Black-Eyed Peas, Collard Greens and White Grapes

What do these and other foods have in common?  I grew up in South Georgia and am well aware of the custom to improve your fortune for the coming year is to eat Black-Eyed Peas for Luck and Collard Greens for Money on New Year's Day.  I suppose this is done throughout the Southern States and my guess, may vary in many ways.

During a Holiday Office celebration today, we enjoyed, among other foods, Grapes and Champagne.  My dear friend shared that it is a Spanish, Latino custom to eat 12 Grapes at midnight, on New Year's Eve.  These are meant to represent your 12 resolutions for the new year and is a custom that dates back hundreds of years.  

This sent me on a quest to discover what other food customs abound and thereby increasing my optimum  abundance in 2025.  FISH is eaten as it represents moving forward and abundance.  CORNBREAD brings prosperity.  (I thought we ate it because it goes so well with the collard greens.)  POMEGRANATES are for fertility.  Do with that as you will.  There are many more and worth looking into.  

Enjoy your own special menu this New Year's Eve and Day, as you are joined by family and friends at this special time of year.  

I wish you a beautiful life in 2025!  Cheers!

Is that Fall in the Air?

Here are two things you don't hear me say often.   I walked this morning.  Don't get excited.  It lasted about 14 minutes.  That's number one.  Secondly, fall was in the air.  It's August, folks!  Honestly, I hadn't given much thought to Fall arriving anytime soon, but it was literally nipping at my heels.                                                              

September 1 is the first day of Fall.  Although there is some debate about that.  September 22nd with the autumn equinox is considered the first day by those who follow astronomical fall.  So, I guess you can take your pick.  I like the mysterious sound of "autumn equinox", as it conjures up all sorts of unknowns and possibilities.  I can always go for a little adventure. 

Either way, here in north Georgia, we enjoy all the seasons of the year and it delights me.  It's magical.  The weather, landscape, history, and the feel of coming home makes my world right. 

I'm ready for a hot cocoa.

 

Favorite Summer Traditions

 

I was asked what my favorite summer traditions are. I don't really have any. But it did get me to thinking My mind drifted back to childhood memories of traveling to my Aunt Gussie and Uncle Roy's in Tifton, GA. They planted a large garden, maybe an acre or two. Everything looks bigger when you're in the 4th grade. Nonetheless, we would help, somewhat and reluctantly, with the harvesting. I use that word loosely. We, my sisters and I, would pick a few butterbeans and complain the whole time.

We drove home, loaded down, (did we take two vehicles?), with beans, squash, tomatoes, watermelon, peanuts, cucumbers, corn...it was endless. Truly though, it was much appreciated. The work did not stop there. Canning and preserving started when we arrived home. It continued until every ear or corn was shucked and frozen, every tomato canned, and every cucumber pickled. Wow. So. There you have it. Memories.

Father's Day

 

Clarence Warren Carter and his Girls

Where do I start?

It's days like these that I really miss my daddy. 

I miss that he was always there.

I miss that he held us all to a high standard of moral conduct of right and wrong. 

I miss the scent of his pipe.

I miss that after a long day, he would let us remove his socks and shoes for a dime.

I miss seeing him watch the Dean Martin Show, which now seems interesting to me.

I miss the way he would tease Mama and chase her around the kitchen table.  She’d giggle and then let him catch her.  And then, we'd all giggle.

I miss the work ethic he always presented every day.

I miss the way he made others feel special.

Today, I think I miss most of all, was that incredible, mischievous glint in his eye and the smile that lit up my world and everyone else who had the privilege to catch a glimpse.

Miss you, Daddy!

Holiday Hangover

 I was recently speaking with a friend about getting back into the routine of things since the holidays.  I can't take credit for "Holiday Hangover", but I nodded my head and said, "That's exactly what it is."

If you are like me, you love the holidays.  It's magical, exciting, full of adventure and the unknown.  Thanksgiving, followed by Christmas.  Next thing you know, you're eating black eyed peas for luck and greens for prosperity.  If you're from Georgia, you know exactly what I'm talking about.  

So how do we create a "magical, exciting, full of adventure and the unknown", to use my own words, to shake off the Holiday Hangover and propel you into the new year?

1.  Verbally express your gratitude for what came before, whether good, bad or indifferent.  Granted, it's easy to be thankful for what you recognize as blessing in your life.  It's more difficult to believe that there may be anything positive in what you see has negative.  Maybe you can, if you try.

2.  Take some time and think about what you really want to see materialize in your life in 2024.  You'll need some alone time for this, but it's important that you know exactly what you want.  Declare it.  Write it down.  Find pictures and make a vision board.

3.  This is really important if you expect #2 to come to fruition.  Visualize everything.  Don't stop there.  See everything in motion.  Not static.  See it as a moving picture.  Create in your mind's eye what you want your life to be like.  For example, if you want a convertible, see and feel yourself behind the wheel, top down, and screaming, "Wooo hooo" as you speed down the road.

