Basic Missions

 This post is dedicated to Shannon my dearest friend who is both beautiful and talented who is strong and amazing who has so much talent and so much possibilites inside herself that she cannot even handle them sometimes. She is a seeker and a student and has star power that rivals anyone I have ever met that means a lot of real stars out there. She is amazing. I want her to recognize that today and make all things her life, love, dreams and space to be a perfect fit. I want God to enter into her life like Dumbledoor appariating into Hogwarts and realize that she has the ability to make, change, become or create any life she see’s fit the life of her dreams and she dreams big and lives by her own rules and I respect very few people as much as I respect Shannon. Love my friend. Well that is one hell of a statement to start off with but I love Monday’s for this reason. First they are new beginnings and second they give us wee humans a chance to take our limited brain useage and bump it up a notch. Mondays are open to anything, really they can suck like no bodies business or they can be the day that makes a new you. That is what we are concentrating on today.

I want to write up front that Grace and Duncan have given wonderful post today and the mp3 download that you should pay for is free and fabulous so download it and enjoy it. It is a Grace and Linus original and by the way it is trademarked here so you cannot sell it. You may share it but not selling if you do you will be sued. Grace so kindly shares with us we do not want to scalp her so send her prayers of love and healing and thanks today she is in Wales and that is a far piece of road and ocean from Alabama but I would love to be there to hugs her softly every morning and make her into the international superstar she should be. Duncan I can handle and am.. heeeheee.. books coming out and life proceeding as programed.

Ok. The idea of a new life appeals to so many. One of my dearest and most precious friend who has all the attributes of a star herself doesn’t see them. She see the bad and the confused or the settlement to pays out in life to live and is not happy. She needs to reboot and be specific. SO today we are going to learn to be specific if your dream is  to be a writer and you sit in meditation and prayer and work at teaching and volunteering and helping others achieve but you don’t ask with complete and utter confidence to God what it is you need and want why I ask you should God play along. Why should he give you a dream you have not had the cajones to ask for. He won’t so lets bring it up to the table of God let’s sit in our meditation pillow and practice our yoga tune our minds to God in gratitude then bow in supplication and give thanks for all we have. Now while you are on your knees bowing and praying I want you to ask and deliberately picture and be specific for what you want and need. Just make the prayer simple but the picture in your mind complete. God already knows what you want and need he is just waiting to see if you have the good sense to ask for it. If you do and do so diligently then the INTENTION will manifest. I swear if I say intention once a day I say it a thousand it should be tatooed on my head but not wanting that I will just keep talking. Now as you pray be grateful for the yes and no’s in life and be grateful for the abundance you life in.

Get up and begin your day. For years seekers of truth and God get up earlier to spend time with God before they start there day. This is serious and devout and as it should be. God being God he knows your wants but he wants to see if you know what you want.

So let’s take time  to allow God to change you life. And you need to take control of your heart and your happiness. In life we are taught that happiness is a state of being that descends on us like fog. Folks I am here to tell you happiness is a choice, a practice and a decision to live in a balanced state of mind and when that balance is knocked about you either fix the imbalance or remove the problem from your life. The first step in all things in admitting we don’t understand how all things work and maybe this hippie chic might know a thing or two about manifesting your life and intentional prayer and making happiness a choice since for the last twenty years she has lived a very difficult but always happy life battling illness of a husband, death and cancer daily. Now take a minute and if you didn’t read this today let tomorrow be the first day of the rest of your life. I have always been parital to all days that I find myself above groud and enjoying life. You see we need God to supply the grace in life to live through the difficult times and bring peace to all times and God needs us to play. God does not have hands or feet to splash in the ran or chase a dog he does that through his creations and why are so many of use making him live suffering because we choose it if for no other reason lets make a mantra today that we will do something to make God smile. He did not intend for us to live in such a constipated mindset. We need to dance, sing, and rejoice. Love ourselves and seek to love others. And pray, manifest and live in intention. We allow God to play on the monkey bars of life he allows us to have the universe as a playground we need to give God a break and ourselves one too.

Today as Grace has so brilliantly named it is mystical monday. SO hop to it. Embrace it and jump in the puddles and eat the chocolate(just a little) and bow in graditude to God for the life he will bring you if only you have the sense enough to ask for is then do your part in bringing it to you.

So today as Grace has so beautifully named it is mystical Monday so hop to it. Begin again. Make a dent in the dreams that are open to you. And remember the love of God and the power to make all things happen lies within you because God lies dormant within you until you open that door and invite him into your life to work magical things.

Okay. Oh and Oprah save me a spot on your network I haven;t worked out the whole idea yet but I’m a Coming. And my dearest friend who is unhappy be the next Hemingway or Joyce or an actor you are infinitely more talented than you know and go for it. Today is your day. I love you all. Especially Shannon, today. Blessings in gratitude for you.

Callie Broussard-Wheeler

Every day I come to this place and we teach one another to touch our greatness through communing with God. I have been thinking a lot about this subject today for three reasons. One Duncan is having me read the book by Elizabeth Gilbert called Eat  Love Pray to him before we go see the movie as is our habit. Two because I am a seeker and a teacher of spirituality. But  before I was a teacher I was a chef and I will always be a chef. That is number three by the way. And let me tell you the food in this book is driving me nuts. I have been on a raw food diet for years with treats here and there but for now all I want to do is bury my face  in a good boil of pasta and butter and cream sauce and some lucious procettia and eat. This book is making me food crazy. We eat for health here and we eat well but I am ready to go off the wagon for one illustrius night. We eat really well here. We eat healthy and we try to eat to heal and live, not to long ago though we ate for pleasure.  So here is the recipe as it would be cooked in Rome no muss no fuss fifteen minutes of work at the most and you will want to die this is so good. Heaven will have hit your lips. And please do not consider an evening out at the Macaroni Grill or Olive Garden when you can cook this and head out to the movie. For goodness sakes that is not even food! Sorry chains resturants.  Okay here is how we are going to present this recipe it is pretty straight forward that it is healthy I am going to give you the Italian way and then insert the health food version in underneath the original. Lets go…. this was our dinner tonight and I will attach a picture of the pie that was the Sunday Night treat. Dewberry Pie because the other night Duncan changed his mind and wanted Cherry. Et Voila!

