Success and Failure

The Science of Success

What is "success"? I think the ideas of "success" and "failure" depend on many things. If your idea of "success" is getting something absolutely perfect the first time you try it, then you will view many attempts as "failure". If your idea of "success" is "trying to do something in the effort to become successful at something" then you will view anything short of your goal as "steps to success". In the end, it is YOUR definition, that really matters. So here's some food for thought...

Just think for a minute. Think about babies or toddlers learning to walk. They are definitely NOT successful the first time. Neither are kids learning to ride a bike. Do they give up? No. And I don't think I have ever seen a grown person crawling on the ground because he or she gave up on the walking bit. 

Now let's take it a step further. Imagine someone, I'm going to use Tara Lipinski, our United States Gold Medal winner in the Olympics many years ago. You can use any other athlete of your choosing! Let's say we're showing a video to Tara as a eight month old. Keep in mind, Tara is able to talk (think Look Who's Talking movies for a minute!) and she's hearing us tell her our plans for her future. "Tara, first you're going to learn how to walk. Then we're going to put ice skates on you and you're going to skate on some ice. THEN we're going to go REALLY FAST in circles around and around the rink and THEN you're going to JUMP. Not only are you going to jump, but you're going to twirl around four times in the air, land on the ice, and not fall. Oh yeah, there will be people watching too. They will see if you can do it good or not. And there will be judges who watch your every move. And, you have to look gracious, smile, and act like you're having a ball."

Ok, so we said, Tara is able to talk. What do you think Tara will say in response? She can't as of yet WALK. And she's going to be told she's going to skate on ice, jump, land, not fall, and do this in front of how many people? And get judged? And represent her country? You would think Tara might laugh, say,"ha ha you're funny!" Or something else.

But see, Tara was never told as an infant that she couldn't do something. No one ever looks at a baby and says, "You'll never walk!" No one ever looks at a toddler going through potty training and says, "You'll never use the toilet!" (Unless they're a very exasperated parent!) See these are things that everyone can do.

We're all not going to be great at anything the first time we try it. Just because you try to do something and it fails does NOT mean you should give up. I love Mustangs. I have found that many Mustangs are stick shift. I do not know how to drive stick shift. One of these days I am going to own a Mustang. And I will learn to drive stick shift. Am I going to "get it" the first time? Hell, no! LMAO Anyone who knows my driving skills KNOWS this. I KNOW this. The first time I get behind the wheel and try it, I know it's going to stink. It will probably be very bad and I'll want to give up out of sheer embarrassment. BUT if I want a pretty Mustang, and I do...I will learn to drive stick shift. I will NOT be doing well the first day. I already feel sorry for whoever it is that my teacher is going to be! BUT, I will end up knowing how to drive stick shift. I AM going to make an ass out of myself while learning. (OK, maybe this is negative thinking! But...) It's going to happen.

Lately, I've been thinking about the cake decorating bit and I think I am going to try a different avenue. Like I said, you try something and it doesn't work, you don't quit. You evaluate what you learned from the steps you took and just view it as STEPS to success. There is no failure in trying. You're learning what doesn't work, is what you're doing. Not "failing", but "learning". And there's nothing wrong with "learning", right?

So, I've come across a different idea:

I think I will concentrate on what I can do that others can't do or don't want to do. Or, don't have the time or patience to do. I have a lot of patience when it comes to decorating. And I can help others make their cakes look like a showcase.   

This is what I like to do! I can still do any kind of cake I want, but this is where I maybe have the "wow" factor a little more.

I may not be "the best" right now. But I can keep practicing and become the best I can be. And, it DOES take practice. And patience.

AND, there is no way this cannot be fun! It's a blast. I am like a 41-year-old wishing I can be five again so I can play with Playdough and knock all the other kids' socks off...

So, cake or no cake, it is onto "figurines" for now for me! Maybe it's just that this summer was so hot I didn't want to bake and will pick it up again come October! We'll see...

Next we're going to have Ladybugs, Bees, and Black scary cats. So September and October-ish!

Just remember, the first time you put on make-up you didn't look so good! But you didn't give up, did you?

THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX

Not one of my specialties! Just being honest…We once were low on bottled water and I said something to my hubby about it. His response? Get it from the sink. OOOOHHHHH YEEEAAAAHHHH…. (doink on the head!) I have always been “book smart” and completely NOT “street smart”. That is what my hubby is around for.

