May 2020 – Page 2 – Swimming With The Rain

Food

Pampered Chef Bell Pepper Herb Rub

May 27, 2020July 25, 2020

No matter how often I have tried, I just can’t eat a bell pepper. Something about the texture. It’s not about the heartburn, although I have heard that a lot of people do have issues with that. Strange thing is, I love the flavoring of it, though.

Anyways, there I was doing an order through a Pampered Chef party and I needed to spend just a few dollars more to get the freebie. I am a firm believer in the Pampered Chef products, so I figured they would do halfway decent with their seasonings. If it was bad, I was only out $6.

This stuff is amazing! I add just a bit of it to almost everything I make, just to give it an extra pizzazz! Scrambled eggs, canned spaghetti sauce, soup… You name it.

So, there you go. Give it a try. You won’t regret it. And while you’re ordering it, if you don’t have a Pampered Chef stone, invest in the pizza one or a flat bar… You’ll understand the loyalty of them.

Health & Spiritual

A bit of exercise at home…

May 26, 2020May 31, 2020

Getting in to an exercise routine can be quite tedious. Finding time (or money) to get to the gym can be exhausting. Plus, the thought of strangers watching us workout can be quite intimidating.

Or maybe you do go to the gym but not as often as you’d like. Getting in to a routine of going generally means that something has to be sacrificed – sleep, picking up kids, being home at a decent time…

This is where I am here to tell you about a super easy trick… Dust off those weights that you have kept on the floor in your closet or pick up a couple the next time you are at the store (they’re pretty inexpensive) and keep them in your living room!

“Listen woman! I’m not turning my living room in to a home gym!”

Yah, I know. Keep them in a cute basket or next to your chair… Somewhere that you won’t crush your pinky toe in to them (it really hurts, by the way). Next time a commercial comes on, pick those little suckers up and start doing some lifts.

A little bit goes a long way and you’ll start to feel better. Give it a try!

Life

I Should Have Taken Shop Class

May 23, 2020June 14, 2020

It’s official. I feel absolutely defeated. It has just been a crazy week at work and super busy. While part of me loves the rush of it, I get to where I can feel my limit is being pushed and I start to feel overwhelmed. So, what made me think that I could install the glass storm door I bought from Lowe’s last weekend?

I’m single and in this day and age, I should be able to do anything, right? Ugh! Sometimes, all of this “I am woman, hear me roar!” seems so highly over rated! So, why pay the extra $100 for shipping when I have a friend with a truck? So, Dalia and I had a delightful drive to Lowe’s, chatting and catching up. When we walked in, I was full of confidence because I knew just what I wanted. I was full of productive visions in my head as we me carried the LARGE box in to my patio room. I should have worked on it that day but once again, those crazy thoughts were going through my head as I envisioned the teenager and I having mother and son bonding time the next day. Well, while I was reading directions and looking at all of the multiple pieces that didn’t make sense, he just stared at his phone. Instead of me snapping and trying to guilt him in to “wanting” to help, I just told him I would figure it out on my own. The guilt trip thing doesn’t work on him… Damn!

I walked by the box every day this week. Some days, I even read the directions and then stared at it, almost like I was willing the inspiration to hit me. It didn’t. Finally, today while sitting on hold at work, I pulled up some You Tube videos and they made this look easy! One guy even sat there looking at his watch and taking sips of his soda. I started having visions of myself having a beer afterwards and how my facebook post was going to read… “Who needs a man when I can do this all by myself!” So, I ran to Walmart, picked up a drill bit set (Who knew that these were so handy to have around?) and headed back to the house full of determination to do it myself, and full of spite towards my male co-workers that heard my confusion while watching videos.

So, it didn’t work out like I planned. In tears, I called my friend’s husband over 1,000 miles away via facetime. I had no clue how to tell if it was a right or left handle thing and what did it mean by aligning with the door frame… Isn’t the door frame already aligned? And where am I supposed to put this… On the outside of the frame or inside of it. Tears were shed and me saying I can’t do this and a few choice cuss words were coming out in full pity frustration mode. He kept telling me that I could. Finally with a “Whatever!” and a push of the red button (I miss being able to slam down a phone receiver), I decided that if he had faith in me, I should too.

Inspiration and determination were seeping through my veins as I was trading out the drill bit for that screw driver bit thing. I was even planning my next facebook post… “Since none of the men in my life can take a hint, I am so thankful to Joey that helped me via facetime. And guess what? I did it!” That cold beer afterwards was sure sounding good! I was even thinking that I might head over to see some friends so I could brag about how accomplished I was!