Portabella Mushroom Stuffed with Polenta and topped with Tomatoes and Artichokes.

Now before I get started this is not and expensive recipe so don’t go there. It is basically grits rough cut and a mushroom a large one will feed two people and Some cheese and one tomato some oil and one can or Artichokes in water not oil.

So Two Portabella Mushrooms

before we start to cook take some olive oil and a little pepper sauce like out of peppachini peppers or vinegar and a little lemon and season highly garlic powder, onion powder and cayenne and pepper we want this mushroom to be steak like. Let that marinate while you throw the rest together.

Take one cup rough cut grits or polenta and four cups water. If these are polenta grits.. it takes more water if not less and season with salt add some butter and let cook until the water  is almost out and they are think but never clumpy. Put a cover on them and take them off the heat.

Take one tomato and the can of artichokes in water and saute in a small pan of a little butter and a little olive oil in Rome they use both. Butter makes the sauce velvety and olive oil adds the taste. Get that going  and let it bubble away on low.

Now you will need a tad of pesto and four pieces of good soft mozzarella cheese.

Take the Mushrooms and dump the marinating fluid into a cast iron grill pain turn on the broiler and pay attention you want to broil both side until tender but not catch your house on fire. This has olive oil in it so it could happen.

When you mushrooms are soft but not floppy take them out and then turn them cup side up. Spread a tad of pesto in it or season with a basil lead and some oregano then put one knob of the cheese and put one half cup of the polenta in the cup then put the tomatoes and artichokes that have been simmering on top and then the final knob of cheese. Voila. Now throw that back into the oven until the cheese on the bottom is brown the oven can be on about 400 but do not burn them all the ingrediants are soft and hot so they will help melt the cheese that is the point. Pull the wonderful masterpiece out of the oven and plate and devour. Boom Et Voila.

Now… if you want to have a healthy version.. use organic cheese or kefir or yogurt and do not add the butter sadly the olive oil will be good enough although it will lack that something that probley only I can taste and enjoy.

Now for the pie.  Pie is the easiest thing to make and once you do it you will never turn back.

Dewberries as many as you have maybe four cups

a handful of sugar or sweetener of your choice

a handful of flour

little knobs of butter to add to the filling

one teaspoon of vanilla for all pies but cherry there you use almond extract

mix and hold in a  bowl

Preheat the oven to 425

take two cup and one half cup of flour and put it into a food processor just plain flour

one teaspoon of salt and one of sugar

and spin that in the food processor to lighten it.

Now while the processor is running add the sticks of butter that you have cut into bits to the flour and don’t fret your processor may dance around a bit but it will live and then slowly add one half cup of water. You will probley not need the whole 1/2 cup of water so go slow when this pulls away from the sides and starts to make a ball the let it and stop with the water if not add the rest. Now if you dough is sticky big deal just add a little flour on the rolling board and you are golden.

Now. Take the flour out of the bag and throw it on your counter like you don’t care and roll the whole crust out it can make two crust but this is a rustic pie so we are not fussy we want delicious and to be honest I am a rustic food person not a pretty food person that shit drives me nuts.  Roll it out until it is two times as big as your pie pan. Roll the dough onto the rolling pin and place into your pie tin. Oh make sure you  spray pam on it or grease it or you will have a mess.

Now dump the filling dab with the knobs or drops of butter what you are doing with the flour and sugar and butter is making a roux to thicken the juices no cornstarch please then  pull the edges over fold it on top of itself if you have to the crust is divine the best part so don’t scrimp. Also when the pie is done sprinkle with sugar. Put in the oven and cook on 400 turning the oven down until the crust is golden brown and the juices run thick it the middle.

Now morals and plain ethics absolutely cause me not to give you a healthy version of a pie. It is irreverant. Enjoy.

So Eat, Love and Pray and Enjoy Life is about all of them and sometimes we need to eat to enjoy it not for healing or higher purposes except to have some pleasure in our life. Tomorrow will come soon enough and we will be back on the path of eating for health and making your self well through food.

Bon Appetit!

Callie

Just a side note: My husband let me take a photo of  this pie before he cut it in half and is sitting happily watching True Blood on HBO devouring it. Tomorrow will be another pie because that is my life. But he is happy and I am Happy. I wish you all the happiness of Pie.

                                                                                                       Well, I have been informed I have lost the joy in our home. That I work at work, we work at healing even our food that use to be part of our fun has now become working at healing. So when do we have fun? Talk about a k ick in the gut; have the person you spend all day and all night with inform you that you laugh on the phone or skype or outside with the dog but you don’t laugh often with him. Well welcome to my Thursday of hell and guilt, and you want to know what. He is right. And I hate that most of all. What have I been thinking. One of our favorite movies is about a strong southern woman that rules the roost. Her husband says something off the cuff one night in the getting ready for bed  and she said honey your right! His response was how’d that taste coming out of your mouth. She said like vinegar. Well that is how I feel… like I have vinegar in my mouth. The reason I get up, the reason I work, and the reason I live is to enjoy Duncan and I am not laughing with him. WTF? And if you know me well then you know, I am a gut laugher. A loud one… no matter when or where. There is just no containing that Julia Roberts burst that comes out when something tickles me. Well, obviously I am not tickled.

Now this has to end. Fun has to be injected back into our lives. Yes, healing is serious business. But shit, why are you doing it all if not to laugh and love and live right? Now comes the hard part changing the pattern. Not watching him like he is  something in the oven and just playing. That should not be hard. I know: I have heard his jokes nine million times and he has heard mine but we enjoy each other I adore this man. Hell we would half too. We have been locked in the same space together for 19 months. No fighting well… some if I am ugly or tired but mostly just love. Duncan is a kind and gentle soul. I speak my mind and do it often. The crux here is we have to begin to play.

