New Dreams. New Desires. New Year.

Happy  New Dreams!
Happy New Days!
Happy New Desires!
Happy New Ways!
Happy New Year!
Happy New You!

Since we always believe that something new and wonderful is about to happen we never think that we are too old to set another resolution or to dream a new dream. We also know that tomorrow will never happen again. Yes, January 1, 2015 will never happen again.

So we lay out our resolutions and the things we want to achieve, drink less alcohol (starting right after this New Years Eve party), get a better education, get a better job or get fit by losing weight, quit smoking, save money, take a vacation, and reduce stress but we never live up to the resolutions that we set.

Because we look down the endless candle lit table of options and we see the bubbly bar staring us in the face and mocking our very first idea of a resolution. We second guess ourselves and quickly change our minds.

Ball drop cupcakes with sparklers bursting out the top scream and laugh at us and our thoughts of losing weight or getting fit  turn to "who cares, no one likes a skinny sober bitch anyways" or "you resolve your self to hang out with friends that are heavier then you" and gawd only knows what is lurking in the midnight take home bags.

So we change our thinking and our resolutions to: think positive, exercise daily, eat healthy, work hard, stay strong, worry less, dance more and be happy.

Ahhh ... yes the simple goals that we really don't have to actually achieve.
We make plans to collect memories in a jar to look at next New Years Eve and remember all the special moments that looked great at those moments in time but as we become introspective that turns us right back to self-improvement and the annual ritual of making New Years Resolutions.

You think to yourself this year will be different. This time you will write down your resolutions on a napkin and drop them in your purse so that you can remember what they are. Maybe you will go out and buy that cute little Anthropology Resolution Kit that you saw on Pinterest so that you can keep everything organized and cute.

There are so many things that sparkle on New Years Eve. New Years resolutions are just one of them and they offer you the first and perhaps the most important opportunity of:

Remaking yourself.
Redesigning yourself.
Reinventing yourself.

If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you need to do is to WAKE UP!! Stop hanging out with people who ask you what your New Years Resolutions are and start hanging out with people that truly look at their resolutions and accomplish every single one of them!

The guest list for your next Resolutions Party will look a little something like this. Mr. Mission Impossible. Ms. Plan Ahead. Professor Recover-From-My-Past. Miss Push-Through-Anything. Mr. & Mrs. Dream. The kid down the street that figured out how to do more with less. Mr. Extreme-Edge-Pusher and of course Aunty Communicate.

The object of having a "New Year" is not to should all over your self but to have a fresh start and a new chance to begin again. Once we figure out how to achieve those new found resolutions we will have a new outlook and we will certainly do more things effectively.

We will truly enjoy the confetti flying, we will be happy experiencing the fireworks at the stroke of midnight, and we will know that the little keys we have in our back pockets will not only open those big locks of opportunities but they will bring smiles that reflect our grateful attitudes for the things we learned.

And because we accomplished eating less and losing weight we can enjoy a New Year Cake pop on a stick and a fluted glass of the prettiest pink champagne from the flowing tower of Chataeu Rose.

We will have found a love and appreciation for ourselves that allowes our hearts to open and find that one true love that we can grow old with. Bursting with confidence we will be able to ask boldly for that kiss to start at 11:59 and go until 12:01 so that our old year will end right and the new start will have the perfect beginning.

Tick tock, Tick tock the hand strikes midnight and the pop, fizz and clinks we hear are the noises we will be hearing as we sing that old Scottish tune Auld Lang Syne. We will toast to the old friends of failure, disappointment, and excuse making ... they will be forgotten and to our new friends that enjoy sharing in the sweetness of success!

We will proudly open another journal with empty pages and fill the blankness with words of encouragement, people, and situations we are grateful for and the successes and achievements worthy of writing down.

We will have changed into the people we are meant to be. We will have discovered that we are the people that we always thought we could be and we will believe that there will never be, in the past or in the future, anybody that will be like us.

We know there really is no time limit we can grow or stay the same, there are no rules to this. We can make the worst of it or we will make the best of it, we will embrace the things that startle us and we will feel the feelings we have never felt before. We will enjoy new and different points of view and live lives that we will be proud of.

So lets toast to the new book we will call Opportunity and start by writing the first entry in indigo ink with the promise of filling each page with our own sweat, blood and tears.

With our glasses raised let me say this: My hope to you is that you have the determination, the strength and the audacity to make it through this year with resolutions achieved and ambition to start all over again. May your coming year be filled with hopes, dreams, magic and good madness and somewhere in the next year I hope you surprise yourself!

