Nothing But The Best

This particular post, I promise will be brief, short and straight to the point. I usually write about success and life changing events, and this is truly one of them. All that needs to be said is, if you're one of the many who consume various types of stimulants to get you through the days task, because of the stresses and the lack of sustained energy needed just to function them. Then today, your quest for the only energy drink available to date that's ALL NATURAL, is right before your very eyes.

The END!!!

The Grill Masters

Well its that time of the year again, when every single one of those little or big, round or square, hot and steaming gadgets come out to play. The result of using one of these incredible and helpful inventions, will satisfy and bring even the pickiest eaters to their knees. I'm talking about the grill masters, those unique and skillful people who enjoy cooking in and over, bonfire's, open pits, charcoal, electric, gas, and propane.

You may have to get off the couch and out of the house, to go catch it and or kill it, but by golly if and when you do .. you can cook it and then you get to eat it. Or you can do what I'm going to do and go down to your nearest Publix supermarket and buy it, and then cook it.

It's called Time Management!!

When I decide that I want meat, I go for steaks. Not just any ole steak, I go for the biggest, tastiest rib eye, T-Bone (aka Porterhouse), I can get. Money is no option with me when it comes to food. Its about quality, quality, quality.

Once I get it home, I get to know that lovely piece of goodness in a nurturing and pampering fashion. Do not confuse this vital process with those who "play with their food", its not the same thing. Besides its my steak.

Now where was I... Oh, so as I was saying, I start with a little steak shower, by rinsing it off under a mild stream of cool sink water (steaks love it). Then I pat it dry with a 2 ply paper towel. After letting it rest for a spell, I pull out all my favorite spices and seasons and sprinkle them all over the steak (making sure to turn it over on the other side too). The steak really appreciates it when you gently rub all the spices in. It just seems to go, ahhhhhhh.

Next, you need to consider a liquid marinade of your choice, to bring everything together and then finally, slowly s-l-i-d-e your incredible creation, into a storage bag and put it to bed for the next 1 to 2 days to hibernate, in the refrigerator.

Finally, its judgement day. Take the rested, well marinated steak, out of the frig and set it on the counter to reach room temperature. In the meantime, you should be starting on all the additional side fixings. Hopefully, you already know and have decided on your desired cooking method, because there's some additional preparations to be done for that too, but that's another day and different blog title.

This weekend, I'm going the charcoal route. I love the flavor results and although its a little more work involved, it definitely works for me. After the coals are ashed over, I place my hand over the grill and count a few Mississippi's. This is a great way to determine the heat and temperature of the grill. It needs to be somewhat HOT, perhaps equivalent to medium high, so the counting will be short lived.

Place the steak(s) on the grill, and cook for about 4-6 minutes (depending on your preference of when its done). You can also pour any left over marinade on the steaks as they grill.

Be careful of the possible FLARE-UPS.

Turn the steaks and continue grilling to your desired preference.

Ring the bell... Ding, Ding, It's Time to EAT!!!!

Can We TALK?

HELLO....

There are times, when I wonder why and what is causing that burned out feeling, I sometimes get between my ears, as if my brain is screaming "ugh!, I'm FRIED!!" If this sounds familiar, then I'm happy to know that it's not just me.

A few days ago, someone very close to me suggested that I needed to catch up with the rest of the world, especially when it comes to communications. At first, I wanted to react vs respond to their statement. I said its their opinion; it's just an observation; after all everyone has one of these and they are, well... entitled to it.

NO way, I said to myself. I'm a great communicator, ask... never mind, calm down. I took a deep breath and realized that I had misunderstood their meaning. Oops!

It was not my communication skills they referred to, but the method and or types of communication I was utilizing day to day. Duhhhhh!

Think about it, we've come a long, long way since the beginning.

For instance:

There was the thundering voice of God. He spoke, man listened (just that simple). Remember the bird and the olive leaf; How about those numerous numbers of disciples who traveled to different part of the land, way back then; Some how drums got in the mix, and who could ever forget about the time when smoke signals was the game of the day; I'm not sure, but the US mail got in the act at sometime too; then we started using vibrations from a string tied between two cans, (that must have been fun, especially since the parties were standing right next to each other).

