Dream a Little Dream

I have discovered so many great blogs and people during this 31DBBB Challenge! One site is written by Sandi of Deva Coaching. What I love about her site is that she fully lives up to her tag line: "Asking the Right Questions at the Right Time". I have found that I will read her post and go off and mull it over for a while, then come back and read it again. She makes me think and I like that very much.

She has posted a challenge on BlogFrog asking us to share our dream with her. Sandi posed these questions:

What if you gave yourself permission to really consider that dream?

What if it wasn't a pipe dream, but a dream you could begin taking action on?

What if you had the right kind of support to make this happen?

I've never really given myself permission to dream. I always felt that dreams were forever to be "what if" moments far away and unreachable. The closest I came to fulfilling a childhood dream came this past winter when I entered a contest for a chance to write/blog about the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. I shared my Olympic Dream
in a post and realized that the only way to get to the games would be through written word rather than athletic abilities. I was not chosen to go to Vancouver and ended up writing about the Olympics from my family room chair. Far away and unreachable.

This challenge has opened the door so to speak. What if I did give myself permission to dream? What would I want to do?

 My daughter asked me what I was writing about as I prepared my post and I told her about this question. She immediately said "Mom, you have to write books. Funny books that tell your stories."

Could it be that others can see what path you should be on before you do? Because she hit the nail on the head.

My dream is to become a published writer and be successful enough to support my family in the process. My dream is to grow this blog, my cooking blog and all the passions in my life and create paid published pieces from them.

Boy, if this came to fruition, it really would be a dream come true.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

I have many traits that come with being Italian. I talk with my hands, my family is my lifeline, and food is also very important; to eat and to share.

As a former meetings/conference event planner, I worked with many a chef to prepare menus for clients to be sure they ate and ate well for breakfast, lunch and dinner. No one ever went without. One dinner that I planned consisted of over 100 meals. With travel schedules and late arrivals, not all meals were served and the banquet manager came to me and asked what I would like to do with the 15 or so meals that were still plated in the back. She asked if I would like them boxed for the guests still in attendance to bring back to their rooms. I thought that was a great idea. But then something popped in my head and I asked her "Wait. Do you think these meals could be donated to a shelter or a mission instead?" She said that her property did have an agreement with a local shelter that on a certain night of the week all food that was left from the day was donated to them, however, the night of our function was not one in the same and there was no way to find one at this hour.

Another story, is from a time that I spent in Chicago. My husband and I were walking and window shopping along Michigan Avenue. In our travels back and forth along the "Magnificent Mile", we passed a man, dirty and in ragged clothes, that was just sitting there; every day, in the same spot. He wasn't asking for money and didn't have a sign that said "help me". He was just sitting there. As I passed him throughout our trip, I noticed that when people would walk by eating something, he would look up and follow them with his eyes. On our last day, my husband and I had lunch and I asked for the other half to be boxed. As we walked back to our hotel, I handed my bag to the man on the street that everyone was ignoring. He was hungry.

Did you know that one in eight Americans receives food assistance? In 23 counties of my local area alone, 21,597,680 pounds of food are provided annually. I was shocked when I read that. Want to know where your community stands? Check here.

As you know, we just planned a wonderful 50th Wedding Anniversary party for my in-laws. The food was wonderful and we made arrangements ahead of time that we would be able to bring whatever was left over home with us. We did not however, plan on so much to come home. What did we do? We collectively decided that the first thing we should do is call a mission that feeds the homeless once a week. Below is a letter that my brother-in-law wrote to us after he and our niece brought the food to share. I asked if I could share his letter and he said yes. Here is his experience in his own words:

All,


As we discussed after the party, we ended up taking the two trays of pasta down to Pittsburgh on Thursday night to feed the homeless/poor. I wanted to write to let you know that and to let you know how amazing a night it was.

We arrived and saw that there were (I’m guessing) 70-100 people waiting for the students from Steubenville. When they arrived we introduced ourselves and explained about bringing the food. They were cool with that, but didn’t realize how important that would become. You see, this was a week when a local priest was scheduled to bring the food for them to distribute. The students had some donuts to distribute, which they did while they were waiting for the other food. The time went by and no one came bringing the other food.


