"'Stressed' spelled backwards is 'Desserts.' Coincidence? I think not!"
— Anonymous

Boy did I ever need to receive this "Daily Quote" today. After much stress and concern over several family matters, I feel as though this quote was perfectly placed in my Inbox. Maybe stress is a certain sign of our "just desserts."

Real Life Questions from Real Simple Magazine

1. What is your motto?
"To be loved, you must love and be lovable"

2. What superhuman power would you most like to have?
I'd like to be able to fly

3. What makes you laugh?
Mr. O'Neill; Other people's laughter; My friend, Mrs. Shuff

4. Cats or dogs?
I prefer dogs, but I like both

5. Would you rather be a little smarter or a little sexier?
A little smarter, as I think I am plenty sexy!!

6. High road or low road?
High road, of course, unless I've had too many cocktails...

7. What's the one thing you'll never understand?
My mysterious Mother

8. What's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to you?
That I am the one they turn to for honest and non-judgmental opinions.

9. My life would be simpler if...
I would just slow down and enjoy each moment for what it's worth.

10. The big decision I'm currently wrestling with...
I don't have a big decision I'm wrestling with, but the one thing that's been on my mind a lot lately is getting back into my exercise routine after a long hiatus. That is weighing on my mind a bit, if you know what I mean!

11. What's your favorite feature?
my hair and my eyes

12. What was your most embarrassing moment?
During Dance Party USA at a friend's house a couple of weekends ago, I bent down to do a super smooth dance move and completely split my pants!! How cool is that?!

13. What are you most proud of?
Working toward getting my masters degree at SMU

14. What is something that no one knows about you?
I am mildly claustrophobic and I dislike onions

15. I feel most beautiful/attractive...
between the hours of 7 p.m. and 12 a.m....oh and when I'm wearing sassy high heels!

16. The quality I least like about myself...
my need to always "be right."

17. Guiltiest pleasure?
The Batchelor on ABC

18. My favorite possession...
my photographs

19. When I was little I wanted to be...
a professional dancer on Broadway and a mother of lots of kiddos.

20. What surprises me most about my adult life is...
how much easier it is to make friends and relate to people who are seemingly different than I am with just a little bit of effort. When you're younger, you don't venture out of your inner circle or your comfort zone much.

21. My favorite place in the world...
is my home, particularly when I'm lying on the couch reading a good book, the windows open with a cool breeze. Favorite place aside from my home would be New York city.

22. What's the quality you least like in others?
dishonesty

23. If you suddenly came into $1,000 in spare cash, what would you do with it?
take a weekend trip to New York or splurge on a spa weekend for myself

24. What are you really good at?
writing and editing, cleaning house, keeping secrets, listening

25. What's your go-to dinner?
sushi and a green salad or Tom Yham Gai Thai soup

26. What's your favorite item(s) in your wardrobe and why?
my pearls, my diamond earrings, my new Givenchy purse and my fur scarf because they were all given to me with love and I feel beautiful when I wear them

27. If I had a free hour, I would...
sit outside playing with my dogs and enjoying the nice weather

28. Chocolate or vanilla?
chocolate

29. Mountains or seashore?
seashore

30. What three songs would go on the soundtrack of your life?
"My Wish"-Rascal Flatts
"You're Beautiful"-James Blunt
"Home"-Michael Buble

31. What is your simplest pleasure?
Sandra Brown novels
(And lately a sudden obsession with dancing around the house to Justin Timberlake's song "SexyBack")

32. What would your ideal "I'd rather be..." bumper sticker say?
"I'd rather be traveling the world"

33.What's the craziest fashion trend you've ever followed?
The tall, schlacked, big bangs of the late '80s/early '90s

34. Who is your hero?
my grandmother & my husband

From the Thanksgiving Weekend, I am Thankful for...

1. Perfect weather, not too hot and not too cold, all weekend.

2. Noticing and enjoying the leaves that had changed colors on all of the trees around where I live as I had passed the trees many, many times before this weekend and not noticed them at all.

