Growth - Part 1

I'm taking a big step today towards one of my growth focus areas for the year - growing my business - and am enrolling in pre-licensing classes in order to earn my real estate license. It's a natural extension of my current business, Really Neat. Additionally, as we're in our third home in seven years, it's also an area in which I have a fair amount of personal experience. I've set a goal to sit for the the state license exam by February 27 - I'll keep you posted on my progress!

I love the library!

This may seem painfully obvious to most of you, but do you realize how great the library is? Seriously! I'm in love with the library! Over the past several years, we've developed the devilish habit of buying books - lots of books. We love books. Funny thing is though, there are only a few cherished volumes that I refer to more than a handful of times. Most of the books sit idle on our shelves - good for decorating, perhaps, but not so much for learning. So anyway, I've recently re-taken to the idea of borrowing books instead of buying books.




And most library websites are so user-friendly these days. Just yesterday - in about 15 minutes - I was able to search for books via keyword, title, author, etc. I requested 5 books be put on hold for me (for some research I'm doing) & created a list of another 10 or so (casual reading & more research) that I'm interested in checking out, but can request for hold later. The library will send me an email when they've collected all of my requested titles and they'll be waiting at the checkout desk for me to pick up. Simple as that. Wow!


If it's been a while, go re-discover your library today. I don't think you'll be sorry.

Quote

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"Paradise is where I am." ~ Voltaire

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How many times have we found ourselves mesmerized by the grass, that distractingly bright green - surely greener than here - grass, on the other side of the proverbial fence? Stop. Consciously take stock of your position and count the blessings you have with you here and now, on this side of the fence. I'm not saying don't take risks or make changes. Be assured, both are necessary for survival & growth.

When you do make changes or take calculated risks, however, do so with an understanding that easing the burden of everything you carry with you over the fence will often require much more than the greener (that's strange; the color change seems almost imperceptible now from over here...) grass your heart seeks.

History in the Making

Daddy & I are both taking tomorrow off to camp out on the couch & watch the Inauguration festivities. I don't and I won't discuss politics here, but whatever your affiliation, I hope you take pride in being an American today & every day.

First project off the needles for 2009!

I finished a quick hat for a late Christmas gift last week. We spent a lovely weekend with dear friends to celebrate birthdays & the relative peace & quiet of the post-holiday season. The hat is another pattern from Zoe Mellor. Charlie served as my model, somewhat begrudgingly, but I figure it's the first of many duties he begrudgingly assists mommy with over the course of his lifetime. The actual pattern in the book is a beautiful and very colorful fair isle knit, but time (and perhaps my skill!) didn't permit me attempting such an intricate project. I opted, instead, to go with a soothing, soft cream-colored wool for a clean & simple, yet still fun, end result.

Cookies

Daddy requested chocolate chip cookies the other day, so I set out to find a yummy (and easy) recipe. I decided to try "Chocolate-Chunk & Cherry" cookies from my Williams-Sonoma Baking book. Cookie baking isn't always my forte, but these turned out great and scored lots of rave reviews! I used Ghirardelli chocolate squares chopped into big pieces. I think that made a big difference - so much more chocolaty than plain old morsels. Try some this weekend - I think you'll love them as much as we did!

Chocolate-Chunk & Cherry Cookies, Williams-Sonoma Baking

1 c all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 c plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 c firmly packed dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

8 oz semisweet chocolate, cut into 1/2 in pieces

6 oz dried sour cherries, dried bing cherries or dried cranberries, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, & salt into a bowl; set aside. Cream butter, brown sugar & vanilla on high speed until fluffy. Beat in the egg. Reduce speed to low, add the flour mixture & stir just until combined. Add chocolate & cherries - mix on low a couple of turns to incorporate.

Drop the batter by slightly rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake until golden brown - about 16 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool. Store in airtight container for 4-5 days - but they won't last that long, I promise!

Makes about 2 dozen.

