There are Twinkles in her Wrinkles!

Last night my mom and I enjoyed a delicious dinner at Miyo's!  I had two glasses of wine, therefore got pretty chatty!  I always feel like she is surprised at how much I can drink and not be on the floor.  And all I had was two glasses!

Afterwards we went to see Les Miserables which I had seen already but mom had not. 
She said this will be the fourth movie version she has seen of this (not all musicals).

The movie, of course was amazing even the second time.  But even better than that was spending some time with her not talking about anyone else but ourselves.  I think we both need that a little more these days! 

She will be 60 years old this year.  In a few weeks as a matter of fact.  That is amazing to me.  She has looked the same for 32 years.  I always think about my mom and dad and wonder if the were aware when their parents "got old." And I would say that as if there was a day.  Like this day, they were old. 

Thank God it's slow! For all of us.  I see a little more grey, (but for goodness sake, it's in my hair too).  A little more forgetful, maybe a little slower. 

I realize I'm getting healthy now, so I want to push it on everyone else.  But I keep thinking about these kids we have in our family.  They are so young.  We have so much time with them!  Mom and dad both have always been good about eating habits.  Tweaking things here and there if need be.  I want them both to start exercising.  The statistics are astounding on how much it improves your life and extends your life.  I'm not ready for them to be old and slow, and not able to do.....I'm gonna need them to work on that.  For me.  Oh, and for the kids probably too! 

We touched on this last night.  But it can be a pretty heavy (no pun intended) conversation.

We need to do this more often.  Just us.  I think she'd like that!  I sure would!

**We didn't eat any of that candy! I just thought it was a pretty picture!

Steam Room

The steam room is an amazing place.  Who knew?  My trainer told me to try it after one of our intense workouts.  It's very intimidating! I guess most things are when you've never done it before.  Normal response, right?

I'd never seen anyone in there.  It's this door on the wall that looks like it goes no where.  Scary. 

One day I ventured in.  I walked in and it looked pretty steamy!  I wasn't sure about a lot of things.....

*do you wear clothes, or just a towel like on tv

*can I go in with my shoes on                                    
*is there a place to turn on more steam

After sitting there for a moment, I walked out again to find the place where you turn on the steam.  Ok, yeh, this is it.  This is what I was looking for!

I sat there turned my music off, my phone on silent and closed my eyes.  It was so quiet! So nice.  I tired not to think of any thing at all.  That's hard to do by the way! But you can get there! 

Deep breaths in and out.  In and out.  It was great!  Very cleansing, very relaxing!

There are some things I should warn you about should you choose to venture into your local steam room:  

*It can be very claustrophobic.  Walking in with all the steam, it's hard to see and can be scary!
*The inside of my nose had condensation.  It wasn't running, or dripping but condensation, like on a glass.  Odd.
*Depending on the amount of steam, it may be hard to breath.  I don't keep the steam going in mine.  I steam it up, turn it off and then walk in.             
*It's hot.  Duh, right? But remember that you are hot and worked up from a workout.  Keep that in mind! Luckily I've lived in the south all my life, so it just feels like a Tuesday in July!

I plan to make this part of my routine in my afternoon workouts.  It's nice to have a quiet place to clear your mind!  And these days, my mind must be cleared at least once a day, sometimes two!

Inspiration comes in many forms...

  I had a meeting yesterday with some peers.  The Executive Director of Aiken County First Steps and others.  First Steps is a wonderful organization (when done right) that gets children ready for school.  They work with the child, with the family, with the provider.  Like I said, if done right, they are a great organization.  Well, Aiken county has done it right.  Marcia Nash is the ED and was also the one running the meeting.  The purpose of the meeting was to talk about Month of the Young child.  Now, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) celebrates The Week of the Young Child every year in April.  It's an exciting week that is normally themed and childcare centers and schools across the nation do all sorts of things to celebrate.  Ms. Nash started celebrating the entire month years ago.  She coordinates vendors and activities throughout the county.  She writes grants and gets locations donated.  It's so thrilling to watch people do what they do.  To see someone in their element is like a well conducted orchestra.  The meeting was a little over an hour, I was writing the whole time.  Taking notes on events, things that we may be able to collaborate on.  I was writing down ideas to use for my other counties that are not as motivated.  I left rejuvenated and re-energized. 
  Oddly enough our staff meetings at United Way are that way.  You don't leave mad and angry about policies that haven't gone through or that you aren't being heard.  It's amazing, I didn't know staff meetings could go that way.  I leave excited, refreshed, renewed.  Goes to show that I am in the right place for this point in my life! 

