Fun in burning the candle at both ends

The past weekend was a whirlwind of FUN!

It was easy to burn the candle at both ends, which is what I did from all the excitement.

Saturday, I spent time compiling future projects and bike riding before I prepared for the night-time revelry.

The evening began with lots of Kava, both spilled and ingested.

Our kava high stayed with us throughout the Christmas Party where I got to meet new, kind and funny people.

All the hoopla from the night prior, combined with the anticipation of meeting the rest of the clan kept sleep at bay.

Sunday, I got to meet the third Kilr BBB. =)   At the dog park, we saw a wide range of dogs.

I got to demonstrate just how poorly I can catch, throw and kick a ball ... and I managed to stay away from embarrassing myself further with my batting skills, or rather lack thereof.

I got to do several of my favorite things, including take candid pictures of family interaction, climb trees and go on a picnic.

It felt so easy and natural to be with this shiny family.

Gratitude is the memory of the heart

"When we become more fully aware that our success is due in large measure to the loyalty, helpfulness, and encouragement we have received from others, our desire grows to pass on similar gifts. Gratitude spurs us on to prove ourselves worthy of what others have done for us. The spirit of gratitude is a powerful energizer." — Wilferd A. Peterson

~ Thanks, my very-much-missed Kym!  It was SO fun to read the above excerpt 12 years later (from the booklet you gifted -- remember?)! I still fiercely cherish it ... It makes me giggle and happy to remember some of the stuff you wrote with corresponding pics. ☺ [Click on image to view LARGE] ~

~ Thank you, my Laura for bringing me to and taking me across the bay ... and for being the first to brave the unknown depths of it with our expensive camera gear in hand ... It so made for a memorable and fun birthday!!! ( ... And hopefully, next year I'll have earned my other wing! ☺) ~

~ Thanks Tammy a/k/a Fairy Godmother, for this invaluable book of quotes that you gave me when I most needed it.  I refer to it time and again when I lose my footing ☺ ... This is what I got from it today:  "If you aren't going all the way, why go at all?" ~

~ My whole body smiled when these were delivered ☺!  The unique white roses amid the purples and greens ... the way it pleasantly perfumed my space ... I must say, I felt quite special receiving such a  stunning and personalized bouquet of heaven!  And I loved that you sent it just because. Thanks so much, my beloved Bill ☺!

"Gratitude is the memory of the heart." ~Jean Baptiste Massieu

♥

Resolutions

Yay for Fridays! Despite how I usually react to cooler weather, I find the cold nip invigorating and a good excuse to break out the boots and long sleeves.

I am learning so much about myself these days. And I am learning that good writing lives in ideas with energy ... from emotion and truth ...

My truths are seeping out ... although somewhat liberating... it leaves a bitter aftertaste. Perhaps a byproduct of being a habitual fretter? It takes 21 days to break a habit ... Perhaps something to add to my abounding list of new year’s resolutions.

I have pictures to process from this week and I’d like to also start processing and posting pics from the past that have been sitting in my hard drive beckoning for attention. Another thing to address in the new year. We’ll see ... ;)

Reading about Existentialism ... perhaps an outmoded philosophy, but still interesting ...

Per Wikipedia, The early 19th century philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, posthumously regarded as the father of existentialism, maintained that the individual is solely responsible for giving his or her own life meaning and for living that life passionately and sincerely, in spite of many existential obstacles and distractions including despair, angst, absurdity, alienation, and boredom.

How fun it would be to capture pictures for the Existentialist group ...

For my Beloveds awaiting a responsive E-mail, I promise to get back to you this weekend!

Thank God It's Today (TGIT)

The meeting of the wee ones went well yesterday. Their faces are shining beacons of sweetness and savvy. I felt myself plugged into Source being near them ... near their pure light.  Prior worries and concerns fell away.

We attended his daughter's soccer game of which her traveling team has stayed on top. It was an interesting and relaxing experience to sit among cheering parents as we watched an unfolding win take place. Blair has such a signature force behind her kicks that once her foot makes contact with the ball, it's prudent not to be nearby.  It was exciting, watching her make a goal and inadvertently pummel those who got in her way.

During the evening in, I was shocked and awed by a very corrupting South Park Uncut movie that Brent wanted to watch. I covered myself with a blanket, hoping the blanket would absorb the profanities and adult content and shield the young ears beside me. After watching it several times in rewind due to the enthusiastic young and curious, I found myself eventually becoming desensitized and wanting to sing along to the catchy tunes, lol.

We finished off the evening watching a more tame movie and polishing down pizza and Red Bull. It made for a wonderful day of introduction :)

As I don't have pictures to share of the youngsters from that day, I'll share pics taken by their father the day prior.

~ Natural born equestrian ~

~ Total cuteness ~

It's interesting, watching myself and wondering who I've become and who I'm becoming ... To watch walls once held firmly in place tumble down ... What immediately came to mind was Tom Hanks in the movie Turner & Hooch. He believed he wanted the status quo life of order and rigidity until ... lol ... Anyway, I'm lowering the volume of noisy thoughts and tuning in to the flow of life ... the flow of where my feelings take me ...  If there's anything that's guaranteed, it's change ... and instead of resisting, I relax as I focus on all the good in my experience.

As far as today, it was all about chores ... it nearly took all my time ... and now I'm preparing for Monday. TGIT (Thank God It's Today ;)

As indicated in my prior post about a warm-up writing assignment:

Create a recipe. The title of the recipe is "How to Write Everyday". The words to use in creating the recipe is grease, roast, fold, rub, cook, bake, tender, shake ...

