SOUL FOOD

Barbara Ward-Finneran 

Accomplishment is not as much based on skills as it is on attitude.  

It's all too easy to consider the many reasons that you can't.  Refocus and be determined to find the one reason why you can.  Foster a positive attitude and find the determination.  

It changes everything! 

Keep the promises that you make to yourself!

Photo Courtesy of Barbara Ward-Finneran and  Drawn 2 Designs, LLC  

All Rights Reserved

LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE

Marion Pellicano Ambrose

   My husband forwarded an email to me the other day. It showed pictures of conversations captured on new iphones with automatic spell correction. If you have an iphone you know exactly how annoying that feature is! I was already in a fairly cranky mood, but when I began to read the hysterical results of the spell corrections, laughter bubbled up inside me. I laughed so hard that tears ran down my cheeks and my side ached!  By the time I read the last message, I was a different person. I felt the heaviness of my soul fade and disappear. There was a smile on my face and a new lightness in my heart. The miracle of laughter had worked its magic on me!

STICKY SWEET

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Patty B

"The Discount Warehouse Method: Buy a truckload of chocolate. Use it in everything."

"Dip a refrigerated chocolate bar into melted white chocolate. Chocolate covered chocolate."

"Shut your office door and enjoy a chocolate bar. Your kids won't come knocking. However, the boss might!"

"Finding the right shoes to go with your outfit might be tough. Finding the right chocolate is not."

 

       

YUM!

YUMMY!

YUM!

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YUMMY

RUNNING FEET.....

Dawn Boyle

Everyone here at DRL wants to wish Barbara and her "crew" all the best in their race today. Your, YOU CAN attitude is infectious! You are an inspiration to everyone and put a smile on this blog.

In the theater world we say "break a leg" to wish good luck but I don't think I like that. Instead I will use an old Irish saying -


“May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.”


YOU MAKE US PROUD BARBARA!!!!

WHATEVER IT TAKES !!!

Jennifer Copp

I was hit with a midlife crisis, not by choice. It was actually handed to me on a silver platter. I then had to decide what I wanted to do with it. My decision was that I wanted to move home. I was away more than I care to admit now.

Instead of looking back and writing a long drawn out story, I choose only to look ahead. I have 3 amazing kids that I can happily say are all ME, they walk like me, talk like me and laugh like me. They give me the courage to get out of bed and forge ahead. For that, I will always do what I have to do so that they can have a role model that teaches them they can do anything they want in life.

STICKY SWEET

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Patty B

"After a big meal, many people take a walk to help digestion. Eating a piece of chocolate is much less effort, and you're not dependent on the weather."

" If you need more fiber in your diet, dip your shredded wheat in chocolate."

"Putting an expiration date on a chocolate wrapper is a waste of ink."

" No one has ever been arrested for eating chocolate."

     

YUM!

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HE SAID....

Tony Walker

Today's post by Boyle got me thinking about my friends. Like her, I've had some major changes with some of my relationships in the past year so I've been reevaluating my friends a lot lately.
Some people think Facebook sucks, others think it's wonderful. My vote depends upon what mood you catch me in but there is one thing about Facebook that I love: I love how it brought me back to so many friends!

So many people say, "If I wanted to keep in touch with these people I would have. I don't need Facebook." While I understand that point that is not how I see it. I lost touch with many people just because of marriage, work, kids.... life! Now I've reconnected with so many friends where I find myself wondering how I lost touch with them in the first place.
What amazes me the most are my friends from high school who graduated around the same time as I did, the late eighties. I've been able to hold conversations & make jokes with these friends like no time has past. It blows me away that we've now spent more time apart than we spent together yet we have some unbreakable bond where we all know each other so well. Prior to Facebook I only kept in steady touch with 4 people from the old days & really did not think about those times all that often. Now I see a lot of old friends on a semi regular basis & I'm loving every minute of it! Being a part of the Lounge is from Boyle & I reconnecting! Just this morning, my old pal Brian & I were cast in an episode of a show on True TV because they liked a video submission we sent in. Brian is at the top of the list of people who I can't believe I lost touch with. He is like a brother to me!! Crazy stuff!
So thank you to all of my friends for being my friend!!