*The frame is attached! Pretty impressed with myself!*

Now to carry this monstrosity out. That thing is heavy! But, I didn’t have too far to go and was able to schooch it a bit and thankful that I had started back at the gym. Those arm exercises were coming in quite handy! Now to line up the hole in the frame with the screw… Wait! I’m less than 5ft 5… How am I supposed to lift this heavy thing up those few inches and balance it? Luckily, I saw my neighbor outside as she was leaving and I asked her if she would help me lift something really quick. What was I thinking… We’re both short! And it wasn’t easily sitting on the nail like the instructions promised…. Here is where I say, “Maybe it’s on the wrong way…” to which she replies, “You think?” And out she goes….

Hit the magic button to facetime Joey again for some reassurance that I really am doing this right and that I just need to do some simple thing…. No, he tells me that I need to unscrew everything I just did, flip the frame around, put the screws back in, and it will work. Oh, forget that! With frustrated tears, I tell him, “Screw it! I’m done. I’m hungry and I’m just going to pay someone to do this!” and I hit the red disconnect button, really wishing it was a phone receiver I could slam down…

*Propped up against the wall for the night*

And there my door sits… It’s now a couple of hours later and I’m feeling a little less stressed than I was. Thinking I might try to accomplish it tomorrow. I’m also disappointed in myself for not saying something to someone and asking for help. I know that if it was a friend of mine that said she needed help, I would run over in a heartbeat… Maybe I’m so willing to offer help because I know what it is like to need it and not ask.

This is where you are wondering if I still grabbed myself a cold beer? No. But, I did make myself a nice New York Strip Steak because, that, I can do!

*I can’t grill but I can use a cast iron skillet!*

PS… I didn’t post anything on facebook, either.

Entertainment

How to cut a pineapple

May 22, 2020June 14, 2020

Years ago, I had this boyfriend and we loved to have people over and entertain. Whether it was for a football game, pool time, Saturday night… You name it! He supplied the house, I supplied the kitchen duties. Sometimes it’s easier for me to keep busy instead of having to make polite chit chat.

Well, one day I get there and here is how this conversation went…

Boyfriend, “I bought you a pineapple!”

Me, “Okay. Why?”

Boyfriend, “To cut up to go with the other food.”

Me, “How?”

Boyfriend, “I don’t know. I was hoping you knew.”

So, I figured it out for him. Because that is what good girlfriends do, right? Please remind me why I’m still single…

Well, in case you needed a bit of help because it really can be quite intimidating (speaking from personal experience), I’m here to give you a step by step guide with pictures! And once you know how, you’ll never go back to the canned stuff!

Cut the top off the pineapple

Cut in half

Cut that half in half. You will then have four quarters.

With a longer thinner knife, cut around the rind as so…

It should easily come right out!

Now, cut that quarter down the middle…

Start slicing depending on the width you would like.

There you go! A LOT of fresh pineapple!

Cruising

Carnival Fantasy – Boarding the Ship

May 22, 2020June 14, 2020

Let me tell you about the Carnival Fantasy. I’m not going to go in to all of the technical jargon about the class of it, how many passengers, crew member count, etc. I’m here to tell you about this ship and the crazy things that I wanted to know about and my experience. Trust me… It was a good time. There’s other sections on this site about the food, what to do, Cozumel, etc. This one just has to do about the ship and what I thought about the boarding and first few hours.

We (a few friends and I) went in February 2020 for a four day trip to Cozumel. Well, come to find out, in January and February, along Gulf Coast, there seems to be an issue with fog. This is the type of fog that is THICK and if you have to drive a car with your fog lights, imagine being a huge ship trying to dock. The port authority takes this very serious so there are times that the ship is delayed coming in and going out. We were scheduled to board at 12:30 and due to the delay in the ship coming in that morning, we didn’t get on until around 3. But, that’s ok! If you get to Mobile early, or if you stayed the night there, check out the town! We had lunch at Spot of Tea and it is the most darling place! www.SpotofTea.com Then we headed over to a mall and wandered around to kill some more time.

I heard that with Mobile, you really don’t need to spend the extra money with the Faster to Fun pass (around $50). Since it is not as big of a ship as some that would port in for instance, Miami, things move rather smooth. Plus, I heard that if you do show up early, they’re not going to force you to wait an hour until your boarding time. One thing I will suggest, pay for parking ahead of time. We didn’t. As we were in line to find a spot, a worker there handed us a paper with instructions, so we could do it online, on our phones. That was a bit of a pain as we were trying to type in a lot of information on these small screens while pulling the registration out of the glove box to get the license plate number.

Make sure that you have your luggage tags ALREADY on your luggage.