This brings me to the point of: “doing something because you’ve always done it that way”. I read a book once and it had a story in it about a family who always cut the end off of the roast before cooking. Finally someone backtracked through the family chefs to find out why. It was because the roast wouldn’t fit in that particular family member’s oven. I would like to think before I do something that it appears well thought out. But this isn’t always the case! Habits sometimes prevail…

Well, going down memory lane recently with my oldest daughter proved to be somewhat of a trip. What came up? “Remember those pics of Grandma Paulette letting me takes sips of her beer?” EEEKKSSSS!!!! Well, YES, I remembered, but why in the hell would my mother have done that??? She had also let me and my sister do the same when we were younger. I am going to stop right here and add “my dad” to the mix. He was equally as guilty. It’s funny NOW but back when we were 5-6-7 years old, my parents would ask us to get them a beer and when we returned with it, we would ask if we could have a sip. They said “yes”. ???????????????????

To me, as a parent, and now a grandmother, I find this VERY unacceptable. I have a five year old grandson right now and would NEVER allow him to take a sip of any alcoholic drink I was consuming. I NEVER allowed my children to take sips of my drinks when they were growing up either. MAYBE at Christmas or New Year’s someone got to take a drink of champagne, but they were over 16 before they did that, not five!

In any case, that brought me to thinking about our parents’ habits we take with us into our own adult lives. I think the very first one I dropped was my parents’ use of Open Pit BBQ sauce. OMG…gross…I haven’t touched it since. I am not joking…

So here’s a different burger. Not your parents’ burger.

Ingredients:
One pound ground pork

½ t. garlic salt

1 t. salt

½ t. cumin

Pinch of black pepper

1 t. basil

1 t. paprika

1 jalapenos, finely chopped

Mix all ingredients and form into five patties. GRILL!!!!

And, I do use aluminum foil most of the time when I grill because bacon on a wide open grill will get killed.

Top with cheese, bacon, tomatoes, lettuce, or whatever you like! I like Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce.

And the kiddos get milk or juice...no sips of beer!

;-)

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!

DESSERT TIME!!!!

We all have our strengths and weaknesses. I can sit here and tell you about how honored we should be to have our fellow Americans in combat and how brave they are. Or, I can share with you what I know more about...how to COOK and SERVE for the holiday festivities. We each have our duties, and I am doing mine WITH PRIDE :-)

I wasn't REALLY expecting company for the holiday, so I did my shopping on Friday just for my hubby and myself. THEN my daughter writes asking me what we're doing on the holiday. HMMMMM, should I ADMIT we have no plans and be subjected to possible last minute babysitting duty for the two grandchildren??? HMMMM, hubby would might not like that, but he was in the shower, so I answered that I was free and available. LOL (Brave, am I?) Instead of being her last-minute babysitter, she asked if SHE and THE KIDS could come over.

AWESOME!!!!

But now I have to go back to the store...no big deal...(Other son added to list of people coming along...) I had a coupon for another store for charcoal but had to do one of those ten dollar purchase things to use it. And, I like to PREPARE. LMAO...HMMMM...again

I am used to stores running out of red and blue produce items around the Fourth of July and I had JUST been to the store Friday and didn't get blueberries because I didn't need them. But they had them at Meijer's. Now I was going to PayLow to use a coupon and there were no blueberries in sight. Figured...I knew Meijer's runs out of blueberries quickly on a normal basis, so I thought JUST TRY, JUST TRY the local farmer's market on Taft Street. A little late on a Saturday afternoon, I didn't even know how late they stayed open, it was close to four, but I figured...JUST TRY. THEY HAD BLUEBERRIES!!! YAY!!!

Although I had no idea what I was making, I had picked up Jello at Paylow, along with strawberries and Cool Whip, so I had the ingredients now, just no picture of what they were making. I went on line to find recipes and consulted my Jello Cookbook, which is ancient, but came up with the Fresh Fruit Parfaits.

Ingredients:

Four strawberries divided into fourths lengthwise

36 blueberries

4 oz pkg. strawberry Jello

3/4 c. boiling water

1/2 c. cold water

ice cubes

Cool Whip

Garnish:

6 strawberries
18 blueberries

I took about four strawberries and cut them lengthwise. I divided those slices evenly per glass. I then added six intact blueberries per glass. Combine 3/4 c. boiling water with gelatin mix until dissolved. Add cold water and ice cubes. Pour on top of fruit in glasses.

