Happy New Year

Can you believe it? A new year is yet again upon us! It's this time of year when people reflect on their lives and make resolutions ( promises ) to be better, look better, do better, save better, spend better, have better.  I've come to realize that in order to keep those types of promises you first need to reflect on the lessons of the previous year. For instance, I learned that taking care of ME first is not selfish but crucial! As most mom's will attest, when we become mother's we put our heart and soul into protecting, praising, teaching, and worrying about our child/children. In doing so we often lose sight of ourselves. I've had people tell me countless times that if "you don't take care of yourself, you'll get sick and then what will happen"?  As you can imagine, I didn't listen.  I'm nothing if not stubborn. The "what will happen" was a case of shingles, followed by a bout of Pneumonia that I nearly died from, a recurring bout of shingles, high blood pressure, stage 3 kidney disease and a list of other things. Needless to say the Universe forced it's hand to get me to that place of understanding how critical it will be from here forward to take care of Naomi! What about you?

We've all seen what appears to be the whole of the earth going to hell in a hand basket. Families losing their homes, parents losing their jobs, countless children going without food, the educational system failing, the Government losing sight of who it really works for..... in previous years I have done what most people do and that is take care of mine first and only. I suffered from the sheep mentality that if I can't help me and mine I sure as shit am not gonna help someone else! Besides, they did it to themselves! 

How more wrong could I have been? While there are some people who actually did sabotage themselves into their current situation(s) the are not the whole of all others. This year I learned that no matter what I have in my checking account, my wallet, etc. sometimes helping means digging down deep and doing what's right. Sometimes helping is nothing more than listening and that act is FREE. I learned the lessons, this year of "Random Acts of Kindness" and how rewarding that is. How about you?

I learned that  God is abundant, faithful, never ending. I learned that his miracles are everywhere and if I stop looking so hard to see them, I might see that they lay behind of the eyes of  my children, my friends of old and new, the grace of that strangers smile, the sunset, the sunrise....where has He touched your life?

My wish for 2012 is simple: May our friendships grow deeper and stronger, my our lives continue to bless those we meet today and beyond, may God continue to show us his abundance of miracles and the wisdom for us to see them, may the ones who have scorned us, mocked us and hurt us, know that we are stronger because of them, may the world finally know peace. Happy New Year! 

 

When in doubt

Yesterday I witnessed an amazing act of kindness and human caring. A family was in need and a call to arms was issued. In only hours the need was met. Some of the people that rose to the occasion didn't know the family and some did. The need was large.....no one asked why should I help, but rather how can I help. No one said I can't but rather I will. That dear readers is the Magic of Christmas I mentioned in an earlier post! I'd be lying if I didn't say that there are times when I am ashamed to be a member of society...but my faith in human kindness is always restored by those simple and random acts of kindness.

To those who rose to the occasion, who dug a little deeper to help, who asked how not why and I will not I can't: thank you! You help to make this crazy, chaotic world just a little brighter. 

The Magic of Christmas

When I was a little girl, my mom would often steal the ham bone from the neighbor dog to make soup. We had money but my dad was always spending it on model cars. One December we had no money for a Christmas tree. I went to bed probably butt hurt that we had presents but no tree. I woke up in the middle of the night and to my surprise and utter delight there was a HUGE tree with lights twinkling, tinsel glistening and that awesome pine smell. I remember standing there in awe believing that Santa had heard my secret wish! I think that would have been the best Christmas ever!!!

Now that I am a mother I want to hold on to that magic. One year my children were on the cusp of believing in Santa and my youngest said "I'll know he's real if he brings me Donner's bell" I asked what that meant and found out he was reading the Polar Express in class. I called my mom and she rushed off to World Market. I lived in Tempe at the time and she was in Tucson....while I was on the phone she rang every bell they had in that store until I heard the right sound. She over nighted to me and on Christmas morning Donner's bell was under the tree!  That baby boy has grown older and is now 13 but he has never forgotten that magic morning and I think there is still a part of him that wonders if Santa really is real.

I learned from a friend, last night of a treasure hunt Christmas. How totally awesome it must be to find little snippets of clues all leading up to the gifts hidden here and there. What a unique tradition, yes? What are some of your Christmas magic moments?

I'll have another

In-laws. Most of us have them but everyone knows about them. Mine will, and often do, strike fear in the heart of the strongest of man/woman/beast/child. I make it a personal mission to avoid my in-laws as often as possible. Call me a pussy but I believe she was put on this earth only to bust my balls at her every whim. I swear to you she has a giant roulette wheel in the dark recesses of her house that she spins to decide what living hell she will expose me to----I can almost hear the rapid tick tick tick of the wheel now! This woman knows no boundaries! She will stop at nothing to upset my apple cart, tie knots in my knickers, and generally instill ill will. Despite her best attempts, I remain married to her son, this past October, for 19 years. Oh you might want to hold your applause.... it's not been an easy journey even without her help!

Once in a while we are faced with forcible visitations. Last night, like a dead man walking, we were invited to dinner with his parents. How bad could it be, right? They're paying. Order the biggest, most expensive meal, right? Drink enough wine to deaden the pain and perhaps become blind and impervious to her icy pale blue eyed stare. If her eyes had rolled up and down any faster as she took in every detail of my being, they may very well have fallen out and rolled across the floor!