Then as people got smarter (go figure that), the telegraph and the telephone, then pagers, computers and then.... EUREKA, we exploded and out did ourselves with the Internet.

Whew!!

There's more because cellphones, email, texting, instant messaging, my Space, Facebook and its cousin Plaxo showed up, and then finally twitter ( I thought this was the return of the bird).

If you're still wondering what the heck I'm talking about and why is my brain FRYING, I'll let you in on a little secret.

You see, I personally have been around long enough to have used a whole lot of these communicators, but I'm NOT telling you which ones.

Its for me to know and for you to find out.

Have fun.

The Winter Will Come

I have been involved in the health and fitness arena for a long time. I'm not a professional when it comes to nutrition or health problems, but I've enjoyed learning through trial and error, and I've had some success with my personal fitness goals. I've been somewhat of a gym rat since age 18. Long before my father died, he would give me advise about fitness, mainly because of his own involvement in this same enjoyable and rewarding sport. To him being fit was everything, mainly because he believed it supported a lot of other areas that people took for granted. Things like; self confidence, personal appearance, self esteem, and overall health and well being. These are all very, very important things to possess, but of course being fit is also one of those, things you choose to do or not do.

One day, we were just sitting around and talking, when I interrupted our conversation, because I was in a hurry to get outside and spend some time with my friends. You see my father took pride in giving my sister and I lessons or life tips as he called them, whenever the opportunty presented itself. Each and everyone of those "life tips", seemed to parallel with and or remind me, of all those Sundays spent in church hearing about biblical parables. I took a deep breath and asked him hastily "Do I really need to spend this much time in the gym." He paused, looked me in the eye, and at that point I knew right away, that it would be awhile before I was going outside. I was going to learn a new lesson, whether I wanted one or not, and he was going to take his time, with its delivery.

I can still hear his voice saying, "Every year brings about a new season, and as the seasons change, even the smallest of animals prepare, and so should you." What?, I thought, to myself. He went on to say, 'Take the squirrel for instance, early in the spring, summer and during the fall, the squirrel collects nuts and stores them up. Although some animals, with larger brains procrastinate or choose unwisely not to prepare or figure out why the squirrel is doing this". I couldn't help myself, I said what does nuts and squirrels and other brain dead animals have to do with me? He just smiled and said, "Everything my impatient son. Even the squirrel knows that the winter will come, and there won't be much food around to survive on". I still didn't get it, but since I knew he was not done and had more to impart to me, I shut up and decided to open my ears.

He told me that, because the squirrel made preparations for the winter he was able to take care of him self and survived when some other animals couldn't, during the tough times. He then made his point very clear and etched its meaning into my mind and soul by saying, "You're young now, but one day, your winter will come, today you are living in the spring, summer and fall of your life. If you do the things required to take good care of yourself now while you're able, perhaps like the squirrel, when the tough times come (your winter), your fit body will take care of you too.

Thanks Dad, and by the way....I didn't forget.

Still Sparkling

Last night, we were invited guest to one of the most amazing events that will stay with me for a very very long time. Actually, I probably should give more expressive power to a word, I used in the previous sentence. For you see my friends, it was not just any old "event". The experience was more than that. The experience last night was more reflective of a term I believe, would be more defined, to me as a 'Life Changing" event.

Last night, an incredible couple, who's first names are Happy and Elyse, celebrated 30 years of marriage to each other. Some might say, "that's nice" or "Really" or "WOW!", but even those terms won't give justice to the heart felt feelings of LOVE, that permeated that romantic and elegantly decorated banquet hall.

I have only known this couple for a short time. Although, I must admit that I would have loved the opportunity to have known them sooner. They are a very loving couple, who observably are very wealthy in the respect that, they are not over concerned with placing the focus or spotlight on themselves alone. I believe they are in touch with what it means to share. Its very apparent that they are deeply focused and immersed in the fact that they truly love each other unconditionally. Then they take it a step further and they spread their magical wealth to all of the members of their family, as well as their friends too.