• Thoroughly Grease an inflexible schedule until it becomes malleable enough to allow for writing time.
• Roast the inner critic.
• Cook up several ideas or themes ahead of time, so there is always new material on standby.
• Rub in a moderate amount of nouns, adjectives and verbs.
• Fold in humor to keep mixture from becoming to rubbery.
• Shake in an eyeball portion of punctuation.
• Bake the mixture of words and paragraphs until they are cohesive to the touch.
• Garnish with Tender Loving Care. ☺

♥

Creative Friday

Yesterday, Laura and I had our Creative Friday! It was sooo good to see her again ... to feel the strength of her support and to be re-infused with enthusiastic inspiration.

We did what we do best: Ate and hang out in bookstores. She asked if we could meet early so we could eat breakfast AND lunch, lol.  Sharing her appetite, I responded with a resounding and excited yes. ☺ At breakfast, we got each other caught up on our lives. During lunch, she shared in confidence, parts of her history which were quite riveting.

Despite it being Black Friday, the bookstores were not at all congested.  We found ourselves spending most of our time in the New Age and Reference sections of both Barnes & Noble and Borders Books.

~ Few books I found of interest ~

We had fun taking pictures of each other with books around us on the floor.  As those pictures were taken using Laura's camera, I'll include those here once she sends them to me. 

~ She and I perusing the New Age section ~

Being with her inspired me to finish up my next Exploration project and to blog more. I decided that instead of blogging just about my life, I will include results of my warm-up writing assignments taken from several books.

~ Scrumptious cinnamon scone with cinnamon tea ~

As we were wrapping up our get-together back at my place, we sampled some of the assignments in one of her books.  I jotted down several to try. So in my next post, I will provide the results from one of the assignments, one of which is as follows:

Create a recipe. The title of the recipe is "How to Write Everyday". The words to use in creating the recipe is grease, roast, fold, rub, cook, bake, tender, shake ... LOL, it will be sooo fun. Laura also has the same assignment, but she is to use a different ingredient of words. ☺

I slept in today, sleeping way more hours than I'm used to, and I now need to take time to get ready to head off. This is the day I get introduced to Bill's children ... I'm nervous and excited at the same time! ☺

♥

An experience beyond thought ...

I intended to blog when my weekend came to a close, but got inspired to blog sooner after reading my new Artful Blogging magazine.

Today is Thanksgiving ... and I am having what is traditional for me which is a meal totally untraditional for most of those in the US, lol. So far, I've had a raw fruit pie and chased that down with my favorite chocolate:

It's wonderful to feel healthy, loved, and surrounded by beauty and books.

I'm currently practicing the art of allowing ... it surprisingly requires no strain, this sweet sensation of surrender.

This morning I sat in the warmth of the sun on my patio, feeling the caress of the breeze and watched the clouds as they were quickly swept from my line of vision.

My preference would be to not feel as physically run down as I do. Thankfully, I have this weekend to rejuvenate.

Thanks to a movie I watched recently which was based on the true story of the poet, John Keats, I am pondering the art of poetry.

I became engrossed as he tried define poetry: "A poem needs understanding through the senses ... The point of diving in the lake is not immediately to swim to the shore, but to be in the lake ... to luxuriate in the sensation of water. You do not work the lake out ... it is an experience beyond thought. Poetry soothes and emboldens the soul to accept mystery."

It fascinates me ... those whose work is posthumous ... He wrote 150 poems.  The poems his reputation most rests upon were written in the span of nine months, from January to September 1819.  I like the way it was phrased "This intense flowering of talent remains unparalleled in literary history."

The theme to his poem, A Thing of Beauty is that beauty can be found anywhere and when appreciated can be used to raise your spirits in times of gloom. Mmmmm, yes!  My motto all along =)

So grateful!

Friday night unfolded with flowers, a cooler packed with goodies, kisses, kava, candlelight, incense, sushi, coconut water, Red Bull and music. We then snuggled on the couch, watching the movie he rented, Notting Hill. As the evening progressed into morning, it became CS (Cardio Saturday). We strolled around my neighborhood hand-in-hand, under the beginnings of a full moon. Electing to live "in the now" at that late (or rather early) hour, we gave in to our respective sweet tooth(s) by chowing down on mini-cookies dunked in milk. I was fascinated to learn the optimum submersion time is a full 20 seconds --  So thanks, Bill for that helpful tip! =)

As morning light announced the newness of the day, we awoke, and I melted under his gaze, loving ways and thoughtfulness. He brought his own espresso machine to prepare my chai tea, and his cappucino. We then filled our tummies with fruit smoothies. As there was little coconut water left after making my smoothie, he got resourceful and made his with Red Bull, lol (not too bad, actually ;)

Staying true to his Virgo nature, he then proceeded to clean the rampant ice from my freezer despite my insistence guests are to relax. His irrepressible urge to do so began at 2 AM, but he refrained so he wouldn't wake me. Even as I type this I'm laughing hysterically as I hear the out-of-control icemaker work now to vigorously replenish what he took. I discovered it is futile to get in his way when it comes to clean up, so I stepped aside as he made my bed, even though he didn't sleep in it.

~ Creating the foam for the latte ~

~ Effort to purge my freezer from rampant ice ~ 

As night approached, we dressed up to attend a holiday party among his peers at work, some who were also his students. Nearly everyone he introduced me to underscored what I already knew, and that is how fantastic he is :) The night was replete with good cheer and food. All at the party appeared genuine and it was refreshing to see the dance floor filled with both genders letting loose.  And yay that we won a raffle prize: a gift certificate to the Outback =)

Our weekend together ended as we gorged ourselves with the best of IHop this morning ...

Later today, I was wistful about go to the bookstore, so I indulged (without my Laura :( ) ... Anyway, I was happy to see they have the newest Artful Blogging magazine out, so I got it, naturally!

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." - Melody Beattie

Mmmmm ... I'm super happy and grateful for all that I have and all that I am :)