Gamecock Baseball

  Today was a double-header for the gamecocks baseball team!  We played against Liberty.  Have you ever heard of the school?  Me either.  Daddy called me asked me to go the game!  It was fun, cold but fun!  I hadn't been to a baseball game in years.  I used to go to the Blowfish games here in Columbia but there are in the middle of the summer and it's so hot!  I forgot how quiet baseball games can be.  Not as quiet as golf, but still much quieter than a football game.  Aside from the occaisional outburst from a fan they stay quiet!  Today the coach from the visiting team was ejected from the game.  That was interesting.  I really thought that shit was in the movies but he was all up in the ref's face screaming and arms waving about.  It was nuts! He walked the long walk across the field and close behind him was a police officer talking on his walkie.  Funny stuff! 
  I'm convinced that baseball fans must be the funniest ever.  The one liners are priceless.  So funny!  This coach was doing his walk of shame and the guy behind us said, very sarcastically "let's work on out paitience, ok!"  He had our entire section laughing! It was a beautiful day, very cold by the end but so pretty outside!

Turkey Meatballs

My friend Jaimie who is a Master Blogger wrote about her attempt to make meatballs.  It made my hungry, although from her account she made them wrong.  I made them with 85% lean turkey, as opposed to my normal 95% lean that I eat. 

1 pckg ground turkey
1/2 grated onion
3 cloves of garlic
palm of brad crumbs
palm of Parmesan
2 tbsp tomato paste
bunch of parsley
salt
pepper



My plan was to get a good crust on them in a pan on the stove and then transfer to the oven.  The first batch didn't turn out....great. 



The second batch was much better!  Turned the stove down a little and put half the olive oil in the pan.  It wasn't much to begin with, just so you now.  So in the end it was maybe a teaspoon.  I made some Tzatziki sauce too. 
1/2 cup of plain non-fat yogurt
1 cucumber diced
1 tsp dill
juice of 1 lemon

The end result was awesome and delicious! Annnnd to top it off I cleaned my kitchen.  My grandmother Mimi always told my mama to clean as you cook, or clean as your go, I can't remember.  Either way it was basically don't leave the mess for the end.  Occasionally I listen and I am more than thrilled to have a clean kitchen after a great supper!  The times I don't I imagine Mimi shaking her head with the smallest smile on her face like mama does now!

Live United

  In September 2012 I was thrilled to get a call back for an interview with CCR&R.  It was three interviews in total which played havok with my heart!  Prior to working with CCR&R I was working for DSS-Child Care Licensng for almost 5 years.  The last 2 and a half of which I was looking for a new job.  Oddly enough, I liked the work I did.  It played to my need of control perfectly!  I felt quite powerful behind the DSS badge!  It took only two years or so to realize that this 'power' I felt was fictional.  I wanted to be a part of every step of the process.  I was on the front lines, I was the face these providers saw, the face they thought of when they heard DSS.  I took that very seriously.  I wanted to be a part of the Central Office, "the head people" and make the tough decisions.  I couldn't do both.  I wasn't asked and no one was willing to hear my thoughts and plans.  They were good.  Infact, they were so good I'm hearing several of them being put into place now.  Hmmm, odd.  Clearly I still have some unresolved issues.  I shouldn't, I'm not a bitter person.  I try not to be. 

  Beatrice Geiger, my current supervisor called me on a Wednesday after my third interview.  "Jennifer, we would love to offer you a position with ChildCare Resource and Referral as a Technical Assistance Specialist.  We just need to know your answer by......" "Yes!  Yes, I would love to accept the position." She was surprised I didn't need any more time.  Licensing and CCR&R work closely together, so she was somewhat aware of how unhappy I was.  A simple change in jobs changed my life!

Things that changed:

*I work from home-What? who does that?  It's harder than you think. 
*I'm happy.  Simple, to the point.  I don't HATE my work anymore
*I LOVE being a part of something so big and positive, United Way! 
*I feel proud wearing my United Way badge.  Not powerful, not full of myself, just proud!