Obviously, they deserve and should be commended for these attributes, because it's also vividly displayed in the personalities and actions of their children as well. When people use the expression, "The nut doesn't fall far from the tree". I see and understand exactly what that expression means, especially when you watch their children interact with people around them. I guess we can agree that, being a good example, really does pay off.

I first met Happy and Elyse, through two of my family members, Cheryle and Barclay, who rarely if ever, hosts a social gathering at their home without them being in attendance. Thank You, guys.

Personally, I'd like to think of myself as just a person who loves people. Although, my friends have sometimes classified me as a social butterfly. All of these statements are true and are definitely rooted in my passion, to just observe other people being themselves. I love watching the interaction between others and the methods they use, whether its verbal or non verbal. I especially focus in on the techniques they use when problem solving, or how they seem to navigate when filtering through some of the challenges faced in this life. So it would be factual to say, that last night I was very much in my comfort zone, observing this wonderful couple.

A RELATIONSHIP is defined as an emotional connection and mutual dealings between people; PASSION is defined as having an intense emotion for..; and LOVE is defined as having a strong positive emotion for.., so if I had the pleasure of rewriting the dictionary, I would appropriately place a picture of Happy and Elyse right next to these words. PERIOD!!

This life has so many snares, twist and turns, its amazing to me they are still very much in LOVE and even still TOGETHER. There are so many ungrateful people around us, who take all of life blessings for granted. Those are the people who have accepted the term "fall" in Love, without gaining its full meaning. Their expressed Love for each one another is sometimes regrettably surface oriented, which will never stand the test of time. I'm not an expert or the Love Doctor on this topic, but it seems to me if examined closely, it stands to reason why so many who "fall" in Love, can easily "fall" out of Love. I believe it takes much more than just "falling", it takes one to GROW in Love. I think this is exhibited in the marital life of this special couple and what they've accomplished together.

If you asked them, they would probably tell you that they've spent their efforts; commitment; and joy together in the JOURNEY and not just in the mere DESTINATION. They didn't quit.

So many people today give up as fast as they begin. In other words, they quit at any and everything they do. They quit their jobs, their relationships, and some even quit on themselves. They want it right now, and they could care less about earning it. Many people start, but few people finish.

I know Happy and Elyse are not perfect people, nor would they have you to believe that they are either. So... If any of you, are fortunate enough to have family; friends or acquaintances, who resemble this couple in anyway, please be very very thankful for this God sent blessing, and then I suggest you begin to enrich your own relationships with one another, by merely sitting back and observing their commitment to unconditional LOVE.

Congratulations!! Happy and Elyse

Honey Do Lists

I don't know about you, but just in case you've never had the privilege of having countless numbers of domestic tasks, assigned to you by your spouse or significant other, stick around you could be next. It's not as though, I really lay around all day on the couch, flicking the remote, but it's something that I'm seriously going to look into very, very soon.

This was supposed to be one of those take it easy and chill out days... NOT!!

My youngest daughter is out of school for the summer, so we started our day together going out to eat breakfast, at one of her favorite Cuban restaurant. We were engaged in heavenly daddy/daughter talk, which covered various topics concerning her and the past school year. We were really having a great time. As our conversation turned to discusssing her participation, in this years basketball season, my previously scheduled iPhone reminder began to ring. Of course, I decided to ignore it, because if you've read a few of my previous blog post, you know that I'm on a serious mission to improve and eliminate my 'Quantity" time spent with the family and replace it with more 'Quality" time.

Thirty minutes rapidly went by, and guess what? That darn thing started up again. Ringgggg!! Oh God, now what? Well, angrily my daughter and the people sitting near us began to visually let me know, that the noise coming from the gadget on my hip, was beginning to get on their nerves. I would have reciprocated with a stare down of my own, but I remembered that I was the genius who had set the phone for multiple alert notifications. DUH..

If that wasn't enough, my lovely and task oriented wife, began to call also. I know what you're thinking, and you're right, I obediently answered and she began to remind me of all the things she wanted me to get done. Things like, how wonderful it would be for me to volunteer, yes she said, "volunteer".... to fix dinner. It wasn't that big of a deal, except that it requires me to proceed to the nearest Publix and then pace up and down the different aisles, and then eventually, fill up the cart with more items than I was requested to get.