Every night after he has spent a day resting and I have spent a day at work I get into the bedroomwhere he has resting after his day of work and we eat supper together and watch TV. Bad pattern. We have to interact. We need to reach out. We have a ball when we are with others so why not while we are alone. To tell you the truth; when folks are sick; I cannot imagine this is an abnormal problem. Life becomes so serious. I can tell you because I have the “do it all right performance meter” cranked to high no one can breath. Listen the man just existed the dying process if he wants to giggle thru  supper why not. It is healthy. Aren’t we a little pass the pressure. Now having food treats like sundaes would undo our work but once a month  wouldn’t be a bad idea. We use to do lots of crazy things. I would hang a lot of blankets over the bed and we would pretend we were camping. And tell ghost stories. We would visit other countries by preparing supper from one and wine and then trying after a week of prep to speak only that language.We would giggle our heads off. And we would play with Saatchi and she us. We had date night and I would pick up dinner from some exotic place and we would watch a movie like a night out. Where has it gone. Well time for thinking about that is over.  Time for a change is today. Have you lost the Play in your day??? I know there is a lot to be said about food and healing and how we live and healing but there is a lot to be said for laughter and healing. Today’s challenge is not to wait one more minute to start laughing when you get with your loved one. Whether they are ailing or not, older or not, just play. And stop being so damn serious. Yes I am a type A personality!!! So time to bring it down a notch. Would it be the end of the world if we got into a tickle fight and began to horse around in the middle of the work day or just took a ride if he felt like it??? It is time for me to pull back and add some fun.. so fun here we come.. Tonight scrabble and sandwiches.. a healthy one. Well, they will be organic. But maybe an organic hamburger some baked fries and a little pressure relief. As of now, I am putting work away. I am going to nap because I was up all night with Duncan and I am going to be ready to laugh when he is up and ready for company. He is my top priotity it is time I act like it. And while I am at it my love I am sorry. Not sorry but I wanted you well. Just sorry. You are right.

I prepare for everything in my life.  I have lost the zest for home. Now the book is done, life is new, and it is time for a Wheeler Picnic meaning a food you should absolutely not eat in bed like boiled scrimp or crawfish and some fun.. tonight burger and scrabble.

What are you going to do to have a family fun night with the ones you love? And make sure that you don’t mention any of the following… bills, family problems from relatives, meds, healing notes, or work. Just play. Build a fort in your bed room if you have to it is your life. Watch something silly like Zombieland or Tremors and giggle. Life is about laughter. When Duncan or I do die the one left behind will not be remembering the health food or the meds or the stress we will remember the time together, the late night chats, we will remember  love shared and the laughter.

Lets get to it.. so consider yourself tagged your it.

Callie Broussard-Wheeler

PS… Duncan posted a lot yesterday. He posted the first lesson on THE FLOW and the diet for MSa . And Grace posted a new post so hop over and have a look.   Then get off the damn computer and go play. Love you all. Callie

Saatchi say's cornbread is a good thing Martha!

I was touched the other day when I was on the phone with my sister. Now, you would have to know her to see that she has the whole package is she is Cindy Crawford gorgeous, she has an amazing son and a phenomenal career. Here is what gets her stuck. She is constantly thinking negatively about herself and about life. What ever the challenge of the moment it really boggles her and gets her down. So I thought that we would learn some good old behavioral therapy today. I bet a lot more people than would like to admit spend there time thinking about the problems in their day and not the victories. If you get a critic and it is off do you spin that in your mind until you have frantically now got a worry you cannot let go of or do you look at all the good things in your performance at your job or home life and say..Okay I can work on that let’s move on.

Well, we are going to learn to move on this week. First of all we all acknowledge the only profound line in Pretty Woman is when Julia Robert’s says,” it is so much easier to accept the bad people tell you about yourself than accept the good, you know?” Well actually Julia I don’t I know this is fiction but we have all bought into that comment. My Mother is so often quoted as saying if you have made a mistake and it can be repaired then what is the problem? Only mistakes that cannot be repaired are problems and those are rare. Life is about action, that implies that mistakes will happen only in inaction or stagnation can you live in a place of safety and folks life is not about being safe. Ninety percent of miracles are the doggedly determination not to give up and to show up each and every day and work toward what you want the other ten percent is Grace.

Today we are changing the channel in our head. We are no longer going to live in the wallowing of our mistakes or past or whatever holds you back. We are moving forward. Now in behavioral therapy they teach many different ways to change a habit. Well we are going to reinforce the idea that things are wonderful and not go into the rubber band around the wrist snapping that was an eighties fad. So right now I want you to grab a piece of paper and fold it into a small square and put it on your desk or in your pocket or purse. When you have a negative thought about your chosen path, your life, your body, or your decision or mistakes you must take out the paper and first write down what you felt was negative second you have to jot down five wonderful things about the day that happen to you. It can be as small as a smile from a co-worker to a tail wiggle from a pet to something tremendously fabulous like a pay raise or an I love you from your love. Write them down. When the next negative thought comes into your head boom! Back to the paper and here is the challenge you cannot repeat in a given day one good thing. This way you are cataloguing the good and not the bad. Soon you will find yourself blissed out and looking at the good in a magnified and positive way and the bad as small and irritating as a fly. It is time to alter our brains. We are blessed and we should pay attention to it.

Okay folks.. I am throwing down the gauntlet ready or not. Go!

Callie

And here is a good thing to try. A treat for being so disciplined and going the distance on the exercise. If you have been to Italy then you know they make the most amazing cream soda’s on earth. Here is a health food version and the original. Both are fabulous just different.

Original Italian Fruit Cream Soda

One cup of fruit

One cup of seltzer water or sparkling water we need the fizz

four teaspoons of sugar to taste

one teaspoon vanilla

and a half a cup of whipping cream

a half a cup of ice.

Place it all this in a blender and blend until ice is smooth and you have a frothy smooth drink. Enjoy. I would say in both versions use fruits that are soft and ripe and tasty… pineapple, peach, berries,strawberries and enjoy banana is good but it loses it’s Italian flare. But who cares it is divine.

Healthy Version

one cup of fruit

one cup of seltzer or sparkling water

one half cup coconut milk

one teaspoon vanilla

honey to taste or steva or agave both the agave and the steva are much sweeter than sugar and the honey would be to taste. Like in all healthy drinks honey adds some smoothness and you don’t need much unless you live with a huge sweet tooth.

one half cup ice

Blend to taste. It is divine. Now here again you lose the Italian version but the coconut and pineapple is to die for and the berry and coconut makes such a refreshing drink. you want coconut milk no coconut water… I like the canned version some like the drinkable version but since we are mimicking whipping cream it works the closest. Enjoy.

