Bowl Cousins

I often have a hard time getting my cousins out of bed when they visit and we have morning plans. This AM I woke them up playing my new (to them) song on guitar and one of them jumped out of bed after I was done, hugged me, and said my songwriting has come a long way!

Then we went to yoga class – for free – because afterwards we helped the owner of my studio move some supplies (blankets, bolsters etc.) for the remodeling project.

After that we met the sweet man for lunch (first meeting for them) which went splendidly. Soon my brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew arrived for my niece’s first bowling experience. The ball was of course too heavy for her but it didn't matter.

“Hi,” the sweet man as he sat beside me at bowling.
“Usually when you say that it means you want to kiss me.”
“I do want to kiss you.”

Talking over Christmas plans with my sister-in-law I tell her I'll be spending a few days at the sweet man's house. "I'm so happy, she's such a special person and sweet sister to me," she says to him and I see just a hint of tears in both her and his eyes.

Broadway for Kids

On rare occasions I get restless legs when I'm at a performance. Today I wondered for the first time if it had a correlation to the carbon dioxide in the room. I really wanted to enjoy the musical but I was distracted by my ansy legs. Then someone opened the door of the auditorium to let in some fresh air. Soon enough they relaxed. I'm not sure there is a correlation, but now I'm curious about this possibility.

I was at my first school event with the sweet man's kids, a musical theater. I met him at the school and learned how the pick up process goes at the end of the day, then we went out to dinner nearby and returned for the performance. I actually really enjoyed it and found most of the acts engaging. They did a scene or two from 8 different musicals so that lots of different kids could have starring roles. This worked well and kept things moving.

The sweet man's daughter clearly was enjoying herself and happy to be there. Her Dad waved at her when he first spotted her on stage. He better enjoy that because she is close to being the age when that would be embarrassing, not quite yet I guess :).

One of the other kids in the play is a son of a guy I play soccer with. It was so sweet when he came on stage to watch how he'd sneak looks at his parents, making sure they were watching him.

I'm really glad I started off on a positive note with their mother. Our interactions are minimal, a mutual friendly wave in today's case, but it genuinely did feel that way - friendly.

After the play I went back to their place, the girls climbed into bed and I read the three of them The Neverending Story. I started reading it to them on the long car ride over Thanksgiving. We only got to page 260 out of 400 though, so we still have a bit to enjoy together.

Last Butternut

#1 - The last of the prolific butternut squash that grew from the compost was made into Moroccan Butternut Squash soup today.

#2 - My Dad happened to arrive right when the aforementioned soup was ready so we ate it together.

#3 - I am reminded as I sit here and search for gratitudes unique to a personally uneventful day to think small. As I scan my day I'm reminded of the dream my alarm awoke me from. The characters in my dream were from my favorite show in high school - Beverly Hills 90210. A show that almost seems like it does not belong here because it does not fit my current image. But then again, this also shows how much of a typical teenager I was, and sometimes being typical just makes life easier.

#4 - I'm grateful that it is unusual for television images/characters to cross my mind, because I just realized, it's been 20 years since I stopped watching television! I'm still exposed around other people some, but I have college to thank for changing that aspect of my life. There were just too many other interesting things to do. And I certainly spend enough time staring at screens on the computer.

I've also been thinking about this as I may watch a movie with the sweet man this weekend. In the 9 months we've been dating, we have watched one movie together. I've had four movies I'm interested in on suspended request at the library for months, but I always think of other things I'd rather do with my time. This weekend I am ready to watch one.

#5 - My niece seems to really be engaged/captivated by art activities. I signed up today for an ornament making class to take with her through community education.

Loveseat

#1 - Last night I saw that my neighbor was throwing away a loveseat (I guess that is the word for a small couch?). I went over to look at it in the dark. There didn't seem to be anything broken or wrong with it. As part of moving the television into the basement at the sweet man's place it would be nice to have an additional place to sit in the living room. So I called him up and asked what he thought. He had similar thoughts to myself, so I grabbed it and brought it inside.

However, a principal concern remained. How was I going to get it over there? My one thought was a good friend of mine's father who lives nearby and has an SUV. I would have liked to call him before I grabbed the couch off the curb, but it was 10pm.

