that girl.

September 05, 2013

that girl.

Today's my birthday, and after several weeks of mental flip-flops trying to decide just how I felt about it, I'm announcing to the internet that I'm turning 60. Even typing it makes me catch my breath a bit, even though every single person I've told that I was going to be 60 has looked at me in complete disbelief. For those of you who are a long ways from this age, let me warn you: sixty is like no birthday I've had before. Sixty is the first birthday where I've had to consider that my life is more than half over.

But once I got used to the idea, I've also spent the last few weeks thinking about what a great life I've had, with so many experiences to be grateful for. Life continues to throw new things my way, and I love the new things I'm learning now. Even at the ripe new-to-me age of sixty, life is very, very good. And since I know there's a pretty good possibility that most of you reading this are younger than sixty, I thought it might be fun to share a few things I've learned along the way. In no particular order, here's my list of sixty things I've learned.

And blogging is most fun when it's a conversation, so if you feel like leaving a comment, I'd love to hear something you've learned in your own life.

Kalyn's List of Sixty Things I've Learned in Sixty Years

The book is almost always better than the movie.
Growing your own vegetables is definitely worth the work.
Older people really are often wiser, but once in a while you meet a very wise young person.
When you're buying food, expensive brands usually taste better than cheaper ones.
It's easier to stay organized than to deal with the consequences of not being organized.
Falling in love is a lot easier than staying in love.
Remodeling always costs twice as much as you've planned, and takes twice as long.
Spending more for good quality clothing that you love to wear is a good investment.
People who make you laugh are important to have around.
Intelligence is much more important than age when it comes to choosing friends.
No one is thinking about you, they are all thinking about themselves. (From "Rules for Aging," a very funny book.)
Women were much happier with their looks before television was invented. (From "The Beauty Myth," a very insightful book.)
Having a huge house isn't that great if you have to clean it yourself.
Not having car payments is definitely worth driving an older car.
Most kids will behave well if they have the right incentive.
Understanding how someone else feels is pretty much impossible.
Butter makes almost anything taste better.
Whether you feel really bad or really good, it usually doesn't last for long.
It's much easier to stay in shape than it is to get back into shape.
Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day.
Knowing a lot of people can be fun, but having a few good friends is much more important.
Getting up early can be just as fun as staying up late.
Some of the best times of your life can be moments when you're all by yourself.
Having money in the bank is a wonderful feeling. (This is a lesson I was slow to learn!)
People who can't be honest with themselves won't be honest with you either.
If you're more intelligent than the average person, you'll be misunderstood a lot.
Not everything about getting older is enjoyable, but it beats the alternative.
Always having fresh-squeezed lemon juice in the freezer is a wonderful thing.
Saving all your meat and vegetable scraps and making homemade stock is a good habit to acquire.
People who are great cooks, rarely get invited to people's houses for dinner (unless they're lucky enough to have friends who are also great cooks.)
When you lose weight, it's a good idea to get rid of all the clothes in the larger size you don't want to return to.
Most people don't really notice whether or not your fingernails are done.
When the day finally comes for your hair appointment, your hair will look better than it has for weeks.
It really is possible to become great friends with your brothers and sisters.
It's much easier to criticize the schools than it is to fix them.
If you're not lucky enough to have children of your own, being around other people's kids can be good enough.
Most every problem will seem less serious after a few days have gone by.
Most adults have very little idea what the job of a grade school teacher is like.
If you have bad news to deliver, the only fair way is to do it in person.
Flowers can make even the worst day seem a lot better.
Growing your own herbs is one of the best things you can do to become a better cook.
Price has little if anything to do with the quality of restaurant food.
In strange cities when you aren't sure where you are, a taxi is never too expensive.
Nothing improves a child's hearing as much as praise. (From "Rules for Teaching.")
Your best friends are the ones who'll tell you what you need to know but can't see because you're too close to the situation.
Unless it's pretty outrageous, most people never notice what you're wearing.
You'll never get fat by drinking too much water.
Most any vegetable tastes great if it's tossed with a bit of olive oil, some herbs, and roasted at high heat.
Don't buy tomatoes from the store unless they have that fresh tomato smell. (And even then, they are rarely that good.)
Doing as much good as you can is like putting emotional money in the bank.
Shoes that aren't comfortable are never a good purchase, even when they're on sale.
When you're on vacation, sometimes it's better to buy postcards of the scenery than to spend lots of time trying to get good photos.
People who talk about other people to you are probably talking about you to other people. (I do admire people who never gossip, but it's a trait I'm still working on acquiring.)
Pretty much everyone's face looks more attractive when they're smiling.
You can catch a lot more flies with honey than you can with vinegar. (Favorite saying of my mother who died in 1998.)
Words actually can hurt a lot more than sticks and stones.
Cards that come in the mail are more fun than e-cards any day.
Often it's better not to say what you really think.
Even people who are very intelligent sometimes do things that are truly stupid.
Nobody knows everything, and the longer you live, the more things there are that you know absolutely nothing about.