They should not take longer than 30-45 minutes to gel, but then you'll top with garnishment ingredients (Cool Whip and berries) to decorate.

AND

IF YOU HAVE MORE JELLO AND MORE BERRIES...

there's jello shots...

Fill nine Dixie cups with a slice of strawberry and four blueberries. Combine 8 oz. boiling water with Jello mix for about a minute. Add 1/2 cup of cold water and 1/2 cup of vodka.

 

Then pour over the fruit in the Dixie cups. And refrigerate.

And make sure the little ones don't get the Dixie cups.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!

"SHOULD"

What I've Learned Since Graduation

To those who know me, I am kind of a hyperactive person. Except on weekend mornings when I "make up" the sleep I've lost during the week. Then, once up, I am a little ball of energy with a definite "to-do list" going on. Most days, I ask my husband, "What's the plan today?" To which he responds that he doesn't have one.

When school ended, I had these ideas of, "oh, now you can do this" and "now you can do that". Most people assumed I would NEED to get my Master's Degree because I would be bored to death. I was afraid I would go for my Master's degree because I would be bored to death.

I had lost a few pounds last summer, and not that I need to lose weight, but I figured, "OK, exercise, and that will take up your time. You can pick up where you left off last summer". I am in acceptable shape, but if I wanted to be ultra-fit, I could lose 15 pounds. To be perfectly honest, I felt motivated for about two or three weeks and then something happened.

"Something" was that I think I may have learned to relax. OMG!!! I come home from work at 4:30-ish, I start up the grill, I cook, my husband gets home, we eat, and then I spend the evening relaxing with him watching the White Sox play. I am so good at "relaxing" that I don't even know HOW I got any schoolwork done last semester. Or, any of the previous semesters!

????

Is this really me?

Which brings me to the title of this entry: "SHOULD"

SHOULD I be painting my bathroom as planned?

SHOULD I be be exercising three hours a day to ensure maximum fat loss? (LOL)

SHOULD I be looking into any school's Master's Degree program?

SHOULD I be planning my next greatest adventure?

I have in the last month: planted flowers, made my own fondant icing, created a website, shampooed my carpets, and hosted my 5-year-old grandson's birthday party all while working full time as an Office Manager. And I'm sure this isn't "the whole list", and I'm not going to go looking for it...that is the point. I am tired of crossing things off of my "to-do lists".

I SHOULD be able to take a break. I started back to college back in 2005 taking two to three (and sometimes four classes) every Fall and Spring semester until I just graduated. Made the Dean's List every semester. Graduated with Highest Honors and a 3.9 GPA. This is 2010, five years later...

What SHOULD I do now? This girl is "relaxing" whether anyone ever thought I would be able to or not...LOL

I will keep you posted on my progress!  ;-)

DONE!!!!

Well, we're now done!

And what remains to be seen is HOW I will use my degree. I WILL BE paying for it so I how I use it is very important. I think I have said enough on what I think I've accomplished so rather than beat a dead horse more dead, LOL, I will just concentrate on the future.

It would have been nice if I had known while I was taking my "creating a website" class that I would be doing this because now I have to do it all again. We'll just refer to it as a refresher course.

I AM happy though for everything else I learned. And, all the friends I've made.

I had to find a pic that's decent enough for peeps to see on Facebook so I have Chloe on here from this weekend. She is my little sweetie pie along with Brandon. I am doing an Iron Man cake this week for his birthday and am contemplating "plain but awesome" versus "F-ing spectacular"...LOL Or an "F-ing mess"

If it works out, it'll be posted. If not...LOL it won't!!!

FINALS WEEK!!!

ALMOST DONE!!!!

Well, the finish line IS in sight!!! Five years ago, on May 2, 2005 to be exact, I sat down with an IUN advisor to figure out how I would finish my Associate's Degree I started at South Suburban College in South Holland many years ago. It turned out I couldn't get my Associate's Degree completed at IUN unless I took 30 credit hours. So rather than aim for that, or go back to South Suburban College for my Associate's Degree, I decided to get my Bachelor's Degree, since that is what every employer seemed to be requiring anyway.

