The Helpers

Friday's unspeakable tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut has resurfaced painful memories for me, but also stirred up some gratitude that I wanted to capture here.  I'm not writing about stricter gun laws, doing a better job of serving mental health issues or our culture of violence and crime in this post.  Instead, I'm thinking about the comfort quilt that was given to my daughter in June of 1993.

The date of my dad's birthday became the date that I mourned the loss of my other daughter, Lindsey.  From 6:30am until around 6:30pm my house was swirling with activity as my home was now a crime scene.  While investigators kept me from much of what was going on, I was concerned about my other daughter and how she was doing.  A Victim's Advocate was with her.  The Advocate kept her from the soon-ascending media in our front yard, took her to get something to eat, kept her away from cameras and traumatic details.  She also gave her a "comfort quilt."  This quilt stayed with her in the days and months to come and she still has it to this day.  Someone made that quilt and they have no idea where it ended up, just that a child would need it and it would find its way into the hands of the person it belonged to.  An Advocate made it a part of her process to take these quilts, stitched together with love, and give them to children affected by crime.  Something to hold onto in the moment and to serve as a reminder of love.  Something to hold onto many years later, when we need a reminder that there are good, loving, serving people in our world.

In the stream of social media posts since Friday's heartbreaking event, I've seen one comforting reminder from Mr. Rogers.

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers.  You will always find people who are helping.'  To this day, especially in times of "disaster," I remember my mother's words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers -- so many caring people in this world." 

We have good and kind people in this world.  To keep evil from taking root we must all reach out to and serve each other.  The helpers are healers.  The helpers are comforters.  They help us see the light which will always chase away the darkness.  The helpers leave memories that, like that comfort quilt, we carry with us for many years to come. 

If you have made a quilt or donated a teddy bear or shown up for a friend going through a crisis, please know that your quiet presence speaks volumes and does not go unnoticed.  Thank you, dear helpers.  Thank you.

An example of a comfort quilt

Adopt A Grandparent

Aunt Lucille's death had me diving back into pictures and family memories and I realized that I barely knew my grandparents on my dad's side.  Grandpa C died when I was 3 years old.  I don't even remember him.  And Grandma C died when I was 10 or 11.  I only have one or two memories of her.  Those strawberry, vanilla and chocolate wafer cookies are a part of those memories.  That left my grandparents on my mom's side and I was actually kind of uncomfortable around older people as a teenager.  I've been racking my brain trying to understand why I didn't immerse myself in those relationships back then.  All I can come up with is that I was a stupid teenager.  A know-it-all ... or not so know-it-all teenager.   I was shy and soft-spoken and "old people" couldn't hear well.  It was hard to have a conversation.  Sometimes life is just backwards.  By the time I'm old enough to find my voice and am actually drawn -- really drawn -- to elderly people, I don't have any living grandparents.  That pretty much sucks.  I wouldn't have known back then that I wouldn't have any living grandparents before I reached the age of 30. 

I signed up for a Random Acts of Kindness meetup group over a year ago that keeps sending me "Adopt a Grandparent" events every couple of months.  They meet at a nursing home not far from me where I believe, my dad actually stayed after knee surgery or a hospice stay.   After a year of email invitations to join, I have yet to participate.  What am I afraid of?  I finally feel like I can have a conversation with "old people."  Something is holding me back. I think I'm afraid of getting attached. I'm being selfish because I don't want to hurt any more. If I live long enough to be moved to assisted living or a nursing home, who is going to visit me? Will I feel alone?  If family isn't nearby and I'm not getting daily or weekly visits, of course I would feel alone.  And forgotten.  And as though my life didn't matter.

I think those are probably common feelings for men and women living what's left of their lives in a nursing home.  By looking forward to visitors, they have a reason to keep their light burning.  They have a reason to engage and smile and feel like they matter.

Why wouldn't I give that gift to some gentle soul who has given so much during their life? They may have raised a family.  They may have fought in a war.  They have a story.