When you pull in, there will be someone there to get your luggage and put it on a carrier. We saw so many people that did not have theirs ready, even though Carnival and every other website stresses this. I was able to jump out, grab our bags and hand them off within about 30 seconds. Make sure to tip the porter since they do not work directly for Carnival. Some sites say a dollar or two per bag… We had three bags and I was in vacation mode and so excited to finally be there, so we tipped him $10.

The lines were busy that day but not as crazy as I thought it would be due to the delay. Then again, I try to be very patient when things happen that are completely out of someone else’s control. Plus, all of the Carnival and Port Authority employees were so nice that it was hard to be frustrated, plus I really like to people watch. Things just moved along at a steady pace and we went where we were told.

Two of my friends had passports so they went to one line. (The picture on your passport, that is what Carnival will use to identify you) Since I don’t have a passport, I had my license and birth certificate out. I did have a copy of my marriage certificate as proof of my name change but they never asked for that. Personally, I think it’s a good idea to have that because it would really suck to not be able to board.

This is where you get even more excited because you are just about on board. Yay!

Once on board, there is a bar directly straight ahead of you. That is where we met our favorite bartender, Deni. More on him and the rest of the crew later. Anyways, people that have been on multiple cruises all have different traditions when they board. Some grab a specific drink like the Miami Vice, Kiss on The Lips, a shot… Some go straight to Guy’s Burger Joint. More on the food in another post. You do you! This is your vacation, so create a tradition or try something new.

Pool Side animals. You only get to see these in the morning, so make sure to go look!

This is your trip to make of it what you want. I can honestly say that on this ship, you don’t have a care in the world. You don’t have to cook, you don’t have to make your bed, you cannot possibly say that you are bored because there is plenty to do, you can sleep in, you can wake up early, you can walk around by yourself… It is your vacation! There is even a gym! I started my trip with a goal to go to it, but…. I didn’t.

Every morning, each lounge chair has an animal towel. Such a cool sight to see!

There is just the one pool on the ship and it gets CROWDED! You won’t be able to swim laps in it. In fact, I don’t think you’ll even get to swim. Most people are just standing in there keeping cool. There is a hot tub next to it, and that stays packed, too. Finding a lounger near the pool can be difficult but if you head to an upper deck, it’s really quite nice because you can watch everything going on but generally not have all the kids running around.

Area on the Veranda deck looking down on the pool

There is an Adults Only section call the Serenity. Usually, this is a quiet relaxing place but on this particular trip, it was CRAZY! They were there to PARTY and most of the people had pineapples on their doors… But, if you head back there and it’s your type of scene, whether relaxing or pineapple oriented, you do you. It’s your vacation!

Carnival Fantasy Serenity deck. This was early in the morning, while still quiet.

I know that you are super excited about seeing your room, right? Well, you won’t be able to get to them until around 1 and your luggage can take a few hours to get there (imagine all of the suitcases they have to get to the right places). Around that time, you will see envelopes on the door with your individual Sail & Sign card. This is the most important thing you will need on the ship. It is your identity! They will scan it for each drink and it also is your room key. When you go to your room and you meet your Steward, be nice to them. They are there to help you make the most out of your vacation so let them know if there is anything that you need. We had one girl that liked to sleep in late, so once we let our room steward know, he knew scheduled our room cleaning until just before lunchtime. We also left a note for him that day asking for a bucket of ice for our pre-dinner champagne. Well, he saw how many bottles were on the counter (one for each night) and made sure that every evening, there was a new bucket with cold ice. We tipped him well after our trip!

One final thing you need to know about boarding, there is a mandatory safety meeting and you are REQUIRED to go. On your Sail & Sign card will be the location you will gather for the drill and in the event of an emergency. Years ago, we had to grab our life jackets from the room (located in the closet) and then go to the muster station. Now, you just go when you hear the page over the ships intercom. This is not the time to act stupid and think you are funny by being a loud mouth. Nope. This is serious business and you really do need to pay attention.

They are not as pretty as the ones in Titanic, but there will be enough for everyone.

Well, now that you know some of the basics of your first few hours on the ship, go enjoy your vacation. Remember, go with the flow, relax and most importantly, HAVE FUN!

Life

Two Little Girls in a Store

May 20, 2020June 14, 2020

I went to Cox cable earlier today to return my cable boxes, since I got rid of cable a few weeks ago. More on that at a different time. Anyways, as I am sitting there looking around waiting for my turn, I noticed two little girls. One spoke English another spoke Spanish. The dad of the little girl that spoke English was trying to teach his daughter how to say, “How are you?” in Spanish. (Como Estas) The little girl tried to pronounce it but couldn’t.

