Childhood Bliss

Sesame Street characters have been adorning Google's front page all week: Big Bird made an appearance, Cookie Monster was searching for cookies, and today Oscar is having his day in Cyberspace. You know something is up when something is important enough to make Google's front page so I did what any netizen would do and Googled Sesame Street to figure out why. To my surprise I learned that Sesame Street was turning 40 the same week I was celebrating my birthday. At 43, I was the perfect age for Sesame Street when it first came on the air and seeing my old friends on Google made me realize that I really did learn all that was important from Sesame Street, The Electric Company, and School House Rock.

What I learned from Children's Television

Treat everyone with respect--Sesame Street was set in the inner city and included a diverse mix of characters, both human and muppet, but every adult human on the show treated everyone with respect and kindness. It didn't matter if you were a six foot tall bird or an African American you deserved to be treated with respect and kindness.

Learn from Everyone--I learned from everyone on Sesame Street. I learned my numbers from Count von Count who taught me the beauty of numbers as he went through life counting everything from the number of swings someone took to the number of Cookie Monster's Cookies.

Diversity--I grew up in a "white bread" neighborhood where every family looked pretty much like mine: mom, dad, one or two siblings. Sesame Street exposed me to people who looked different than me and who didn't live in rural America. I learned about inner city neighborhoods from Sesame Street and learned that different types of people weren't scary or evil, they were just different.

Take Care of One Another--The adults on Sesame Street made sure that the children, human and muppets alike, were taken care of and knew they were important. The most poignant moment on Sesame Street happened long after I'd stopped watching the show, but I rewatched it on YouTube the other day and cried. In 1983, the actor that played Mr. Hooper died and the producers of the show had to figure out how to handle it on the show. They could have taken the easy way out and said he went into retirement and moved away. However, they chose to be honest and truthful and one of the most poignant moment's on television was when Big Bird found out his friend was dead. His first question was, "But when's he coming back?" As the adults struggled to hold back their own tears, they had to gently tell Big Bird that death was forever.

Knowledge is Power--Children's TV taught me to love to learn at a very early age and I always want and need to learn something new. Schoolhouse Rock, The Electric Company, and Sesame Street made learning fun and by making learning fun made it something that I wanted to do. It's very appropriate that Google is hosting my early childhood heroes on their front page because now when I need to know something, I rush to Google and research whatever I need to know.

In some ways, I'm envious of kids today because they have the Internet and interactive learning is at their fingertips. You can find all of my favorite School House Rock videos on You Tube including "How a Bill Becomes a Law" and "Conjunction Junction" and Sesame Street has a new address in Cyberspace where children can visit all their old favorites. However, my envy is soon overcome by happiness that my old childhood friends continue to teach children how to count, how to read, and how to be good people.

Birthday Bliss

Birthdays are a big deal for me as I recognize other people's birthdays as a chance to remember them and to show them I care and I recognize my birthday as an opportunity to reflect back on my life and to make plans for the coming year. It also makes me feel really good when people reach out and let me know they're thinking of me.


Reflection


As I look back on the 43 years I've spent on this earth, I'm happy with who I am and the lessons I've learned. I was fortunate enough to find someone I love to share my life with and even though life isn't perfect and we don't always get along, we do love each other and genuinely want what is best for each other. At first glance, hubby's gift to me this year was mundane and practical: he got me a headset for my phone. However, I know him well enough to know that he got it because he doesn't want me to kill myself because of my bad habit of talking on my phone while driving. He's realized he can't stop me from driving and talking, but at least he can make me safer (and legal).


I've been blessed with two amazing children who are focused on their future and who want to become contributing members of society. My kids are smart and realize that education is the way to get ahead and they both are working hard at their studies. They're also both really good people who help those around them. I'm also fortunate that I can afford to give them some of the benefits in life that other kids don't get. We were able to send Sean to Georgetown University for summer school two years ago and we're sending Cat to Washington, DC next week for a journalism conference. We can't afford to give them everything they want, but it is nice to be able to afford some of the extras.


