"Crossing the Miles" (as the Greeting Cards say)

Hello Again...

As you all know I'm celebrating a very special person's birthday today. Since I couldn't actually be with Journey on her birthday, I wanted to do something else.

So...here's my version of a Flat Stanley Birthday Party....

I hope you enjoy it, Journey (and other readers too)

Krispy Kreme donuts are one of the things I missed when I lived away. This chocolate-iced custard filled donut is one of the BEST of the Best. I didn't sing (people have a hard enough time facing morning without me adding torture to their lives) but I did make a wish when I blew out the candle. Journey, I wish for you a year of knowing how very special you are and hope that each day you'll feel loved and cherished!

I wish for you a year filled with peace and tranquility...
and I wish for you
a year

of fun...

My manager, Cory, staffed the table full of sweets to celebrate Journey's birthday! (It was one of the bake sales raising money for The American Heart Association).

Just like on Facebook, sometimes it's nice to get Birthday Wishes from people we don't know. This is my friend Adrienne. We went through training together and she's one of those people that is so outgoing you feel like you've known her forever!

Zack was also in my initial training class. Because we work the same shift, we've had a chance to get to know one another well and have become good friends. Good enough friends that I recruited him to create the birthday sign - a real gift since I recruited him at 8 a.m. and he's definitely NOT a morning person! LOL. Thanks for being a good sport, Zack.

Sometimes the things that we can do for one another aren't fun. For example, I feel like giving blood is one of the most important things I can do. Since they were having a blood drive at work today it seemed a good way to honor Journey too!

It didn't go as well as I would have liked - for the first time ever I had a negative reaction to giving blood. My BP dropped and I spent an hour in the clinic. I'm really tired now.
Even so, I'm really glad I did it!

And besides...even little party animals crash sometimes!Dandy & Daisy (along with Toby and Dolly) wanted to wish their "Aunt" Journey
a
Happy Birthday before heading off to bed!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you've enjoyed the Journey celebration.

And a very Happy Birthday to you - Old Same.

Souveniers

Hello again. It's very early morning here and I'm preparing to get ready for work but wanted to post a quick thought...

How many of us have traveled to far-away places and brought home a trinket to remind us of the trip? I know I always do that.

But several years ago I took a trip to attend a Simple Abundance workshop in Sedona, AZ. The Red Rocks of the area are spectacular and the energy of the vortex is powerful. I wanted to remember the trip always so I purchased some jewelry pieces and a few other things. What I couldn't have known at the time was that I also came home with a friendship that would be one of my greatest ever. Today I celebrate that friend, Journey's, birthday.

Journey, thank you for the inspiration, support, encouragement and kindness you offer to everyone around you. I'm grateful to know you, Old Same.

Please check back later for more....

Sharing...

I just wanted to post a link to my friend Lorin's blog: http://theveganasana.com/. You may recall that I wrote a bit about Lorin during Women's History Month because she's one of the women I admire so much.

If you are interested in yoga, meditation, vegan eating, animals or just life in general...you will surely enjoy Lorin's blog.

I'll be back with pictures and ramblings tomorrow.

Remembering

In 1998 Randy & I were living in Florida. We went to New Jersey for Thanksgiving and I begged (and nagged) to go to New York, because I had never been. On Friday morning (Black Friday, mind you) we drove to Jersey City and took a water taxi across to Manhattan. We arrived at a dock and I looked upwards to see two of the tallest and most amazing buildings I'd ever seen.

After a day spent fighting the crowds, we took the water taxi back. From Jersey City, I took this picture of the buildings where we had entered the city.

I fell in love with Manhattan that day - a love that has never faded or waivered! After moving there, I went as often as possible. On Friday, September 7, 2001 my friend Mavis and I went up for the day. I've often thought of two tourists we met from Atlanta. Two young women who were excited about all of their plans to see all of the landmarks over the next few days. I wonder where they were on 9/11. I hope they were safe.

Wabi Sabi

Hello again,

Anyone who has read my blog more than once will have knowledge of my darling friend, Journey. She has taught me so many things and is constantly bringing new concepts into my life. Journey loves Wabi Sabi and I'm only beginning to learn about this fascinating Japanese art of finding beauty in imperfection. Thank you, Old Same, for this awareness!

I was at my sister's one day and snapped a few pictures of her hydrangea bush because the color was so vastly different from mine. It was only when I got home and downloaded the pictures that I realized there was a large spider perched on the bloom. I realized then that I might not have thought it so gorgeous if I'd realized at the time that a spider (which I hate) was in the picture. It really gave me pause for thought! How many times had I passed up beauty because what I noticed was the object's imperfection?

