You Capture - feet

I miss this. This used to be Sunday, way back when. Back when Hubby lived there and I lived here, and weekends were about spending time together. And inevitably, we'd wind up just curled up on the sofa talking or napping or just kind of being. It was nice. Unbelievably nice.

But times change, I guess. Sunday is now about laundry and cleaning and going and doing and rushing.

And sometimes is seems there's just no time to simply be together anymore.

But I remember those long ago Sundays.

And I miss them.

See more at Beth's (Or, this week, Keli's).

list time

1. Driving home from work I heard Feed the Tree by Belly on the radio. I haven't heard that song in yeeeeeears. Quite possibly since high school. I had actually forgotten it existed. Yet I sang every single word.

2. Sometimes I go through a stretch of time where I just want to eat everything in sight. I don't know why this happens. It's generally not related to anything (that I can tell). But it happens. It goes on for a few days. And it passes. And I agonize over whether to just give in and eat, or fight it. I usually just give in and eat. And then feel totally guilty.

3. So, some of the pictures that were lost have been recovered. Some. Which is better than none. I must keep repeating that to myself.

4. I'm still afraid to attempt to put any new pictures on the new computer.

5. I'm still trying to figure out the new computer. I might be too old fashioned for this laptop type thing...

6. Oh my gosh! I had a coconut cream cupcake. Like, from a bakery. It was sooooooo good.

7. Except for minor things, like bakery cupcakes and restaurant salads with cheese, the vegan thing is going well. I've been collecting pictures of my Vegan Meal Success Stories (I've made some good stuff!). Hopefully they still exist and I'll be able to share more later. (I know you're dying to know.)

8. I finally caved in to Facebook, and I want to know how it knows things. Like, how does it decide who you should be friends with? Because it has yet to suggest I be friends with anyone I actually know or went to school with or anything like that. But it desperately wants me to be friends with Hubby's ex-wife. And two people whose blogs I read but have never actually met in real life.

9. The Plumbing Woes started a domino effect in the house. We now have a minorly revamped kitchen, a new dining area, and a new quilt for the bed. It looks very nice. I have pictures. Hopefully I'll be able to load them and share them. (Again, I know you're dying to know.)

10. Have I ever mentioned that Hubby is a writer? He is. He currently has four books of poetry. He's going to be doing a reading at a local cafe for National Poetry Month in April. I'll share more details when I know more details. (I know you're dying to know this, too.)

Bonus! 11. I've learned that, in addition to Every Little Step I Take by Bobby Brown, another song I will never shuffle through on my ipod is Rock Me Tonight by Billy Squire. No. I have no idea why. (For either of them.)

for the girls

So, the tell it to me tuesday challenge this week was to write a letter to the nation's daughters. How am I supposed to do that? How am I supposed to dispel advice to young girls when most of the time I feel like I can't get it together myself? When, quite often, I don't feel like I know much of anything?

I know there are things I wish I could figure out, that I hope all those young girls that I see every day can manage to figure out. Like how to really, truly love yourself. To really, truly accept yourself. To not look at yourself in the mirror and see all the wrong and none of the right. I want you girls to be able to do that.

I hope you take the time to know who you actually are, what you believe in, what you stand for, what's important to you, before you make any major life commitments. And, oh how I hope you take the time to live for yourselves before you commit to others.

I so want for you to be strong enough to stick to your beliefs, even when they're challenged (especially if they're challenged!). But please don't be afraid to look at other options, and if one of those is more right for you, take it. But please change only for yourself, and not because someone else thinks you should.

Remember that if someone loves you, they accept you just as you are. Remember that if you love someone, you accept them as they are. You don't have to change yourself. (But you might have to compromise sometimes. That's not the same thing.)

And please, please remember that you are not the only one living here on this planet. There are so many others. Do what you can to help.

Give back.

Take care.

Live simply.

Love.

Break. Down.

