No matter how many times I've seen it, I just love this old black and white Christmas classic. In these times, it seems especially appropriate. I wonder, if each of us could experiece, as George Bailey did in this movie, what it would be like had we never been born, how it would change our self perception.
It would be an interesting project to, as nearly as we can remember, write down every life we've ever touched...or the lives that would not exist if we didn't, or what might have happened to others had we not in some way been a part of their lives.
And then imagine each stranger we've touched in some way, online or off.
Now that sounds like one interesting project! Perhaps I'll have a go at it.
Karen
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
I Miss My Feet
I call my feet broken feet, for they are older and full of a misery or two. But i don't care. I dance anyway. It has always been worth the added pain that comes after. Many things in life are like my "broken" feet...worth the added pain.
Karen Chaffee 2009
Karen Chaffee 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Gratitude To Share
With Thanksgiving just days away, the mind turns to this: what exactly am I thankful for this year? Sometimes, a year's blessings and one's gratitude for them, changes. But always, there are some that seem to remain steadfast.
I'd like to share my gratitude with you :)
I'm grateful for having become more firmly established in my writing career over the past year. And thankfully, I'm getting better at setting up a website, and now have several!
Also a blessing, has been that I am learning how to be more assertive, something I very much needed after finally ending a long and destructive marriage.
I am happy to have learned that living alone can actually be peaceful, joyful, and feel like freedom, but also happy to have re-discovered dating.
Always, those that remain the same: love of family and friends, nature and all its beauty, food and shelter, babies and old people, sunsets and the simple everyday pleasures life brings.
I hope your Thanksgiving is a beautiful one!
Please feel free to share your gratitudes. I'd love to read them.
Karen
I'd like to share my gratitude with you :)
I'm grateful for having become more firmly established in my writing career over the past year. And thankfully, I'm getting better at setting up a website, and now have several!
Also a blessing, has been that I am learning how to be more assertive, something I very much needed after finally ending a long and destructive marriage.
I am happy to have learned that living alone can actually be peaceful, joyful, and feel like freedom, but also happy to have re-discovered dating.
Always, those that remain the same: love of family and friends, nature and all its beauty, food and shelter, babies and old people, sunsets and the simple everyday pleasures life brings.
I hope your Thanksgiving is a beautiful one!
Please feel free to share your gratitudes. I'd love to read them.
Karen
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Beauty Is Everywhere And Within Every Age
The expression "gone to seed" takes on new meaning when viewed within the context of this picture, doesn't it? It's easy to feel that I've gone to seed, sometimes, since I just passed my 59th birthday, but most of the time, I am actually surprised when I remember my age.
Barring a few slow-downs on the outside and minus the aches, pains, and new lines on my face each year, I feel more extraordinary than "gone to seed."
Given my love for "weeds" that look as beautiful as any flower, or the depth of beauty I see in babies and the elderly, given my propensity to be drawn to the delight in the ordinary, this is no surprise.
My aunt once told me that getting old was hell. It has its hellish moments, granted, but then so did every other age I've been! So, I embrace each day and each year as a gift. Period.
What is your own take on beauty in the ordinary? On aging? On the life and people that surround you?
Karen
Barring a few slow-downs on the outside and minus the aches, pains, and new lines on my face each year, I feel more extraordinary than "gone to seed."
Given my love for "weeds" that look as beautiful as any flower, or the depth of beauty I see in babies and the elderly, given my propensity to be drawn to the delight in the ordinary, this is no surprise.
My aunt once told me that getting old was hell. It has its hellish moments, granted, but then so did every other age I've been! So, I embrace each day and each year as a gift. Period.
What is your own take on beauty in the ordinary? On aging? On the life and people that surround you?
Karen
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Junk Food Sunday
I learned a long time ago that nothing short of a stomach virus seems to tame my "sweet tooth," hence, I've dubbed it a flaw that I've learned to live with!
