Whadda face....

How could you not wanna take him home with ya......

Thought for today

There's really only one way to achieve self-respect and that is to act respectably.

We can't go back and undo our past.

But we can act and behave respectably today, so that when we close our eyes tonight to go to sleep, we can say we have respected ourselves, today.

Alligators.....

Himself is going away for the weekend.

Well, that's not accurate.

He's going away Saturday and Sunday.

It's an overnight doings--as in out of state.

He'll be going away, spending time with his 'mates'. *rolling eyes*

MATES--as in BUDDIES....just needed to remind myself......

Anyway--I'm not joining them.
It was planned at a time when I was arse deep in alligators doing the budget. And I was pretty convinced that I'd be at home doing the budget STILL.

BUT!! Yippee!!!! The stupid budget passed!!!!!

However-- I'll be buried with other alligators.
See, the 'normal' stuff doesn't STOP while you're dealing with alligators, does it.
IT just keeps happening no matter what else life tosses attcha, huh?!

So......it'll be a solo weekend--something I haven't really had in years.

YEARS.
Or is my memory faulty.....(that could be.......)

I'll be making stuff up as I go, no doubt.
No real plans, though maybe I oughta make some. Elsewise I'll be spending my time with the alligators.

Alligators are okay.

They give you reason to still be in jammies at two in the afternoon.......

I was thinkin' I'd rearrange a couple rooms in the house.

Yaknow--as in move stuff around.

As in swap.

As in 'trade places'.

Change is GOOD, right?

THAT'D make him nutz.......

*chuckling*

Today's Thought.....

When a person you care about is in trouble, you can reach out to support his or her healing, but past a certain point you can do no more.

No matter how much you love, you cannot carry another person's burdens.

What can you do when someone you love is in pain?

First, affirm that there is a purpose behind the experience.

Know that the soul has some important lesson to learn that will be of great value to him or her.

Second, although you cannot directly intervene, your positive thoughts and prayers do make a difference.

Oh, I remember.....

Oddly enough, this morning the laptop wouldn't recognize the wireless despite my attempts to 'reintroduce' them multiple times.
Oddly enough...they decided to quit shaking hands with each other..

And yup.....you can bet I mumbled my way through my morning NOT LIKING the interference with my routine.

Gratefully--the silly laptop decided to work this evening.

I remember typewriters well.

I still own one.
Admittedly, it's a self correcting electric one....

Admittedly, it doesn't talk back to me.

I think I like my laptop more....

TFTD

Every event promises greater joy when experienced with a spirit laced with love.

We are transformed by love.

Love heals us and bonds us and promises us a life filled with moments of magic.

Things that really, really, REALLY make me happy

Yup, I know it's late....headed towards midnight and I gotta be up bright and early for a meeting with the school board in the morning.

And don't think I'm not weary--because I am.
Oh BOY am I weary.....

But I'm BEYOND happy!!!!

So--

Things that really, really, really, REALLY make me happy:

....being able to announce:

MY BUDGET PASSED!!
MY BUDGET PASSED!!!

MY BUDGET PASSED!!!!!!!!!

Bring on the paper shredder!

Pom poms for everyone!
(It's only the 'first round'.....but I'm ALL about the celebration!!)

:-)

Wooooooohooooooooo!!!! Go ME!!!

Things that make me happy

....Nurse Mary--who can suck blood outta me easy peasy!

....watching other people cook. *snicker*

....the feel of a new book.

....ducky ice cuby thingies peeking at me from the freezer just WAITIN' for the suntea......bring ON the suntea!!!

...fresh, (almost!) spring air from an open window.

....puddles!

....GOOD pictures to colour.....yaknow, the ones with lotsa spaces to fill in with brand new twistable, vibrant coloured, coloured pencils.

....did I mention I have a brand spankin' new bubble gun that makes a bazillion bubbles when you pull the trigger?

:-)

The Rawr Fairy ;-)

After we accept our anger we strive to develop a space between the feeling and our actions.
We learn to notice our feelings before they reach the explosion point.
In that mental space we choose how to respectfully express them.

QOTW 3/9/09

If you could have something--anything you want right now....what would that something be?


Honestly?
Budget saavy.

Of all the things I hate--it's 'looking dumb'.
And I KNOW I look dumb when it comes to using the Excel program and doing the stupid budget.

I clarified that for the boss who sent me an email:

How do you feel about others when they look dumb?
If you were to never look dumb, all those around you would feel dumb…compared to you.
You want everyone else to feel dumb?

