friends – Page 3 – Karen Creamer Author, Coach, Speaker

My first 100 Days of Grace

February 3, 2016February 3, 2016 by Karen, posted in Angels, family, friends, good grief, He and me, Meditation

I was wondering once again this past Sunday why the heck I had chosen Grace to be my word–or more accurately, Grace had chosen me to be its person –this year. Brave, my word last year, was a

great word! A word you can sink your teeth into! Get your mind around! Get a grip on! Grace is…not. It’s elusive. Ephemeral. Unknown. Unfixed…kind of like me.

So my old friend Jane and my new friend Lisa and I were talking about this on Sunday, when they told me about the 100 day project they had started. They invited me to join, so I did.

Every day I say:

Thank you, God. I am in day ____ of my first 100 days of Grace.

Here is what’s happened during my first 3 days of my first 100 days of Grace:

Day 1 Grace: Jane introduced me to Lisa, who told me about her company Cosmic Tonic and T shirts that say Limitless on them (written in a special way). The song Limitless had been in my head all morning, and I had posted a link to it on one of my Facebook pages, The Metaphysical Nurse, right before I met her. (I know, right?!)
Day 2 Grace: Bill, my husband, finished reading the first book I wrote and he told me he loved it. One thing about my husband: He never lies, especially not to spare my feelings. YAY!
Day 3 Grace: The song King of the Road was in my head, and a brief flash of a memory of my mother singing it. A visitation? It felt like it was. A gift. The 20th anniversary of her death is this month, February 29.

That’s it so far.

Consider trying this for yourself!

**Here’s a clip of the song King of the Road being sung by one of my mother’s favorite singers, Dean Martin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZWvi0MaIZs

**Here is the link to some of the many posts I’ve written about My One Word. https://kwrites.com/category/my-one-word/

**I gave meditation a hundred days last year. Here is the link the Give it 100 website, which really helped me succeed: https://giveit100.com/

Connection

December 6, 2015December 6, 2015 by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, friends, Holidays, Karen's Kitchen, my one word

I was just watching Valerie Bertinelli’s new cooking show on the Food Network. It turns out that Karen’s Kitchen isn’t so different from Valeries’s Kitchen. She was making a buffet for a Christmas gathering and it consisted of lasagna, salad, and a favorite Italian cookie from childhood.

I realized as I watched that one of my own favorite Italian dinners is the same. The lasagna recipe I remember from my own family dinners of yore, salad, and a different cookie, but still a favorite Italian cookie that I grew up with (I am not surprised that both of our dessert recipes include chocolate… 🙂 ).

Of course there are some differences, the biggest of which is this: Valerie has both of her parents with her. Mine have long since departed.

At the end of the show, I was surprised to hear them talking about choosing a word for next year! Their words were much different from mine (Hello, ‘Butter’? ‘Bacon’? How did I not think of using a food as my one word? Ha!).

Lesson: we really are all connected, aren’t we? We can be connected to people that we have never met by our food and our (Italian) heritage, as in this case, but there are many other ways that we can find connection in our everyday lives.

My one word, 2016 preview

October 22, 2015October 22, 2015 by Karen, posted in friends, my one word, The write words at the write time, writing

January is coming fast. The past several years I have participated in the My One Word project. In a nutshell, you choose a word that ‘will inspire you all year long’. It’s sort of like making New Year’s Resolutions, but simpler. And harder.

It’s not too early to start thinking about your word. You may already know what it is! A word may have sprung to mind the moment you read the phrase. If so, great. Go with it. Trust your gut. Otherwise, you can start paying attention. A word may present itself to you over and over, and then you will know. Yes. Yes, that’s my one word.

This year, my one word is Brave. I have to say that I have pushed myself to try things and go places that I never would have if I wasn’t being brave. Looking back, I am truly amazed! And there are still more than two months left to 2015!

You can keep your one word private, or you can tell some friends. I will say that having told my friend Sheila this year, she reminded me (when I needed to be reminded-you know, whenever I was trying to talk myself out of doing that hard thing? She reminded me I was Being Brave this year, so I had to do it).

If you choose a popular word, like BREATHE (this is NOT going to be my word for 2016; just an example!), you can find plenty of things to keep around you to remind you after January comes and goes that you are doing this.

Need some help choosing your word? Go to pick your word.