Just a personal note these are addictive as after dinner treats… and whole coconut and cocoa nips can turn this into a chocolate treat.. again not Italian but divine..  cooking is about using your imagination so go with it. If you come up with something new please share it here we will print it and give you full credit.

hugs and happy drinking.

      Today has been a rough day here at Sutherland Cottage. Over the years we have had to ask ourselves often: How do you work and live while sick? How do you get your work out on time and how do you keep a consistent flow of information going out to the readers you do have.

Do you have an answer? Because I don’t. I know we all take turns posting on different days although we all have the freedom to post when we need or want to. It is vital for a website to have good information flowing day in and day out just like it is vital for any job to be productive and don’t misunderstand BasicMisssions.com is just as much a part of the job as helping the people we can help and striving to give a voice to the three challenges we face daily from this office; cancer, M.E. and M.S. I bet you can see the frustration.

Now a lot of my friends have a vision board that includes posts that have been stored up for days they are sick. Some of my friends have a roster of people who guest post for them to keep the information fresh. Here at Basic we want you to be living this with us. So the information you get is fresh and from our hearts.

So on this challenging Monday lets throw out a few ideas on how we can keep current in life and deal with our personal challenges. And don’t think those challenges are only illness, they can be work overload, single parenthood, and various lifestyle changes that cause us to have to juggle many hats in any given day.

Today these are my hats, I have two clients in need of help, Duncan is ill he is seizing and looks to have caught a cold which could put us back months on the healing calander. God willing it won’t. I have one lawsuit to deal with and two speaking engagements and a doctor’s appointments to make and a ning network to build. No worries it is just the roster for Monday. Now in this mix I need to check on my neighbor and make a casserole for her she is coming home today and her Mother passed away unexpectantly so they need some neighborly love, and make sure I touch base with my family. The weekend was a mess and we need to speak at least.

Now I need to take out my wonder woman costume and get his mess ordered. First. Finish this post. Second spend two hour editing my book and placing the photo’s where they need to be. Oh I forgot I have a pie to bake no photo for the pie reciepe so that is added to the cooking list. Then take an hour make return calls, get Duncan his lunch and meds, then check with the lawyer, call new clients. Stop  and put the casserole in the oven and head back to the office. Make sure the clothes are hanging on the line early because it is Mobile and it will rain at 3 or so no matter my best intentions or the fact that is is sunny and a hundred degrees outside. Are your tired yet? I am. But life goes on.

My best advice is to get you a white board and a package of multi-colored markers. On one side of the board make a list of your duties for the day and then a list for the week. After you finsh make a priority list. Make sure you get everything down int he order it needs to be done and then follow it. Put in breaks and dog walking times. Now take a deep breath. Spend ten minutes just breathing and getting into the work zone. And now you are relaxed and with an hourly chart you know you can tackle what needs to be done. If you are a life coach like I am make sure you set a timer for each client. Sometimes you can do a lot of talking and not a lot of coaching this is work time not conversation time. Make sure it is productive and at the beginning of each phone call make sure you state how many minutes you have and then get started. And do you homework. Don’t go to a meeting unorganized or with papers you have to shuffle through. If you do the homework life is much easier.

Ok. Welcome to Monday folks. She is a wickedly mercurial little devil but we can win the Monday Battle.

Send in some of your best tackling Monday advice. I would love to hear it and by the way. Look for the ning network next week. It has a start up date of the 17th and we are so excited it is all we can think about. I hope all of you outhere is cyberspace will enjoy a space of your own to just solve daily problems support one another and get real. I think the  idea is golden. We also have some new players coming into the mix this week. Duncan will be introducing THE FLOW. Make sure you stop there daily. He has written and entirely new practice of worship. It needs no church and allows you to find the middle pathand touch the divine in each moment of your life. I have loved learning from him and really feel like this work will change the world. I am trying to make sure everyone has a question and answer section on thierpages but if you don’t see one please send in the comment anyway and I will attach it to each post. Everyday we are a work in progress a lot like life. So keep joining us.

Happy Monday.

Callie Broussard-Wheeler

Good Morning Sprouts!

Yep, you guessed it today I want to talk to you about a very important subject on rebooting your life. Nutrition. Please don’t run the other way.

Here in the South we have some of the best food traditions on the planet and the weekends are our most dangerous contributors. Sunday is the worst. Thankfully most of us head for church Sunday morning so at least we have a little of the after life covered just in case. I can tell you half -heartily joking that at my church we have a list of people who have had heart attacks during service or after. None of that is funny. My brother in law being one of them.  It is a shame when a church needs a defibrillator and people trained to use it, but folks that is the world we live in today.

I am not always the perfect soldier on my diet. I would love to say that every meal is sugar free, and only loaded with good fats but I cannot predict what is going to happen outside my home. Most of our friends know  we are vegatarians. I am more vegan than Duncan and there is a huge difference between vegetarian than vegan. I am not asking your to become either. I just want to get you thinking about your food.

In our country today we have the largest number of obese people on record ever. That is a frightening thought. The average weight for an American female is two hundred pounds. The average weight for an American male is almost three hundred. Those are staggering statistics. I can say with utter certainty that many of the kids in your child’s school are on some type of mood  altering drug for ADD or ADHD and that is terrifying. I do not believe in drugging children. I have known two true cases of ADD and they are being helped medically and psychologically. I think it is wonderful we can treat those conditions. I do not however think a wiggling child that cannot concentrate on their school work is  not necessarily ADD. I think they are cracked out on bad food choices and were probably sent to school with a McDonald’s breakfast, a pop-tart, or God forbid a Jimmy Dean sausage and egg biscuit and milk or coke. So you have drugged them so well so by snack time they need another fix which is either some garbage called blue juice that is kool-aid and something and candy or a bag of chips or cookies, then lunch rolls around and someone serves them pizza and lima beans and a coke. Snack again is a tiger cone at by nephews school meaning a snow cone full of sugar. Now load an adult full of all that crap and see if he can sit still in some boring class and pay attention. I do not think it is possible. So bare with me.