My life has also been blessed with some loving critters who have shared their love with me unconditionally. By now everyone who reads my blog knows about Luke, my beautiful Aussie / Collie Mix, but before Luke there were other dogs who brought me joy. Spotty was my first dog and this tiny fluff ball shared our lives until I was seven. Rags was a purse dog who brought much love into our lives as my mom brought her to school when she volunteered. Muttzy (whose photo is to the right) was a beautiful Collie mix. What I remember about Muttzy was her tremendous spirit. She was diagnosed with cancer and we took her to the University of Illinois for treatment. We had to leave her for a week and when we came back to get her, she was so happy that she barked with joy most of the trip home. Sadly she succumbed to cancer a few weeks later, but I will always remember her joy at being reunited with her family. We adopted Blake on Okinawa and brought him home to the states. He was John's dog, but he loved us all. He was loving, patient and kind. We got Blake on Sean's second birthday and Sean wasn't quite sure what to make of this new creature. He'd been popping balloons with a fork and when he tried popping Blake with the fork, that sweet dog just got up and walked away. Sammy was our last dog before Luke and she was my smart, loving, little girl. She was truly devoted and everywhere that mom was, she had to go too. Sadly she died too soon of seizures and broke my heart.

My parents raised me to have a work ethic, to understand that a job well done is its own reward, and to have ethics in my dealings with other people. They also raised me to honor other people, to be honest, and to help people when I could. Those are lessons that are so ingrained in me that they have become second nature.


I have been truly blessed to have been able to travel the world and to visit some of the most amazing places on earth. I've been to ancient temples in China, visited the Tower of London, cruised the canals of Amsterdam, and spent time getting to know Bremen Germany. I also lived in Japan for three years. My experiences outside of the United States have helped me to become a better American as I've realized that not everyone sees the world the same way that we do and that understanding other people's points of view can help you find common ground.




Throughout my life I have met some incredible people who have helped me learn and grow and become a better person. I've been fortunate enough to have truly good leaders who exemplified leadership and truly horrible leaders who helped me learn what not to do. I've also met people I consider true friends and who have become a part of my tribe. These are people who support each other an are there for each other through thick and thin.


My writing has never made much money, but it has brought joy into my life and has let me fulfill my passion for playing with words. Even without money, that is its own reward and I am fortunate that I've met people along the way who have supported my writing and encouraged me to share my view of the world with others.


Plans for the Next Year


My life isn't perfect right now, but it is pretty good and I'm realizing that my attitude helps drive a lot of what I want/get in life. My primary goals for the coming year are:


Spend more meaningful time with my family--We spend a lot of time hanging out, but we don't always connect as much as I would like.


Establish a habit of exercising four days a week--I need to lose weight, but every time I have established a goal of losing weight, I've failed. I'm going to spend this year concentrating on healthy habits.



Drink two bottles of water a day--I need to replace the soda with water.


Launch KudosPower.com--I want to establish a hub on the net to share knowledge with people to help individuals empower themselves.


Publish The Paperback Coach--I'm revamping the Portable Coach by taking it back to its original name and by updating it with knowledge I've gained over the past decade.


Publish Pink Slip 101--A proof copy of Pink Slip 101 is currently on its way to me and hopefully this one will be pretty easy to accomplish.


Publish The Pragmatic Project Manager--I have learned so much about what makes a good PM and what makes a bad PM that I want to share that knowledge with the world.


Publish Process Your Life--There are so many business tools that can be applied to personal life. I want to help people find these tools and utilize them to make their world better.



Write Finding My Bliss--I still haven't figured out what form this story is going to take, whether it is going to be a novel, a screenplay, or just a collection of thoughts.


Get caught up on the bills--We are behind right now and we need to get caught up. I am seriously hoping we can start making money from writing, but if that doesn't happen, I need to figure out how to spend less.


Good Thoughts


So many people reached out to me out of the blue with good thoughts on my birthday that I wanted to take a minute to say thanks and let them all know that they matter to me.


Mom--Thanks for giving me life and for calling to wish me a happy birthday.



