For a Good Time, Call...

Me. I mean, SERIOUSLY, if you're not having fun doing it...then STOP DOING IT. Simple, huh? There are those cynics out there, who say "everything in life isn't about having fun." Says WHO, Mr. Cynic? Surrrrre it is! Now, I don't frequent the Prozac bottle, and I do realize there are BAD TIMES...I'm not talking about adversity...I'm talking about WHAT YOU DO. I'm talking about taking the thought-provoking questions you SHOULD have running through your head and using them to ENJOY WHATEVER IT IS THAT YOU DO. I once read that "curiosity is a powerful thing, and it leads to smart work." (Thank you people at Brains on Fire). But WOW. Deep. I guess "curiosity didn't kill the cat" afterall. Anyway, it really is a whole cirlce-of-life kind of thing. I mean, when we have fun, we grow, when we grow we succeed, and when we succeed, we profit. So, it stands to reason that if we don't have fun, then we are DEAD. PS-there are 210 Days til Mardi Gras. Woooo-hooo! Well, this has been fun, but I'm off to have more fun...maybe eat some Suishi...NOM, NOM, NOM...because that's the kind of fun-on-the-edge sort of thing I do.

Super.Fab.Wonderful. :)

To-Do List

I've been reminded of this very poem at LEAST a dozen times in my life. The Professional Push is huge, and it deserves FOCUS...I mean, if you're going to leave your home-sweet-home for 80% of your day, it stands to reason that you should devote the necessary time to being an uber-fantastic professional and make the most of your time...BUT if you have children (or a spouse or any loved one you'd like to KEEP around), the value of quality time goes up a notch...super...*as if you aren't ALREADY being asked, demanded and bribed into doing ENOUGH things!! But "the greatest of these is love..." And Kids (like Adults), spell "Love" T-I-M-E. The thought is old and the remanants are cliche...but the meaning is VALUABLE. Here's the poem:

Mother, oh mother, come shake out your cloth!
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking!
Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Oh, cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
But children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs.
Dust, go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby.
Babies don't keep.

By Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

I'm OCD so "cleanliness IS next to Godliness" in my book...and calorie counting and lettuce are my nearest and dearest of friends...but I think tonight, the clothes will go unfolded...the floors will go unmopped...the bills will get paid tomorrow...and the B-Team and I will revel in a riveting game of CHUTES AND LADDERS! Did someone say pizza? Dino cookies? Fat and Fun...YUM. :)

Satisfaction Guaranteed.

Trust me when I say that this is not one gift you will want to return. However, I would HIGHLY ADVISE re-gifting. AFFIRMATION. You know, we ALL love to hear what we do well...but how many of us run through our days without the slightest acknowledgement of the services being provided to us? I was thinking about this today--it's SO EASY to laud a child for an act of service because it's noticeable--I mean, the first time Bradley ever picked up a toy, I swear the heavens opened up and rays of sunshine beat onto my face. Now, when he puts his clothes into his laundry basket or tosses his mangled, spaghetti-stained napkin into the garbage, I am grateful BECAUSE IT'S SOMETHING I'M NOT DOING--what a gift! It's easy for me to notice the helpful things he can do because that is something he COULD NOT do before. But how many times do we fail to acknowledge a friend? a spouse? a family member? a co-worker? a secretary? ALL THE TIME--I mean, I do at least. At it's not out of being intentionally selfish...but in this life of "now's" and instant gratification, it's so easy to look past all the things people are doing for us. So, "STOP, COLLABORATE AND LISTEN:" take time to notice SOMEONE today...and thank them...for taking out the trash, allowing you to walk through the door first, and all the other LITTLE things. It will make the other person feel AFFIRMED, and it will make you feel good. All warm and fuzzy. Aww. That's sweet.

Yes, I still flirt with Insomnia

It's 3:22 in the morning, and I have NO GOOD REASON for being awake. I did take Excedrin (something) earlier, and it's a known fact that the SMALLEST doseage of Caffeine will take me to the ends of the Earth and Back. So, being that caffeine is one of the active ingredients...VOILE.

Anyway, in my state of awakeness, I have really reflected on PERSONAL IMPACT. What does that mean, you are wondering? It's a known fact that people want to be remembered for GOOD things, when they're dead and gone. There are a few people, who are strange and SAY that they don't care "how people remember them," but the majority of people want to be remembered as something remarkable. They want to be known as "the MOST giving, the MOST altruistic, the MOST kind, the MOST loving, the MOST HONEST, the BEST son, the BEST daughter, the BEST Mother, the BEST Father, the smartest...and so on." So, the question is, HOW DO YOU ENSURE THAT HAPPENS?

1. Keep yourself in check. What are your priorities? Are other people and their needs BEFORE yours or are YOU numero UNO?
2. Do you have friends so YOU can talk or so THEY can be heard?
3. Are you reading? (and allow me to be brave and say EVERY day...try just 15 minutes a day).
4. Are you calling your friends and family members and MAKING the time to visit them. It's a well-known fact that "people don't care how much you know until you know how much you care." I know I've mentioned that before, but it's worth mentioning again.
5. Is the miscommunication about ARGUING to make your point or LISTENING to understand theirs?
6. Understanding BALANCE. Listen, I battle this DAILY. I live by the motto, "I can sleep when I'm dead"...hence the post at 3:30 in the morning. But while there has to be a ton of time for SAVING THE WORLD, there also has to be time set aside to RESCUE you.