I received another reminder today about an Adopt a Grandparent event and I believe they meet next Sunday.  I don't know what to expect.  I have visions of "The Notebook" and my dad's stay at hospice, and I'm afraid to find out what emotions a real visit will conjure up.  But it's not about me.  And I really think that it's time that I learn someone's story.   They need to know that they matter.

A Father's Day Fish Story

When Big Fish came out (2003), Nikki and I went to see it together. The movie touched me profoundly to the point where I was sobbing uncontrollably on the way back to the car.  No other movie has had quite the same affect on me before or since. What an odd movie to stick out among others and to grab me by the heart the way that it did.  I quickly realized it was because Albert Finney's story-telling character (Ed Bloom) reminded me of my dad. It made me realize that those stories that I had heard all my life would stop someday -- and two years later, in 2005, they did.

Do you ever find yourself rolling your eyes when a parent starts to tell you something that you've heard 100 times? It's strange how we can so easily dismiss those opportunities for connection as an annoyance because we've heard it before.  Now I strain to remember even one of dad's stories before they become too distant to grab hold of. 

Today is Father's Day and I've been thinking about my dad.  Today of all days, as I was flipping through the television channels, a scene immediately caught my attention and I stopped there. There was Albert Finney ... there was Big Fish. I just finished watching it and yes, it grabbed me by the heart again.  I miss his stories.  I miss my dad.

"A man tells his stories so many times that he becomes the stories. They live on after him, and in that way he becomes immortal."  -Will Bloom (Big Fish)

  



Happy New Year! 1.1.11

Now this is the way to start a new year ... or new day -- with exuberance!

Wishing you a joy-filled, love-filled, peace-filled, blessing-filled New Year.  

Eat, Pray, Love Review (possible spoiler alert)

Forgiveness, experiencing pleasure, letting go of guilt, wearing a larger size jeans if necessary and believing in love again are some of the messages in this movie.  I hadn't read the book, but heard great things about it.  When I heard they were making a movie based on the book, and Julia Roberts was in it, I had high expectations.  I deliberately didn't read the book at that point because movies often pale in comparison to their source.  

I think how a movie is edited sets the tone for the movie.  Of course the story line, acting, directing and music all tie in for the complete package.  I already expected a great story line because the book was a best seller.  So maybe the person who takes a book and turns it into a script and the folks who edit the movie have the most influence on how it connects with the audience.  It didn't have a very entertaining "tone" to me.  But, I enjoyed it enough.  I think it depends on where you are on your journey with life, God, family, friends and love that will decide how you react to the movie.  It's great to see Julia in a movie again but I never really felt connected to her character. But because of where I am at on my journey and recent events in my life, much of it was relatable to me. I read reviews about it being void of joy.  But, she was healing and grieving the loss of a marriage and immersing herself in new experiences and friendships.  The year after a marriage ends typically is void of joy.  She used it as an opportunity to grow in other ways and to heal.   There was not betrayal in her marriage and she is the one who wanted to leave -- but as was mentioned in the movie, both were left with broken hearts so there was a healing process that needed to happen. 

Those of you who know me well, know that I cry at commercials (if they're deserving), yet this movie didn't reach in and grab me and make me cry like it had the potential to do.  The only part that got me choked up was when Richard Jenkins' character (Richard from Texas) tells Julia's character (Liz) to "Believe in Love again."  If you're happily married, you're not really into these emotional bits, or you've never had the misfortune of being betrayed and having your trust completely shattered, maybe that line is laughable or corny.  But it got to me, because I'm closed to the possibility of love again.   Men like Javier Bardem's character (Felipe) don't exist and I don't have the energy to trust again.   Julia's character hadn't even been betrayed.  They just "grew apart". This movie had a lot to do with her forgiving herself. Whereas my journey is about forgiving others.  So, it depends on where you find yourself and where you've come from that will determine how much you can relate to scenes in the movie.  I don't know how the book was, but the movie didn't really explain why Liz felt so empty and lost her appetite for life.  If we were with her on that journey, it might have made us happy for her when she ate and got her figurative appetite back again. 

There were a couple of trailer scenes that I don't even remember seeing/hearing in the movie.  The "this is my no carb left behind experiment" quote or the scene with her mom where she asks her when she accepted the life that she had. I thought I was paying attention ... were they in there? 