As with most Mexican restaurants, they leave a huge bowl of warm salty chips and an equally huge bowl of salsa. It’s outrageous salsa....perfect marriage of tomato, cilantro, onions and spices. Paired with the warm salty corn tortilla chips, it could very well be a dinner unto itself! There we sat in awkward babbling about taboo subjects such as politics and religion. I made sure that my mouth was chock full of chips and salsa in a weak attempt to avoid answering direct questions. During my chips and salsa coma I was unaware that some salsa had viciously thrown itself off the chip and landed precisely on the champagne colored silk blouse that......wait for it......she bought it the year before! Waitress, I'll have a double margarita pleeeeease! Dinner was slow to arrive.......is that the rapid tick tick tick of a roulette wheel I hear? Waitress, another double pleeeeease! The refried beans were too cold, the chili too spicy, “ I do believe they used lard, yes I think they did. I can feel it on my tongue”, “I'll have such digestion issued later”, Oooh, what did you get dear? Fried ice cream? Whoever thought of such tom foolery? I don't know how you can eat so much salsa dear, it's terribly bland! As it turns out, her favorite restaurant is TACO BELL so we spent the latter part of the evening listening to comparisons of the foods. Somewhere between the chips and the salsa and oh! WAITRESS, ANOTHER PLEEEEASE!

Waiter? There's a lentil in my cookie!

One day, not so long ago, I decided----well, my kidney doctor suggested that I go almost vegetarian. My poor little kidneys are struggling to function properly and one of the things I could do to cut them some slack was cut waaay back on red meat. In my journey to find dishes that would satisfy my sweet TEETH I ran across a recipe for lentil cookies.  A legume in MY cookie? Was the author of this recipe insane?! I tried it and instantly it became my family's favorite healthy cookie. The link below takes you directly to the recipe, complete with a photo of these surprise delights. I hope you enjoy.

Lentil Cookie Recipe

Lets all go to the lobby!

My home is filled with the smell of cookies. Inside it's warm and inviting, outside its cold and wet. Its been raining now for 48 hours and I heard the weatherman say there's more on the way. Sure helps to make it feel more like Christmas....here in the desert Christmas is usually warm, dry, and brown. It's hard to feel cheery when it's 90* outside and you're sweating in your new Christmas sweater. But I digress.

Right now my house is full of my family, which includes 2 teens, 2 cats, a dog and my husband. Outside I hear the rain dropping on the roof and tink tinkling on the windows. Nearly ever surface of my kitchen is covered in flour, sugar, pot holders cookie racks and other assorted baking utensils. For many years now I've made a habit out of baking, especially in hard times. In my mind, hard times don't seem as hard when there's freshly baked bread or cookies . You might not know how you’ll pay the electric bill but damnit, there’s cookies! This may stem from seeing my mother scale a chest high chain link fence, wrestle the ham bone from the jaws of our neighbors dog and using it for soup that night. I didn't want my kids to ever know that bone chilling uncertainty so I just started baking. I found it put me in a grateful headspace. Some how the very act of creating something took me away from complaining and gave me enough of a reprieve that I could figure out the problem. I'm here to tell you my girth is proof of the many problems I figured out! =)

I just finished up the batch of cookies and thought it might be nice to share. There are festive actually and although they call for red jello, I'm willing to bet you could use just about any flavored jello you wanted. It's a fairly forgiving recipe that's easy to pull together and fun especially for little kids! To my brother and I these were hands down our most favorite. Perhaps it's because of the color, maybe because we got to help, maybe it's because they're fast! Whatever the reason I remember feeling safe and loved, as a child. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

Crisp Pastel Cookies

¾ c.shortening (oil can be substituted)

½ c sugar

1 3oz pkg “RED” jello(not sugar-free!)

2 Egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 ½ C flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Cream together the first 5 ingredients. Sift together the remaining ingredients and mix well. You'll have a crumbly mess resembling play dough . Shape into balls approx. ¾ inch and place on a well greased cookie sheet 3 inches apart. Lightly press the center of the cookie with your thumb or the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar. Bake at 350* for 6-8 minutes.

The end result is a slightly sweet, slightly tart cookie. The more you press down the thinner they become and thus the “crisp” part. I prefer bigger thicker cookies so I don't press very much at all and 6-7 minutes works best. ENJOY!!!

Happy Holidays from Sneaky Zebra!

Here in Arizona, it's been raining steadily since yesterday. It's a dreary day with clouds as thick as pee soup and varied shades of grey and blue. The sound of rain pelting the roof and clinking on windows is very soothing to me. What better day than this to say hello to you my new reader.

I used to have quite a list of blogs when I was in MySpace but when they changed their format I changed my "address"!  I love to blog--random things, important things.....if I have an opinion about it I'm likely to blog about it. Word to the wise though: some of the things I might blog about will offend... the good news is that we live in America and we all have the right to our opinion.

I hope that you enjoy your visits here... looking forward to sharing more about me and learning more about you. Come back often and leave your words, your thoughts.  To each of you: Happy Holidays! See you again soon!