Day 54: Yeah, I'm way ahead of you; under the spell of true love..--Peg, Lady and The Tramp

Yeah, I'm way ahead of you; under the spell of true love..--Peg

During Lady's time in the pound, the pound dogs tell her about how Tramp loves impressing the lady dogs and how he is never caught. Then Peg, the fluffy ivory-white show dog, starts to explain what will happen when Tramp falls in love. The other dogs go on to explain he'll grow careless and want to protect one of his flames.

In the movies, we're shown that when two people get together and they are soul mates, their eyes connect just once and then they start to change for the other, usually into a better person and they start becoming more selfless and less selfish by making sure the other person is safe and has everything they need. Of course, some films show the darker side of falling in love with a person who intentionally hurts them and they let their love for them blind them to the pain they are going through because they are in love with the companionship the wrong person is giving them, but that is a whole nother subject and not what Peg is talking about. So back to what she was talking about. When Tramp met Lady, he wasn't expecting to fall in love with her. Yet something in Lady sparked that change in him. He did become more careless, but he wanted to keep Lady safe from the streets where he grew up. As time went on, his manner changed for the better and he didn't hesitate to go after the rat that went into the baby's room Lady warns him about later in the film, even though it meant he could get caught by the dog catcher and take a trip through "the one-way door" like Nutsy did.
Another way being in love is shown, beyond the whole instantly fall on first sight, is when one character does something small, like brings flowers just because or teaches them a new skill. Sometimes, one character doesn't see just how the other character is looking at them as they fall in love. A good example is when Flynn/Eugene is looking at Rapunzel while she looks at all the lanterns before he gives her her own to launch during the "I see the Light" song in Tangled. There's one rogue like Tramp that didn't expect to fall in love as he was helping her reach her goal. Then again Rapunzel, like Lady, didn't expect to fall in love with the thief who stole the lost princess's crown along their journey. Disney does a great job of what being in love should look and feel like, even if the expectations are high (like marrying an actual prince or falling in love and marrying in under an hour). They've also done a great job of showing it's ok to not fall in love and you don't need another person to save you from your situation, but again another post for another time. I could go on about all the ways they show what being in love should look and feel like, with all the examples they give in their movies.

I can only imagine what being in love is like and what I'm shown by my family and friends and in the movies and tv shows. That is one emotion I've not yet experianced. I've liked people; I love my family and friends. Yet I have never been in love and want to feel that emotion. I'm sure I will when I'm with the right person and feel safe and secure enough in his arms to fall. Whether or not my imagination is right time will tell.

So until next time Keep Cooking with Character!

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Day 53: Come on kid. Start building some memories.-- Tramp, Lady and The Tramp

Come on kid. Start building some memories.-- Tramp

Just after Tramp and Lady finish their "Bella Notte" date, Tramp suggests they chase chickens on the way home. Being a house dog, Lady of course is hesitant and Tramp, an outside dog, encourages her to live a little with this quote.