Lunch Time Poll

Barbara

Seems like everyday you hear more and more people complain about hating their jobs or being trapped in their position because of the economy.  If your job is making you miserable what do you desire to do? Which brings us to today's question: Income issues aside... If you could have any job in the world what would it be and why?

FRIENDS

Dawn Boyle

A true friend doesn't care when you're broke, being a witch, what you weigh, if your house is a mess, what you drive, about your past, or if your family is filled with CRAZY people. Your conversations pick up where they left off, even if they have been months or longer, apart. They love you for who you are.

A few days ago a friend had this on their FaceBook wall. I saw it and it stopped me dead in my tracks, not because I hadn't seen it before, but for that moment it hit me...am I a true friend? Do I have true friends?

IF I COULD WAKE UP DREAMING

Ms. Jillian B. Hart

He will forever be the one that got away.  The one that slipped through her fingers.  The thing that movies are made about and that words are helpless to describe.  The emotion that has to be felt to be known.  Felt to be understood - and feeling it, only leaves the soul hungry for more.  

A love that was so right - it was almost incomprehensible and seemingly was always just within their reach.  The awe of it being unnerving, until it became unattainable.  She didn’t find someone that she love that much only to let it go.  She held onto it.  Even all those years that he was gone, all those years her life went on, knowing the love never left her.  The memory of it dwelled within the fibers of her being.  It became part of who she was and she was never quite the same.  It always existed, locked away in her heart like a box with a missing key. 

SOUL FOOD

Barbara Ward-Finneran 

The most difficult challenges hold the greatest rewards. Strength and courage are born from tenacity. All of the pieces to the secret formula to your success are within you. It's in your soul. Dare to risk what you are to become all your heart has always known!

Keep the promises that you make to yourself!

Photo Courtesy of Barbara Ward-Finneran and  Drawn 2 Designs, LLC  

All Rights Reserved

STICKY SWEET

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Patty B

"Don't give up! Pull yourself up by your own chocolate wrapper."

"Enjoying chocolate with good friends makes the moment sweeter.  Of course, it makes for less chocolate, too."

"Milk chocolate has calcium in it. Older women need to eat twice as much as younger women."

"Whoever said "Nobody's Perfect" never met a woman with a good supply of chocolate."

 

     

YUM!

YUMMY!

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YUMMY!

I'M WHATS SHAKIN, 
IN MORE WAYS THEN ONE

Tony Walker

What a way to spend a week. On Monday it started with the chills, my poor daughter is sick too. Now my daughter is demanding more time off from school when she is better, so she can enjoy herself like other kids on winter break. Sorry, but it doesn't work that way. My girl will be very upset with me if I don't pull her out of school to enjoy herself. You may be thinking at this point that my daughter is a brat, no - my little girl is Autistic. She does not understand the repercussions of me pulling her out of school, she doesn't understand the repercussions of most things.

The Lounge's target audience are people in their late 30's and up, so I'm sure a good percentage of our readers have some connection to a child or adult with Autism. My daughter will be 12 in three weeks. I find myself asking where the time went. Realizing how fast time is going is really scary. She turned 12 so fast,  and in no time at all she will be 18 and graduating high school.

Lunch Time Poll

Dawn & Barbara

Seems like everyday there is a new reality television show popping up, whether it is the Amazing Race or Wife Swap they keep us tuned it, which brings us to todays question: If you could be on any Reality Show, which would it be and why?

YOUR WORLD GETS SHAKIN' 
WHEN YOUR CHILD GOES TO COLLEGE
Marion Pellicano Ambrose

When my daughter left for college 3 years ago, I bought her a book called The Modern
Girl’s Guide to Life by Jane Buckingham. It was advertised as the “mod-girl survival
kit”. The cover told snippets of what could be found within: “ How to change a tire in
stilettos”, “the Diva’s guide to using a power drill” and “Welcome to the scariest room in
a modern girl’s house – the kitchen” I thought it might come in handy for her when she
was so far from home, and from mommy and daddy who took care of all these things for
her.
Off she went to Jacksonville and her new life.

Wanna Laugh?!?!

Tony Walker

A woman walks into a pharmacy. She asks the pharmacist, "Do you have any Viagra?"

