A Cupcake Says Thanks

Gratitude is the memory of the heart.
~Jean Baptiste Massieu

Writing letters of thanks to people who have impacted my life was one of the most enjoyable of the items on my list. Most of us live our lives in fast-forward motion...so putting it in reverse to consider those who have helped to shape the person I am today required a little mental exercise. But once you start thinking about your past, there are always people who leap out of your memories and make you smile.

I have been so blessed to have so many of these sorts of people in my life over the years...I certainly would not be the woman I see in the mirror without their support, their advice, their love. And I am so grateful to each one:

To Mark K....for helping me find a place to belong
To Phillip L...for showing me what church should be all about
To Linda I...for being there when I found Jesus~& for Charlie & the Chocolate Factory
For Beth H...for her timely words of encouragement
For Bob W...for stepping in to help me on to the finish line
For Brian K...for giving me a chance---and a great job
For Lily R...for teaching me to play rummy & how to laugh
For George L...for helping with my education
For Monica E...for pushing me towards true love
For Tanya S...for answering all my dumb questions & making me laugh
For Jeanne B...for being my extra brain--and for all her encouragement
For Andrea I...for helping to make me beautiful (and for listening)
For Linda C...for helping me to heal
For Connie F...for wrapping me into her family
For Mark S...for my first chance in the real world
For Pam G...for being the best sister-friend--and loving me beyond
For Linda B...for showing me what independence looks like
For Cheryl S...for being there through the passages to womanhood
For Jack Jr...for being the brother that I didn't have (at least once a year!)
For Tracie C...for letting me teach
For Robert B...for all his support (and making me laugh)
For Em B...for showing me what a lady looks like
For Sherry S...for being a friend & a guide in a new place
For Lisa H...for supporting me, in spite of everything
For Mary C...for kicking my butt :)
For Mina G...for growing up with me, in more ways than one!
For Laura J...for her kindness at the beginning of the end
For Don A...for helping me to see myself more clearly
For Ginna C...for showing me how to live a full life
For Jennifer I...for being the little sister
For Michelle E...for always showing up when I needed her
For Travis G...for letting me live in the moment
For Becky W...for Toby and all they both taught me
For Charlee & Barbara...for being the extra aunties
For Mark & Susan...for the example of what true love looks like
For Andi S...for well, everything
For Rachael K...for everything else
For Mom...for always knowing just what I needed--for all these years
For Dad...for being the kind-of man who never compromises
For Major O' Mine...for looking at me and always seeing more

17. Plant a tree with my step-kids

A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.
D. Elton Trueblood

The idea for this was not totally random (unlike the one about making 1000 origami cranes). When I was 11 years old, my dad gave me a beautiful oak sapling about as tall as I was and we planted it in our front yard. (Well, actually we planted it in the neighbor's front yard by accident, but now it is so big it is about half on each side.)

This tree is about the height of Claire and JP put together. And even though we won't be living here long enough for them to enjoy it when it is fully grown, I love the idea of knowing that one day, we can drive by this house, and see this huge beautiful tree...

...and know it is ours.

A Cupcake Turns 40!

The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate. ~Oprah Winfrey

Had a wonderful day: Birthday Breakfast at home with presents to open with the parents, then off to shop for new running shoes, lunch with the kiddos and Moms & Dad, then a delicious birthday nap and a off to Party-Like-A-Rockstar in the evening!

My Happy Birthday Celebration was held at my darling cousin Gail's house...first party with friends and presents and cake and singing in a L-O-N-G time!

My parents came to visit for a week and attend the party...And I have so many lovely cousins who came!

And my...

wonderful...

friends!

Only missing one person here to celebrate with me--Major O' Mine will not be home again until next Friday. But that just means my Birthday is extended until he returns! (As is my Cupcake Deadline! LOL)

I am so terrifically blessed to have such a wonderful family with such a great sense of fun...we laugh and laugh when we are together. And the friends I have made since we moved here to North Carolina are SPECtacular! Spending my big day with them all was the best birthday celebration I could have dreamed up for myself.

A Cupcake Learns CPR

"On every battlefield, a flag of mercy flies. Its white field bears a Red Cross-the universal symbol of human compassion. Under that flag, there are no enemies, no racial or religious animosities. There are only brothers."
--President Lyndon B. Johnson, 1968

I have now officially become certified as a First Aid/CPR/AED Adult. I have a card to prove it.

Cupcakes that Change Lives

Kiva is a lending organization that partners with microfinance institutions around the world to provide loans to entrepreneurs in poverty-stricken areas. (The longer explanation is here.) You can go to their website and browse hundreds of individuals and groups from around the globe who need just a handful of dollars to help greatly change their way of life. It costs you a whopping $25 bucks.