Wherever I go, there they are

July 23, 2015July 23, 2015 by Karen, posted in Crystals, education, friends, He and me, health, Metaphysical healing, Travel

For a long time now, every time I go to the beach, a particular kind of blue stone calls to me: Karen!! Yoohoo! Here I am! “Pick me! Choose me! Love me!” (borrowed this quote from a movie but at the moment it escapes me which one). For over a year this has been happening. I have all different shapes (even heart-shaped!) and sizes of these beautiful blue rocks, so many that before last winter I brought some of them outside and scattered them in my yard.

A few weeks ago, I heard them calling to me again and I retrieved a few and brought them back inside (was that wrong??).

Over the past several months, I have been wanting to know exactly what these stones are. I have tortured my friends with questions about them (But what do you really think it is?). I have scoured books and the internet for pictures resembling my stones with no success. I have asked the stones themselves to tell me what they are (they told me they were quartz). I thought, “BUT YOU ARE BLUE!” Is there such a thing as blue quartz?

So, I packed up my stones and my husband and I went to Bethel and met Maggie (I hope I spelled her name correctly!) at the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum. I showed her my rocks. She knew right away what they were.

Smoky Quartz!

So, I said, “But why are they BLUE? Smoky quartz is not blue!” Without missing a beat, she asked, “Did you find these near a river or the ocean?”

🙂

I did.

It turns out that being in the ocean, over time, turns smoky quartz blue. When I told her these rocks are following me everywhere, she said, “Maybe you need some grounding…”

Who, me?

Birthday club

June 28, 2015June 28, 2015 by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, friends, quest for the best, restaurants

I am part of a great group of nurses who all work from home. Once a month we (mostly) all get together for breakfast and to celebrate a birthday, if there is one that month. This month we went to Two Hands Crepe and Juice Bar in Brunswick.

Okay, it’s a hike to Brunswick from Wells, but you can get thay-uh from he-uh, and it was totally worth the trip.

I ordered a sweet: the Strawberry and Nutella Crepe (pictured on the left) and it was EXCELLENT. The birthday girl, Annette, ordered a savory: the egg, ham, and cheese. Annette, who has spent time recently in France (I know, right??), said that her crepe compared favorably to ones she’d had there. So…Two Hands got a hit!

The space itself was sunny and bright. The staff was caring and conscientious. The artwork (paintings of animals) that adorned the walls was compelling. The giraffe Made. My. Day. 🙂

My only regret was that I didn’t have time to go visit the farmers market happening around the corner. It looked fabulous (note to self: plan extra time for the next Friday morning visit).

If you are in Brunswick for breakfast, go check them out.

(Hint: There is no parking lot. Find a space on the street out front.)

Bon appetit!

(I know, predictable! But I couldn’t resist!!)

🙂

SoulCollage Intro Class

March 7, 2015March 7, 2015 by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, friends, local fun, SoulCollage

Last weekend I finally was able to take the SoulCollage Intro Class at Bean Tree Place that I’ve been wanting to take for over a year. The planets aligned (and my daughter’s cheering schedule ended) and it finally happened.

It was worth the wait.

It was a just-big-enough class of four students plus the facilitator, Nancy. Nancy had done a lot of prepping for us, including laying out some snack-y foods (hello? Standard Bakery Scones? LOVE! And my go-to chocolate, Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Kisses…but I digress) in her bright, sunny kitchen. After the introductions, we got to work.

I made four cards, and after the class I made another four. This is one of my favorite ones that I made in the class:

Any other people new to SoulCollage out there?

Bunnies for sale!

February 15, 2015 by Karen, posted in Animals and pets, friends

My daughter’s friend has been raising bunnies (some are rescued bunnies) and there are now some ready for sale. Presenting Brianna’s Bunnies (click on the pictures for some notes about the bunny):

FROM THE SELLER: There is also a tenth bunny (not yet named so you can name this one yourself!) for which there is no picture yet available. The seller doesn’t really know much about her. She came from a friend of hers whose her kids lost interest in her. She loves other bunnies and is really pretty. If you are interested in her, she will send a picture.

PLEASE NOTE: You will need a cage, and of course, food and a water source for your new bunny. One bunny costs $20, or you can buy two for $35. Comment below with your name and phone number and Bri will call you back.

Please consider giving one (or more!) of these bunnies a loving home.

