Friday 29 November 2013

Favorite Things

  We celebrated American Thanksgiving in our home yesterday.  It was a first for us, but now that we have an American teenager living with us it felt necessary, and I'm so happy we did it!
  We had really big plans for the day, which, of course, got sidelined in the mix of our schedule, but it turned out great in any case.
  We shut down for the evening.  We all stayed home and boycotted all events that could have taken us from each other. We had the first family time we'd had in far too long, and it was beautiful.  Boy, do I LOVE my family!

~ the stunning blanket of sparkling snow that is covering everything.  The beauty around me, 
    those sparkling diamonds of white cleanliness are brag worthy!

~ I didn't make a turkey because the turkey selection was crazy sketchy here.  Instead I made 
    two very lovely chickens, and they were beautiful.  Like seriously the most beautifully 
    roasted chickens I have ever made.  Golden brown skin, deliciously fragrant juices....
    I wanted to take a picture but thought that would be pretty lame, so I will just always 
    remember those twin birds as my best attempt!

~ I'm crazy thankful that my community keeps our streets and sidewalks cleared.  With all the 
    snow that fell on us this week it should be a slippery, sludgy, thick, mess, only it's not.  I 
    enjoyed a snow-sparkling run on the cleared walkways yesterday and it was exactly what my 
    spirit needed to be drawn into the thankful mode.

~ we've been divided in our home the past few weekends, and though it seriously sucks, there 
    are definite positives; I get to spend focused quality time with each of my chicklets.  As we 
    drive here there and everywhere and hours down the road, what better time to have heart to
    hearts, to catch up on my kid's life and to build secure bonds with them.  I'm a lucky lady!

~ Here's a shout out to all my favorite ladies!  I don't see you all that often these days, but it 
    matters very little.  You are in my heart, you inspire me, you encourage me, you make 
    everything so much better, whether its a quick phone chat, a hot tub retreat, a coffee at 
    your kitchen island or a cuppa at your kitchen table!  I love you gals!

 ~ my favorite coffee shop is decorated beyond gorgeous for the Christmas season.  It's 
     spectacular, over the top, and insanely inspiring. I can't get enough .... if I spend enough 
     time there, I feel I don't even have to decorate my own house!  

~ the story in my heart is finally taking shape.  It makes me want to jump up and down and 
    shout.  Interestingly enough, the more I write my story the less I find I have to say here,
    hopefully that's not as annoying to all you lovelies as it is to me! 

~ my sweetheart celebrated a birthday this week, that's all I'm going to say other than he's my 
    most favorite thing.  

 Man oh man, the season of reflection is upon us.  I love it!  I am definitely feeling much more invested than I did last year at this time ... I had a serious case of bah hum bug, but not this go 'round!  I'm ready, I may even brave a trip to a mall (even if I hate the mall).
  The beauty of life dwells in the simple; set aside a moment of your time to be thankful, it makes all the difference!

Cheers to a beautiful weekend, everyone! 

Wednesday 27 November 2013

 Mid-Week Confessions or a random rambling.

 I've been looking at eyes lately.  Creepy, I know.  Many up close and personal conversation I've had in the past few months has been educational, and I'm not going to lie, I probably got lost and heard few of your words as I was trying to process how I would describe the colour of your eyes.  It goes beyond that though, how they move, what they express, the secrets you offer without necessarily knowing it; I'm fascinated.
  (And why are certain eyes more fascinating than others?  What is it about them that draws me in?  What makes those few special pairs oh, so, special?)
  I've always been very fond of eyes.  That small, yet ultimately crazy-powerful feature is what draws me in.  I'm a fan of the eyes, and on any ordinary day I have a tendency to get lost, carried away, and enchanted by their power.  Apparently I have some day-dreamer version of ADD, though this isn't likely news to anyone.
  Anyway, back to it!  I've been extra focused on them recently.  
 Do you know anyone with green eyes?  To me they seem like something that doesn't exist.  Maybe they are not as uncommon as I believe, but when I say green I really do mean green; like the green from the Irish country side.  Green like a glowing emerald.  Green like the glossy leaves on a spring tree.
  Do eyes that green even exist?  