I don’t think that the students realized that I also “happened” to have bowls and some to put the pasta in and some quantity of plasticware. When I pointed that out they said grace and began distributing the food. It wasn’t a lot for everyone, but everyone who wanted had some and many had seconds. With just enough bowls and silverware, the last of the pasta was eaten. God in His providence did provide. Let’s say it this way: if mom and dad hadn’t gotten married 50 years ago (and thousands of other events in between) there would have been a lot of hungry people yesterday….


Anyway, we had an amazing time. We ended up spending most of the time getting a “history lesson” from a guy named Al. Al went on and on engaging us with amazing stories and history of Pittsburgh, America and the world. He was GREAT! He went on and on with fun story and story and also did a real motivational talk about learning. It was really amazing.


Randy

When I finished reading this, I immediately looked up my local food bank to volunteer. I printed out their schedule and told my kids to look at it, pick a date and time when as a family, we would go and help prepare parcels for those in need. 
 
I'm going to ask you to do the same.
 
Look at eight of your neighbors or eight people you pass in the mall or on the street. Statistically, one of them will be receiving assistance from your local food bank.
 
Food is a basic need that all of us require to live. In this day and age, no one should have to feel hungry. If giving my time or donating food to my local food bank will help, then that is the least I can do.
 
Will you join me?
 
Find out more from Feeding America, a great resource of information.

They Link Me, They Really Link Me!

I feel like Sally Field excepting her Oscar as she exclaimed "You like me, You really like me!"

As I have mentioned, I am working my way through daily assigned tasks with the SITS and ProBlogger's "Build a Better Blog in 31 Days" (aka: 31DBBB) Challenge. I am so glad that I have signed up to do this because it has allowed me to move out of my comfort zone and put faith in the blogging community to help me grow as a blogger and I have to say I have not been disappointed! The support from folks that have come by to visit from this community has been wonderful! I wish I could express how grateful I am to receive constructive feedback, techie advice and kind words of encouragement. To all of these wonderful ladies (and gents too!) :

I love you man!

Because of recently traveling for the sweet family getaway to celebrate a BIG anniversary, I have been playing catch up with Days 13-23(today) and completing them, but not necessarily in chronological order.  Today's post (Day 22) is highlighting a special reader or two or three...

I have visited so many great sites that my head is spinning. Some make me cry, some make me laugh, some make me think and others make me learn, but what I am noticing to be the common denominator is: They all have Great Content! So, I will share just a few of the wonderful blogs out there that I am really digging and hope that you will pay them a visit, because they are worth it!

Generating Heat:( a journey back to myself)
Lisa is a dear friend of mine from my favorite sport of speedskating. While taking to the ice in competition, we always encouraged each other and soon became fast (no pun intended) friends. Lisa is a potter (clay) and is currently taking part in an art exhibition all the way in Korea! She is journaling and photographing her experiences each day- including today's post where she shares "I Had Tea With a Monk on A Side of A Mountain"! I mean, how cool is that?! Get lost in her blog: you will find among her lovely photographs and posts that she is not only an artist with her craft, she is with her written word as well.

Making It Work Mom
Heather is a blogging mom that emailed me very early in this challenge asking if I would link a post for her. After reading her stories of being a working mom and trying to balance a hectic family schedule, well, I immediately liked her! Our kids are close in age and we are dealing with some of the same issues, so her take on life makes me laugh right along with her. Her latest post : "Maybe Giselle Should Mind Her Own Business...Just Saying"was very funny, yet very on target. Heather was also kind enough to link back to a post of mine! Thanks Heather!!

Coloring Outside the Lines
Alycia, also known in certain circles as the Crayon Wrangler, has a fantastic sense of humor and her writing is just top notch! I have been more interactive with her via Twitter and Blog Frog, however, her blog also totally ROCKS! She completely surprised me yesterday by leaving a comment on my Facebook Fan Page where she told me that my blog rocked AND on top of that, linked one of my posts for twitter followers to read! If you are thinking of writing a book, be sure to read her post on "Finishing Writing a Novel-A Novel Idea". Where you can double check to make sure that you are writing your character's story!

