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Friday, April 27, 2012

Avery's Bucket List - Ellen - Must Read

UPDATE

It is with great sadness that I am sharing the following information....

Avery Canahuati, the five- month-old girl with spinal muscular atrophy whose inspirational "bucket list" went viral online, died Monday of pulmonary complications from the disease.







So in my daily perusing of Yahoo I came across the Avery's Bucket List story and Blog.  I was personally touched by this family's story.   Avery was diagnosed with an incurable genetic disorder - Spinal Muscular Atrophy - and given a life span of 18 months.

As a parent I know first hand the pain of losing a child although the situation was different (spinal meningitis), I too remember coming to a point of deciding how was I going to meet this life challenge.

I am amazed and touched by the uplifting way they chose to share Avery's story and I hope you will find some smiles between the tears as well.

                                                                   Avery


The biggest item on the Bucket List is to get on the Ellen Show and spread the word about SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy) so they are asking for help.  I have copied the information below:


So here's what I need from you...

On Tuesday, May 1st, please contact Ellen for me as many times as you can and as often as possible.  I'd loooooooooooooove you forever if you'll contact her numerous times throughout the day, but even if you only contact her once, I'll still love you!  Also, keep in mind, while I want Ellen to be flooded with people sharing my story with her on Tuesday May 1st, you can start sharing my story with her immediately, if you haven't already been doing so.
CONTACT HER SHOW - Here's Ellen's webpage for "Do You Know An Inspiring Person".  All you have to do is input your information, upload my photo (see below), tell Ellen my story (see below), and then click SEND.


In the TELL US YOUR STORY section you can...

WRITE YOUR OWN 
OR 
COPY & PASTE FROM BELOW (ADD TO THIS IF YOU'D LIKE):

Dear Ellen:

I'm writing about a 5-month old little girl named Avery who has an incurable disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).  While SMA is the #1 genetic killer of infants & children under the age of 2, most people have never heard of it, there is no cure for it, and there's minimal clinical research being done to find a cure for it.  Avery has created a "bucket list" of things she'd like to accomplish before she dies and one of those things is to be on your show to help spread awareness about SMA to protect future children and their parents/loved ones from SMA.

Since starting her blog 3 weeks ago, she already has over 500,000 page views, has been talked about in online news articles (including MSN, and she's been seen on FOX & CBS news stations throughout the country.  Yet her #1 goal on her bucket list remains to be on your show so you can help her teach the world about SMA.  

Will you please make time for Avery and help her achieve her #1 bucket list goal?

Thank you!

Monday, April 23, 2012

LIFE is only as FUN as you MAKE IT

So this blog posting will be in honor of my Grandmother who left her mortal coil last week.


My Grandmother was a Coal Miner's Daughter from West Virginia and one of 15 children.  Born March 26, 1920.  She had many passions but what I remember best was her love of dressing up in a costume and putting on a show.




She would be the one sporting a mustache in this mock wedding held at the annual family reunion a few years back.  



Here is a picture of a few of those Harris Kids with out costumes



I believe this one belongs to me... She is now a Theater Major in College - I wonder where could she have gotten all that dramatic flair......


Ahh the Beauty Pageant those of us too OLD to participate (I mean that mentally not physically) laughed ourselves silly at the antics while the judges chose a winner, and this was before they brought out the moonshine.


A momentary lapse in the silliness for a serious pose.


I am so very grateful my children got to spend some of their carefree summer days in the craziness of this amazing family.





Some of her other passions included basket weaving, gardening and her puppies. 

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and remember 
LIFE is only as FUN as you MAKE IT.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Old Time Baseball :: Hell TV

Old Time Baseball :: Hell TV:

'via Blog this'

So I am suppose to be doing homework - aka math word problems and I just happen to run across this video in my procrastination phase of completing homework.  Enjoy...

Friday, April 13, 2012

Baseball Season is Here!!


Admittedly, I am not a sports fan but if I had to claim a Baseball Team I would have to claim the Baltimore Orioles.

I have precious childhood memories of getting out of school early on Opening Day to take the No# 13 bus to Memorial Stadium and watching the opening day game.  Opening day was a special day back then, it was early spring and as kids we were eager to be outside after a cold winter trapped inside school buildings.  Opening Day was the call of summer.  You knew school would soon be over and those warm summer days were just around the corner.



In honor of those carefree days of my youth I have agree to post the following links for Ticket America.

TicketAmerica.com has St. Louis Cardinal Tickets, Tampa Bay Rays Tickets and Toronto Blue Jay box seats available for the upcoming season.  So I say honor your inner child and take in a Baseball Game this summer.  I may even head down to see the Braves play.



St. Louis Cardinals



Tampa Bay Rays




Toronto Blue Jays


This Post is sponsored by TicketAmerica.com

Monday, April 9, 2012

Why does your Heart Hurt when you Cry?

Why does your heart hurt when you cry?

So the hubby and I had a spontaneous date night this evening and met at the movie theater after work so we could see The Hunger Games movie...



Now I had devoured all three books in a single weekend shortly after I got my Kindle Fire for Christmas... (That device is a wonder you no longer do you have to wait to get a book, two seconds after you finish one book you can download the sequel and keep right on going - as long as it is published of course. I have to limit my reading of certain books till the weekend as I have been known to stay up reading until my battery dies.)  Anyhow, I absolutely loved The Hunger Games books and I have been looking forward to seeing the movie, and not just cause I think Lenny K is one of the sexiest men on the planet, either. 