4.  Now.  Follow #3 up with EXPECTATION.  Expect that you will receive it.  If you think back on your life and remember any accomplishments you have made, you expected to receive it.  You know it's true.

5.  Live your life as if you already have it.  See yourself being that person, driving that car, travelling around the world, having dinner with friends.  No matter what "it" is, see yourself as that person.

6.  Be thankful and verbally give your gratitude for what you are receiving.

One other thing I would add.  Eliminate negative connotations altogether from your speech and thought process.  This is crucial.  What you verbalize will materialize.  It's true.

7.  Enough about you.  Champion other people.  See their beauty.  Express the good and positive things you see in them.  Everyone needs encouragement.  Be that person for someone else.

Whether you've done so already, pop open a bottle of Champagne and celebrate!  You are off to a great year!  I'm proud of you!

Tell me what Home Means to You

 

Happy Winter!

 

#Justfortoday...

My PR Manager, Sherri McLendon, is always inspiring me to create anew!  She told me recently to do something each day to experience my joy.  Just for today... I'm going to order the Outlander Kitchen Cookbook and start my journey with a little taste of Scotland.  Just for today...perhaps that will pacify my Outlander cravings for now.  Just for today...

Fresh

A few weeks ago, I did an exercise meant to help me get in touch with my core values. Right there, alongside "adventurous spirit" and "commitment to family and community" were lots of words about lifestyle: elegant, mannered, inspired, creative and ...gracious. Or, as my friends might say, Grace-ish.

A lot of us yearn for a world that respects dignity, values politeness, and behaves decently. Lately, we've seen less of that in our day to day lives. We may feel it's time for a change, an adventure, a new vista. Something fresh that renews our spirits, like white daisies in a field, or clothes dancing on a line.

We need a break, but we "put off" taking one, thinking of what we need to do, rather than what we're here to experience. Every time we choose to ignore that voice inside that tells us we need to make a change, we're missing the opportunity to fully live the meaningful life we're here to explore.

Just for today, notice the times that you push away the things you desire most in order to spend more time with the things that mean least. Then multiply that by the number of days, weeks, and years that lie ahead. 

Think you can wait that long to live your life?

Grace

You are a Star...

If your life were a movie, how would it play out? 

You already do it.  You recreate your day every night while you try to drift into sleep.  Sometimes it’s even hard to turn the movie off.  Do you like what you see?  More often than not, you are very critical of your performance of the day. 

Perhaps you should approach this differently.  What if you started your day with a movie of how you want your day to go?  What if you remembered that you have a clean slate and the world you live in is your very own?  What if you decided every nuance of your day before it happens?  What would it be like?

As always, you have to know where you are going.  You have to know what it is you want to accomplish.  Now, open your thoughts to the unlimited potential in creating your day.  You are the star of your life.  Look for and act upon the opportunities that will unfold as you play out your day.

Will it be perfect?  Probably not in the beginning and you may never reach perfection.  But I would say, striving for perfection is pretty good stuff.  You may need to do several retakes to get it right.  But that’s ok.  The beauty is, you get to!  You are a Star!

Grace

As a child....

I love to hear the trains rumbling over the tracks as it breaks through the still of the night.  And then the horn blares loudly in warning as it approaches a crossing road.  It comforts me.  It reminds me, as a little girl, I could hear the sound of the railroad cars rolling through our town, less than a mile away

as a crow flies.

Being a child...how wonderful...how wonderful to have everything as a possibility, when your biggest challenge was, "which one," or better yet, "I want it all," having not yet been convinced of the world's "can't dos", starting out with a clean slate, no baggage.  Baggage.  That's the culprit.  That's what trips us up as adults.

So here's the thing.  Everyday truly is a clean slate.  In fact, every moment of every day is a clean slate.  That's your starting point.  Right now.  Forget about last week when you didn't live up to, not only your own expectations, but also the ones others placed on you.  Forget about yesterday when you decided to do nothing constructive on a Sunday afternoon and now you feel guilty.  Forget about ten minutes ago when you realized you hadn't made a plan for your day, much less your week.  Let it go.

Frankly, the guilt of not living up to your expectations and those you "think" others have are holding you back.  Focus on right now.  What can you do right now?  "Give every man more in use value than you take from him in cash value; then you are adding to the life of the world by every business transaction," Wallace Wattles, The Science of Getting Rich.  Start there.  When you screw up, and you will, let it go and move on.  The worry over of what you didn't do or what you haven't done will only keep you down.

Focus on this moment and what you are doing right now.  Decide what you want.  Believe.  Believe as a child that you can do it!  You are going to get so many things right!  Now get out there and do something!

Grace