MultipleMama
Andie surprised me out of the blue (which is a condition of this Day Task 22) with an email letting me know that she linked a comment I left for her and included it in this post: "Messiness Loves Company". I emailed her back with a "Wowza!" I have enjoyed her wit and real life take on motherhood that she shares in her posts and I know you will too!

The Funsucker Chronicles
Cheryl had me laughing the moment I loaded her blog page- it is wicked in more ways than one! When I saw that she had the Wicked Witch as her header picture and that her kids claimed she "sucked the fun out of everything",  I felt a kindred spirit. I have not shared this with her yet, but my sister-in-law used to be pen pals with Margaret Hamilton, aka: Cora the Coffee Lady for Maxwell House, aka The Wicked Witch of The West! Speaking of penpals, I recently learned how long camper's letters to home actually take and invaluable camping advice with her revised post: "Everything I Ever Needed to Know I learned at Summer Camp-Encore Presentation". Although she lost me at "tarantula," (I'm arachnophobic), the rest of her tips are rather helpful! I may hide my Ruby Slippers when I see her, but I will always welcome the Funsucker into the bloghouse!

I wish I could share all the fabulous blogs out there as this is just a small sampling of what I have come across during this challenge! There are many, many more I would love to put in this post...in fact, this task has spurred an idea into action that I have been mulling over and over for months now. Watch for a rolling out of my super-de-duper idea that will be ready by the end of the month. You will love it!

Now, go visit and let me know what you think!

And thanks for the link love; you make me feel like a star!

The Adventures of "Wally World"

I did not set out for a "Three Hour Tour" of my local "Wally World"...I was going for what I thought would be a quick hour shop to replenish the essentials in the fridge, to purchase my daughters favorite cake mix for her Birthday and to make sure I picked up a card. It was a Wednesday evening so this will be a snap-or so I thought! I should have suspected something when the parking gods allowed me the very first space in the lot, right in front of the door; "Sa-weet!" I thought as I whistled  pulling in. I checked not once, but twice to make sure I was not occupying a handicapped spot. Nope.

I tried finding a cart that did not fight to be pushed down aisles. I went through two. I pushed the squeaky wheel thing to the first row of the pharmacy where I saw another cart sitting solo...I could trade mine for that....I pulled out and this one was worse. So I bucked and went sideways as the left wheel spun around like Linda Blair's head. Ugh. Why must I always get the defective cart??

Then the weird started to happen.

I cu-chunk, cu-chunk-ed my way to the protein bar section and was met with Ned Flanders (The Simpsons) in the flesh. He was perfectly pressed; glasses and hair...(the only thing missing was the mustache) and two kids who he was sending down the aisle to retrieve whatever they needed. Our timing was not the best as we would run into each other at the end of each corner. Great googily-moogily. Then we ran into a traffic jam in the shampoo. He said " Oh, you don't need to move your cart out of the way ma'am." and as I reached for shampoo and conditioner I hear close over my shoulder " Ohhh, Passion Fruit? Uh, no, Cherry Blossom & Ginger, mmmmm" Eww. Hey, creepy Flanders...respect the personal bubble space!

I high-tailed it to school supply and picked up notebooks and loose-leaf paper. They will be gone by next week. Not much goin' on here except kids with pained looks on their faces while mom's filled their cart with giddy smiles.."You'll need these and these and these...oh, and we can't forget these!"

Making my way to the card section, I was stopped by a beautiful woman, completely wrapped from head to toe, asking if I knew where they kept the sunscreen. Ah, okaaaay.....I think over....this way....where I ran into an elderly lady who was searching for something for her toe, which of course she had to show me...and proceeded to pull her foot out of her shoe, (faster than my kids could strip out of a diaper-which let me tell you, was lightning fast!) remove her sock to show off her nasty, nasty, nasty toe nails...ah, okaaaayyy...I pointed over my shoulder in the direction of the pharmacy with the nicest smile I could muster and from there I kept walking. "Linda Blair" wheel and I needed to get to the freezer section, I mean cereal section, I mean...anywhere but here.

