Snow, Snow Go Away

Since Christmas, New York has been hit with one snow storm after another. I’m sick of it. Our kids had trouble getting out of New York with delays and cancellations because the snow was not cleaned up in a timely fashion.

Shame, shame New York. Seriously, where do we live? Isn’t this the “big city?” Nothing stops us from what we want to do, except apparently snow. I was embarrassed by the way snow removal had been handled after that first storm. I remember larger storms and better clean up years past. All of a sudden a city that never sleeps was asleep on the job. Brooklyn was the worst.

We went to see Tom’s dad in Brooklyn and city buses were stuck in mid turn. I’ve never seen that before. Major streets were not plowed. They received lots of criticism and they tried to do better when the second storm hit.

Now it appears we are getting a storm or two a week. The old has not passed away before the new has come.

Seriously, I’m ready to plant a church in Maui. Who’s coming with me?

© Nadine Zawacki 2011

Humor Me

“Humor me” is a term used to describe what you do for someone when you may not be really interested in what they are saying or doing. My husband is fantastic at it. He humors me all the time. It’s okay that he does this because I know he is doing it and he knows that I know he is doing it.

A little humoring goes a long way. It is a skilled that is acquired. When we were first married Tom didn’t possess this skill. We would rent two movies – one for him (that we both would watch) and one for me (that I would watch by myself). Now he will watch a chick flick with me just because he loves me.

Tom doesn’t care for dancing shows. I love them. I love “Dancing with the Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance.” There are times he humors me and listens or watch a dance number that I think is great. He does it with a smile on his face.

Here’s something funny about humoring someone – sometimes you end up really interested in what you are humoring them about. I never really liked action movies or sports shows until I started humoring Tom. Now I really like them.

We have so much in common but our differences are what make us interesting. I love my hubby. He’s my best friend. I know he loves me because he says it and shows it every day.

© Nadine Zawacki 2011

Shirley – I Love You

I love my husband. He gave me a gift for Christmas that keeps on giving – a Kitchen Aid. I love my Kitchen Aid so much that I named her Shirley. Why name her? Well, she is more like a partner in the kitchen rather than a mere appliance. She whips and mixes like nothing I’ve ever used before. I wanted one for 20 years so the least I could do is name her.

The very first thing I made was whipped cream. It was easy, creamy, light – everything whipped cream should be. Below is a picture of fresh fruit (blackberries and raspberries) and whipped cream. The only thing missing is shaved chocolate on top.
Then Shirley and I made homemade pizza dough. It was easy and delicious. My pepperoni bread never looked or tasted so good.
I love playing around with Shirley. We make a good team. I really don’t know how I managed without her all these years. Everyone who loves to cook needs to have a Shirley in their life. It makes cooking easy and fun. From mashed potatoes to bread and everything in between will be done with ease.

Thanks Tom for Shirley. I love you. Thank you for spoiling me. And Shirley – well it’s obvious how I feel about you.

© Nadine Zawacki 2011

Would the Voice in My Head Shut Up

Last week Tom started his next round of Rituxon treatments. When cancer came back for a second time a year and half ago, the doctor wanted to do the regular round of chemotherapy followed up with four rounds of maintenance Rituxon treatments spread out over two years.

It was time again for his annual PET scan test. My heart and certain areas of my mind understand the need for this test – to see if cancer has progressed. There are areas of my brain that fail me. My physical body absorbs all that my mind tries to put aside. I can’t sleep, my stomach hurts and other unpleasant side effects.

We sat in the examine room anxious for the results. I felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest. I thought my head would explode if it took just one more minute for the doctor to enter the room. My eyes were trying to keep the water works from flowing. When the doctor finally entered, I put on a smile on my face and waited for the longest three seconds of my life. Everything was fine. The test results were good.

So why do I this to myself every time? I believe when I try to ignore the worry or the concern that’s when my physical body rebels. It’s an ugly cycle that won’t go away. I pray. I asked God for peace.

I love my husband. I need him. I don’t want to lose him. I want the voices in my head to just shut the heck up!

© Nadine Zawacki 2010

Netflix

Our kids told us about Netflix. I’ve seen the commercials and know it’s only $9.00 a month, blah, blah, blah. I just wasn’t interested, but because our kids enjoyed it so much, we decided to give it a try. To make it easier you can try it for a month for free.

