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Sensational Haiku Wednesday

Written By: Jenn - Jan• 11•12
Sensational Haiku Wednesday

Sensational Haiku Wednesday

Welcome to “Sensational Haiku Wednesday!”

Click here for info and background on this weekly event!

The basics:

Haiku is simple! It is 3 non-rhyming lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively (a great way to use your fingers!)

Hey Haiku-ers! Did you read my announcement?

This week’s theme is: Brilliance (2 OR 3 syllables, depending on who you ask…)

    Words with no meaning
    Strung together; a foul wind
    Lacking in brilliance

Mushrooms, feta cheese
Perfect toppings for pizza
OH! Black olives too!

    Moping in darkness
    Dreading a SAD time of year
    Waiting… it will pass

Sunlight on pale skin
Beams of warmth on yearning face
Awaiting brilliance

 

Folks, a quick note about comments: A few of you don’t have Name/URL enabled on your blogs, and I CAN’T comment in that case. Take a moment to enable that, will you? There are other ways to combat spam and still allow people with their own domains to leave their homage to your greatness ;)

Next week’s theme: FreeStyle (any subject)


Note: Nothing makes me happier than to see new people getting “hooked on haiku”! Keep it going to make it to the Hooked on Haiku List (if you’re not listed and should be, please [politely] let me know!)

To participate in this week’s event, please use the following code in your post on your own blog (if you don’t have a blog, post your Haiku as a comment):

 

12 Things I want to Learn in 2012

Written By: Jenn - Jan• 06•12

To go along with yesterday’s post about what I learned in 2011, I thought I’d look ahead and make a list of what I’d like to learn this year. Since I’m going without first making that list, I sure hope I can come up with 12 things..!

    I want to learn…

    1. To crochet. Moreover, I hope I can find the time to spend doing it! There are so many cool things you can make with crochet that you can’t with knitting… and so many great tutorials out there too! Where to start, where to start…

    Angry Birds Pattern

    2. To better manage my days. I’d like to blog more, and waste time less. I’d like to get all of my actual work done, and have time to spend “offline” with the family and in other pursuits more than I do now! Out with the chaos, in with the structure!

    3. To eat properly. Well, to eat at all would be a start. Most of the time I forget to eat, and that throws the ol’ (and getting ol’er) bod into starvation mode, which is a) stupid b) really hard on the system and c) makes you gain weight, or at least not let you lose it. Past that though, I’d like to structure myself so that I remember to and find the time to eat regularly, and properly. Sad, aren’t I?

    4. Some new recipes that the family will ALL love and appreciate, and that are healthy and good! Any suggestions? The hubby won’t eat: ham, steak, pork chops, or roast beef (unless cooked to death in a crock pot). The kids and I won’t eat tomatoes… unless they’re no longer recognizable as tomatoes. The Teen hates fish. Pasta makes me physically hurt, although I will eat it if I don’t have to go anywhere for the next few hours.

    5. How to give a better massage. I give a great massage, but I tend to use my hands more than anything else, and as I get older, that becomes more difficult. My RMT uses his weight and the pressure of his arms and elbows and hands to work me over, and it seems a lot easier on him. We bought a massage table a few weeks ago actually, from Costco. Best. Thing. Ever!!!! I will not go into details on the many uses, but let’s just say we’re both benefiting greatly from having it. (Rooowrrrrrr!) Still, the resulting massages do not leave me in the shape that my RMT does, so I want to learn better technique! I may do some research and even take a class or two. A couples class would be AWESOME… wonder if I can find one!!

    6. To let go of the past. Oh sure, I’m a fine one to give advice, but I’ve come to realize that I don’t listen to my own advice, and there are several things I just can’t let go of. It’s not good for me to hang onto old hurts, and revenge of any sort is rarely worth the hassle. I’m sure the few people involved in said hurts don’t give me a second thought anymore, so why am I allowing them to live rent-free in my head all this time? They’ve gotta go! Maybe I should have a purging ceremony!

    7. How to make fire with nothing but sticks or stones. Seems like a cool skill to have! (maybe I’ll just buy a flint kit… haha)

    8. To be happy with what I have. I have a lot. I’m not as much of a pack rat as I once was, but I still have too much. Maybe I should rephrase that to say “I need to declutter my life of unhealthy things, people, habits, etc., and then be happy with what’s left!” Years ago I found FlyLady.net and I just loved the structure she provided me. I “outgrew” her, but then over time lapsed into some bad habits again, so perhaps I’ll revisit my FlyBaby roots this year. Certainly can’t hurt!