The scenery was spectacular!  And as one reviewer put it, the whole thing was like the Hunk Olympics: Billy with the bronze; James gets the silver; and Javier – pure gold.  Oh, and I think the funniest scene was when they were trying to get into their new jeans. 

One thing it had was a lot of great quotes.  I've listed some below:

• "When a man who looks like Yoda hands you a prophecy you have to respond."
• "Ruin is a gift. Ruin is the road to transformation."
• "You want to get to the castle, you've got to swim the moat."
• "Having kids is like getting a tattoo on your face. You have to be committed."
• "Dolce far niente."  (The sweetness of doing nothing)
• "He's in the room with a naked girl.  He's won the lottery."
• "I'm tired of waking up every day and recalling every single thing that I ate the day before.  Counting every calorie I consumed so I know exactly how much self-loathing to take into the shower."
• "God dwells in us, as us."
• "To lose balance sometimes for love is part of living a balanced life."
• "You don't need a man.  You need a champion."
• "All American girls want is pasta and sausage!”
• "Believe in Love again."

31 Days of Experiencing New Things - July Wrap Up

While we're well into August's 31 Day project (Laughter), July was 31 Days of Experiencing New Things and I wanted to do this wrap-up for July before too much more time passed.  

July's project made me aware of how many little things I have never tried or haven't seen/done/visited/experienced in a very long time. I quickly realized that there were things I could easily do right here at home or within driving distance.  I also realized that 31 Days would give me a taste of looking for new experiences, but as I built my list of things I wanted to do, it would take much longer than one month to look into them all.  That's good -- I never want to run out of new experiences and things to do.  Some things cost money and had to be tabled for awhile, other things I wanted to wait and share with a friend to have the experience with me, while yet others simply didn't get done because the month rushed by so incredibly fast. 

I have the beginnings of a "bucket list" which are larger desires that I want to accomplish in my lifetime (see the Aurora Borealis in person, go to New Zealand, etc.), but for new experiences that were left overflowing beyond the month of July, I thought I'd end this particular project with a list of new experiences yet to happen.  This is a "brain dump" where I can capture these desired experiences in one place and pull from them when I have time.  I hope to continue the trend of finding something new on a daily or weekly basis. This is a bucket list on a much smaller scale, so I should be able to continue to experience these things in abundance.  

