Oh honeyyyyyy!!!!

The peak of the Geminid meteor shower is tonight and tomorrow night.

It's a clear sky--I snuck outside with a cuppa coffee to have a peek. Now, if it stays clear....that'd be immensely helpful.


Apparently I'm suppose to set my clock for midnight. Between then and dawn, it's suppose to be a spectacular show with upwards to 120 meteors an hour.

I'm good with the alarm setting. I even have a decent view from the patio!
k....there's a bit of snow that I have to contend with in order to FIND the patio, but I have the lawn chair and a great imagination.
I can pretend the snow is sand, plonk the chair in the midst of it, face it to the NE and have a look!!
At least I won't haffta worry about falling asleep under the stars and missing the show....unless hypothermia/frostbite makes ya loopy....
I'll take a blankie or two.

k....

It's right around -6F. I think I can do five minutes if'n I wrap up real warm in a couple blankies...and a coat.......with muttons and a scarf and a hat or ear muffs or both.
That's IF I can move with that much 'stuff' on me....which would be questionable.....but I think I can do it.
I oughta be able to see one of the ten that'll be happening during those five minutes, dontchathink--if my glasses don't fog over from all that cold and me trying to breathe under all that stuff.

And then I'll run really fast back into the house!
Yeah, well--I'll waddle...if I can still feel my feet....




WHADDAYA MEAN you'll duct tape me to the bed if I even think about it!!!!!!!!!

The goodnight kiss

*heavy sigh*

Well then....

Upsidedowninsideout'll happen.

I've done what I can to delay .......and deny.
I'm not sure what else I could have done....if anything.....



I just know it's about to implode.
And it feels like I'm gonna go with it......

I can hope, in these circumstances, that feelings don't turn to fact.

I'm fearful they already are.

TFTD

When I hear somebody sigh "Life is hard," I am always tempted to ask, compared to what?
--Sydney J. Harris

We've probably heard all the negative quotations about life. There was also probably a time when we believed them all. Based on the state of our lives at the time, it was probably no surprise that life was difficult and brutal.

Certainly there are many things in life that are harsh and cruel; we see such things in the paper every day. But there are some very wonderful things, too. It's just that we've been conditioned to believe the horrors instead of the wonders.

Today may have been a long, tiring, boring day. But that doesn't mean all days are long, tiring, and boring. There's much good in life that we can see if we let ourselves. We can get off our life-is-difficult soapbox and hear the humor, see the smiles, and feel the caring. Life may be difficult at times, but it is also quite fulfilling.

I need to feel that life is good. Today I will consider what event happened recently that I can feel good about.

Checkin' out his feets...

Well.....not 'zakly. But I'm thinking it's what Penfold Penguin woulda liked ya to believe.
Mmmmm......I'm thinking it was more like toe-touches and he got stuck, maybe.

Himself said it was the weight of the wet snow.

Hmmmmpf. Where's his sense of creativity?!
Weight of the wet snow......pffffffffffft!!!!

:-P

Yummmmmm

<-- Mel's pomegranate.

Now, granted it'd been some time since I'd had a pomegranate. The sister's mother-in-law has a tree and she taught me about 'em...'specially how to eat 'em. Useful information to retain! Either learn how to do it, or deal with purple stained fingers and hands.

Easy peasy--when you remember which end of the pomegranate to cut into.......which I did not. BUT--if you figure it's been a good 10 years since the sister's mother-in-law showed me AND you take into consideration if you start with the wrong end you CAN go back to do that over....it's all good!

One of us is walkin' around with very nice, normal lookin' hands (albeit a bit dry....which a little hand cream will fix up).

I'm thinkin' hand cream won't be fixin' the other ones'.

:-/

Today's Reminder from the Reading Fairy

Sometimes in life, things happen too fast. We barely solve one problem when two new problems surface. We're feeling great in the morning, but we're submerged in misery by nightfall.

Every day we face interruptions, delays, changes, and challenges. We face personality conflicts and disappointments. Often when we're feeling overwhelmed, we can't see the lessons in these experiences.