Well, this is the end of my spring break. Which makes me sad. I don't want to think about going back to work tomorrow. That makes me tired. Already. I don't know why this year is so hard. But it is. So hard.

It's not helping that, as Hubby is trying to get the new computer all ready to use, all of my pictures, which had been put on an external drive so as to keep them safe, seem to have vanished. Ironic, no? I'm not thinking about it. I can't. If I do, I will start to cry.

It's also not helping that it's still cold. Like, wearing a turtleneck sweater cold. I'm over that kind of cold. I'm ready for those few little nice weather teaser days we've had to become the norm again. I'm ready for spring.

There's a blue thread running through today.

I'm sure there's more colors there, too. I just have to dig in and find them.

Computer-less

I'm down one computer.

It's been dying a slow death for awhile now.

And yesterday it died.

Luckily, we saw it coming, and Hubby was proactive enough to order a new one.

It should be here sometime within the next week.

But, I have to say, I miss my computer already. Is that silly? But I do. It was mine. My things were on it. Are still on it. And I don't know if I can get them back. We saved all the pictures onto an external drive awhile back. But some things are still there. Like every email Hubby has ever sent me, from the just-getting-to-know-you ones, to the just-falling-in-love-with-you ones, to the I'm-not-sure-we're-going-to-survive-this ones, and everything in between. Oh, lots of things are on there. Close to ten years worth of my life. I feel silly for missing it. But I do.

You Capture - A Moment

It was special for me. Very special.

See more at Beth's.

Time

I decided recently that I wanted to take control of my time.

So much of life is planned out for me. There are so many things I have to do.

And I decided that I need to do more of what I want to do.

So I am.

I'm not worrying about how it will look if I don't do what other people want me to do or think I should do in the little free time I have. I'm not saying "yes" to other peoples' idea of fun if it's not my idea of fun.

When it's possible, I'm doing what I want.

Because right now, that just how it needs to be.

It's how I need it to be.

I'm sure it will change. (Probably in about 9 weeks. Maybe. Or maybe not.)

But, for now, I claim my time for me.

*******
tell it to me tuesdays

PS: I've been singing this song all week.

I swear they came out of the box like this...

You can just provide your own caption.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This is my students' entry in the St. Patrick's Day door decorating contest. Note the leprechauns...





They make me so proud!

You Capture - Reaching

Reaching. Upward. Slowly. Always.










See more at Beth's.

Friendship

Sometimes I wonder if I have enough friends. I don't have many. And I wonder, sometimes, if I should have more.

But then I think that I would have to keep up with all of them, to know all of them, to make time for all of them, to be there for all of them.

Because isn't that what friendship is supposed to be about?

I don't need a full set of fingers to count the people who are real, true, absolute friends.

I have lots of "situational friends." People I work with. People I see frequently at my favorite cafes. People I see at races. People like that, that I only see at specific times, in specific situations.

But I don't think of them as real friends. They are people who know of me, but don't necessarily know me.

My friends know me. Really and truly know me.

They are the people I can call on any time of the day or night, for any reason, and they will be there. No questions asked.

They are the people who accept the quirks of me, without asking me to change them. Or even wanting me to change them.

They are the people who will let me cry or yell or laugh or anything, for any reason. Or no reason at all.

They are my friends. In the most real, true, absolute sense possible.

And I don't need more than that.

*******
tell it to me tuesdays

Who even needs pipes, anyway?

Why, you ask? Why does the kitchen sink appear to be set up like the bathroom sink? Well... Hubby thought it would be a good idea to have the 900 year old pipes in our house replaced with something a little less old. Sounds like a decent idea, right? Yep.

Except for the part where the pipes under the bathroom sink are so old, the plumbers don't have what they need to fix them, and need to come back Monday with the things they need to fix them. Not so bad. A day and a half with out a bathroom sink. Minor inconvenience.