Building memories happens every time you do something. Even if it's something as mundane or simple as making a meal at home or driving down the road, you're making a memory of a moment in time you were doing something. Sometimes memories stick out and become so ingrained they become a part of your personality and who you truly are. The Emotions of Inside Out call them "Core Memories". It could be something like your parents taking you to church or the first time you learned to read or master a new skill. Every day we're making memories. Sometimes we go through something that is extremely bad, sad or traumatic. Even though we try to block them, they are still a part of our memories.
Personally, I prefer to think about all the happier memories over the sad ones.  For example, it's been 10 years since my grandmother passed away from dementia. I do not like to think about the sad ending to her life (all she could say was "I go home" and in our last phone call she repeated "I love you" when mom prompted her to say it because her brain was that far gone). I much prefer to remember all the good memories I got to have with her, like spending Christmases with her (which meant Santa visited twice some years!) and seeing it snow on Christmas in TN where she lived or getting to drink some of her Mello Yello because that was her favorite soda. Mom wouldn't let us drink soda as kids, except for a glass at her mom's (my grandmother's), when we earned a trip to the soda machine in school, or when we went to the lake with friends as a rare treat.  Course as kids (especially as teens), we would do what we could to get more soda, drink at our friends or use our milk money. I'm pretty sure there wasn't nothing we didn't try just for that rare treat. Though once we were teens, we were allowed more soda since we were older, but Mom still wanted it to be a rare treat, which didn't always happen. I'd love for my future children to see soda as a rare treat like I did growing up, but it will be harder since soda is more readily avalible now that I'm older and it's more cheaper than bottled juice in some places. 
My grandfather (her first husband and my mom's daddy) passed away from the same thing and about 3 months prior to my grandmother. My favorite memories of him aren't of Christmas, but of Harvest time. He had the hugest garden you've ever seen. He had every last vegetable and so many fruits in that garden. Every year we'd go in August just before school started and we'd help him harvest his garden. Then we'd help snap the beans and peas while the rest of my family told stories of days gone by. I don't remember many of the stories but I loved to snap! My most favorite Harvest memory was when he taught me how to make his coleslaw, starting with picking all the veggies from the garden then slicing them on the long picnic table he had in his yard to handmaking the slaw sauce. We did this for years and I think of him every time I make slaw. Once you've tasted fresh from the garden coleslaw you never go back to bagged slaw.  Before we'd leave to go back, he'd load our car up with all the canned veggies he and his second wife made, but best of all was his homemade apple butter made from the apple tree in his backyard. He'd give us 6 huge mason jars full and they'd be gone before the next year. I have yet to find anyone that can make it identical to him.  My aunts and cousins try but it's just not the same!
Though my memories may seem like they're just every-day things that happen out in the world (which they are), they are still memories I will never forget and cherish because of all the new skills I learned and how everyone made me feel. Some of my other memories are along the more "fantastical", like the first time we went to Walt Disney World, which was Christmas 1997. The two biggest things I remember was me getting to take a day-long animation course at The Disney Institute, our campsite at the KOA we were staying at getting flooded and having to move to higher ground, and Cinderella's Castle being Pepto Bismol pink(a horror I hope Disney NEVER repeats again!).  But that is for another post and another day. 
So keep making memories and Keep Cooking with Character!   

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Day 52: Why everyone knows a dog's best friend is his human.-- Trusty, Lady and The Tramp

Why everyone knows a dog's best friend is his human.-- Trusty
This gem comes to us when Lady is doubting her family's love for her because  they are preparing for the birth of Jim Dear and Darling's first child and Trusty is trying to reassure her they still love her dearly.

Dogs are quite funny creatures. They are beyond loyal and protective and love their human families unconditionally. Their needs are very few: a warm place to sleep, fresh water and food. Having cuddles, companionship, and treats are just an added bonus for them. The lucky ones have homes that can fullfill their basic needs and all their doggie wants. Others are still waiting for their "fur-ever" homes in shelters or wandering the streets hoping to find their "fur-ever" family. There are also those who have sadly crossed over the Rainbow Bridge and they are waiting patiently for us to eventually join them one day.  
It's wonderful to come home after working or vlogging to see a furry face smiling at you as if it's the first time they've ever seen you. That sheer innocence can turn a bad day around, especially if you tell that furry face all about it. They don't judge those you encountered in your story, they just quietly listen and want you happy again. Yet they judge people when they first meet them and have an uncanny sense of who's a "dog person" or not. They happily go up to people they know will treat them well and will shy away from anyone they feel isn't going to or could hurt them. They'll also go closer to their trusted humans if another human approaches that the dog doesn't trust in that first sighting. They're a great judge of character that way. They also have an uncanny way of sensing when their human is hurt or sick before their human even knows it. For example, some dogs have saved their humans from seizures and others help their humans get the things they need because they physically can't for whatever reason.  Though they are diffrent, they can be just as helpful as a human to have around.
So until next time don't forget what Trusty said and Keep Cooking with Character!

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Day 51: I don't know imagine anything could ever take her place in our hearts.-- Darling

I don't know imagine anything could ever take her place in our hearts.-- Darling

Darling tells Jim Dear this when she realizes just how much she's fallen in love with Lady one night. Shortly after she says this, she finds out she's going to have a baby, which is handled just as delicately as it was during The Victorian Era the movie takes place in.

