Yummy Muffins

I did a google search for "light muffins." This site with this scrumptious recipe for Lemon Blueberry muffins came up.

I modified it to 1/2 whole wheat flour = 1/2 white flour (as I always do) and added probably 3/4 cup of frozen "Feildberries." (blackberries, strawberries, raspberries and yes, blueberries).



Heaven.

(PS. This post is really just an excuse to show you a photo from my awesome new camera!!)

The Calendar

I cannot believe how long this took me.

I bought a kit in the interests of saving time. I'm not sure it really saved that much: but it did cut down on the mess involved, it was easy to tidy away after each work session, and I certainly made fewer decisions than I would have had to make had I done this from scratch (as I have always done.) I make one "hard copy" version which I give to my Mom--then scan in the pages and make the calendars for two more which I send to relatives. I have the pages coil bound at Staples.

I chose this 2011 Calendar kit by Basic Grey. It's 8x8.

The page backgrounds are pretty much as you see them here. What I attached were the cut-outs and dimensional elements--and a few strips of paper (not very many).

I wound up using just about everything in the kit: very little was left over. Because I wanted to include the tags with the quotations, I sized my pictures to 3 1/2 x 5 (though the instructions call for 4x6). It is to the kit's credit that this caused no difficulties whatsoever--well, OK, except for April. That one was tough.

I used the instructions as a guide. The black and white instructions which came with the kit, though, were fairly useless. Fortunately Basic Grey makes a version in colour available on their web-site.

Without further ado, here are the pages:

January to April:



May to August:



September to December:

(I have no idea why cupcakes were included as the "theme" for September, nor what were supposed to be celebrating, but by the time I got to it, I didn't really care.)



Notes to self:
Punching out diecuts, cut outs and organizing the little bits: 5 hours
Assembling pages: 2 afternoons and an evening (say 13 hours)
Scanning: 2-3 hours
Making up the calendars for the other two calendars: an afternoon (say, 3-5 hours)
Printing two sets of the pictures plus the calendars: 5 hours.
Total Time spent: 28-31 hours
(This does not include choosing the pictures, having them developed, and finding the quotes.)

Someone from my past popped into conciousness today

For a donation, he received the privilege of picking something for us to listen to on the radio this afternoon.

It was our privilege to listen. This is what he chose.



Thank you Al.
For expanding my mind when it needed to grow
For educating my ears
For challenging my heart
For being the first boy I ever loved
and lost.
Thanks.

And thanks again.

Reverb#10: Wisdom

December 10 – Wisdom. What was the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out? (Author: Susannah Conway)

I'm not sure I've made it yet.

I am strongly considering hiring a trainer to help me through this upcoming metamorphosis of bringing forward the one I call "The Thin One Within." When she gets here, she is never, ever to leave. I'm considering hiring someone like Scott Abel: I think he has the right focus. He seems to understand the mind/body/emotions connection (he calls it the triangle of awareness) and he just may be able to help me do what needs to be done physically, mentally and emotionally. I have a few questions and issues to resolve (for example, I don't believe in the "law" of attraction, and I don't believe in a "higher self" if that is meant in any way to be separate from God, --but I am looking for someone to address the metal and emotional aspects of excess weight along with the physical--and he does that. Do you know of anyone else who does that?

Other than that, the wisest decision I made this year was to cook my morning oatmeal in a small mixing bowl. In a cereal bowl, it just slopped over the sides when I nuked it. So, now I can eat it every morning with a tablespoon of pecans and a handful of dried fruit. Wonderful stuff.

Was it wise to send Aurelia to public school this year? It seems so. But I don't know yet. It may be the kind of thing I may never know.

Reverb #9: Party

December 9 – Party Prompt: Party. What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans. (Author: Shauna Reid)

My daughter's 10th birthday party was fabulous.

I loved shopping for the party favours and decorations with her. Her "theme" was "purple spa."

We cruised the dollar store looking for anything purple. We found purple "straw" bags to put things in like nail clippers, headbands, and washcloths.

We decorated with purple:



My daughter had her own ideas for party games.




Cupcakes being all the rage, I baked some chocolate ones: and then let the girls decorate them. So, Aurelia had a very unique "birthday cake."



