I'm Back & Relocating Blogs!!!

As much fun as it was reading through my blogs from last year it is time to switch gears into writing under a new blog page!  (I will point out though that my Lemon blog did get 663 views . . . I found that very interesting!)

My new blog address with be mailto:%22SyscoSarah%22@blog . . . . yada yada yada.  The new agenda, hinted by the name of the blog, will be to use all of my foodie pictures, creations, recipies and EVERYTHING food that I continue to play with on Facebook to a new business format where my customers can also go to follow! 

It seems that the more I learn about food, play with food, etc . . . that I continue to take MORE pictures and post MORE food than I'm sure the average person cares to see on Facebook.  Although I do have some customers that I could teach how to use their product or inspire them into creating as well.  More importantly is I can finally go into all the geeky details of what I am creating at home, even my simple breakfast, lunches, dinners, desserts and of course the list could go on!

So I'd invite anyone to follow me on this new blogpage and exciting new adventure.  Who knows, maybe you'll even get to expand your own cullinary skills or just put something new in front of the fam for the night!  For the record the first posting I'll be working on is the Raspberry Angel Food Cake that Lily has requested for her birthday cake this weekend!  I'm sure the entire catering of this event will follow in quick succession too!

Therapy in Brit History

Today I was thinking about the topic of therapy.  I spent most of the day listening to music and looking up witty quotes and thinking my self soothing techniques were based in movies, music and books.  I think I left a big part out . . . my kids! 

Lily & Miles returned home from school to a grounded household (due to a recent bunny scandal) no TV, no playing with friends or any other form of technology allowed.  Over dinner we all fought through boredom and presented the question "what positive things could we do rather than complain about what we can't do".  Lily came up with the simple yet brilliant idea to play a game (duh huh?).  We searched Grandpa's house for a deck of cards or a board game without luck and Lily suggested a game where we all wrote down a person, place or thing on a piece of paper then stick it to your forehead where you couldn't see (made me think of Pride & Prejudice) and ask questions to find out who/what you were.  Miles tended to write down Star Wars characters.  Lily chose random objects like Gas Stations, Rainbows and Skittles.  Lily's favorite fact finding question became "Did Miles write mine?".  Hilarity ensued and we all had a good hour of fun with it.

Bedtime was next and of course 8pm was just too early for a Friday night but we decided on reading a book together and I had recently bought a book on "Brit History" that was borderline a children's book with cute comic illustrations but both very accurate and a fun read.  We all sat around the book and I flipped to the Henry VIII section/House of Tudor and explained to them that this would be fun, now getting excited myself!  (I had watched the movie "The Other Boleyn Girl" at my cousin's house and had become further interested in British history from there, borderline obsessive really.)  I thought Lily would appreciate the amount of timeline memorization available and Miles at least could enjoy the beheadings (which he couldn't seem to wrap the word around his head so he just used the phrase "off with their head")!

At the end of the section I had the children reciting Henry's 6 wives (Catherine, Anne, Jane, Anne, Catherine and Catherine) in order as well as how they came to leave the house of Tudor with a witty rhyme from the book (divorced, beheaded, died . . . divorced, beheaded, survived).  They can also tell you that each of the first 3 wives had 1 child survive (a total of 3 children for Henry, a girl, girl, and finally his male heir with Jane.)  They can even follow up with each child's reign.  Edward VI who became King at age 9 and died at 15.  Mary I who became "Bloody Mary" due to trying to bring back Catholicism while avoiding conspiracies to overthrow her throne and beheaded a cousin (Jane Grey).  Last but not least Elizabeth I the "Virgin Queen" who also beheaded a cousin (Mary of the Scots) and after a 40 plus year reign ended the house of Tutor without an heir to the throne but managed to keep England within her father's Protestant creation.  In fact none of Henry's legitimate children produced any children of their own but each were able to act as King or Queen.

All in all we had a fun night where all of my therapies could come together to produce that warm and fuzzy feeling for a good nights sleep.  I benifited, my kids benifited and hopefully you might get your own benifit from this little tale too!

A Circular Philosophy of Lemons

"When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!"  We've all heard this line before in a variety of twists.  Basically this phrase is meant to show or promote optimism but can also be parodied into a million phrases.  This fascination in lemons brewed while  I was watching the movie "Love Happens" and the opening line was:

Sometimes, despite your best efforts otherwise, life will give you lemons. When that happens, you've got two choices, friend: you can wear a sour face or make lemonade.