I eat healthy all week long, but for years now, Sunday has been my junk food day. It serves to keep my sweet tooth happy without making my waistline UNhappy.
It has helped ease my conscience, though, that there are actually ways to "healthy up" junk food. You can even make it healthy enough to serve to a diabetic loved one.
Some tips:
1. Use unbleached or whole wheat flour instead of white flour when baking. It works for literally everything, including pie crust.
2. When a cake mix or recipe calls for oil, use unsweetened applesauce instead.
3. Use recipes that call for healthy ingredients such as rolled oats, raisins, carrots, zuchinni, bananas, grated carrots, dried or fresh cranberries or blueberries, walnuts, or low-fat cream cheese. It helps counter-act the sugar guilt and the additional fiber keeps the sugar from assimulating too quickly and raising blood sugar levels.
4. Use non-stick spray rather than "greasing" a cake pan or cookie sheet.
5. Have home-baked frozen potato sticks rather than "fries."
6. If you're dying for a cheeseburger, used ground sirloin and low-fat cheese and mayo, and a whole-wheat bun. Pile on the tomato and some leafy greens to add some veggie value to the burger.
7. Opt for baked chips or whole grain crackers rather than traditional fattier kinds of crunchy snacks.
8. Popcorn is only junk food if you smother it in real butter and tons of salt. But...since it IS junk food day, do have it your way!
Tips for Diabetics
1. Use sugar free frozen yogurt or ice-cream, bananas, nuts, and pineapple in it's own syrup for a yummy sundae.
2. Make pies with Splenda, fresh fruit, and whole wheat flour for the crust.
3. Treat yourself to some of the special treats on the market now for diabetics: candies, cookies, etc.
4. Fresh fruit cubes dipped in yogurt can "taste" like a decadent treat.
5. Frozen treats with no sugar added, or real fruit juice bars and can also satisfy a sweet tooth when simple carbs and sugar must be monitored.
Next time you want a sugary treat with no holds barred, try the following recipe for Ice Cream Cone Cup Cakes:
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,176,135180-254195,00.html
ICE CREAM CONE CUPCAKES (pictured at top of post, but I use a real cherry rather than the ball of icing)
1 package dry cake mix (any flavor)
24 cake cup ice cream cones
water, oil and eggs per cake mix directions on box
Preheat oven to 350F.
Mix cake mix per directions on box. If using a white cake mix, divide mix into four separate mixing bowls and use food coloring to make different ice cream "flavors".
Place ice cream cones in muffin pan and fill about 1/2 to 3/4 full.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until done.
Cool on a wire rack. Let cool completely if frosting.
Makes 18 to 24 cupcakes
Submitted by: nancy douglas
Comments
Sep 16, 10:54 PM
sarah said:
Kids love these but they are hard to transport (my daughter likes them for her pre school snack). So I took a NEW Pizza box and cut holes in the top large enough for the ice cream cones. The spacing of the top of the box to the bottom of the box is the same length as the base of the cone, so it keeps the cupcakes in place, with no worries of them tipping or shifting during the trip!
I eat healthy all week long, but for years now, Sunday has been my junk food day. It serves to keep my sweet tooth happy without making my waistline UNhappy.
It has helped ease my conscience, though, that there are actually ways to "healthy up" junk food. You can even make it healthy enough to serve to a diabetic loved one.
Some tips:
1. Use unbleached or whole wheat flour instead of white flour when baking. It works for literally everything, including pie crust.
2. When a cake mix or recipe calls for oil, use unsweetened applesauce instead.
3. Use recipes that call for healthy ingredients such as rolled oats, raisins, carrots, zuchinni, bananas, grated carrots, dried or fresh cranberries or blueberries, walnuts, or low-fat cream cheese. It helps counter-act the sugar guilt and the additional fiber keeps the sugar from assimulating too quickly and raising blood sugar levels.
