It's a funny thing, joy. It can sustain you, wake you, and it can even keep you in longing. I've been blessed with joy for as long as I can remember. Even in the not so good times it seems that I had joy -- mostly in attitude. And it keeps showing up all over the place, even when you least expect it.
Just this afternoon a dear friend reminded me of a children's book cover that I drew and titled a few years back. I dug out my big box of stuff that I keep shoving more stuff into, and low and behold I found it. Just seeing it again re-birthed the excitement I had the very day I drew it up and wrote the title. See what I mean, joy just keeps showing up. Thank you my dear friend.
Do you have a dream? Perhaps you, like me, have a whole bunch of dreams. Well, let's get started. Make your list and have at it. No time like the present, make joy your priority.
And while you're at it, have a ton of fun.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Green Acres
Easter Sunday.....going to the folks for dinner. That's pretty much tradition in my family. It is an informal, relaxed, buffet style dinner and everyone just eats alot, visits and enjoys a laugh or two. Today was extra funny.
Much of the fun came from bantering about the current slang used by todays young people. Let's just say one can feel old in a hurry. Foxy, bogue and groovy just don't cut it anymore. When your nephew has to leave the room to laugh just so he won't feel disrespectful, you know you're a dork. Plain and simple. I actually don't mind being a dork. Little kids love dorks and we happen to have a bunch of little kids in the family at the present time, so that makes me popular. LOVE IT.
The real laugh happened when one of my parents habits revealed itself. We unveiled their stash of twist ties. Now being 'green' and frugel is one thing, but what we found was an entire snack size ziploc bag chuck full of straightened out twist ties and those little sqaure plastic thing-ma-bobs that are also bread bag closer-uppers. Next to the twist ties was 2 nut crackers. You know those things that you get out every Christmas to crack the assorted nuts in the big bowl on the coffee table? Well, they were neatly twisted together with one of the twist ties so that they were not left sprung open in the drawer. Next find....the rubberbanded clump of drinking straws and then low and behold, at least a half dozen egg dippers from the paas egg coloring kit(s) neatly twist tied together. Those will be saved for next years' coloring event.
I am not going to name names here because I am holding both my parents responsible for this. If I had to guess, my Mom is the one who came up with the brilliant idea of organizing her doo-dads and then told my Dad to do it. Just sayin.
Is this a retirement thing or is it just a 'getting old' thing? Maybe it is just something born out of a long Michigan winter, that's got to be it. I bet there isn't a single retiree in Florida or Arizona who organize their twist ties.
Making fun of life definately makes life fun. Callling all dorks......what can you add to the story?
Much of the fun came from bantering about the current slang used by todays young people. Let's just say one can feel old in a hurry. Foxy, bogue and groovy just don't cut it anymore. When your nephew has to leave the room to laugh just so he won't feel disrespectful, you know you're a dork. Plain and simple. I actually don't mind being a dork. Little kids love dorks and we happen to have a bunch of little kids in the family at the present time, so that makes me popular. LOVE IT.
The real laugh happened when one of my parents habits revealed itself. We unveiled their stash of twist ties. Now being 'green' and frugel is one thing, but what we found was an entire snack size ziploc bag chuck full of straightened out twist ties and those little sqaure plastic thing-ma-bobs that are also bread bag closer-uppers. Next to the twist ties was 2 nut crackers. You know those things that you get out every Christmas to crack the assorted nuts in the big bowl on the coffee table? Well, they were neatly twisted together with one of the twist ties so that they were not left sprung open in the drawer. Next find....the rubberbanded clump of drinking straws and then low and behold, at least a half dozen egg dippers from the paas egg coloring kit(s) neatly twist tied together. Those will be saved for next years' coloring event.
I am not going to name names here because I am holding both my parents responsible for this. If I had to guess, my Mom is the one who came up with the brilliant idea of organizing her doo-dads and then told my Dad to do it. Just sayin.
Is this a retirement thing or is it just a 'getting old' thing? Maybe it is just something born out of a long Michigan winter, that's got to be it. I bet there isn't a single retiree in Florida or Arizona who organize their twist ties.
Making fun of life definately makes life fun. Callling all dorks......what can you add to the story?
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Who would you be?
Even though I've run twice this year in the beautiful falling snow and went to The Freedom Striders twice so far this season -- mentally beating myself up that I need to get motivated and get out there for pete sake, somehow I feel like this morning was my maiden voyage to the streets.........thus launching my 2011 season to fall in love with nature again, smelling the morning dew, hearing the birds wake up, waving at the cars driving by waving at me and listening to my ipod as I run as much as I can then walking it out...then repeat. It was a perfect day to launch.
I love being outside. It just smells good. Being outside running gives me time to think, away from my heavy project load that I put on myself. Even with music blairing from the ipod I have a sense of calm and time to sort it all out. I reflected this morning as I trotted along, how much I enjoyed running, and growing, and stretching myself last year as I persevered toward my goal of running the Crim.
This year my goal is to love running even more and NOT to have a goal for once in my life. I just want to do it because I love to do it, because it feels good and....I like how feeling good looks on me.