I made it through the entire store, keeping my last stop to the produce section-everything stays less squished when you can put on top of the cart. I happily bagged everything...until I came to plum tomatoes. Ever wonder why the tomatoes are so smushy and bruised in the store? Well, let me tell you why! Because...Tom Tomato Stacker doesn't place them into their bin, he chucks them...by the handful. And I am not talking a gingerly toss here...I think he was miffed because he got overlooked as a pitcher at some point in his life. He stood between my grape tomatoes and avocados...but I need plums to make my guacamole! Tommy Boy kept staring, more like glaring, at me until I finally asked, "May I sneak in here just to grab a few of those?" He replied "Yeah. Whatever." Okaaay....

Off to the check out I go...not too bad....an hour and 30 minutes....and a line that is short! Yes!
Of course, you know I didn't sail through the line...that would have been too easy. I was two carts and 4 kids away from completing my purchase and going home.

The woman at the check out had 3 kids. Two around 8 and 6 and a baby around one who loved to hit the keypad near the register. I don't know if he hit something on the pad or what, but it created line-gridlock for the rest of us. (Let me just say that it was like a Saturday in this store, crazy busy and not enough registers open. So I stayed put. I would get there eventually.) A supervisor was needed to fix something with a key, so that's who we were waiting for.  I couldn't get upset...I mean, mom is just trying to get through the day like the rest of us and get home.

But little "Dino-Bite" man, (that's what the T-Rex on his shirt was saying) in front of me was having a hard time. He kept telling his mom that he had to go potty...and mom would tell him he would have to wait. Little did she know that she could have gone home and back again and still been waiting. My poor little 3 year old friend. He was being so patient and so good as he sat there in the top of the cart. Then he started making faces at me. First a smile. I smiled. Then a frown. I frowned. Then a scowl. I scowled.  We did this for about 30 minutes. I started to remember how small my kids were and how I loved feeling the touch of their little hands when they would hold my face as they whispered something very important, or just wanted to stare into my eyes. I got snapped out of that Happy Place as a woman pushed me out of the way to grab six Pringles cans on the shelf next to me. Really? You need 6 of them?

I bid ado to Dino-Bite as he wheeled away making room for my stuff. Check out girl was working like molasses and I could not unload my stuff until the belt moved forward. When I checked to see why it hadn't moved I was appalled that I saw her PUTTING MY FOOD BAGS ON THE FLOOR!!!! What the heck??? I moved my cart forward and grabbed the bags off the floor and put them in my cart; then handed her all the items that were still in my cart to ring out. Why on earth would you put food ON THE FLOOR I wanted to yell. But the fact that I handed her things to ring out made her eyes roll and I swear she moved slowwwweeerrrrr.

I finally made it to my car, which remember was in the front spot. My only saving grace. Then I heard that shrill scream that only little kids can do. You know the one...it's as if you are torturing the poor thing. This fiasco was happening not directly in front of my car but on the opposite side of the next parking row. This mom also got the front spot. I wonder if she felt the same joy I felt when finding it. In any event, I hear bloody screams coming from the back of her car and see only half the mom. I knew this scenario all too well- the cries were from a way overtired toddler that was hungry, hot and just spent an eternity in Wally World. (I'm with ya kid). When my kids were that age, I broke into many a sweat trying to fit a squirming, screaming, recently possessd kid into a car seat. It's not easy. I finished packing up my car and as I closed my hatch "Mom" and I made eye contact. I was laughing and I gave her two thumbs up. The gesture made her laugh and she doubled over with a big smile and let her body language exude a huge "WHEW!"

I tell myself every time that I am never coming back here, but how can I not? Who knew one could experience the mundane and the bizarre all in one place? Next time, I'm passing on the premo parking spot, making sure I put pea soup in my shopping cart to take care of any spinning wheels and focus on the humor that the adventure brings.

Wordless Wednesday

Orange you glad I didn't say anything on WW? Damn...I did it again....

Wordless Wednesday

This is what happens when you leave your coffee on the counter as you rush to work....

You would think I was treating a friend to coffee. Uh, no. These are both for me.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Timing: For Better or For Worse...

With all the momentum I have gathered for posting during this 31DBBB Challenge I cannot believe that I am about to say I may be taking a few days off!

I have a fantastic excuse though and if you were in my shoes, you would realize that it isn't really an excuse, it is something that just is.

I will be spending time with family and  relatives near and far for the next few days as we gather to celebrate 50 years of wedded bliss between my mother-in-law and father-in-law. I absolutely adore my in-laws and cannot relate to those that tell stories with a roll of the eye. That is not to say I don't chuckle at stories that I hear...but I know that I am in the camp of the lucky few.

