Definitely the pin for the day....

.....oy.....

I'd like to not worry anymore today.

I've spent time this morning trying to do prayer and meditation--and I keep getting sidetracked.....straight back to 'worry'.

Somethings get to be how they are. I don't have to like 'em. I don't always get to change them. Worry certainly won't change sick'em.

Focusing would be good. On here. NOW. Stop borrowing troubles and do what's in front of you...things will be what they will be.

I don't know how neurotic people deal with worry.
Drives me batty.....

k.....
Today.
THIS moment.
Whatever's in front of me.

Ready.
Set.
GO!

Thought for the Day

How much of your attitude is based on habit and how much is actually chosen? Is your response to any given situation based mostly on what you did a thousand times before?
Imagine for a moment that you could rise to a whole new level of living. Imagine that you could break free from your conditioned responses and live each moment as the unique opportunity that it is.

In your mind, step outside yourself and take a look at your thoughts from the perspective of an objective observer. Take note of all the times your attitude is nothing more than a habitual response.

Remind yourself that you do indeed have a choice. Your attitude is yours to determine.

When it's based on habit, your attitude can be easily manipulated by others, by those who do not have your best interest at heart. In contrast, when it's based on choice, your attitude can be a powerful force working in your favor.

In every situation, choose a positive, thoughtful response rather than a habitual reaction. It can quickly take your life to a whole new level.

QOTW

What's the last thing you ate?


Ohhh.....welllllllll.......
That would be the overdone chicken with tomatoes and onion and olives--cooked to extremely well done.......cuz Mel opted to visit with the friend from Ireland who's visiting the girl.....and Mel failed to tell he-who-does-the-cooking that visiting would happen....so he-who-does-the-cooking made it ready to go for when the bug was returned and not when the bug was returned and the visiting was done.....

Oops.

This would be why the both of us struggled through bits of it, stared at each other and went "nahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......".
And this would be why the both of us struggled with tummy aches last night.
And why neither of us is feeling all that grand this morning.

Mel's need to not feel bad.
Himself's need to help me not feel bad.....

So we both feel bad for different reasons.....LOL

Gawd.
Ah well..at least neither of us have to be concerned that it's salmanellea?

Today's Fairy Reading

It is useful and prudent to anticipate and prepare for the problems that may come your way.
Yet it is far better to do so from a position of strength rather than mired in the helplessness of worry.
Look confidently forward and know that you can deal with whatever may come.

Breakfast anyone?

No--placemat instead, thanks.

And tablecloth..cuz.....

No worries--she did get fresh fruit and an english muffin.....and then happily munched away at Cookie Crunch Cereal (post-breakfast).... And then I returned her to her mama.

*laughing!!!!!*

Fairy Reading for Today

We meet the fact that we are powerless to change some aspects of ourselves.
But we can become ready to be changed.
That makes all the difference.
When we accept this truth, we are already changed and we are more in line with nature and the universe.

We can't make ourselves less perfectionistic, but we can become ready to let go of our demand for perfection.
We can't force family harmony into our lives, but we can become more ready to be harmonious.
We can't make a lasting love appear for us on command - we can become ready for such a relationship when the opportunities appear.

Do we yearn for some change?
How might we ready ourselves to receive it?

New Day, New Text

Wanna cranky, fussy baby tomorrow? You could bring her back Sunday after your meeting. She'd love to go to your meeting. She'd love to see Nana and granddad. I'D love for her to see Nana and granddad!

I'm gonna go pick up the cranky fussy baby this morning and we're gonna play. LOTS.

Oh, the hard work us Nana's do.....

I let the granddad know and out came the vacuum cleaner.

I'm okay with that....LOL

Betcha the whole house'll be rearranged when Nana gets back with the bug. And the new toys that were stuck away for her birthday--will be out for the playing. (yeah yeah....more new toys will happen...LOL)

AND--(darnitall) I'll be too busy to do the taxes.... LOL

Thought for the Day

We can be present, now. We can make ourselves available to this moment, this day.

It is by being fully present now that we reach the fullness of tomorrow.
All you have is now.

It is enough.

Today, I will affirm that all is well around me, when all is well within.

