One Is Just A Number

I'm a little late with my Five Minute Friday this week because my Friday was filled with unexpected good times and I was once again I'm reminded that it is the simple pleasures in life that make me happy. Trying a new restaurant, laughing with co-workers, spending time with old friends, receiving an invitation to visit the new home of recent retirees. I thoroughly enjoyed my day with people I really like. I too often look at my life and wish I lived it like those that I read about in Facebook posts or Twitter feeds. I wish I was out and about doing all the things that the "cool kids" are doing. But when I take a chance and leave my coach - my station from which I wait for that life with the cool kids - I find this wonderful world that's been waiting for me. And once again, I am reminded, that my life, even though it wasn't the one I planned, is pretty awesome. The people I spent my day with probably don't have 100 Twitter followers among a...

The first thing that came to mind when I read today's word "Cherished" was my parents. They are 80 and 72 and I feel so fortunate to still have them in my life. I cherish every holiday and birthday that I get to spend with them. So many people my age have lost a parent or both and I can't imagine the feeling that must be  - to be an orphan of sorts. I know that I am cherished by my parents. Even when I didn't do as well in college as I could have, even when I've given them disappointing news, I never once felt not cherished by them. Their love is unconditional and I don't know what I would do without them. I have to be careful what I say to them these days, I try not to mention things that need fixing at my house or with my car because my father, still wanting to take care of his oldest daughter, will try to find a solution. I don't want him working that hard. I want him to stay safe and sound and take it easy so he'll be around as lon...

Dive - did anyone else start hearing Steven Curtis Chapman when they read that word? One of the things I hope to do in 2013 is dive. Dive into new experiences. Dive into working on my dive of a house and improving it into the home I'd like to have. Dive into my job and give it 110% every day. Dive into being the kind of friend I want to have. For so long I feel like I've been treading water. Some days I can feel the water at my chin, sometimes even on the bridge of my nose. There have been days that have been so dark that I've felt like diving to the bottom and not coming back up. Hopefully those days are behind me and the only diving I'll be doing is the good kind, the kind that leads to exciting things. I'm not a strong swimmer. I don't know that I've ever gone off a diving board. I like to step into the water, slowly checking out the temperature, taking my time before I go under. I'd like to be braver though, I'd like to leap in...

Yeah - the return of Five Minute Friday - the opportunity to spread my writer's wings and challenge myself. Opportunity - what an exciting word - it means new beginnings, new challenges. Opportunity is everywhere if you take chances. You have the opportunity to learn something new if you take a chance and talk to someone new. You have the opportunity to make a new friend while taking that chance. You have the opportunity to make old things new if you just take a fresh look at them. Rearrange that furniture, paint that wall a different color - there are opportunities everywhere. Don't like your job - make a new opportunity by looking at it in a different light. Treat it like a new job, a chance to prove to yourself that you can try your best and make a new way. Opportunity can even be found in challenges. When life doesn't work out the way you thought it would, you can look at it as an ending or as an opportunity to begin again. A chance to re-write your ending into...

Happy New Year everyone! I have a good feeling about 2013! I have a tendency to think I'm not worth the trouble when it comes to cooking nice meals for myself. There's also the element of cooking for one that seems to make good meals less appealing. I decided to change that and celebrate New Year's Eve with a good meal. I had some shrimp in the freezer so I set out to find a recipe that called for shrimp and linguine. I found one on Martha Stewart's website that was for one person. Perfect! I started my meal with some dill harvati and crackers and ended it with some chocolate bread pudding. My recipe for bread pudding is perfect for one person - it makes two individual cups and the second one saves for another day very easily. I've also tripled the recipe to feed six. I wanted to share the recipes with you all and I thought photos would be nice to go with them. Please excuse the amateur quality of the photos - I'm still getting the hang of this blog thing. ...