Monday, March 21, 2011

Am I In A Rut?



I'm sure we've all felt like we were stagnant or at least on our way there, once or twice in our lives. If you're reading this and you've never felt like this, then you are truly blessed and I'd love to touch your hand or stand in your shoes or rub your head. Anything that might allow some of your good fortune to rub off on me.

I started to write this long drawn out post explaining why I've been feeling stuck lately, but then I thought better of it.  I mean, who wants to spend 10 or15 minutes of their busy day reading all of the gory details of some peri-menopausal, almost 50 year old woman who's having a ginormous pity party and feeling like life has been playing a cruel joke on her?  Not me!

So, to keep this short and to the point, I'll just come out and say what's on my mind. I feel like I'm in a great big muddy rut and that rut's getting wider and deeper as each day passes. I keep seeing the most wonderful pictures of Spring flowers and green grass and sunny blue skies all over the blogosphere, and as I sit here typing away at my keyboard,  the snow is falling and rapidly accumulating right outside my window..... AGAIN!


UGH!!!!!
(and that's being polite)




Don't get me wrong. I love seeing the evidence of Spring emerging as I pop around visiting all of my favorite blogs. It's about the only thing that has been giving me any hope that it will ever happen here! So please don't stop posting your wonderful Spring photos. It's about all that's keeping me sane at the moment.

Anyway.....  I decided to look for some answers or solutions to this rut I'm in, by doing a little searching in cyberspace. So,

A) If anyone out there has any suggestions about how I can start digging myself out of this trench, please, please share them with me! 

B) I'll start the ball rolling with something that came up in a Google search for "stuck in a rut" and see if the author knows what she's talking about...... (I kind of think she does.)




Hope everyone is having a much better week so far than I am!

13 comments:

  1. Oh, I'm sorry to read you're feeling stuck. I know waiting for spring can make one feel glum. I'm afraid I don't have an antidote, I'll give you an "assignment," though..have you seen or tried any good recipes for a chocolate coconut cake? Hugs, Kim

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  2. Sorry to hear you are in a rut my friend... If you figure out the answer to getting out of one, please post about it!

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  3. We all get into ruts..then eventually the mood lifts and we are on our way again.
    Let me try and brighten your day..
    I made your cake recipe and hopefully I can explain the mess I made! You must remember..I DO NOT BAKE!

    First I made the cake and, for me, it turned out pretty good. Although not as tall as yours..I still tried to get four layers..well, that is when the trouble began. Because the cake was not quite even (maybe my stove is not level), my first two layers were almost paper thin on one side.
    No problem, frosting would work wonders on that.
    I then put the syrup on my thin layers...oh my goodness...I kinda ended up with a soggy mess. When I tried to put the cake together...well, all I will say is there was frosting to cover most of it...but that is getting ahead of myself.
    I start making the frosting, my bowl and whip attachment was chilled. I put the cream in the bowl, added the pudding, started whipping on high speed and within 1-2 minutes the crap was so thick I did not know what to do, so I started adding more cream. After the last 1/2 cup of cream..I had to leave this thick mess the way it was, added the fruit..did not taste too bad so I put it into the fridge to thicken???!!! I was afraid it would turn into cement but I chilled it anyway.
    Now it was time to frost the cake. Bottom layer went on pretty good but each subsequent layer( THIN LAYER) kept getting harder to work with. Then I ran out of frosting.
    I wish you could see the cake..you would split a gut laughing!
    I have two more weeks until the CakeOff..I guess I will definitely lower the bar!!!
    Hopefully, that brightened your day!
    Feel better my friend,
    Shawn

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  4. I hate being in ruts. Living in Colorado Springs for around 7 years, the winters could be full of ruts if one only lived for warm weather. I think we only had 3 months of the year that was what I called warm. I did all those things like museums, art galleries, tours, movies, concerts, symphony, so on and so on. I was hardly ever in a rut. I actually miss REAL snow...fat flakes that fall forever. The stuff that falls here is pretty pitiful. Cheer up! Springs just around one of those corners :)

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  5. I found flowers on Sunday and it snowed on Monday...and personally, I'm trying to dig myself out. So I'll share a quote from a poster my teenage daughter has hanging on her wall: "We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same." I'm going for strong. In that regard, even though I'm exhausted, I'm walking with a friend today. Sometimes just getting out for a bit changes the outlook.