This quote lead me into a research frenzy on the lemon/lemonade phrase. Several others followed easily such as lemon phrases that explained that lemons alone weren't enough, suggesting they should also be given sugar or even vodka to ensure a desirable end product.

I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade and try to find somebody whose life has given them vodka and have a party. - Ron White

Oddly enough this research lead me through enough outlooks to create a "lemon philosophy".  Consider one of my favorites:

I'm a realist. I try not to romanticise reality. You know? When life gives you lemons . . . you probably just found lemons. - Bo Burnham

So does life give you lemons or did you just find them?  Are lemons enough or do you need other ingredients?  Do we have the right to refuse lemons?

When life gives you lemons, just say "Fuck the lemons" and bail." - Forgetting Sarah Marshall movie

Let's turn the word lemons into challenges while we analyze.  If life hands you (or you found) a bad relationship, life of a single parent, loss of a job, death or illness, etc.  I believe we have the right to want to refuse, deny, complain or whatever emotion feels right.  Otherwise labeled as "Fuck the lemons", "wait for some sugar" or "find somebody with vodka". 

So life gave us a challenge is the first line, but eventually we do need to move on to the next step of the equation, "Make Lemonade".  We can't continue to hate the lemons/challenges . . . how do we move forward?  I think the complexity I find in this phrase is that of the Lemonade which is the opportunity of past, present and future.  Since the lemonade could have been great in the beginning it's today's actions or mid-course corrections that define the future of that lemonade.   If life gives us lemons, do we have to settle or end with lemonade? 

Depending on your situation lemonade might be right or maybe the lemonade was good but now it's time to infuse a little sugar, time continues and perhaps we need to infuse some vodka.  Hence the past, present and future.  It is what it is and it is what we make it.  What we want today might be that lemon we are handed.  What we want tomorrow might be different, perhaps an orange. 

"Dave, haven't you ever heard of the expression  . . . When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, and then throw it in the face of the person who gave you the lemons until they give you the oranges you originally asked for?" - News Radio

I think we are being handed lemons daily, yet we only use this phrase for the worst case scenarios as reminders to others to be optimistic.  Why not just slap that person you are telling to make lemonade, it's the same effect initially.

Our lives are one big lemon, the people we meet - lemons; the jobs offered - lemons; additions/losses to family - lemons.  Lemons equal challenges.  We don't look at daily life as challenges but we do (or should) look at everyday as an opportunity. 

Loose the label of challenge and change it to opportunity.  Each day with your child(ren) you have the opportunity to teach something new or learn something new.  Each day in a relationship or job we have the opportunity to enjoy it, improve or abandon and move on.  I think perhaps the challenge/opportunity are really the lemons and the lemonade is life.  As the lemons can't always be lemons since we shouldn't make the same mistake twice and our life changes, grows and evolves, much like the first try at a recipe might require some additions or deletions. 

Life handed me a lemon, I made lemonade . . . it wasn't right so I added a cranberry and it still wasn't right , so I'm out to find some sugar, vodka, whatever is right . . . so I know my lemonade isn't just made of lemons it's the "spice of life" that would make our metaphorical lemonade the most colorful - since weather it is wrong or right to someone else, it's just right for your own lemonade/life.  Are we settling for just lemons or could we handle further challenges in life to find those additional ingredients that could make the lemonade so special?  The real question is "are you happy with your lemonade?"  It's not a right or wrong question it's just a circular Sarah philosophy to have fun with!



Growth in a Box

The month of April indicates a time for gardeners to start sowing their seeds, animals become "twitterpated" (couldn't resist the Bambi scene in my head), people start to open windows in their home and feel energized for some Spring Cleaning.  It's not just bears who hibernate over the winter, we all do!  We've locked ourselves up warm and comfortable indoors, the days seem dark and dreary without an ounce of sunshine, we begin to dream of warmer seasons and wish the snow away. 

Have you used your winter hibernation wisely?  Did you read a great classic to pass the time or cuddle up to a good movie with the ones you care about?  Did you quilt, scrapbook, or make something for future enjoyment?  Did your dreams of warmth have you planning out your garden while you rifled through every seed catalog that came in the mail with beautiful colors on the cover?  How have we grown or prepared to grow?



"What greater wealth is there than to own your life and to spend it on growing?  Every living thing must grow.  It can't stand still.  It must grow or perish."



