Mature Love Redeux

As I was preparing to write my husband a letter commemorating my love this sixth anniversary, I was reminded of a blog I posted many moons ago.

Mature Love was inspired by a book written by Robin L. Smith regarding the lies we believe about marriage.

I was new to the idea of true, real, healthy, responsible and respectful love. (And honestly, so was Chris.) But we wanted it.

It took many, many looooooooooooooong discussions, a lot of heartache, some knock-down, drag-out fights, some aging, and some experience, but I think, we've got it.

"[Mature Love is] day-to-day love. It's going to work everyday, cleaning the house every weekend and paying bills every month love. It's real love - with frustrations and conflict and real experiences."

This year, as I look to celebrate (tomorrow) the day I agreed to join TeamBroussard, I know that I have found true love. The kind of love that brings joy to the depths of your soul. The kind of love that lasts for a lifetime.

"Hey, Sailor!"

I'm From...

I’m from Fall colors and Spring tulips and 10,000 lakes.

I'm from the outskirts, never a neighborhood, rarely a sidewalk.

I’m from bright yellow dandelions turned into wishes.

I’m from Christmas decorating on Black Friday, flocked Christmas trees and nutcrackers.

I'm from MGD and Home Interiors and Tupperware and Harley Davidson.

I’m from Barbies and “The Babysitters’ Club” books.

I’m from Cub Foods and White Castle.

I’m from tuna salad.

I’m from Kemps’ Tin Roof Sundae in a gallon bucket.

I'm from Gedney pickles, Pronto Pups, tater tots and Old Dutch potato chips.

I’m from roller rinks and week-long vacations at rented cabins.

I’m from a purple paddleboat on Lake Magda.

I’m from over-the-top motorcycle rallies in Sturgis, South Dakota.

I'm from Lutherans and hotdishes and bitter cold.

I'm from sledding and ice skating.

I’m from camping and fishing and RVs and canoeing and road trips.

I’m from visits to the one-Hardee’s town in Iowa called Waukon.

I'm from Nintendo and VHS and cassette tapes and IBM.

I'm from snow days and three months of summer vacation.

I'm from Valleyfair and the Great Minnesota Get-Together, and the Mall of America.

I’m from “Duck, Duck, Grey Duck” and tubing down the river.

I’m from “Red” and "The Boat Killer."

I’m from mechanics, bartenders, bikers and secretaries.

I'm from mutt dogs and stray cats.

I’m from broken families and shattered dreams and unrealized potential.

I’m from family without blood relation.

I’m from Minneapolis, and wasn’t proud of that until I moved away.

I'm from a place I chose not to dwell.

I'm from the place that made me the beautiful creature I am.



Stolen so lovingly from Stacy May.



Awhile back I read an I'm From blog post and decided to take a crack at it myself. If you're interested in writing your own I'm From, you can use the following template to get started (if you write your own, please leave a comment and link so I can read it!): Adapted by Levi Romero Inspired by “Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon I am from ________________________ (an everyday item in your home) from ________________ and _______________ (products or everyday items in your home) I am from the ___________________________ (description of your home) _________________________________ (a detail about your home – a smell, taste, or feel) I am from the____________________ (plant, flower, natural item) The __________________________ (plant or tree near your home) whose long gone limbs I remember as if they were my own. I’m from _______________ and ________________ (a family tradition and family trait) from ______________and ______________________ (family members) I’m from _________________and _________________ (family habits) and from_____________________. (family habit) I’m from _______________ and _______________ (things you were told as a child) and ____________________________________ (a song or saying you learned as a child) I’m from_________________________ (a family tradition) I’m from ____________ (place of birth) and ___________ (family ancestry, nationality or place) _______________and _________________ (family foods) From ___________________________________ (a story about a family member) ___________________________ (detail about the story or person) _____________________________ (description of family momentos, pictures or treasures.) _________________________ (location of momentos – under my bed, on the wall, in my heart) ______________________________________________ (more description if needed) _______________________________________________ By

"Lazy Word Choice"

I received this email from "Daily Writing Tips," and thought my writing blog was a perfect place to share it.