John--Thanks for the beautiful card, the charger, and for being there for me for over 20 years.


Sean--Texts make good birthday greetings too :)


Cat--Thanks for standing outside and singing to me first thing in the morning.


Tony--Thanks for the call. I love you and you're a great brother.


Jeff--Thanks for calling me on Thursday and getting my birthday started off right.


Bill--I'm not an "old girl," but thanks for the birthday wishes.


Steve--Thanks..your greeting was unexpected and really sweet.

Vicki--I love you. Thanks for being my big sis.

Joyce--Facebook walls are great for keeping in touch. Thanks for being m big sis.

Love you all and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Jambalaya Bliss

Growing up we were a meat and potatoes kind of family with little experimentation in the kitchen. Once I got out on my own, started traveling the World, and watching the Food Network, I realized there was more to life than meat and potatoes and started exploring with the tastes of many nations. I'm still fairly conservative around food, but I am getting more adventuresome and will go for sushi on my own and absolutely love ceviche.

One of the dishes I've discovered is Jambalaya. The mixture of meats, spices, and vegetables is tantalizing. I'd never eaten jambalaya in a restaurant, but I'd heard about it and wanted to try it so when I found a Rachael Ray 3o minute or less recipe, I ventured onto the wild side and gave it a whirl. My son and I fell in love with Jambalaya over that very first pot (Caitlin loves the taste, but as a vegetarian, I have to make her veggie only jambalaya). Over time, my recipe has evolved a little from Rachael's into it's own dish.

My Super Special Jambalaya

2 cups cooked white rice
2 tbs butter
2 tbs olive oil
1 lb chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces
3/4 Andouille sausage diced with the skin removed (you can make this with chorizo, but Andouille is best. They sell it at Whole Foods)
1 small onion diced
2 stalks celery diced
1 green pepper diced
14 oz diced tomatoes in sauce
14 oz chicken stock
2 to 3 tbs of flour
6 oz (1/2 bag) of frozen okra (fresh works too, but frozen is easier to find)
1 lb shrimp (I use frozen cooked and take the tail off)
Red pepper to taste
Cumin to taste
Salt to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste (optional)
Creole seasoning to taste(optional)

Melt the butter along with the olive oil in a large pan (frying pan with a lid works best) on medium heat. Once the butter is melted, cook the chicken until it is browned and then add the sausage. Cook together for five to 10 minutes or until the sausage is cooked.

Add the onion, celery, and green pepper to the pan with the chicken and sausage. Cook for about five minutes until the vegetables are soft. Sprinkle the flour on the pan and cook for three more minutes.

Stir in tomatoes, broth, and spices and cook about 4 more minutes. Add the shrimp and okra and cover. Let cook until the shrimp and okra is cooked (5 to 10 minutes).

Serve the jambalaya over white rice and enjoy a little bit of Louisiana bliss.

Bliss 100

A little over five months ago, I posted my very first post on balance and bliss. At that time, I had no idea where my life was going to take me or what I was going to find on my journey, but I knew that somehow I had to make a concentrated effort to find bliss and balance in my life. I had asked the Gods in China to "help me find my bliss," but I never made a concentrated effort to seek out bliss.

This is my 100th posting on bliss and my life has changed over the past five months and I've realized that the more focus I put on bliss, the more blissful my life becomes. A lot has changed over the last five months and I attribute a lot of that to my focus on becoming more blissful. There was a period of about two weeks when I wasn't blogging on a regular basis and my life was out of balance and I was more unhappy than I'd been in a long time. So looking back over the past 99 post, I'd like to share with you some of the ones that have meant the most:

Sixty Days of Bliss--I still haven't quite finished all of my thirty blissmakers, but what I realized as I focused on accomplishing each of them in turn was how much pleasure those simple things really brought to my life. Spending time with my family, a good massage, traveling, all of those things make my life richer and fuller and the pursuit of bliss added bliss in unexpected ways.

Bliss Tea and Strawberry Bliss--Reminded me of amazing times I had discovering the foods of the world and how simple things when savored can bring tremendous amounts of bliss.

