Carla Hall, my partner in crime and a welcoming spirit

My sister-in-law, Marty, is my partner in crime.  We both love shopping, cooking and just hanging out with each other.  We have been to New York City, Chicago, Cleveland, Nashville and New Pittsburgh TN (to visit the Lodge Cast Iron Skillet Outlet).  Last week was her birthday.  I happened to see that Carla Hall, chef and TV host, was going to be at the Carmel IN Market District to sign books and meet fans.  I ordered tickets and called Marty to suggest she plan a road trip for her birthday weekend.

So in the midst of cooking, talking and spending time with Pack Rat, who is recovering from knee replacement surgery, Marty and I went to see Carla Hall.  We had seen her do a cooking presentation at the Fabulous Food Show in Cleveland in 2014.  It was so much fun and prompted me to purchase one of her cookbooks.  We knew that this was just a meet and greet and book signing, no cooking involved

We arrived at Market District in Carmel IN at about 12:40.  Our tickets were for 1:00.  There were probably 150 people in line already, holding their cookbooks and waiting to see Carla Hall.  She arrived right on time at 1:00 and started greeting people.

Now I would expect a famous chef who bases out of New York to be somewhat stand-offish with us Mid-westerners.  Carla was exactly the opposite.  She laughed, hugged, embraced and was totally charming to this very diverse crowd of fans.  I was totally enthralled by her charm and welcoming spirit.  Within the crowd there were several people in wheelchairs and she was as charming with them as she could be.  She sat on the arms of wheelchairs for photos, she got on the floor to talk to young children again as photos were being taken.

I was completely blown away by her charm and ability to make everyone there feel welcome.  When I had a minute with her we talked about making biscuits.  I am trying to master them.  She told me she had made a video on her method during the recent snow storm in New York and to check it out.

Wow, what a wonderful lady.  Marty and I were both totally thrilled to meet her.  She has two fans for life.  If you have a chance to see Carla Hall in person do it! 

Pack Rat gets replacement parts

This week my husband, Pack Rat, went in for knee replacement surgery.  He had been having difficulty with pain in his knees for several years.  In the last year it has become increasingly more difficult for him to walk.  So after a year of seeing an ortho doctor (who I say is a highly trained, highly paid mechanic) he made an appointment for the surgery. 

The surgery was on Monday about mid day.  He did all the prep and was following instructions for not eating or drinking prior to surgery.  As we were driving to the hospital he almost told me to turn around and go home. 

Pack Rat, "Let's just forget this."

Me, "But we are on the way to the hospital.  Everything is ready to go"

Pack Rat, "I'm not sure if I can do this"

Me, "You told everyone you were having surgery today.  Do you want to tell them you chickened out?"

Pack Rat, "Well, if you put it that way I guess not.  We can keep on driving"

He had the surgery and everything went fine.  The Mechanic (his ortho doctor) said the surgery went beautifully and he definitely needed it.  He would feel so much better once he completes physical therapy and is all healed up.

So now we are in the midst of physical therapy, lots of drugs for pain and other things and he is enjoying all the attention of the people who are calling him and visiting. 

To be truthful I am exhausted.  I came out of this with a renewed appreciation for nurses and the wonderful care they give patients.  (A shout out to the IU Health Saxony Hospital nurses - you are the best!).

We are making it through the week and each day is getting better.  Hopefully I can hold on until Pack Rat is mobile again and back to work. 

Honor and Love

"There is nothing so sacred as honor, and nothing so loyal as love"

Inscription on the headstone of Wyatt and Josie Earp

This inscription was posted on Facebook by another one of my writer friends and I wrote it down to remember.  It seems so fitting to be on the headstone of Wyatt Earp, one of history's great honorable men and his wife Josie.  Wyatt and Josie were one of the celebrated love stories at the ending of the western/cowboy era in the United States.

