Being a teenager can be one of the most joyous and tumultuous times in one’s life all at once. My teenage years were full of hormonal angst, magnified by a variety of personal and relationship issues which all culminated towards a time which I will never forget. I was an avid participant in a myriad of sports from track and field to softball and basketball I couldn’t get enough of the challenges of the competitive activities.

One day during a junior high basketball game my entire life focus was completely and totally turned upside down. My coach who was also a nurse at the time noticed that I seemed a bit more winded than usual and she sat me down and took my pulse. She stopped, looked at me and sat down to double check her calculations. She immediately had me rushed to a hospital because my pulse rate was so rapid they were afraid I would seize and enter cardiac arrest. Thankfully no one told me much of anything and just calmly led me along but I soon found out more details when I was placed on multiple medications to control my heart and assessed for thyroid surgery. Thankfully having access to a premier pediatric endocrinologist made all of the difference and both my heart and thyroid were fine and still are doing well today.

Within 2 to 3 years of the first scare I encountered a new issue- during my very first self breast exam I noticed a lump. It was huge- more than size of an egg and I was again assessed by my doctor who scheduled me for surgery. The lump was benign and I had a very fast recovery. Thankfully my faith carried me through both of these incidents and instead of becoming worrisome or fearful about my life I learned to cherish each and every moment. A friend recently told me that they wish they could have the ease and comfort I have interacting with others in social situations. The reality is there is nothing than anyone can think or say about me that take away the joy and peace which flow from my heart.

Watching Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture further affirmed the view I hold of life. Nothing is guaranteed and there are too many uncertainties to not sincerely live your life to find joy in each and every moment. Life truly is a gift and Randy Pausch has shared the things that he’s learned while facing the final stages of pancreatic cancer as a gift to us all. My prayers are with him and his family in such a difficult time and I thank him for sharing so freely so that others might glean from his wise words.

Watch the google video of the last lecture

If you’ve ever wanted to add a little chickpeas to your cookies- or perhaps some spinach into your brownies check out the new review for Deceptively Delicious.

Fall allergy season is back with a vengeance in Dallas, and my sneezing fit while I was trying to drive (trying desperately to sneeze with my eyes open) brought back memories of my childhood hay fever. Daily I awoke with uncontrollable sneezing that lasted from 10 minutes to the full hour or two before heading to school. To this day my parents insist my sneezing was due to regular allergies but I know exactly what the true issue was. I was living in a house of smokers.

Both of my parents smoked until I was a teenager and I had daily sneezing attacks until the exact moment they stop smoking. It was nice to be able to wake up and get ready without having to rush around grabbing kleenex to try to slow down the sneeze attack.

It’s amazing to me just how much the common view of smoking has changed in time. In my first year as a Girl Scout (a Brownie) one of our big Christmas crafts was making ashtrays for our parents. Mine was a little ceramic whale with its tongue sticking out. I was so proud giving my parents their hand made Christmas gift. Most parents today would be quite perplexed at such a gift, especially handmade by a child. I was also proud every year to present my mom with some sort of changepurse/cigarette/lighter holder combination. Excitement over just how convenient such an item would be always outweighed the real depth of understanding of just how unhealthy smoking is.

Thankfully my parents have been smoke free for more years than not. I am grateful for their health considering the exposure to such an addictive and hazardous substance. I do feel for people who are smokers in this day and age but my own memory of the coughing and sneezing has steered me clear of ever even contemplating sucking down any sort of cigarette. Now if I could just get the allergies under control I might finally be rid of the sneeze attacks for good.

Our cooking club has continued to be a very enjoyable activity. The most recent event was focused on old school cooking. The menu included everything from smothered chicken and corn casserole to cheese toast and red soda (yes I said red- may taste like strawberry but we know it sounds tastier as red). The California contingency of our club didn’t know how to do many of the old southern dishes but they certainly threw down on some homemade tacos and frito dip.

Of course no great soul food excursion is complete without some tums to settle everything down afterwards:

The lovely Ana tagged me with the NonBlog Meme and I’m finally taking the time to respond.

The Rules:

1. After your intro, copy/paste this line and the rules below it: The originator wants to see how far it goes so please keep his link intact: http://rileycentral.net/

2. Encourage people to post with the incentive of a link by including those who have passed it along here:(Your link here and so on . . .) http://ebonymommy.com/blog/

3. Visit at least 3 on the list that’ve written and passed this meme. Leave them a comment..

Damien at Riley Central says, “Today I hereby unblog my mind with this post. One reason MANY of us writers get writer’s block is because we don’t nurture the things that give us joy. We spend too much time on the computer trying to write when we haven’t done anything worthy of writing about! To illustrate what makes me tick, and what gives me pure joy I am choosing 3 things I enjoy more than blogging and writing about them! Pick three things that enrapture, consume, fascinate, or otherwise enliven you more than blogging. Then write a few lines about each to explain what the nonblog activity does for you, why and how.”

Top 3 things I enjoy more than blogging:

1. Photography: I’ve loved photography since my parents purchased my first camera for me. Bright purple and pink I’ll never forget how exciting it was to be able to take pictures of my own. The digital age just freed my creativity in so many ways that I’m inspired and impassioned to learn all that I can.

2. Music: Music is probably my first love. Even in the womb my parents told me that playing music calmed me and as a newborn the easiest way to get me to sleep was for my Dad to play his jazz records for me. Our entire family loves music and its definitely a big focal point in our lives. I hope to enroll both boys in piano lessons so that they can develop a musical foundation for the future.

3. Traveling: I suppose wanderlust is a part of my soul since the life of a military brat made moving and traveling a regular part of life. Someday I hope to travel the world and truly experience cultures on every continent.

I’d like to find out the nonblogging passions of Tifi , JJ, and the African-American Dad