Knock Knock!
"who's there?"
Sherwood.
"Sherwood who?"
sure would like to be in the house.
Wendy is right! Everyone is tagging on Facebook about the 25 random things about yourself. I keep ignoring that but she double tagged on her blog so I have to...play!
1. Charlie and I were the only ones laughing at the comedy club.
2. My shoe box is almost full to the top with lids for an art project.
3. I'm the only one in Yoga class who can't do "chararunga!"
4. I see dead people.
5. Paying $l00 for a college book makes my nostrils flare.
6. I drive slow through the neighborhood on trash day.
7. Is my grandmother's favorite number.
8. My face is in a walmart ad in a magazine but nobody can see me.
9. Dad used to call me "Waldo".
10. There are four stray cats living in my backyard loving my chicken scraps.
11. If Bill wasn't so scared of birds, I would have two in a cage.
12. Strangers have told me giant secrets.
13. Love is the only way out of hell, keep walking.
14. Never say, "that's not for me" or you will soon be blogging and joining Facebook!
15. John Candy the comedian gives me "noogies" in my dreams.
16. There was a time when I decorated wedding cakes.
17. I understand Spanish so don't comment on my, yeah, thinking I'm Swedish.
18. My only brother and I fly together in dreams.
19. Meditation is the reason I don't jump or scream when my kids try to scare me on purpose.
20. Speaking of purpose, that is the best energy boost to create joy.
21. I have never ever pumped gas, ever.
22. Los Angeles scares me but my daughter is an actress.
23. I like to sweep the neighbor's sidewalk as a surprise.
24. I laugh when Steve walks over from the block over to tell me I missed a spot as he points
across the street.
25. Life is good thanks to my diverse groups of friendships.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Recycled Again
Death is a trouble maker and I hate when it comes to visit. It wrecks everyone's energy, causing fights to errupt and fear to grow. Plans are altered and our future has to be rewritten. It slept with me last night, whispering plans of its abduction like a sneaky snake that's waiting to bite. No matter how many people we lose, the pain is always fresh. Some books say we chose three different ways we will leave this world. The time I was in a gas station in Juarez, Mexico waiting for the car to be washed, all of a sudden the room got fuzzy and I was having trouble speaking. My mouth was sideways and I knew I was leaving but didn't understand how or why. I even managed a laugh in my thoughts about how I would never have guessed this would be my end. Thank God, my aunt saw what was happening and put a coke in my mouth. Like the flick of a light switch, I was back to normal! Do we get three chances and a head start with death?
It is comforting to read and listen to other people's stories about death. Annamaria Hemingway's book, "Practicing Conscious Living and Dying" is a great help with a collection of uplifting stories, showing death as an integral part of life. www.practicingconsciouslivinganddying.com
What comforts me most when waiting for a loved one's passing is the telling of dreams. My little Dylan dreamed about his great-great grandmother who he's never met. The night before, I was thinking of her and so was my sister but she chose to visit her little great-great grandson. He told us how she held his little sister and gave her rootbeer which would be something she did when she was alive! Although he's never seen her picture, his description of her was correct.
Like the tree that loses its leaves in the fall and regrows them in the spring, we too will be.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Name It and Claim It/Helene Hadsell
"And even the wind held its breath, wondering which direction the wish would land. No outside voices were allowed until the arrow hit its target, making all night fairies sing or cry, depending on the wish."Sandy J.
There is a law that states, what goes around, comes around and carries with it a warning, "be careful what you wish for". If you look at the things in your life, it will come as no surprise that chances are, you spoke it first. I had the pleasure of listening to Helene Hadsell speak on Conscious Living about this exact thing. She's the woman who has won every contest she's entered, even a house! www.thewinningsage.com/products/index_lpo?sr=1&prid=16894&gclid=CNTQlduvq5gCFQ6jagod4Oi4mQ
One of my favorite interviews so far, get her book and start naming and claiming your life! Wendy has booked her back for March 18th. www.talkshoe.com (Conscious Living)
How do you make it happen? Set a clear intention, speak the words and wait for the will of Heaven. I wish someone would have told me this back in the day. The day when an entire summer passed and I teased Paul who was going to be a freshman in high school that I was coming on enrollment day with no front teeth to embarrass him. The words had been spoken, set into motion and sure enough it happened! I broke my front tooth the day before enrollment. My dentist was booked and I had no choice but to pay for book fees without my tooth. I had tried to make a fake tooth with my clay but the nerve was exposed which made it painful to the touch. Ironically, I had also said how I wished my front side tooth was straight for a meeting with someone that month. It had gotten crooked because of wisdom teeth. Well, the dentist replaced the tooth, perfect and straight. Wish granted. Our words are like arrows and will hit their mark better if we name it and claim it without hesitation.
