Sisters

It's difficult to imagine having only one girl and not two
Growing up would be so much more difficult to do.
Sisters can talk about anything, anything
I love you sis! What a wonderful Christmas!

my nose and toes are numb

Chicago is cold

this is something I should know

Chicago is cold.

Maybe its time to go

this no longer my home

my home is a warm place

with open space to roam

Chicago is now my second home.
-jl

What is Hanukkah?

This morning I realized that if someone were to ask me what Hanukkah was, I would not be able to give a full response. Below is what I found to be a pretty good answer-

The historical episode that Hanukkah commemorates centers on the military victory of the Maccabees, a small clan of Jewish warriors, who defeated the Syrian overlords of ancient Palestine in 167 BCE.

Over the millennia, many rabbis sought to emphasize the spiritual aspect, and so they focused on a miracle: as the Maccabees restored the damaged temple, the small amount of oil used to light the perpetual flame lasted for 8 days even though there was only enough to last for one day.

Hanukkah is the time to remember the victory of a small army who fought a war of national liberation against an powerful occupying power. The word "Hanukkah" means "dedication.” So today, over 2000 years later, as Israelis are occupiers in Palestine and as Americans are occupiers in Iraq, we dedicate this holiday to all those who are struggling against occupation.

In essence, the modern struggle for Palestinian liberation is comparable to the ancient struggle for Jewish liberation.

Inspiration

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, It is the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Meade

Quote of the Week

"Everybody has the ability in life to fulfill their will, to fulfill their desire. Whatever you can envision, you can create." -Jeff Koons

Amazing Old Photographs ...

Rising or Falling?

Why Do We Fall in Love?

By Amy Bowles Reyer, Ph.D.

"It is better to have loft and lost than to never have loft at all." -Groucho Marx

Q: What motivates people to seek out love?
A: Our primary motivation as human beings is to expand the self and to increase our abilities and our effectiveness. One of the ways we accomplish this is through our relationships with other people. We have learned in our research that it is important to feel that you have the ability to be an effective person, especially in our relationships.

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Q: How does this theory of self-expansion explain the process of falling in love?
A: Usually, we fall in love with a person that we find attractive and appropriate for us, but also someone who demonstrates that they are attracted to us. This creates a situation where a great opportunity is open to us for self-expansion. The fact that they are attracted to us offers a significant opportunity — when we perceive this, we feel a surge of exhilaration!

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Q: Does it always work this way?
A: No, an interesting exception to this occurs if we feel badly about ourselves. The process gets thrown off if we can't believe that another persons finds us attractive — like the Groucho Marx joke where we don't want to belong to a club that would have us for a member. We tend to miss out on opportunities for falling in love if we don't feel good about ourselves.

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Q: What conditions are best for meeting someone and falling in love?
A: When you meet someone under conditions that are highly arousing — a political demonstration, turbulence on a plane, a stimulating performance — a time when the body is stirred up and excited, we tend to experience attraction at a heightened level. This effect is well documented but the explanations for it are very controversial. I tend to believe that we come to associate the arousal of the situation with this person and our own self-expansion.

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Q: When do we fall in love?
A: Contrary to what most people think, the statistics show that most people fall in love with someone that they have known for a while. People only report falling in love quickly about 1/3 to 40 percent of the time. Of course, this varies from culture to culture. Falling in love happens differently between cultures but it does occur in most cultures.

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Q: How does our appearance factor into the equation of falling in love?
A: This is interesting; we have found that if you are very unattractive, it can hurt you a lot in forming romantic relationships. However, being attractive doesn't help that much.

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Q: How do you explain that?
A: We have found that two important characteristics, kindness and intelligence, are extremely important in the process of falling in love. And attractiveness is not connected to these things. These two attributes are things that people learn about someone from knowing them over time. Intelligence is important in all aspects of life, especially in love. But kindness is the strongest indicator for a successful long-term relationship.

The biggest wine glasses ever!

At Charlie Trotter's restaurant in Chicago these big glasses would probably hold 2 bottles in just one glass!! So cool, I didn't drink 2 bottles though!

THANKS-GIVING

White Chocolate & Cranberry Walnut Banana Bread

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F

Mix together dry ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of brown sugar
few shakes of cinnamon
dash of nutmeg

1 cup of chopped walnuts

Blend together other ingredients in separate bowl (If you don't have an electric mixer try a potato masher and a fork):
2 eggs
2 very ripe mashed bananas
6 tbsp. of butter
1 shot of brandy
juice from 1/2 lemon
7 grinds of sea salt
splash of vanilla extract (enough so you can faintly smell fragrance in batter)
3/4 bag of Ghiradelli white chocolate chips

Blend together ingredients to create a smooth batter. (Note: At this point you may gently mix into batter one regular banana chopped into small pieces. This adds some extra texture and moisture to baked loaf)

Grease pans with butter or oil (try coconut or peanut)

Fill pans with batter

For mini loaf pans bake approx. 45 min. (perfect gift size)
Regular loaf pan bake 1hr.

Good luck!! xo jl

Harley

Harley lived an adventurous and beautiful life. I raised him and he raised me. Below is the letter my Mother wrote after he passed on last month-

Harley was part of so many cherished moments in the lives of our family and friends. He was adventurer, friend, lover and gourmet. Over the years it seemed he enjoyed hanging around people far more than seeking companionship with other dogs. Particularly fond of women, in a moment of great spirit, he would throw himself into a lady's nice lap.

We adopted Harley from the shelter when he was four months old. He was Johnna's dog. The whole family had to interview before he would be allowed to become part of our lives. At four months at barely twenty pounds, I was able to hold him in my arms. He had a slight limp from an injury to his right rear leg that occurred before the Lake County warden brought him to Orphans of the Storm. That limp never stopped him from living the excitement he felt for everything. Life was his great adventure and he ran along with a gait that was uniquely his own.

One of his earliest adventures, when still just a pup, was to dash out onto the golf course in Wisconsin and rescue a man's ball off of the green! Alert and pretty clever he was. Eventually, just from observation, he learned to open doors and would let himself out of the house, to go off on a great adventure roaming the neighborhood, leaving the house open behind him! Sometimes he visited the homes of well-meaning strangers, never worrying that he might not be welcome, or might have created an hysterical panic at home. It was impossible to convince the police. The first snowfall of the season was a guarantee that nature would call. And whatever the adventure, always Harley came back with a smile.

This past week no gourmet treat would entice Harley to eat. He yearned only to be outside, close his eyes and lie in the grass. Last night I held him in my arms just as I had done many years ago when we drove home from the shelter.

It was a difficult good bye but one just bursting with years of memories.

Thanks to each one of you for being part of our memories in an adventure with a wonderful being.

Love,

Lynn

You are always in our hearts Harley, you will be missed dearly. xo, JL