"Yes I do," replies the pharmacist.

She asks, "Does it really work?"


He chuckles & says, "It certainly does."

She asks, "Can you get it over the counter?"

He answer, "If I take two of them!"





      

FEBRUARY BREAK

 

Dawn Boyle  

The children have been home on February break since Friday....I swore once that I would never go through another winter break without going away, I lied.

A few months ago while figuring what to get my in-laws for the holidays,we decided that we would go away together and skip presents. It started out with us hitting Florida for a few days. Getting a house on the beach, swimming all day and bbq'n every night. It was going to be perfect. I was going to find a house, get the flights, rent a car and set everyone up with a very in-expensive get away.

Was I wrong, airline tickets to travel during winter break was going to cost us two mortgage payments and a house on the ocean would be another. Thinking about it....did I really want to spend my "vacation" cooking and cleaning someone else's house?

Wanna Laugh?!?!

Tony Walker

Several men are in the locker room of a golf club. A cellular phone on a bench rings and a man engages the hands-free speaker function and begins to talk. Everyone else in the room stops to listen. 
  
 MAN: "Hello" 
  
 WOMAN: "Hi Honey, it's me. Are you at the club?" 
  
 MAN: "Yes." 
  
 WOMAN: "I'm at the shops now and found this beautiful leather coat. 
 It's only $2,000; is it OK if I buy it?" 
 
 MAN: "Sure, go ahead if you like it that much." 
 
 WOMAN: "I also stopped by the Lexus dealership and saw the new models. I saw one I really liked." 
 
 MAN: "How much?" 

GET OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY

 

Barbara Ward-Finneran

Get out of your own way... Life is about making a comeback. 

It’s all to easy to decide to put off or wait till next week what needs to be done.  In many cases what is long over due.  I can not put my finger on exactly when I decided that I had had enough.  I know I heard the voice in my head constantly saying you have to stop.  An emotional eater who was torn with every spoonful of ice cream knowing in essence that I was killing myself with every bite.  Yet spiraling for over two years with not being able to be in control for more then a few weeks at a time.  Wondering often, “When exactly did I lose control of my life?!”

My 40th birthday was approaching in the spring and I knew I did not want to start the next phase of my life with my five foot one inch frame carrying a morbidly obese amount of weight.  I prayed for the courage and strength to commit to taking my life back.  One day I looked ahead on the calendar to see when exactly my 40th birthday hit.  And, there was the sign I prayed for, April 12, 2009 was Easter Sunday.  Easter, the day of resurrection.  The day of new life.  The tears streamed and I knew I’d had enough.  Time to reclaim my life and find the girl who felt alive when reaching for goals and chasing her dreams. I looked at the tired, dull eyed reflection in the mirror and said out loud, “I want more and only I can make that happen”.

THE ONE WHO JUST APPEARS

“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.”
                                                                                   -Henri Nouwen


Marion Pellicano Ambrose
    
     As you read this quote, did the image of that special friend fill your mind?  You know the one I mean- the one who just appears when you’re feeling down. The friend who listens to you complain about someone who treated you badly and exclaims “that bitch!” even though she doesn’t even know the person! She knows your thoughts and anticipates your moods. She listens and brings chocolate and wine!

SOUL FOOD

Barbara Ward-Finneran 

Only when the walls are allowed to crumble can new light shine in. If you permit it - light will bring brilliance and banish the darkness. Look towards the light and the shadows must fall behind you. Your most empowered self is revealed when you focus on the light within the heart and soul - then the true beauty of life and all it's endless dreams are revealed.

Keep the promises that you make to yourself!

Photo Courtesy of Barbara Ward-Finneran and  Drawn 2 Designs, LLC  

All Rights Reserved

STICKY SWEET

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Patty B

"The Multi-Tasking Method: Eat chocolate while you're fixing supper, helping kids with their homework and ironing your dress slacks."

"Eating chocolate produces some of the same endorphins that sex does. And you can eat chocolate at work."

"24 hours in a day, 24 pieces of chocolate in a box. Coincidence?"

 

YUM!

YUMMY!

YUM!

YUMMY!

YUM!

YUMMY!