Monday, January 19, 2009
The Sting of Prejudice
Two summers ago, the little white house next to my parent's sold for $89,000. My dad did backward flips over that news and complained about the ridiculous economy. He could have bought the house for $5,000 in the late 70's but chose to take our family to Mexico instead. Dad has regretted that decision to this day because the only good neighbor that ever came from that house was Beverly. She ironed clothes in her tiny hot living room wearing a bra and shorts with giant boobs and drank iced tea from a blue plastic glass. Everything she cooked tasted delicious, and she always let us girls dance on the porch in the hot sun until our albums would warp from the heat. Her three daughters and I spent many summers together making fairy houses out of the over grown lilac bushes and playing dress up. I loved them and they loved me.
It wasn't long before Linda, the middle child started to point out our differences. She made fun of her older sister for being light and the baby sister for being so dark and looking like a "gorilla". I learned new words that summer. My sisters and I were "honky's". When I laughed, she grabbed me from the waist and slammed me to the ground. We were wearing long dresses and high heeled shoes, dressed so proper then Beverly came running out of the house screaming, "you ignorant, ignorant children! when will this kind of fighting ever stop? get in the house, go child, GO!" Then Linda called everyone a nigger and I watched while Beverly broke a switch from the tree and beat Linda in the legs.
We mended our fight, but the tension stayed. As we grew older, it seemed we could only play together as long as we stayed in the yard and not seen in public. One day, Beverly's husband was killed in a car accident while at work. The insurance money bought her family a new white car, new furniture, new lamps that she kept the plastic on and a new life away from us. I cried so hard when they moved and we have all since lost contact with each other.
Every time I visit my parents, I think of them when I see the little white house. My mother learned to sew from Beverly and we learned the sting of prejudice. I know things have changed since my father's times and even mine. I see it getting better with my children's generation and someday, my grandchildren will be color blind to their neighbors. We all belong to one God, under one sun. $89,000 for a little $5,000 house! What a change! Happy Martin Luther King day to all!
It wasn't long before Linda, the middle child started to point out our differences. She made fun of her older sister for being light and the baby sister for being so dark and looking like a "gorilla". I learned new words that summer. My sisters and I were "honky's". When I laughed, she grabbed me from the waist and slammed me to the ground. We were wearing long dresses and high heeled shoes, dressed so proper then Beverly came running out of the house screaming, "you ignorant, ignorant children! when will this kind of fighting ever stop? get in the house, go child, GO!" Then Linda called everyone a nigger and I watched while Beverly broke a switch from the tree and beat Linda in the legs.
We mended our fight, but the tension stayed. As we grew older, it seemed we could only play together as long as we stayed in the yard and not seen in public. One day, Beverly's husband was killed in a car accident while at work. The insurance money bought her family a new white car, new furniture, new lamps that she kept the plastic on and a new life away from us. I cried so hard when they moved and we have all since lost contact with each other.
Every time I visit my parents, I think of them when I see the little white house. My mother learned to sew from Beverly and we learned the sting of prejudice. I know things have changed since my father's times and even mine. I see it getting better with my children's generation and someday, my grandchildren will be color blind to their neighbors. We all belong to one God, under one sun. $89,000 for a little $5,000 house! What a change! Happy Martin Luther King day to all!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Second Semester
The wreath in the downstair's bathroom is the only thing leftover from the Christmas decorations. Sea shells and sticks covered in ice crystals, qualify its stay until February. The house feels a little naked now that the tree is gone along with furry stockings and garlands of greenery that covered windows. For somebody who complains about the work it takes to carry on this unpacking of accumulated Christmas stuff, I should be very happy that it's gone but the kitchen is haunted with sounds of December and it feels lonely. My college girl is back in her dorm room tonight or at least in the town anyway. We spent the day together eating cherry pie with cups of hot coffee and shopping her favorite thrift store like scavengers. She complained that the school had erased her files on the computer and made her restart everything. I couldn't help but notice how strong her confidence had become and how eager she was to return to her new friends. Last semester, I had to pull her off of me.