I think we should look at life like a table. Have you ever been out to eat and the table  if off balance and rocking back and forth, it will drive you nuts so you look for something to shim it up with,  you take a book of matches or a packet of sugar and stabilize it. Well life is like that. All four legs of life must be in balance when you reboot your life! They have to be held in  equal balance to make for a healthy and stable life.

First there is your mind, your must feed it and keep it healthy by staying focused and using it. Most research says that people who stop reading or challenging their minds after the age of forty develop some form of demita earlier that others. Secondly your spirit. You must learn to connect with the divine in your life, to connect to your inner peace and balance we must meditate and worship. Spend some time in the presence of God: worship, pray, meditate. Thirdly you must use your life to achieve your goals: working is the best form of mental activity if you are retired and run meals on wheels or working for a living you must work toward something. Intention and ambition are healthy and being ambivalent is a form of depressions. We want you getting up excited about your life. Even healing is work make it joyful.When you set your vision for your life and you are working toward that vision you will be a happier more stable person. Fourthly and the most neglected of all is your diet. If you have a poor diet it is like pouring sugar in a gas tank of a car. You will not run correctly and you will begin to develop disease. Most major diseases have one thing is common can you guess what that is?  Sugar, yep, white death. It has your kids cracked out and your body on a roller coaster of highs and lows that are unfathomable unless you ever detox from it once. Then you realize how held captive you are in life by your food.

Did you know that this year is the 125th year of making Dr. Pepper. Well  I had not idea. I bought a pack for a family get together and the new cans are all retro and cool they have a car hop on the front holding a tray of drinks on it and around her it says 10, 2, and 4. Well that got me thinking why ten, two and four? Well because it you are a loyal Dr. Pepper drinker and you get your caffeine fix through popping the top then you will need another drink at ten, then at two when you feel slump then at four. Well now that was a clever bit of advertising if there ever was one. I have no idea what the Dr. Pepper folks would think of my analogy but there it is. I have not contacted them to ask them what it means. Just for the record.

Now before I climb up on my soap box I will tell you that in my green living foods diet I cheat daily. I have a cup of community coffee every morning of my life and it is a big one. It is loaded with organic sugar (like that helps) and cream the real stuff and I love, love, love it. I have been on a quest for a better life through nutrition for years as a matter of fact my book is coming out soon that will show you how and why I moved from fine french cooking to fresh whole foods. Believe it or not they are not that far from one another. But this is one habit I have never ever been able to stop. I did for a while and was miserable and felt deprived and unhappy so I added it back in. I have been drinking coffee milk as my Mother would all it since I was old enough to hold a sippy cup and like most children that grew up in Louisiana that cup help Community Coffee made with chicory. So I am not looking for perfection here I am looking for a bounce and balance  in your quality of life so that your energy, skin, body and stamina are better.

Here is the ideal diet. First we have to take the SAD standard American diet and turn it on it’s ear. We need veggies. We need to eat as many veggies raw or lightly cooked as possible for your system to work effectively you need to keep it alkaline. In an acidic environment your body will build disease the thought makes sense right. Now what are acidic foods, fruit because of the sugar but if you are not fighting a disease fruit  is a natural way to get your sugar and load of vitamins so don’t throw that out of your diet. Now if you have cancer then no fruit or very little as a treat. Meat is inflammatory and unfortunately the hormones and meal feed the cow, pig or chicken is acidic so make that less of your diet.Now for my folks with auto-immune disease if you can and wish to add meat to your diet add grain feed or grass fed organic meats. That is the best you can do on that score. Best case scenario have a meat once or twice a week and have a portion that is the size of a deck of playing cards. Many many many times  a day people ask me what about protein, well beans, legumes, green leafy veggies and cauliflower and broccoli have more protein than most meats. You will not lose that if you balance your diet. Now for the word that send shivers up every dieter struggling to stay at a size six. Fat. You must have good fats. Good fats like olive oil and coconut oil help burn fats the bad ones and they help brain and cognitive development. The also help you feel full and nourished. Avocados and Coconuts are easily available and will change your life if you really  work at it. If you are going to use a butter use butter, raw butter is great for the immune system and helps you keep the fat balanced in your life. Margarine is toxic it turns to hydrogen peroxide in your body and it will clog your arteries faster than any product on the market. The folks that wrote that marketing campaign where genius not t metion you get a tub for a dollar fifty. Unreal.  If you change your diet you will not only be able to get into those skinny jeans but you will begin detoxing off some rather nasty chemicals and hormones and sugar.Don’t be surprised if you have some detox symptoms your skin may break out, your body may take you to the bathroom a little more than necessary and you make get a bit nausea. These foods are drugs people. So expect your body to want them. Remember we are not looking for perfection we are looking for a scale from good to better to best. Move up slowly.

What I suggest it take one things a week and eliminate it then take one thing that week that is good for you and add it by the end of a year you will have detoxed off unhealthy food be having more raw veggies and you will be knocked out by the energy and health that you find at the end of this rainbow. There are a lot of good books our there for detoxing into a new lifestyle and you can find what fits you and your life. Ani Pho is a writer I love and she has a detox book that allows you to  detox slowly so  get to the local library and learn more about the last rickety part of your life plan reboot. Kris Carr will be coming out with a book in October that I am sure is just as amazing called Crazy Sexy Wellness Diet. She has done her own studies and although I have not talked to her about her plan I have done some of her detoxes and they have been incredible. I must warn all of my readers that if you have an auto-immune disease that you do not want to over build your immune system. By definition your disease is caused by an immune system that is working over time and causing a great deal of havoc. In all the cleanses I did with Crazy Sexy Life this was not addressed but she has her own plan and it works. I love her. These disease are MS, ALS, Reumetoid Arthritis and many more. So get healthy but don’t go nuts. If you have cancer then by all means hit this program hard. The life blood of these raw plants carry a ton of oxygen to your cells which in essence drown the cancer cells the more dead cancer cells we can get the better.  I have been following this plan for five years or a little less now and my sarcoma is non-responsive it has not grown nor has it gone away. Others have had great results but they found some flies in the plan and arranged it for there bodies only you can know what is best for your body. No one else can tell you that. Duncan has MS the cancer diet put his MS into a tail spin. He was getting sicker and sicker I spoke to both out holistic healers and our doctor and they both said we were over building his immune system. So do what is right for your body.

