Monday, April 16, 2012

A Few Life Questions and Chinese Food!

1. Why is it that when I see photos of Europe my heart hurts? I mean, it honestly gives a good “thump” when I see photos from places like Paris and Italy. I really don’t have the desire to travel there – being the introvert that I am I’m not a huge fan of traveling places for lengthy periods of time and really, Europe seems like the kind of place that really deserves more than a 5-day weekend. I have a friend who urges me to travel across the pond and I just don’t see it in my future. Would I love it? Probably. Would my heart thump so loudly that I’d want to move right in? Probably. Would I die if I ate the food over there? Probably. But, I’d probably die a very very happy woman!

2. I am an admitted late bloomer. For my entire life things, life lessons, love came to me later in life. I have shared before that I was horribly bullied while in grade school and the practice followed me into high school. Back then (the 70’s and early 80’s) it was a complete embarrassment to come forward with the information that someone is teasing you for being fat, or poking you with pins to see if the air will go out of you like a popped balloon. There was one school you could go to and moving to another district was out of the question. Homeschooling was unheard of then and just was not an alternative solution. I remember looking at my father in the rear view mirror when leaving the school after my high school graduation and saying, “don’t ever expect me to ever go to school again!” And, my father looked back at me and sincerely said, “I will never ask you to”. After being terminated from a job after being there for 8 years, I decided to try a general education course at the local community college using the ALIS grant. It is a grant meant for students who have been away from school for 6 years or more. I thought I’d give it a try – nothing to lose really. I went, fell in love with learning and didn’t stop attending college until I had earned my masters in Counseling and Psychological Services with dual specializations in Grief Therapy and Life Coaching.

3. After writing number 2 above, I think this is going to be a week-long blog post about other life questions, lessons and things garnered in my life. Yep. This is where you get a little more insight to who Tracy really is. I realize no one demanded this! But you get it anyway because I love you!

4. You know I love to cook! This weekend I made my famous egg bake (to be reviewed in the blog I share with my friend Kelley – Girls Plus Kitchen), the best brownies in the world and orange rhubarb bread (also to be reviewed at previously mentioned blog).


Chinese Food!
My husband and I really love Chinese and Mexican food and it’s not all that abundant in our neighborhood. In fact, we have to drive almost 15 miles to get to the best Mexican place. This weekend we decided to try Lui’s Chow Mein in a tiny strip mall a few miles away. We had planned that when the weather was mild again that we would try new places to eat downtown (where we both work). If we do this we need to walk outside to get to most places, though Minneapolis is known for its skyway system, it’s much shorter to walk on the street. Friday evening was cold and blustery so we decided to find some good takeout and stay in with food and movies. I thouhth about Lui’s Chow Mein right away and thought I’d do a little internet research. Lui’s received outstanding stars and numerous compliments! We decided to give them a try. When I entered the little hole-in-the-wall joint there were 5 tables that could seat 2 diners at each and if they were full would be terribly cramped. Clearly this place did most of its business via take out. While paying for my order (cash or check only) I asked how long they’d been in business. The gal at the cash register (old register, gold, with the uplifted old-fashioned keys) yelled in Chinese to the old old old lady in the back (who was hacking up meat – literally) my question. The answer came back, “only about 27 years”! What??

We have a new absolute favorite Chinese place that it took us 8 years to find!



1 comment:

Dee said...

Tracy, I feel so bad that you had to endure bullying to that extent in school. I was not bullied at school but was bullied by a step mother who made most all of my childhood miserable at home. It took me years to overcome...but like you I overcame it. I learned to not look at the scars but at the strengths I gained from it. I admire that you went on to get your masters in counseling and psychology. I look forward to reading your posts and getting to know Tracy better...I love you to.:)

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