4. Use non-stick spray rather than "greasing" a cake pan or cookie sheet.
5. Have home-baked frozen potato sticks rather than "fries."
6. If you're dying for a cheeseburger, used ground sirloin and low-fat cheese and mayo, and a whole-wheat bun. Pile on the tomato and some leafy greens to add some veggie value to the burger.
7. Opt for baked chips or whole grain crackers rather than traditional fattier kinds of crunchy snacks.
8. Popcorn is only junk food if you smother it in real butter and tons of salt. But...since it IS junk food day, do have it your way!
Tips for Diabetics
1. Use sugar free frozen yogurt or ice-cream, bananas, nuts, and pineapple in it's own syrup for a yummy sundae.
2. Make pies with Splenda, fresh fruit, and whole wheat flour for the crust.
3. Treat yourself to some of the special treats on the market now for diabetics: candies, cookies, etc.
4. Fresh fruit cubes dipped in yogurt can "taste" like a decadent treat.
5. Frozen treats with no sugar added, or real fruit juice bars and can also satisfy a sweet tooth when simple carbs and sugar must be monitored.
Next time you want a sugary treat with no holds barred, try the following recipe for Ice Cream Cone Cup Cakes:
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,176,135180-254195,00.html
ICE CREAM CONE CUPCAKES (pictured at top of post, but I use a real cherry rather than the ball of icing)
1 package dry cake mix (any flavor)
24 cake cup ice cream cones
water, oil and eggs per cake mix directions on box
Preheat oven to 350F.
Mix cake mix per directions on box. If using a white cake mix, divide mix into four separate mixing bowls and use food coloring to make different ice cream "flavors".
Place ice cream cones in muffin pan and fill about 1/2 to 3/4 full.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until done.
Cool on a wire rack. Let cool completely if frosting.
Makes 18 to 24 cupcakes
Submitted by: nancy douglas
Comments
Sep 16, 10:54 PM
sarah said:
Kids love these but they are hard to transport (my daughter likes them for her pre school snack). So I took a NEW Pizza box and cut holes in the top large enough for the ice cream cones. The spacing of the top of the box to the bottom of the box is the same length as the base of the cone, so it keeps the cupcakes in place, with no worries of them tipping or shifting during the trip!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Autumn in West Michigan
Many see the spring as a time of renewal, and so it is, but for some of us, myself included, nothing beats autumn in West Michigan.
God colors our world with pumpkins and apples, with gourds in all sizes, and the trees and sky are set ablaze with the crsip chill of the changing seasons.
I find this the perfect time to walk paths full of crunching leaves, to travel north to see the first colors and Lake Michigan sparkling beneath a clear fall sky.
The sunsets appear more brilliant, the mornings more invigorating, and the atmosphere a bigger boost to the spirit.
Do you have your own favorite season?
God colors our world with pumpkins and apples, with gourds in all sizes, and the trees and sky are set ablaze with the crsip chill of the changing seasons.
I find this the perfect time to walk paths full of crunching leaves, to travel north to see the first colors and Lake Michigan sparkling beneath a clear fall sky.
The sunsets appear more brilliant, the mornings more invigorating, and the atmosphere a bigger boost to the spirit.
Do you have your own favorite season?
Monday, September 14, 2009
Comtemplating Bridges
I have reached a time in life where bridges have taken on a new meaning...mind bridges, that is. In honor of the wisdom behind recycling, I have decided to burn no more bridges.
Rather, those that lead to bad memories or places, and those that lead nowhere at all, will now be torn down and put to better uses.
I will take my scrapes of fruitless bridges and use them to build new bridges. They will fill the gaps in valued relationships, create a pathway to new things learned, or forge an avenue to those people and places I wish to explore.
What will you be doing with your own bridges, old and new?
Rather, those that lead to bad memories or places, and those that lead nowhere at all, will now be torn down and put to better uses.
I will take my scrapes of fruitless bridges and use them to build new bridges. They will fill the gaps in valued relationships, create a pathway to new things learned, or forge an avenue to those people and places I wish to explore.
What will you be doing with your own bridges, old and new?
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