Happy brand spanking, sparkly covered, shiny, open new book with empty pages, full of promise, hopeful New Year!

December so far ...

December has started off so well this year. So many things have been happening, accomplished and celebrated in the first 7 days!

Here it is Pearl Harbor day which is set aside for remembering the souls that lost their lives in the bombings that Japan delivered upon American soil so many years ago. BUT for us it’s a day to remember all the fighters who stayed home from war and fought for their lives with their Victory Gardens and healthy eating. We celebrate today by working in our own little victory garden celebrating the personal freedom we choose to use over rotten produce from our local grocery store.

It’s interesting … since taking in this project on Mother’s Day weekend we have noticed so much with in our personal lives that have changed. We are not yet told that we can not have a garden with in our front yard like so many cities around the U.S. We haven’t been told we were dumb for thinking of the idea or criticized for our hard work. The opposite has happened. We have been praised, been bombarded with people wanting the extras and have come up with plans for growing our food production and preserving what we can.

Today marks a great day for our little plot of land. We went to pick up a truck load of salvage from a family that is rebuilding their garden fences with metal. Now we can finish the fencing along the back yard for the brambles to crawl upon.

Seeds were planted in the recycled milk containers that we have been saving over the past few months and the brambles have been pruned and are now ready to move them when the fence gets built.

Work Christmas parties have opened the holiday season and I for one am thankful for the night out dressed up! Once in a full moon does this kinda thing happen on an island. Or it only happens when you are desperate to get out of your flannel lined wranglers and shower the dirt off.

The Christmas spirit has completely invaded our lives and the decorations have gone up in full force. Cookies and fudge are on the menu for this weekend, wedding cookies and Buckeyes are on the agenda for next. The shopping has started but the best part is … Advent has also started.

Celebrating the first week of Advent brought with it the feelings and desires for hope. They say that those who plant seeds have the expectant desire to see a future. “Be strong and if good courage for I have a better future planned for you.” Well, we fall into that category nicely. We wait with expectant hope for the future.

We plan for the future.
We plan for the garden.
We plan so we don’t fail.

As I sit out side by the warmth of the campfire I think back to the year that we had and am thankful for the grilled dinners that were made right here on the flame. We celebrated my 40th birthday right here around this same campfire with new recycled street lamps made from chandeliers and had friends laughing, drinking and eating pizza!

We are all looking forward to what next week will bring. We are all looking forward to the coming year and what it will bring. Once again more milestones will be celebrated and more laughter await.

Merry December to you all!
Happy Christmas!!
Season’s Holiday Greetings!!

Prescription for turkey, Brazil nuts and sex.

I love my doctor.
Doctor Mandy is AWESOME.
She is the best thing since seeds.

As some of you know I have had struggles over the last couple years with my inside parts of my body. This last round of blood test have come back and they are looking pretty darn good! Thank you! I will take my bow now.

Over all my blood came back with glowing reviews. My white blood cells are looking great the red ones - on the other hand - are having a little problem with their size. Seems that they are on an ego boost and sucking all my seratonin with it.

Apparently, when Dr. Mandy took my blood she had it tested for Lyme Disease. Yes, I knew she was going to test for it simply because I hang out under bushes and play in the dirt. What was truly amazing is finding out that there could be so many different "bands" to Lyme's Disease and if you test positive for more then two then you are catagorized as sick. You have the illness. Well, since I work out side and haven't had any ticks sucking on me like small little vampires, I am doing ok.
Lucky Me!

I am fighting off one band or what is resembling one band. Things that make you go hummmm. Even though Dr. Mandy is a little concerned, I am not. She thinks that since it's only one band and not three that it could be an autoimmune something or another BUT when we got to the end of the 6 page report my blood ran free of those too. So now back to drawing baord, haha get it? gotta draw more blood.

Well anyhoo, it is a good thing that needles don't bother me. Trust me I know it would make a better story if I was.

Dr. Mandy, is so patient with me. When it comes to telling me things like my Pregnenolone levels are low she can see that she really can't tell me too much technical jarrgon without my head literally spinning around out of control and popping off so she breaks things down like this: this level is too low - eat more animal fat. She also knows I am very visual and I need help understanding a few things so she breaks out the scrap paper and starts doodling!

I love this woman!
Did I say that yet?
Ohhhhh and thank goodness she has good hand writing.