Late night text

FYI--the boy and his girlfriend are getting married at the courthouse tomorrow. Insurance issues I guess. They'll do a wedding thing still this/next year.



That was the text from the girl. It was there for me bright and early this morning.
She's the one who brings me the information and plops it in my lap.
I knew the boy had asked the girlfriend--and that a wedding would be in the works.
The girl passed that on after she got the news.


And now.....guessing from the clock--married......

And sitting in my vision....presents for two small twin boys, the boy and the girlfriend from the Holiday past, undelivered.
The girl will deliver them when she goes next. Could be soon....could be a while. They visit infrequently, but they do visit.

I don't.
I haven't.
We crossed paths at the baby shower for the girl last year.
We've not crossed paths again.

I hear tell we may cross paths for the bug's 1st year birthday doings.

He'll be married.....

TFTD

You are not a victim of circumstance.
You are a beneficiary of possibility.

QOTW 3/4/10

Do you fight fair?
Do you stay calm and collected, sticking to the main situation or do you tend to get emotional and the words just fly??

Yes. LOL


I was told yesterday that I don't have to get emotional and let the words fly, that people can bring things to me and do.....

....but.....

Apparently it's how I hold my hands and lean in a bit. It's in my calm delivery, in the focus and it's in the deliberate-ness in which I speak. Folks who are around me know 'inside ME' there's passion in what's being said. Not necessarily 'anger'--but a passionate bottom line belief/knowing in what's 'right' that's inarguable and unmovable. Or so I was told... That doesn't mean that I have to 'be right'. Sometimes I'm the one who has to go back to to do different cuz what I'm doing/did doesn't/didn't speak loudly to what I'm so passionate about in the first place.

Yup--I've been known to just let the words fly.
Oh boy am I known to be a quick response....

In all seriousness......'emotional' or 'reactive'--I'm rarely either of those, unless I'm trying to look emotional and reactive. It's not common for me to 'let' someone solicit an unbridled, uncontrolled emotional response. I've spent a whole lotta time disciplining myself to let that happen. I've spent so much time in the disciplines that it's become habit--my nature...
Sometimes, looking emotional and reactive isn't a bad plan--especially if I'm helping someone recognize this is how your choices emotionally effect people who care about you.

Yes, I'm a very controlled person and yes, I'm very manipulative..LOL I know how to 'let it rip' when it's of service to 'let it rip'.

But inside of ME there's a 'knowing' (not just a 'belief'). I'm accountable to act on that belief/'knowing'. And I'm passionate about that 'knowing'.

But I don't have to 'fight'.
And I don't have to concede to anything but that bottom line 'belief/knowing'.

Maybe that's why it's hard to walk away from me with a sense of 'losing to Mel', or so I was told......

"People don't lose to YOU--they have to look at how what they're doing speaks to what's 'right'. And losing to 'what's right' is always a winning thing."

**I'll note that they didn't say it was always a 'comfortable' thing--cuz I'da had to call 'em a liar....

Fairy Dust

Enjoy doing nothing, and you can enjoy doing anything.
Enjoy having nothing, and you can enjoy whatever you have.

Techniques/ideas for tax evasion:

1. Go visiting weblogs! Much more funner!!!


2. Misplace your pencil. (k.....mighta hid it so it wasn't found by he-who-endorses-me-getting-the-taxes-done.....)


3. Talk about the stupid meeting with the stupid luncheon buffet that was chalked full of stupid contaminated gluten abundant food....try to solicit sympathy and a good snack!


4. Ask about he-who-endorses-me-getting-the-taxes-done's day and insist that you really weren't listening the first two times you asked......yeah, well--wasn't a good technique but it was tried!


5. Sing! Works 'specially good if it's the Llama Song!!! Just sayin'.....


6. Take a quiz about your 'aura'. In case you're interested in using the distraction--go here! Go figure I'm primarily green. *snickering*.......k......


7. Follow he-who-endorses-me-getting-the-taxes-done around and comment on how shaggy his (bit of...) hair is looking--offer a haircut! (don't laugh--it worked!)