This is Otara. She lives in Samoa. (I had to look it up...its down near New Zealand!) I had the privilege of funding a piece of her loan.



She is 39 years of age and married with six children. She owns and operates a business planting and harvesting fruits and vegetables for sale. Otara has 2 years of experience in this business. She needs a loan to purchase harvesting equipment such as wheelbarrows, shovels, rakes, baskets, and knives. She plans to use the profit from her business to improve/expand the business. (info from Kiva.org)

Frankly, I am so very grateful that I do not have to farm for a living. Or have six children! I am so impressed for these people, especially the women, who have taken the initiative to try and better their lives and the lives of their families. We have so much...and when we think we are broke-it means no new shoes this month, not no food to put on the table.

The neatest part of using my 'shoe money' to invest in this woman's life is that when she repays the loan, the credit goes back into my Kiva account...to either be liquidated or to be re-invested to help someone else. What a wonderful cycle of giving.

A Cupcake Goes Running

THE LIONESS

Be they giants or be they runts,
Males go out and do their stunts.
They think they're kings.
They do their things,
But it's the lioness that hunts.

John Jerome Runner's Logbook, 2003:
"It's the lioness that hunts."
Slogan of a British women's running club


Last year when we first moved to the wilds of North Carolina, I hauled myself up to the base and joined a lovely group of running mommies called the Stroller Warriors. These young women were pushing strollers, chasing bikes and scooters and armed with snacks, juice boxes and toys; the embodiement of my favorite running slogan in a world where it is the wife who remains behind and holds the home together.

There were only two problems with this situation: 1)it took me an hour to meet up with them; 2)I had no stroller, or kids to put in one...; and 3)I'm slow, like at the back of the pack. (Okay, that was three problems.)

SO...despite the fact that these ladies were lovely, I quit going north to meet them. Hence no post on this running business last year.

SKIP AHEAD TO MARCH 2011~


Over the next months I started a new and interesting relationship with my treadmill instead...and with a chiropractor....and with a massage therapist...and that brings us up to the present. Body all tuned up and a run/walk plan in place to get back to a 5k.

Then in August of this year, after months and months of building a monogamous relationship with my treadmill, the last piece fell into place to get my running back to where I want it to be. The lovely and animated Jamie Bentfield signed on as my running buddy. And now, three times a week, we meet and work on increasing our distance. And suddenly, running is fun again!(or as fun as it can be.)

Jamie has no running agenda, other than just wanting to finish a 5k without any walking breaks...and she really doesn't care about the time-frame, she just wants to enjoy the process in a way that doesn't make it feel like an obligation. This whole mind-set was foreign to me (Hello! a blog about goal-setting!).

But as I considered this idea a bit I had an epiphany:

Goals are important...but sometimes it is just as important (if not more important) to simply relax and enjoy the journey.

And then I don't have to give myself such hell when I skip a day---or when I take a day to rest my uncooperative legs & feet. Because I know I'll be back on the road tomorrow. And because even though I DO want to complete a 10k, and a running club would be fun to join...really it is about running becoming and remaining a part of my life on a regular basis.

Sometimes the REAL goal is just perserverance.

Cupcake Hero #2: Julia Child

"I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate."
– Julia Child

Julia Child made the short list for heroes not because I ever want to conquer Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which I assuredly do not. It was her ceaseless determination to learn something new in mid-life, while in a completely new environment, and to do so with such zest and enthusiasm that American cooking was changed forever by her accomplishment.

I have no interest in cooking at the level that she did, or cooking anything French, for that matter. You aren't going to get me near an aspic. But Child spent a decade dedicated to translating the art of French cuisine, the second love of her life, into a format that an American publisher would accept. This tenacity, and the enthusiasm with which she went about this project, brought her a new career and a place as an American icon. THAT is Amazing. Impressive. Inconceivable. (I can hardly keep a project going for a few months, much less 10 years.)

And what a zest for living! You only have to look at this postcard of her and her dear husband, Paul, to see that she loved life and was not shy about embracing it.

Reading My Life in France, which is her own biography which she co-authored, sealed the deal for me. (Lovely and interesting book, by the way. I highly recommend.) This woman wasn't out to impress anyone, she was just following her passion wherever it led. What a great example, especially as 40 is the next big thing for me!

There are loads of interesting websites that provide more information about Julia's life and cooking career (coolest one is the Smithsonian's), but really you can just watch this YouTube video of her teaching how to cook an omelet to see, not only How To Cook an Omelet (!), but what an interesting personality she was. Bon Appetit!