After a couple sleepless nights, due in part to raising a teenager, it occurred to me it's hard to find a card that really captures the exact sentiment you may be thinking. I got out my pens and started putting thoughts to paper. These are available several ways, but cards are probably the most logical way to send them. Clicking the images below will take you to my Society 6 shop.
Have you heard of the Secret Message Society? Maybe you should! I've been a secret message maker, leaver, finder and lover for probably my whole life. I just never had a name to call it. But after watching my friend, Mandy Steward, thrash about and grow her art message, I found a group of like-minded people who see the hidden magic in finding the silver lining and secret messages in life's moments. As much as I love finding them, I love leaving them even more. Thinking someone could find just the right message at just the time they are needing/wanting to receive it gives me the greatest thrill. So keep your eyes open, Wenatchee, you never know what you may find.
I'm not one for making resolutions. I think when the moment arises that you sense an urgency to better yourself, you should jump at the opportunity, be it the start if a new year, 3:29 in the afternoon or any ordinary Tuesday. But I can admit to loving the blank canvas that is January 1st. I use it more as a starting point, a measuring stick that lets me see how far I go. Last year my "goal" was to do pull-up, learn all the lyrics to Salt 'n Peppa's "Push It" and to spend time each day studying Spanish. I actively studied Spanish until my husband got sick and nursing him back to health became my number one goal. I will most likely pick it up again sometime this year, despite realizing that French is really much easier for me (because of taking it 7 years in school). Maybe I'd go that direction if I lived closer to Quebec, but In Wenatchee, Spanish is the most useful. I never did a pull-up (I didn't even try) but I did learn the lyrics to the song, and rap it quite happily in the privacy of my car, but you won't see me at karaoke night anytime soon. I may know the lyrics, but I still can't carry a tune. A few other goals I intend to continue are to "Make Something Cool Everyday" (art/craft), leave positive messages for people to find (guerilla art), move my body, on purpose, in the guise of exercise, and try, t-r-y, to drink some water. I say 'some' because I am not a drinker of much of anything, let alone water. And I know that leaves me room for improvement.
Whether you make resolutions or not, the beginning of a new year holds the promise of possibility. And that is where the magic lies. Maybe enough magic to do a pull-up.
For some reason we always end up with a lot of leftover pulled pork. This soup is the perfect solution. Would work equally well with shredded chicken or beef.
PULLED PORK SOUP
1 large, cubed (1”) Butternut squash
2 T. avocado oil
1 t. cinnamon
8 slices bacon
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 can chopped green chiles
3 T. tomato paste
1 heaping T. smoked paprika
1-1/2 to 2 lbs. pulled pork
1/4 C. apple cider vinegar
2 T. Molasses
2 14 oz. cans diced, fire-roasted tomatoes
4 C. chicken stock
2 C. water
This is such a versatile recipe. You can sub sweet or regular potatoes. Add a can of corn or beans. Throw in your other leftover veggies. Anything goes in this easy, filling, tasty soup!
My husband went in for surgery on October 23. He was able to come home on November 14. Twenty-three days came and went, filled with worry and sleepless nights, but also joy and small improvements; there were life-saving measures, blood and iron transfusions, PICC lines, multiple surgeries and multiple NG tubes, several catheters, ostomy bags, skilled surgeons, amazing, kind, dedicated RNs and CNAs, hospitalists, anesthesiologists, wound care nurses, physical and occupational therapists, nutritionists and a Rapid Response Team that changed everything one very scary night. And I'm sure this isn't even all.
There were also family and friends: coworkers who selflessly donated their personal vacation time to us both and spent their own weekends raking up our leaves, neighbors who hauled away garbage, co-workers who carried the work load (for both of us) (and still are), cousins who stayed nights at the hospital when I had to leave to sleep, who brought me food, who sat with my husband so I could step out, friends who ran errands for me, Knights of Columbus who donated home medical equipment, daughters who worried just as much but stayed strong and listened to me wail, online friends who rallied to support me mentally with uplifting messages, a father-in-law who stepped in to do a little electrical repair on short notice and even a local business (Sav-Mart) who helped us immediately and free of charge, when they were under no obligation to.
We can't say this emphatically enough: thank you.