    9. To love Christmas again. That seems weird to be saying now that it’s all over, but you have no idea how “blah” this past Christmas was for us. My mother said the same thing – it has lost all the sparkle it used to have for us, and become nothing more than Greedmas. This is not what I want for my family. We need to do something to shake it up this year, but we’re not sure what. What kinds of (non-religious) things do you do with your family to celebrate the winter holidays? I’d love to hear your ideas!

    10. To meditate. “Ohhhhhm…” It eludes me, but I know there is inner peace to be had.

    11. More about my family history. I don’t have any grandparents left, and I don’t know where any of their papers went. There are bits and pieces here and there, but nothing in the way of a time line, or family tree. I’m considering joining Ancestry.com… but I just don’t want to spend the big bucks it costs to do it. I’m cheap, I guess… how much is a family’s history worth? My friend Sandi joined and shared the subscription with her sister, and they found out all kinds of amazing things about their ancestors. I know we’ve got some amazing characters in our family history – especially on my paternal grandfather’s side. I’d also like to delve into the Hubby’s side – I know next to nothing about them, and he doesn’t seem to care. That annoys the bejeebers out of me.

    12. To levitate. Pretty sure it won’t happen, but a girl’s gotta have goals, yo! (Boy, I had no idea coming up with 12 things to learn would be so difficult!)

I wonder how many of these I’ll actually achieve this year? Guess we’ll find out together, yes?

 

11 things I learned in 2011

Written By: Jenn - Jan• 05•12

2011 wasn’t the greatest year for me, as we have discussed before. It wasn’t horrible for the most part, but I wasn’t unhappy to see it pass into history, either.

I was thinking a little bit about the past year, and about the things that happened that changed things for me, for better or for worse.

    So here are 11 things (in honour of 2011) that I learned that had an impact on me:

    1. Whether a child is 7 or 17 (I have both), there are some battles that do NOT need to be waged. Sometimes letting them fall flat on their face is the only way they will learn. Just be supportive and listen as you help them up and dust them off.

    2. Vegetables, even ones that people claim they hate, taste different/amazing when roasted @ 375°F for 25-30 mins with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. Take that, fussy family! (p.s. we agree that we’ll never go back to steamed or microwaved, as this is the best thing EVER, and it means we all eat more veggies!) Try sweet potatoes (which are NOT yams) with regular potatoes and brussel sprouts (denser veggies like potatoes and brussel sprouts could be pre-cooked for a couple minutes in the microwave), whole garlic cloves, broccoli, cauliflower, big chunks of red onion, baby bok choy… anything! YUM!

    3. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. If you don’t point out something that is wrong, it won’t get fixed. If you don’t like something, no one knows unless you tell them. Use your voice, and grow a backbone! (this is not new to me, but seems I repeated it ad nauseum this past year, so it needed to be said!)

    4. The laundry (a.k.a. “Mount Washmore”) will still be there tomorrow, and the kids are growing older every day. Choose spending time with them whenever possible… as long as you have clean underwear.

    5. If you don’t take care of yourself, no one else will either. Taking a few minutes every day to look after your skin, center yourself/remove yourself from the chaos, and eat properly, etc. is the best thing you can do for yourself. And if you’re ok, chances are the people around you will be the better for it too.

    6. No matter how hard I try to hold a group of individuals together (Main Street), sometimes it just doesn’t work out. When that happens, I need to realize that I did my level best, and ultimately it was not meant to be. Nor was it my fault. Still grieving.

    7. Marriages need to be nurtured, and it takes effort. No effort will most likely result, eventually, in no marriage. It’s worth spending quality time with your mate to strengthen the bonds and reaffirm the love.

    8. Cerama bryte (ceramic/glass top oven cleaner) works AMAZINGLY on chrome, china, and all kinds of other surfaces! My gross looking old toaster with the discoloured metal and dull shell got the treatment on both the chrome and the black outer shell, and suddenly it looked brand new again! So did all the french white (and black) Corning Ware dishes and my beloved crock pot, all of which had metal scrape marks and dull surfaces on them – they’re all like new and sparkling again! Who knew? Amazing stuff.

    9. Life is too short to put up with people you can’t stand, and I have no intention of doing it anymore. It’s not worth the aggravation and stress. From now on my family unit and our happiness together come first, and relatives and other certain people who want to cause trouble can think again. Look out, world!

    10. Don’t start something you have no intention of continuing! (Refer to #3, and “grow a backbone”/learn to say NO) That can apply to many things, from personal to professional. What an empowering thought…

    11. Kids need to learn how to do things, and they need chores. If they can reach the dials, they are capable of doing laundry! If they are taller than ME (hello, TEEN!) they can do anything I can do. Learning how to cook is #1 on the agenda for both my kids this year; I’ve been woefully neglecting their life skill training. Mwahahahaha…. >:)

My friends, I’d love to hear what you learned last year… care to share?