Monday, December 28, 2015

What's in a fortune?

Today my mom came over to help me do some cleaning and organizing—the cellar, my bedroom and the kitchen. In my bedroom, we removed everything from under the bed to be able to vacuum  (it was gross). In  a box full of memories, there were items of my dad's, my great-uncle's and even my childhood. In one little box belonging to my dad I found fortunes from fortune cookies. When I was in my 20's I used to save mine too, putting the date on them and taping them to my bedroom mirror. No matter how many times, I had rifled through the box, I had failed to notice the fortunes and just one more thing my dad and I had in common. Now everytime I get a fortune cookie, I will think of him.

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

Brownies:
2 sqs. Unsweetened chocolate
1/4 C Butter
1 C sugar
1 C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs, well beaten

Melt the butter and chocolate in the top of s double boiler. When slightly cool add the rest of the ingredients.

Peanut Butter Filling:
3/4 C Peanut Butter
1/4 C butter, melted
1/4 C powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients in a bowl with an electric mixer for 3-5 minutes until it is all mixed together.

Heat oven to 350. Pour brownie batter into a greased 8" pan. Spoon peanut butter mixture on top. Swirl up and down and back and forth with a knife. Bake for  30-35 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting. Makes 16.







Tuesday, December 22, 2015

An old adage to reality....

The old adage, "If at first you don't succeed, try again." Well, when the first batch of Yorkshire Pudding failed, I made a second that worked. Why one batch and not the other? The oven temp. I failed to realize my recipe was European, so the temperature was Celsius and here in the US we do Fahrenheit. A quick ask to Siri on my phone told me of my mistake and the right temperature. At this time of year, the end that is, often, I think about the mistakes I made and what I learned from them. From this one, I learned that I should I think through what I read before I act on it. What did you learn this year?

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

My new look...

My daughter decided I now need a new look complete with growing my hair long again.....

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

As a time management coach.....

"But Time... You can never lose time and get it back again. You can't spend time and go earn more of it. You can't buy it, rent or borrow it." — From 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management by Kevin Kruse

Thank you my ex for gifting me this book; it is a page turner. Sorry to my ex, some friends and former clients who might recipe this book as a gift in the new year along with my nagging you to read it immediately.

Monday, December 14, 2015

Shout outs are due....

I have been recovering from surgery and tomorrow will be the two week mark. So some gratitude should be given out. First, to my mom who has taken care of me —finishing unpacking after our renovation, cooking dinner and giving me sponge baths, until I was allowed to take a shower. I remember loving sponge baths as a kid, but  not so much as an adult. Second, to my daughter who reminded me everyday that laughter is the best medicine (keep it up). Last but not least, to my extended family and friends, who sent well wishes in the form of cards, food, flowers and healing energy. At two weeks out I am rested, energized and ready for life in my new body thanks to all of you. At this time of year it is important to count our blessings and not the number of presents we get.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Thursday, December 10, 2015

New Year, New Me and New Name, for blog that is.....

New Year's is fast approaching; well we need to finish the winter holidays and my birthday first. Even before all of this can happen, I need to finish recovering from medically needed breast reduction surgery that was done to alleviate back and neck pain. With the aid of my mom and daughter, I am recovering well and on my way to a "new" me, that is a "pain-free" me.  Carpal Tunnel Release surgery on both wrists and now this qualify me to describe myself as new and not updated. In this vane, I am reinventing my blog to be more about my life— "a mouthful of busy" as I described it in my journal last night. In fact in that same entry,  I described myself as a solorprenuer, divorced single mom, home owner with a dog. Now you see the busy.

So as of January 1st, 2016 look for my blog under it's new name, A Mouthful of Busy.

Thanks and have a great holiday season,
Mali