Thursday, March 1, 2007
Promise
I started this blog back on Christmas and I have been lousy at keeping it up...oh how I miss writing. I promise...to myself and you, my friends to keep up better! Sending out love to you all, hope all is well in your world!
Nostalgia
Just a quick few words to say that nostalgia is one of the most comforting things there is. Everyone knows we can't go back but nostalgia is the memories we've made accompanied by feeling the actual feelings again that we had at that moment the memory was being made. A huge nostalgic trigger is music. Another may be smell or certain places revisited. How amazing is it that we get to DO that??? Nostalgia envelopes us like a cozy blanket taking us out of our present briefly in order to appreciate the past, to ponder for a few moments sort of in reverent manner. I am so grateful for having moments in my life that bring on such positivism and peace when reflecting back on them...tune in soon for my ramblings on gratitude! LOL...
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Funny shit about people in New England
Funny shit about people in New England
My cousin had this on his blog and I just had to post it too...too funny!! Thanks, C!
If you dont live in new england you probally will not get it. Enjoy!
Forget Rednecks ..here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about NewEnglanders...
If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 36inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping it will swim by, you might live in New England.
If you're proud that your region makes the national news 96 nights each year because Mt. Washington is the coldest spot in the nation, and Boston gets more snow than any other major city in the US, you live inNew England.
If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May, you live in New England.
If you instinctively walk like a penguin for six months out of the year, you live in New England.
If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don'twork there, you live in New England.
If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in NewEngland.
If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you live in New England.
And, you know you are a New Englander when: "Vacation" means going anywhere south of New York City for the weekend.
You measure distance in hours.
You know several people who have hit a deer more than once.
You have switched from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day and back again.
You can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching.
You install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked.
You carry jumpers in your car and your girlfriend/wife knows how to use them.
You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
The speed limit on the highway is 55 mph -- you're going 80 and everybody is passing you!
Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction.
Your 4th of July picnic was moved indoors due to frost.
You have more miles on your snow blower than your car.
You find 10 degrees "a little chilly."
My cousin had this on his blog and I just had to post it too...too funny!! Thanks, C!
If you dont live in new england you probally will not get it. Enjoy!
Forget Rednecks ..here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about NewEnglanders...
If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 36inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping it will swim by, you might live in New England.
If you're proud that your region makes the national news 96 nights each year because Mt. Washington is the coldest spot in the nation, and Boston gets more snow than any other major city in the US, you live inNew England.
If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May, you live in New England.
If you instinctively walk like a penguin for six months out of the year, you live in New England.
If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don'twork there, you live in New England.
If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in NewEngland.
If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you live in New England.
And, you know you are a New Englander when: "Vacation" means going anywhere south of New York City for the weekend.
You measure distance in hours.
You know several people who have hit a deer more than once.
You have switched from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day and back again.
You can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching.
You install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked.
You carry jumpers in your car and your girlfriend/wife knows how to use them.
You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
The speed limit on the highway is 55 mph -- you're going 80 and everybody is passing you!
Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction.
Your 4th of July picnic was moved indoors due to frost.
You have more miles on your snow blower than your car.
You find 10 degrees "a little chilly."
Monday, January 15, 2007
A Song For Tonight
I'm learning a new song right now. For those of you who don't know me very well...singing is my biggest passion. I do it for me and in no public arena and it is the most satisfying feeling to belt out the words of a kick ass fast song or a heart wrenching ballad depending on my mood. Being a person who keeps her emotions often reeled in and is the queen of control...it's my way of letting go. It's the one way, I can let go...let go all the way. I get to experience the emotions by singing it even if it is not something I've ever been through. I guess the way an actor feels a character they portray. There have been many times when I have been depressed or angry and really the best friend for me to turn to is my microphone. An hour or so of pouring all of me into a set of songs and I'm a new person.
Tonight's song is "Lay Down My Life" by the timeless queen of written song, Carole King. Have you heard this song? The version I'm immersed in is just Carole and her piano. The power and emotion she packs into this love song left me speechless the first time I heard it. I had the pleasure of hearing this song for the first time LIVE at the Greek Theater during her Living Room tour in 2004. Every time I listen to it since that night, the power and emotion of that performance and the song's meaning hit me. Tonight I decided that I need to add it to my personal singing set.
It's a raw depiction of a love, a love that feels so right though it is wrong. It is amazing when love can exist so strong and cause people to have no control over their hearts sometimes against the odds. Just sharing a love like that binds them together forever from the experience even if they never see each other again. Think about that, love can be that powerful. Singing the song makes me feel immersed in the power of that kind of love, a love that knows no limits, no bounds, just is. No matter what.