Pack Rat, otherwise known as my husband, loves the entire Tombstone/Shootout at the OK Corral legend.  He has watched the movie Tombstone (the Kurt Russell version, not the Kevin Costner version) so many times I have lost count.  Often I will walk into the family room while he is watching television and see a scene from the movie,

"Watching Tombstone again?" I say.

"Yep" he replies.  "It's not to my favorite part yet"  His favorite part is the shootout.

I don't think I have ever seen "Tombstone" in its entirety. I have watched portions of the movie and then I usually get distracted or go and do something else and then return later.

Together the Pack Rat and I have visited Tombstone Arizona several times.  We love walking the streets where Wyatt Earp and his brothers walked.   We have watched the re-enactment of the gun fight.  We have also mingled with many other fans, spending the day in the Arizona high desert soaking up the history.  Over the years I have purchased him an entire western outfit, including the hat, sheriff's badge and long duster similar to those worn by Wyatt Earp.

So back to the inscription, I love the words honor and love.   With the addition of the word, faith, they probably can encompass the philosophy of my life.  Treat others with honor, love the people in my life and have faith in the power of God.

It was probably Josie who had the words put on the headstone (because Wyatt passed away before she did) but it is a fitting tribute to two very fascinating people.  I hope I can live my life so well. 

Mucinex has stolen my creativity!

Since returning from Tennessee after Christmas I have been sick with the sneezing/coughing/sinus crud that seems to be going around.  I have been coughing so much that my brain hurts!  The only thing that seems to help - other than lots of sleep and possibly alcohol - is Mucinex.  It dulls my cough and has me feeling like I am slowly on the mend.

The only problem is that Mucinex makes me feel somewhat out of touch with myself.  My mind feels mushy and sluggish and I seem to have lost my creative edge.  I was going to write about this yesterday then read a blog written by several writer friends of mine (www.wordwrangers.blogspot.com) and Liz Flaherty beat me to the punch.  She did a great post about being sick with the same thing and how it was affecting her.  Liz is one of my favorite authors and I have had the opportunity to meet her at a few Indiana Romance Writers of America events.  After reading her post I thought, "I have nothing to add to that!"

So then after hearing about the death of David Bowie I thought I would write about that until I read a post by J. T. Ellison (another of my favorite authors) and her love for David Bowie.  She did such a wonderful recollection of her love for that performer that I thought there was nothing more I could say that would be any better.   Although he has not been in the limelight much in the last few years David Bowie was a pioneer in living on the edge and pushing boundaries with his music and his life.

This morning I was going through YouTube looking for videos for the class I teach and I ran across the video of David Bowie and Freddie Mercury singing Under Pressure.  It took a moment to reflect on these two quirky and eccentric yet very talented performers who are no longer with us.  It just makes the world a little less musical to realize that we are losing many of those very talented people from the 1980's as they are aging.

So back to the Mucinex - I am finding that my mushy, cold medicine soaked brain is just not working right now.  So I will continue to enjoy the work of others who are much more creative and make more sense than I am able to at the moment.  Hopefully next week I will be thinking more clearly.  I just hope I have not lost my creativity totally.  No, it is still there just hiding behind a wall of cold medicine. 

Starting a new year!

I love the holidays.  For me everything surrounding the holidays is wonderful.  I love the decorating, the lights, the food and the events.  I especially love getting together with family and having time to enjoy some time to visit with those people who I love and don't get to see very often.

Yet, once the holidays are over I am over them.  The tree comes down, the decorations get put away.  I clean up the house and get rid of things I am not using.  I was telling a friend that as of right now I am tired of the celebrating, all the hurry, hurry to get things done and all the rich food.  I am ready to burrow in and make it through winter as best I can.

One thing that picks me up is that my seed catalogs start arriving right after Christmas.  So while I am making it though winter I can also look at the photos of beautiful gardens and plan mine for the summer.  Last year we grew cucumbers for the first time and they were wonderful.  This year I plan to expand the garden beds so I can plant more! 

