was indeed a Fajita Moment and store it in your 'Fajita Moment Story-telling Bank' to draw out for future re-hashing. It may not seem funny now, but later on, it may prove fun to reminisce on. You just need to have it ready to serve up - like a steaming, hot, plate of fajitas!
What Fajita moment comes to mind for you? Care to share?

2 Secrets For Happiness + Motivating Monday

I ran across this familiar happiness formula and decided to think on it more in depth. The first secret says to use things and not people. I feel like we need to qualify that statement. While children are growing and trying to get all of the nourishment, wisdom, and knowledge they can get, they use their parents as much as they can and it's supposed to be that way! For so many reasons. 

It's when that child grows up that we start to run into the problems. I have a friend who swears that her husband didn't get enough love and attention from his mom when he was young because he is so needy, even more so than her own kids. He constantly needs assurance, needs money, needs attention and needs to be right. She feels like she is drained of energy because her husband is unable to give back, emotionally. Hopefully she will be able to help him understand that while it's OK to lean on her, she needs to be able to lean on him too, in order to keep her emotional strength and energy so she can continue to serve her family.

The second secret says to love people and not things...That is true for the most part. What I think it should say, however, is love people MORE than you love things. I think everyone loves a thing or two. I love books, flowers, holidays, art, and music. Am I not to love these things? I think yes, I can, should, and will! But should these things overshadow the love I have for my fellow human beings? It shouldn't and if it does, we have a problem. The 1st and 2nd commandments of Christianity are: 1) Love God with all your heart, might, mind and soul.  2) Love thy neighbor as thyself. 

 I don't believe that laws are given just to make humans miserable. I believe that there are blessings-if you will-to each law of God obeyed. So when you love your neighbor as yourself, when you look for ways to serve and help your fellow man, you will actually be getting your own gifts for doing so! And whether you believe in God or not, it's OK, these are Universal Laws, that apply to everyone. If you obey the law, you will have a blessing attached to it. Maybe you aren't in a place to believe in God, so you can't honor the first law. But can you love your neighbor? If so, do it! You will see that in the doing you'll be happier!
 
Today is Motivating Monday!  We all need a little motivation!  I, for one, love to explore other sites for motivating, mostly non-sponsored posts, tips, pictures and videos!  If I happen to find a great one, I'll link it up and share it with you on Twitter via the #MotivatingMonday hashtag!  It's like being featured!  Sometimes I miss some amazing posts.  So, in addition, if you'd like to link up yourself, you can do that too!  I'll visit your site, comment, promote and publicize! Don't be shy--I'm really very supportive!  Remember, any link to your posts helps your blog numbers increase!  This week I will be featuring a lot of the A to Z Challenge participating bloggers! Have a great week! 

E Is For Eggshell Art #AtoZChallenge

I don't have a lot of time to do art, but when I do, I'm going to do some eggshell art! It looks so fun, cool, and certainly no two art pieces are ever the same. So I've decided to do a collection of references to some really cool sites that feature eggshell art!

Here is a really great way to make a pendant simply from a domino and eggshells and some clear drying glue! You can 

make some really gorgeous pieces with this technique!

If you have a surface that needs decorating or salvaging, why not do an eggshell surface? It resembles old marble!

If you are searching for a fun and interesting children's craft project, here it is! Use clay as the adhesive for the colored egg shells!

Finally, this looks so fun! An eggshell mosaic! This is actually done as a craft for kids, but this would make anyone feel like a crafty person! 

Now that you've seen some basic ways to use eggshells, take a look at a pro's work, it's not just the novice that works with eggshells! This is some eggshell art by RedHongYi, a Chinese artist living in Shanghai, who creates amazing art out of ordinary things! This is from her '31 Days Of Food Creativity' Series.

D Is For Downy Chicks! #AToZChallenge

Tomorrow is Easter and little downy chicks are part of the celebration. So cute and sweet! Lately I've been watching some other kinds of downy chicks...little owlets of the Great Horned variety. Technically not chicks...but close enough! They were born about 22 days ago in Arizona!

When I lived in the country in Virginia, many nights I heard the at first haunting, but over time, familiar and comforting "Hoo, H'Hoo Hoo Hoo" I didn't know what kind of owl I was hearing, but now know it was the Great Horned Owl, the most common owl of the Americas. Living in Utah I live very close to a large equestrian park and in the evenings, when walking, I'll hear that call as well. But to see them in real life, raising a nest of young ones is really fascinating. 

From what I understand the owl cam has been up for a couple of years now. Last year the mom laid 3 eggs but only two made it. 

This year all 3 owlets have survived so far. When they first hatched, they were all white, and the most downy things you ever saw. Unfortunately the camera decided to malfunction soon after that and was down for about 2 weeks. The babies are almost a month old and wow, have they ever grown! 

I like to check back periodically and see what's happening at owl roost central. Before long, the babies will be venturing out on their own, helping in the huge task of feeding themselves. Mom and Dad have been so good, taking turns bringing in food. It's a 24 hour job! I haven't yet seen a feeding time and I'm hoping to catch one.

Facts About Great Horned Owls:

• The most common owl of the Americas. 
• Have tufts of feathers on the head, resembling horns
• Monogamous parents take turns feeding their young
• Fiercely protective parents - have been known to attack humans in defense of their young.
• Female lays 2 -5 eggs. 2 is typical
• Efficient night time hunters. Strike from above with powerful talons that kill and carry animals several times their size.
• They regularly eat skunks and may be the only animal with such an appetite.

If you'd like to join the fun, here is the link to the Owl cam!

The CAT Scan That Told It All

 
 I was at work on a Thursday in February. It was unseasonably warm, temperatures in the 60's. My husband, who works from home, decided to take a lunchtime bike ride through town. He has biked for awhile now, about 10 years. He doesn't do cold, but when a warm day comes along, he revels in it and that day was one of them. 

He hopped on his bike, after pumping up his tires, and took off. It was a little unusual because that day he had an ominous feeling, like something might happen. So, he changed his route and he let some air out of his tires that he had just pumped up. And then off he went, enjoying the day. 

Meanwhile, it was almost time for me to be off work when I received a phone call from the Fire Department. I was told that my husband had been in a biking accident and that he was waiting for me at Emergency.  He assured me after my questioning that everything was fine and he was just there for observation and check-up, standard procedure after one LOSES CONSCIOUSNESS!

Long story short, dear husband was probably thrown off his bike when going over a curb. He has no recollection of what happened but he had sustained multiple fractures on the left side of his face, along with the concussion.  

Thanks to the CT Scan, the doctors were able to put together a team to get his face back together again. If they were to leave his face the way it was, the left side of his face would cave in and he would be disfigured for life. It is amazing what these modern medical devices can do and in turn, allow the talented physicians to do their jobs, which included putting 3 titanium plates in strategic places to stabilize the bones.

Check out the CAT Scan of the damage that was sustained to my handsome husband below!  You can definitely see the damage in comparison to the unharmed right side of his face. Basically the left side of his face had a section that was detached from the rest of his skull! Plus his left cheek bone was smashed in, with multiple fractures and crushed bone.

It has been about 6 weeks since the accident and my husband has been back to get his post-surgery check-up. The doctor's were beyond pleased with the success of the surgery and stated that he is one of their top 2% of successful surgeries. 

I can't go without acknowledging all the prayers that were offered up in his behalf and how thankful I am that he came out as well as he did. Aside from a few forgetful moments as he is still recovering from a concussion, he is back on his bike and will be enjoying the warm weather once again!