Then to do the math: Starting in the Fall Semester of 2005, if I took two evening classes in addition to my full time job and raising three kids, I could graduate in 2011. OH JOY!!! LOL I did more math and figured out I would be 42 when I graduated. Hmmmm...nice. Swweeetttt.... But by the time I was in my late-thirties I had already read enough of self-help books that told me that by the time 2011 rolled around, degree or no degree, I would still be 42. Difference being: I could be "42 without a Bachelor's degree" or "42 with a Bachelor's degree". ARGGGHHHH...so what I needed to do was clear: GO FOR IT... and not only that, but I would be setting a great example to my three teenagers, right? R-I-G-H-T!!!!

So, I started off and it wasn't bad at all. So good in fact, that I started taking three classes a semester instead of just two. I DID have a few bumps in the road: I got married during the same semester I took Finite Math. LOL I never had done "linear equations" in my scholastic lifetime that I could recall, but I got it done and got my first "B" amongst my then "all A's"...didn't matter...the class went from an initial 30 students to 11 and I was one of those 11 who survived!

All A's and two more B's later, I am now almost done. Looking scarily in the face of almost getting a "C" in International Finance (which still has a possibility of happening...) I will be done either way.

So, I have not written a blog entry since the end of February, and I thought I should let you know that I have also been having F-U-N!!!! I am a Libra. And, as such, we are a balanced bunch. No such thing as "all work and no play". I make work fun, as what follows actually WILL be considered my WORK and what will hopefully help me pay off my student loans.

I started off with buttercream, and as anyone who knows me knows: I always have and keep my New Year's Resolutions, which this year was: learn how to use fondant icing. I did, and I LOVE it. Soooo, I took to a few close friends and they helped me out, and this is what I have been doing while not studying:

This is what Deb refers to as a "virgin penis" because he has no hair...so we added some

Then we played around with the mini ones...

Then someone wanted ones with different nationalities... so we obliged...

And then we did some corresponding female parts...

And we couldn't forget the male full size...

Then Karina sent me a pic of a bikini girl going for like $75 bucks on the East Coast..."Seriously?" I guess so! So, I set out to create my own, in fondant...

So, yes, I HAVE been a busy little girl...

I am going to be doing some more fondant cakes soon...it is like my new toy!

I will also have a little "cupcake session" coming up soon as well as my graduation details.

I am off to soak my little toes in the tub...G'Night!!!

P.S. Also- I graduated EARLIER than originally anticipated...by taking three classes instead of two each semester, I graduate now "at the age of 41 in 2010" (YAY!!!)

AND

This is what I learned: corner a market in some way no one else is doing. THAT is why I'm doing the business I am doing...

More...

SOUP FOR THE SICK...or FOR THE CHILLY PEEPS!!!

So, I got somewhat motivated last night when I realized I would need something to eat today for breakfast and lunch. I did not feel like my usual chicken and veggies because my stomach is so screwed up from cold meds the LAST thing we need to do is add vegetables to the mix! I decided to go on line recipe-searching for Lemon Rice Soup and couldn't find anything that looked good. So, I made up my own. Ha!

I have had enough of Lemon Rice Soup in my life to know how to make it. I surveyed my kitchen and decided I had the ingredients: water, Minute Rice, lemon juice, chicken bouillon, parsley flakes, and pepper. And, although I never have it in my soup when I buy it from anywhere, some recipes included chicken, and since I could probably use some protein, I did add a chicken breast.

I did not measure the water I put in the pot but

you can see it's a medium size pot filled with water, added maybe two tablespoons of chicken bouillon after boiling. My chicken is cooking alongside it.

Here's me behaving exactly like a person with a cold and hacking cough, all three burners being used: soup, chicken, and rice. As I said, I used Minute Rice so it took all of five minutes.

I threw the rice in with the water to absorb the flavoring.

My scientific self just used all the lemon juice I had which amounted to 3 ounces which is halfway between 1/3 cup and 1/2 cup. I would have preferred to use real lemons but I hadn't really planned this soup. Maybe next time!

Yes, I use the most expensive spices (LOL) I added some pepper and parsley along with the lemon juice. I have never seen any justification using more expensive spices. Fresh parsley? I have used it, but again this wasn't planned and this worked out just fine. (Another "maybe next time"!)

Here we have it all in the pot, ready to blend and get to know each other...

Can't forget the chicken!!!

And, lunch is done!

I couldn't post this until I TASTED it. It was pretty good for Lemon Rice Soup on the fly. Lemon juice MAYBE could have been reduced to 1/3 cup but it was really good and really hit the spot.

If you try it, let me know what you think...