It’s always entertaining living with teenagers. Annika, Greg’s 14 year old from Australia, stayed with us for 3 weeks over the holidays. One day Brian, my 15 year old, says to me: “Mom, they’re having that KROQ around the world concert again! I want to go! Green Day is playing in Bulimia!” Annika starts laughing hysterically. I do a double-take. Bulimia? “It’s Bolivia!” Annika shouts across the room. Okay – later in the day we’re actually listening to the radio station, and KROQ is playing in Scotland. These are the kinds of things you have to write down to remember so you can all laugh about it again when they’re older. ]]>

When I got the news this morning that Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston had split up I felt sad. I don’t know these people, and yet I still feel badly for them. Is that crazy? I think a lot of us thought of this “golden couple” as a standard for American romance. It was the first marriage for each of them, and they certainly look beautiful together. But who is to know what goes on in any relationship besides the people actually in it? Sure, the tabloids can speculate, and fans can lap up the gossip – but happiness, and compatibility, is such a personal issue that only the people involved know the truth of the matter. I wish Brad and Jennifer all the best. Even under the best of circumstances, when a split is amicable, it is a change to adjust to, and it can be stressful. Many of us have experienced this and can relate. My advice would be to spend time with friends and loved ones, and to consider this a new beginning. ]]>

Ricky Williams Commentary Ricky is taking an 18 month program at The California College of Ayurveda.  Ayurveda is known as a holistic health care system.  But it is so much more than that.  Ayurveda is the “science of life” and it teaches us about the world, and about
ourselves.  This is a good place for a guy like Ricky to be right now.  He spent many years
working towards a life as a professional football player, and eventually found that
it was unfulfilling for him.  He was wise enough to understand that the fame and
fortune were not making him happy, and for the most part that the responsibility that
camewith it was making him miserable.  So, he quit.  Unorthodox?  Yes. Unpredictable?  Yes.  Foolish?  Some people would say yes, but I say that he was
brave.  It is courageous to go follow your heart, rather than societal expectations.
Sometimes it takes that leap of faith to venture out into the unknown.  And the
unknown is full of potential. What happens next is up to Ricky himself.  Ayurveda will help him find his place in
the world, his “dharma” or “purpose” in life.  Maybe it will be in the world
of holistic health care, and maybe it will have something to do with sports after
all.  Meanwhile, what is important now is the journey that Ricky has embarked upon.  It’s
a journey of self-discovery, one that we all come to at some point in our lives.
Because his choice was so extreme, from life as a multi-million dollar football star,
to attending classes as just another student, his journey has gotten lots of
attention.  But we all make choices everyday.  These choices help to shape our lives, and lead us to where we’re going.  At we making conscious choices?  Are we
listening to the yearnings of our heart? Ricky has been open about his use of marijuana.  He doesn’t seem to have any plans to quit.  But as he continues on his path with the study of Ayurveda, he will find
that he doesn’t need to smoke.  Ricky will discover a strength within himself that
he will not want to dull with the use of drugs.  Ricky shows many of the symptoms of
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.  He is intelligent, and restless.  He has 3
children from 3 different relationships.  He is impulsive.  He is gifted.  I think marijuana is a means of self-medicating, so that he can mellow out.  In Ayurveda,
AD/HD is basically a Vata imbalance.  When Ricky learns other ways to balance his
Vata, he will be better able to take care of himself.  Right now the marijuana is a
habit, or a crutch, but as he continues living an Ayurvedic lifestyle he’ll find he
doesn’t need any crutch.  He’ll be healthy in mind, body, relationships, career
– in every aspect of his life.
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When I started this blog, my intent was to write a little something everyday… so much for those plans! But isn’t this so true of everything these days? Life just gets in the way. Or does it? Are we really doing what we want to do? I guess this is the big philosophical question. There are a lot of blogs out there. I guess I thought that if I kind of put my journal entries online that it would spur me to write more. I’ve kept diaries on and off over the years – but since I’ve had kids it’s mostly been off. I’d start… and then pick it up months later and forget what the heck I was talking about way back when! So, here we are. New Year’s Resolutions time. Mine is to write in this blog once a week. I think I can do that. What are your resolutions? Let’s talk about it. Post to the discussion board and we’ll share! ]]>

I admit it.  I’ve watched “The Bachelor” since the very beginning.  Something about
it got me hooked, and now it’s one of those guilty pleasures I can’t seem to shake.
But lately, what started off as fun and fluffy has turned in to more of a car wreck. The premise is awesome – it’s the kind of Cinderella story that every girl loves.
The prince goes around trying his slipper on every pretty maid’s foot in attempt to
find his true love.  And keeping all the maidens locked in the castle together while
he goes through “the process” makes for interesting side stories when cattiness and jealousy come into play.  After all, there’s only so much of one prince to go
around. Yet alas, the fairy tale has gotten old.  We have seen other sides to the prince that
we do not like.  We’ve seen uber-popular “Bachelor Bob” set new records with sloppy kisses, only to dump his chosen lady-love mere days after gracing the cover of People magazine.  And after professing his hesitancy with commitment from the highest mountain, he plunged head-first into happily-ever-aftering with a beautiful soap opera star.  Hearts were broken, but Bob was forgiven.  After all that, he’s a
married man now, game over. Then some cocky football player used the show for his own person PR campaign.  The girls were young and outrageous, taking shots from a beer keg and falling down silly all over themselves.  We weren’t suprised that the romance didn’t last there.  It was all for play, and we knew it. And now we’ve got this new guy, a 40 year old professional Bass fisherman.  There areladies vying for his attention, seasoned veterans of the dating wars, most in their
thirties.  This isn’t a game anymore, this is combat.  And it’s pretty nasty.  I don’t know when I’ve heard as many words “bleeped” out of one person’s mouth on
prime-time television!  Where are Jerry Springer’s bouncers when you need them?  This is hard to watch.  Can these amazing, beautiful women feel so desperate that theybreak down in tears for all of America to witness?  Over some guy they’ve known for 2 weeks?  Come on, people!  They’ve seen the show, they know how it works – and yet,the drama continues. By the way, this time around, I’m rooting for Mary to get the guy.  I can’t see her
go through heartbreak a second time. I think it works better when the show is in “Bachelorette” mode.  There are been
two Bachelorettes so far, and both are in happy relationships with the men they
chose.  Women just make better decisions.  And men can handle competition more
easily.  At least that’s how it looks on “reality” TV!
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I wonder how many people work at home on Saturdays… Probably lots! It’s a great day for me to get things done, because the phone isn’t ringing as much, and I don’t have to drive my son to school and activities – and my soap operas aren’t on to distract me! ]]>