3. My Mother arriving safely and happily from her drive between Dallas and Houston.

4. The laughter and jovial nature of my Irish in-laws.

5. The generosity and warm welcome of friends when we arrived at their home on Thanksgiving night.

6. The nicest, most accommodating customer service representative that made what could have been a long, frustrating conversation about our DirecTV service into a completely lovely conversation. Heather, I'll never forget you!!

7. Great homemade desserts, s'mores by the fire, mulled wine and good friends.

8. My husband's mopping skills, goofy humor and his ability to make me smile even when I really, really don't want to.

9. Finally getting engaged in some yard work (boy am I sore today from that!).

10. An article in my latest issue of Real Simple magazine, which is a short memoir from a woman writer on "being right" and how one must choose between being right all of the time or being happy. This article caused a serious shift in my thinking as I tend to want to "be right" instead of just being happy with the situation, the person or whatever comes my way. I want to be happy, even if it means keeping my mouth closed and not proclaiming that I am right about something. ***As the article states, if you are committed to always being right, you make it tough on yourself to love others fully and completely and you make it tough to be lovable. (Geez...that'll knock you upside the head!!!)

Here's to being happy and thankful,

and not always feeling like I have to "be right."

"GOBBLE, GOBBLE!!"

TWAS THE NIGHT OF THANKSGIVING
BUT I JUST COULDN'T SLEEP
I TRIED COUNTING BACKWARDS,
I TRIED COUNTING SHEEP.
THE LEFTOVERS BECKONED -
THE DARK MEAT AND WHITE
BUT I FOUGHT THE TEMPTATION
WITH ALL OF MY MIGHT

TOSSING AND TURNING WITH ANTICIPATION
THE THOUGHT OF A SNACK BECAME INFATUATION.
SO, I RACED TO THE KITCHEN,
FLUNG OPEN THE DOOR
AND GAZED AT THE FRIDGE,
FULL OF GOODIES GALORE.

GOBBLED UP TURKEY AND BUTTERED POTATOES,
PICKLES AND CARROTS,
BEANS AND TOMATOES.

I FELT MYSELF SWELLING
SO PLUMP AND SO ROUND,
'TIL ALL OF A SUDDEN, I
ROSE OFF THE GROUND.

I CRASHED THROUGH THE CEILING,
FLOATING INTO THE SKY
WITH A MOUTHFUL OF PUDDING
AND A HANDFUL OF PIE.

BUT, I MANAGED TO YELL AS I SOARED PAST THE TREES....
HAPPY EATING TO ALL -
PASS THE CRANBERRIES, PLEASE.

MAY YOUR STUFFING BE TASTY,
MAY YOUR TURKEY BE PLUMP.
MAY YOUR POTATOES 'N GRAVY HAVE NARY A LUMP,
MAY YOUR YAMS BE DELICIOUS
MAY YOUR PIES TAKE THE PRIZE,
MAY YOUR THANKSGIVING DINNER
STAY OFF OF YOUR THIGHS.

MAY YOUR THANKSGIVING BE BLESSED AND MAY YOU REMEMBER ALL THAT YOU ARE THANKFUL FOR EVERY DAY!!

I my class entitled The Spiritual Vision of Jesus my professor told us a story about a man with three dogs. These dogs were all beautiful, vibrant animals and each morning this man took his three dogs to an open field to allow the dogs to run. While watching this man and his dogs one day, a friend asked the man, "Why do two of your dogs run and play freely throughout the field, enjoying the open area while the third dog merely runs in small circles at your side?" The man with the dogs said simply, "Because the third dog lived most of his life in a cage before he became my dog, so he doesn't realize that he can run free, and so he runs in circles near me, just as happy as can be."

What does this story mean to you?

THE EVENT WAS A HIT!!

I couldn't even wait until next week to write...it was that good! It was the coolest experience to see what I had envisioned and planned since the beginning of 2006 become a reality. Everything was perfect, and everyone thought so. I am typically a communications, sit-at-my-desk-and-write and conduct the occasional interview kind of girl for work. I feel that I am successful at my usual job, but I think this new experience was necessary. The big event planning was a whole new thing for me and I really enjoyed doing it-stress and all!

I'll post photos from the event at a later date...