So as I approached my home stretch, in deep enjoyment of my music, I wondered -- if I could be anything in the world right now, who would I be??? I just smiled ear to ear and knew -- I would be my granddaughters neighbor.
Who would you be?
I love being outside. It just smells good. Being outside running gives me time to think, away from my heavy project load that I put on myself. Even with music blairing from the ipod I have a sense of calm and time to sort it all out. I reflected this morning as I trotted along, how much I enjoyed running, and growing, and stretching myself last year as I persevered toward my goal of running the Crim.
This year my goal is to love running even more and NOT to have a goal for once in my life. I just want to do it because I love to do it, because it feels good and....I like how feeling good looks on me.
So as I approached my home stretch, in deep enjoyment of my music, I wondered -- if I could be anything in the world right now, who would I be??? I just smiled ear to ear and knew -- I would be my granddaughters neighbor.
Who would you be?
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Be Poor No More!
About four months ago I was what the bank refers to as a 'victim' of check fraud. Talk about shock, I mean who in the world would go after my checking account? Seriously, I just balanced it this morning and the amount on the bottom line is $3.17. (I totally love when my checkbook balances) Anyway, that shiester got away with approximately $7,000 from the 3 different banks he/she cashed them from. My bank is awesome, they pay attention to their customers habits and so forth, and that...my friends is how they protected and saved me, and the fact that the funds were simply not available. YEAH. It was a smooth and painless transition to close the tainted account and open the new one, which has been in balance and harmony ever since.
During my math project this morning I thought about that incident from my recent past and how lucky I am. Not that I believe in luck per se' but I am definately blessed and being laid off and temporarily poor doesn't have to send a person into a frenzy of worry and agony. Never let the balance of your checkbook hold you in bondage. I then started to laugh to myself thinking about how being poor could be a blessing in disquise and having the twisted sense of humor that I do, came up with ten good reasons why being broke is a blessing.
- Have dinner at your friends' houses more often
- People won't borrow money from you
- Become more creative with your time
- Learn where all the 'free' events are
- You value your own life more
- Develop greater appreciation for what you do have
- Windfalls of unexpected monies are like winning the lottery
- Less taxes
- Less to worry about
- It's easier to balance your checkbook every month
Sunday, April 17, 2011
I swear.......this is not what your're thinking
I come from a long line of cussin'. I don't know if it came from the Polish, Irish or Native American Indian side but back in the day I would cuss a blue streak like nobody's business. Boy oh boy did it feel good. When I look back at those days of swearing like a sailor, I cringe to think what a fool I must of sounded like. I have such a twisted sense of humor, these thoughts actually crack me up.
There is quite a variety of these little rascals, from the very basic three and four letter words to the really bad three and four letter words -- you know which ones I mean. I know one thing, when you are saying a swear word it feels so good coming out. If you concentrate next time a naughty word is about to be born from your mouth, you will know what I mean. You can actually feel it coming from the bottom of your gut, so by the time it comes out of your mouth it has traveled a long way and there is a feeling of relief upon its exit from your lips.
Now don't get me wrong, I still let 'er rip -- just not too often and I totally avoid the really bad ones 99.9% of the time. Thank God, I remain a work in progress. Typically, most of my cussin' is done in the car. I don't have road rage, (perhaps I am in denial here) I just like to yell crazy words at the people who do dumb things while they drive. I like the feeling of relief I get using that bottom-of-the-gut power when saying certain words.
So, I have come up with some crazy swear-word alternatives that feel good when they come out. The first one is Knucklehead. I love this word. I couldn't find it in the dictionary, so I interviewed a few people asking what they thought the word meant. The general concensus is that it means 'someone who is a repeat offender of doing dumb things'. The second one is Knumbscul. The same group that I conducted the vocabulary study with on Knucklehead, all agreed the general meaning is 'nice house, nobody home'. The other word I like to use is Jerk, which remains a perfect fill-in for many instances when cussing could take place. We all know what Jerk means right? I couldn't find Knucklehead or Knumbscul in the dictionary, so that makes them perfect fowl-mouth options to use should the feeling arise.
In retrospect.......maybe I am thinking about this the wrong way. I am going to put my tongue on careful watch this week and see how that feels. Won't you join me?
There is quite a variety of these little rascals, from the very basic three and four letter words to the really bad three and four letter words -- you know which ones I mean. I know one thing, when you are saying a swear word it feels so good coming out. If you concentrate next time a naughty word is about to be born from your mouth, you will know what I mean. You can actually feel it coming from the bottom of your gut, so by the time it comes out of your mouth it has traveled a long way and there is a feeling of relief upon its exit from your lips.
Now don't get me wrong, I still let 'er rip -- just not too often and I totally avoid the really bad ones 99.9% of the time. Thank God, I remain a work in progress. Typically, most of my cussin' is done in the car. I don't have road rage, (perhaps I am in denial here) I just like to yell crazy words at the people who do dumb things while they drive. I like the feeling of relief I get using that bottom-of-the-gut power when saying certain words.