Thanks to today’s instant communication, words used by one blogger or celebrity catch on at an astounding rate, spilling over into advertising, entertainment, and website comments.

One evening I became aware of two television ads airing back to back. One was for a telephone service; the other for a car. Both hammered the word crazy to describe features of their products: “crazy, crazy generous, crazy efficient, crazy protection.”

This mindless kind of usage strips words of meaning. It wastes the power of words that have more appropriate uses.

Take this headline, for example: Daylight Saving Time Is America’s Greatest Shame

Shame can be used in more than one sense, including a fairly meaningless social convention: “It’s a shame you couldn’t join us for dinner.” Used as it is in the headline, however, shame is a strong word, calling up images of the Indian removals known as the Trail of Tears, the WWII internment camps for U.S. citizens of Japanese descent, and the Tuskegee syphilis experiments that used untreated black Americans as a control group.

Daylight Saving Time may be a fraud. It may be annoying, unnecessary, disruptive or any number of disagreeable things, but is it really “America’s Greatest Shame”?

Sometimes the intended purpose of a piece of writing calls for deliberate misuse of words. Advertising and political speeches come to mind.

We live under a constant verbal barrage. It’s impossible to ignore the catch phrases of our culture. They enter our minds and speech. If we are writers, they creep into our first drafts. Happily, we can replace poorly chosen words as we revise.

Very. "Very" is the word I most despise using.

"Amazing" is the word I am guilty of overusing the most. I know it, and I have tried to work on it. Unfortunately, that meant on our recent trip to Bernheim for fall color enjoyment, I said, "remarkable" at least 32 times.

Veterans Day

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…"

The original concept for the celebration was for a day observed with parades and public meetings and a brief suspension of business beginning at 11:00 a.m.

Unfortunately, like most American holidays, today it is known as a day for commercialism, for great sale prices and especially for free meals for veterans. Though all of the price breaks are greatly appreciated, I can't help but feel like they miss the point++.

"...filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died...and with graditude for the victory..."

My husband often doesn't like the idea of being thanked for doing his job or being regarded a hero for his sacrifices, but he is an important cog in a huge machine .I am oh so proud of his path, his accomplishments and his dedication. I am very thankful that I've had the opportunity to be his MilSpouse for over half of his Navy career (thus far).

November is my most favoritest time of year. It is full of so many important days to me - my birthday, my anniversary, Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday) and also Veterans Day. Veterans Day doesn't celebrate war, but it instead actually honors those who fight to end it.

Thank you to all those past, present and future who have served, continue to serve and will serve. It is a very noble profession and I appreciate that you allow us one day to honor you.

++But the most important question to me is actually "with or without apostrophe?"
According to the VA website, Veterans Day does not include an apostrophe but does include an "s" at the end of "veterans" because it is not a day that "belongs" to veterans, it is a day for honoring all veterans.

Top 10 Reasons the Navy is the BEST Service

L-O-V-E LOVE Love love this blog post by a MilSpouse. LOVE IT! Made me laugh, cry, thank God, get excited and worry about the future all in ten bullets.

"Top 10 Reasons the Navy is the Best Service" by Jacey Eckhart (Air Force brat, Navy wife and Army mom)

1. Oceanfront property. Be it ever so humble, the Navy forces you — just forces you, Dear — to live near an ocean. You have to walk on beaches in the sunset — there is a law. You simply must learn to pick crab or lobster while drinking local beer and listening to Buffett. Porpoises and dolphins are such an every day thing that you don’t even bother to look up when they flash by. Once in a while you get a weirdo billet (NAS Fallon we’re talkin’ to you) where you can’t even remember what the ocean looks like, but most of the time you get to live near the sea.

2. White uniforms. Not only do our own sailors develop miraculously good superstar looks when they don the spanky white version of their uniforms, this trick works for actors, too. Tom Cruise in Top Gun. Richard Gere in Officer and a Gentleman. Cuba Gooding Jr. looking his cutie best in Men of Honor. John Wayne and Cary Grant also quite delightful in Navy garb. Makes you wanna wake up and smell the polyester! Please note: Putting on the “blueberry” uniform does not work the same way, Liam Neeson.