Tonight's song is "Lay Down My Life" by the timeless queen of written song, Carole King. Have you heard this song? The version I'm immersed in is just Carole and her piano. The power and emotion she packs into this love song left me speechless the first time I heard it. I had the pleasure of hearing this song for the first time LIVE at the Greek Theater during her Living Room tour in 2004. Every time I listen to it since that night, the power and emotion of that performance and the song's meaning hit me. Tonight I decided that I need to add it to my personal singing set.
It's a raw depiction of a love, a love that feels so right though it is wrong. It is amazing when love can exist so strong and cause people to have no control over their hearts sometimes against the odds. Just sharing a love like that binds them together forever from the experience even if they never see each other again. Think about that, love can be that powerful. Singing the song makes me feel immersed in the power of that kind of love, a love that knows no limits, no bounds, just is. No matter what.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Life With a 2 1/2 Year old
Have you ever had a 2 1/2 year old in your life? Or better yet, raised one? The stages they go through make you question your ability to be a great parent! Though nine times out of ten I can be the perfectly patient parent handling the crying or whining exactly as I should, that one time when I lose my patience, I know what's at stake. I think of his perspective seeing this giant's wrath and the inevitable tears that follow break my heart. I start thinking of his fragile self-esteem and inability to understand why his behavior upset me. He doesn't understand cause and effect. He doesn't understand that he held the power to make things different at that very moment. He's just trying to figure out who he is.
I was prepared to have a child. To love him unconditionally and to teach him everything and be consistent and do RIGHT by him. I was prepared to discipline my child and tell him "no" and give him consequences for unacceptable behavior. What I was not prepared for was his constant self-contradictions and whining that he goes through at this age. Oh, I knew it would happen, but I had no idea how it would frustrate me! He is trying to find out who he is and how everything works in his world. This is all quite normal. An instance of this craziness: I don't care if he wears the baseball pajamas or the Elmo pajamas to bed so I let him choose. It's important to give children choices wherever you can. He chooses the baseball pajamas. We go through the whole bedtime ritual and get him dressed and as soon as he's dressed, inevitably he's changes his mind and whines and cries because he wants the Elmo pajamas as I am returning them to his drawer. But it's not over when you offer him the Elmo pajamas because then he cries that he wants the baseball ones. You can't win so you finally have to just put him to bed as is and this makes him more upset. This happens over and over about the most mundane things until we, as parents, are ready to pull our hair out. In the very next moment after that explosion when I lose it, he sits and cuddles in my lap telling me I have to be nice, the most lovable creature in the world. My heart is filled with love for him. At that moment, I don't know how I could have lost my composure.
As a parent, these are tough times and I know we're going to make it through just fine but it gives me the unshakeable feeling of failure I sometimes experience as a parent questioning whether or not I should be a parent thinking I should be better, more patient, more calm. I really do know that answer. Of course I should be a parent. I do some much RIGHT for him. I LOVE my son with all of my heart. We're all human. I know this and all I can do is be human with my child so he learns being human is ok, communicate with him honestly and from the heart. Maybe I'm doing him an even better service than I realize.
It sure makes me look back at all the explosions my parents had when I was growing up and understand them much better. Okay, that's all. Thanks for listening.
I was prepared to have a child. To love him unconditionally and to teach him everything and be consistent and do RIGHT by him. I was prepared to discipline my child and tell him "no" and give him consequences for unacceptable behavior. What I was not prepared for was his constant self-contradictions and whining that he goes through at this age. Oh, I knew it would happen, but I had no idea how it would frustrate me! He is trying to find out who he is and how everything works in his world. This is all quite normal. An instance of this craziness: I don't care if he wears the baseball pajamas or the Elmo pajamas to bed so I let him choose. It's important to give children choices wherever you can. He chooses the baseball pajamas. We go through the whole bedtime ritual and get him dressed and as soon as he's dressed, inevitably he's changes his mind and whines and cries because he wants the Elmo pajamas as I am returning them to his drawer. But it's not over when you offer him the Elmo pajamas because then he cries that he wants the baseball ones. You can't win so you finally have to just put him to bed as is and this makes him more upset. This happens over and over about the most mundane things until we, as parents, are ready to pull our hair out. In the very next moment after that explosion when I lose it, he sits and cuddles in my lap telling me I have to be nice, the most lovable creature in the world. My heart is filled with love for him. At that moment, I don't know how I could have lost my composure.
As a parent, these are tough times and I know we're going to make it through just fine but it gives me the unshakeable feeling of failure I sometimes experience as a parent questioning whether or not I should be a parent thinking I should be better, more patient, more calm. I really do know that answer. Of course I should be a parent. I do some much RIGHT for him. I LOVE my son with all of my heart. We're all human. I know this and all I can do is be human with my child so he learns being human is ok, communicate with him honestly and from the heart. Maybe I'm doing him an even better service than I realize.
It sure makes me look back at all the explosions my parents had when I was growing up and understand them much better. Okay, that's all. Thanks for listening.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Post Holiday Pondering...