Driving into the town, I remembered the basketball game was being played with over 17,000 spectators. The traffic would be terrible and the car was filled to the brim. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, Gavin phoned that he'd be waiting by the front door with a cart so I wouldn't have to get out. I drove away right before the police barricaded the area! (yikes, the radio just started playing upstairs due to a power surge)
Ah, I breathe, the music is saying, "what a day, what a day, the wild child" and I'm reminded that this crazy old world really is perfect. January is the month to reflect. I won't make new year's resolutions. Instead, I plan to delete the bad, restart everything, build my confidence and enjoy second semester. Hopefully, in the end, I'll be graded on the curve.
Driving into the town, I remembered the basketball game was being played with over 17,000 spectators. The traffic would be terrible and the car was filled to the brim. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, Gavin phoned that he'd be waiting by the front door with a cart so I wouldn't have to get out. I drove away right before the police barricaded the area! (yikes, the radio just started playing upstairs due to a power surge)
Ah, I breathe, the music is saying, "what a day, what a day, the wild child" and I'm reminded that this crazy old world really is perfect. January is the month to reflect. I won't make new year's resolutions. Instead, I plan to delete the bad, restart everything, build my confidence and enjoy second semester. Hopefully, in the end, I'll be graded on the curve.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Bring in The Clowns! Matt Zo
The phone call that wakes a person up from sleep with bad news first thing in the morning sends a message to the brain that today's play will be a tragedy. The script was handed to me today and now I am a confused cast member. Someone I respect and love has terminal cancer, again. He's waved his white flag and thrown in the towel saying, "you can't win 'em all". Maybe the director in the sky could rewrite the story? Tell this leading man to eat greens, drink Kombucha, embrace love and release anger, but that would be selfish on my part. He must find his own way.
Scene one, act two and I find myself alone on the stage without an audience. Starring blankly into the darkness and trying to remember my next line, a guide whispers, "we will all face God alone. The journey is personal to ourselves, therefore, judge not."
I wasn't intending to be a part of the interview today on Conscious Living but Wendy had scheduled a very funny comedian named Matt Zo, the laughing guru. As coincidences arrive at the perfect time and synchronicity clears it's throat, something went wrong! Matt couldn't hear us speaking so he had to wing a thirty minute podcast...alone! We typed messages to help him along only to find he was perfectly capable of standing on the stage without the sound of laughter in the background. This would be death to a comedian, but not Matt. You can listen to his words of comic wisdom at http://www.talkshoe.com/ or go to his website. http://www.gurumatzo.com/
I love his disclaimer. "any purported wisdom, miracles, love or laughter that I might spread is purely by luck." Is it really luck? God bless the comedians that lighten our load for they are the ones who remind us that The show must go on!
Scene one, act two and I find myself alone on the stage without an audience. Starring blankly into the darkness and trying to remember my next line, a guide whispers, "we will all face God alone. The journey is personal to ourselves, therefore, judge not."
I wasn't intending to be a part of the interview today on Conscious Living but Wendy had scheduled a very funny comedian named Matt Zo, the laughing guru. As coincidences arrive at the perfect time and synchronicity clears it's throat, something went wrong! Matt couldn't hear us speaking so he had to wing a thirty minute podcast...alone! We typed messages to help him along only to find he was perfectly capable of standing on the stage without the sound of laughter in the background. This would be death to a comedian, but not Matt. You can listen to his words of comic wisdom at http://www.talkshoe.com/ or go to his website. http://www.gurumatzo.com/
I love his disclaimer. "any purported wisdom, miracles, love or laughter that I might spread is purely by luck." Is it really luck? God bless the comedians that lighten our load for they are the ones who remind us that The show must go on!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
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