3. New Chief season. The Navy is a service surrounded by history and traditions and customs. One of our favorites happens in August when they do the CPO induction and you see all these ridiculously cheerful people out doing car washes to raise money. We like when good things happen to good people. Now get out there and be the backbone of the Navy.

4. The Big Turnaround. All the services do this in one way or another, but we love when kids join the Navy out of high school. Then they kind of look around and figure out who they are supposed to be and what they are supposed to be doing. My own nephew enlisted in the Navy (and recently reenlisted) and found a place in the world to do good work. Gotta love it.

5. Huge support group. In Navy towns like Norfolk, San Diego, Jacksonville, and Bremerton you can’t walk a block without running into someone with connections to the Navy. Not only have these neighbors walked the walk, but they have really good advice about getting up to speed on all you need to do…along with a nice plate of brownies.

6. Never say goodbye. In Navy life, the limited number of bases means that you never really say goodbye to the people you meet. Instead we say, “Fair winds and following seas.” Translated I think this means, “Bye for now and we’ll catch up at the commissary two duty stations from now.” Or it could also be like that Far Side comic where the sea captain is trailed into a dark alley by a following sea … one of the two.

7. Ships slipping over the horizon. One of the most beautiful moments of a Navy homecoming is that instant when the ship slips over the horizon and into view. One minute there is nothing but some ugly oiler jacking up the horizon. The next moment there is this huge, grey vessel slipping across the ocean like a mist. The whole thing makes you choke up with the joy of it. Really.

8. Homecoming on a pier — not in a gym. For the majesty of the event, nothing beats a Navy homecoming where the sailors line the rails of the ship and then descend onto the pier into the arms of their loved ones. This is a little less picturesque in the rain. Or the snow. Or that unfortunate sleet storm that pummeled all the balloons. But it is really, really pretty most of the time.

9. Land, sea and air — we fight everywhere. Unlike the other services, the Navy is equipment driven. We may rib each other about whether surface, air, subs, SEALs, supply, etc. are the best part of the Navy, but in the moment of crisis we got it all.

10. Sailors have more fun. Trust us. They just do.

NOT a Food Blogger!

I could NEVER be a food blogger.

I make fabulous meals. I cook very tasty food. My family devours most things I put on their plates. However, I do not follow a recipe.

I recently made my first ever homemade lasagna. In this instance, I had THREE recipes I was working with and random substitutions of vegetables. It was honestly one of the most delicious foods I have ever baked.

I shared a picture on Facebook and was met with requests for the recipe. Here is what my wonderfully patient and loving friends received:

*DISCLAIMER: I don’t follow recipes well. I don’t ever make the exact same dish twice, because I don’t write down what I did…This is the best I can do from memory.
I used a 9x13 glass pan.
I set the oven at 350.
Bottom of pan was just tomato sauce -- pureed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, garlic pepper, and tomato paste. I used three fresh tomatoes, a can of diced tomatoes and a small can of tomato paste.
Then a layer of oven-ready lasagna noodles.

Veggie mix:
So separately, in a frying pan, I heated a capful of olive oil and sautéed a small onion (minced) and minced garlic plus liquid from the garlic jar. Once onions were clear, I added minced sweet orange pepper, white eggplant and a whole head of minced rainbow chard. (I minced all the veggies so they wouldn't really be so noticeable.) Then I added pureed tomatoes until the veggies actually looked like a spaghetti sauce - one can, two fresh and then a can of tomato paste and water.

I brought sauce to a boil then simmered while I made cheese sauce.

If you started with a spaghetti sauce you liked and just added minced veggies, the recipe might be easier. LOL I just had tomatoes I needed to use up. The original recipe called for squash and mushrooms and pepper, but I seem to have developed an allergy to squash and/or mushrooms, so I used veggies I had on hand (eggplant and chard). You could use spinach or broccoli or whatever. I think any veggie would suffice, because they are minced.