Following the event, I had a serious adrenaline crash. I felt like I'd come crashing down from a serious Cloud Nine high up in the sky. I realized how little sleep I'd gotten the last couple of weeks because I was suddenly overwhelmed with exhaustion. It's crazy the things a body and mind can do. You can push sleep and stress and everything aside and not even realize what your body and mind can make you accomplish through all of that. Even with the crash afterward, it was all worth.

I pushed through my adrenaline crash and my exhaustion to go have a celebratory cocktail with two of my closest co-workers who supported me completely through this whole proces. You see, I would not usually have been the one to plan this event, and it even got passed up by two other co-workers before the two supporters I had cocktails with told my boss I should be the one to do it. My boss was not supportive. He went on and on about how much work it would be and didn't trust that I could necessarily pull it off-not because of anything that has been lacking my work these last four years there, but because I am young (his words, not mine). But, the others won out and I was asked to take on the event.

Yesterday, when the happy guests were exiting and all of us workers were coming down from the excitment, that same boss came up, put his arm around me and told me everything was perfect and that he always knew I would do a perfect job. What's better than that? An excellent event AND the affirmation of a boss who wasn't supportive of me in the beginning! WOW! I feel like I could walk away from this job right now completely and utterly satisfied. But I won't...I have much more to do.

Here's to the disbelievers and the naysayers who cause us to propel ourselves even further and who come to their senses on the other side of a challenge. And here's to the human body and spirit, which rallies for us even at our craziest, most stressful times.

YEA ME!!!!!!!

Today I will see many months of planning and organizing for the biggest event I have ever coordinated come to fruition. I didn't sleep a wink last night, but not because of nerves, more because of excitment and adrenaline. Because of the work of myself, along with many volunteers and staff, this event will be something to be proud of.

My boss came in late yesterday afternoon and told me to think about this momentous occasion (the celebration of breaking ground on a brand new building for patients here at the hospital) and what it will mean years from now when I'm driving around Dallas with my children or grandchildren and we'll see that new building and I can say I was part of it-planning the largest groundbreaking in the 40-year history of the hospital and being a part of the fundraising team that helped make the building possible. I'll be part of the men and women working there; part of the men, women and children being treated there; and a little piece of the history of something that will live on long after I do. Wow, when he put it that way, I got quite emotional.

I'm hopeful that today will be a time for celebration and pride, knowing that this is a time to pat ourselves on the back for all that we've done to help bring better health care, something so integral to all communities, to so many.

Hopefully I'll have photos and lots to report next week. Until then, have a safe and happy weekend. CHEERS!!

On Being a Grown-up

The things no one ever told me (and that really stink!) about being a grown-up...

1. Bills are not fun because they just keep coming and you always have to use real money to pay them.

2. You stop getting taller, but you never stop growing.

3. Your days get longer, you sleep less and you achieve only a little bit more than you did as a kid.

4. You're expected to do certain things, be certain places and if you don't then you may feel bad about yourself or someone else may feel bad about you.

5. Typically when you feel bad, it's because of something you've done all on your own, and you can't blame "Susie" or "Johnny" even if you want to.

6. Judgment is prevalent.

7. You're going to make things more difficult than they have to be, and you're going to say things like, "I am SO STRESSED!" or "It has been such a LONG WEEK!"

8. Things are going to break and stop working, and you are the one who has to buy a new one or make it work again.

9. Even though we thought we were emotional and dramatic as kids, nothing compares to how we react when things don't go our way now. Can you say Adult Temper Tantrum?

10. Friends change, people change...the only things that remain are taxes, gas prices and God.

I'm not trying to be all negative. There are some perks to being a grown-up:

1. You get to choose your own clothes every day.

2. You can have your hair cut any way you'd like.

3. You can eat whatever you want.

4. You can decide not to go to work one day, if you really don't feel like it.

5. You have your own money now and you can do what you want with it.

6. If you want to stay up all night watching TV, you can do that.

7. You can vote and have a voice in your city, state and nation.

8. You now understand and appreciate special days like Veteran's Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and anniversaries.

9. You now know the true meaning of friendship.

10. You see your parents and your family in a whole new light for all of things they have been doing as grown-ups for so many more years than you have.