Be Happy

One of my favorite books on my shelf is 14,000 things to be happy about., by Barbara Ann Kipfer. If ever I'm in a bad mood, feeling down, or struggling to see the brighter side of life, it's easy to flip through a few pages - a smile is sure to emerge in no time at all. For instance, page 6 reads:

• ..."dim, low-hanging factory lamps
• a dimly lit room with candles flickering in red jars
• hemming your clothes
• smooth, muscular arms
• snorkeling
• homemade cider jelly
• long hands
• miniature artichokes
• pink butcher's paper
• Montego Bay, Jamaica
• 10 cent ferry rides
• window spray de-icer
• winter as a master miniaturist
• candy-stripe shirts, unironed
• cinnamon coffeecake
• snow outlining the elements of trees' architecture
• dinner with laughter
• funny toes
• knowing there will be many surprises in the future
• stuffing a phone booth with people
• rooms with polished pine floorboards and doorjambs that tilt and slant and
  extra touches like silk flowers and current issues of antique and wildlife
  magazines
• snow-white carpeting
• sports-art galleries..."

As I was searching for a link online for the book, I discovered Dr. Kipfer's website devoted to the "happy about" franchise. Check it out - it's fun. And happy.

www.thingstobehappyabout.com

Happy weekend to you.

Letter Perfect

For Christmas this year we decided to make name wall hangings for all of the kids on our list. We had a ball wandering around various malls & shopping areas snapping pictures of signs to crop down into individual letters. I had intended to use pre-matted collage frames with the appropriate number of spaces, but I had a surprisingly hard time finding just the right ones. Instead for most of the gifts, I bought individual frames for each letter. This was a blessing in disguise, as shipping costs were greatly reduced by the smaller package weight & size.

For some of the names, I hot-glued a length of ribbon to the backs of the frames as a more decorative hanging option. The pictures were a hit - and so much fun for us to make & give!

Routine

Building routine into your life is a great way to stay on top of the small tasks that we often find to be frustrating obstacles to reaching our "big picture" goals. One of my biggest "big picture" goals is living in a warm & welcoming home environment. One of the biggest detractors to that goal, in my opinion, is a sink full of dirty dishes. To combat this, I've built dish duty into my morning routine. Each morning, right after I start the coffee pot, I empty the dishwasher from the night before. Often, I've left a pan soaking in the sink overnight, so I also quickly wash, dry & put that away as well. I even have time to run up the driveway to grab the newspaper before my coffee pot gurgles to announce it's ready.

Throughout the day, I can simply rinse any used dishes and immediately stash them into the dishwasher instead of letting them pile up in the sink and on the counter. I set the timer on the dishwasher to run in the overnight so it's ready for my dish duty routine in the morning!

Think about your day - what small routines can you build in to keep you on track towards your big picture goals?

Updated Calendar

I still use an old-fashioned wall calendar to remember appointments, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. I spent a few minutes yesterday adding names in all the right places so I'm able to send timely cards to friends & family. Of course, there are many electronic calendars that keep track of this info annually as well, but I find the wall calendar works perfectly for me.

Christmas Traditions

I'm a little out of order on my posts for yesterday & today. So, first off, Happy New Year! Hopefully you're enjoying a nice day off to rest and relax before tackling your new year to do lists.

I wanted to share two of my favorite family gift-giving traditions that were every bit as much fun this year as they've ever been. The first is our annual secret stocking exchange with Matt's family. All of the adults trade names and get to spend $20 to fill a stocking with goodies. This year Chelsey (Matt's sister) drew my name. I got a bounty of goods: paperback book, tons of harry & david treats like moose munch, chocolate covered pretzels, popcorn, etc, travel size bath & body works goodies, post it notes, a magnetic grocery list for my fridge, Wine Spectator magazine, and more! I think she may have gone a wee bit over on the 20 bucks, but who's counting, anyway?? I drew Lynn (Matt's mom). I filled a re-usable grocery bag as my stocking with a paperback book, lip balm, post its, picture brag book, travel size lotions, & some other small goodies. We exchange a couple of other gifts in addition to the stockings, but it's what I look forward to most with the Swendimans!

On the other side of the family, we held our 4th Annual Selby Mall Dash on the day after Christmas. We've usually done it on Christmas eve, but calendars didn't permit it this year. Anyway, all of the adult kids (me, matt, my brother don & his wife, tina) have 60 minutes to spend a crisp $100 bill any way we'd like...but only on things for ourselves! It's so much fun to splurge for an hour on things that we normally won't buy for ourselves totally guilt-free! This year I scored a new pair of slippers, a wallet, a cashmere sweater, a mandolin slicer for my kitchen & noah's ark cookie cutters! All for $107...not bad! Matt got two new games to go with the Wii that Charlie and I got him for Christmas!

So again, I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful holiday season with family & friends. Best wishes in the coming year! Any resolutions or traditions you'd care to share??