I love this story.

A fishing boat was docked in a tiny coastal village south of the border. An American tourist complimented the local fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them. "Not very long", answered the fisherman. "Then why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" asked the American. The man said that his small catch was enough for his family. The American asked, "What do you do with the rest of your time?" The fisherman replied, "I sleep late, play with my children, catch a few fish, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar and sing a few songs. I have fun…"

The American interrupted, "Hey, I have an MBA from Duke and I can help you. Start by fishing longer every day and selling the extra fish you catch then you can buy a bigger boat. The larger boat will bring in more money and you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet. Instead of selling to a middleman, you can sell directly to the processing plants. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, LA or New York City! There you can direct your enterprise."

"How long would that take?" asked the fisherman. "20-25 years", replied the American. "And after that?" asked the fisherman. "That's when it gets really interesting", answered the American, smiling. "When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!" "Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the fisherman.

"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny coastal village, sleep late, play with your grandchildren, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and playing the guitar with your friends!"

--unknown author

When all your desires are distilled
You will cast just two votes:

To love more,
And be happy.

--Hafiz

That's all I have today. I'm just really feeling this quote. :)

Gratitude

At church this weekend, the talk was about living a life of gratitude. I feel like I can always use a reminder of this. It's so easy to focus on the little, piddly things and not see how wonderful things truly are. One quote cited was:

"A penny can block the biggest star in the Universe if held close enough to the eye."
--Alan Cohen

It's all up to us. What we choose to focus on....is our choice. I want to live a life of love, happiness, and gratitude. Not one of fear, resentment, and lack. And since it's my choice, that's what I'm going to do. How about you? :)

Time with friends

Last night I went out to dinner with some friends and then we went to see a friend in a play. For that time I was able to just be me. To talk and laugh without worrying about anything. It was wonderful. The kids had a good time with their dad and the World didn't end because I wasn't home with them. I am learning I can be a mother and wife and be myself. I've heard people say it was possible and helps you to be a better mom and wife, but I never really-and-truly understood that. I think I do now.

Back to Life

I'm coming back to life!!! Both on here and in the real world. Life is good once again. We're all healthy and plan on staying that way. :)

I've also been making a point lately to truly enjoy my life. Instead of constantly thinking about what needs to be done, I've been stopping and living in the moment. When I'm on the floor, building car tracks or houses with the kids, that's what I'm doing. It's actually a lot of fun being creative....much better than planning the next cleaning task. They enjoy it a lot more that way too.

I've also been noticing how much I have and how lucky I am. I have been so blessed in life. I have a wonderful family. I have the best job in the World. I live in one of the most beautiful places on Earth and I have so many amazing friends. It just makes me want to give the Universe a giant hug.

Love to you all.

Crazy languages!

Okay...if you checked out my blog in the last couple days, you might have been confused by the Spanish settings. lol. Goodness knows I was! I didn't even realize it was in Spanish until a friend informed me. (Thanks!) My almost-3 year-old daughter has been playing on the computer a lot...she says she's a "big girl" so she needs to work on the "puter" now. Somehow, she managed to change the part I saw to Hindi. In trying to change it back, somehow I managed to change the part you see to Spanish. lol I'm hoping it never happens again, but at least now I can find the button to change it, no matter what language it's in....I think. Aren't little ones fun? :)

Sorry for any confusion. I hope you are ready for a wonderful week!

Homemade pizza

My son and I made homemade dough, homemade sausage and homemade sauce for one of the most delicious pizzas I have ever had yesterday. It was really fun to make it as much from scratch as we could. He said that next time he wants to grow all the herbs and make the cheese too. lol. It was such a neat thing to see him think all the way back to planting the tomato seeds, watering the plants and watching the tomatoes go through the whole process to ending up on our pizza. It was fun for me too, actually. :)