- See more at: http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2008/12/sixty-things-ive-learned-in-sixty-years.html#close

I want to be that girl.

The one that wears her heart on her sleeve.
The one that is open, and willing to accept change.
The one that still has huge dreams and big ambitions.
The one that is all about ministry and selflessness.
The one that talks quietly and observes her surroundings.
The one that really listens.
The one that is emotional in the best possible way.
The one that has an amazing circle of friends.
The one that never says an unkind word.
The one that supports everyone's dreams and cheers them on.
The one that is always so sunshiney.
The one that makes everyone feel special.

That girl is so awesome. That girl never has a moody day or yells at sandwich makers or hits things with her car. Everyone likes that girl.

I like that girl.

Still, I’ve never been content with being content. The excitement that stirs in my chest is my drug. Yet when I feel the lows of living without stability, it’s all I want. I'm complicated. I've finally come to a place where I can wrap my head around it just to talk about it a bit. In the beginning it was just too early. Things were too crazy and too different. I didn't trust myself to know how I really felt about it all, much less share my feelings in a way that made sense. So I have decided, over and over again, to make some hard choices. I try to live the joy, every single day. I accept apologies graciously and say I'm sorry when it's my turn to be humble. I'm learning about humility and having a teachable spirit. Finding the beauty in letting go of the small things.

My resolve has been hard-won and my spirit appears to be almost uncrackable. So, in my quest to change the things about me that need a little tweaking, I try not look at all of my flaws and do a complete reconstruction. I don't need to get caught up in the melee of betterment, always trying to get to the next highest level. I stopped looking at myself through the magnifying glass. I can see straight into my heart. It returns me to my soul and my sanity, that's all. No big deal.

After my birthday dinner and festivities a few weeks back, I changed out of my tight go to a fancy dinner clothes and sat on the deck to reflect. I watched the pink sun fade slowly into the horizon, behind the trees. It looked like a Renaissance painting. Yeah, I got no picture of that. Hopefully I painted it in your mind.The problem is when you have a nasty first born perfectionist streak, you think there is always so much more changing to be done. It's my soul's unrest at it's finest, trying to turn myself inside out to get to there, to the destination of that girl. The person I aspire to be.

There's always some stuff I can and should improve upon of course, but now that I'm over sixty I'm so much wiser, heck I'm almost Maya Angelou. I'm realizing that there's a fine line between rounding off the hard edges so I can become more approachable and striving to be someone I ain't.

Still, there's just some stuff I ain't.

But there's also some stuff I am.

Umm if your wondering how long this might go on, you may just have time to get yourself a snack.

So what am I waiting for you ask? Believe me I am asking the same thing.
Maybe I do reside in the realm of dreams beyond my reach, it appears to be hard wired into me. What's the worst that can happen? Failure? I lose some of my stuff? The sting of that possibility is fading with age and what I'm uncovering is the rush of "let's give it a whirl and see what happens".

