PostAWeek2011: What Part of Life Confuses You the Most?

I would have to say the part that confuses me the most is finding my passion in life.  I am working on finding my passion in life, but have come to an impasse.  I haven’t been able to figure out what my passion is.  There are spurts of great interest in things, but after a time, that initial interest wanes.  I’ve tried answering the question of “If I could do anything in the world, what would it be?” to no avail.  I don’t know.  I’m stuck, and I’m not sure how to get out of it.

I have a newborn now, and that hasn’t made my quest for a career or finding my passion in life easier.  I want to have a career in something I am passionate about.  I want to earn alot of money.  I want to spend my time with my family.  Right now, earning an income and spending all my time with my family seem mutually exclusive to me, and I don’t know if it would be possible to have the two.  How could I or would I make that possible?

Has anyone else out there figured it out?  I would love to figure this one out.  Anyone out there with some pointers for me?… Point me in the right direction?

PostAWeek2011: If I Only Had 1hr to Live…

Blog Topic: If I only had 1 hour to live, what would I do in those 60 minutes?

Wow.  That would take some thought…

I would write out a cheque for my husband and tell him to withdraw all the money I had.  I would spend time cuddling with my husband and son.

Aside from that, I’m not sure what I would do.  What would likely end up happening is that I would spend my time fretting about what I would like to do.  I think my husband would eventually try to make me do something, and then I would oblige, because I would think it would make him happy.

He might suggest going for a walk.  I would agree for lack of a better idea.  I enjoy our walks together… Do I enjoy them that much?… I don’t think so. I would cherish the time spent together though. Hand in hand.  Just being near each other.

Maybe we would just spend it together playing with our newborn son… I think I would like to have those moments video-taped so that our son might see how much I loved him when he was older.  He would catch a glimpse of what I was like, and what our family was like. That might mean alot to him in his future years. Yes, a professional videographer following us around and capturing the moments, so that we would not have to worry about it.

Seems rather dull.  But I can’t envision enjoying much else.  I would find it difficult to split my undivided attention between husband and son. I love them both so dearly.

If I Only Had 1 hour to Live, and Didn’t Have Family or Loved Ones:

I would give away all my money to charity, saving just enough so that I could go to the beach and spend my time listening to the surf, and exploring the landscape and the creatures and objects that are within and that wash up onto the shore.  Hmmm… if this is true.  Why am I not living near the ocean?

Wow, what a depressing topic.  It has given me something to think about.  Have you blogged about this as well?  Have you given it any thought?  Leave a comment to link to your blog or tell me your thoughts!

I’m Posting Every Week in 2011!

I’ve decided I want to blog more. Rather than just thinking about doing it, I’m starting right now.  I will be posting on this blog once a week, or so for all of 2011.

I know it won’t be easy, but it might be fun, inspiring, awesome and wonderful. Therefore I’m promising to make use of The DailyPost, and the community of other bloggers with similiar goals, to help me along the way, including asking for help when I need it and encouraging others when I can.

If you already read my blog, I hope you’ll encourage me with comments and likes, and good will along the way.

Hiking Galatea Trail

What did I do for Remembrance Day? I went on a hike 🙂 Galatea Trail. Nice.

We went with another friend and spent a good 6 hours on our hike.  It’s been the first real hike I’ve been on for a couple of years.  I had had a bad ankle.  And in the process of getting it diagnosed, to getting it fixed, to getting healed… Well, that all took some time.  My ankle is not 100% yet, but it is much better.  Not quite as strong as it used to be, but one day…

D gave me his gaiters to use, and I had mixed reactions to them.  Not that I didn’t want them. I was slightly sad, yet sort of happy at the same time that they would not fit around my calves very well.  I’ve got large calves…and .. well.. In the recovery stages of my ankle healing…. My one calf shrank.  It shrank alot.  It shrank enough that I could finally fit into those long zip up boots all the cool girls always wear.  I was sort of hoping that I could somehow get my other calf to shrink, and then I would be in business of being able to buy myself some calf length boots.  I don’t know what or how this was going to happen, but hey!  I was half way there.

Now, it would appear I am not.  Somewhere along the way, the muscles have reformed on my skinny calf.  I’m not perfectly symmetrical yet, but getting closer.  I don’t know how that happened, but it has happened and I rejoice at the thought of being symmetrical…. Yet, I sort of mourn the loss of the boot buying frenzy I was planning.

So anyway, we went on our hike.  It was snowy and snowing.  It was beautiful. We were there early enough that there were not alot of people on the trail.  Yippee!!!  I don’t like people sometimes, and when I am out hiking in the wilderness, it really makes it not so secluded when there are a million other people milling about.  There is no absolute quiet when you are enjoying the view… in silence.  Silence is hard to come by when there are other hikers helter-skelter everywhere.

