Julie & Julia

(For the record - THIS is my "impossible" feat...

mothering three boys, three and under - by myself!)

Because I'm slightly ridiculous, I feel like blogging about a blog written by a woman obsessed with Julia Child's cookbook... that became a book... that became a movie.

Sound fun? Read on.

First of all, I'm so excited about this movie it is hard to sit down and write this blog instead of jumping up and down and yelling from the rooftops about what a joy it was to watch. Yes, that seems dramatic, but it's true. :)

I had been waiting to see "Julie and Julia" for MONTHS now... as I love ALL things Julia Child. If I didn't have three children clinging at my ankles at every hour of the day and terrorizing my babysitters, I would have been like an obsessed teenager at the premiere of Twilight, camping out in the wee hours until the very first showing. The woman was a dynamo and my personal inspiration in the kitchen, ABOVE Martha Stewart. The original food wizard. A trailblazer for women and an overall good person with class and an honest zest for life.

I was in no way disappointed by even a moment of the movie's content. We all have inspirations in our life, and to find a sense of purpose and commitment beyond ourselves is a beautiful thing. It covered an incredible variety of subjects; love, commitment, following through on things we are deeply afraid of, achieving our goals one step at a time, the fact that true success isn't built by a frivolous fleeting moment of inspiration, courage to embrace our lives for what they are, taking the bitter with the sweet in life, and relishing the joy in seemingly boring tasks. I was encouraged, empathetic and transcendant when I left the theater... it was a simple message, but those are the kind that at times, and especially in this case, struck a cord that I won't be forgetting anytime soon. Take life one step at a time, and don't forget why you began the work you started. That will keep you going even when things seem bleak.

I was the dorkiest kid in the world - so obsessed with cooking shows even from a young age. I watched her show on PBS right before The Frugal Gourmet and loved the lilt of her voice and the enthusiasm which she displayed in everything she did. She made cooking seem so exciting and grand. I'd often host my own "cooking shows" in the bathtub, pouring different concoctions of soap from one container into the other to demonstrate my skills to my invisible audience (which sometimes became an audience of one or two as my parents, grandmother and aunt loved to peek in on my silly little world), at which time I would stop at an instant and usually cry out of embarassment.

Later, my soap concoctions would become REAL food "concoctions" (which my aunt and mother not-so-affectionately called my pitiful attempts at cooking). Then, my unsuspecting prey would eat the meal I had prepared at least thinking it would be *edible*, only to be sorely disappointed and quite ill. One of my legendary "meals" was when I took packaged lunchmeat, drizzled it with honey, sugar and pepper and microwaved it for a couple of minutes. I served it to my poor father on a piece of our fine china from the fancy cupboard, and bless his soul... he ate the whole thing praising my work the entire time.

Thankfully, my skills have improved, and now I have had several people survive and sincerely praise some of the things I have made for them. Cooking delicious, healthy, home-cooked meals for myself and my children is one of my biggest priorities in motherhood.

The biggest reason the movie was an encouragement to me, is that MANY MANY days I have a screaming, crying breakdown like the character in the movie. I feel at times like what I am doing isn't worthwhile, or that I am not strong enough to finish what I started, or that I am hopelessly and aimlessly wandering through life with starry-eyed visions of what my harsh reality is. But, we are all human, we all have those moments, and we all are forced to pick ourselves up... brush ourselves off.... and *breathe*.

When you put it all into perspective when you get overwhelmed, taking ONE step at a time, before you know it you'll be looking back over the months and years of work you've completed with a satisfied smile on your face, knowing that you've done YOUR impossible, and if you can still laugh about the missteps along the way.... then you will have TRULY succeeded.