Besides, I wouldn't say it's dumb. I’d say it’s more like…”temporarily uninformed”

k..... I think he confused me for a neurotic person.......so I called him.
And I clarified that I didn't mind if everyone around me felt dumb compared to me.
I minded if *I* felt dumb!

*smiling smuggly*

I thought that was a good response--until he told me he didn't find that AT ALL credible.

FINE!!!!
But I STILL don't like feeling dumb....

And I'd like the 'anything you want right NOW' fairy to come gift me with the ability to DO a budget and put it on the spreadsheet, easy peasy! RIGHT NOW would be good!

*sigh*

And this is only round one?!

Oy......

C'mere little 'anything you want right NOW' fairy!!!!!!!

TFTD

We act out in detail the role we've assigned ourselves in this world.

That role, our self-image, works like a key that either fits or doesn't fit a world full of locked doors.

Different keys open different doors.

And some doors lead to 'not fun' places, as we all know.
It isn't easy to change keys, but it is infinitely worth it.
One reason is that we always pass our self-image on to our children; they know us too well to be fooled.
If we want our children to walk tall, laugh happily, and sing joyously - we ourselves must do these things for them to see.

Today, I pray for the courage to challenge my tendency to discount myself.

Sleeping with Bread

This week's nournishment for the soul:

• The Peanut's colouring book and Crayola twistable coloured pencils....AND the bubble gun! As strange as this might sound-- The Big Guy knows very well that I need play time. I unwind. It reminds me of how small things truly are and puts things back into perspective.
  Perspective is something I have a habit of tossing out the window when I get too many irons in the fire. Play is something that demands I go retrieve what I just tossed out. LOL Yup, me and my habit of letting go of things that I need to hold on to and holding on to things I need to let go of! Oy.....
  
  
• Music for the week....on the road, in the house--when I've needed a loving reminder about what's what.... Oddly enough music and songs of worship nournish me well (I guess that's not really odd, huh?) :
  
  This is the air I breathe.
  This is the air I breathe.
  Your holy presense living in me.
  This is my daily bread.
  This is my daily bread.
  Your very word, spoken to me.
  And I...I'm desperate for you.
  And I...I'm lost without you...
  
  
• That quiet time between wakening and end of that first pot of coffee (The Big Guy tolerates me without caffeine.....one of the few who can....LOL). Quiet, open-handed, listening time. I talk.......and I listen.
  Oh, the things that I get to hear......
  
  
• My meeting on Sunday. Not only do they have THE bestest breakfast on the face of the planet (those folks can really cook!!), they have some of the most spiritually centered folks I could wish to rub elbows with. And this week, WPIML accompanied me. Not WPIML #1 who lives in Minnesota, not WPIML #2 who moved wayyyy south over a year ago (I have him trained to email and ring me....LOL) --yaknow, WPIML #2 who left me with the task of locating a local WPIML since I now have two who are long distances from me.....
  But-----
  
  
• ---WPIML #3 who decided I was too big of a pain in the arse to pass off to anyone else. *laughing*
  He's a good fella. He's someone I can rely on to tell me which side is up......who'll just put it out there and say what he sees. (In other words, I don't scare him too bad.) I actually think he's even gonna LIKE me.......eventually.....sometime, maybe if I'm lucky? There's always hope! ;-)
  He's paused and asked The Big Guy to help him out a couple times when he was talkin' with me today....... That's a good sign, dontcha think? :-)
  He's a good ol' boy....and he talks like the other two WPsIML who've been in my life forEVER.
  And did I mention just sitting next to him at meetings gives me heart warmth?
  He wears his spirituality well--from the inside it radiates outwards.
  He said 'no' a couple months earlier when I asked him to be the WPIML.
  Soooooo.... whining is sometimes effective!!!
  HA!!!!
  *laughing, laughing, laughing!!!!!!*
  
  
• Looking to see where G-d is present. Cuz BOY howdy can I get focused on where I don't see Him at work.
  (Yes, I'm frequently WRONG about that one....WPIML reminded me of that, today)
  (Yep, I let go of things I need to hold on to and hold on to things I need to let go of. A LOT!)
  
  
• The walk through the park, in quiet...in peace....the promise of spring peeking out between bits of leftover snow....... (See! G-d present and accounted for!)
  
  
• Time with Dr. Neo-Nazi.
  Honestly--we've been 18 years together......doing whatever's been dropped in front of us, believing, hoping and conspiring to beat odds that no one should ever expect TO beat.
  Regardless of tests, regardless of waiting for tests....regardless of how we came to cross paths, his presence is comforting and reassuring and a reminder of how graced I am to have what I have and to be where I AM, today.
  