Still looking around the room, I noticed the employees helping out some mother and daughter whose equipment had been hit by lightening. He said it was quite common and they were describing the strike.

The little girl that spoke English was wandering around the store, within view of her parents. She was awfully cute in a blue maxi dress with flowers and she had long blond, almost light brown hair. The Spanish speaking girl with long dark hair in a red flowered sundress was sitting quietly next to her mom watching this girl.

I then saw the most heartwarming thing… The blond girl motioned to the dark haired girl. The dark haired girl pointed at herself and the blond girl nodded. I then watched the sweet little Spanish Girl walk over to the the blond girl who was holding coloring sheets and crayons. They both sat down at the table and started coloring, pointing at the other girls design and smiling.

Smiling, I thought to myself…. Why can’t we all be this way? Life was so much easier when all we needed to have in common was the fact that we both wanted to color. I wish the adult world didn’t care about language or whether we would see each other again. I wish, as adults, we could see that one spark of similarity and know that everything was right in this world, even for just that one moment. I wish all of us adults could go back to that pure of heart innocence and just enjoy the moment. And color. Coloring is fun!

Books

My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry…

May 20, 2020June 14, 2020

Premise ~ Elsa is a 7 year old girl (almost 8) with a grandmother that we would describe as “free spirited”. She tells her granddaughter fairy tales through life and about several make believe worlds. But, when her grandma passes away, Elsa has a treasure hunt of finding letters and delivering to people that her grandma wants to apologize to. Although this sounds like a big task for a 7 year old girl, she learns about her grandma, and life, along the way.

Thoughts ~ It took me a bit to get in to this book, but I learned a lesson that you should always read a book up until page 100. If you can get that far, you will either love it and want to keep reading or you will realize that you just can’t. So, yes. At first, I was kind of like, “Meh…” but since I am the one that picked out the book for book club and I’m the one that chooses the questions we discuss, I couldn’t fake not having enough time to read. Well, let me tell you, once you get in to it and realize how it will all start coming together, it’s fantastic! It made me wish that my own parents, and even myself to my children, had told fairy tales to explain how the real world works. I knew that I wouldn’t have enough time to finish the book prior to book club so I downloaded MY FIRST audio book and finished it that way. My goodness, so well worth it! The audio book is narrated by Joan Walker and her English accent draws you in to the story and brings these characters so much life! Honestly, I would listen to her read the dictionary, I just loved her so much. Back to the book, I had never read anything by Fredrik Backman before but having read this, I will read others. Or listen if Joan Walker is narrating. This book kind of brought out the child in me and made me want to live in a world where there were fairytales being told of knights, princesses being protected and the monster that really isn’t a monster. So, let me just clarify, although they do talk of fairytales, this isn’t a book for a 5 year old. But, if I had a pre-teen that had some maturity, I would let them read. This book reminds you that you shouldn’t judge someone just by what you see on the outside. Everyone has a “story” and that may be why they are that way. But, once a bit of love is shown to them and understanding, people may just change.

Book Club Questions (Do not read any further if you have not finished the book)

The book starts with the pronouncement, “Every seven-year-old deserves a superhero.” Do you agree?

Were you surprised by the ways in which each of the apartment tenants were connected to the others? Which relationship surprised you the most? Why?

Elsa loves the Harry Potter books. If you have not read them but understand the gist or if you have read them, why do you think she related to these so well?

Did your opinion of Britt-Marie change toward the end of the book?

Did you relate to any of the characters in the book whether personally or someone else?

If you were one of the tenants and Elsa was describing your “super power”, what do you hope it would be?

Granny says, “It’s a grandmother’s prerogative never to have to show her worst sides to her grandchild, Elsa. Never to have to talk about what she was like before she became a grandmother.” How did this make you feel and do you agree?

Would you like a grandmother like Granny?

Books

You and Me and Us by Alison Hammer

May 20, 2020June 14, 2020

One Family, One Last Summer

In my life, I have dealt with in-laws dying of cancer and although I was never there for the final moments, I did a lot of care giving. I don’t know if it makes a difference that they were older, but it brought peace knowing that they had led good long lives. But, this will take you into the mindset of being the spouse and of being the daughter to this incredibly amazing man, Tommy. Alexis is a busy working mom and not that she puts her career first, she just knows that Tommy is such an excellent father to 15 year old Cece, that she feels that one, it is ok to forward her demanding career, and two, that Tommy is such a present father, that he makes up for the two of them. Until, they are faced with Tom’s Stage 4 cancer, for which treatment isn’t an option. What’s it like to have to say goodbye to the love of your life, while your teenage daughter, who doesn’t like you, is trying to still be a teenager and fall in love herself? Set in the beautiful seaside town of Destin, Florida, you will feel like you are sitting on the front porch swing, smelling the salt air, and drinking fresh Arnold Palmer’s, with this family. When it’s done, you will contemplate your own life and how you would like to spend your remaining days, reminding you of the little things that make up life long memories.