Do all these things make you A LEGEND? No. But they give you peace of mind...and direction...and they keep you in touch with the people, WHO ARE GOING TO BE THE ONES THAT REMEMBER YOU WHEN YOU'RE GONE. Balance and is the KEY to enjoying life as opposed to just getting by. Nothing is more disconcerting than to ask someone how they're doing and hear, "Oh, I'm just getting by." WHAT A SAD WAY TO LIVE LIFE. Seriously...we live on a planet with BILLIONS of hugely diverse people...a planet where knowledge, power and fun can be progress cooperatively. So WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO JUST "GET BY??" Seize the MOMENT! Enjoy the DAY! Live every day down to last second! Breathe peace.

Nonsense

So, I sincerely debated titling this blog entry "because I said so..." NOT as some statement, but because I tend to lack continuity and in essense "sense" in my blogs. Lots of people have blogs with a purpose: there are cooking blogs, couple blogs, family blogs, career blogs, hairstyle blogs, blogs, blogs, blogs...me...meh...eh...not so much...I wouldn't say I was on the THEME PURPOSE TRAIN.

AND I have NOT been away because I have been lazy (for once)...if you don't already know the tragedy that struck my life about a month ago, I will take that circe and run with it, but if you do, then you know that I have been the target of some pretty negative...crap...this is NOT me whining about it...it is what it is...but after someone cruely commented on the contents of my blog, I thought, "why add insult to injury?" No one enjoys persecution--justified or not...from a friend or from an enemy...with knowledge or emotion...it's defeating...

Life, as I know it, has seen intense changes and yes, details will follow in the future. I will say that I don't even PREFER beef stew, but the crockpot is a miraculous invention, and I recently decided to embrace it. At any rate, I just tasted the said beef stew and allow me to simply say, YUM. The meat is falling apart...potatoes are the perfectly seasoned carb...carrots (bleck) are tiny enough to be in existence (you're welcome, Grandma), but they aren't noticeable (hooray!). I am delighted in my achievement...and I'm onto baking ZUCCHINI CRAB CAKES...don't let the painfully gross title derail you--they are fantastic.

Alright, my moment of nonsense has passed, and i feel totally satisfied with the things I've shared. Purpose and Good Blogs to follow...and happiness to ensue.

Later Gators.

BlogosaurusREX!

KOM-UN-I-KATE! communicate. say what you mean and mean what you say. Perception IS more important than reality, but come on, Kids...cut the world a break! Don't always ASSuME someone knows what you're saying...how you feel...or "what you mean..." because 9 times out of 10, they don't! and we ALL communicate differently...so what keeps you from looking like a monster and being able to deliver your thoughts clearly? 2 shots of bacardi and a nap...KIDDING!! No, seriously...try to actually UNDERSTAND what the other person is saying by noticing their BODY LANGUAGE, FACIAL EXPRESSIONS, TONE AND INFLECTION. Most of what is communicated is unspoken...with that said...make sure your ATTITUDE is appropriate for the response...yes, this does sound like psycho mumbo-jumbo...but it's not...for example, if someone says to me, "Tammy, I think you could try it this way" (and their eyebrows are furrowed, their cheeks are red and their hands are on their hips), rest assured they're a little peeved at me...so it would NOT be an apporpriate time for me to say, "Well, what I was TRYING to do was..." they don't really CARE what i was trying to do...there is already a problem and they just want a solution. in the words of the deep south...GIT ER DONE!

a few disclaimers:

one: the title is not reflective of the blog...i was going to talk about something else...but well, i changed my mind...but i loved the title...so i kept it!

two: yes, sometimes i capitalize sentences and sometimes i don't...sue me.

three: I DO know that my grammar above was incorrect...when talking about a single person, you say HE or SHE...as opposed to "their or them"...but well, i couldn't decide if i wanted the other person to be a boy or girl...and i didn't feel like typing he/she every time...AND i know you can start with he or she and they default to just a He OR a she...but i didn't want to do that either....voile!

i hope this was somewhat helpful...of course, this IS the diary of a madwoman. :)

TAKE A BREATH!

So, there are two sides to this coin...first, if I had a penny for every time someone said, "TAKE A BREATH, TAMMY!," I would be independently wealthy and well on my way to some tropical island. In case you've stumbled upon this wildly popular blog and have never had the incredible experience of talking to me, you don't know how fast OR how MUCH I talk! And when I say INCREDIBLE experience, I do mean INCREDIBLE...not INCREDIBLE like "deeply fabulous," but incredible like...WHOA. I have this excitement level that can only be satisfied by MASS AMOUNTS OF TALKING AT RIDICULOUS SPEEDS...and I DO tell myself "to slooooow down...and let the other person..." but darn it if my excitement doesn't get the best of me.

WHAT A CURSE.

Recently, a VERY dear person, whom I ADMIRE told me that "I never let him talk." He proceeded to tell me that I LECTURE and THEN ask him if he'd like to say a few words. WHAT?!! &*@$% no way! SO...WHAT DID I DO? duh...I QUICKLY began my LECTURE in DEFENSE of his ludacris statement!! ...oops...so maybe there was some validity to his statement. AND THAT WAS NOT GOOD.

SO, THIS IS MY MISSION...AND YOU SHOULD ALSO EMBRACE IT IF YOU'RE A FELLOW NON-PAUSER.

Pause...before you speak...

Pause...while you speak...

Pause...when you don't want to...

because, YOU my dear (and ME) are NOT the MYSTERY...the person you're talking TO is...let him or her SPEAK. You can't be engaging if all they hear is "blah, blah, blah..."

YES, YES...You ARE deeply fabulous...but let them tell you how fabulous they are first.

Signing Off,
Fellow Ex-Non-Pauser.