Being Afraid and sweet potato casserole

My Boss at my Lunch Lady job pointed out something to me last week that left me without words. She said "You use the word "afraid" a lot. I hear you say "I am afraid of what Middle child's teacher will say at his conference" or "I am afraid to move up to level 2 of the 30 day Shred". What, exactly, are you so Afraid of??"

Ummm..stammer....silence..I never really thought about it until she made that comment. I do use the word "afraid" and "fear" an awful lot.

I think some of this stems from my inability to think on my feet. I am a planner and anything that is not planned throws me for a loop. I don't know how to verbally react to things sometimes, so I worry more about my reaction than the actual situation. What if I get to the parent teacher conference and she tells me Middle child is on the road to being a Serial Killer? What do I say? I am Afraid of how I will react.

What I really need to practice is: Silence is Golden. If I don't know what to say, just don't say anything. This is hard for me because I go for the laugh as much as possible (Youngest got in trouble in school last week for being "too much of a comedian". Heh heh..) So I am working on it. I am working on being less Afraid and Fearful of things that may never happen or even if they do, I will find a way to get thru them. Quietly.

Now to the sweet potato casserole.

I have never made such a thing because, well, it grosses me out. But, all the ingredients were on sale and I thought what the heck (don't be afraid of the casserole!) and I made it tonight. I did not have all the spices needed but made it with sweet potatoes, maple syrup, light brown sugar (this is a GREAT body scrub if you have some left over), and marshmallows. Husband liked it (he was the one that wanted it in the first place) but thought it was too sweet. I thought the whole point of this casserole was to melt your fillings?? I took a small bite and thought it was ok but can't imagine eating a whole bunch of it. But he went back for seconds so it couldn't have been so bad. 

I am closing in on 42 and I seriously need to lighten up and let things go. I know plenty of people that live this way and they are happy and still here, so I need to go that route. I don't want to become complacent but I really need to learn to relax more about everything. 

Two more days till the best day ever.

Cat