Baciami Ancora

Love this song!

Sung by Lorenzo Jovanotti

My Kind of Shopping

My family has a Thanksgiving tradition--the day after our big feast we go shopping. No Black Friday sales here. I, and fortunately the rest of my family, am not too fond of getting up ridiculously early to fight other crazy people in order to get the store sales I can get from the comfort of my own computer chair. No, this type of shopping does not involve sales or fighting traffic. Instead we drive out into the middle of nowhere, take a bumpy ride on top of some hay bales and make our selection in the fields.

We picked out our 2010 Christmas tree.

This has been our fifth year getting a real tree. Despite the trouble (read: lots of pine needles on the floor) and potential fire hazards, we keep going back for more. We name our tree every year and unfortunately I can't recite every past name, though the Hershey Kiss one was quite memorable.

This year we've named ours Larry Bob.

Very apropos or just random? Let me add my niece and nephew named him. I named our tree Angelina one year, which seems more seasonal to me, but then what do I know? I'm just a boring grown up.

We made our selection quickly. Even though the sky was a perfectly clear, painfully bright blue, it was fairly chilly. I was bundled in a sweatshirt, fashionably scruffy scarf, jacket, windbreaker, thick gloves and stocking cap. I also made my sister wear earmuffs, despite her protests (I put them on her when her hands were occupied with the nephew). When you have big ears like me, you become highly conscious of the cold breeze whipping around your head.

After our quick hayride back to the store in the Steeler wagon, they shook out our tree to loosen any pine needles or stray animals. What they neglected to loosen were two birds nests we found while stringing up the lights. I pulled them out, praying there were no dead bodies in them. It occurred to me only later that maybe having the nests in there would have added to the authenticity of our real tree.

We finished trimming the tree late that night (Our trimming did not involve scissors of any sort. I'm not certain I understand that word in relation to Larry Bob). With the tree ablaze, we followed another tradition: turn off all the lights and watch our handiwork blinking in the darkness with Christmas carols playing in the background.

Back at the Ranch

I am cow number 2!!

I had this revelation a few days ago and it has stuck with me. I realize how random it sounds and it probably makes no sense if you haven't read my blog  "What I learned from a cow". As a refresher, Cow #2 is the one that runs over anyone and everything, including her friend Bessie who is blocking her way, to get what she wants.

That analogy has really been nettling me because I'm not beating people down to get to my freedom (at least I don't think so). I've not run any of my friends over in my haste to get out of a situation...right? And then it hit me: the question isn't "have I run over people to get to my freedom?" It's "what I have I given up or trampled on in my impatience to get to what I want?" Maybe what I want is a certain place, my vision of where I think I should be right now.

Personally, I think my biggest problem is my impatience to feel the euphoria of love, of being wanted. I get a glimpse of the possibility of a relationship and there I go, Cow #2, antsy with the fear of being left behind. I step all over God and my convictions just to get the brief rapture of instant gratification.

By the time they got Cow #2 out of the chute, Bessie was laying on the ground, looking significantly flatter than before. I was terrified she'd been crushed enough to have broken something. The worst part was, Cow #2 hadn't escaped her fate - They still had to round her up and put her back through the chute anyway. All her crazed tearing  had been for nothing.

I'm tired of being Cow #2. I've caught a flash of me in her and it isn't pretty.

The Night Sky

For those of you who didn't know, Sunday's full moon was blue.

The most widely accepted version of a blue moon is two full moons in one month. But the earlier concept of it was different:

"When four blue moons occur in a season, the third one is considered a blue moon. Because most seasons only bring three full moons, this rarity is celebrated. The fourth full moon of autumn will occur on December 21." (taken from http://www.myfoxboston.com/ If you want the full article, click on the link at the end of my blog.)

The moon has been stunningly gorgeous the last few night. Sunday night was, of course, a full moon. The night before and tonight have been just as beautiful. I love when the moon is so bright you can see everything else by it. I've often wondered if it's possible to drive by moonlight on nights like this, when just beyond my yellow-tinged headlights, the so-white-it's-blue moonlight blankets the passing scenery. Excuse me my whimsy, but moonlight has a touch of magic to me. The fact that this last full moon was a blue moon, making it even more rare, tickles my fancy.