• Write a book (even an eBook), get published
• Ride in a hot air balloon
• Attend more balloon festivals
• Attend a kite festival
• Get my photography placed in several art galleries or stores. 
• Take Irish dancing lessons 
• Participate in a geo-caching treasure hunt
• Learn how to parallel park
• Organize a flash mob
• Fly a kite (or even better "Kite Skateboarding")
• Go bowling (it has been years!)
• Try fried green tomatoes
• Attend a professional photography camp (they're field trips to places like Arches National Park or places where you camp out under the stars and learn to take pictures in all times of the day -- dusk, dawn, night stars and comets, etc. with a professional photographer) 
• Go to a wildlife park for photographers like my friend Lori has visited.  I think they're in Alaska or Canada, but you are in a park with wolves, bears and maybe even Polar Bears.  You should have a great zoom lens, but you're actually in the park with these animals, and there's not a fence between you and them. 
• Take a road trip by myself to explore Colorado or go to Phoenix or Reno to visit my daughter or sister. 
• Visit places I've been wanting to see like Moab Arches National Park, San Antonio TX Riverwalk and Mono Lake and Bodie Ghost Town.  There are several places here in Colorado I haven't been to (Telluride, Marble, Pagosa Springs, Durango)
• Go camping (I haven't been since I was a teenager).
• Revisit places that I would love as an adult but took for granted as a teenager (Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Petrified Forrest).
• Hula Hoop (well)
• Learn to Hula Dance (well)
• Relive childhood foods like pop rocks, juicy fruit gum, space sticks, wax bottles with juice in them, candy necklaces and Pez.  Also, my dad brought home rice candy from Japan when I was a kid and it melted in your mouth. I haven't seen / tasted it since I was very young. 
• Take singing lessons
• Take voice over coaching 
• Grow a vegetable garden
• Give a speech, or teach a workshop
• Host a webinar / teleseminar
• Go rafting (not white water rapids, but a leisurely float trip like they have in Glenwood Springs)
• Spend the night and/or take a workshop at Glen Eyre Castle in Colorado Springs
• Volunteer at a nursing home (like adopt a grandparent)
• Participate in laser tag and paintball
• Watch a successful hypnosis session, like my daughter saw in High School Psychology class. Supposedly the people who were hypnotized clucked like chickens and other things that they didn't remember. Watch participants that have nothing to do with the hypnotist so I know it's not a set up. 
• Take cooking classes
• Have some professional photos done at a place like Glamor Shots (but more professional, not tacky, if a place exists where you're pampered all day with spa treatments, hair, make-up and wardrobe and then put in appropriate indoor/outdoor scenes for photos.  Classy, not tacky). 
• Attend an opera.
• Learn calligraphy
• Find better places to view the sunset
• Take flower arranging course
• Learn candle making
• Learn glass blowing
• Learn stained glass making
• Have a slumber party.  Yes, I know I'm 45... and yes, I said a slumber party. How fun would that be?! 
• Learn cake decorating (and though I haven't seen either, I imagine shows like Ace of Cakes or Cake Boss probably have what I'm talking about; beautiful, tiered cakes).
• Go skinny dipping
• Take the Royal Gorge train and tram 
• Ride a zip line 
• Be an extra on a movie set
• Go see the Iris Farm on the West side of Denver when it's open / in season
• Have a retreat at The Hideaway located between Colorado Springs and Castle Rock 
• Revisit places that I experienced with Chris either by myself or with a friend so I can replace the memory and association with a new one. With several better memories. 
• Spend a short get-away a the Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colo. Springs. 
• Find my way out of a corn or hedge maze
• Save some starfish (which would mean I'd have to be on an ocean beach, which I'm yearning for) 
• Ride a roller coaster. I've ridden Lakeside's Chipmunk (hated it) and Elitch's old wooden one (hated it) and Nikki swears to me that the new roller coasters "are fun" and "smooth."  If I can hold Rosie the tarantula, maybe I can go on the roller coaster with loops where your feet hang down.  I'm putting it on the list but I reserve the right to remove it at any time! :)
• Go on a scavenger hunt.  I think Denver has a large, organized one. 
• Go to Color Me Mine or another pottery place to paint and glaze my own piece of pottery.  Even better, take a pottery class where I form the item from clay that I end up painting.
• Speaking of painting, Canvas and Cocktails was so fun.  I'd love more painting.  I think I have a hidden artist wanting to emerge.  ;o)  More opportunities to paint / learn to paint.  Painting and wine is even better. 
• Find and explore more ghost towns. 
• Stay at Glen Eyre Castle
• Stay at the Redstone Castle
• Stay at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park (but not in a "haunted" room)
• Discover new hiking trails (there are several I'm trying to get to while the wildflowers are still in bloom). 
• Ride gondola up Vail Mountain in summer or fall for views (friend says they give you a drink coupon for restaurant at the top) 
• Ride SkyRide at Cheyenne Mtn. Zoo
• Take Estes Park aerial tramway up Prospect Mtn. 
• Try AquaGolf
• Film on the Rocks at Red Rocks and/or free movies in the Park (Parker has them)
• Visit and see inside of all of these Denver cathedrals   http://www.denvermagazine.com/core/pagetools.php?pageid=13750&url=/August-2010/Uplifting-Architecture/&mode=print