My absolute favourite part? The facials.

Reverb #8: Beautifully Different

December 8 – Beautifully Different. Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different – you’ll find they’re what make you beautiful. (Author: Karen Walrond)

What makes me different?
Different from what?
Other people?
I have no idea what makes me different from other people.
I don't know other people: at least I don't know them like myself.
I can't answer this question.

Let's see.

Yes. I must limit my answer to what I can observe: I want to stay away from the land of assumptions.

what is unique to me?

my sense of humour--
That is an assumption, by the way. Has anyone even seen my sense of humour lately? Could we recognize it if we did see it?) But everyone's own sense of humour is unique, so that's safe.

my body shape--
Yep, that's unique to me. No doppelgangers or identical twins running around as far as I know.

But Karen, yech. blech. No, not that. Not beautiful.

Functional (most of the time), serviceable, loyal. Man, is it loyal. No matter what crap I throw at it, it gets me up out of bed and through each and every day. I had ice cream the other day for supper. Then I did a work out. Surprise, surprise, I was fatigued during the work out. But we kept going. Poor body. I can be quite mean to it. But it is faithful to me. I had back pain so bad last week I could barely stand upright. What did I do? That's when I started my walking work outs. I took it easy, just got the blood flowing. Within three, four days I was pain free. In the right frame of mind, I could be persuaded to say I love my body. It is a good body when I treat it well.

But beautiful?

Reverb#7 Community

December 7 – Community. Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011? (Author: Cali Harris)

Hands down, the community I discovered is the one over at Simplify 101, led by Aby Garvey and Jean Manis. The ladies there, leaders and participants alike, are exceptional in their acceptance of others and their care and concern. I have learned so much from all of them. Here's a bit of it.

1) I had no goals whatsoever. I set a few and actually saw some come to fruition.

a) planting and harvesting a vegetable garden


b) going to new and interesting places:

(Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park)

I also had the goal to write my Canadian Homeschooling curriculum this year and though I took steps towards that goal, it didn't work out.

2) I started developing habits that will allow me to keep my home and its clutter within my comfort zone. I wrote out what I should be doing as part of my morning, afternoon and evening routines. My attitude shifted enormously. I no longer resent that these things need to be done. Well, not all the time, anyway!

3) I developed a system for handling paper. Hooray for this one. This has been invaluable. No longer do stacks of paper have to sit there because I do not know what to do with them. I have a plan, a place and peace of mind.

4) More than anything, I feel able to move on. The house will or will not stay picked up, clutter-free and clean: that's up to me and what I choose to do at any given moment. But, whatever happens, I am done trying. Either I will do it, or I won't. No more gnashing of teeth, nor more wrestling with the emotional baggage (but my Mother never taught me to keep house), no more pondering my "issues." With the help of the wonderful folks at Simplify 101, I've done all that and it is done.

The future community?

Oh, I'd love to join a group of believers who, still, nonetheless, yet question. Andrew Sullivan expressed it best in his book, The Conservative Soul, I believe. I read it some time ago. It would have to be local, it would have to be inclusive and it would have to be Christian: yet, somehow, some way, also include both the Catholic and Protestant traditions. And it would also have to be open to what I am currently calling the practices of the Mystics about which I know nothing except they practiced something called Contemplative prayer. I don't know how to frame it--mostly because I haven't thought enough about it.

Another community I'd love to be a part of is one in which individuals are changing not only their bodies, through diet and exercise, but their minds, their thoughts and their beliefs about all that which seems to manifest itself in the body as well. I am reading A Course in Weight Loss by Marianne Williamson: I need a community of fellow readers to discuss and explore the weighty issues within the book. Perhaps. A small group dealing with an intense topic can be pulled apart by the extreme neediness of any one person--so, yeah, it could be kind of tricky to do. Emotions are such a big part of this (at least for me) that it is perhaps best not pursued as a group exercise without a qualified group therapist at the helm.

So, that leaves me without out a lot to go with at the moment: yet a lot to look for in the coming year.

"Community" is one candidate for my "One Little Word" this year, as is the phrase "reaching out." So we'll see.