Book Club Questions (Do not read further if you have not finished the book)

Do you think Tommy made the right decision choosing not to get treatment?
Where would you want to spend your last days?
What would be on your “list” similar to what Tommy had?
A lot of parents and teenagers have tough relationships. Do you think the way Cece and Alexis saw each other was fair? Without Tommy’s illness, do you think they would have been able to repair their relationship?
How do you think Alexis and Tommy’s marriage will affect Cece’s future views on marriage and relationships?
Alexis has two best friends – Jill and Becky. Her friendship with each woman fill very different purposes in her life. What are those purposes?
CeCe has a moment when she realizes that Tommy isn’t just her dad, but that he’s also his own person. From your own experience, how do you think this affected her?
What did you think of Tommy’s decision to see and forgive Monica? If you were Alexis, would you have been okay with having his ex over to your house?
Do you think Alexis made the right decision taking Cece to California? Why or why not?
Where do you think Alexis and Cece will be in five years? Ten years?
What did you like best about the book?
What did you like least about the book?
If you were making a movie of this book, who would you cast?
Which character in the book would you most like to meet?
If you could hear this story from another character’s point of view, who would it be?
What gaps do you wish the author would have filled in?

Life

About… Or the big question, Why?

May 19, 2020June 1, 2020

So, the big question as I am setting out on this journey of writing is why… So many why’s… Why did I say writer instead of blogger? Well, because I am from the day where you used to actually write your words. Is that sufficient? No. Guess I need to give more credit to bloggers because the term writer, in my mind, is an author of a book, or a journalist. But, these days, bloggers are writers. We express what we feel. So, I’m a writer. I write what I feel. So, if you’re still with me, here I go in to my explanation of why (and this may be more self therapy than anything).

Why am I doing this? Because I have feelings and opinions. So many that my mind cannot keep holding them. I have a note section on my phone that holds so many of my ideas. I started doing that a few months ago when subjects would just pop in to my head and I knew that I needed to explore them. You know how when you are watching a movie and even though the actress is so good you wish that they had a bit of a voice over so you could hear what is going on in their mind… I mean, really! They walk in to room looking so confident and then they portray later that they were so freaking nervous. Come on! I want to hear the thoughts in their head as they are walking in…

“Chin up, suck the stomach in, look around, smile, left, right, left, ooops, move to the left a bit, there you go, right, left… why the hell did I wear these underwear… right, left…”

I want to hear a real person. So, there it is. That’s what this is… And since I’m a real person…

Back to being a writer and why…

I have seen blogs and they post perfect pictures of food. Ok, I make good food but is it instagram worthy? No. But, I have facebook friends that ask for the recipe. Do I have the perfect dog? No. In fact, she stole a shoe of mine the other day and took it outside to chew and rub through the dirt. Do I have the perfect children? Well, I have a teenage son that likes to roll his eyes at me and seem disgusted that I don’t remember 11^th grade history lessons.

I have researched so many different topics and I just wish that there was someone like me that is wondering… Do I really need to lose those extra 20 pounds? Is it appropriate to buy things off Amazon using the filters of ‘prime’ and ‘price low to high’? Do I need to grab extra napkins because this movie is going to make me ugly cry? Is this cheap wine going to taste like I am living a good life? Can I be friends with someone that is the opposite of my political view? Does God get upset when I talk to a tarot card reader in New Orleans? Did I not set a good enough example for my kids because I didn’t go after a college degree? (Although, I am highly certified in my current position. Technically, I could have letters after my name). Those people that post all the motivating posts on facebook, are they really that happy or are they putting on a good portrayal? Have I screwed up my children by staying single instead of showing them what a marriage looks like?

So many questions and so many google search histories… But, this is what I want to do. I want all of my thoughts in one place because there is something I have realized while talking with so many different people… We all wonder the same things.

Why I will never be famous for my writing… I type the way I talk. For business reasons, sometimes that doesn’t work out quite well. Like, I want to put happy faces in my emails to clients, but is that appropriate? Once I know the client, it can be. Then again, when I have someone do it to me in a work email, I think, “We will work well together. They’re a real person.”

So, let’s see where this goes. I might learn about me and you know what… You might learn that you are not alone. Because that is what we are all striving for… To realize that we are not alone in this journey of life.

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