What's great, is that once you're done and ready to leave the store, there are generally at least 6 or more checkout lanes. Yeah!

Hold it, you've got to be kidding me; of the 6 or more available lanes, there is only 2 that are open, and the one that says EXPRESS, has a line long enough to hang you. Next on my 'honey do" list was the cleaners; Walgreen's; the GMC dealership; and finally the bank.

I have discovered a new passion. A passion strong enough to motivate me to seek an assignment (part-time, of course), within the county's CSI unit and come up with a sophisticated counter system; or formula; or a prescription or a simple antidote, that can be utilized by victims like myself, that will cure and fight mightily against these types of afflictions.

I don't know if it will work, because I have not developed it yet. But, when I do and I test my new theory, I can probably guarantee you that, it will definitely create some interesting dialog, if you know what I mean.

You Can do It!

Being retired, can and should be one of those wonderful special places, to find yourself in this life. Especially, if you're ending your responsibility to the workforce, on your own terms and most importantly you're leaving in good health. At least that's the way it was for me, (Thank You God).

Of course, there may be some newly acquired stresses that come with this monumental event. Like the stress of wondering, what am I going to do differently everyday, with all this uncharted free time? This was my response to that question. I would say, "Remember, I have the rest of my life, to do whatever I want to do, with the rest of my life.

First of all, if you haven't left yet, take the time now to put somethings in order. Start by sitting down and putting your thoughts about what it will mean to YOU to retire. If you're starting to feel some anxiety over just the mere thought of this topic, then examine the what and why, that maybe fueling this emotion. Next, maybe you may want to sit down with a professional to talk about future health insurance and additional financial matters that are not provided by your pension.

Then, I suggest you focus on obligating yourself to doing and achieving all those incredible FUN things, you never had the time to take advantage of, when you where a slave to the J.O.B., which really should have stood for the place that caused you to be, "Just above BROKE" ummmm.

I discovered, that I could now spend the entire day at the gym if I choose to. It was the place that I encountered, countless numbers of people, whom I'd never met before. This was naturally a good thing, because it kept me from becoming a hermit, or acquiring that strange feeling of becoming isolated or lonesome during the day. I personally chose a fitness company that would allow my membership to used at facilities both near and far. So, if I did get bored with all those new faces; personalities; the equipment, or if I just wanted to change my surroundings, I would just go to one of the other gym locations provided by my contract. Then, I would have a whole new and different experience, discussing why this exercise is better suited for developing this particular body part and learning about some new supplement that everybody was raving about, and why you need to eat multiple meals during the day and then the importance of taking in the right amount of protein for muscle growth, etc, etc. Whew!

Suddenly, one day I also realized, that as much as I thought I hated the mere mentioning of playing golf (I'm a contact sport kind of guy), I was magically and mysteriously drawn to it. In fact, I signed up to take lessons from a Certified Professional Instructor, and I even went to a local bookstore and purchased a book called golf for people like me.....'dummies". Humbly, I had to accept the fact that, this game proved to be very challenging and it required a whole lot of patience and patience and some more patience. Get my drift?

There's things like addressing the ball; stance; etc., and that's before actually hitting the darn ball. There's learning about each club and what they're capable of doing, as well as gripping them correctly, and still I didn't really get to hit that little dimpled round and sometimes invisible sphere, that sits on its own throne (actually known as a "tee").

Oh but, when I finally did got that chance. The instructor gave me a green light. I put on my best golf face, grabbed a club, stepped up, squared my shoulders, planted my feet, took a deep breath, waggled a little ( I thought I saw Tiger do this once on TV), and then, I got so excited about the opportunity to show it who was the boss that..... well lets just say, it was a kodak moment and you've got to get out there and try it yourself. I'll leave it at that!

Bottom line:

There's so many things to do with your time, you don't have to do it all in one day. Life is awesome, but it is also short.

Day dream about tomorrow but, Thrive and Live in the moment of Today; Laugh a lot, Sing and Shout out loud, because you've really got something to Shout about; Love Unconditionally; Think, Sleep, Breathe, Walk, Talk, Exhibit and Share, Life to the fullest.

It's all up to you, if I can do it.. You Can Do It!!