Cheese sauce:
1 tub (15 oz) of ricotta cheese
1/2 cup or so of parmesan (I used that green can stuff, but actually cheese would probably be better).
1 egg
Mix in bowl with fork until smooth.
Turn off veggies.

So, back to the lasagna making...

On top of the layer of noodles, I put a layer of cheese sauce and then sprinkling of mozzarella cheese. Then a layer of veggie mix. Then a made a layer of noodles. Then a layer of cheese, then sauce, then noodles. I topped with veggies that were left and baked for about 50 minutes.

I then doused with mozzarella cheese and baked until melted.

Remove pan from oven and let sit at least five minutes before cutting.

My kids each ate two bowls!!

9 Months

Wow. It has been over 9 months since I last posted a blog - even longer since I actually wrote something of substance to post.

Weird to think I could have had a baby in that time. Thankfully, I didn't. I did, however, have a life. A very chaotic, emotional, busy life.

I have NOT loved every minute. I haven't even lived every minute. Truthfully, there were a LOT of minutes I buried my head in a pillow, or snuck off with Daelen for a nap, or took my kids to the park, or just drowned out the world playing Wordfeud on my fancy phone.

But, here I am. In Kentucky. In a living room that is smaller than some bathrooms I know.

I reread some of my previous blog posts tonight, just out of curiousity. And truthfully, I am astounded by how well I describe emotion. Or maybe I just remember emotion well? Either way, I am glad that I have spent the better half of my life writing about emotions.

I hope that someday, I bless someone else with my insight, my transparency, and my ability to put thought to paper. (Yes, I almost always physically write a blog post before I type it into the computer.)

Maybe. Hopefully.

Thanksgiving Tradition

I tried not to tell you, but I just can't help myself. I just have to list for you the groceries I bought for $75.12 this year. (That's only $6.89 more than I spent last year. I think I beat inflation!)

50 lbs of turkey
12 lbs of ham
2.5 lbs chicken legs
2 lbs of bacon
1.5 lbs of tilapia
6 bagels
1 bag mini marshmallows
16 biscuits
28 oz Folgers
1 lb butter
8 oz cream cheese
24 oz sour cream
1/2 gal orange juice
1 can yams
2 cans chicken broth
3 cans peas
3 cans corn
3 cans cranberries
4 lbs sugar
3 pkgs pasta
6 cereal bars
15 lbs potatoes
1 loaf wheat bread

And thanks to WIC, I also got:
1 gal and 1 quart milk
18 oz peanut butter
16 oz sharp cheddar cheese
1 dozen eggs
3.5 lbs yams
3 bunches green onion
2 lbs sweet potatoes
3 bunches celery
2.75 lbs onions
2 lbs green grapes
2 lbs red grapes
1 lb carrots
1 lb tomatoes
1 lb zucchini
2 lbs pears
2 lbs cantaloupe

I love grocery shopping :)

I also had a fabulous time Wednesday and Thursday cooking with my teenager. We made a plateful of dishes!

Clockwise from top: black eyed peas, turkey, stuffing, glazed carrots, green bean casserole, mashed topatoes, collard greens, sweet potato casserole and candied yams.

I am very thankful this year!

The English Language is a Mighty Splendid Thing!

Thanks to Daily Writing Tips for this list of grammar blogs!!

Wordsplosion!

English FAIL

This particular post made me laugh so hard, I spewed coffee on my computer screen!

And the BEST blog EVER!!!! Or should I say, "The 'BEST' blog EVER!!!!"