One simple concept can get us through the most stressful of times. It's called gratitude. We learn to say thank you for these problems and feelings. Thank you for the way things are. I don't like this experience, but thank you anyway.

Force gratitude until it becomes habitual. Gratitude helps us stop trying to control outcomes. It is the key that unlocks positive energy in our life. It is the alchemy that turns problems into blessings, and the unexpected into gifts.

Today, I will be grateful. I will start the process of turning today's pain into tomorrow's joy.

A moment of holiness

Rawrrr....and grrrrrrr.....and stuff.....

<-- this is the stupid quilt.

There's a reason it's sat in the closet for a chunk of time.
Mostly cuz I just plain don't like it.

And there's no salvaging it at this point. I added the stupid 2" squares to try to salvage it......table cloth for the holidays maybe....

Nope. Still don't like it.
But it's winter. There's a blizzard warning....laundry is going and there's ice covering everything with snow on the way.

Whaddaya gonna do....
I'm thinkin' add more 2" squares, slap it together and either tie it or quilt it.

Not so sure I wanna put more time into something I'm not gonna be pleased with.....but at this point it would seem there's going to be 'time'.

I don't like getting half way through and wrinkling my nose, trying to pull it together by doing more and still wrinkling my nose.
k....maybe some lacy stuff around the edge, slap on a backing and toss it on the table.
I still ain't gonna like it.

RAWR.

Fairy Dust

Fair play is primarily not blaming others for anything that is wrong with us.
--Eric Hoffer

Wreckage

On the hood of his car sat a bag, the empty bottle of wine was corked, the bag formed around the bottle.

He mentioned it casually this morning to me, chalking it up to a colleague that frequently passes by and leaves notes on the windows of the car.

I didn't think so....but he was gonna check it out.

And then he noticed the writing in the frost on the car's hood.....'You're a drunk'

Kids being stupid. Someone who'd had too much to drink....

I didn't this so...but he wanted to pass it off.

He was beyond livid when he rang this evening.
He'd never been treated so disrespectfully by his own child. He'd never have dreamed of treating his father as he was just treated.
Crying without pause, he told me did not understand.

I doubt he would.

He's refused to take a look at how his drinking affected his child. He wanted, instead, to focus on having not drank her entire life--how he'd cared for her when she broke a bone, how it'd been him and her forever.
She was 8 when she broke her leg. His drinking had progressively gone upsidedown in the past 6 years.
What do you think she's going to remember?
How can she not have hard feelings about blackouts that he doesn't recall, insane moments of reported hurtful remarks that he wanted to pass off as not being said? How can she not be angry about his lack of follow through during the ages she remembers?

Yes, she can say he drank her whole life--the prevalent memories are the more recent ones, ones which have been filled with broken promises, out of controlled drinking, blackout rages and increasingly alarming verbal threats which frightened the now 18 year old child. She didn't get to know him after he stopped drinking. She hasn't wanted to.
He's made no effort to resolve the conflict--he simply stopped drinking.

End of problem--she needed to 'get over it' cuz he's moved on.

Try as you might, you can't make someone do different to get different....even if you can share how it worked for you.
You can get pooh-poohed, dismissed and argued with.

Denial is a strong alliance when it's seemingly working in your favor.

It ceased working tonight.

She didn't put the bottle there--but she didn't take it off the hood when her boyfriend did.
Why would she. "It's the truth."

And no amount of reminding him of points where he's had the availability to do different would matter today, he's too messy to hear it.

We'll just hope he doesn't drink over it.

Bein' the one!!

Ain't a hard thing for me to do--given that I'm made as I am.

Yup--I'll be swimmin' my own direction.

I'm thinkin' I might even be 'happily' doin' that (much to a few folks' dismay).

Definitely the pin for the day!!

Chief

Today's Fairy Reminder

Go easy. You may have to push forward, but you don't have to push so hard. Go in gentleness, go in peace.

Do not be in so much of a hurry. At no day, no hour, no time are you required to do more than you can do in peace. Frantic behaviors and urgency are not the foundation for our new way of life.