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  6. Ruts are not fun or easy to navigate :-(

    What works for me is to tune out all the negativity (and there's been a LOT of it on the news channels lately! It's enough to make anyone feel blah ...) - turn on some upbeat tunes and dance the blues away :-) - reach out and touch someone (call your best friend on the cell or land-line and just connect) - Blog Hop and grab someone else's joy when yours is flagging.

    Hope this was helpful :-)

    ~Val

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  7. NEWS FLASH!!!!!!!!!
    Hubby took my cake home to Loveland and said he can not quit eating it!!! He said the taste is fantastic and now I just need to work on my baking skills...or buy you an airplane ticket to come for a visit and make the cake for me!!! I will be trying again this weekend..pray for me. I wish I had the baking gene but I don't ! My cupcakes turn out like biscuits..which crushed my dreams of opening a cupcake business.
    Hope all is well,
    (((HUGS)))
    SHAWN

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  8. Come on...you're not alone.... here in Sicily (Sun Island) it rains...rains and rains........it's not spring!!! But I know...it' s going to come soon!!!hugs, Flavia

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  9. Oh, you are so not alone!! My advice? Do something that you've never done before...something new, fresh, fun, something that will make you smile.

    LOVE the picture of the little baby--so darling!

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  10. I'm with you on the rut thing. I think it's a bit of a mid-life transition thing more than weather, as we've just finished summer here and I'm a bit blah too.

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  11. Hey you!! I just got the email you sent (I've been super busy, had the in-laws here for a week)...glad to be hooked up again=))

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  12. George: That's OK my dear. Lord knows that I'd rather you didn't have the experience of feeling like you were stuck! Leave the ruts to the older folks like me! LOL

    Kim: I gladly accept the challenge! I believe I saw something similar in my Mom's recipe box. I'll do some digging and post it if I find it!

    AG: I'm doing my best to figure it all out. The easy answer would be to have the weather improve dramatically, but Winter will come around again next year, so of course that's only temporary. I guess it's a good place to start though!

    Shawn: Oh dear! Please don't feel bad my love. This cake can definitely be a little tough for someone who isn't used to baking much. I'll send you an email and explain what I think may have happened. Sometimes it's just a matter of adjusting pan sizes, measurements, oven temps, etc. As much as I'd love to come visit you, I think we can figure it out. Like Julia Child always said... Never apologize! Even she had dishes turn out differently than the recipe. I'm sure that I missed it, but I hope the second attempt was a success!

    CW: I'll admit that I'd miss the snow too, if I moved somewhere that was warmer year round. I just wish it would start tapering off after January and that Spring would come sooner!

    Liza: What a great quote! I have to agree with you... I'm pushing for stronger too. The temps weren't exactly warm yesterday, but the sun was shining so hubs and I headed out and did some shopping and had lunch. I suppose it wasn't necessarily the most exciting thing to do, but it just felt good to get out of the house. Hope your walk did the same for you!

    Val: Super suggestions! I definitely do my best to limit my time spent watching the news these days. It's just so depressing. I like to keep up with what's going on in the world of course, but I try hard not to get too wrapped up in it. I plan to do some catching up with all of my blog friends this week too.

    Shawn: So glad hubby liked the cake! See... it doesn't have to "look" perfect to taste great! I hope the second one came out better for you!

    Flavia: I'm sorry you've been inundated with rain. I hope the sun shines soon for you too!

    FV: I know... Isn't that baby just adorable! I hope we both get to experience some Spring really soon! Hearing from you and all of my blog friends definitely makes me smile, so you've given me a good start! Thanks!

    Cate: I know you're Fall and Winter are just ahead, but I hope you can find sunny things to do each day to keep your spirits up. I agree 100% about the mid-life transition. I don't know about you, but my Mom never told me about this aspect of middle age. I guess she just looked at it as "normal" and therefore didn't need any explaination. Hmmm.... Something to ponder, for sure.

    Marty: So glad you got my email! I totally understand how having a house full of people can keep you away from the computer. Just had the same thing happen here... I'm sure it's the same for you, but as happy as I am to have them visit, it's always nice to get my house back to normal. (Whatever "normal" means. LOL)

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