Everyone Needs a Nemesis

3 things that have inspired me as of late:

1. the movie MegaMind (if you haven't seen it, you should)
2. a quote from a therapist friend, "If you don't have stress, you're dead."
3. the line from the movie "Old Dogs" (speaking of an upcoming presentation) "You look at it as being nervous, I look at it as being excited."

I think I have tried to become dead. I've wanted NO stress in my life - good or bad. I have arranged and planned and fought for peace to the point where I have almost erased all the passion and excitement out of my life. Don't misunderstand - it's been nice.

I have always had a nemesis - you know that person in your life that engages you in combat. They challenge you and taunt you to get into a struggle of some kind. They think they can beat you at something and they dare you to try. You try to reason with them and help them see that you just need to have peace, but they can't. They won't stop. They're like mosquitoes. And finally you say, ok, come on then and you just have to kill them.

I don't like competition. I've never liked it. My way of dealing with it is to just not play the game! I don't like beating people and I don't see what's all that great about winning. But I have to say, like MegaMind, I miss my nemesis. I had one, but she dropped out of the game, I wore her down with my lack of interest in playing the game (that's my greatest tactic) and she just quit. I kind of miss her.

So, I've decided to take on a new nemesis. I will not name her. She has engaged me in battle. She may be thinner and younger looking but I think I have a sense of humor mixed with intellect that can kick her skinny little cute butt!

I've decided that everyone needs a nemesis just to keep the blood pumping in our veins.

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day is probably one of my most favorite days.
It's not because I'm a huge fan of St. Patrick.
I don't really like corned beef and cabbage.
I think I love it most because to me it marks the beginning of Spring.
I'm also half Irish and I like to acknowledge that.

To celebrate St. Patrick's Day, I do the following:
Make Irish Soda Bread and watch "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" and "The Quiet Man."

So, tomorrow, that's what I'll do.

Erin go bragh!

Memorable Dinners

I had a bowl of Cheerios and cheese toast for dinner last night. It was good. Mostly because I didn't have to think, shop, cook (much) and clean up a truckload of dishes.

When the kids were little and I would ask them what they wanted for dinner, they would often say, "Snack dinner!" That meant Ritz crackers, cheese, deli meats cut up in little squares to fit on the crackers, various veggies to dip in Ranch dressing, pickles, etc. They loved it!

I remember for my birthday one year my brother-in-law asked me where he could take me to dinner. I said, "I would like for you to come to my house and make an egg sandwich for me and let's watch old 'I Love Lucy' episodes." It was the best egg sandwich I ever had.

More recently while visiting the in-laws there was discussion about what to do for dinner. After having a large lunch, everyone seemed to be more interested in raiding the refrigerator later than laying out a big spread so we left the planning alone. Later, sitting around the table laughing and talking, someone pulled out a bag of pretzels, then a bag of potato chips, then the Manchego cheese and the Spanish jamon, crackers, anchovy stuffed olives, piquillo peppers. It was a great, memorable, spontaneous dinner. (Of course there was aforethought in having those great items on hand - had we been at my house it would have been deli ham, ritz cracker and sweet gherkins.)

I remember watching an episode of "The Barefoot Contessa" and Ina Garten told about one of her most memorable meals sitting beside a river in France with her husband eating crunchy bread, fresh tomatoes, cheese and wine. And this is a woman whose career it is to inspire and educate us to cook fabulous meals. I think that says a lot about simplicity.

So my cereal dinners, sandwich dinners and snack dinners don't seem so bad after all.