“We are all role models. Our only choice is to be a good or bad one.”
— Cathy Burnham Martin – American author, voiceover artist & dedicated foodie
That is a theme that I’ve used for dozens of presentations to young people for a great many years on the business and public speaking circuits. So often we humans get thinking that only movie stars, politicians, and professional athletes should be held to a higher standard. (Oh, yeah… some celebs forget to think about that little detail.) I simply believe that we all must hold ourselves to a higher standard, for the sake of our souls and the world around us, and because someone impressionable and vulnerable is watching, even if we don’t think we are worthy of such influence.
(Photo by Jose M.)
Okayyyyyyy! Go for the oxymoron and enjoy some crispy, cold jumbo shrimp cocktail with a zesty horseradish dipping sauce. Or simply grill some beauties in garlic butter and sprinkle with some favorite herbs. For extreme decadence, bake some colossal shrimp with lobster-crab stuffing.
“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being.”
“Humans need a lot of reinforcement… loving, gentle encouragement.”
What better way to celebrate both these days than with a warm, chewy oatmeal raisin cookie! So, here is my 1980 spin on my mother’s classic 1950s Oatmeal Icebox Cookies. Primarily, I used less sugar and more nuts and fruit. I still prefer cooking them for just 8-10 minutes to get an irresistibly chewy, rather than crispy, cookie. In recent years, I have replaced sugar with granulated monk fruit. (More on that after the recipe.)
Ron Martin, Babe, Sir Ronald… This is the man who dared to invite me into his life as his wife and stepmother for his children. He is my lover, my partner, and my best friend. He gives me strength and challenges me to be my best. I always endeavor to treat him with kindness, respect, and love. On this National Husband Appreciation Day (always the 3rd Saturday in April), I am proud to keep reminding him of how deeply he is appreciated, too. I am an especially grateful person. Thank you!
Because April is National Humor Month, this is a perfect time to pause to recall and/or share something that gave you that moment of laugh-out-loud joy or a little chuckle when you needed it.
April 13th is the birthday of Poughkeepsie, New York Architect Alfred Mosher Butts (1899-1993), inventor of the Scrabble game in 1931. Originally called “Criss Cross,” he based it on both the crossword puzzle and anagrams.
Ahhhhh…. Crispy on the outside, warm and gooey on the inside! (Add a rustic tomato-basil soup or onion soup on the side for dipping perfection!)
“Money can buy you a fine dog, but only love can make him wag his tail.” 
Yikes! 57 years ago, several of my classmates and I from Mrs. Russell’s 5th grade English class hit the local news for our “budding” poetic endeavors. David Kehas, Sandra Robinson Zimmerman, (Bonnie) Barbara Mace, and Rob Lamy (misspelled in article.) So, we were 10.
“We may have a firm grasp on the obvious, but the crystal clear can still appear cloudy.”
Though we’d like to think we maintain some level of awareness throughout the year, April is officially Keep America Beautiful Month. If you drive in urban areas, especially, we know it’s appalling to see the huge amount of litter along the sides of the highways and city streets. Even in the country, hubby and are surprised at how much we gather every couple of months along the road where we live. So, this is the month for us to pay some extra attention to recycling and our shared responsibility to do what we can to keep clean, beautiful spaces in our little corners of the world.
“Calm self-confidence is as far from conceit as the desire to earn a decent living is remote from greed.”
We need not look very far to see people who are suffering, even in times when war and violence are not front-and-center. On any given day, millions of people experience living horrors of various sorts.