Except that they come back Monday and find out the pipes under the bathroom sink are soldered to the wall. Yep. Soldered. Why? Who knows! (It's not the first time we've heard "I have never seen that before" about how this house was put together.) So now, they have to come back again and rip the vanity from the wall, rip open the wall, and un-solder the pipe. Then they can attempt to replace the old with the new. Hopefully. Oh. My. Gosh.

And don't even start me on the visit from the building inspector.

The fun never ends here!




So, then, what's up with the microwave on the dining room table, you ask? Well.... Somewhere in the plumbing fun, the electric in one of the kitchen walls decided to quit working. Why? Who knows? So the microwave is on the dining room table. And there's no longer a phone in the kitchen. And the electrician has been called.

Seriously! The fun never ends here!

Oh! Did I mention that I'm sick? Like head-in-a-vise, can't breathe, boxes and boxes of tissue, where's the Nyquil sick. Except that I went vegan, so there goes the Nyquil. So instead I'm drinking the most vile tea ever invented on the face of the earth that Acupuncturist gave me. Which is just like Nyquil. If "just like" means "nothing even remotely close."

So, I'm going to finish my swill tea, wash my face and brush my teeth in the kitchen sink, heat up my rice sock (to be applied to my forehead) in the dining room, and go to bed.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Right?

Nobody will care but me, but I don't care.

Sending happiest birthday wishes to Adam Clayton on this, his 50th birthday!

I heart you, Adam.

I'll see you in July.


50 thing to love about Adam as he turns 50.
(sigh)

You Capture - Quiet

Quiet. I like that word. I try, really try, to live as quiet a life as possible, in every way possible. I like quiet people, quiet places, quiet things. Loud and me, we don't get along so well. But Quiet and me, we're friends.

A typical Sunday...





As Depeche Mode once said, "Enjoy the silence."

See more at Beth's.

I've learned....

I've learned, through my vast life experience, this one simple truth.

Toast is the best food ever.

Toast is universal.

Toast is flexible.

Toast can be as complex as you want it to be (like a sandwich).

Toast can be as simple as you need it to be (like plain old toast with butter).

Toast can be filling (as in toast with peanut butter).

Toast can be light (as in toast with jam or honey).

Toast can be the cure for your chocolate craving (as in toast with Nutella).

Toast is quick and easy.

Toast is warm and comforting.

Toast has its own theme song. (It's on my ipod. Of course.)

Toast is, really, the best food ever.

This is what I've learned.

*******
tell it to me tuesdays

Wise Words

So, apparently, there was a fugitive on the loose.

And, apparently, our yard was Ground Zero in the search for said fugitive.

And, apparently, there were multitudes of police cars surrounding our house, police helicopters hovering above our house, and police officers combing the woods next to our house searching for this fugitive.

And, since Hubby works from home, he had a front row seat for the action (after bolting all the doors so that the fugitive did not get in our house).

And, apparently, all this police presence and pondering of the whereabouts of an escaped prisoner caused Hubby to pause and reflect on his life and its blessings.

And this is what he came up with:

"My life may not be perfect, but at least I'm not a fugitive."

So true.

So, so true.

You Capture - Hopeful

Do I even need to explain this?

Hope springs eternal at Beth's.

When I was a child....

When I was a child, I thought all parents were like my parents.
When I was a child, I thought all parents cared for their children, taught them right from wrong, did all they could to mold these ever-changing beings into responsible adults; into good people.
When I was a child, I assumed all parents were good people.
When I was a child, I didn't know how wrong I was.

Some parents are too self-centered to truly care about their children.
Some parents are too manipulative to think about right and wrong for themselves, let alone instill such a sense into their children.
Some parents tell so many lies, it's impossible to teach their children how to be honest.
Some parents never bothered to grow up themselves, so have no way to show their children how to be grown up.
Some parents are so busy trying to appear perfect to the rest of the world, they don't see that their children see them as anything but.
Some parents will never see what a far-reaching effect they have on their children.
Some parents will never see just how much damage they cause.

When I was a child, I thought all parents were like my parents.
When I was a child, I didn't know how lucky I was.

****

tell it to me tuesdays