Do not be in too much of a hurry to begin. Begin, but do not force the beginning if it is not time. Beginnings will arrive soon enough.

Enjoy and relish middles, the heart of the matter.

Do not be in too much of a hurry to finish. You may be almost done, but enjoy the final moments. Give yourself fully to those moments so that you may give and get all there is.

Let the pace flow naturally. Move forward. Start. Keep moving forward. Do it gently, though. Do it in peace. Cherish each moment.

Today, God, help me focus on a peaceful pace rather than a harried one. I will keep moving forward gently, not frantically. Help me let go of my need to be anxious, upset, and harried. Help me replace it with a need to be at peace and in harmony.

Drifted Dawning

Fairy Thought

Give to the world the best you have and the best will come back to you.
--Madeline Bridges

Sometimes we feel lazy or bored, and then we don't do our best work. Perhaps we are daydreaming instead of listening closely to what a friend is trying to tell us. When we are not really paying attention to our activities or the people around us, we'll likely miss out on something important because we do receive in equal measure what we give. And this truth works in every aspect of our lives.

The connection

"Hey....remember me? You saved my life."

She's an AlAnon.....LOL....what else could I expect! And it wasn't like I was gonna confuse that southern, Kentucky accent with a Canuk's forcryingoutloud!

That was the call the OTHER evening.
They're comin' out of the woodwork, I tell ya....

It must be the time of year.

I'll blame the holiday cards that I sent out.......finally......
But I think I know better.

Truth is, Lin saved my life.
She happened to cross paths with me during a time when I was isolated from the world, too sick to be anywhere but in the confines of my own home. Or in the hospital.

I couldn't go and do, but I could stay connected with people through other means. And WPIML told me I needed to stay connected....so I did.

Every morning I'd show up in this little 'chatroom'--just hangin' around, 'chatting' with people who were living the solution.
And every morning someone would come into the chatroom looking for a solution and I'd 'chat' with them, too.
Lin was one of 'em--she was on the brink of losing herself while her husband was lost in the throes of his alcoholism.

He didn't want help.

She just wanted someone to tell her how to fix him.
I could only talk my story--cuz you can only know what you know.
Somewhere in talking it morning after morning, she decided maybe she was her own problem.....and she walked into the rooms of AlAnon.

She and her husband celebrated their 40th year of marriage this year.
The Canuk who called--celebrated his 17th year of being clean and sober.

The gent in Beverly who emailed--celebrated his 15th year of sobriety.
The gal in Illinois--20 years.
The fella in Ohio-- 14 years.

The fella in Arizona--13 years.

The old fart in Minnesota--17 years.
The Aussie--15 years.

Those are the ones who've connected with me in just the past two days.
And yup, I've accused G-d of having a conspiracy deal goin' on here...they're all folks I connected with via this medium.
Interestingly enough they're also all people who claim I 'saved their life'.....and absolutely NONE of them will agree that it was their presence that saved mine.

I'm pretty sure the message is mine.

Go figure it's delivered at a time when I want to blow up every person who wants to be a 'cheerleader' for 'doing the right thing' even when you don't think you oughta haffta cuz you're crabby with how things are lookin' for YOU.

Ain't about me.

Even though it's all about ME.

I get it.

And I really am beyond graced......

Quilt Barn #9

Wednesdays' Whinings

It's cold.
Like a whopping 4 degrees......

And I'm crabby.

And the stupid reading fairies told me to 'get over it'.

FINE!!!!!

I'm STILL stealin' his coffee.
Just sayin'......

Today's Thought

Some of us have an insatiable desire to do something about every situation that occurs in our lives. We fret about this, we rush into that, and we push our confused minds to the edge of despair. Weary from our relentless struggling, we become short-tempered, highly critical, and completely irrational. Little things become big things. Everything in our lives becomes too much for us.

When this happens, we need to "Let Go" of our false pride and admit that we alone cannot understand or solve our present difficulties. Only when we have the humility to admit our limitations can we receive the help we need.