• Try the indoor skydiving in Park Meadows
• Visit Colorado's oldest carousel in Burlington, Co. It's supposed to be 100 years old or more and is restored and fully operational.  They have The Brulington Carousel Festival every September -- maybe I can go see it then.  
• Viewing of the bats near Orient Mine.  I have to hurry on this one because the news said they're here through August.  But it's a far enough drive that I'd have to spend the night and I think it's close enough to the Great Sand Dunes that I would need make time to stop there too (and the Gator Farm is near Alamosa so I'd have to go there too.  And then, it might be close enough to try the Salida Zip Line).  You watch from a viewing area while hundreds of bats come out at dusk to feed and it's supposed to be quite a site.    http://www.olt.org/programs/bats/bats.htm;     http://www.9news.com/rss/article.aspx?storyid=143802
• Get great lightening pictures
• Find Crystal Mill, CO and get my own pictures of the well-photographed mill. 
• Make a list of the various arts festivals, balloon festivals, jazz festivals and try to attend several of them. 
• Be a vendor at an arts festival for my photography and maybe jewelry or other crafts by then. 
• Attend a concert or event at Hudson Gardens
• Visit The Wildlife Experience at C-470 and Lincoln
• Visit the Wild Animal Santuary in Hudson, CO
• Visit the Wolf Sanctuary in Colorado (I think there are a couple them, one in Divide, CO and this one http://www.komar.org/faq/travel/vacation/colorado/mission-wolf/ -- I can't believe they are petting the wolves!)
• Go see Bishop's Castle in S. Colorado.  That's one crazy castle  http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06211/709125-37.stm
• Try Karaoke.  Maybe.  Like the roller coaster, I reserve the right to change my mind on this one. 
• Ride down a mountain slide like the Alpine Slide at Heritage Square or the new one in Glenwood Springs. 
• Take the Coors Brewery tour.  I've lived here my entire life and my dad worked for Coors but I've never taken the tour. 
• Go to a nearby reservoir and sit by the lake with my feet in the sand. 
• Leave the house to do my work. Go to Village Inn or Panera Bread, someplace with WiFi, where I can sit with a cup of coffee or have lunch while I work remotely. 
• Actually growing my nails and *keeping* them polished and maintained would be a new experience.  I love the look of freshly manicured hands but am too much of a Tom Boy to keep mine that way.
• Have my legs waxed or face threaded.  Another 'maybe' that might be dropped off the list. Some spa treatment that I've never had done would be good. 
• Stay at one of those tropical places where the swimming pool has a waterfall that you can swim under (and an in-pool bar). 
• Find waterfalls that I can photograph and hike to.
• Learn basic yoga.
• Attract humming birds for up close photography.
• Experience vendors on Denver 7's A-List  http://kmgh.cityvoter.com/contests/denver-s-7-a-list/4773/overview?utm_source=KMGH&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=vote
• Even though the owners of the Daffodil Farm in Running Springs, CA have retired and the gardens are no longer open to visitors, a friend who lives near there said you can still see the flowers from a neighboring church.  So, if I'm ever near Running Springs in March-May, I might have to stop by for a peek.  Also, I just found this homestead called Daffodil Hill in Sutter Creek, CA  http://www.ci.sutter-creek.ca.us/daffodilhill.html
• Visit a vineyard.
• Learn how to do serigraphs like Gene Bauer (The Daffodil lady) has compiled in her book.  http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700013948/Forever-blooming-Amazing-daffodil-garden-is-closed-but-her-serigraphs-are-alive-in-a-new-book.html
• Visit Rock Ledge Ranch near Garden of the Gods
• See a firefly / lightening bug in person (I've never seen one!). 

That will keep me busy for awhile, huh?  I may come back and add to the list as I hear about things.  Also there are some things I wanted to experience that I can now move to the "Done" list below.  

• Attend a PHAMALy production (doing this later in August - I'll be attending PHAMALy's production of Beauty and the Beast)
• Attend Scriprov, friend Meagan is in. 
• Attend Brew at the Zoo (doing this in September)
• Canvas and Cocktails 
• Garden of the Gods 
• Free concerts at Southlands and other area concerts in the park
• Butterfly Pavilion (held Rosie the tarantula and stayed as long as I needed to for butterfly pictures)
• St. Malo, church on the rock, Allenspark, CO  http://www.flickr.com/photos/tabzero/2904606823/
• Discovered what the bell ringing was by Seven Falls / Cheyenne Canyon Inn.  It was coming from the Will Rogers Shrine 
• Glenwood Springs Iron Mountain Tram
• Partner with my first client as a VA (Yay!) 

Proverbs 19:8

Do you ever read a sentence or a verse that jumps off the page at you, grabs you by the collar, and says "pay attention -- there's a reason you landed on this page today?"