I'm becoming that girl.

bit by bit. go figure.

I'm working on being the soft spoken patience of Job throw caution to the wind love everyone que sera sera don't panic it will all work out person.

right now, I'm still more like the bossy take charge shout my opinion argue for fun quick witted sarcastic is it time to panic bad driver hard hugger loud laugher unsolicited life coacher person.

I feel like this is not making me look better. Is anyone else seeing that?

I am this girl, flaws and all, bossiness and all. I like to think I have my own ahem, gifts. I know, right. It's a shock to me too. I forget in the in-between that I'm always best in Summer. Every year it snatches me from behind and it makes me so sad to have to remember what I'm like at summer's end. it all feels like a big, dag gone gyp. I want more. I want it to last longer. forever. slowly but surely we're wrapping yet another round of summer days. Days which, though long, are always, in summer, never long enough.

Cue the peaches. And the pie crust.

Because if summer is going to insist on ending on Labor Day—and honestly, is that even legal? then my only recourse is to live as much summer as I can in the final days before that last bell. And so between the tracking down of sweaters and the dusting off of boots, the updating of calendars and the less light at the end of the day, putting the garden to bed and picking out pumpkins, I'm just packing it in. As much as I can hold.

end of summer peach pie

Crust:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for bench and cutters
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 sticks chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 tablespoons ice water, plus more as needed

Filling:
10 ripe but firm peaches
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon or pinch ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg

Note: You can increase the amount of sugar to 1 1/4 cups, depending upon the sweetness of the peaches. Peak summer peaches will only need 1 cup.

For the crust: In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, salt and cold butter.

Pulse the processor until the mixture resembles fine sand. Remove the lid and add the ice water to the mixture. Run the processor just until the mixture rolls itself into a little ball. If the mixture is a bit dry, add more ice water by the tablespoonful until it comes together. Gather the dough into a ball. With a bench scraper or knife, divide the mixture evenly in half. Shape each half into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill at least 30 minutes. At this point you can keep the wrapped dough in the refrigerator for a few days or freeze for later use.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Flour your rolling pin and roll out 2 pie crusts to about a 12-inchs round. drape first crust over a 9 1/2-inch fluted pie plate.

For the filling: Peel and cut the peaches into 1/4-inch thick slices (you should have about 7 cups) and toss with the lemon juice and almond extract in a large bowl. Whisk the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in another bowl, making sure there are no lumps. Stir the flour mixture into the peaches and mix well. Pour the peaches into the pie crust. Scatter with the pieces of butter. Top with second crust. Crimp the edges to seal. Beat the egg with 1 teaspoon water and brush the top crust and edges with the egg wash.

Pop in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, and then lower the heat to 350 degrees F and bake until the crust gets brown, about 50 minutes more. If the edges brown too fast, cover them with strips of aluminum foil about halfway through baking. Cool about 30 minutes before serving.

Today's my birthday, and after several weeks of mental flip-flops trying to decide just how I felt about it, I'm announcing to the internet that I'm turning 60. Even typing it makes me catch my breath a bit, even though every single person I've told that I was going to be 60 has looked at me in complete disbelief. For those of you who are a long ways from this age, let me warn you: sixty is like no birthday I've had before. Sixty is the first birthday where I've had to consider that my life is more than half over.

But once I got used to the idea, I've also spent the last few weeks thinking about what a great life I've had, with so many experiences to be grateful for. Life continues to throw new things my way, and I love the new things I'm learning now. Even at the ripe new-to-me age of sixty, life is very, very good. And since I know there's a pretty good possibility that most of you reading this are younger than sixty, I thought it might be fun to share a few things I've learned along the way. In no particular order, here's my list of sixty things I've learned. - See more at: http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2008/12/sixty-things-ive-learned-in-sixty-years.html#close