Gorgeous, clear nights like this remind me of nights in New Mexico. We used to go out to White Sands and watch the stars, especially in August. August is the prime time to see shooting stars there, though I don't know why. It is an amazing thing to watch. The nights were cool sitting under the clear midnight bowl, so we would take a light jacket and a blanket and watch the night show like we were there to see fireworks.

Good memories.

http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpps/news/why-novembers-full-moon-is-a-blue-moon-dpgoh-20101122-fc_10732037

Morning giggle

I was listening to Huey Lewis and the News this morning and it made me smile, which is an impressive feat, as I don't show much emotion most mornings (think zombie). The song was "The Heart of Rock and Roll." Of course I knew they said the heart of rock and roll is still beating and from what Huey's seen he believes 'em. For the longest time I though he was saying the old folks might be barely breathing but the heart of rock and roll was still beating. Now doesn't that strike you as cold? Did he not care about the old folks? And what did they have to do with rock and roll?

I had no idea I had the wrong lyrics until recently, when a friend of mine corrected me and we had a good laugh at my expense (he wasn't sure of the lyrics either but he was fairly certain Huey wasn't singing about dying people). That's okay. For years, I thought Elvis was singing about his suspicious thighs.

Funny interlude

In the interest of taking time to smell the roses and breathe, I've compiled a list of funny quotes that make me laugh. Enjoy!

A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.
Groucho Marx

A lot of people are afraid of heights. Not me, I'm afraid of widths.
Steven Wright

Alimony is like buying hay for a dead horse.
Groucho Marx
(That one was a little cynical but I found it funny. And I love Groucho.)

Cross country skiing is great if you live in a small country.
Steven Wright

Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect.
Steven Wright

Drawing on my fine command of the English language, I said nothing.
Robert Benchley

Electricity is really just organized lightning.
George Carlin

Human beings are the only creatures on earth that allow their children to come back home.
Bill Cosby

I bought some batteries, but they weren't included.
Steven Wright

I don't need you to remind me of my age. I have a bladder to do that for me.
Stephen Fry

I have a new philosophy. I'm only going to dread one day at a time.
Charles M. Schulz

 (The above quotes were taken from brainyquote.com)



Happy de-stressing!

Let Me Let Go

Dear God,

I've either been afflicted with an outpouring of irrational hormones or I am stressed.

I cry at the drop of a hat, I get crazily angry over ridiculous things, I can't seem to get enough sleep, my shoulder muscles are so tense it often hurts to turn my head and my digestive tract has gone on strike--an angry, violent strike of protest. All I have to do is think about my future (which is coming in three weeks, no make that two and a half now) and my intestines clench up. I write down what I need to do and I want to quit because I feel overwhelmed. I go over what I'm not doing and I find myself making room amongst the mess of shoes on my closet floor to curl up and hide.

When did I become so stressed, God? When did life cease to be an adventure and become a mess to straighten out? Want to hear something horrible? I heard the other day that laughter is a great way to destress. I thought back and realized I can't remember the last time I had a good belly laugh. Not just laughing, but the kind of side-aching, tears-flowing laugh that makes your stomach muscles sore.The kind that makes you hold your sides; the kind where your face hurts from holding that huge grin. You wipe away the tears of mirth and say, "Oh, I needed that." And then you break into fresh gales all over again.

When did I become so serious?

Was it around the time that I decided You were taking too long and I would take over? Or was it when I looked into the future and became scared spitless at the vast unknown? Whatever it was, I started to make my own plans. After all, Your plan was taking too long. So my Plan A didn't work out. Huh. Well, Plan B is looking kinda shaky, too, not to mention it's not the Plan A I had my heart set on.

Okay, fine. You're turn. Since I can't seem to plan right, I'm going to let You take over. But I don't see a plan in sight!! My insides are clenching as we speak, God! Has anyone ever told You that You move too slow?!

*Deep breath* Yes, God, that was me just trying to take over again. And yes, that was tiny little me telling the Creator of the sun, the planets and the stars that His timing is too slow. Oh, and you made the moon too? Right. Forgot about that one.

Obviously I need to let go of my perfect dream world, where it all works out according to my version of perfect. Because my version of perfect obviously isn't Your version of perfect. And I think You would know perfect much better than me, right?

I need to practice this letting go thing, God. Alright, pep talk time. Repeat this: God is big, I am small. He knows better than me. God is big, I am small, He knows better than me. I am big, God is small, I know better than He. No, wait...Ugh!!!!!

I'm gonna go hide in my closet now, God.