So, I have come up with some crazy swear-word alternatives that feel good when they come out. The first one is Knucklehead. I love this word. I couldn't find it in the dictionary, so I interviewed a few people asking what they thought the word meant. The general concensus is that it means 'someone who is a repeat offender of doing dumb things'. The second one is Knumbscul. The same group that I conducted the vocabulary study with on Knucklehead, all agreed the general meaning is 'nice house, nobody home'. The other word I like to use is Jerk, which remains a perfect fill-in for many instances when cussing could take place. We all know what Jerk means right? I couldn't find Knucklehead or Knumbscul in the dictionary, so that makes them perfect fowl-mouth options to use should the feeling arise.
In retrospect.......maybe I am thinking about this the wrong way. I am going to put my tongue on careful watch this week and see how that feels. Won't you join me?
Friday, April 15, 2011
Just twirl around and look again!
Do you remember as a child getting one of those little cardboard kaleidoscopes? Wasn't it fascinating? I remember holding it up to the light and twirling and twirling as the different gem-like formations would appear. It had its' limitations though. After hours of looking through that thing I realized that I had already seen those same formations before. But I still enjoyed it.
Four years ago I traveled to Okinawa, Japan for the birth of my first granddaughter. The journey getting there and home was nothing short of incredible but absolutely nothing tops being a grandma except actually witnessing her come in to the world. WOW, talk about gem-like --- I was staring at the perfect miracle of God and began to see my world in a different way.
Little did I know, days later during a sight seeing trip to some beautiful botanical gardens in Okiniawa, I would come across these unique little tube-like structures that birthed perspective into my life. In the gift shop I came across all shapes and sizes of kaleidoscopes. They were called taleidoscopes. I may not be spelling it correctly but they are similar to kaleidoscopes only made with a telescopic lens. They had table top huge ones down to pen size little ones. How they work is, when you hold it up to a flower or your hand, or your coffee cup or a blade of grass or your friends jacket..........and twirl it around, it gives a kaleidoscopic view of what ever you are aiming it at. At that very moment I was stunned to imagine that something as simple as the palm of my hand could be so beautiful or have so many different dimensions to it. I proceeded to purchase several of these little gadgets for gifts, and I bought one for myself. I carried it in my purse for about a year because I just had to show everyone how cool it was. I felt like a kid in a candy store with no budget. Now, I keep it tucked between my salt & pepper shakers and sugar bowl in the kitchen. I pull it out every now and then to twirl it around something like a tea bag or potholder or a piece of fabric that I am sewing with or a photograph. I still giggle in amazement.
Having a new perspective is pretty wonderful, doors open and horizons broaden. I had no idea that I looked at life through such a small window. It's true, things aren't always as they appear to be.
Twirl around and take another look ............and remember, "making fun of life can make life fun"
Four years ago I traveled to Okinawa, Japan for the birth of my first granddaughter. The journey getting there and home was nothing short of incredible but absolutely nothing tops being a grandma except actually witnessing her come in to the world. WOW, talk about gem-like --- I was staring at the perfect miracle of God and began to see my world in a different way.
Little did I know, days later during a sight seeing trip to some beautiful botanical gardens in Okiniawa, I would come across these unique little tube-like structures that birthed perspective into my life. In the gift shop I came across all shapes and sizes of kaleidoscopes. They were called taleidoscopes. I may not be spelling it correctly but they are similar to kaleidoscopes only made with a telescopic lens. They had table top huge ones down to pen size little ones. How they work is, when you hold it up to a flower or your hand, or your coffee cup or a blade of grass or your friends jacket..........and twirl it around, it gives a kaleidoscopic view of what ever you are aiming it at. At that very moment I was stunned to imagine that something as simple as the palm of my hand could be so beautiful or have so many different dimensions to it. I proceeded to purchase several of these little gadgets for gifts, and I bought one for myself. I carried it in my purse for about a year because I just had to show everyone how cool it was. I felt like a kid in a candy store with no budget. Now, I keep it tucked between my salt & pepper shakers and sugar bowl in the kitchen. I pull it out every now and then to twirl it around something like a tea bag or potholder or a piece of fabric that I am sewing with or a photograph. I still giggle in amazement.
Having a new perspective is pretty wonderful, doors open and horizons broaden. I had no idea that I looked at life through such a small window. It's true, things aren't always as they appear to be.
Twirl around and take another look ............and remember, "making fun of life can make life fun"
Thursday, April 14, 2011
So let's get started.
I would be what people refer to as “a people person”. I suppose they are right, especially on my good days. Along life’s journey however, aging does something to us lovie, dovie, friendly folks who see the world through rose-colored-glasses and maintain Polly-Anna attitudes. Reality sets in and we re-adjust our way of thinking -- it’s not that we change our mind; it’s that our perspective lens shifts gears. Some refer to that as wisdom. I call it relief (and fun). Let’s face it, sometimes life gets just plain ugly and we take it too seriously, I know I do. It is my hope that you will continue to visit my blog and somehow be inspired. If you find that you are stuck in a rut, I would like to lighten your load by motivating and encouraging you to see your life from a different perspective. "Making fun of life can make life fun".
I am excited to begin this journey and would like to thank my Coach (you know who you are)for his continuous inspiration in many areas and my writing teacher Karen who recently encouraged me to start a blog. So here goes.......thank you for visiting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)