If you haven't figured it out already, the previous blog entry was about my Mother-Mia Marcia Stratton Carman. She is an exotic, mysterious, spontaneous creature for me, and you can probably figure out why after reading her response to my blog, which appears on her blog today (www.miaspeaks.blogspots.com). I did not ask her to respond, she simply did so after reading what I had written yesterday. I'm glad she did, though!!

I have posted her response, for all of us to enjoy, below.

Answers to questions asked at www.santasmoon.blogspot.com

Well, very interesting post on www.santasmoon.blogspot.com to say the least. I'll attempt to answer some of the questions.

Who I was, in the fifties through the early 60's. Living in small town Irving, Texas, free as a bird, best friends with your Aunt Gail from the beginning, why, for a number of reasons, some of which I didn't even realize until I started writing this comment. She, like all my best friends to come, is stable as a rock, has a very strong mother and is blonde, blonde, blonde! Gail was the one that made my, "hair like yours" blonder and blonder, with that Summer Blonde stuff. It was a typical "small town Texas" life. Church on Sunday, focus on school (I won the Blue Ribbon at Field Day one year for poetry reciting), football on Friday nights. A father that loved me, a Grandmother that took very good care of me and two older brothers, one that indulged me, one that drove me nuts! One of my most vivid memories of that period of time, was the day JFK was shot! I wasn't old enough really to understand, on more than what was affecting my immediate surroundings, and what that looked like was seeing my Grandmother rattled for the first and only time in my life! I always loved History, English (especially poetry) and Music, Music, Music. Never much tv happening in our house, there was always music playing. After becoming an adult, while thinking about my Grandmother one day, I burst out laughing at a memory of her. On Saturday afternoon at 6:00 the entire house and the rest of the world, I think, stopped while she watched Lawrence Welk, later that night, after all the kids had gone to bed, she would watch wrestling! What a combination, Welk and wrestling! I think she was probably more interesting then I ever thought she was, I wish I had known her better! Zelma!

In the mid-60's I moved to Houston to live with my mother, what a different life! A wealthy neighborhood in Houston, snobbiest kids around, I had one friend, Mary Durham, then she went away. For the next year or two, I pretty much lived my life alone, afraid to make friends (they might leave, like Mary did) and my mother was busy being a typical single mother! Then, out of no where, suddenly she appeared! Carol! There she was, older than me, wiser than me, more interesting than me, I thought she was the best of the best and she was and still is! She was my best friend then and for years to come I couldn't function without her. She is still one of my best friends to this very day! Wild, oh my gosh Wild! Drinking, Drugging, hanging out in all the wrong places. Committed, Yea, to getting into my tight hip-hugger jeans! I spent more time in her home then I did mine, she had a very stable home, mother, father, grandmothers, Polish/Russian screamers! Said whatever they wanted whenever they got ready. (Carol grew up in the Bronx) Very different from my gentile southern up-bringing. And I loved it! We both dreamed of having our own little girl, the deal was who ever had the first little girl got to name her Jennifer, we both loved that name. Carol even has a painting I gave her a long time ago of our future Jennifer! Of course, we both had a little girl, but neither one of us named her Jennifer. Then, my mother re-married and moved me across town, into a home with a younger step-sister and much younger step-brother. I hated it! I had nothing in common with any of them, I didn't like that side of town, it was too far from Carol, I had been raised like an only child and suddenly I had to share my room and my stuff with this bratty younger sister! Yuck! But, as it has most of my life, music connected us and she became and still is one of the great loves of my life. Talk about wild! Boy, the stories the two of us could tell. Shortly after Baba re-married, I left for New York, Carol in typical Carol fashion was very upset about me leaving, so what did she do, she headed the other way, off to California! We were both gone for over a year. My time in New York was the best time of my life, I was with my wonderful Daddy, met my friend Cindy, someone else who is still in my life, and roamed the streets of New York during the end of the 60's. What a great time it was to be there. Fast-forward to the day I married your father... (the day the photo below was taken).

July 2, 1977, I was 25 years old and thought I knew it all! I didn't know a single thing. Larry and I had had a fiery, passionate relationship for 3 years and I don't think anyone thought we would ever get married, but there we were doing it. I use to tell people that I wanted to have 6 children, but I only dreamed of having a little girl. My dream came true. Career - nah! Just wanted to make enough money to buy books, music and have fun!