Don't you just love new years also? It is a great time to make resolutions and start fresh.  My husband and I have been on a clean out spree recently.  Yes, the Pack Rat (that's my husband) is on board with simplifying our lives and getting rid of the things we don't use.  I will try to get rid of as much as I can until he starts to get stressed because his stuff is leaving the house.  (Shh, don't tell him that).

How do you embrace the new year?  Resolutions?  Get fit?  I will spend my new year hopefully cleaning out the house and preparing for a garage sale to get rid of stuff we are not using. 

This is not how it is done!

Throughout this year my husband and I have been members of Weight Watchers.  We both have the app on our phones and have been tracking what we eat and activity.  It has worked well for both of us and we have lost many pounds and both of us feel much better with the weight loss. 

So recently amid great fanfare, Weight Watchers launched their new web site and app for their members.  The goal is to push people toward healthier eating and lifestyles.  The new Smart Points plan incorporates healthy eating, sensible portions of food, increased activity and holistic approaches to living better.  Fine, fine, fine. 

Unfortunately whatever company Weight Watchers used to redesign their web site and apps somehow did not get the message.  They launched a web site and new apps that are clunky, not customer friendly, not easy to use and seem to crash easily and often.  The new system was launched around Thanksgiving and is still not working well. 

I easily admit that I am a digital immigrant.  Luckily I teach at a college and have many students who are willing to kindly step in and help me when I come across technology that is new to me.  Yet even my best digital native cannot help the crappy launch of the new Weight Watchers tools. 

You do not treat your current, loyal customers the way we have been treated by Weight Watchers.  Weight Watchers own technology people do not know how the tools are to work.  We keep getting messages that the site is down and they are "working tirelessly" to get it back up again.  Weight loss tools that worked well are now gone, replaced with "cutting edge technology" that does not work and is not user friendly. 

In addition they designed the tools for iPhones (even so they still do not work) and forgot that many users have Andriod phones. 

Shame, Shame, Shame!  Weight Watchers you were sold a bill of goods by whoever designed your tools.  They do not work and I have not seen any results of your "around the clock" efforts to make them better. 

I may be a digital immigrant but this is not the way to treat your members and customers! 

Out of Pain Comes Growth

This week I read an article by Dr. Everett Piper, President of Oklahoma Wesleyan University (This is not a day care. It's a university!)  In the article Dr. Piper talked about students who approach him complaining about topics that make them feel uncomfortable.  He went on to say that it is not the goal of the university to make students feel safe and comfortable but to challenge them to have feelings that will make them change. 

This topic was also brought to mind when I was teaching my Introduction to Psychology class this week.  We were talking about psychological therapies, and the discussion was on mental health counseling.  One student raised her hand as I was describing the counseling relationship and asked whether counseling should make you uncomfortable.  What an excellent question!  Yes, if a therapist and a client/patient are in too comfortable of a relationship then there will not be any progress.  I was trying to demonstrate to the class that although certain types of counseling used empathy and unconditional positive regard as part of the therapeutic process there should also be discomfort or the client/patient will not make any movement toward a healthier emotional state.

This semester I have been immersed in the concepts of microaggressions and trigger words as I have been working with students and also teaching classes.  This got me thinking about how people fear discomfort. 

Life is not here to provide you with a comfortable existence!  In fact if we all get too comfortable then we will not make any progress, both physically or emotionally.  We will present ourselves as "victims" and see others as "oppressors."  As people who are runners and physical fitness experts know, out of the pain of a workout comes progress toward physical fitness goals.  As I was getting a massage this week I also thought that out of the pain of the massage will come new comfort for me and my muscles. 

I see my students and many other people wanting to have a comfortable academic and emotional life.  Again that is not the way the process works!  Out of the pain of conflict or discord comes reconciliation and understanding.   I don't see myself growing as an individual unless I challenge myself and my beliefs and emotions.  It is through the challenge that I grow as a person, parent, friend, Christian and wife. 

So embrace the challenges and discomfort.  They will lead you to an existence as a stronger person and someone who knows where you stand and what you believe.