Though the edges of some petals on this bloom have turned brown, I think those imperfections only enhance the beauty of this lavender hydrangea:

As I was considering the Wabi Sabi idea one of my oldest treasures came to mind, sending me to my cedar chest to find this odd looking stuffed animal, which holds a special place in my heart. He lives in my cedar chest now to protect him from the cats! He was a gift from my great-aunt on my first Christmas. When I was little I slept with him every night and just KNEW that he was the guardian of my dreams and my protection from nightmares and monsters. I called him my Teddy Bear. Even when I was a teenager he perched on my bed. When I was in high school my cousin pointed out that this was no bear, but rather a mouse. I had never noticed! Seriously! Like the Skin-horse in the Velveteen Rabbit, my teddy bear/mouse was so dearly loved that his fur was rubbed off. Over the years his blue eyes have faded, giving him a slightly scary look. It doesn't matter...when I look at him I feel only love!

The old saying "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder" holds very true for me. I've always loved Dolly's asymetrical markings but assumed I was just biased. Many other people have told me she is a beautiful cat so clearly my bias is not making me wrong :) But her beauty has taken on a different aspect how. My Dolly has cancer in her jaw. As you can see, Dolly's right cheek is now larger than her left. The cancer is clearly spreading. Her right eye is a bit smaller than her left now. In this picture she was reacting to being awakened by the flash of my camera so she appears a bit drowsy. But whatever her expression - to me, even in her imperfection, she is just perfect.

Thanks for stopping by to visit. I hope you find beauty in the imperfect world around you. I would love to hear from you!

Lessons in patience

Hello again, for those of you who know me, you'll understand that sometimes I have to be reminded that patience is a virtue. And even more often I have to be reminded that being virtous is something to which I aspire!

I've recently started keeping my camera in my purse. When the rewards for patience appear in a visual form, I try to capture them as reminders. I hope you will enjoy the evidence...

One night just as I was preparing to leave work I received a call. Since I hadn't yet logged off the phone system I was forced to take it. Of course the caller had no way of knowing that it was time for me to leave but I felt a bit put upon...why are they asking me these questions, don't they care that I want to go home? It only took me a few minutes to finish the call and get out of the office. When I left the building I was even more frustrated. It was clearly preparing to rain and I had to stop at the store to pick up cat food (don't EVER run out of cat food, it's dangerous). I decided to stop at a drug store rather than a big chain so that I could get in and out faster. The cashier was slower than I would like and...well, you get the picture. Finally I left and as I was pulling out of the parking lot I noticed

a full-arc rainbow. It was so beautiful that I pulled over and sat in my car to admire it. It occurred to me that if I had left at my usual time I would probably have gone into Walmart instead of Walgreens and I might have missed the rainbow entirely. As I watched it, time and hurrying to get home were completely dismissed. There's something magical about a rainbow, isn't there?

The next morning I went through a drive-through to grab breakfast. The line was long and I sat for several minutes without moving. That morning I felt only compassion for the person working the window. I could imagine how frustrated he or she must be and thought of the cranky customers he/she might be encountering (see there is a good thing about my job - I'm learning an entirely different kind of compassion). After I placed my order and waited to pull around I observed that the shrub by the curb was either being invaded by a foreign weed or had alot of new growth on it...

whichever the case...the contrast struck me as particularly pretty. Again, being forced to wait gave me a chance to observe nature's artwork!

These lessons serve to remind me to be more patient and more observant. They also teach me to be more like a cat... my cats can sit and stare at something for hours without feeling the need to rush on to their next task...

this morning the twins sat at the back door for ages watching the birds.

I hope you are finding moments that make you stop and enjoy your surroundings, beauty that takes your breath away, and lots of great people to share it all with. Thank you for stopping by to visit.

Just do one small thing...

Hi everyone, I've discovered that Scarlett's moto of "I'll worry about that tomorrow" is much easier for me to follow than is Nike's "Just Do It." So many things I put off until "tomorrow" when it would only take a few minutes to get them done.

Unfortunately blogging is one of the things that I intend to do more often but quickly fall into a writer's blog of sorts. My friend, Donna, just created a blog and has posted two interesting articles there (beyondblessedx3.blogspot.com). My friends Mindy (mindymilburn.wordpress.com) and Bonnie (http://bonniegunkel.wordpress.com) have created lovely photoblogs. With all of the of these fantastic blogs my friends are doing inspiration is certainly being tossed my way! If you don't believe me check out their work...

Are there things that you want to do but fail to keep up with? Or things you want to want to do? That's been a really big one in my life. I used to think I wanted to ski, scuba dive, ride a bike, quilt, etc. but when I actually tried them I realized I didn't LIKE them, I just wanted to like them. Does that make sense?

My goal is to create some routines for myself. Experts say to start towards goals by doing one small thing so I am going to start researching really good cameras and save my pennies for one - maybe someday I'll create awe-inspiring pictures like Mindy and Bonnie and so many other talented ladies I know.

I also want to someday do the three-day walk for cancer so I'll take that first step (pardon the pun) but investigating the registration fee and the 2011 schedule.

Even though I don't have any photographs for today's topic, I must share one of my kitties since it wouldn't be cat whiskers without a meow-graph.

Motto:

Life is short. When you see something you want - grab hold of it (with both paws if necessary)

Ahhh, the lessons I've learned from my "babies."

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you are having a wonderful summer, staying cool, and loving life.