Dear Self,
So, another year down. Where are we now... Married, still wondering what job you'll be doing and more firmly entrenched in the 35+ demographic. 30 was easy and at 35 you could still claim to be a part of the 18-35, pop-culture-dictating machine. At 36, however, you got thrust into that new demographic that says you no longer have any bearing on pop-culture. Shortly, you'll just stop marking what the actual number is and just enjoy the cake.
Did anyone tell you how wonderful you are today? How intelligent and beautiful you are? How grateful they were that you were born?...Did you believe them? (sheepish shrug, naaa, they had to say nice stuff ...its my birthday) Well you should! Never mind the nagging voices in your head telling you that the Saturday puzzle you did in under 15 minutes, is not a "New York Times" puzzle, and therefore, you are not smart. Never mind it when they tell you that the "personal silly putty" you carry around on your belly or the "jiggle in your wiggle" is overwhelmingly disgusting, and for pete's sake, for heaven's sake, for sanity's sake, never mind those silly "40 things to do before you're 40" lists.
Happy Birthday, I love you.
Love,
Your Other Self...(the one who got the pretty eyes)
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Happy Birthday!
Dear Blake,
13 years ago, yesterday, you were born at 8:02 in the evening, I wont gross you out with the details, but sadly, I didn't get to meet you, outside of my belly, until the next morning (as you know, we always take note of 10:30 am April 4th), but I already knew you. You were so active, prone to hiccups, and a very picky eater. Oh boy! You were tiny! You were a scrawny 4 pound, 18 inch tall, starving little bundle of baby. Most babies lose weight before they leave the hospital...not you, you did nothing but eat...and eat...and eat. Today, you stand, a huge, 5 foot 9 inch tall, young man, surprisingly only 3 inches more than last year, it feels like you grew 2 feet... and, you still do nothing but eat...and eat...and eat.
You have been, through the years, my buddy, my love, the one and only person in the world who lived it all with me ( my real life only began after you entered it). We have a connection that I never believed possible between two humans, I joked tonight that I would throw myself in front of a speeding train for you and I meant it...subsequently, you responded you would throw yourself in front of a speeding red jelly-bean for me, I appreciate your desire to protect my aging waistline.
You have an exceptional aptitude for silliness, a goofy sense of humor that is slowly maturing into a very intelligent wit. You excel in athletics and I have no doubt you will be a star in high school, you work as hard as you can to to be a team player. Your drive and ambition stem from the things that intrigue you, and only you, you will not be swayed to another's intrigues, if they do not meet your own. I pray you continue to do only what you believe, to feel only what moves you, to walk where you want to, to love as you want to. On that same note, you are almost too shy sometimes and need to learn to push yourself to experience life to the fullest.
My goodness, year number 13 is gonna be a biggie for you! Soon you start spring football at the high school, then going to high school, and ROTC. Yikes! Big changes coming up, learn to take it one challenge at a time, and know in your heart that you really are an incredibly intelligent, strong, charming young man that can make anything, anything at all of himself, with me standing by as your best cheerleader!
I love you baby, more than you could ever imagine!
13 years ago, yesterday, you were born at 8:02 in the evening, I wont gross you out with the details, but sadly, I didn't get to meet you, outside of my belly, until the next morning (as you know, we always take note of 10:30 am April 4th), but I already knew you. You were so active, prone to hiccups, and a very picky eater. Oh boy! You were tiny! You were a scrawny 4 pound, 18 inch tall, starving little bundle of baby. Most babies lose weight before they leave the hospital...not you, you did nothing but eat...and eat...and eat. Today, you stand, a huge, 5 foot 9 inch tall, young man, surprisingly only 3 inches more than last year, it feels like you grew 2 feet... and, you still do nothing but eat...and eat...and eat.
You have been, through the years, my buddy, my love, the one and only person in the world who lived it all with me ( my real life only began after you entered it). We have a connection that I never believed possible between two humans, I joked tonight that I would throw myself in front of a speeding train for you and I meant it...subsequently, you responded you would throw yourself in front of a speeding red jelly-bean for me, I appreciate your desire to protect my aging waistline.
You have an exceptional aptitude for silliness, a goofy sense of humor that is slowly maturing into a very intelligent wit. You excel in athletics and I have no doubt you will be a star in high school, you work as hard as you can to to be a team player. Your drive and ambition stem from the things that intrigue you, and only you, you will not be swayed to another's intrigues, if they do not meet your own. I pray you continue to do only what you believe, to feel only what moves you, to walk where you want to, to love as you want to. On that same note, you are almost too shy sometimes and need to learn to push yourself to experience life to the fullest.
