Happy New Year!

Lots of thought about what I want to manifest for 2015, for me. 

I want to paint more, lots more! I want to go to the licensing show in Las Vegas in June and sell my art work to some awesome company. 

I want to produce videos for the little things I think make a difference in my kitchen. Everything from how I work with Mason to inspire him to cook, to making my own extracts. I know my friends have asked about making cookies and baking, but I want to just share, share, share - our favorite recipes from the stuff we like to eat everyday, to our recipes from the various contests and the stuff we do just for fun. I don't know if there is an audience for whatever the "Kathy Show" is, but maybe that doesn't matter. 

I want to finish my cook book (that kind of ties into the videos as I could make the video as I test the recipes). It will be an e-book with links to great products, festivals and how-to videos. Making it an e-book makes it super affordable and lends itself to the other mediums that could bring the recipes to life. Again, not sure about the audience, but it will be something Mason and Mason's kids would have after I'm gone. 

Finally, I want to create the culinary curriculum for Alta Vista Community Charter School grades 1-5. My initial ideas are that grades 1 and 2 learn with non-cooking recipes, while grads 3-5 can actually learn to cook. I want the culinary curriculum at the school to be such that people want to enroll their child or children in our school because of this educational opportunity. Every May, the kids can host the community luncheon as the final fundraiser for the school and as an opportunity to show off their culinary skills.

These are just the things I want to accomplish personally. My professional list is on a separate piece of paper. It's January 2nd, I suppose I better get to it, I only have 12 months!

"Who Is It Really For?"

As the mom of a kid cook who doesn't only cook at home, he cooks on television and in live cooking demos at special events, I often get asked, "Who is this really for, you or him?" Hmmm, that's a loaded question and honestly, not completely unwarranted. Let me give you a little history; I am a trained commercial actor and someone who loves to create with food. At Christmas time, I make amazing decorated cookies, artisan breads and cakes and any number of amazing culinary delights. Is it any surprise that my son would find a place in my culinary wonderland? I don't think so.

With all that said, it just made sense to me that since I have the knowledge and know-how to help him foster a love of cooking and performing, why wouldn't I? Especially in light of his origination that he wanted to do a live cooking demo - all by himself. The real answer to the question is, it's for both of us. Mason has a You Tube channel with over 100 videos with everything from safety with knives, how to make gravy, and fun craft ideas. You can also find some of his television performances and live cooking demos there. He loves doing the live stuff! As a family, we all enter recipe contests and we often place and sometimes we win. While I am working with Mason to help him build a foundation to have some fun and possibly make a bit of money, I am doing things for myself, too. Again, I am always working on new and unusual recipes for contests, and recently I entered a contest to go to a cooking class to learn how to make my recipes healthier and then, the group of 6 contestants will come together to compete with their revamped dish. Yeah, I am not just teaching Mason what I know, I am showing him how I use my skills as well - for me, and for him. So ask me again, "Who are you really doing this for?" and I will say, "Everything I do is hopefully for the well being of my whole family. Teaching and inspiring them to take chances, embrace opportunities, and set great examples for our family and friends who are living vicariously though all of us."

Oh, and about that contest I entered, it looks like I get to be one of the six contestants! I'll post more as soon as my information is verified and I can share some details. Stay tuned, I think this is going to be really fun - and not just for me!

Don't Let "Likes" Define You

I suppose if we all want to be in the world of social media (and really, how can we not?), we need to accept that there are people who will assign nearly all of their personal value and self worth to who "Likes" or doesn't "Like" enough of their content. Not just their sense of self is involved, they will assign how you feel about them based on what you "Like" or don't "Like' enough of. Ironically, these are the same people who will not pick up a phone to call and say, "I miss you, how can we connect more often?" or make any real human-kind of contact to let you know they are feeling somehow shunned by your lack of activity on their content. 

When will people understand that Facebook does not show us everything our "Friends" or even our "Family" post? If you are simply reposting the content of others (memes, recipes, jokes, etc), I don't feel the need to acknowledge it - unless it really speaks to me. I've spent my entire life being told I talk too much, it would serve me to learn when it really contributes to the communication to chime in. Now that I've potentially learned that, the rules to the communication game have changed and my not acknowledging every post on my feed has people hurt and in turn, being hurtful to others. Sure, we can agree, "It's their problem" but the fact remains, this is how our kids are growing up and if you are not teaching your kids how to have a strong sense of self outside of the social media platform, you are not serving them as their parent(s). 

Are you guilty of this? Do you feel miffed if select people don't interact with you enough on Facebook? How do you handle those feelings? 

What Is Intentional Winning In Life?

Intentional Winning In Life - IWIL is the process of bringing your dreams to life right now by thinking about them differently.

So many of us had dreams when we were younger that for this reason or that, we let go of pursuing. Even as adults, things come up that seem exciting or worthwhile, but we believe we aren't qualified, don't have time to learn, don't have the money, or simply don't feel we can reach the goal. Whatever you think, you're right! So if you don't think you can do it, maybe you could think about it in a way that does seem doable to you. Just maybe, there is another way to bring that dream into reality.