Some Lessons Learned From My Dad

• People with a different last name can be the greatest family you've ever had.
• Sometimes, you're gonna get shit on. It's ok, you can always take a shower.
• Always be nice at Christmas.
• It's ok to call someone three times in an hour if you really miss them.
• Talk to those you love everyday if you can.
• A stick of butter makes anything taste delicious.
• Buy what you want and figure out how to pay for it later. (Not my favorite lesson.)
• When your kid makes stupid choices, love her anyway.
• Be the best friend you know how to be. And always have time for an old friend.
• Biological family is important - but don't let them treat you poorly.
• Your spouse IS your better half. Love her like there is no tomorrow.
• People need help. Have your truck, trailer or trunk ready. There's usually an ice cold MGD waiting.
• Lighten up. Seriously. Life is meant to be lived.
• Anything can be deep fried.
• Never gamble with scared money. If you are scared to lose it, it's almost guaranteed you will.
• September 2nd is an AWESOME day for a party. (And if your daughter throws a party for 60 of her closest friends while you are away camping, don't kill her.)

Happy Birthday, Dad!
I used the extra big font just for you ;)

*Links provided to prove I really learned the lesson. LOL

Exam Day is normally so nerve-wracking. Today, however, I am at peace. I am excited for my husband. I am anticipating his success!

Technology is NOT to be trusted

I kept IMPECCABLE notes about Daelen in my phone. The most minute details that probably won't matter a year from now, but matter to me at the moment. Any and every little thing. Literally, every time he ate. Every time he did something new. Any time I felt the urge to just record who/what/where he was at that very moment. And it was so easy cuz I always have my phone with me.

The first two months, I was really good about emailing the data to myself periodically, just in case. Then I transferred that info to his baby book, his first year calendar and/or the notebook journal I started for him while pregnant. Because of the carpal tunnel, I had gotten away from the notebook, but now I see I'm going to have to go back to it. Technology is not to be trusted. Pen and paper, that's where it's at.

I've lost all my notes from 15 August to 31 August. I could cry. Do you have any idea how many truly amazing, wonderful, heart-melting things happen with a baby in 15 days?!

But alas, there is a lesson here, and this time, I will learn it. I am a writer (in my own mind). I am not a blogger, a Facebooker or a technology guru. I am a pen and paper writer. And my son WILL be blessed as an adult with all the letters, notes, stories and information I will record for him over the next 18 years.

posted from Bloggeroid

Heart on My Sleeve

I'm an emotional* person. Always have been. Histrionic** is how a psychologist described it once. If you know anything about a Scorpio***, you know what I mean. Extremely emotional - and in a pendulum swing kind of way. I lack the ability to be lukewarm, apathetic and/or neutral. I do not like anything - I either love it or hate it (and I mean capital L-O-V-E love or I'm gonna kick you in the neck, staple Bacon to your face and piss on your dog HATE). If you look up hyperbole in the dictionary, my picture is totally there.

(Un)fortunately, I am the same whether we are talking about inanimate objects, animals or human beings. If I love you, I would seriously kill for you****. Some people don't participate in relationships like I do - family, friend, lover, whatever - if I love you, you are a priority. Always.

I'm extreme. I know. I try to tone it down. I try to let folks breathe. I really don't mean to smother. (I'm sorry if I've ever smothered you.)

All this to say, when I think a person is cool or pretty or smart or righteous or brilliant or fantastic, I REALLY think they are cool or pretty or smart or righteous or brilliant or fantastic. I don't necessarily want to spend every waking minute with them, but I do want to soak up everything they've got. (Not steal it, just dissect it so I can learn more about the human psyche and possibly become a better person myself.) And I have no problem telling you I think you're coolest thing since sliced bread.

The reason I write all of this is to tell you that I get hurt easily. I wear my heart on my sleeve and often times it feels like it should be the stereotypical heart with a dagger through it. So often I feel rejected or abandoned and it crushes me. I pour my heart and soul into people and relationships and so often (it seems) I get shit on.

Fortunately (for you), I have no intention of changing. I will continue to give my everything to the the people I love, people I adore and people I think are just all-around "good eggs." So, consider yourself warned. If you show yourself to be awesome, I just might try to sit at your feet and soak up your awesomeness.

* I think my husband was uber excited today when my emotional outburst literally had nothing to do with him!