So it is time to begin to take that diet resolution in hand. I do not want you on a diet. I want you to change your life. I want you to make good decisions that impact you positively. Ham and eggs or yogurt and fruit. Burger and fries or a veggie pita with the works and some lovely hummus thrown in for flavor, fat and protein and a huge batch of greens a day. You get the idea. And while we are detoxing and feeling our way through this diet lets just look at our choices. Fried chicken or fish or baked, fried potatoes or no potatoes and a salad and a batch of steamed veggies. If you begin you will find that daily you will begin to make better choices and you will feel better and many fabulous things will happen.

Here are the stats you may just not want to know. Did you know that in over 40 percent of women who see their female doctor more than once a year complain of constipation. Some have been complaining that they may not have eliminated in a week or longer. That makes there whole body toxic. And yes those lovely commercial with Jamie Lee Curtis spouting bifudus regularous will get your regular. Do you want to know why because that artificially injected little bacteria is normally found in your fruits and veggies and Greek un- pasturized yogurt has it naturally. I am not knocking yogurt if you are going to consume milk product which I have gone on and on about before yogurt can be your best friend. Not the sweeten fruit on the bottom low fat one, with aspartame. We will not even address aspartame. That is a neurotoxin so if you are going to sweeten anything use honey, agave or organic sugar or stevia the kind from the health food store not the kind made by proctor and gamble in a lab into crystals. It is genetically engineered and we are trying to get away from that.

Smart eating plan day one. Nothing from a can, a box or plastic or a drive through window unless you have a vegan pita place that make whole foods and offers a window.. I have yet to see that!! Lay off the sugar and no aspartame or splenda. And eat your veggies. Slow down on your meat consumption and find ways to make better choices. Take it slow and remember this is s turtle race. You win by changing bad habits for a life time  not dieting. Dieting never works. It may get you skinny but boxed meals from Jenny Craig are full of toxins, Weight Watchers uses the SAD diet and even though many people swear by it the balance is off and illness will set in. Now off little sprouts, head to your local Whole Foods or fresh market. Go to the salad bar and get a salad for lunch and get a little bit of olives and use the oil they come in for dressing on the salad. You can do this for the same price as Mickey D’s.

Peace and Veggies.

Callie

Today, I am sitting at my desk, waiting for inspiration and eating a peach. The peach did it. There have been two very consistent subjects that I have worked on my entire adult life: food and God. I do not think that they are very far apart. When you bite into the luscious skin of a peach and the juices run down your face and it makes you smile. You know several things immediately, first it is summer, second a peach is a miracle and third your going to need a napkin to clean this mess up. Now your search for the divine is very much the same. You must keep taking a bite out of things, learning about history, physics, morality, and the human experience. All of this is messy and you could say you might need a metaphorical napkin to clean it all up and present the search for the divine in a clean and concise way.   I often feel that trying to do just that is what has gotten main line religions into trouble. I do not want a religion I want a practice that allows my daily life to be richer, more aware of the miracle of life, I want to freedom to get messy and make mud pies and delight in all that God has given us.  I think sometimes when we try to put God in a box we leave out the mud pie making and the  playing in the rain. The simple rejoicing that comes from a  life well lived. I love life. I love the smell of grass the colors in the world, and the people; all of them. I love the human experience. I love transcending the human experience to, by tapping into the metaphysical in all of the world around me. Why am I who I am, why do you think the way you do, what makes us the same and what makes us different. I adore it all. My life is a life well fed of food and mysticism. I believe that is how it should be for  a french girl from Louisiana raised on voodoo and catholicism and venturing to meet the people in my life who changed it.  I do not want to limit my human experience and I don’t want you to either. I know this post is far from the rebooting program we are doing this year at BASIC but I want you to know what makes me tick. Why I write and think the way I do. I am 46 and just beginning when I was  around 13 I read a book called Out on a Limb by Shirley MacClaine. I was very impressed by the fact that here was this middle age woman questioning all the things I was questioning. Wondering about the universe if there were specific truths that rules it and if all religions held the same ideals just used different practices. Later in life she and I would become friends and share our search but that story is for another blog.  As time passed and I grew and began to ferver to find myself. I looked and worked at many jobs, study many things and battled with so many over ideas and closed minds. When we moved to Mobile, I was still studying and got sick. Once I got sick life changed forever. I began to find that the most complicated questions could be answered by going within. That the kingdom of God was within. That the inner scape of our lives far exceeded the outer view. We are limitless creatures because our souls energy comes from the divine. All questions and answers resonate from within. The answer is within. So on this mystical Monday I want to encourage you to follow your idea’s, search out your questions. You cannot know God until you question what you belief and shift through it all. Don’t be afraid to question everything and find your answer for yourself. Then when  someone asks you what you believe you will know.  And take a bite out of life and let the juice of life be a refreshing and joyful and bright experience.

Peace Peaches.