Have you ever met someone or owned a pet that fits this description? It's funny how just when you think your heart can't love another person or animal and you meet another person or animal, your heart becomes even more fuller than before. You don't expect it, but it happens when you least expect it.
Over the years I've had a lot of pets. Though none are with me now because they've all crossed over the rainbow bridge, each one fits this quote. My first pet was a black and brown dauchshund named Fonzie, which we had until Iwas around 3. We had to give him up when they thought my then-baby sister was allergic to him (which she wasn't). Then we got a school of tetra fish, you know those really cool neon-blue striped fish, about two years later. Then when I was 7 we got a boxer, Betsey. She was a beautiful brindle boxer and we had her for 10 years before old age claimed her. Around this same time we had a stray grey kitty come to our home but I didn't get the chance to name her because she tested positive for feline leukimia and they had to put her to sleep to ease her pain.  It was my first experiance with a pet death. Let's just say I took it really hard. Then we got our first family kitty, Tiger, a short time after. I remember my heart being so full as a child. I had a dog, a cat and some fish, which were pet goals for any child growing up in the 80s and 90s.
Fast forward about 15 years and another cat later, my sister announces she's pregnant with her first child. At the time I was jealous because I felt since I was the eldest child, I should have provided the first grandchild, not the last ones as the case is now. Yet when I saw the little guy, I fell head over heels for him. Now I can't imagine my life without my little (now big) Bug, even though I live far away from him and his younger siblings. With each child born and each animal adopted, my heart gets even more fuller than before. I am sure when I start to have my own children and adopt a pug of my own, this feeling will just intensify and I cannot wait to feel those feelings again. 
I hope you have had a much luck as I have in finding those special someones who fit this quote and will continue to  have that kind of luck, for finding someone (human or furry) this irreplaceable is a true gift and joy to life.
Until next time, Keep Cooking with Character!

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Day 55: Bella Notte/ Peace on Earth

This song is actually two songs merged as one. It is also the opening number and, while showing credits, sets the stage for the opening act, which is set in during Christmas 1910. As the song finishes, Jim Dear gives Darling a very special Christmas present. 

I have struggled for a while to figure out which angle to take this song. It is very simplistic yet heart-warming and needs no explaination with how straight-forward the lyrics are. Out of all the songs in Lady and The Tramp, this one is my favorite. It brings a huge sense of calm and peace to me every time I hear it, even during my darkest times. It also has a way of reminding me of Christmases Past, simpler times and of Christmases Yet to Come. It also gives me hope and the same warm fuzzy feelings I get when I remember all the times I had growing up at Christmas. The songwriters and animators did a great job of the other songs but this one sticks with me the most.  It really needs no introduction nor explaination. 

So until next time, Keep Cooking with Character! 

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Day 50: You know how sensitive he is about these things.- Jock

 You know how sensitive he is about these things.- Jock

In Lady and The Tramp, Jock tells Lady about Trusty's failing sense of smell. Trusty believes he's a great bloodhound, able to smell everything. Yet it is shown he mistakes a little 6inch caterpiller for a 6 foot tall one. 

In this day and age, people have become sensative to everything everyone says or doesn't say. While it's great to be sensative about a physical or mental imparement, people can take it too far to the point where people are afraid to say anything for fear of hurting one's feelings. Once upon a time people could speak things and jokes be made without fear of being sued or worse. Nowadays, you can't crack a joke or say something without worrying what the others may think or do. I do love how the tide has turned in terms of mental health and how things are more open, such as talking about depression or anxiety. I remember back when not too long ago you weren't "allowed" to talk about how you felt mentally and it was frowned on if you did or swept under the rug. Mothers weren't allowed to disclose they were dealing with post-partum depression or someone having depression or being bipolar or having one of the other mental disorders. If you looked "normal" and didn't have a physical deformity the world could see, you were expected to act "normal" and hide whatever ailed you. Thankfully, now one can get help if they are feeling sad or depressed. The biggest challange is asking for that help. Sometimes all it takes is for one person to ask for help or say that they are there for them to make the world a better place for the person suffering behind the scenes. Trust me I know! Asking for help is always the hardest part, but once asked for and recieved it takes a huge weight off your shoulders, even if it's just temporary.

Being sensative to others feelings or ailments can be a good thing. In the terms of Trusty, Lady knew not to bring up his failing sense of smell, which somehow caused him to find Tramp later on in the movie. Had Lady made a joke about it, the movie could have had a much diffrent turn of events with that minor-turned-major character.  If someone chooses to make fun of their own ailments, that's ok, they choose to laugh rather than wallow in sorrow about their situation. If others choose to keep quiet their ailments, that's ok too, they don't want attention drawn on it. Personally, there are some things about me that I love to joke about (my clumsyness being the biggest one) yet others like the constant joint pain I deal with or my darker thoughts (I am human after all) I prefer to keep hiddenas best I can, which is not always the healthiest. Luckily I've got a great support system behind-the-scenes to bring me back up from a low point. So being sensative is a good thing too. 

So until next time, mind your ps and qs but still have fun and keep cooking with character!

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