This past Saturday my daughter’s second grade soccer team had a game. It is the fourth game they’ve had; it is the first game her team has won the score was  4-0. Even with the recent losses my daughter’s team had a blast, which is great.

As I told her two Saturday’s ago, win or lose I do not care, just do the best you can and that is good enough for me, remember that. Now I know my daughter was not doing her best at previous games. She was nervous, facing strange kids  were a new experience. She was not as bold as she usually is around her teammates or when we played soccer. I was OK with that. She would get over her fear or realize that she did not want to play soccer. This past Saturday she came out of her shell, and played as if she were playing against her teammates. She made use of her talents, speed (she’s faster than anyone out there) and her ability to manage the ball effectively. When the opposing team came towards her, she did not dance away from them (like she did in the past) she met them head-on, and in many cases took the ball from them.

Sitting on the sidelines, is a brand-new experience for myself. I can imagine how my father must have felt at the games. My brother and I dragged him too. My brother and I were athletic, very competitive, and fairly adept at the sports we played.  We only became skilled at those games because we practiced, a lot. Dad was out there with us, and he encouraged us to do our best. My father is competitive; however, he never made my brother or I feel ashamed about our abilities, he did encourage us and at times gently challenge us to make use of our talents, and not be happy with just getting by. The  encouragement we received from both of my parents had always made me want to do my best, even at times when I felt overwhelmed and just wanted to learn enough to get by. Thinking back to the first role models I had, I just could not do that.

Initially, I was a lot like my daughter, but with the urging of my father, brother, and my friends, well I became skilled at the games I played. I can remember being outside, after our homework was done playing basketball until it was too dark to see.  We had friendly competitions in sports and grades too. We pushed each other to do better. A few years later, my father installed a light outside, so we could play after dark. I remember one year both of us coming home with most valuable player awards in sports. We received recognition in academics too, honor roll each semester. It wasn’t just about sports with us. 😉

There’s nothing wrong with being competitive, as long as you do not make others feel inferior if their talents do not happen to be the same as yours. We are all different things that come easily for one person, might not be easy for others. I think we all have things that we’re naturally talented at, some time it takes a while to figure out what that is. I still apply a lot of the lessons I’ve learned from youth to some of the challenges I face now, some times I do need to regroup, just like sports sometimes I need to become better before I tackle a project.

 

 

 

Back to school is in full swing, and my daughter was one of many school aged children that were whisked off to school. Initially, she was nervous about it, not having seen many of her classmates since last school year. However, she wasn’t as nervous as last year. She’d seen a few of her classmates in Soccer camp this summer, she visibly relaxed when she saw the many familiar faces in school on Monday.

Since my daughter is away, I’m able to get a lot more accomplished, which is truly a blessing. It can be challenging to juggle your business and an extremely active seven-year old that simply doesn’t understand that mom needs to work, in order to make money. The majority of my work was completed while she was sleeping.

Thanks to the extra time on my hands, I was finally able to crank out a new site that’s focused on natural health. It’s something that’s been nagging me to be released, but I simply didn’t have the time. Unlike Celebrate Life, a site where I can write miles of text without a break in my typing speed, the articles on that site are very short. I’m offering bite sized bits of information to those who happen to land on the page. It’s a great practice, doing something I normally don’t do.

Freelance Writing

Recently, I’ve been thinking about picking up a few more freelance writing assignments, for the most part I’ve been away from it for a little over two years, however, as odd as it may seem. During my break, I did write on a few gaming websites under a pseudonym. I love video games; I used gamer tags. I learned quickly that although I enjoy playing games, and writing about them on my personal gaming blogs. I didn’t like writing for others.

But back to the freelance writing…

I actually miss writing for other people/sites about health, nutrition, technology, and so I’m slowly getting my feet wet again. However, I do it on my own terms. During my quest, to interact with some new freelance writers, I stumbled across Felicia Williams website.

Felicia’s virtual corner is filled with wealth of information for the new or seasoned freelance writer. I’d encourage anyone who’s interested in making some extra money to stop on by her home. Be prepared to stay for a while, Felicia’s site has a lot of informative articles focused on freelance writing.

Don’t forget to pick up her free eBook, titled So You Want to Be A Freelance Writer. This ebook is truly free, so you won’t have to sign up for her email list before you’re allowed to get the book. Click, on the link, download, read and enjoy! You can keep up with Felicia Williams by subscribing to her RSS feed. I was able to read through the ebook in a few hours, and I know I’ll be recommending this ebook to those who’re interested in freelance writing.

If this book had been around when I started freelance writing, it would have saved me numerous hours of searching for information. Not to mention my bookshelves would have been several pounds lighter too. However even with lighter bookshelves, I know I’d still want I still to want to purchase an Apple iPad.

 

 

I have fond memories of preparing meals for my family. I started at a very young age.  I recall being only five years old when I prepared my first meal on a

wood stove. Initially I’d said I was four, the more I thought about it, I realized that we didn’t have a woodstove in the first house we lived. That cookstove was in the second home.

Creative cooking

Anyway I thought cooking was fun, and was cooking long before I cooked for real. The only difference was my cooking was part of my playtime. It’s one of the few “girly activities” I enjoyed doing, and my mother believing that girls should like “girly” things, held onto that.