8. Threaten to pull what's left of he-who-endorses-me-getting-the-taxes-done's hair out if he even THINKS about bringing up taxes again! (k......that didn't work so well--but it's worth mentioning as an attempt!......besides.....dunno that I could get a good pull on what little bit of the short hairs are left.....LOLOL)


9. Sigh. A LOT!


10. Visit more weblogs--


11. Lament the time and note that doing taxes would interfere with that last cuppa coffee for the evening.


12. Sing the Llama Song again....cuz it worked once before.... Hey--if you find something that works.....go with it!


13. Bath! With bubbles and duckies, of course.


14. Jammies...afterall--gosh, look at the time!


15. Ask he-who-endorses-me-getting-the-taxes-done if'n he wants to hear the Llama Song again......

Ohhhhhhh....here's a llama, there's a llama and another little llama, fuzzy llama, funny llama, llama, llama, DUCK!

Quack quack waddle waddle, quack quack waddle waddle........

Today's Thought

We are seldom aware of the gravity of a particular choice at the time of making it.

Only hindsight reveals the wisdom of an important choice.
Nevertheless, no choice is without importance in the overall picture of our lives.
And at the same time, no choice is all-powerful regarding our destiny.
We are offered chances again and again for making the right choices, the ones that will most contribute to the bigger plan for our lives.

I need not worry about today's opportunities for decision-making.
I will listen to those around me.
I will seek guidance in the messages coming to me.
I will make the choices I need to, today.

Things that make me happy

....freshly made snowmens! :-)

....the prospect of evening BRINGING out the patio swing.

....the new red sweater I snagged for $8!

....being caught up on paperwork I was behind on. *disclaimer on the taxes....LOL

....the neighbors wee little furry puppy with the big furry feets.

....Coke. Amazingly, it's settling my tummy some.

....budget meetings. (k.....that's a lie.....)

....LACK of budget meetings. (that's truth!) LOL

Thought for the Day

We need to know our feelings are private.
We reveal them at our choosing, with whom we choose.
We give up on mind reading or probing because it intrudes upon another's privacy.
We actively engage in our relationships by sharing ourselves and listening to each other.

A secret that makes a relationship dishonest is destructive and ought to be told.
But we cannot force another person to be honest, or pry the truth from a loved one.
We can only be honest ourselves and guard our own right to privacy.
Intimacy is the bridge, which is built between two separate people.
Only when we let others have their privacy and we take ours can our relationships be more intimate.

I will maintain the boundaries of my privacy today and respect the right of others to do the same.

Sleeping with Bread

I grew impatient.
I quit listening.
I got 'self' indulgent.....
And then I gave myself permission and I let it fly out of my mouth...


"Come back to me when you've done the battle off and on for near 20 years--THEN you'll have whining rights......"

(No one was going to confuse me with a compassionate person......) *sigh*

"You're stronger than I am. You have more willpower."

Oh contraire'.....
Okay, okay--the second one might be true--I do a whole LOT of self will run riot. (As evidenced by shooting off my mouth....a second time......)

"I have nothin' in me that's not in you--you just haven't tapped into it yet. Oh. And for the record--I don't believe G-d's giving you or me the shaft in all this. I believe it's by His grace and His angels that I'm here. Crappy stuff happens.....IT JUST HAPPENS."

Yaknow....I get to hear myself say things ALL THE TIME.
Sometimes--I actually pay attention...
Sometimes I actually stop, laugh....and know that what I'm saying--is true....for me too.

And sometimes, I wanna shoot the messenger.....especially when it's ME.
But the humility (apparently) is good for me.
It must be--I mean, when it happens time and time and time again that oughta be my clue, huh?


I can walk humbly under the grace of G-d now.

The examen, based on the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, helps a person hold onto what spiritually nourishes him by looking at what is giving him consolation in his life or causing him desolation. It allows someone to express his gratitude to God for the good stuff and turn to him for solace for the bad stuff. It is quite simple. You simply ask yourself, in the last day/week/month what gave me consolation and what caused me desolation.

Eat the keys, hug the bunny....

Can ya tell she's not up to snuff?

At least one of us got to hug the bunny....
(slippers...LOL.....on the girls feets...poor bug.....)

Fairy Thought

Healthy pride about our greatest victories always comes with the awareness that we did not do it all by ourselves. We had the aid, advice, and encouragement of loved ones.

In all things that really count, we never walk alone.