deodorant, combs and great harvest

I notice when I go to Tracy’s or Mikelle’s we have so many of the same products and brands. For instance, we all buy the same deodorant. We have the same [and I mean the very same] combs. Tracy and I buy them at WINCO and Mikelle just takes mine. We have the same hair spray and lotion and lipstick and eye shadow. Mikelle and I have the same toothpaste. No one has the same toothpaste as Tracy. Hers is licorice or something like that — some really odd brand she gets from the co-op. We all use Listerine. Mikelle and I use Tide [or Western Family] and Downy. We often buy the same cereal and the same crackers. Tracy and I get our grains from Kitchen Kneads. We have made the same ‘homemade’ laundry soap. We like the same Daisy brand sour cream. Mikelle and I like the same yogurt. We all like Great Harvest. We all like Coldstone.

Tracy and I like to shop at Eddie Bauer. We also like Christopher and Banks. We both have Teva and Keen and Dansko shoes. Mikelle cuts our hair and and highlights it and waxes our brows. Tracy’s and my web site are similar. Mikelle and I have a pair of the same exact black shoes from Dillards. Mikelle and Tracy have sage, red and black in their homes. I’m slowing heading in that direction. All three of us have the very same little accent tables in our homes. We have exactly the very same calendars!

It’s comforting to me, as a mother, to have these similarities in our lives. I’m sure it’s the same all over the world — daughters grow up and move away, but keep little things in common with their moms.

Little tiny [probably silly] special connections I cherish.

eilinus maginnis

My sister Eileen is rather famous. I’ve known it for years. But the older I get, the more I realize and recognize just how true that is.

You may not know her. But plenty of people do. It seems wherever I am, if I meet someone from any of the 13 towns in Star Valley WY, they inevitably know her well, know of her, or have only heard of her and want to meet her

She’s famous for her integrity, her kindness, her gentle spirit, her honesty, her goodness, her hard work and leadership, her teaching and of course, her cooking.

She has five boys and two girls, all grown, all responsible and incredibly decent people in their own right.

Just the other day, [again!] I met someone from SV and asked, “Do you know Eileen Hale?” He started to cry!!!! He said,”Oh my gosh, she is the most wonderful person I have ever known. In my entire life!!!”

I was amazed. I’m over being stunned, but I was still, simply amazed.

She makes me proud.

When we were growing up I was quite jealous of her. She was so much like my Mother. She cooked and sewed beautifully. She was popular and sweet and perfect, and, well, I wasn’t. Her nickname was Lambie Pie. Yup. Me? Dorabell!

But right now, right this minute I’m so happy to be her sister. I’m honored to share her family name and to have wonderful memories of us as we grew older, had families of our own and similar interests.

Blessings to you, Sister.

split second

All it takes is a split second to be in control, really (or out of control). The instant you put that bag of Cheetos in your cart at Wal-Mart is a split second decision pushing you in the wrong direction, but if, at ANY moment during the rest of your shopping trip, you have a split second of sanity and realize those Cheetos should not be in your cart, then all it takes is literally an INSTANT to grab the bag, stick it on a shelf and walk away. That’s it. Decision made. Action taken. No arguing with yourself, no agonizing, no thinking. Just stick them somewhere and go. Same with those leftover goodies in your house. If you are still eating them and regretting it, it only takes a split second of control to turn things around by grabbing them and mashing them into the trash and covering them with garbage or salt or ketchup or whatever. That’s all it takes. When the truffles I got as a gift for Christmas were bugging me, I wanted to eat them. But as I was taking one out of the box, I had a split second of clarity and grabbed a huge handful and ran to the kitchen sink, turned on the hot water and held the truffles under the faucet. It felt ridiculous… chocolate oozing all over my hands, making a mess, and then putting dish soap on the remains to get them down the drain… but it feels a lot less ridiculous to do that than to shove them in my face and watch my body grow new fat rolls.

Grab your split second. That’s all it takes.

[Credit where credit is due: this all from over at Escape from Obesity]