Dear Coffee, I love you

February 1, 2015February 1, 2015 by Karen, posted in Angels, family, friends, Life in the cube, Work from Home

“Before coffee, I’m up, I’m moving around, but I’m not awake,” said some wise soul somewhere. Until I typed the words, I actually couldn’t remember where I’d heard it but I just did. Peter Falk uttered this truism in one of his Columbo episodes.

Truer words (about me) were never spoken.

How did I get here?
College.

My other favorite coffee quote is from a Tom Hanks in You’ve Got Mail:

“I love Patricia. Patricia’s amazing. Patricia makes coffee nervous.”

🙂

I have surrounded my coffee drinking with cool stuff. (Why should the tea drinkers have all the fun rituals?)

A Keurig, so that I never have to wait more than 30 seconds for my coffee.
Coffee straws (see picture), just because I like them.
Cute mugs, like the Dunkin Donuts one pictured here. I have several of these because they remind me of my Dad (who was a doughnut maker once) and my friend Sheri (who bought me one I really wanted one year for my cubicle at work when I really didn’t need another coffee mug).
My little coffee warmer. Okay, so I have two of these: one in my home office and one next to my bed. They make me happy.

My current favorite coffee is Green Mountain’s Spicy Eggnog, about which I often wax rhapsodic. Alas, it is a seasonal flavor.

So, I buy it by the case. My friend Traci told me about Big Cat Coffees and the pricing there is FAB.U.LOUS.

Please participate in the poll below:

Comment below with your favorite coffee flavor!

Minions!!

October 26, 2014 by Karen, posted in friends, Life in the cube, movies, Party for one, Work from Home

If you love the minions and are trolling for minion products to surround yourself with happiness, I am here to lend you a hand.

Walmart has small packages of minion stickers in the card/party section and boxes of minion bandaids in the (you guessed it) the bandaid section. Both are inexpensive, under $3. The Women’s section has one-piece pajamas that are covered in minions, and it has a hood that consists of a minion head with glasses for $20. (HINT: Makes a great Halloween costume!).

The Dollar Store has these cups (look to your left) for (you guessed it) only $1.

Target has some very cute T shirts for about $8-$9. I found one in the Women’s section, several Boys’ section (even a Halloween-themed one), and a couple in the Girls’ section. They also had some very cool knit hats and little stretchy gloves for boys, but alas, they only came in size 4-7 which was too small for my head and hands.

Pay attention when you cut the tags off of any minion clothing you buy; some of them have cool cardboard minion TAGS. I have used them for book marks, and I also have one taped to my computer monitor at work.

Why not? It’s the little things, right?

Smooth sailing-not

October 12, 2014October 12, 2014 by Karen, posted in Angels, friends

You know how they say you know when you are on the right path? That doors fly open? The road rises up to meet you? Well, when I decided to knit a prayer shawl for my friend, this is what I expected to happen.

I was wrong.

First, I couldn’t find my knitting (note: expensive) needles anywhere. Any. Where. I looked for hours, then days. When praying to the patron saint of lost things didn’t work, and time was a-wastin’, I decided to order a set from Amazon, thereby saving myself the time it would take to drive to the yarn store and back (where I had already driven to buy the yarn). After a week the package came and, although there was something in the box, the required needles were not. Now time was really getting short, so I did drive (again) to the yarn shop and bought new needles.

I thought it was odd to encounter so many obstacles to getting my project started, but once it was underway I was relieved and no longer worried that I wouldn’t finish in time.

Until I made a mistake. A huge mistake. A mistake I have never, ever made when knitting. I somehow put a row on going in the opposite direction. I have no idea how this happened, other than that it was my first row that I added after getting up that morning. The only way to fix it was to rip it out and re-knit it. Now, I have never ripped out any part of a knitting project without someone standing next to me (more often than not, it was my friend Sheri, who died last year), ready to save the day.

This was a perfect example of ‘feeling the fear and doing it anyway’. I called on Sheri to help me. I ripped. I somehow got all the stitches back onto a contrasting piece of yarn. Then I somehow got all of the stitches back on the needles. Then I somehow was able to recognize which ones weren’t facing the right way and I turned them around as I went.

I completed the project on time so all was well, but still…I cannot think why there were so many obstacles toward doing the a nice thing for someone else. I guess the message here is: no matter what, persevere. And, I get by with a little help from my friend(s). 🙂