Month: December 2010

Service today was about what is the true meaning of x-mas, well a big focus of all of the holiday mass readings was on children and if we could see x-mas through the eyes of a child we would see they don't need 20 toys or alot of money spent on them they only need love and imagination.  The reading also focused on forgiveness of our family of origin for being who they are and accepting them as children of god.  Wow it really spoke to me…our father always likes to inject some humor into his sermons so he started out by telling us that retail sales were up by 3 1/2% and that means at the end of all of the tallying about 450 billion dollars will have been spent on xmas!  My oh my…his point was we need to recall what xmas originally was about and if you're a believer that means the birth of baby jesus.   I think we did a good job this season between explaining to my daughter everytime she looked at the nativity scene what it was, singing songs focusing on baby jesus and giving some of her toys to those less fortunate what the true meaning of the holiday is.  I hope you and yours had a joyous holiday and wish you a wonderful New Year!

I know I do this alot, beat myself up for what I could do better, more of or different….. 

What we most frequently see when the mind is focused and clear are the habits of mind that create unnecessary suffering, habits fueled by greed and hatred and delusion. Over and over we struggle with our lives, resenting our experiences, blaming ourselves for not being other than who we are. We are unable to see past the immediate, overwhelming drama of our personal story to find relief, indeed, liberation, in the consoling realization of an astonishingly lawful cosmos: paying attention to current experience stops the stories that create and recreate suffering.

– Sylvia Boorstein

I had to do a double take but yes there is an ice rink by Pat Collado's real estate office on Flagler and Cooper thru Jan. 2nd, cost is $8 but they only have size 8 skates and up.  Small rink but looked like alot of fun! 

 Palm Coast Town Center is said to have a nice rink

http://www.cfnews13.com/holiday-events

So my husband and I tossed the idea of going to Orlando overnight for a getaway with our two young children during his week off for x-mas break and decided there are so many local things to do here, we'd have a staycation.  The only rule was we had to actually do things and not just stay home all week:) On day one I made nachos for dinner and we watched a x-mas movie although I cannot remember which one it was a cartoon dog related one on Netflix, very short and cute for young viewers.  Day 2 was a day of vegging around the house and having leisurely meals and lots of fun truely just enjoying our home and children, Day 3 was an adventure to the Marine Science Center in Port Orange where our daughter got to pet stingrays and see seahorses and turtles in tanks it's an amazing place, I've been once before with grandpa but this was the first time the whole family went.  Onto day 4 (today), started with a yummy breakfast of pancakes and eggs made by my hubby then he gave me a few hours break because I have a little cold and took our toddler to the park.  This afternoon he went kayaking and I watched tv shows I never watch, drank hot tea and truely enjoyed "just being"…ahhhhh maybe if the kids always napped I could learn how to staycation everyday!  A girl can dream:)

So amist all of the amazing change in our lives over the past year I haven't truely allowed myself to slow down and feel how much we have accomplished.  With a toddler and new baby its often rare to just reflect because after 12 hours of chasing after them I finally sign on here and get lost in me for a few moments to cleanse my soul.  Anyway I took a life stressors test and loss of a job was like number 8, then pregnancy, then loss of income, then adding a child, then spousal adjustments (my husband is also a student and commutes for work), needless to say my score was rather high for being likely to suffer physical effects of stress such as illness, anxiety, etc. even though I am typing this I still don't allow myself to really realize that all happened to us … so I am going to revisit it again for myself since I rarely slow down….we have been thru like 5 major life events in the last 12 months and I wonder why I have had some emotional days and anxiety again in my life….I'm not perfect I would never want to be god made us imperfect so we are always striving to be better and help others be better too.  I have started thinking about my New Years resolution and I think it will be to Be Still more and try, really hard to not sweat the small stuff….

I've noticed a huge change in my toddler's behavior recently since we or rather "I" implemented timeouts..around 18 months she started testing her will vs. our will and I had some hurdles to overcome but as soon as I started timeouts she has responded extremely well and no longer fusses when she is put in one.  I actually think she likes it.  I have read that children get overwhelmed if they do not have clear boundaries and often around age two they try to experiment with how far they can push things to get their way.  If mommy and daddy are consistent and firm, not mean they will learn that although there are consequences it is all out of love and to help them in the long run.  I have her go to a wall and put her hands on it while we count to 60 I have started extending it because she just turned two and the recommendation is 1 minute per year of age. 

So this is a new invention I came up with tonight as I was starving and it needed to be something we had ready to go…

2 bell peppers, I used red & yellow sliced thin like for fajitas

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 can del monte seasoned diced tomatoes I like the onion, celery or basil medley

salt and pepper to tasta

Brown beef, add peppers and cook till softened, stir in tomatoes

Serve over white or brown rice YUM!