tim: you know what I love best about us?
me: what?
tim: you!
me: you know what I love best about us?
tim: what?
me: me!
a list of good things
January 29, 2010 – 5:56 pm
When there are bad things going down in my life and in the world and there’s nothing I can do to control them, I try to make a list of my blessings. I’m going to be doing that here a little more often. It’s not hard to take a little bit of time to consider the little things.
- napping doggies
- a January day that smells like spring
- a pleasant store clerk who offers to help and calls you “hun”
- piles and piles of blankies and pillows
- a surprise cupcake
- a new notebook
- a good long cleansing cry
- new episodes of “Chuck”
- a patient friend
The thin line between what we can and can’t see
November 16, 2009 – 4:25 pm
It’s Monday and today has been going like many Mondays tend to go. A few nice things happened, but I’m overwhelmed with worry and stress about some business-related issues.
I was talking to mom about it this morning and frustratingly, what she had to say didn’t uplift me at all. I pray a lot, but rarely does it bring me comfort or answers. What I really wanted to hear her say was that she won the Powerball and was sending me some cash. 
When I hung up, I decided to run into Hobby Lobby to get inspired. I had no money to spend save for a few dollars in change rolling around the bottom of my purse. I found something on sale that I needed for one of my projects, so I went up to the register, hoping to have enough to pay for the item. And then I remembered a gift card in my wallet. I thought it had no money left on it, but it paid for my item and there’s still a balance.
Hound dog wearing a parka
And that is the thin line between what we can see and what we can’t see, said mom when I called her back to tell her she was right (I hate doing that!). In any given moment, everything can change in a split second. That nothing truly is hopeless…there is always a forgotten gift card in a hidden pocket in your purse. You just have to wait for it to be revealed to you.
Also, sometimes when you aren’t looking for any sort of sign, you see a hound dog, sitting in the passenger seat of the car parked in front of you. And the dog is wearing a parka. And you smile, take a photo with your phone and share it with your friends.
compassion for your fellow human beings
November 12, 2009 – 12:43 pm
Sometimes I get disheartened with our world when I see how rampant disrespect has become. Sometimes, it seems like compassion is a dirty word. It’s become worse lately with all of the layoffs and economic hardship that I’m seeing around me every day.
But this morning I saw a piece on the Today Show about a place in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania called The Clinic. This is a non-profit center where they only treat those who are uninsured. They ask that each patient pays what he or she can, even if it’s only a dollar. They rely on a huge number of volunteers. And, of course, donations.
Just knowing this place it out there put a smile on my face this morning and made me feel just a little bit better about the world.
jumping in piles of autumn leaves
October 26, 2009 – 9:36 pm
making leaf angels!
I wish I was a kid again. When you’re a kid, you don’t care if your clothes get dirty, or if the leaves are damp, or that twigs will get stuck in your socks. You just jump.
Jump.
WRWTW: Poi Dog Pondering
August 31, 2009 – 11:08 am
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A week ago Friday night, my husband and i went to see one of my top 3 favorite bands: Poi Dog Pondering. They were playing at a little bar in Denver called The Walnut Room. It was Tim’s first time seeing them live, but he’s really begun to like them from hearing me play them around the house.
I have been following the band since 1989 when I was the record department manager at Benjamin Books & Records in Ridgewood, NJ. My rep, Sandro, told me about this new release called Poi Dog Pondering. I usually bought 1 of everything that sounded good so we’d have a great selection. When it arrived in the store, the cover was so interesting, so I opened it to play. I ended up buying it for myself and playing it almost every day in the store. Every time I played it, someone bought it. That’s how happy and infectious Poi Dog is.
The last time I saw them was at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, over 5 years ago. I went alone. In fact, this may be the only band I would ever go and see alone. It seemed odd to me that I never knew anyone who liked them as much as I did, but that was ok, because as soon as they started playing, it didn’t matter that I came alone. I was part of a family when the music was playing.
The Walnut Room was not only sold out, but full of joy. Everybody was so happy to see Poi Dog. We got the core group of players (the stage sometimes has something like 15 people on it when they bring out the big guns) – Frank, Susan, Ted, EJ, Dag. There’s something very reassuring about seeing a band that’s been together over 20 years, even without big radio airplay and big corporate sponsorship. And they clearly love what they do — you can see it on their faces.
After the show, my husband went up to Frank and asked him to talk to me (I was sitting on a stool in the corner so I wasn’t standing on my fractured ankle for more than was necessary) and he DID! He seemed genuinely happy to say hi and listen to me babble about seeing them in the now-defunct Green Parrot in Neptune, NJ and how I asked him to sign my jeans. I was (and apparently still am) such a fangirl. I can’t wait till they come back to Colorado again.
Ok, now go listen to some of their music and tell me how happy it makes you.
rainbows
June 22, 2009 – 5:02 pm
The other night we were sitting down to dinner in the living room and I opened the windowshade to the most amazing rainbow I’ve ever seen. Obviously, it was more glorious than this, and my camera is awful at taking outdoor photos, but man, it was beautiful. And a few minutes later, it was gone. I’ve never seen a rainbow at dusk and it really moved me.
Find the joy in the moment, because the moments will pass all too quickly.
dachshunds
June 15, 2009 – 8:55 pm
It’s been a while since I did a doggie post, and I’m glad about that because I had to share. Today, I was driving through my neighborhood and I saw an elderly man (white hair, probably over 70) jogging a light jog down the street. Next to him was the cutest little dachshund with a green bandana, jogging along with him. No leash but that dog stayed right where he was supposed to be, at his master’s side. It had me laughing for a good mile after. I just wish I had my camera with me. Since I couldn’t record that image for you, I will share one of my favorite YouTube videos of a dachshund running around in a kiddie pool. enjoy!
Brian Andreas & storypeople.com
June 12, 2009 – 2:32 pm
I get this fun little email from storypeople.com every day and it makes me super happy. Here’s today’s story:
There are things you do because they feel right & they may make no sense & they may make no money & it may be the real reason we are here: to love each other & to eat each other’s cooking & say it was good.
You should definitely check out Brian’s work and his stories.
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