The below bible verse (Proverbs 19:8) has slightly different wording depending on the translation, but the meaning remains consistent.  The verse struck me today because wisdom is for our good and well-being, but wisdom can initially be painful.  I've experienced the world-shaking kind of changes that came once I prayed for wisdom, pulled my ostrich head out of the sand, looked around and saw the truth. Gaining wisdom truly opens our eyes to things that may initially be painful (there's a reason our eyes were closed to them in the first place), but the work (and thus healing) can't begin until wisdom is sought.  

This verse also hit me today because it talks about gaining wisdom and keeping understanding.  Every painful event in our lives has a lesson that must be learned or we're bound to repeat our part of what put us there. So there's a difference between obtaining and keeping something.  My hope and my goal is to not waste valuable time relearning the same lessons - a lesson gained should be a lesson remembered. 

He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; he who cherishes understanding prospers.

-Proverbs 19:8 New International Version

He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; He who keeps understanding will find good. 

-Proverbs 19:8 New American Standard Version

He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul: he that keepeth understanding shall find good.

-Proverbs 19:8 King James Version

31 Days of Experiencing New Things - Day 24

While I've been posting my new things on Facebook, when I feel I have more to say I think it's appropriate to use the space here in my personal blog to share what I'm experiencing.

I can come up with 3 new things today:

1.  I went to my friend Nicole's 30th birthday party.  It's new in the sense that while I love my friend and want to be there for her any way that I can, I'm not really comfortable in crowds like at parties, especially walking into one alone.  I go to movies alone all the time now, but social events / parties make me want to crawl out of my skin.  It's not all crowds because the Southlands concert was crowded, but you could break away and walk along the shops and still hear the music.  But, it's plain silly to not show up for a friend's party because of some mild discomfort and since my "One Word" this year is "Face," that means to stretch myself, jump in and face fears as well.  Typing this, I realize how ridiculous that might sound  -- face fears to go to a birthday party?  Okay, it's not a huge fear that will throw me into a panic attack if I know there will be familiar faces that I can talk to one at a time, but parties only come easy to me if I'm the one hosting the party.  Then I'm busy and occupied and more worried about making sure everyone else feels comfortable, fed and welcomed than I am about myself.

Being vulnerably authentic here, the other reason walking into a party these days is so uncomfortable for me is that I was 30 lbs. lighter the last time I saw the people I expected to see there; and the whole feeling of being seen isn't a comfortable one right now.  See my heart, see my light, see my skills, see my desire, see my determination, see my intelligence, see my love, but let me hide my physical body behind the phone or an email, okay?  :)  Because of these 31 Days Projects, I haven't let my discomfort stop me from getting out and experiencing things, but some venues are easier than others.

I turn 45 in three days and I look in the mirror to see someone who, through life's experiences (both tragedies and good times) has somehow allowed herself to become 65-70 lbs. overweight.  How I wish I was one of those people who didn't eat when they were stressed -- I'd be Twiggy by now.  Alas, no -- I'm apparently an emotional eater ... or I don't eat all day, then eat the wrong things.  However it came to be, through the loss of a daughter, quitting smoking, losing my dad, a marriage where we both loved to eat out a lot, a job loss and now a divorce, this is where I am physically.  In the past nine months, even if I walked and ate salads the pounds still crept up.  So I feel like people who see me must think that I eat all day when I don't.  I hear that stress produces cortisone/cortisole which contributes to weight, especially around the middle.  In August of 2009 I discovered and opened a Pandora's box that revealed my husband's lies and addictions.  A Pandora's box that once opened, exposed a tidal wave of lies, deceit, and betrayal.  Okay, so no one can argue that I've come through and am still currently in the middle of some stress.  I'm not unique in that -- everyone has a story -- everyone has stress.  But while I feel I am healing, moving forward and managing the stress fairly well, my body is handling it poorly.

