Judgment Alarm

Originally written in 2008

My neighbor's carbon monoxide alarm went off at 5:45 this morning. Carbon monoxide poisoning is very serious and very scary. The result of this early morning alarm was a street full of emergency vehicles and two teenagers watching MTV in my living room while I tried to go back to sleep.

I have some crazy ideas and thoughts during that time I float between sleep and wakefullness. This is the one I had this morning:

What if they could make an alarm that would go off in my life. Carbon Monoxide is silent and odorless and deadly. There are other things in my life that feel just like that.

Let's say someone makes a stabbing comment, a comment that slips by me in regular conversation but later, it's meaning becomes more clear and bothersome. In the past I would have missed my opportunity to skillfully correct the situation. I would have pondered the intention and probably harbored some hurt feelings.

But with my new "judgement alarm,"

woop, woop, woop.

"Hey wait a minute,

• He told me to leave him alone to recover from his surgery.



• Maybe you're the one with different taste.



• I'm not the snob.



• I'm doing the best I can and my kids are turning out just fine, thank you very much."

I think you could pay more for an upgraded version that would provide you with an "on-star" type-service you could consult for appropriately witty comebacks.


"This is On-star, what is your emergency?"


"I'm taking verbal sniper fire, please send emergency back-up."


Maybe it could link to my cell phone and I could talk to several friends all at the same time.


"She just called my kid fat, what should I say?"

rel=cononical

My last post was for the sole purpose of trying my hand at inserting the code for rel=cononical into the html code.

I was not attempting to plagiarize my own article from FamilyShare.com.

How to be both lucky and blessed

My dad used to tell me a story about a little girl having a very bad day. The school called her parents to pick her up. When they arrived, her arm was in a sling, she had a black eye and a black space where a tooth used to be — and she was smiling. As her parents rushed to comfort her, she opened her hand revealing a shiny object and said, “Look, I’m so lucky, I found a nickel!”

In The Luck Factor: The Four Essential Principles, Richard Wiseman identifies four criteria that contribute to luck in life.

1. Belief: Lucky people believe that they are lucky. They create, notice and act on chance opportunities. They also have a more relaxed attitude about life.

2. Action: Lucky people make things happen by using their gut feelings and intuition.

3. Expectation: Lucky people expect good fortune. They persevere in attempting to achieve their goals.

4. Transformation: Lucky people transform bad luck into good luck. They recognize their good fortune and have a strong conviction that everything will work out for the best.

I have always thought of luck as the little things: a $20 bill in the gutter, winning a drawing, being the 98th caller on the radio station, things that are nice — but not necessary for life and happiness.

I have always thought of blessings as the big things that you need desperately: a miraculous recovery after an accident or illness, finding your soul mate, finally getting a miracle baby, the things that God would care about — the things that would be worth his time.

My family recently attended a celebration that required white handkerchiefs. I, of course, waited until the last minute to buy them. Who actually uses handkerchiefs anymore? At each store I tried, there seemed to be a run on white handkerchiefs. There were none to be found. I finally made my way to the men’s department at Wal-Mart. As I stared at the empty shelves where the white handkerchiefs used to be, a clerk came around the corner with a cart of items to be re-shelved and held up a package of six white handkerchiefs.

I was so relieved that my hunt was over. My husband reminded me of all the big things in our life that we had been praying for: a job after months of unemployment, a home after living with extended family and for our family to feel settled in a new place after moving across the country. He said, “There’s your blessing. You just used it up on white handkerchiefs.”

But in the aisle at Wal-Mart, when everything else in my life seemed to be going wrong, the last package of white handkerchiefs was a blessing. In that moment, I felt that amidst my struggles, God took care of a little thing for me.

You can apply the four essential principles of luck to blessings.

1. Belief: People who feel blessed believe that the good things that happen to them come from God. They look for blessings in their lives, both large and small. They write them down and share them with others.

2. Action: People who feel blessed act on feelings. They reach out to others to give comfort or service. They recognize those feelings as the will of God. They accept help when offered and see it as a blessing.

3. Expectation: People who feel blessed, expect blessings. They know that all good things in life come from God. And they know that because of his love, they can expect to receive his blessings.

4. Transformation: People who feel blessed know that they are not exempt from trials. The blessing in a trial is the comfort received and the life lessons learned. People who feel blessed are grateful for the opportunity to learn.

When something both good and unexpected happens in your life, take time to acknowledge it. And take time to give it the proper attribution. If you believe in God — give thanks. If you call it luck — enjoy the moment.

Luck or blessing is all perspective. When the big things in life are not working out the way you want, you can look for the small blessings — the moments of peace, the shiny nickel in the dirt.

I am not 45 weeks pregnant

I was just informed by a kind friend that I failed to remove the pregnancy ticker from my blog. And while I don't have flat abs (actually never have,) I am not 45 weeks pregnant.



So in place of my pregnancy ticker I will post a picture of my little angel...

• The reason my clothes don't fit.


• The reason I have dark circles under my eyes.


• The reason I'm starving all the time.


• The reason I've become the hand sanitizer police.


• The reason I can't eat chocolate anymore.


• The reason I don't get anything done.

I hope that my child, looking back on today

Will remember a mother who had time to play;

Because children grow up while you're not looking,

There are years ahead for cleaning and cooking.