Own your life . . . Grow or perish . . . this plant on the left looks like it's options were limited but that isn't stopping it from growing!  The above quote is from Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged.  I love Ayn Rand's voice in her books as I feel I can connect with her strong female characters and their reasoning.  Most of these female characters refuse to live within the confinement of what others think they should behave like or accept the social norm as their own plight.  They accepted challenge much like the plant in the crack saying "I'll just find a way to grow on my own and in my own way!"



Take for example Japan's farmers who have created the square watermelon.  Have you even heard of this?  The square watermelon is grown within a box created to perfectly fit the size restraints of a Japanese refrigerator.  That was the entire purpose of a square watermelon, convenience to please the masses!  I'm sure they also found it cute and attractive as well but let's apply this example to real life, I'm finding it way too easy at this point! 

As a young girl myself I found that i didn't like the box that people were trying to stuff me into.  I was told I was too squirrely, talked to much, needed to play nicer with the other girls, act like a lady, share my toys better and should quit trying to compete with the boys!  I say "Bah!"  Now there are good lessons hidden in there, but I just had to make sense of them for myself.  Rather than just trying to grow into other's expectations I pick and choose what works best for me.  So I'm squirrely, well that's just unharnessed energy . . . talk too much, well I do make more of an effort to remember I have "2 ears and 1 mouth" so I might be able to reply vs. just talk . . . need to play nicer with other girls, I've accepted that you can't be best friends with everyone and surrounded my self with the ones that I really click with! . . . Act like a lady, well I lack some tact but like to think I can be charming . . . share my toys, no way! People care less for borrowed items than that which they've worked hard for and own themselves . . . quit trying to compete with the boys, you obviously don't know me that well!  Overall I like to think I'm similar to the aggressive plant's growth chart here.  Know yourself better than anyone else, love and embrace who you are . . . the good and the bad. When the box/mold you are forced to grow into no longer fits, you need to break out and make your own way even if it's only possible through a crack!

Could This be the Start of Something Enchanting?

Enchanting April . . . That's where this all started . . . a movie, a feeling, a fresh new month and start!

1.  MOVIE: In truth the movie wasn't a favorite but the idea of four unlikely women going on an unlikely holiday for the month of April, based only on an emotional whim to the enticing advertisement of "wisteria & sunshine" was a start.

2. FEELING: While dealing with my own motivational demons and trying to "grab hold of life by the balls" (thank you Holly), reflection told me it's time to continue preparing for the next step . . . even if it isn't ready for me yet!

3. FRESH NEW MONTH: Lucky me, I am standing on April's doorstep ready to enter!  I did some research trying to figure out if there was something magical about the month of April and why I too was feeling as though it would breathe new life into me.  We all know that April showers bring May flowers and it is time for things to come out of hibernation, get planted and start to feel Spring's effects.  But did you know that April is known as Aphrodite's Month as well, named after the Greek goddess of all things love, beauty, fertility and desire?  Now that just has me thinking that I should do my spring cleaning in a sexy toga (or nothing at all) this year to really feel the full affects of what April stands for . . . perhaps an April Fool's joke.

4. FRESH NEW START: So I've deduced that if these four ladies from the movie gain great insight in April . . . and I have a feeling that I need to find my next step . . . and I'm ready to enter April myself . . . then what the hell do I have to lose? Afterall, I just outlined the favorable conditions that are present!

How does that land me here in Blogger-land?  I have a need to learn through others, share with others and grow with others . . . above all I can't see myself pouring out my self discovery on Facebook . . . but this is an opportunity to do just that and save me 15 phone calls a night to fill everyone in on "Sarah's latest revelation".  I hope that I might be able to expose a bit of my own drama, ideas, inspiration, motivation and whatever I'm going through and the lessons I have learned (and am learning) to your benifit and vice versa.

Hence the name of the blog, I wanted a word that would give us all something to be hopefull and positive about.  I wanted everyone who reads this to feel empowered when finished and to be able to say "and this too shall pass" if they are having a bad day or "it is what it is" even if it means the point of no return. 

Everyone should be able to have that kind of realization and forward movement since life is both Lucky and Propitious if we just allow it to be.  Accept your challenges and move through them as even a rollercoaster has to reach bottom before it can move to the top again because good things don't just happen out of luck but conditions are favorable because you are ready.