Seventeen Blissful Memories and BatBliss--Reminded me again exactly how lucky I am to have two such amazing children. They are both thoughtful, loving, and intelligent and they make me proud every single day.

Bliss Mountain--This was one of my all time favorite posts as it detailed an amazing journey I took with my daughter through the Blue Ride mountains. It was an incredible trip as we had no real agenda and just drove where ever the road took us. I felt like I learned a lot about my daughter and about myself on that trip.

Twenty Nine Days of Bliss--This chronicled my trip through the 29 days of giving and I still haven't assimilated the lessons learned and determined how if anything the 29 day challenge changed my life.

Overall, my blog has added a tremendous amount of joy to my life as I've found myself focusing on the people who matter and on bringing joy into my own life. The one thing I do know that I need to keep focusing on is building my relationships with my family and on prioritizing my life so that they take center stage.

Twenty Nine Days of Blissful Giving

I stumbled across the site 29 Days of Giving and as I was reading the stories about how giving could change your life and make you think about others instead of yourself. I decided that I'd participate and reflect on whether or not the 29 Days of giving changed my life. My list of 29 gifts is below and I'll write a seperate post to about the impact the 29 Days of Giving had on my life.

• Day 1 (10/4)--I made homemade beef stew and homemade chicken soup and boxed some of it up for my son Sean to take back to college with him. It made me feel good to know that even though he's away at school, he would still be enjoying Mom's home cooking.


• Day 2 (10/5)--As I was getting into the elevator this morning, another lady got on with a beautiful green and blue blouse on. I complimented her on her blouse and although she did the typical, "This old thing" denial, I could tell she was pleased by the compliment as she got off the elevator with a smile on her face.


• Day 3 (10/6)--It is three days before payday and hubby is out of cigarettes. I scrounged up (okay) borrowed some money and went out and got him cigarettes. I'm not sure this really counts as a good deed or not as smoking isn't good for him, but it was something that he wanted and I went and took care of it for him. I also got the dog ice cream on my way back.


• Day 4 (10/7)--I took my dog for a walk today. That doesn't sound like a big deal, but although my dog loves to walk, he is the worst walker in the world and it is a huge chore to walk with him. I know that the more time I spend walking with him the better, but it feels like a battle royal every time I take him. It was worth it to see how happy he gets.


• Day 5 (10/8)--My son came home from college (downtown Chicago) to get some books and I drove him back to school rather than make him take the train. It was actually nice as we got a chance to talk about life, school, and a bunch of other things.


• Day 6 (10/9)--I bought cinnamon bread at the bakery my daughter works at and took it in for the folks at work. This was a twofer as I was helping out a local business that has been very good to my daughter and I was making the people at work happy.


• Day 8 (10/10)--Caitlin is a very independent young lady and since she has gotten a job, she's been very good about paying for her own extras like haircuts, dances, etc. Her homecoming dance was this weekend and decided to treat her to a haircut and to the ticket to the dance. It felt good to know that she was going to have a little extra money to spend on something else she wanted and I made sure she knew that I did appreciate her taking care of the little things.


• Day 9 (10/11)--I gave myself the gift of reading brain candy for a few hours. I've been working really hard at getting my book put together, my site set up, and everything else so I decided to take a few hours off and escape to another reality.


• Day 10 (10/12)--I took time to help out a coworker who was trying to dial into a remote training session. It wasn't my training session, but since I was at HQ and she was in Chattanooga, I was able to get to someone who could help her.


• Day 11 (10/13)--I held the door for a lady who was maneuvering a big stroller out a small door. That's a really little thing, but I know from when I had kids that it is a little thing that can mean a whole lot.
  
• Day 12 (10/14)--I wrote a blog entry about what a great mom my mother was and took the time to dig through our photo albums to find photos of her pre-child so that she knew I recognized her as a person and not just an extension of her family.
  
• Day 13 (10/15)--I blogged about ways to save the planet and how my family and I are green. This is a way to share my knowledge with other people and hopefully will inspire other people to do their part to save our world.
  