I will be catching quick computer time here and there, but probably will not post until the weekend.

I am looking forward to sharing some great stories with you!

Going From "You Are Doing It!" to I Did It!

I was out of my saddle, dancing on the pedals. This was steep. My heart rate was not quite maxed, but it was close. I pass a woman wearing a visor walking along side her mountain bike. Her friend just a few feet in front of her was doing the same exact thing. As I turn the pedals over, huffing and puffing, I hear over my right shoulder as I go by, her words of encouragement: "You are doing it!" I think: you know, you are right. I am. I am about to crest a hill that has put the fear of god in me for years. In fact, I have only descended this snotty thing and continued down the road purposely to avoid having to turn around and go back up. I've never climbed it.

You want to know something corny? I cried. It wasn't as bad as I built it up to be. I mean, it wasn't easy, and I let out a gasping "Holy Sh@#!" when reaching the top, but I was really proud of conquering what I thought would be scary. Actually, what scared me was having to get off my bike and walk it up like "visor" lady. One, because I would have been mad at myself for doing so and second; it's really hard to walk in bike shoes with cleat clips on the bottom. 

I talked about the "granny" gear in a previous post and I have to admit, that I did pay her a visit to help me up the hill. I was totally fine with it. For today.

Today is Day 8 of my 31DBBB Challenge and many of the other bloggers that I have been reading and connecting with seem to share that same bit of excitement of making it through the first week. This has been a great opportunity to work through some of the fears and trepidations of being a "new" kid on the block with the help and words of encouragement from seasoned bloggers- who I must say are a wonderfully supportive group!

To the anonymous "visor" woman, who so freely gave me the little "push" through her perfectly timed words to keep going, Thank you.

To everyone reading and leaving comments,Thank you.

To my fellow blogging friends who are part of this fantastic challenge: It may get hard and it may get scary at times, but

We are doing it!

 

"Niche"-a-Whaa?

Day 3 & 4 of #31DBBB Challenge

Day 3 of my blog challenge through SITS was to expand how I market my blog posts. Since I mainly use Facebook and Twitter, I gave Technorati, Stumble Upon and Digg a try. I swam in the FAIL pond for a while; I just couldn't figure them out. Then, I happened to see a chat on the SITS community on Blog Frog discussing a site called Kirsty. Bingo! I linked my last post very easily and took a dip in the YAY pond. Whew! Challenge 3 complete.

Day 4 was asking us to study a blog in our "niche". Overwhelm much? Yeah, that task is like saying "go into a candy store and pick out something sweet." Honestly, I have no clue what "niche" I fit into. Sports? Mommy Blog? Humor? Parenting? All of them? So, I visited a few blogging friends that have been kind enough to leave a comment. All I can say is WOW. So many good sites out there-and I only scratched the surface! What I learned from this task is that I am still such a newbie in the techie world and I  think I need to do some upgrades to my blog. Maybe tabs at the top to organize different posts, create a Facebook fan page (gulp!), create a disclosure statement and a marketing plan. If I want some things off my Blog Bucket List, then I think these should be on my radar.

So what sites did I check out? Here are two that stand out:

Making it Work Mom : A mom like me.

Soldierette : One cool chick.

Heather, from Making it Work Mom actually emailed me (she got a head start on task 5!) and asked if I would link a post for her. When I opened that email, I thought 'why didn't I think of that?!' I read her post and fell in love with her writing style and was quick to become a follower. We seem to have a lot in common; we are both working moms outside the home, have a hectic family life and seem to have the same "battles" with our teenage daughters! I would say that the only thing we may not have in common (yet) is the love of a hockey rink. I spend 3 days a week, 7 months out of the year in a hockey rink for speedskating and she is on the cusp of being a "Hockey Mom".  She will learn to love them too. I am so glad that Heather contacted me. Come to find out, she is now following my blog too! Thanks Heather!

Day 5 is today and we are to "email a blog reader." This will be fun! Are you a reader? Do you follow my blog? If yes, welcome and thanks!! If no, why not? What are you waiting for?! Join in on the fun!

Off to emails!