Kalyn's List of Sixty Things I've Learned in Sixty Years

The book is almost always better than the movie.
Growing your own vegetables is definitely worth the work.
Older people really are often wiser, but once in a while you meet a very wise young person.
When you're buying food, expensive brands usually taste better than cheaper ones.
It's easier to stay organized than to deal with the consequences of not being organized.
Falling in love is a lot easier than staying in love.
Remodeling always costs twice as much as you've planned, and takes twice as long.
Spending more for good quality clothing that you love to wear is a good investment.
People who make you laugh are important to have around.
Intelligence is much more important than age when it comes to choosing friends.
No one is thinking about you, they are all thinking about themselves. (From "Rules for Aging," a very funny book.)
Women were much happier with their looks before television was invented. (From "The Beauty Myth," a very insightful book.)
Having a huge house isn't that great if you have to clean it yourself.
Not having car payments is definitely worth driving an older car.
Most kids will behave well if they have the right incentive.
Understanding how someone else feels is pretty much impossible.
Butter makes almost anything taste better.
Whether you feel really bad or really good, it usually doesn't last for long.
It's much easier to stay in shape than it is to get back into shape.
Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day.
Knowing a lot of people can be fun, but having a few good friends is much more important.
Getting up early can be just as fun as staying up late.
Some of the best times of your life can be moments when you're all by yourself.
Having money in the bank is a wonderful feeling. (This is a lesson I was slow to learn!)
People who can't be honest with themselves won't be honest with you either.
If you're more intelligent than the average person, you'll be misunderstood a lot.
Not everything about getting older is enjoyable, but it beats the alternative.
Always having fresh-squeezed lemon juice in the freezer is a wonderful thing.
Saving all your meat and vegetable scraps and making homemade stock is a good habit to acquire.
People who are great cooks, rarely get invited to people's houses for dinner (unless they're lucky enough to have friends who are also great cooks.)
When you lose weight, it's a good idea to get rid of all the clothes in the larger size you don't want to return to.
Most people don't really notice whether or not your fingernails are done.
When the day finally comes for your hair appointment, your hair will look better than it has for weeks.
It really is possible to become great friends with your brothers and sisters.
It's much easier to criticize the schools than it is to fix them.
If you're not lucky enough to have children of your own, being around other people's kids can be good enough.
Most every problem will seem less serious after a few days have gone by.
Most adults have very little idea what the job of a grade school teacher is like.
If you have bad news to deliver, the only fair way is to do it in person.
Flowers can make even the worst day seem a lot better.
Growing your own herbs is one of the best things you can do to become a better cook.
Price has little if anything to do with the quality of restaurant food.
In strange cities when you aren't sure where you are, a taxi is never too expensive.
Nothing improves a child's hearing as much as praise. (From "Rules for Teaching.")
Your best friends are the ones who'll tell you what you need to know but can't see because you're too close to the situation.
Unless it's pretty outrageous, most people never notice what you're wearing.
You'll never get fat by drinking too much water.
Most any vegetable tastes great if it's tossed with a bit of olive oil, some herbs, and roasted at high heat.
Don't buy tomatoes from the store unless they have that fresh tomato smell. (And even then, they are rarely that good.)
Doing as much good as you can is like putting emotional money in the bank.
Shoes that aren't comfortable are never a good purchase, even when they're on sale.
When you're on vacation, sometimes it's better to buy postcards of the scenery than to spend lots of time trying to get good photos.
People who talk about other people to you are probably talking about you to other people. (I do admire people who never gossip, but it's a trait I'm still working on acquiring.)
Pretty much everyone's face looks more attractive when they're smiling.
You can catch a lot more flies with honey than you can with vinegar. (Favorite saying of my mother who died in 1998.)
Words actually can hurt a lot more than sticks and stones.
Cards that come in the mail are more fun than e-cards any day.
Often it's better not to say what you really think.
Even people who are very intelligent sometimes do things that are truly stupid.
Nobody knows everything, and the longer you live, the more things there are that you know absolutely nothing about.

- See more at: http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2008/12/sixty-things-ive-learned-in-sixty-years.html#close

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