  What I've learnt is that you can see everything in those glossy mirrors.

  The secrets you keep can be seen in your eyes.  
  The lies you tell are revealed.
  The contempt you feel cannot be hidden. 
  The searching.
  The pain.
  The hope.
  The hiding.
  They are truly the mirror of the soul.
  The truth.

  If I've creeped you out because I've looked too closely, oops! 
  I'm not actually all that apologetic.  Anything in the name of research, right?
  If I saw your secrets, don't worry......I'm the best secret keeper ever!
  If you want me to see your eyes, blink a few extra and very intentional times the next time we meet.....at least you'll draw the laugh!

  Happy blustery, blizzard like, winter Wednesday!

  

Monday 25 November 2013

A Great Big World & Christina Aguilera - Say Something

Good Morning, Monday!

  I heard this song a few months ago and was instantly in love, and now with the addition of some lady harmony, oh man....it kills me (though each versions are utterly beautiful)!  It actually makes me want to cry, which I think is one of the highest compliments an artist can receive regarding their work; not that it turns me into a jumbling mess of blotchy, tear streaked messiness, but rather, that it evokes true and raw emotion; as an artist isn't that what we all want?....Someone to fall in love and feel something as they experience our work.
  Anyway, this one gets me.  It makes me feel, a lot!
  Have a listen, it's so worth it.

Friday 22 November 2013

Nasty Me

Nasty Me?

  I've told you before that every now and then Nasty Me likes to show her face.  Well, in recent weeks she's been in a battle to assert herself, waiting not so quietly just below the surface for those juicy moments that fulfill her purposes.  I'm not going to lie to make myself feel better and lead you falsely into believing that it has been easy to keep a lid on her.  No, she's a definite challenge, and one, that at moments, I have lost the battle to control.
  I don't see red, I don't shout, kick or scream.  I laugh, (a maniacal sound to my mind).  I smile broadly, laugh, and choke on the nastiness, swallowing hard as my body wars, in a tense structure of raging bone and sinew, to keep her from taking control....mostly I send daggers with my eyes.
  It doesn't sound so threatening, does it?
  No big, bad wolf here.
  Only to me it's the absolute worst.  Worse than unwelcome tears, frustration, or fear.  It's a war I'm not even sure in many moments that I want to win.  I want to be angry.  I want to kick and scream and fight; like the toddler who doesn't get her way.  That's what I want to become; it's terrible, that feeling, but worse is the apologizing, the making amends and repairing the fallout damage; the way my own spirit takes the hit.
  Last night I slipped and she came out to play, in the smallest way.  I saw the scene, the flashes before my eyes, heard the nasty tone and words that threatened to slip from my lips, but I held my tongue, I breathed through the storm and when I got home, after a large amount of seriously focused breathing, I turned the music up loud, told my teenager I was in a seriously bad mood, though we still had amicable conversation before I warned him I was going to turn angsty music up real loud! (Sadly, that was my Nasty, always with a smile)
  And then I danced.  Yes, I danced.  A frightening scene unto itself, but I moved and sang along to those angst filled words until I got it out.  Nasty Me was corralled, subdued; the prisoner was detained.  Or maybe it's best viewed like this; the prisoner was released and Nasty Me was taken into custody to have her intents, her sins, reviewed at a later date. 
  I don't like Nasty Me, she defeats me, she drains me, she sucks the joy in life out of me.  She is poison.

  I don't have any way to correlate this bizarre compilation of words into a nice, neat looking Christmas parcel.  I have no positive spin today.
  Nope.
  I've got nothing.
  I'm feeling a little wrung out.
  Sometimes I just need to get the words out.  Purge them from my head, my heart and my spirit, and you all are the lucky ones to receive my form of expression, though I'm quaking in my boots that this particular forum is how I've chosen to spill the beans.  Especially since only a very small, select group of people get to see all of me....a VERY small, select group.
  I'm still on this journey of trying to be brutally honest with myself, and lucky you, I'm taking you with me.....for the most part.
  I'm doing my best to be raw. 
  To be open.
  To share what I FEEL.
  It's hard, it hurts at moments, it's vulnerability at every turn and I'm not sure I want to do it, but fear is a sneaky wench, so I think I have to, I don't want to live with even the smallest sliver of fear.  
  