#2 - So I waited until this morning and then hesitantly called and asked. I was apprehensive to do it even though I was 90% sure he would be happy to help. It can be so hard to ask! Anyway, I just called and he not only said he would but...

#3 - He said he'd come by this morning and we could get it done today!

I feel so wealthy.

#4 - I was planning to bus to the sweet man's later this AM anyway so this really couldn't be more convenient!

#5 - I like to have the steps all figured out before I act. So it takes a leap of faith for me to act before I have the steps in place.

But I'm glad I did.




And as a bonus...a little spoken word
 

French Father and Son

http://www.msn.com/en-us/video/news/french-father-explains-terror-attacks-to-his-young-son/vi-BBn86ki?ocid=mailsignout


I had other things but...

to the strength of the father,
the openness of the child,
the receptivity of the reporter
the station who led me there (NPR)
and the video itself.

(And I guess I'll add to this, that I embedded this video before the copyright claim revoked it. Now I've found it in another location though it cut it off 10 seconds early in my opinion. I don't know how to embed this link.)

This is a longer clip and they often get rotated on Tolle's site, but for now -

?

#1 - I just signed up for the first volunteer event the sweet man, his kids and I will do together.  It's preparing donated bikes for kids.  We will be preppers which basically involves cleaning/scrubbing the rust off of bikes.

#2 - Do you know what seriously is one of the most appealing things about having a kid is to me?  Reading with them.  So it is no surprise that since the aforementioned four of us will have a 10 hour drive (round trip) over Thanksgiving, I have made a few requests from the library.  I just thought of another book that would be awesome to read together -The Neverending Story.  I just added it to my request list even though I already had books planned.  Who knows maybe they've already read one of them, best to be prepared.  Then again I've already read all these books...I'm still excited.

#3 - I also scheduled the date for my New Years ritual.  I had no idea we were starting a tradition when two friends and I honored the New Year in a reflective way 10 years ago.  We haven't stopped since.  It usually involves a potluck meal, some writing and whatever else we have the inspiration to explore.  The last few years it has involved selecting a word of the year. 

This year my word of the year is ripe.  I was completely afraid of this word when my body selected it.  I was playing with words in my head, it was already a couple weeks into 2015 and nothing was coming to me.  "Maybe I won't have a word of the year." I thought.  I started playing with water imagery and then r words ripple etc. Then "ripe" popped in my my mind and my entire body responded.  Well, everything except my brain.  My brain said, "What the hell is 'ripe' in my life?  Absolutely nothing."  I felt I had chosen words of the year before that I wanted but never materialized. I did not want a word of the year that I would feel I failed at.

But I couldn't let it go either.  Ripe chose me.  It still has a couple more months, but it fulfilled its mission long ago.  I am no longer afraid that nothing in my life is/was ready.  Hopefully, in a couple months another word partner will come my way.

#4 - I listened to Macklemore's Downtown as a break today.  It just made me smile.

#5 - I received an email from a friend about the difficult week she had last week and feeling alone and vulnerable.  I'm glad she felt safe and willing to share that with me.

Fairy Tale Hike

#1 - When I pulled up at my friend's house - her child was kneeling at the living room window waiting for me.  When I got inside he gave me this.

#2- The sweet man and I went for a short hike with his kids at a nature area.  I told them when we arrived that I often see wild turkeys here.  Sure enough we had barely begun and about 7 or 8 turkeys came barreling down the path - almost right at us - then went around us by 5 feet or so and continued on their way.  Only the last one in back kept a more respectable distance and went in the woods to avoid us.  I said that was the highly sensitive turkey.

#3 - The look on the youngest's face when her normal talkative self became silent and her jaw dropped as the turkeys trotted by.

#4 - When we got to a bridge we decide to act out The Billy Goat Gruff, then we did Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty, then Rumpelstilskin, Snow White, Cinderella, Jack and the Bean Stalk and Rapunzel.  Almost the whole 1.5-2 mile hike we were acting out fairy tales.  I have never done that before.  I can say that for certain.

#5 - Everyone including the sometimes selective eater - enjoyed the lentil, apple, carrot, sweet potato soup that I made for lunch.