Oprah's Farewell - Finding the Light Inside

I watched Oprah's farewell episode on Wednesday, May 25th. As only expected she ended her show with a monologue that raised self-awareness and inspiration. It does make me incredibly sad to lose the Oprah Winfrey Show as I've been an avid viewer and admirer since its premier. I am disappointed that I never made it to her show and now the possibility is gone. However, I take her words to heart and she has inspired me to be more and do more.

Find the light inside yourself were her words. Steph and I have been writing this blog for three months. We have been talking for a while about what our focus should be and what we are passionat about. I think we realize what our passion ir and what our purpose is. Empowering girls and women. To value themselves especially in relationships. To demand more for themselves through education and careers. And to find the light in themselves so they can help others in the World. Whether you touch one person or ten or 100. Build a platform and shine.

Steph and I have talked since college about our opposition to how women and girls are portrayed in the media, about relationships, about the roles girls fall into, about how hard it is for women these days trying to be "superwoman", about overcoming obstacles and hardships, about feeling stuck or trapped and how to overcome, about staying healthy and fit so you can be your best you, about the pressure of being a good mom when balancing a career and the pressures of finances, working, being a role model, teaching our kids good morals and ethics and trying to fit in fun. These are some of the things we will be talking about.

So this will become the focus of this blog. Girl power if you will. I hope you will find this blog interesting, empowering, insightful and inspirational.

Oprah thank you for helping us find the light inside us. I hope to some day meet you and thank you.

Jan

Pass the Biscuits

I received this in an email and don't normally pass these on and certainly not blog about it but I thought it was a good one reminding us to appreciate the people in our life.

Pass the Biscuits

When I was a kid, my Mother liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage, and extremely burned biscuits in front of my Dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet all my Dad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my Mom and ask me how my day was at school.

I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember hearing my Mom apologize to my Dad for burning the biscuits. And I'll never forget what he said: "Honey, I love burned biscuits."

Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, "Your momma put in a long hard day at work today and she's real tired.
And besides... a burnt biscuit never hurt anyone!"

You know, life is full of imperfect things... and imperfect people. I'm not the best at anything, and I forget birthdays and anniversaries just like everyone else. What I've learned over the years is that learning to
 accept each others faults and choosing to celebrate each others differences, is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.

So...please pass me a biscuit. And yes, the burned one will do just fine.

Life is too short to wake up with regrets... Love the people who treat you right and forget about the ones who don't.


ENJOY LIFE NOW - IT HAS AN EXPIRATION DATE !

Tour de Cure for Diabetes

I am thinking about joining the Tour de Cure for Diabetes. My father lost his battle with Diabetes three years ago. Diabetes is prominent in my family. My husband and his family members also have diabetes. This is a cause close to my heart.

My father also was a cyclist and in his younger days rode competively winning the Connecticut State Cycling Championship. He was even invited to try out for the Olympics. So it seems raising money through the Tour de Cure in his honor is suiting.

The problem is I haven't not worked out in 6 years and this event is just 3 weeks away. There is a short route and there is no time limit but I just don't know if I can pull it off. I am not in shape and I tire easily. The time I have available to train and fundraise is very limited. I have a demanding full time job, kids and the housework to do. So just when I feel charged up to do this, I pause and think how can I possibly pull this off. If I at least had a couple months to prepare, it would make it less daunting but less then three weeks, this is a tough call. I want to but I don't know that it is realistic. I'll keep you posted if I give it a go.

Jan

Men in the Media--Promoting Infidelity

What is up with the media nowadays!  All I ever hear about is how another man cheated on his wife!  Is monogomy going out of style?  I always thought that Arnold Schwarzenegger was just a nice guy with not much to say, to hear he fathered another child while he was married to Maria Shriver is horrible and unbelievable! It is scary to think not only did he have an affair with one of their staff, he had a child with her under the same roof where he lived with his wife and children!  If that's not a slap in the face! They were married for over 20 years and 10 of those years were a lie!  How sad.

I think that with all these men cheating and it being publicized it is promoting infidelity.  It is becoming much less shocking and almost the norm.  We all think that it is just celebrities that these things happen to but it is becoming so mainstream now. There are various statistics out there saying that the majority of marriages:  one or both spouses are cheating!

In my local town a 50 year old man called his wife telling her he was at the grocery store and was having car trouble and he would be late for dinner.  He never returned , after days his wife reported him missing.  All I could think was he ran off with some 20 year old girl and wasn't coming back.  Sure enough they found him months later he had hooked up with some 20 year old and was living out in Utah with her. It just wasn't at all shocking, it just seemed like typical behavior these days. Isn't that sad?

It is time to promote good old fashioned family values!  It isn't that hard to respect your family and not cheat!  If you don't value your marriage and family you shouldn't of made that commitment in the first place!  Arnold Schwarzenegger might be a famous actor, a governor, and a rich man but I have absolutely no respect for him.  I have much more respect for my grandfather and husband.  My grandfather fought in WWII, lived through the depression, borrowed 5,000 from his best friend and started his own business and was married to the same women, the love of his life, for over 50 years!  There are not many men left like that in the world these days!  If you find a good one don't let him go!

Steph

A Rare Sighting - A Gentleman Offers Romantic, Sincere & Fun Engagement

These days it's hard to find a true gentleman making a grand gesture to proclaim his love for a girl. But I am happy to report that I just saw a video that has renewed my faith that men can be romantic, sincere, thoughtful, fun, creative and respectful. I hope other young and old men alike find this inspirational and bring back some good old-fashion values, romance and respect.

Watch the video!

I wish my husband thought of it. But I'm the videographer so I'll have to think up a fun and romantic video for our anniversary. And hopefully he can think of something unique, sincere and romantic on his own to make me feel special.

Jan

Man takes pictures of 8 year old girl at pool

A 63 year old man took pictures of young girls aged 8 to 10 at a town swimming pool because he found them sexy, as reported on Yahoo.
My thoughts turn to the Abercrombie and Fitch padded top bikini, as I discussed in a previous post. Anyone that defends the "parents choice" in buying such a bikini and that defend A&F for producing this kind of sexy garment for children should think about the children being affected and exploited, not a retailer's greed for money and attention or the few parents that don't put the welfare of their children first. It is this kind of acceptance to sexualize young girls that give perverted men the ammo to look at young girls sexually.
Let's remove any connection of sex and young girls out of the public perception that it is ok. It is NOT ok. Retailers should not be producing garments that sexualize young girls of 8, 10 or 12. No one in their right mind should endorse it. Parents should not buy it. If Abercombie and Fitch have not yet pulled this exploitive bikini from their shelves, I hope they do now and if not I hope the public will boycott this store.

Jan

The Season of the Tick

It seems every year there is a particular bug that seems to flourish in the season. This year it seems to be the tick. I have seen many already and just yesterday had three! One I found on my daughter's tupperware, one on my car seat which obviously fell off me and one on my other daughter's head. Yikes. I used to be ok with ticks years ago when I had horses. Now it makes me weak in the knees to pull them out.

I went to the vet and bought Frontline for the cats and just finished applying one to one cat and I have to do my other cat when she comes in. It's the applicator kind that you put on their neck and it works fantastically.

If you are in a wooded area, spraying your yard is probably a good idea.

Always check your head and body every night. It's important to get them early.

Jan

Dinner: BBQ Grilled Chicken and burgers, salad. Simple and yummy.