So, to make a change I decided I had to shake things up and try something I hadn't tried before.  So, you've heard of a food diary?  I've decided to do a food photo journal. Before any food or drink goes in my mouth, I have to take a picture of it.  Not every bite, just the bowl of fruit or plate of dinner.  Then at the end of the day when I'm logging my progress I upload the photos to a private blog that will visually show me what I've consumed.  And if one beer turns into three, I'll have three pictures of beer.  If a handful of almonds becomes multiple trips, I'll see that too.  Today at Nicole's birthday BBQ, I broke out the camera and took a picture of my food.  If I'm going to do this, I have to do it wherever I'm eating. What will also be new is the idea of eating more often which seems counter intuitive to losing weight. But maybe I'll turn this metabolism around by eating a fiber bar or almonds or cheese stick (small things) every couple of hours.  If I ever show this body that I am the boss of it, that will be a new experience.

2.  Speaking of "Being Seen,"  I need to get out and network for my Virtual Assistance business.  So, though they don't meet until August 2nd, today I RSVP'd to the Colorado Christian Small Business Women's Mastermind Group.  I've never met with a Mastermind Group before, I hope this one has a good turn out. 

3.  On the way home from Nicole's (she only lives like a mile or two from me), I looked to the east to see a beautiful full moon and to the west to see another awesome sunset.  I decided to stop at the corner shopping center to get some pictures.  While taking snaps of the moon, something caught my peripheral vision to the right.  Was it an airplane? My eyes were failing me and I couldn't tell -- it was moving like a floating bicycle built for two.  An airborne contraption that people can peddle?  I had no idea what I was taking pictures of until I got home and saw them on my computer.  A big group of balloons that floated off into the sunset.  If I had a professional zoom lens, these could have been some really cool pictures.  

31 Days of Experiencing New Things - Day 13

About two months ago on May 14th I started looking for old classmates on Facebook.  I found someone who still lived in my hometown that was a possible match of a person I went to elementary school with and I reached out with a quick hello to see if he was the same person that I knew way back when. It didn't look like he was very active on Facebook, with 23 friends and no posts (just the typical set up stuff for people new to Facebook), so I wasn't sure if he'd see it or if I'd get a reply or if it was even the person I knew. I sent the quick hello and forgot about it. 

Today, I got the following message back through Facebook:  "Yep, thats me"

He's married with 2 daughters and was in the Army for 23 years after college (according to his info. tab).  I found myself wondering what happened to all those kids that I still remember from elementary school.  I've stayed in touch with one good high school buddy and really don't have the same curiosity about what happened to most of my other high school alumni, as I have for my elementary school chums. We were all so 'innocent' then, with so much life still ahead of us ...so much possibility. We didn't have a clue who we'd marry, who we'd lose, who would hurt us, how we'd earn a living, what tragedies may fall upon us ... and I don't think we cared. "When's lunch?" and "when's recess" were about the extent of our worries. 

So I went digging for pictures and I found 4th and 5th grades.  To get communication (albeit, brief) from someone I haven't seen for 34 years is an incredibly new experience.  And I haven't pulled out these photos in such a very long time.  Yet, as bad as I am with names, I can look at most of these classmates and name every one of them.  I must have been paying more attention back then ... or somethin'.  I didn't tell this person that I actually still have in an old coin purse somewhere the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Lion token that he gave me 35 years ago.  Today, I got my new experience by revisiting the old.

31 Days of Experiencing New Things - Day 12

You know how the grocery store often has a recipe card tree usually in their produce department?  Usually I just see recipes for banana smoothies near the bananas or banana flavoring, but while shopping yesterday I came across a display rack full of cards for great recipes and today I made a new salad.  I don't think I've ever made a salad that included a pear before, but this was a pear/cranberry salad.  I added my own touch by throwing in some avocado and unsalted sunflower seeds.  It was soooo yummy!  While describing the salad to my daughter and mentioning that you wouldn't think the avocado and pear would go together, she mentioned that a favorite dish at a restaurant in Phoenix is hamburger with peanut butter.  Now there would be another new taste experience.  Apparently it's really good!

Then tonight, my daughter and I called each other on Skype so she could watch me open my birthday present early.  It had to be early because she's sending me and my friend, Jennifer, to Canvas and Cocktails this weekend!  I'm so excited.  I've wanted to go there ever since I saw a great report about it on the news.  Here's a picture of what we'll be painting while sipping on wine.