Callie Broussard-Wheeler

After reading Grace’s page today I was totally knocked out. I had to sit down and evaluate my busy life. I have spent my life post cancer running as fast as I can for several reasons and I just had an ah- ha moment. I am running so fast at work and at life in general, because even dead sick and miserable I work. To remember I am alive. I realized I am afraid to rest, afraid to stop. Will the world stop turning if I take a nap or don’t iron the sheets or just lay by the pool. In my pre-cancer days I was well known for retreating to the bath. I would run and re-run hot water and totally ruin a good book with steam and read it straight through, or I would climb on a raft in a pool and just rest. Now I never rest.  I even fight sleeping. I have always been an insomniac but in the last seven years of cancer it has gotten much worse. So why….? Why do I feel  guilty for resting? I think it is a very valid question. Most women are taught that we are caregivers, even when pain is at a ten or we have pneumonia we get up  and dry clothes, go to work, and cook meals. We never accept the need to rest.  Often people will call or text on really bad days when I have had surgery and Duncan is in the bed all day and cannot do anything for himself bodily and ask if I need any help and I will be damned if I say yes….. What a little hypocrite I am being to want to be allowed to give as a gift to others and not receive. I need to question these things. The reason I am putting this out there is because I think I am not alone in this dirty little secret. I watched a few weeks ago Kris Carr’s great vblog on CrazySexyLife about resting and thought to myself, Callie you are in trouble in this area. So if we are rebooting our lives, we have to continually exam them. And I have been on overdrive for years.  I have fallen prey to the “what if” monster… what if I don’t finish this today. Well you cannot save the world or work round the clock. Tuesday after major surgery that I stupidly asked for a local anesthetic for was a nightmare. Why a local you ask? Because I had to come home and work on my book and sign checks and deal with Basic Missions. What was I thinking. I got home from that ordeal at nine thirty that night and at eleven I was working.  I could not have possibly done myself or anyone else a bit of good on the meds and pain and stress I had been through that day. This has been the thought rattling around in my head all day. When do I sit still unless I am meditating or praying and is that just another chore to tick off my list. I think it is time we as women especially and all the folks healing start to look at the way they perceive their worth and time.

When I first was diagnosed with cancer I had a very involved surgery that cost me a year in bed and a year of rehab and the rest of my life in pain. I vowed then I would never sit again. I would work and live. I didn’t know then that I was setting myself up for a single-mindedness that is unhealthy and turned into workaholic perfectionism. Yes, I want to succeed, yes I want to accomplish everything I have on my vision board, but at what cost. It is now nine at night on Thursday and I am working. I took a short break today to run to the store, hang out my laundry, take Saatchi for our walk and back in to sweep. Where is the break in break? I love working with Grace she teaches me something new each week. But this week she was the kick in the pants that might save my life one day. You must rest, rejuvenate, rewind. In every life their are choices. How we live our day in the present is really all we have. So for the next month and I hope I can do it for the next year I plan to set an alarm to make myself rest for one hour each day. I will take a lunch break, I will not wait to go to the bathroom until I cannot wait, I will not be on two phones and the computer at the same time and I will slow down. I will shut Basic Missions Home office down at five, and I will enjoy meditating and walking and take a minute to notice life.

I have been so caught up in the article that Grace wrote today that I noticed my soybeans had come in and I had edemamae for dinner. I noticed locus exoskeletons  on my trees and that the grass was cooler by a bit, I noticed that Duncan was smiling more and Saatchi was less tense. So my tension and workaholic lifestyle was not rubbing off and peace had settled on our family. I noticed I was tired, hungry, and spent. So I ate, rested and slowed down. That in turn made me want to hop on the computer and share it with you. We not only need to smell the roses but we need to give ourselves permission to take our time.

Will life change here at Basic central command?? We will see. I do know this: tomorrow morning at three when I cannot sleep I will not be working on notes in my to do list’s, or working on the computer. I will unplug my brain and just lay quietly and at peace. I also know this is going to take practice. A lot of practice. It is going to be hard core for me.

So Duncan thank you for inspiring Grace along with Kris: I am very grateful for the swift kick in the pants. I am so busy building my dreams I forgot to live them as they are happening. Is this happening to you? Join me and rest a bit. Juggle the schedule, cuddle up with a cup of tea and take time for you. I know mentally I have been playing beat the clock with cancer and you never beat the clock so it is time for me to stop competing and start completing my own journey. If Cancer can have such a hold on me that I cannot sit still for the fear of it. I will not give cancer the satisfaction of stealing another moment or thing from me.  I will practice what I preach. So I have learned my lesson.

Join Me. Share. Rest. Love. Give Thanks.

Callie Broussard-Wheeler

Good Morning Glories.

I hope that you are growing with us and moving toward your best self with us here at Basic Missions. I have always found just waking up on Monday a challenge. Well let’s be honest waking up any morning is a challenge for me. Firstly I am an insomniac so I do not appreciate anything that wakes me once I have finally gotten to sleep and secondly my Mother swears I have been a bear in the morning since I was a hour old. Must be DNA. Anyway… what we want to address today is all the things that on Monday can sideline our life from a beautiful day into crass and misery in about thirty seconds.

Monday’s are moody. You are normally tired and worried. If you are like me you left Friday afternoon with mounds of work on your desk, bills you are worried about, loved ones not so happy and a weekend of hunting and gathering in our new millinieum way. Nothing has changed much on that front. We must shop and get to market especially if your eating fresh foods and taking care of your body. Then the house must be cleaned after a week of tromping in and out working till nine and not having a decent meal. Then Sunday rolls around and that is family day and you must either cook a large meal or have company so life is not easy, by the time you lay down on Sunday evening you are more exhausted when you started.  So let’s try some simple solutions to change the way we work and perceive our days. If you normally live as described above I have some simple life change solutions that will give you more time and more peace. Believe it or not there is more time in a day if you just slow down.

Cleaning: Since cancer entered my life I had to learn that my house could not be immaculately clean daily although upkeep can keep it beautiful and fresh all week. If I go slowly and don’t try and kill myself. Here is a  few tips to do that.

* After you take a shower or bath take the scrubbing bubbles, vinegar and water or whatever you clean with and spray down the tub. Keep it in the shower it will run down the drain with the water and your tub and toilet will stay sparkling fresh, same as the sink. After you nightly teeth brushing spray it down rinse and Voila… that chore is over

* I know we all hate dishes but if we work to use only one cup or plate and then wash it immediately we save tons of time and a lot of frustration looking at a pile of dishes that need sorting and putting in dishwasher and some hand washed do it then.

*Make your bed if you like it made the minute you get up if you are a bed made person. Because nothing can ruin a perfectly good day to walk into a room with an unmade bed and chores when your tired and wanting to go to sleep. And here is a hint. the reason you sleep better at a hotel is because someone comes in daily and makes the environment serene for you. Do that for yourself.

* Even if you have a small load of laundry and you own a washer.. wash them daily… hang them on the line before going to work or throw them in the dryer before leaving and that way you haven’t piles to do. I hang my clothes because I love the smell so I do that first after feeding the dog.

