Half Way Through 50 Adventures at 50

The 17th of February marked the half-way point of my year of recorded adventures during my 50th year on Earth. My half-birthday. So, thought it might be a good time to do a little reviewing and reminiscing. 


I've quickly found out that actually "counting" adventures is not as easy as I thought it might be; in fact, it's virtually impossible. When I started this sojourn, I was thinking of a concrete list of adventures; now I see that concrete is more associated with events. I've had a few of those thus far that are easy to list. It seems, moreover, that I'm having more adventures of the fuzzy kind. Those that can't necessarily be listed--they insist upon some kind of consideration, thought, or meditation. I'm thinking that's a good deal--I'm enjoying it in most cases, and though I might not necessarily enjoy the "adventure" I'm handed, it does give me much "cause to pause."


I have accomplished some of my initial goals. I wanted to learn about blogging and although I have only skimmed the surface of "blogdom" I have enjoyed the experience. Soon I'm going to take this experience to the next level by working in conjunction with our 21st Century Scholars program for the five county area that our IU Alumni chapter serves. Annually, IU Alumni Association has an "IU Cares" project that challenges all chapters to get out and do some good in the community. Not being much of a single "event" person, I opted for some sustainability of a project and am in the midst of creating a networking (through blogging) opportunity where some 21st Century Scholars can enlighten their communities in the practice of sustainable, healthful living. That's in the works currently and is looking to be launched in April. In addition, my personal blogs have "blossomed" into, on any given day, around a dozen blogs on different subjects. Just as my mind tends to "scan" different ideas, the blogs are the perfect accompaniment to this...love the blogs.


I've learned that it's not only necessary sometime to say something just isn't going to happen...it's actually okay. Case in point? Learning Photoshop CS5. The more I delved into the jungle of all that is Photoshop the more I learned that it wasn't what I was looking for as far as working with photography in a way that I find pleasing. I'm far from a graphic artist; I'm a curious soul with a camera. I love angles and telling stories with pictures in a basic way. The CS5 is officially off the plate (unless I need it someday...LOL).


The website was constructed via a Google site. Tina's Busy Brain was put together in somewhat haphazard fashion (a reflection of the owner? :))  )  It hasn't received a great deal of time and attention. My original idea was that I wanted a "home base" of sorts to house all the links to the various blogs I keep. As time went on, I found this isn't necessary; blogs just don't need the tether. Blogs are blogs and can stand independently. Lesson learned.


Learning Irish cooking. Irish cooking is much like cooking in our neck of the woods...a compliment indeed. We KNOW food around here and what makes it tick. We season, we taste, we pay attention, we see our home-cooking as love in action to share with others. After doing some research, I see many similarities with true Irish cooking. I have discovered some excellent dishes, have developed a new love of corned beef, keep a supply of Guinness under roof at all possible times. Our dinner parties have been somewhat on hiatus this fall/winter due to our schedules, an extended fall that extended the bike season (no complaints there), and time just not allowing for those long, languid evenings that make up a good dinner in house. We have had a couple and they have been highly enjoyable. And one of those was a "pull out all the stops" Irish meal. (One thing I have found is that most Irish dishes pretty much center around white potatoes--we needed a bit more variety in our diet due to side effects of inflammation and the threat of our middles expanding a bit.) I did make a connection with a lovely lady in Ireland who is the food editor for the Irish Times. She was extremely helpful and supportive of my adventure. I now tend to lean toward a good Guinness stew when I think stew, and soda bread mix is normally in the pantry, so a good adventure this has been indeed!


That's enough for now; this is a blog, not a thesis. Just a review of some adventures up to this point. Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts as well...life is indeed an adventure! Enjoy the journey!