  I just don't know if I know how.
  
  This is my start, Nasty Me included.  I suppose in a way it is also my confession and declaration of holding on to a promise.

  Happy Friday, folks.

  

Monday 18 November 2013

Dixie Chicks - Cowboy Take Me Away

Happy snow covered Monday!

  Well, here it is, folks, this week's musical serving!  As you can see this girl's gone country.....at least for a short while anyway.
  It's an oldie, but always a treat and one of my favorites.
  Have a listen, buy the record, and enjoy.
  Also, travel safe out there all you, beauties, who have forgotten how to drive in the ice and snow!  Dare I say it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas?!

Friday 15 November 2013

Friday is here again folks....wow, how did that happen?
It was another week filled with more than necessary and a few misses on my part....I have to take full responsibility for dropping a few balls along the way, it was just one of those sorts of weeks.
There was a lot of good though as well!

Here you have it folks, this week's TOP BITS....

~ calm yet cool, motivating, fantastically invigorating runs.  Evening/night runs will always 
    be my favorite 

~ cuddling and reading with my Little Bear

~ watching the snowflakes flutter to the ground; they are always beautiful and awe inspiring, 
    even if I'm not quite ready for the snow to be a permanent part of the next few months

~ sitting down and carving out a piece of time to drift into my imaginary world and write.  I've
    missed that piece of myself the past few months and it's definitely begun to show.  It's time 
    to make it a bigger priority

~ soup.  Always good, always comforting, always satisfying, always worth the effort

~ a Remembrance Day Ceremony.  WOW.  Taking a few moments to honor brave men and 
    women who make the life I live a possibility; again, WOW, it always moves me to tears

~  an impromptu dinner with friends.  So wonderful, and the last minute invite eliminates all 
     sorts of unnecessary stress!

  My list is a fair amount shorter this week, and to be honest, I think all the bits that are still on the to-do list has me bogged down and partially stalled.  I'll manage though and along the way more will be left by the wayside because, frankly, I know full well I just can't do it all (even if my unrealistic expectations say otherwise).
  Another weekend is upon us!  
  What are your big plans?  
  Have you got a list of all that good stuff in the makings?
  Regardless if you're a planner, or a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants sort, make it count!  Take every moment you have and relish the goodness in your life!  
  It's as simple as that!

  Cheers to the weekend, folks!


Tuesday 12 November 2013

Ella Eyre - Deeper

MORNING!!

Have a listen, I like it.  
This is Ella's first official solo single.  It's not available to purchase yet, but she does have a tune she's done with Rudimental that you can pick up, if you  like what you hear.
Have a listen and get your week started.



Monday 11 November 2013


     
                                                             Thank You


Friday 8 November 2013

Here's What I Know

   What comforts you when you're sick?  
   What speaks to you of warmth?  What somethings would qualify as TLC.
   What makes your grey skies turn to blue, and helps the sun to come out tomorrow?

   It's nearly 11:00 or 23:00 for those on a proper clock, and I can't sleep, I'm feeling like I need that warmth, need that TLC, like I need that go-to cure for the sick.
   I'm imagining homemade chicken pot pie-yum.  I'm smelling the warm, permeating aromas of roast chicken, maybe some butternut squash soup, or a warm coconut curry with just enough spicy heat to chase the scratchy-tickle in my throat, and the crackling in my ears far from even considering taking up residence within me.
   Those tasty, comfortable, wholesome-good eats sound perfect and like their own brand of medicine, and they are, trust me.  But the strange thing is when I feel under the weather, though I do consider myself to be a 'soup queen', the comfort I find comes in the form of three cups of boiled water and the tearing open of a packet to watch a yellow powder mingle and turn short noodles into my sick cure.
   What can I say?  We love what we love! And there is no reasoning away our love for the things that bring us comfort.
   So instead of filling up on the goodness of a piping hot bowl of the homemade minestrone I lovingly prepared yesterday, I'm thinking about tearing open a packet and soothing my throat with what works best for me-yellow noodles.

