No New Years Resolutions for Me!

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Every year just about this time we all get asked what our New Years Resolutions are. Each year I always have a plan laid out and each year I fail. It was only THIS YEAR (2008) when I realized that my plans fail because I felt as if I had to have one...you know, it was the thing to do. New Year, New You. WRONG! I don't have one this year and I am actually proud to admit that I will not be sucombing to the pressure of stating that I will:

Eat Healthier, Exercise More, Read more books, yadda, yadda, yadda and all of that junk that never get lived up to under pressure. For me all of these things should be maintained all year long. They also need to be a passion for me, something I want to do versus something that just sounds good to say to someone.

I know what I need to do to remain emotionally, physically and spiritually healthy and it doesn't begin on January 1 and end on January 2. It's all year long.

Of course some might read this and call me a Maverick. Maverick's are typical for going against the grain, but for me, it's not going against the grain, it's remaining true to who I am. Just because everyone is going left doesn't mean I have to. Sometimes going right feels more comfortable for me.

In this case, I have No New Years Resolution and it feels Right.
Happy New Year and May this be the Year that you come into your OWN. I have and it really does feel RIGHT!

Who wants to Roam?

As most of my friends know, I am a huge fan of the red wine "Goats do Roam" although I was always a white wine person. Reds in my opinion had a bitter, bark tree like taste and so I had no interest. Someone convinced me that not only was red wine better for you, but there really are red wines that are soothing to your pallet and quite medicinal. They were right.

I was introduced to Goats do Roam about 2 years ago and have not looked back. I have also referred this wine to many, many people who love it as well. I'm now introducing it to you. This wine is produced in South Africa and is corkless. Purchase price is anywhere between $8.99 - $16.99 per bottle depending on where you live. I usually get it for $8-99-$9.99 per bottle.

Respected South African winery Fairview owner/vintner Charles Back has built what started as a single red blend named Goats do Roam into a full-fledged wine company offering a range of top-quality, blended wines widely available throughout the wine-drinking world. The Goats do Roam brand is, in fact, the single-biggest selling South African wine label in the United States. Fruit for the wines is sourced from vineyards in the Paarl, Malmesbury and Stellenbosch areas, where Back owns farms or buys fruit from selected wine growers. No matter what their origins, grapes are selected based on the basis of inherent fruit quality and flavor characteristics required for each respective blend in the range.

The grapes are vinified in Fairview’s cellar in Paarl by Charles Back and resident winemaker Anthony de Jager, also responsible for the Fairview range. For all the light-hearted sense of fun evident in the labelling and branding of the Goats do Roam range, the wines themselves take a serious approach to quality. The style is modern, fruit-rich, with intelligent use of wood for either fermentation and/or maturation in small French and American oak barrels. The range is predominantly red, complemented by selected whites and a rosé and covering tastes from those that call for a wine with complexity and cellaring potential to those that require early drinking.

Come on and Roam with me. Enjoy!

My Forgotten Santa Claus

I have to admit, I was not always a fan of Christmas. Something deep within me (even as a little girl) always made me feel sad because I knew there were people who were not as fortunate. There was never a Christmas that went by where my mother and family members did not shower us with plenty of gifts. As a parent, I did the same for my children.

Regretfully, I must tell all who read this that showering one with gifts is not the meaning of Christmas. Christmas really is a time where REAL people are very sad. Some don't have food, employment, a home or money to give if they wanted to. Some are even left without hope.


I found my old Santa Clause a few years ago during an after Christmas Sale. He was in the very front of the store but marked at half of the price of the other ones similiar to him. He was quite dusty but even at half price, no one wanted him. I did and had to have him.

He is my favorite and here's why:

He was the forgotten one. He was the one that no one wanted and he was the one that most people turned their backs on. Was it because he did not have on the shiny red suit, but instead an older looking corduroy coat? Was it because he did not have a bag of goodies in his hand or because he held an empty bird's nest? Was it because he didn't have a huge smile on his face but instead wore the look of a man with character? Whatever the reasons are as to why he was overlooked were all the reasons why I had to have him.

Here is my challenge to you....remember the forgotten ones. Don't become so consumed in your own joy that you forget to bring joy to someone else. Don't forget the people who are less fortunate and don't forget to pay it forward.

Have a Very Merry Christmas.

My Classic Wisdom Favorites...

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Tori's Classic Wisdom Favorites

Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction...

The only completely consistent people are the dead...

Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration...

Never work just for money or power. They won't save your soul or help you sleep at night...

Work for something because it is good, not because it has a chance to succeed...

When things go wrong, don't go with them...

From now on, any definition of a successful life, must include serving others...

Never apologize for showing feeling, when you do so you apologize for the truth...

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power...

A good heart is better than all the heads in the world...

A man's character is like a tree and its reputation is like its shadow; the shadow is what we think of it, the tree is the real thing...

To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance...

You've got to get to the stage in your life where going for it is more important than winning or losing...

A goal without a plan is just a wish...

You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do...

There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is having lots to do and not doing it...

A man's reputation is the opinion people have of him; his character is what he really is...

LIFE'S MOST URGENT QUESTION IS: WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOR OTHERS?...

Tori's in love with...

A few of my Favorite things....

God

Peace

Good will

Family

Friends

A hot bubble bath

Alone hours for reflection

Sunny days and the summer time

Belly Aching Laughter

Music

A good heart

A glass of red wine

A swagger in a walk

Healthy salads

The Caribbean

Manicure and Pedicures

A good drama movie

Cocktail Parties where holding up the lil pinky is a no-no

Puppies

Clean scents

Shoes, shoes and more shoes

A deep tissue massage

People who are true to themselves

Healthy Balance of Life

Whatever happened to baby Teeky???

PHOTO OF MY SISTER AND I.

MY SISTER IS ON THE LEFT AND I AM ON THE RIGHT

At 45 years of age, I can still freshly recall the days of my youth when things were simple, Marvin Gaye was playing in the background and I could hear all of the neighborhood kids on my block outside playing. I can still even smell the smells of childhood sweat after a long day of play. I used to think "I can't wait until I am grown." I longed for freedom, independence, doing it my way and didn't have a clue of the responsibilities that went along with this.

I remember my mother calling us in the house to eat, take our baths or clean up the house. I remember the smell of pine when she would mop the floors and the smell of the basement when we had to take the laundry off of the basement clothesline. Those days were so long ago, but just YESTERDAY. Where did they go

How did time eat away at so many years and so fast? How is it that in just a blink of an eye, I have 2 daughters? It was too fast and I wish it would stop. I wish I could take a day, an hour, or a moment to go back in time and embrace the child in Teeky again. I wish I would not have longed to be grown so much and better embraced my youth, I wish I could once again watch my mother (without her knowing) move her hips to Marvin Gaye's Mercy, Mercy, Me.

Whatever happened to baby Teeky? Well, she really is grown now. She really does have responsibility now and while her mothers hips don't quite move the same, I am thankful that she is still alive and can move at all

Teeky is now a woman, a mother, a friend, and most of all a Child of God. Teeky has been blessed beyond her wildest imagination. She has been carried and protected and Teeky thanks God that she has lived to be grown and now watching her daughters grow.

Teeky still longs for the days of long ago, but Teeky now lives her life for her future and appreciates even better those days of long ago. I thank God he's carried me all the way.