• Day 14 (10/16)--A friend of mine asked me to do some shopping at our corporate merchandise sale today so I took care of getting her things and getting them shipped to her.
  
• Day 15 (10/17) --I let a lady go in front of me at the dollar store She walked up and had her arms full of goodies. I know what it's like to go to the store for one or two things and end up walking out with an armful of stuff. She was genuily appreciative and thanked me several times.
  
• Day 16 (10/18)--I let the dog eat the leftover roast beef. He'd been so patient waiting for us to eat it and sniffing around that I decided he deserved a treat so I gave him what was left of the meat and potatoes. I also took myself and the dog for a walk tonight even though I was exhausted and really just wanted to go to sleep.
  
• Day 17 (10/19)--I bought Cat coffee and a breakfast sandwich this morning even though I'm broke until payday AND she hasn't cleaned the upstairs hallway like I've been asking (read begging) her to for weeks. I was rewarded by a candid conversation about lies one of her "friends" has been telling her.
  
• Day 18 (10/20)--I went to the chiropractor and got my back cracked and my muscles massaged. I'm trying very hard to get in shape and to actually take care of my body. This one counts as something I did for me.
  
• Day 19 (10/21)-- One of my best friends is going through some tough times and I spent some time writing a blog entry about how much he means to me and how much he's helped me through the years.
• Day 20 (10/22)--I pulled together training for one of my friends because he was scrambling to get it done in time to meet his deadline and he didn't have anyone to do it. I spent a couple of hours doing the research and developing the training for him. I also did some dat a dumps from SAP to facilitate a project he was working on.
  
• Day 21 (10/23)-- I found this really cool recipe to make Batman Soap online and I made Batman soap for my Batfiend and, as a bonus, I made my mother some really awesome body butter.
  
• Day 22 (10/24)--Someone I knew was in the line at the grocery store and didn't have enough to cover her charges so I rushed forward, whipped out my ATM card, and felt like Wonder Woman as I rescued her. She offered to pay me back, but I turned her down because the awesome feeling I got from helping her out felt way better than getting my money back.
  
• Day 23 (10/25)--I let Caitlin drive home from work. She just got her learner's permit and she hasn't yet driven with her instructor yet, so I'm still nervous about letting her drive. However, today I took the plunge and let her drive. She did very well and I'm sure that as she gets more confident she will do even better.
  
• Day 24 (10/26)--I took John to the doctor this afternoon and filled all the forms out for him because he hurt his left hand so he couldn't write.
  
• Day 25 (10/27)--I took Luke for a walk tonight. It is amazing how much he loves to go for a walk and how excited he gets by the simple things in life.
  
• Day 26 (10/28)--I went to my chiropractor tonight and let myself relax and enjoy the manipulation and the heat that went on my back. It felt really good to just lay there and let the heat and stim do their job on my back. This was a way of giving back something good to myself. When i as at the chiropractor's, I noticed that one of the nurses had on a beautiful set of scrubs with lace embroidery on them. As we talked, she said that she'd bought the one set and hadn't been able to find another pair. Someone suggested looking on line and she said she hadn't had time. I took the time to search online and send her some links as to where she might be able to find them online.
  
• Day 27 (10/29)--I went out with some people from work tonight and when I was done, I came home and made Jambalaya for our food fest tomorrow. This was an act of giving of myself to those I work with as I thought about how nice it would be to build a sense of community with my team mates.
  
• Day 28 (10/30)--Every Halloween my family reads the "Dead List" to pay tribute to those who have gone before. Part of our tradition is remembering people from the past who have influenced us or touched our lives in some way. The people we remember are often people who had no voice when they were alive and who were the victims of genocide, violence, or intolerance. By remembering them, we remember their lives and pay tribute to their sacrifice. We also teach each other a lesson by promising to do what we can to stop intolerance and violence in our world.
  
• Day 29 (10/31)--The last day was the absolute easiest of the giving challenge because it was Halloween so we were giving out candy to children all evening long.