Fun, fun, fun!!

30 Days of Deepening Friendships - Day 30

Today was a mixed bag. Current dealings with various business entities all turned out to be disappointments, so I got out of the house for a movie and saw Eclipse. A year ago, I may have seen a movie once every month or two. These days I go at least once a week because if I refrain from eating/drinking, the tickets at the Movie Tavern are just $6 bucks and it has become my escape.  As I build a life intent on working from home, I find I need to intentionally get out of the house so I don't turn into some kind of recluse.   ;o) 

Well, in addition to an awesome 30DODF salon call to wrap up the month, when I returned from the movie I picked up my mail to find a gift from my dear friend Robyn (she lets me call her G-ma).  G-ma sent me a Movie Tavern gift card! She sent it 'just because' (because she's AWESOME).  We haven't met in person, yet she's learned about me through my posts and knows me. This is the same wonderful person who sent me a Zena Moon candle for my home office when I was laid off from my job in February.  A friend who pays attention to little comments to get to know you is a treasure.  I, of course feel horrible because my extent of paying attention was to think every time she posted something about living in SD, she was talking about South Dakota (she lives in San Diego). I was wondering why on days when Robyn would talk about earthquakes that I didn't see anything in the news about South Dakota having an earthquake. LOL!  Oh, my. I finally 'got it.'  And my intention is to be a friend who pays attention.

Anyway, thank you my dear friend - I'm so glad you're in my life and what an awesome thing to have happen on the final day of the Deepening Friendships project. 
 

 This has been an incredible month that has made me realize that this has been an amazing year in terms of the friendships that have been made.  I've barely scratched the surface in deepening friendships because it takes time to learn about and be there for a friend.  The more time I spend and the more interested I am in others, the more the friendships are deepened.  So this month was a springboard to getting to know several people better than I did when the month began, and the ending of the project is not an ending to my commitment to continue to reach out and be a friend.   This month also made me aware that through life's challenges, friends make everything so much more bearable and when I think life's burdens have me too depleted or busy to talk on the phone, I need to remember that I can't afford not to take that time to reach out.  Friends provide a fresh perspective, support and unconditional love.  I need that and can never allow myself to do without that again, nor isolate myself so that I'm not there for others. This month also made me realize that 30 days isn't enough time to touch on and deepen all the friendships that I would have liked.  There are a couple of friendships that I've neglected ... so this will be an ongoing effort.

Thank you to everyone who continues to show up for me through calls, emails, cards, BBQ invites, Facebook comments (and gifts!).  :)  I'm so very grateful and I promise to show up for you in whatever capacity I can.  If I've failed to show up for you when you needed me, I'm so sorry.  Please let me know so I can share my perspective or be a better friend. If I didn't interact with you this month, let's touch base in July and give each other the gift of an unhurried presence -- the gift of a deepened friendship. 

Doing a Happy Dance for the Ellen DeGeneres Show?

Okay, I guess I am feeling a little 'out of the box' today and submitted an idea to the Ellen DeGeneres Show.  I know, I know ... the show's producers probably receive hundreds, if not thousands of emails per day and the chances of the email being viewed, let alone selected are remote. But, you miss 100% of the shots that you do not take, so I'm thinking "what if...?"

Anyway, here's the idea that I put in front of the Ellen show:

This isn't necessarily a game but a segment or contest possibly. It's perfect for the Ellen show because this combines her love of dance, with comedy and the video of the day segment.  Lately, on Facebook, when I post good news, friends will say that they're doing a "Happy Dance" for me. I started wondering what a Happy Dance is supposed to look like.  Do you just look happy, and then dance? Do you cheer, jump, roll, bounce?  I figured the Happy Dance is as unique as those doing the dancing and think Ellen should have a "Show Us YOUR Happy Dance" segment where people can send or post videos with their Happy Dance.

Keep on Dancing (and stay happy)!

So, to my friends Stacy and Beatrice ... hang on to any videos taken at Homecoming this year.  You might be able to post / send them to the Ellen show.  ;o)