All the baking and shopping and gathering yielded another wildly successful holiday celebration. We stuffed our faces, put on a few pounds, spent a bunch of money and indulged in family time. Quinn turned our house into the aftermath of a tornado opening and playing with every new toy. The gift wrap, boxes, bags and leftover sweets strewn around the house. The gifts were fun and appreciated and we all sat around playing with our new toys; electronic gadgets, media, books, clothes, etc.
Christmas is passed for one more year and we made it through. Phew! New Years is approaching. With the holidays comes a hustle and bustle that is amazing, unheard of, and psycho! We become these frenzied creatures trying to shop, bake and prepare for holiday parties with family, friends and co-workers. Our mere existence becomes entirely about this tradition for a time. So our lives as we know them are put on hold. Then we all sit back a few pounds heavier afterwards and say, “Wow, that was great! Glad it’s over!” Now we can resume our normal lives.
So I sit here and ponder how we lose our lives for a brief time during the holiday season enough that we actually need recovery time. Can it all actually be worth it? What dictates this devotion to the holidays? Is it obligation? Tradition? The meaning is often religious or spiritual celebration. Unfortunately, we all know that the holidays have become much more commercial and we find ourselves constantly holding up to a standard, keeping up with the Jones, make this year just as good as the last or better. God forbid we’re strapped for money and dare to consider not celebrating. It’s just not an option. But we still hold the holiday season dearly in our hearts…the welcome of the cold weather, the Christmas lights, the eggnog, the gathering of friends and family and the endless generosity. It is a warmth that envelopes us and reminds of us of many holidays in a simpler more perfect time, our childhood bringing back all the magic. So we’ll go through all the hoopla and all the haze and come out of it making more warm memories and we’ll get past it one more year to look forward to the spring until the countdown to the holidays starts once again.
Hope your holiday season was wonderful and wishing you a happy and healthy New Year!
Christmas is passed for one more year and we made it through. Phew! New Years is approaching. With the holidays comes a hustle and bustle that is amazing, unheard of, and psycho! We become these frenzied creatures trying to shop, bake and prepare for holiday parties with family, friends and co-workers. Our mere existence becomes entirely about this tradition for a time. So our lives as we know them are put on hold. Then we all sit back a few pounds heavier afterwards and say, “Wow, that was great! Glad it’s over!” Now we can resume our normal lives.
So I sit here and ponder how we lose our lives for a brief time during the holiday season enough that we actually need recovery time. Can it all actually be worth it? What dictates this devotion to the holidays? Is it obligation? Tradition? The meaning is often religious or spiritual celebration. Unfortunately, we all know that the holidays have become much more commercial and we find ourselves constantly holding up to a standard, keeping up with the Jones, make this year just as good as the last or better. God forbid we’re strapped for money and dare to consider not celebrating. It’s just not an option. But we still hold the holiday season dearly in our hearts…the welcome of the cold weather, the Christmas lights, the eggnog, the gathering of friends and family and the endless generosity. It is a warmth that envelopes us and reminds of us of many holidays in a simpler more perfect time, our childhood bringing back all the magic. So we’ll go through all the hoopla and all the haze and come out of it making more warm memories and we’ll get past it one more year to look forward to the spring until the countdown to the holidays starts once again.
Hope your holiday season was wonderful and wishing you a happy and healthy New Year!
Monday, December 25, 2006
Welcome to my blogspot...
Why blog? Why blog you ask??? Well, (number one) because I have much to say. My mind never quite stops. I have lots and lots of random thoughts as well as a mulitude of philosophical ponderings. Maybe (number two) if I put them out there into the air for others to read and share, I'm SURE it will give me the opportunity to discuss things more with others and get them out of my head!! I LOVE doing that. Great conversation is stimulating! We all learn from each other even in conversations every day where we are not seeking an opportunity to learn, it just pops up. Every one brings something to the table, my friends. We need to keep our eyes, our ears and most of all, our hearts open. Quite frankly (number three), I am becoming an internet junky. Oh yes, I am. So welcome to my blog, good people. I'm interested in any and all feedback to my ramblings whether you agree or disagree! Just love the connection of sharing thoughts and ideas and connecting.
My blog is called songbird because as many people who know me already know music is everything to me. I LOVE music. Singing is my oldest and dearest passion besides the people in my life that I love. I will probably be talking about music, lyrics and singers who have spoken to me, inspired me and so on!! I'll leave you with one mantra constantly running through my mind..."so many songs, so little time!"
I look forward to writing on this blog. THIS IS GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN!! Now...where to start???
My blog is called songbird because as many people who know me already know music is everything to me. I LOVE music. Singing is my oldest and dearest passion besides the people in my life that I love. I will probably be talking about music, lyrics and singers who have spoken to me, inspired me and so on!! I'll leave you with one mantra constantly running through my mind..."so many songs, so little time!"
I look forward to writing on this blog. THIS IS GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN!! Now...where to start???
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