** Google, you never cease to amaze me. There is an actual disorder for histrionic people!

*** It is as if someone described a Scorpio woman to me when I was 2, and I said, "Okay, I can be that."

**** Seriously, I'll fucking kill her and take the rap and be totally cool with it, because I love you.

GOOD

Everything is going so good. And given the circumstances, honestly, I'm surprised that I am saying that. It's been so long since I felt this this way. Honestly, I feel like Pollyanna. I'm so giddy with joy and thankful for all the blessings in my life. My hormones must be changing again.+

My mother- and sister-in-law moved in over the summer. Brytin is slam-dunking the second grade. Chris and I are getting along smashingly. And Daelen, well, truly he is THRIVING.

The truth is, a couple weeks ago, Chris and I fought for an entire weekend. And I mean knock-down, drag-out fought. Mean things were said, feelings were hurt, voices were raised, the tires on the truck peeled out of the driveway a time or three. And every time there was some resolve, it started up all over again about a different issue.

But then, Sunday night (LATE Sunday night) we looked at each other and realized neither of us was leaving, all the shouting wasn't getting us anywhere and really, time was just too precious to have wasted a whole weekend fighting.

But as I look back over the last couple weeks, I see how happy our (crowded) home is, I see how in love with me my husband is, I see how NOT irritated I am. Maybe 2.5 days of yelling was exactly what we needed?! I'm not angry anymore, he's putting forth some effort, and I'm not angry anymore!+

Praise the good Lord God Almighty the Broussard home is healthy, happy and a little wiser!

+Did you read the Female Brain like I told you to?!

+Did I mention I was pissed the F*&$ off?! I mean like SERIOUSLY - about EVERYTHING. Here's an example (that doesn't really shed light on how pissed I was, because I didn't want to actually post on the Internet the anger I felt that morning.)

posted from Bloggeroid

TOTALLY Guilty!

I use almost ALL of these words. I use them in my speech, my texts, my writing and my Internet postings. Oops.

5 Slang Words That May Never Be Legit
by Mark Nichol
OK, like, OMG, I’m totally not bagging on you for tweeting or FBing or blogging these words, but they are so bogus in formal writing. LOL

1. Amirite
This trendy favorite of commenters on pop-culture Web sites, meant to suggest a glibly tossed “Am I right?” — I figured that out after initially wondering what the heck uh-mere-uh-tee meant — has about as much chance of making it into the dictionary as fuhgeddaboudit. Save it for the fanboys — you can do better than that.

2. Craptastic/craptacular
These mash-ups of, respectively, crap and fantastic and crap and spectacular first cropped up in snarky online lambasting of overhyped pop-culture phenomena in the 1990s. I chuckled the first couple of times I came across them, but though they are ideal terms for assuming a sarcastic tone, they are best used in moderation and are not, and perhaps will never become, mainstream expressions of derision. Safer alternatives for general publication include absurd, laughable, ludicrous, preposterous, ridiculous, and risible.

3. Genius
Out of seemingly nowhere, online correspondents began to use this as a short form of ingenious, as in “That’s such a genius move.” It has not acquired legitimacy, and in other than jocular usage, you don’t have to be a genius to avoid it.

4. Ginormous
This collision of gigantic and enormous, dating from the 1990s, is a vivid term, but it is superfluous, considering that humongous, which also seemed to appear spontaneously in casual usage when it came on the scene in the 1960s, has already acquired a respectability the newer term as yet lacks.

Plenty of words meaning “extremely large” exist: colossal, gargantuan, gigantic, immense, mammoth, massive, monstrous, prodigious, titanic, and vast, for starters. None of them has the neologistic cachet of ginormous, but the letter is for now only suitable in informal writing.

5. A Slang Word That Isn’t
The adjective cliche, used in place of cliched, as in “That’s so cliche,” was originally on this list, until I looked it up and discovered, to my surprise, that it is a legitimate variant. Its sudden recent vogue lured me into thinking it was being misused in an affected manner much like the adjective genius (see above) is. It’s correct, but you’re welcome to use one of many synonyms, like hackneyed or trite.