So from what I understand about pregnenolone,  the word I can type but can not pronounce (pregna - no- lone - knee, my version) has everything to do with cholesterol and eventually my hormones. So long story short my hormones are still out of whack. She put me on a natural herbal drug that I take every morning that helps balance out my emotional roller coaster but the animal fat is to help with the building of the hormones so it has everything to do with the cell structure and so on.

More medical jargon that refused to stick in my brain. I used to get enough animal fat when I could eat cow milk yogurt and drink half-n-half or eat cheese. Or just intake milk in anyway I could. Now its' a daily adventure to find more things that involve the fatty parts of animals. I have introduced goat milk and cheese but the prices of these products keep me pretty limited on what I can actually bring home. There will be a goat in the year eventually. Hint, hint boyfriend!

When I asked Dr. Mandy how vegetarians make this whole cholesterol/hormone thing work she said it doesn't.

Noted. Never go vegetarian.

Vegan? Yes! Just make sure I remember to get animal fat! So it boils down to more steaks and more vegan desserts. Ok, that is not complicated. Rolling my eyes now.

Moving on ...

My risk of cardiovascular problems have dropped below "high" and I am now sitting in the average range. I can handle that.

The best part of the test came next on page 4 of the report. MY SUGAR LEVELS HAVE DROPPED!! Taking in less refined sugar, learning to bake yummy treats with homemade applesauce or honey and dropping sugary drinks has lowered my sugar levels by two points!!

You heard that right!
2 freakin' points!!

Dr. mandy was so thrilled I had to get up from the table and do a happy dance. She was so happy because we did it soley with food. I didn't have to take prescription drugs to accomplish any of it. Noted.

My Vitamin D levels are still low. Yes, that is understandable since we garden in the islands north of the sun! My little droplets of liquid Vitamin D still need to be added to my green lucky charm flavored shake every night.

Cure for this?
Move to a warmer climate!
Lay out naked in the sun even in the 45 degree weather. Yeah that ain't happening.

My Vitamin B levels are still ringing in at low levels. This means Dr. Mandy will shoot me in the butt more times than I care for with bright red liquid filled with B-12 and other things. I really do enjoy the high for a couple hours afterwards.

Cure for the low results? I knew you wanted to know the answer!? So the cure is (drum roll) Forever on Vitamin B pills that comes labeled as Stress B-Complex, brazil nuts, squash and pumpkin seeds.

Vitamin B's are awesome!!
A legalized head rush that can really only come from the work of bees! Ahhh ... thank you bees.

Now the best part of the whole 2 hour appointment! My Serotonin levels. Well let's just say that they are so low that they were barely on the scale. Hell they were barely on the same side of the street as my red blood cells and their ego! Not enough room for the both of them so one of them had to go.

Reminds me of a conversation my best friend and I had when we lived in the same town together. Okay. Yeah, it was more of a yelling match. We decided that we would live is desperate towns.  We have stuck to that promise.

So what is Serotonin?
Yes, I had to ask. I had no idea what it was or did.

If you ever have the chance to have a visit with Dr. Mandy you will understand that she is an amazing, caring, woman that has truly packed a bunch of love in a small body. Now that I have said this it brings me to the cure from my levels falling from the charts. Kind words spoken from my heart.

Serotonin measures the amount of happiness you have in your life. Oh. Doh! She calls it my "snap shot of Joy", Guess I am not a happy person. Ouch.

How the hell do you fix that?
Yes, I had to ask this too.

She got a big smile on her face and said ... SEX ... and lots of it! I can do that! Anything else? The food cure is more turkey. Ok ... I now have 6 turkeys in my freezer.

The other? This is sure a hard one. Haven't quite figured out how to get this cure to work.

We get out joy from people telling us how great we are, how we make a difference to them or how we make a difference in the lives of others around us.

Ok with that being said. I know you all want to post comments on this blog entry telling me how awesome I am and how I make you a better person. Go ahead! Do it!! You will be helping my levels go up and you will be part of my cure! My prescription of happiness starts with you and of course the boyfriend who is thrilled about the first part.

My mind is still spinning on this and thinking of my serotonine levels brings me to start thinking deeper about how this can really work. That will be another post when I figure it all out. I hope I can figure it out. I do know that we all need to be the reason that other peoples' levels are raised and not drained.

I hope my kind words about Dr. Mandy help raise her levels! :) Just let me know if I can help you raise yours. I know, for an absoulte fact, there is a list of great things in everyone.