On April 16, 1979, my world changed forever, all I wanted then was books, music, and a stable home for You!

Do I think we would have been friends, no probably not. I think we would have liked each other and there's a little bit of a possibility that I would have been Your Lisa and You would have been my Mary, but I think that period of time would have come and gone pretty quickly. Even though I'm a thinker, like you, I'm not a planner, I'm more a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl. As you got older and matured, I think I would have driven You crazy! I never had the interest or commitment to school or school activities like you did. I grew up very quickly because of my family situation and the events that went on there. That's why Aunt Carol was such an incredible gift, she was my rock for a number of years.

So, there you have it, if you want "specifics" we'll talk in private!

This is Mia Marcia (pronounced Mar-see-ya) Stratton.

The man next to her is her father, Elmer "Mann" Ione Stratton.

In this photo she is a dashing 20-something on her wedding day about to marry Larry Don Carman. Mia is the picture of '70s laid back style and aloofness in her wind-swept blond locks tousled about, the white eyelet dress flowing down to bare feet with matching daisies for her wrist, and a locket at her neck, which proclaims her best friend's love for her on this special day.

As I sit in my masters class on Thursday nights and "remember the sixties," which as my professor states was "the long sixties" carrying well over into the early seventies, I can't help but think of Mia. I think of the girl she was in the fifties, the wild teenager of the sixties and the 20-something of the seventies. What was she like? Would we have been friends had we known each other at the age she is in this photo and the age I am now? What were her dreams on this, her wedding day? Did she dream as I do about having a career, making a home for herself and her husband and having lots of babies fill that home with love and laughter? What were her thoughts on the happenings in her hometown, her state, her nation and the world? What was her strongest conviction? Who was her best friend, and why?

I wish everyone would blog.

You learn so much about people when they just write what's in their hearts and minds and there aren't many opportunities for people to do that in such a public way. My Auntie Pam just joined the blog world (www.from-rufus.blogspot.com), my Mom has been part of this world for a while (www.miaspeaks.blogspot.com) and my good friend, Barbara, started it all (www.lovethemanyway.blogspot.com).

Today is a great day because it is Friday. It has been a long week of stress and nerves over various work and school projects, but I am feeling less tense today about it all. I hope to get some relief over the weekend as I plan to get some school work completed. We also have plans with our newly-married friends, the Childs. Can't wait to spend some time with them!!

As we head into Thanksgiving season, I must remind myself not to be stressed and nervous over what might be, but to instead be thankful for what is right now. Easier said than done, I know, but it sure would make the days a little brighter and more enjoyable.

Wishing you a stress-free weekend with those you love and time for yourself. Oh, and think about starting a blog...it's simple and it's free!

Happy Friday!!!

It's been a stressful couple of days as I have so much going on at work and a lot rides on my "getting it right" for a big event on November 17. So, when I read my Mother's blog (miaspeaks.blogspot.com) and she gave a list of ten of her favorite things (no people) and asked others to do the same, I thought this would be a great exercise in relieving some stress, but I think my list needs to be longer since it's for therapeutic purposes.
So, here goes...

Twenty of My Favorite Things

1. A Good Book-particularly Sandra Brown, J.D. Robb, Phillippa Gregory, John Grisham

2. When Harry Met Sally, and other great movies I could watch over-and-over again.

3. My cold feet against my husband's warm ones

4. A long, warm embrace from a loved one

5. Warm, fragrant, bubbly baths

6. Lindeman's Australian Chardonnay

7. Sushi

8. Dance Party USA with the girls

9. Anything prepared with love by Chef Greg

10. A day at the park with hubby, Doby & Yankee

11. Baba's laughter

12. Mom's spontaneous song

13. Gege's deep, brooding voice

14. Cherry Garcia ice cream

15. Christmas

16. Cool breezes on sunny days

17. New York, New York

18. My Givenchy and my Fox-Rabbit Fur (OK-I cheated, that's TWO THINGS!!)

19. E-mails between friends

20. Thank you notes from the heart

Wow, I'm already feeling better!!