*Take some time before you hit the ground running for you. Meditate or pray or take a long bath and do both. If I have a big work day I run a hot bath  I don’t linger but I don’t rush and I bathe… and luxuriate in it. That way I have prayed gotten my center and found my peace for the day. Never under estimate peace. If I throw my hair in a ball and throw my make-up on chances are my day will be frantic and nerve wracking.

That seems like a lot but I clocked the time it took this morning including the hour it takes for my meds to work so I can stand up and it took only 20 extra minutes.. so set a soothing alarm a bit early and your life will be a lot nicer.

* I have a big thing about smells… I love my house to smell good and since my walls are wooden and my closets cedar and sandalwood it does but I keep a candle close at hand and burn it for an offering of prayers while I work. I have a 15 minute prayer list that means I pray for some people every fifteen minutes until the answer comes so my candle means prayer and serenity. At home having your home smelling nice is essential.. I cannot tell you how many days have been ruined if a dog smell or a garbage is full smell hits me when I hit the door.

So this is morning… let’s see if you can come up with your own ways to settle MOODY MONDAY. This is not a hint. This is a very important life lesson… if you live your life so much for others Mother are you reading this that you are almost sick on Monday your health and life is as important as everyone elses and the little word NO is the same in all languages. Practice it, it gets easier and easier… it is wonderful to please and love others it is detrimental to take it to a point of tearing up your body for them. No matter how much you love someone sometimes you have to say no. I know it is hard. But figure out what your limit is and draw a line. Take care of yourself. Your God Pod cannot give if it feels like roadkill.

OK. Let’s banish the Moody Monday.

Love you all.

Callie Broussard-Wheeler

  So often in life we have to look outside ourselves for empowerment. I find that there are certain situations that can cause me to need deeply to be spiritually fed. If I give and give to others then sooner or later I will hit my wall and whoops…. there goes the inspiration and the intent to even move.

I have a challenging life. I have physical challenges and so does my husband. But the one most important thing I can lose in those challenges is that we are NOT the problem. If you have a disease or worry you have to find small daily ways to remember that you are not your cancer, ms, depressions or grief. They are a part of you but if you allow them; they will eat you alive. In order to challenge the status qou and not go along with the prozac nation lets assume that some wall hitting is normal and we must learn to rebound in come the Empo’s. (not that prozac is not needed at times.) We must find pick me ups and boosts. I have many and would love to share my Empo’s as I call them.

When I am feeling less than lovely… and I must even we goddesses do I mean really, lol, we all have our days: I put on a movie with a heroine in it that reminds me of me and make my face and get dressed to the movie. Because I love the movie heroine I may  choose: Sex in the City or The Blind Side , I find powerful women who help me access my inner goddess. For us curly haired short girls no one can whip you into a beauty frenzy then Sarah Jessica Parker. She makes us all feel beautiful.. not to mention she is an avid shoe lover as am I so we have something:) that makes the universe align. My heels give me wings as do hers. Find your diva. Is she a green mean goddess machine like Kris Carr who I adore and if you read her blog you feel so empowered, or Louise Hay who can talk you into healing, or even my friend Tori Spelling who really is a fabulous Mom, Wife and Business person. Just connect.

Now if I am feeling down and Saatchi and I are cuddling up for a cup of tea and needing some strength Eight Below makes me all spicy because I get furious at the plane driver who leaves the dogs and I get tickled at my spirit animals that float across the screen while they all lay on my bed and at my feet. Just a side note if you don’t like big dogs meet me for tea away from my home, this is there house I just pay for it… My huskies love to help you with your biscuits and tea but they are not much on cuddling although they love movies turn one on with more huskies in them and the little ego whores jump up and sit in a line to watch. To be a husky and live in that beauty must be heaven. They are God’s painting of the most beautiful dog come to life.

If life has my inner Goddess scrambling to find herself and Duncan is sick I love The Holiday or Titanic all the undying love stories that allow me to laugh and cry and remember the first dance, the first kiss, the first touch and then watch as the middle of life moves in.

Empo’s can be so many things.. a good manicure if you are not a sassy southern two inch nails girl do a lovely clear and enjoy the lotions and smells, if you love a pedicure have a friend or a partner swap and enjoy the luxury of someone you love giving to you and you to them.

I have two Empo’s that stand out in my mind so strongly. My best friend and I have been to hell and back together. You will remember she got married last month. JOY !!! Well when life is really really bad I can meet her in church or for lunch with friends and she so easily reaches for my hand and I know life will heal. How many people these days reach for your hand. And don’t forget to reach for theirs. Touch is a major Empo!!!!! Hug a friend, hold one crying, have one hold you, cuddle with your cat or dog or even a cuddly stuffed animal… I have a prayer robe really it is a pashmina but it is soft as silk and warm and when I am down I can wrap it around me and the world is shut out.

Now the idea behind this blog is to find the Empo’s in your life. Line them up and get yourself fed. We cannot always be vessels of change if we are empty vessels.

The Buddha said that to be empty and at ease is the greatest gift. That is true if you are at peace. We humans sometimes need a little push to find our little energizer power bunny of work and of peace. Both can be an illusive and difficult when times are stressful.

So break out of the same old routine.. find you indulgence. Just so you know this week has been hell. My Empo’s this month have been seeing my amazing hairstylist who allows me to keep my gray but not look like the wicked witch of the west he is also a reiki healer and will stop you dead in your stressfull tracks with one head rub. Sex and the City to get dressed when I have been without sleep for 10 days and here it comes… a new grey suade pair of six inch heels with a strappy sandal pump combo that is studed and will be the rage for fall. And talking to my dear Grace whos voice is music and soul seems to float through the phone and across the pond from Wales to Alabama. And as I always say if you are not reading her page get over there and read it, she is brilliant. She will be the next Louise Hay of healing.

Share your Empo’s….. movies, make-up, yoga, pup, kitten, cuddle, friend, music… we would love to learn new ones.

It should not go unsaid but no matter if you in a hospital with a loved on or at home take a minute and connect with the Divine that is the greatest Empo of all.

Wishing you a hot pair of heels and the joy of wearing them.

Callie Broussard-Wheeler