I’d heard about this cafe in some magazine and with it being so close, I figured I ought to make a run down and check it out.  Boy am I glad I did.  Sorta–

The food is AWESOME.  The smell alone was worth the drive.  BUT–now I’m going to want to eat here often and that means some serious calories.  How to contain myself?  I wanted to try everything on the menu.  It really did smell that good!

This is an upscale eating establishing IN a Conoco gas station.  Yep, you can still buy gas.  Check ‘em out.

Chef's Point Cafe

Nibbles in a good book

Wow–talk about getting into a good book!  It seemed kinda spooky when Nibbles climbed “into” the cover of Her Fearful Symmetry.  If you’ve read the book, you’ll know why.  If you haven’t–let me just say that the book has to do with a kitten, death, and “climbing into” things.  It was just downright erie what our kitten did!

I did finish the book–still don’t think it was worth $5 million BUT it was good.  And I went away mad at the characters, wanting to call one of the them and tell her what an ass she was.  That’s a sign of a good book–when you think of the characters as living people.

I’d read that Audrey Niffenegger’s new book Her Fearful Symmetry had garnered near $5 million in auction went it went up for sale.  Is any new text worth that much?  I’m pleased for her–as I would be for any writer who can get it–but really?  Is any book worth that much money?

I’m just not sure.  I’m half-way through reading the book and I’m enjoying it immensely.  It has some original pieces and some pieces that remind me of other things I’ve seen and heard about but that have been rearranged in a new way.  But $5 million?  Hmm.

I’ll let you know if the ending changes my view.  I’m still stuck–couldn’t a small third world nation eat for months on $5 million?

It snowed here the other day–it never does that in December.  I’ve lived in Texas my whole life and this is the first early snow I can remember.  It was totally unexpected, too.  The light was strange coming through the blinds that morning when I woke up and so I dragged myself over for a peak to see what the weather held in store for me for the day.  How shocking when I found snow covering the ground and it coming down in huge flakes.  It was gorgeous.

Of course it had been warm here in the days preceding the snow so it was gone by 10.  I should have snapped a picture so I could have held on to it longer.

I think it’s going to be a long, cold winter, though.  The cat is fat and his coat is thick.  That’s always a good indicator.

I have had a crazy November.  I’ve had a most stressful event occurring and it has pulled at my time and attention and has brought me a huge amount of anxiety.  I’ve not coped with it well and the worst part is that I’ve lost my focus.

In short, I didn’t write on my book.  Hardly any.  At all.  I’ve reviewed my notes on a couple of occasions and tried to think about my book but that’s it.  I’ve failed.  And during the month when I had signed up to do NANOWRIMO–when I was supposed to be reporting to the world how much progress I was making.  The accountability was supposed to help.

I know that it doesn’t matter.  That what I’ve been dealing with just had to be dealt with but still it stinks.  I’ve failed.

What have I learned?

First, that I push myself too hard.  I want to do it all.  NOW.

Second, that even without focus I still have desire.  That book is going to get written.

Third, that my family loves me anyway.  Even if I don’t get it all done.

That’s enough for now.

It’s so easy for me to loathe Thanksgiving.  First, I’m not crazy about the food.  I know.  It’s weird.  But I got really, really sick as a kid one Thanksgiving and have never felt the same about the food since then.  Keeps the weight down, too.

Now there’s all this travel to visit family and that means hours and hours in traffic.  I drove 65 miles tonight and it took me 2 hours.  I’ve made that trip before in 50 minutes.  I inched along I-35 at 5 miles an hour for 45 minutes.  We made about 3 miles in that time frame.  I could have walked the distance faster than that.

And that was just the first car trip of four that I’ll be making between now and Sunday.  We’ve got family spread out all over the metroplex.

So it’s easy for me to dread Thanksgiving.  But I’m trying to keep the true spirit of the holiday in mind.  I know that most folks think Pilgrims and Indians but it was Abraham Lincoln who initiated the first national day of Thanksgiving during the thick of the Civil War.  Of course, he suggested the day be one of fasting, which makes sense, because he was asking the people to pray for an end to the war and for the safety of the soldiers and the reuniting of a nation torn.

Emma asked me what I was thankful for the other night.  I’d had a crazy, crazy day and was just ready for it to be over.  The question stopped me cold.  What was I thankful for?

1.  Good health.  I’ve had some serious hip problems recently that left me immobile for a couple of days.  Now I’m moving again.  Health is so important.

2.  My family.  God bless their remote souls and their expectations for me to drive to visit them.  But at least they are all here for me to visit.

3.  Purpose.  I feel like I have purpose and meaning in my life.  Something I look forward to doing daily.

4.  Each day.  I found out a person I’d known for several years but hadn’t seen for nearly five died this week suddenly and unexpectedly.  He had a son the same age as mine.  So much he will miss.

So I’m thankful for each day and will try to live in the now, enjoying this moment.

I’ve lost mine . . . know where it might be?

First real day of autumn weather.  I don’t like it.  Bring back the sunshine and heat, please.

I’ve been discontent all day.  Whatever I’ve been doing, I’ve been wishing I was doing something else.  Thing is, I can’t figure out what that something else is.  It’s like my mood and attitude is as windy as the weather.  I’ve worked on the computer and cooked but thought about sunshine and long walks.

And about the book writing I’m not getting done.  Maybe that’s it.  A niggling that there’s work to be done and I need to just plant the butt in the seat and do it.

Park at Sunset

I saw this book at the library the other day and picked it up to skim through it.  It’s called RoadTrip Nation, A Guide to Discovering Your Path in Life.  It’s about 4 kids just out of college who didn’t know what they wanted to do but were being pressured into “being” things they KNEW they didn’t want to be (you know:  doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc.)

So they bought an RV that was falling apart and spent three months traveling around interviewing people who were living their passion.  It’s an ok book.  Some of the interviews are interesting, though they didn’t speak to what I need at this moment.

BUT . . . I love this idea that we shouldn’t just do what’s easy–even if it means we upset our family and friends.  We should embrace our individuality and fight for it.

I’m not much for these kinds  of made up holidays.  In fact, I normally avoid them like nobody’s business but I’ve been going through some tough times lately that aren’t likely to end anytime soon so I’m in the mood to counteract all that negative energy being thrown at me by throwing out some goodness.

I’m going to honor Friday’s Kindness Day.  Not sure yet exactly how but I feel like since some parts of the world are being unkind to me, that I need to fight back by being kind to others.  Everyone I meet.

So if you have some suggestions as to how I can show kindness to the world on Friday, post ‘em.  I’ll be thinking on this, too.