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! 

 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!

  

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.

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.

  

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 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!

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.