During my cooking playtime, I got creative and made all sorts of food in the yard. Armed with one of my mother’s castoff mixing bowls, water, dirt, grass, leaves, damaged veggies, I made all sorts of interesting cuisines. Occasionally I would coax my brother into eating some of the imaginative meals I prepared. Of course now, he’d deny ever doing such a thing.

Being a child with an active imagination those meals were transformed from the simple ingredients that were into that bowl to a meal that could be displayed at an elaborate table setting. My mother made everything, and Sundays were an elaborate affair. My mother saw my interest in cooking (part of me thinks she just humored me since I constantly begged her about letting me cook for real) and finally decided that under her watchful eye, I’d be able to prepare my first meal. I still remember that first meal vividly. It was a simple meal. I made it exclusively for my father on our woodstove. I’m a daddy’s girl.

Some people swear up and down that food cooked on a woodstove tastes much better than food cooked on a gas or electric stove. They’re stubborn folks, and nothing you can do will convince them otherwise. I happen to be one of those people. During the winter time, you’ll see me preparing the majority of my our meals on the woodstove we have. It heats the entire house, which cuts the electric bill by more than half thank you very much! The bonus is, I’m able to prepare some amazing meals too.

Getting eggs from the hens…

The eggs had been gathered from our Bantam chickens a few hours earlier.  That’s right we had chickens. I’m very familiar with what goes into putting a meal made out of chicken, turkeys, and even pigs onto the dinner plate. I’ve seen many animals killed to eat as a child. I’m also very familiar with plucking the feathers, gutting, and making them clean for consumption. It’s truly a messy and smelly affair, and something I’m glad I don’t have to do again.

In our house, gathering eggs from our chickens was my responsibility. I didn’t mind, I loved animals and the Bantam rooster didn’t bother me. My brother was another story, as soon as the rooster saw him it went on full frontal attack, screaming and squawking and simply scaring the living daylights out of my brother. It was so funny! Well  for me, not for my brother. Bantams are smaller than your standard chicken, and seeing this teeny chicken fearlessly attack my brother made me laugh. The Bantam rooster looked a lot like the one I’ve posted above. He didn’t bother me though, and he didn’t mind my petting him or his little harem of hens either. My brother often asked me why the rooster didn’t bother me, I smugly told him that Mr. Rooster could smell fear. 😉

Cooking: Turning my fantasy into a reality

Eggs gathered I eagerly went back into our house and my mother showed me how to make scrambled eggs. Naturally it took longer than normal. I learned the most important lesson of washing my hands before I touched food. I learned the fine art of cracking an egg, without getting eggs into the bowl. My mother introduced me to seasons too. It was exciting cooking over that woodstove, and I eagerly thought about my fathers’ reaction once he ate my amazing meal. The fact that he had already eaten a full course dinner which mother made earlier ceased to dampen my spirits. I was his daughter after all, he’d eat anything I prepared. Regardless of how it tasted! Dad was cool like that.

Encouraging creativity

My father didn’t disappoint, and shortly after the eggs were prepared (looking a bit dry I might add) he wolfed them down quickly and declared them the best eggs he’d ever had. I’ve always been perceptive, and even at the age of five, I knew he was just saying that but it didn’t matter. That’s all the encouragement I needed to keep cooking, and learning how I could make improvements too. Initially my mother was my mentor for cooking, but as I got older  (around eight if I remember correctly) I started preparing meals on my own too. I remember making my first cake from scratch at eight years old. A few of my brothers and my school friends were over, and they eagerly wolfed down the food I prepared, declaring it a really good cake. I was so proud. It was probably one of the only girly things they knew I did, being a tomboy. I was always outside playing games with the boys.

Playing it forward, I’m doing the same thing with my daughter. Whatever she’s interested in, I encourage. She prepared her first meal at four years old. Instead of scrambled eggs, we made something I like to call Cali scramble.  Yes, I veganized it, Cali is simply Cauliflower crumbled, marinated, and combined with a few other vegetables, spices, to make a truly delicious meal.  After it’s prepared it does remind me of scrambled eggs, so the name has stuck. This is one of my daughters favorite breakfast dishes, so she asks for it often.

What I remember most about my childhood isn’t the amazing meals that my mother prepared, although they were great. I remember the constant encouragement I received, and even though my interests were different from my parents it didn’t stop them from being my #1 cheerleaders. Knowing the impact of positive encouragement, I do try to do the same with my daughter, and with those I interact with too.

Life’s too short for negativity, we need to quit tearing one another down. It’s easy to get along with those who think like you. How do you treat people who think differently than you politically, religiously, etc., If you can’t have a civil conversation with someone simply because their beliefs differ from yours, perhaps you need to rethink your approach?

What happened to the chickens?

Whatever happened to those Bantam chickens? Fortunately for them, they lived out their lives in peace and never made it to our dinner plate. After about five years, my parents stopped killing the animals they raised. My father was making more money (my mom was a stay at home mom) so we didn’t have to solely depend on the animals for food. I’m sure the pressure of myself and my brother’s unhappiness about killing our friends didn’t help either. I guess you could say those early lessons eventually put me onto the path of Veganism.  Since I viewed poultry as pets too. We refused to eat the food, and I would cry during mealtimes when they landed on our plate. It’s kind of funny; I didn’t cry too much. I’m still like that to this day, but when it came to pets (and people) I have always had a big heart.

That first cooking lesson, stands out in my mind, and I remember as if it was yesterday.

Question: Do you remember any “first lessons” from your childhood? If so share in the comments or blog about it and link to here. I’ll pop by to check it out.