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Trying it All: Reiki

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As I turn 50, I’ve decided to try new things: scary things, silly things, “weird” things, unusual things… here are a few of them and my experiences!

Reiki: My massage therapist is also a Reiki Master and introduced my to energy work in some of my massage sessions. It actually felt really familiar – similar to what I experienced in the NICU while practicing “Kangaroo Care” (skin to skin) holding of our tiny 30 weekers. Their tiny 3 pound bodies would visibly relax against me and the benefits to preemie is well documented in medicine. It also had great bonding benefits for me as a mom since my babies were “off limits” to me a lot of the time. I had to ask permission and get assistance to hold them, so that precious time skin to skin helped me fell more like a mom. (Thank you bonding hormones like oxytocin!)

I ended up taking a Level One Reiki weekend workshop. It was part classroom type learning, part meditation, part journaling on a therapeutic level and two attunements. There was a lot of tears when I worked on some of my limiting beliefs about myself, but more joy in recording the abundance of things that I feel gratitude about in my life.

The experience was exhausting and draining, but also energizing and uplifting. I will continue to let this be a part of my life and add it to my tool belt of coping modicums.

Would I recommend: YES

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Trying it All:Acupuncture

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As I turn 50, I’ve decided to try new things: scary things, silly things, “weird” things, unusual things… here are a few of them and my experiences!

Acupuncture: As I prepared for surgery last year, I wanted to be mentally prepared, so I visited an acupuncturist. I found him through a neighbor who used his services after chemotherapy. His name is Austin and he runs his practice out of the back of his and his wife’s coffee shop: a funky, eclectic shop called Starfish and Coffee.

Way more hippie than hipster, he’s the kind of soul you expect to find in San Francisco or on a New Mexico commune. He’s got a really laid back vibe, but once he starts talking, you know he knows his stuff! He’s very intuitive, and very professional. I felt different after every session, and since high blood pressure and anxiety were things I wanted to tackle, I felt it was beneficial!

Would I recommend: YES

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Unwrapped Egg Roll Bowl

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Unwrapped Egg Roll Bowl

 Ingredients

  • 1.5 lbs. of pork or chicken, ground
  • 4 cups coleslaw mix
  • 5 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tsp ginger, minced
  • 3 Tbsp soy sauce or tamari Sauce
  • 2 Tbsp sesame or olive oil
  • ¼ cup green onion, chopped
  • Crispy wonton strips to garnish

Directions

Combine in a small bowl, Garlic, Ginger, Soy Sauce and Sesame/Olive Oil. Set aside.

In a large skillet brown Pork or Chicken over medium-high heat.

Add Coleslaw and stir to combine.

Add the sauce mixture to the pan. Stir and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes. When the cabbage just begins to wilt, but is still crunchy remove from heat.

Top with Green Onions and Wonton Strips and optional hot sauce.

Enjoy!

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People we were left with

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It was the 1970’s to the 1990’s.

I remember a couple when I was 5. They had a smaller than me son who liked to bite. They stayed with me for a week, and then put me on a plane (alone) to meet up with my parents in CA. The lady in the plane row with me said she would slap me if I was annoying.

Later there was Mrs. E.  She made unfamiliar foods like casseroles and I barely ate that week. She said I was a brat, but I’d never been fed food that was smushed together like that because my father couldn’t stand stuff like that. I was 11 and I lost weight that week.

Then there was a college girl who stayed with us. She invited her boyfriend to stay as well. I did not know that she did not have permission to do this until she freaked out that he was still there smoking on the porch when it was time for my parents to come home. She had me chase him off. I was 10.

Another college student made my sister so freaked out after getting high in my house that she walked to the neighbors. She was 11.

When I was 20 and my sister was 16, they went on a six week trip. I was “in charge” but my sister said (after they left) that she would not be bossed around. It was a tough, tense 6 weeks.

The best caretakers were my aunt and uncle, but I guess my parents travelled too often to always ask them.

This is NOT the full list, just a colorful sample of the people entrusted with my parents children. And this is why we have only spent one night away from our kiddos.

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No Room at the Table

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I overheard someone talking about their Thanksgiving plans. She was asked if all those people stayed at her house, her reply was “We make it work!”

Contrast to my past year where I was told “We don’t have room” on four different occasions. By family.

There is no worse feeling of being left out than when that occurs with family members.

As an adoptee, there are primal feelings of not belonging that take a lot of work to get beyond – and then to be told there is No Room is a massive set-back.

When my mother was alive, there was always room. If the table was full, there was always a step stool that could get squeezed in. A card table that could get set-up. More food could be added to make it work. I’m trying to model this to my children, but how do I explain when they ask why we can’t be with family this Thanksgiving or Christmas… I can’t break their giant hearts, though it gets harder to hide it as they get older.

This is my prayer for all of you this Holiday season, May the We Make it Work people be greater in your life than the No Room people.

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Garlic Soup

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This was one of my mother’s favorites (and her notes for me so I wouldn’t mess it up!)

Garlic Soup – Adapted from James Beard’s Beard on Food

Melt 3T. of butter on very low heat

Add 30 cloves of garlic, peeled and simmer for an hour. If it burns or browns throw it out and start over.

Add 6-8 cups of vegetable broth or chicken broth and simmer for 20 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon removed the garlic cloves and puree them in a food mill or ricer and add the puree back to the pot. Add a tiny bit of salt, a few generous grids of the pepper mill and a small bit of nutmeg. Reheat but DO NOT BOIL! Do not let this soup ever boil.

In a small bowl stir 3T. of olive oil together with  beaten 4 egg yolks Add a small amount of soup slowly to the egg yolk to temper them. When the egg yolks are warm, slowly stir them into the soup (slower! or the eggs will curdle!). Serve with Toast Points.garlic-cloves

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Resilience

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There is a new ad campaign from UnderArmour called “I will what I want”. One features a montage of ABT soloist ballerina Misty Copeland being amazing with a young girl reading a compilation of all the rejection messages she  had received over the years.

That level of resilience is awe inspiring. And I want to know how to get it, and then how to teach it to my children.

See the ad here: http://www.fitsugar.com/Ballerina-Misty-Copeland-Under-Armour-Ad-Video-35377009

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Mommy, why are you crying?

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Mommy, why are you crying?

What I say: Mommy is just feeling a little sad right now…

A few of the ten thousand reasons I am crying:

  • I just realized I have to plan the first family Easter since my mother died. She loved Easter.
  • I bought Cherry Twizzlers instead of Strawberry and while they were the perfect amount of stale the wrong flavor is putting a damper on my binge
  • I need to clean the litter box and I don’t want to
  • I am overwhelmed at work
  • My hormones are playing hockey with my emotions today
  • The twins have twisted the swings together on the playset and now I have to go out there and fix it
  • I am underwhelmed with my fitness and weight loss progress
  • It snowed today in April and I am sad, sad, sad for my baby flowers.
  • I went to the wrong grocery store
  • My son chose the muddiest boots to wear to the babysitters today
  • I ran the washing machine without the clothes
  • It is still 3 hours before bedtime
  • I’m tired
  • One twin got a special recognition at school (happy tears!) the other is in the same class and did not ( sad for my other twin tears)
  • I’m terrified of some of the messy truths that I’ve put out on this blog this week
  • I plugged in my Kitchen-Aid and it was on so it whacked me in the boob
  • It is Tax Day
  • I’m not drinking right now, so I have to DEAL WITH MY FEELINGS
  • I volunteered, again