Here's an example (reference the photo above): Let's say your dream is to go from San Francisco, CA to New York, NY. Most would agree that the fastest, most direct route would be to travel eastbound on highway 80 in one strait shot - the pink road. You'll see a little piece of green on the pink route which is a planned detour where there's a break in highway 80. As we do this, plug in life goals and normal activities that come along the way such as going away to college, getting married, having kids, changing jobs, etc. If you think about each of the events in your life that stop your progress to your dream destination, it's easy to see how we get stalled and eventually "settle down" in Anytown USA along the way. If you look closely at a United States map, you will see that there are hundreds of other roads to get you to New York from San Francisco - the orange roads. Will it take longer? Yes. Will it cost more? Possibly. Will the journey be full of surprises? Absolutely! When you realize that all those other roads can get you where you want to go, you can see that not only can you make your dream come true, but you may also find other things that make you happy and bring you joy along the way.

I'm going to define IWIL a whole lot more as we continue through this year. I'm also going to show you many things you can do to restart the engine on your dream and start feeling it's joy this very minute! Let's get this show on the road and start discovering what the orange roads have to offer.

After a Hiatus

It's been two years since I've posted here, two years! It even amazes me that it's been that long, but looking back it's all very clear. It was two years ago that I quit pursuing ZipperBack Gloves, a product I sincerely believed in and started plugging back in to my family again. In the last two years so much has happened, my son Mason has become a performing kid cook, we've been on several vacations, I graduated (with honors!) from college with a communications degree, I jumped into a real estate career and we moved again. This is certainly not everything, but it illustrates me living my real, physical life, versus the virtual life so many writers fall into when they are writing all the time. I don't know how often I will be here, but Intentional Winning is such a true part of who I am, I will always come back!

So Which Is It?

This has been an interesting few weeks with the now decided presidential election and the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. Politics certainly bring out the worst in people but look what Superstorm Sandy brought out...complete love.

This had me shaking my head as I read posts on Facebook about how same-sex couples should not be able to marry because it is not "natural," arguments about how pregnancies conceived from a heinous act such as rape is a "gift from God," and even more from both sides about how our country will fall to pieces if the other side wins the presidential election. Here is where, for me, the truth is; as Superstorm Sandy devastated the east coast, people rushed to help other people. I did not see or hear about one report of a rescue that included a conversation about, "Are you gay? Because if you are, I don't believe that is natural and I don't want to help you." Can you imagine a world where a Soldier suggests that s/he will only help someone in distress if they vote the same party line? How about, "Hey you, are you voting yes on 37? If so, grab the rope!"

This may seem like an extreme and silly example, but think about it, it could be argued that the victims of Katrina were not rescued soon enough because of their socioeconomic status. The fact of the matter is, we are all people who want the same things; we want our kids to flourish with the best educations, we want our elderly to be warm and fed, we want our national defense to be strong and in place, and we want Americans to have jobs, homes, and secure lives. Ask yourself this, if you won't qualify another person's personal/political beliefs in a moment of crisis, than why can't it be okay to let them be who they are otherwise? If you don't like the direction this country is going, get involved and work within the system to make a change, if you don't like the system, work to change that. So many talking heads want to natter and complain about the current state of affairs, but they do not want to take action to make it better.

Be the change you want to see and with that, see the good in people and more of your good will shine through!

Photo: RiverLights Originals

Do Winners Quit?

"Winners never quit and quitters never win!" I've heard it a million times - I simply do not agree. 

I am working diligently to make positive things happen for me and my family and it seems that my intention and tenacity are beginning to pay off. It is not lost on me that this turn for the positive came shortly after I let go of other projects that were time, labor and money intensive - all with little progress. Yes, I quit.

I quit pouring money into a business idea that was not making money. When Dave and I started this business in 2008, we intended to see wild success. We spent more than $60,000 and didn't make anything close to that amount in return. It simply is not good business to continue to spending, spending, spending with no return.

Those of you who know me personally know that I am an optimist. I can recite all the motivational quips and quotes that assure us that if we just hang on a little longer, success will break through! I know how many of the mega-successful entrepreneurs filed, in some cases, multiple bankruptcies before finding that formula for success, and on and on and on the hype goes. I want to know the stories of those same Disneys and Trumps recognizing that a plan is not going to come to fruition and pulling the plug. Oprah did it with OWN when she let go of 130 people, it was a step back to move the big picture forward. In my case, the step back was closing the business and putting our resources to work for our future, our new dreams, and who-knows-what-else might be on the horizon for us. I feel it's important to note that what might be around the corner might have been missed while my nose was to the grindstone of the business that was not producing any thing even remotely close to success.

With all this said, I do not believe winners never quit, I feel strongly that winners do good business and that is knowing when to hold 'em and yes, when to fold 'em. I'm a winner and I quit!