As well, I’ve got this slight competitive streak in me.  I don’t like getting passed.  I don’t know what it is, but I’ll do whatever I can not to be passed while hiking on a trail. I don’t mind getting passed if I’m in a car, but on foot, this really bugs me.  It’s sort of a personal assault to my fitness level and my place in this world.  You can usually hear the other hikers, chatting and having a good time… and getting louder and closer all the while!  When passed, you have to get off of the trail to make room for those better than you. It’s admitting defeat. Yes, you are better than me…. I am weak and out of shape… You are clearly the alpha male.  I am the weak underling…. I hate that… One of these days!

We reached a campsite and had our lunch.  The picnic tables and benches were under a foot of snow, but luckily someone had left behind a rake… a rake?  Yes, a rake.  Were they raking the leaves out here? 6km up the side of a mountain???  Why would you rake the leaves in a forest?… Like, it’s a forest!  It’s suppose to have undergrowth and leaves and branches and stuff…. It did come in handy though, and a spot was raked off for us to sit and eat our lunch.

Being fairly out of shape, I was of course fairly overheated. The falling snow had sealed the deal.  As the light and fluffy flakes fell onto my very warm self, the snow melted and my jacket became fairly wet.  Half way through my sandwich, I started getting cold.  Brrr….  So sad, the sun was just starting to break and we could see some blue sky, and an awesome view was appearing.

I inhaled the rest of my lunch and after the struggle of re-tightening the laces on my boots, we were off again. Headed back toward the car.  Off. As. soon.  As.. Laces… gloves. Gaiters… Ugh!  I don’t know why my laces loosened up, but they did.  Well, lets just say it was a bit of a struggle.

It’s amazing how you always get a different perspective when going down the same trail you just came up. I am so glad I wasn’t the navigator, because very little looked familiar to me.

And… did I mention I haven’t gone hiking in a while?  My quadriceps started straining on the way down.  Each step down gave them a stretch, and they started groaning under the exertion.. or was that me?  hard to say.

Wow, I could barely walk by the time we made it back to the car.  One quick pee break, and then I was so happy to be sitting.  Sipping hot coffee from my trusty thermos as we headed for home.

Cancelling Tip Tuesdays

I’ve decided to cancel Tip Tuesdays.  It’s been difficult coming up with topics, especially since I believe you can easily find my tips elsewhere on the web. So, no tip this tuesday…. Not that I think anyone will notice.  I have yet to come up with a topic of blogging yet.  This is sort of frustrating!

Till I figure it out.  Have fun out there in web-land!

Tip Tuesday: Unboring Rice

To mix things up a bit with my rice, I like to add other grains in with it.  I add quinoa, amaranth, and/or pearl barley.  It changes the texture and flavour of the rice a little and gives it a different and interesting texture.  I usually add the quinoa and amaranth if my meal is low on protein, as these grains are rich in protein.

Tip Tuesday: Use Your Slow Cooker to Make Stock

Save the bones from your roast, be it chicken, beef, pork.  Place in slow cooker with various vegetables (I like onions, celery and carrots) and whatever herbs tickle your fancy.  Cover with water, turn on and walk away!  strain and freeze stock in ice cube trays for further use.

This sure beats watching a simmering pot for a few hours.

Tip Tuesday: Chips and Your Waistline

When eating potato chips, I find it hard to stop at just one.  If you find them irresistible and that it’s difficult to stop eating until down to the last chip.  Don’t eat them straight out of the bag!  Pour your portion out into a bowl.  When you are done. You’re done.

I find this more satisfying.  Finishing off a bowl of chips sort of tricks your mind into thinking that that is all you should be having.  When eating directly out of the chip bag, your mind is wired to think that it needs to finish off the entire bag.

I also feel more sophisticated for eating out of a dish instead of a chip bag! 😀   Bonus!

Tuesday Tip: How to Quick Soak Dried Beans

So, I don’t know about you, but I’m not organised enough to soak beans overnight to use the next day.

This will still take about an hour, but way better than overnight (if you hadn’t started overnight).  But by the time the rest of supper is done and prepared for the beans should be done.

Without further ado:

Put beans in a pot, cover with water by about 2 inches.  Bring to a boil, and then boil for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and let beans soak in water for 1hr. Drain and use!

Do you have another method you use?  I don’t cook beans that often, but this seems to work for me.

Freaking Out … a little

Ok, so my post hits jumped… Now there are many people expecting a tip this coming Tuesday…Eep!  If it’s good they might come back.  If it’s lame… Well…  I bet it will be awesome!  AND they will tell all their friends about this absolutely fabulous blog they’ve stumbled upon!