One of the most touching scenes in the first book is the death of a young tribute, as did the book, the movie reduced me to tears.  Well I did my best not to sob out loud during the movie but I must say it was a real effort and even as I left the theater I could feel the ache in my chest from that scene.  Now when I cry from anger it is a frustrated emotional outburst that usually leaves me feeling sad and a bit depressed that I gave someone or thing that much power over me and my emotions.  A heartbreak cry is a different beast, it tends to leave me purged of emotion cleansed in a way, even though the ache may still linger.  I have to wonder have they done studies to determine why your heart / solar plexus actually ache when you experience emotions in that range.  Do we create this ache to justify the tears, am I just drawing on old memories stimulated by similar situations, or do they go hand in hand each part of the process. 

I turned to my faithful friend Wikipedia for an answer to my question,

Psychological and neurological understanding


Apparently, I am not alone in question, however, I have no answer other than to say when we experience loss we feel the pain but why specific body parts are involved is still a bit of a mystery.  

If you read or saw The Hunger Games what was your experience with the scene that I am trying not to spoil for others.  Did you have an emotional reaction?  Did you feel a connection to the characters? If you did connect, was there a specific life event that you felt reminded of as you experience the emotions?

My answer would be yes to all three questions.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Lets Do The Time Warp Again

Well it has been one crazy week, a double meditation and Prozac kind of week. I have to say the week has flown by - I am not even sure how so many things could possibly fit into 5 short days.

I am going to take a second and be thankful for the high points.  I got to reconnect with several friends and I even spent a bit of time on my friend's Blog Talk radio show Universal-Energy as we discussed Chaos Theory aka Life :)

I had an awesome PLR Session on Sunday that helped me keep my perspective through much of the Life Opportunities of this week.

I went to Painting with a Twist with my daughter and had a lovely evening (another awesome Living Social Deal).  It totally reminded me of what is truly important, as well as, letting me reconnect with my Dad's memory.  He passed away a year ago this month and my Mother and Sister passed away almost 40 years ago this week.  My Dad loved to paint - These are for you Dad.


Friday we had a potluck lunch at work and we even dyed Easter Eggs something I haven't done in several years.  I was nice to take an hour and enjoy the company. It is amazing how you can work in the same area with so many people but never talk or interact.  Oh and the Food was Great, too.

Finally I want to say I am Thankful I have a Great Boss and even though we are up to our eyeballs is hoohah this too shall pass.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Green Chile Pork Recipe - Dad's Eats

So earlier this week I saw a recipe I just had to try - Green Chile Pork from Dad's Eats.

Now I am pretty much incapable of following a recipe exactly as written, so I did do a few things differently.  Due to having a busy schedule and only two days free I had to multi-task where I could, so the pork loin was cooked in the crock pot on Saturday.

Pork Recipe
One large Pork Loin
Chicken Broth
1 12oz bottle of Hornsby's hard apple cider
1 Onion chopped up
Salt
Pepper
Turmeric
Cumin
Celery Salt

Crock pot on low and I was off for the next six hours checking out off campus student housing for the fall semester.

When I got home the pork was done so I turned it off to cool.   A few hours later I cut the pork into two large pieces one to use for the Green Chile recipe and the other for use in another dish.  I  saved the juice from the crock pot as well as removed and discarded any surface fat).

I should note that I have an 8 qt crock pot - It was the biggest I could find and I absolutely love it.  So adjust your recipe accordingly.

I completed the recipe Sunday morning as I had a PLR appointment in the afternoon and I wanted to give the flavors plenty of time to meld as indicated in the recipe.

Green Chili Pork Recipe


2 -3 lbs pork roast 
2 tablespoons cooking oil - Olive Oil
1 large chopped onion
1 head minced garlic 
6 tablespoons flour
1 can diced tomatoes (I like to use Rotel with green chiles)  MILD
2 cups diced green chilies (505 green chilies in the jar are my fav) - Used Herdez Salsa Verde Instead
3 large tomatillos, husks removed and chopped
2 - 4 teaspoons jalapenos or habeneros (optional, but recommended) - NOPE we are wimps
5 cups chicken broth - Reserved Liquid from the Crock Pot
2 tablespoons ground cumin 
2 tablespoons ground chili powder



So I chopped the onion and minced the garlic and cooked in Olive Oil.


I added a bit more Olive Oil when I added the flour and mixed it together.
Then I added the Reserved Liquid from the crock pot and let simmer until thick, I then added:

1 jar of Herdez Salsa Verde
1 small can of Green Chiles (only type of green chiles they had at my store which led me to the idea of adding the salsa verde)
1 can of Rotel - Mild (undrained)
chopped Tomatillos


I did not use the two cans of tomatoes so pretend they are not there :)


Mixed it all together and let simmer.

I cut up the pork into bite size pieces and added it to the pot along with the turmeric, cumin, and chili powder.


I let simmer under the watchful eye of the Hubby (and cautioned him not to eat until I got home)  as I ran out for a bit to participate in my favorite activity.

When I got home at 5 pm we sat down to a wonderful dinner.


I served it with half a tortilla shell cut into wedges and a dollop of Creme.

Final Verdict...

5 Stars - Tangy and Flavorful with just an edge of heat.  We loved it.  This recipe is a Keeper. Check out Dad's Eats for some of his other recipes and let me know your results if you decide to give one a try.