  
• Cups of coffee delivered.
  Pats on the head.
  Cuddles when I've asked and when I haven't.
  Dinners cooked and delivered--sometimes far away from the table as I'm cranking out work that's behind or near due.
  Shoes being picked up without question (I'm a shoe dropper....LOL......where I land, so do the shoes!), wadded up papers with numbers scratched out finding their way to the trash.....toys mysteriously finding the toybox.....
  I'm loved.
  
  I'm a well nourished gal this week.
  All the way around--no two ways about it!
  
  
  And!!! AND!!!!!!
  
  I have a brand new bubble gun!
  
  
  :-)
  
  

Bit of a Fairy Reminder

Our main choice is not what we will change, but how we will respond when it does.

OH!!! OHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got a PREZZIE for all the hard work I'm doing!!!

:-)


k........




*putting the other 'stuff' to the side*

(not 'away' mind ya.....just to the side......)

Watchoutworld!!!!!!

:-)

<-- armed and dangerous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(yeahyeahyeah.....bubbles FIRST......colours later!!!)

.......hmmmmmmm............

Right......it's now 2:53 in the afternoon and I've been at this revenue 'stuff' since 6:30 this morning.

O
M
G
!!!

You'd think they'd give you the right rate schedule, wouldn't ya?
Nah.
WHY give you a right rate schedule when they can send out a wrong one?!
It adds to the experience, dontchaknow!!!

And, pray tell..... when, did I note the error?!
........Yeah.......
Don't ask.

Oy........

Yaknow...... I'm thinkin' there's something very, very wrong with still being in your jammies at 2:53 in the afternoon.

And himself is gone.....
Where'd he go, you ask?!

Heck if I know?

I'm sure he told me......

Lunch?
Oh. LUNCH!!!!!!

k....first things first.
Step away from the budget thingies!!!!!
Make coffee! (well, HELLO......ya didn't think anything would happen before that did ya?!)
It's been hours since I've had coffee.
I think.......

k.....
Find clothes while it brews.....

Consider lunch.

Take a break!
Yup.
TAKE a break!!


Find funner stuff to play with........

Like that's a hard thing to do......

*laughing laughing laughing*

Through the window

TFTD

Having and setting healthy limits - healthy boundaries - isn't a tidy process.

We can give ourselves permission to experiment, to make mistakes, to learn, to grow.

We can talk to people, ask questions, and question ourselves.

If there's something we need to do or learn, it will become apparent.

Lessons don't go away.

If we're not taking care of ourselves enough, well see that.

If we are being too controlling, we'll grow to understand that too.

Things will work out.

I suck at math.....

I suck at math.
I suck at math.
I SUCK at math.
I suck at MATH.

Rawr.

The good news is the spreadsheets do the adding for you.
The bad news is--I transpose numbers all the time.
And I mean ALL the time!

So what's that old saying again?

"Garbage in, garbage out"?

Yup.
That's the one!
*laughing*

I took care of the expense side of the budget--no problem.

Revenue side?


.....ummmm..........
PROBLEM!!!

k....... Sooooooooooooo.......
Rest when weary!


Right.
I'm closing Excel and stepping AWAY from the computer!
Yeah, yeah..........I'm closing Excel and stepping away from .......Excel.

*waves*

Excel goes bye-bye!

*click*

:-)

k.....





<-- will now go visiting!

Woooooohoooooo!!!!

MUCH more fun, thanksmuchly!

.....................*sigh*................

Where'd I put that spring........

When you toss the notes and do whatcha wanna do instead of whatcha need to do.....

"I'm taking a Statistics class.....will you help me if I get stuck?"

That one I answered with a 'yes'.

Now, the ones I ignored were:

"If the kids bombard Mel, rescue her and point her back in the direction of the computer."

"Remember what we talked in Team--Budget time!!!.....SAVE HER from the children."

And my all time favorite:

"MAKE HER GO TO THE OFFICE."



Yeah, yeah, yeah.....them and what army?!
(That one I crumpled and tossed back at the poor gal who brought it to me......)
(G-d bless the new supervisor I hired who really thought she was being helpful....LOL I'da thought she KNEW better!)

If they want to 'save me' from anything, it oughta be from the evils of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets!


The kiddos--are the least of my troubles.
I mean, at least with them I KNOW which buttons to push and which to leave alone?