   I might also mention I have thrown on my designated sick-sweatshirt, my ratty slippers, and may break protocol and indulge in drifting off in front of a favorite movie.....
   I'm sure I'll find some way of letting you all know how I got on!  However, in the mean time, why don't you indulge me by taking a moment to think about what comforts you.
   What is your go-to cure?  What is the condition of your 'sick-sweatshirt'?  What do you do to find comfort when your day is grey and your throat is on fire?
   I'd love to hear about it, especially if this turns out to be the doozie I've been working so hard to avoid!
   
 Cheers to a weekend that chases the grey skies and sickness away!  

Monday 4 November 2013

Fm Radio - Happily Ever After

Happy and Hopeful

A lovely sound for this Monday morning.  A sweet story that will make you want to hold the gaze of your sweetheart's eyes and slow dance into tomorrow!
Have a listen.

Friday 1 November 2013

The Best of the Past Week....TOP TEN

~ crisp morning runs.  Each day, as we creep closer to the heart of winter, the temperature 
    drops.  I'm struggling with the cold already.  My body doesn't seem to be registering that it 
    needs to make more heat.  So because of this feeling I may need to rely more heavily on the 
    bulky machinery in my basement sooner than I anticipated.  I may not want to use them but 
    I am truly thankful for those ugly machines!

~ a quiet coffee spot.  I carved out a small chunk of time this week to have a cup and find 
    inspiration beyond my four walls.  It's been a seemingly long stretch since I've been lost in
    my imaginary world, and it was good, so good, but now I miss it more and hope to soon find
    myself in that quiet, beautiful, inspiring little coffee corner again soon.

~ visiting family.  It was a last minute unplanned visit; aren't those often the best!  I'm thankful
     for my in-laws; they're very special people, and they melted into our chaos like pros!  

~ I've been on top of the laundry situation this week (whoop whoop), not so much last week!   
    Little Bear ran out of socks and I sent him out in mine.....

~I've begun to realize that there is some sort of functional state in the midst of chaos.  That 
   chaos being my home, my systems, my routine, my compete lack of sleep...my sanity!  It's 
   new to me, this lack of control - this chaos, so all of you who are laughing at me in the 
   moment, I know, I know....not so new.  I will embrace the chaos and not be so hard on myself
   when one or two or a half dozen of the balls I'm juggling fall hard at my feet, whether that 
   means there are no clean socks or we disappoint people by not being where we're "supposed" 
   to be.  It will all be alright.

~ new kicks that don't hurt my feet!  Ah, sweet, comfortable, relief!

~ quick emails or text from my beautiful friends.  I wish there was more time, unlimited funds, 
    and a fast way to transport ourselves to be face to face.  You inspire me each day, you are all 
    so special in your own fabulous ways!

~ cookies.  YEP, cookies!  They really can change your day, throw in a steaming cup of hot 
    chocolate and WOW.....just saying!  BIG shout out to one specific beautiful, blond, cookie 
    maker!  Thank you for entertaining me with your stories; you are one of my favorites!  

~ is October really gone?  because I don't remember any of it.  Yikes. That's not so much a 
    favorite thing, but here's to hoping that November may find a few more quiet moments.

~the Olympic buzz has begun.  Less than 100 days!!  It's one of my always most favorite 
   things!

  Well that's ten!  I wasn't sure I could do it this week, but lookie lookie, there they are!  The week started way off track and yet I still managed to throw some words up here on my lowly page.  Better still, I'm planning on making a full supper tonight for my family!  (We'll see if that actually happens!)
  So it's the weekend.  My days are filled with hockey, lots and lots of hockey!  But after last weekend's seven....yep, 7 games, 4 doesn't sound too bad at all!  
  I wish you all a beautiful weekend full of simple pleasures that pick up your spirits and prepare you for a new week!

Cheers to the weekend!