For your $9.00 you have unlimited access to movies and television shows online. You can order one DVD at a time to view at home if it’s not available for instant access. The DVDs are delivered to your mailbox and you return it for free by dropping it in the mailbox when you are done. There are no late fees or trips to the store. Why didn’t I do this sooner?

You’re probably asking yourself why is she promoting Netflix? Is she getting a kick back? I love Netflix and unfortunately I don’t get anything for this blog post. When you find something you like, you want to tell your friends about it.

Lately I’ve had trouble sleeping and I’ve enjoyed watching old television shows I’ve never seen before (and are now cancelled) for the first time. No commercials. No anticipation for the next season. I have discovered some gems: Veronica Mars, Roswell, Jack and Bobby. I’m sorry that these shows didn’t get more of chance the first time around.

When you add a show online you can watch it online or on your television if you have a device such as a Roku box. Makes watching even easier.

So if you are a lover of movies or television shows, try Netflix. You get a lot for your $9.00 a month.

Do you have Netflix? Do you enjoy it?

© Nadine Zawacki 2010

Who Invented This Torture Device?

**** This post is of an adult nature, so heed this warning if you are under 18 years old or a man. ****

It was that time again. What time do you ask? It was that time to have that nasty, painful, pinching, squeezing test – a mammogram. As a woman I know the importance of having this test done, but it doesn’t make me look forward to it.

I love being a woman, but I hate this test. This year I was called back to have my left breast rechecked. Apparently there was some calcification that the radiologist wanted to get a closer view. It hurt. It was uncomfortable. I stood there blocking out what was going on.

What I thought about was who invented this torture device? As you may have guess, it was a MAN! Albert Salomon is credited with being the inventor of breast radiology. I think if you invent something you should try it out yourself first. I’m just saying.

I would like to challenge anyone – especially women – to invent a better way to check for cancer. Preferably one that doesn’t involve putting your breast in a vice and having the daylights squeezed out of it. Seriously, anyone? Come on, we live in a very technical age where we can do just about anything with our phones and computers. Do I have to wait until cars can fly?

There has to be a better way.

This is breast cancer awareness month, so ladies do get tested even if this is not a pleasant experience it is a necessary one.

© Nadine Zawacki 2010

The Old Bait and Switch

The other night Tom and headed to Queens for what we thought was an evening of worship with a wonderful recording artist. I’m not going to mention names to protect the innocent as well as the guilty.

The church advertised a concert with this artist. We were excited. It took us an hour to get there but it was worth the drive . . . or so we thought. It started right on time – we appreciated that, but the church’s worship team began to sing. They were good and I thought to myself – “The opening act.” That was fine. They sang two songs and then the artist came out. She was wonderful. She sang for about 20 minutes when the “old bait and switch” happened.

The pastor of the church interrupted because he felt he had something important to share. Okay. That’s cool, but he opened with this line, “I know we can all listen to the “artist” all night long, but I feel . . .” Let me stop you right there Pastor. Yep, I could listen to her sing all night, in fact that was why I came. I didn’t come to hear you speak. It wasn’t what he said was bad, it was that he spoke for about 20 minutes then proceeded to do ministry time and he called up the “worship team” instead of this well known artist to sing while he was ministering to the people.

I am all for ministry time and for people getting healed. Don’t get me wrong. I love to pray for people. This was advertised as a concert and not a conference. At a conference you expect those things to happen. A concert is a concert. We had been there now a total of an hour and half and I had enough. It was time to leave.

Granted no money exchanged hands – so it wasn’t like they “sold” me goods but it still felt like the old bait and switch. It’s not the first time this has happened. I think if you advertise something whether you charge money upfront or you ask for donations you should give the people what they came there for.

It got me to thinking about whether I do that? Do I advertise something and deliver something else. Do I invite people into my home for dinner and just give them dessert? Do I invite people to church and build it up in a way that they expect more than what they received? I hope not. I don’t want to be the type of person that advertise one thing and present another. I try to be honest with myself and who I am. What you see is what you get. I’m not perfect and I never claimed to be, but do I present myself in way that makes people think I am? Hmmm. Food for thought.

© Nadine Zawacki 2010