So, quiet now cobwebs, dust go to sleep.

I'm nursing my baby, and babies don't keep.



Having a baby makes me realign my priorities. All the things I was so concerned with more than nine months ago are out of my control right now. Lily has grown so much already. I don't want to miss even a minute of it.














Lily Mae Schmidt
May 2, 2009

The best chocolate chip cookies ever

Last year, the New York Times published an article dedicated to chocolate. Several friends said they tried these delicious cookies with great success. I love these cookies.

I will admit that I can be a little precise about my baking. Last time I made them, I even weighed the dough on my postal scale to make sure they were exactly the right size.

I love that the recipe has you take out 2 Tbsp. of flour to get just the right amount. I love that right before baking it tells you to push all the chocolate discs flat to make a more attractive cookie.

Most people would not need to go that far. I just hate to go to all the trouble of making a cookie only to have it turn out bad.

Here are the two things I love most about these cookies: Dark Chocolate and salt. Two ingredients that were meant to go together.

Consider whipping some up for Valentine's Day. But start on Feb. 13 because they are supposed to chill overnight.

Pumpkin Waffles

About 12 years ago I visited San Diego on business. Yes, I used to have gainful employment. I used to get dressed up and go into an office, sometimes I traveled on the company card and stayed in nice hotels. My kids find that whole scenario both strange and hilarious.

When I traveled to San Diego, my sister met me there and we visited this great little restaraunt that she found in Sunset magazine. They served the best pumpkin waffles I have ever had. Since that time, my sister and her husband and I have tried various different recipes, unsuccessfully, trying to replicate the perfect texture and taste of these waffles.

Last week I found myself back in San Diego with my sisters and my mom. My brother-in-law, in his endless search for the perfect recipe, found the name and address of the same restaraunt we visited 12 years ago. We were delighted to find that the pumpkin waffles lived up to the memory and were quite delicious. We were even more delighted to find that they sold a mix so we could make them at home. We eagerly bought several mixes, feeling quite smug that we might at last be about to figure out the recipe.

We stopped at the bathroom on our way out of the restaraunt only to find that the recipe for these most delicious waffles was hanging on the wall. It had been published in the November 2000 issue of Gourmet Magazine. Is that called irony?

Pumpkin Waffles from Cafe 222

We've found these waffles work best when make in a Belfian waffle iron.

2 1/2 cups flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 1/4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. cloves

4 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup pumpkin

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

• preheat oven to 250 and preheat waffle iron.


• whisk eggs in a large bowl until blended, then whist in mild, buttermilk, pumpkin, and butter until smooth. whisk in dry ingredients just until smooth. whisk in dry ingredients just until smooth.


• brush waffle ifron lightly with oil and spoon batter into waffle iron, spreading quickly. cook according to manufacturer's instructions.


• transfer waffles to rack in oven to keep warm. make more waffles in same manner.

Fun Run

On Saturday our family participated in our first one mile fun run. Hunter has been running several times a week for several months now. He's been working on building endurance and stamina. We thought a race would be nice motivation. Hunter took a full two minutes off his best time and Emily took first place in her division.

The most satisfying part of this experience was watching my children encourage each other. They didn't compete against each other. They hugged and gave high fives. What great kids. I am truly blessed.

My American Girl

On Thursday I took Emily with our friends Lydia and Rachel to American Girl Place in Manhattan to have afternoon tea and see "Circle of Friends," the stage show that will be closing forever on September 1st.

We decided to make this fun excursion Emily and Lydia's Birthday party this year.

Emily got a new doll. She named her Julia. Then she named her Kate. I'm not sure what her name is now. Julia/Kate has a dog named Coconut. I think Emily likes to play with Coconut more than Julia/Kate. Julia/Kate got some new clothes and a fancy bag to travel in. Coconut got a doggie carrier.

We had tea at the cafe'. It was soooo cute. Everything was tiny and cut into shapes. Emily was more interested in the tiny little cup and saucer for Julia/Kate than in the food.

The show had a great message about friendship and how friends should treat each other. Emily has been singing the circle of friends song ever since. We had a great time and I am so happy that this little American Girl is mine.

The reason I love American Girl is that it let's girls be girls and doesn't push them to grow up too fast. That is also one of the things that I love about Emily. She loves to be seven and she is not concerned about being older. Emily is a joy. It is a pleasure and honor to be her mother. She is happy, eager to help. She is optimistic, she is grateful, she remembers her manners and she does her best to choose the right.

I love my Emily. Happy Birthday.

Tagged

Carissa tagged me....

The rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book (at least 123 pages).
2. Turn to page 123.
3. Find the 5th sentence.
4. Post the 5th sentence on your blog.
5. Tag 5 people.

"Don told me this upcoming passage felt different from the one he made a decade ago."

What Should I Do With My Life? by Po Bronson

This is a book Michael read several years ago. It has nine stories about people who "answered the ultimate question." I pulled it off the bookshelf upstairs yesterday because a girl in my ward is moving and I wanted to copy the chapter for her about the girl who was so upset because her family moved that she didn't utter one word to them for two years. She was a teenager, they lived in the same house and she refused to talk to them. I really need to read it. Sounds like a great coping strategy.

I tag Michael, Amanda, Denise, Lisa, Lynita