My goodness, year number 13 is gonna be a biggie for you! Soon you start spring football at the high school, then going to high school, and ROTC. Yikes! Big changes coming up, learn to take it one challenge at a time, and know in your heart that you really are an incredibly intelligent, strong, charming young man that can make anything, anything at all of himself, with me standing by as your best cheerleader!
I love you baby, more than you could ever imagine!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Grace 4/365
I do not remember hearing the word consecutive mentioned in this challenge, so I'm gonna take "every day" and translate that to..." out of 365 random days in any given time period, do a Grace post for each of them". That said, how about getting on with today's...
*Short work days
*frozen homemade spaghetti sauce
*Rubik's cube
*The furminator (yes, it really works)
* weather so nice I needed to use said furminator on the wee fuzzies.
*Short work days
*frozen homemade spaghetti sauce
*Rubik's cube
*The furminator (yes, it really works)
* weather so nice I needed to use said furminator on the wee fuzzies.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Grace 3/365
* waking up on time even thoughI accidentally slept on the couch
* Watching movies at work
* Brita water
* peanut M&M's on sale BOGO
* getting to bed early
* Watching movies at work
* Brita water
* peanut M&M's on sale BOGO
* getting to bed early
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Grace 2/365
* Egg Mcmuffins
* Very silly almost 13 year old boys
* Deck chairs in the sunshine
* P-Dub's Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatos
* cozy slippers
* Very silly almost 13 year old boys
* Deck chairs in the sunshine
* P-Dub's Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatos
* cozy slippers
Monday, March 23, 2009
Grace 1/365
* Random Chips Ahoy delivery at work today...just because
* new neighbors
* The smell of a brush fire that is contained and poses no threat
* cuddly bathrobes
* fresh sheets on the bed
* new neighbors
* The smell of a brush fire that is contained and poses no threat
* cuddly bathrobes
* fresh sheets on the bed
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Tuesdays Child
Does everybody remember this nursery rhyme?
Mondays child is fair of face,
Tuesdays child is full of grace,
Wednesdays child is full of woe,
Thursdays child has far to go,
Fridays child is loving and giving,
Saturdays child works hard for his living,
And the child that is born on the Sabbath day is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.
I'm Tuesdays child, I think, somehow, I missed out on the grace part. Grace, either physical or spiritual, is not necessarily something that comes easy to me. Physical grace? My mastery of physical grace is laughable at best, that my house does not have a staircase, is a fact that strikes me as a graceful turn of events. I was raised in a home with a staircase and my managing to survive until adulthood is nothing short of miraculous. I shudder to think of how "graceful" I'd be if not for 10 or 12 years of dance classes. You know that teeny, weeny, tiny metal transition strip on many department store floors? Yeah? The one that's supposed to make the store safer? I've tripped over it...numerous times.
Grace is defined by Dictionary.com as
grace –noun
1. elegance or beauty of form, manner, motion, or action.
2. a pleasing or attractive quality or endowment.
3. favor or good will.
1. elegance or beauty of form, manner, motion, or action.
2. a pleasing or attractive quality or endowment.
3. favor or good will.
Physically, "graceful" may be beyond my grasp (I'll settle on making it through any given day unscarred) but "elegance or beauty of manner" may be within it. I was seeking definition to a quality, I have before, called "finding the silver lining", when I encountered schmutzie's blog and her project Grace in small things, this paragraph of her's said everything I had been struggling to put into words...
"The world we live in is loud and harsh and bright and demanding, and it is easy to slide into a less than thoughtful survival mode in which we do what we have to do to make it through the day with the least amount of strife possible. This robs us of the time and energy to be mindful of ourselves and those we love and to recognize the grace that exists in small things.Read more: "Schmutzie.com: Grace In Small Things: A Challenge For All Of Us" - http://www.schmutzie.com/2008/11/grace-in-small-things.html#ixzz0AWZvDkNa
I find myself all too easily slipping into the negative, to dwelling on the "not so good" parts of life, forgetting or not even noticing all the wonderful, perfectly lovely, little bits of life that help make it bearable. Not just making life bearable...making my life delightful to me.
The Grace in Small Things challenge is to post 5 positive things in your life every day, its a challenge that has intrigued me for some time now, a challenge that I need, a challenge that I gratefully accept (Thanks Schmutzie)
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