Life rambles

~ not again, part II.  As for the last time my car was stolen, so this time it was found.  Almost completely undamaged.  Hardly any gas used.  Only a few things stolen.  It is puzzling to me, to be sure, but i am thankful that i got it back.

~i have the flu.  i've not had it for about eight years and that fact that i can sit up today after really only one and one-half days of fever and aches is tremendous.  i hope to keep recovering and will only be too glad to see at least eight years go by without another round of the flu.

~ Even though it's been eight years i am a big baby when it comes to being sick.  i slept all day yesterday but when i was awake, i really was whiney...big baby!  sheesh

~ When one's baseline temp is normally 97.3F a fever of 102F is a whopping big deal and one's mind tends to become delirious.

~ when one is delirious one figures out how to save the economy and also some good ways that the settlers could've used to save their wagons when they went West...yes, all in the same dream/hallucination.  One also tends to think the cat is talking  - until one realizes that it was just someone outside.

 

Not again!!!!

Almost two years to the date - if you care to check back it was 2/27/06- my car has been stolen again.  Same car - not parked in the same spot but not that far from my house.

i so didn't need this.

If you happen to see the most beautiful girl in the world...

...it's probably my sister.

Which one, you say.  Ahh..which one indeed, for they are all beautiful and i love them all so very much.

But today's lovely is my youngest sister.  Recently turned 18 yrs and becoming quite a lady. 

Last night, she did the most wonderful thing for me.  As she walked into choir practice, she had on her arm a very cute basket, wrapped in lovely cloth napkins.  As i  uncovered the contents of said basket, there was today's lunch all arranged and ready.  It was her valentine's present to me.

It wasn't so much the thought of brining some of my mother's homemade chili and a cupcake that she made  and decorated, it was that she took the time to arrange it in a basket and put lovely cloths over it.  It was that she put the chili in a glass jar and not in a plastic container, it was the tortilla chips and shredded cheese in their own containers - small and just perfect and it was the decorations on the cupcake..not to mention the way she had the contents nestled together. 

She is a most beautiful girl who made her eldest sister's Valentine's Day better than ever.

Refreshing the Soul

Today, like the two weeks preceding it and probably all of this week, is gloomy.  Rain, rain, clouds, fog, ick.  Not terribly cold - in fact, rather balmy, but rainy and gloomy.

However, two things have lifted my somewhat falling spirits.  On the way to work, to my left-which is the east-there appeared to be what some might refer to as sunlight.  As if there really IS a sun!  WHOOT!  That was rather exciting.  Now mind you, none of the rays actually hit my upturned face, however, the promise that the sun still shines was quite lovely.

Secondly, i quite often listen via Internet radio, to the classical station from Johannesburg, South Africa.  my boss lived there for quite some years and i started playing it for him - to tell him the weather and the traffic jams - and then he would share stories of their life there and in some small way, i was able to travel there and see it through his eyes (and his wife's and kids as they have come in and asked me about it.)  Now i just listen because i like the station.  The accent is gorgeous, the music is terrific.  As i type, it is almost 7pm in S.A. and so the music is soft and sweet, not fiddles and booming timpani drums, but rather matching of the quiet i feel from all the gloom.  Not depressing,...just nice.

i find that little things such as these refresh my soul.

Got the Winter Blues

Today is an 'off' day for me - i'm not quite sure why.  Perhaps the position of the moon, or the stars or that my stockings are twisted or maybe even that i'm low on chocolate.  It probably has nothing to do with the endless cold, the wind, the long commute and dark days without snow.  No, i'm sure that has nothing to do with it at all.  i mean, common, snow already!  So today is blah.  i dreaded the long ride here to work and now that i'm here, i don't want to drive all the way back home.  So either i need a chauffeur or i need to just get over it?  Yeah, i'm rooting for the chauffeur too.

So...i bought a new bag.  Plum coloured.  Slightly larger than my normal bag but ya know what?  It's pretty.  Really pretty.  And that has helped.  i promise i'm not so shallow that a bag changed my mood, but when you place pretty things in your life, it does help take the edge off of rising gas prices, no real good Presidential candidate (be honest...none of them are stellar...neither party...), bleak days and long nights, rising costs of much and, oh, let's not forget the small leak in my roof.  Yes! i need pretty. 

Pretty reminds you that warmer and brighter days are ahead.  Pretty helps you widen the narrow grey approach to life and embrace warmth and colour.  Pretty also helps you to take a deep breath, hold on for dear life and declare that you WILL make it this winter.

It doesn't have to be a bag or shoes (mmmm...shoes)...it can be the sweet brown eyes of a child (what is it about brown eyed little boys that just grabs my heart?  At my second job - the retail one - last night - two brown eyed boys, so patient and good, looking up at me and i could've scooped them up and loved them forever.), the warm embrace of your husband or wife, holding hands with an aged one (my Pop-Pop is 90!), laughing, hot bubble baths, slowly paging through Vogue, spending time in prayer, singing, looking at pictures, a nap...to name just a few.  Or if you're a guy -maybe a good game on TV or a book or even watching Godfather movies will do it for you (though i daresay that Men are so less "high-maintenance" in this area...)

Surround yourself with pretty today.  Go on...it has helped me (and believe me, i was in a F O U L mood today).

 

A Real Man

Not too long ago, i attended the local Expo where a Sportsman Thing-y was held (yes, thing-y is the official title...ahem..).  Let me just say: Wall to wall testosterone!  Had i known it would be like that, i would've worn the tiniest little skirt with heels and a frilly blouse and had wide eyes and said.."Did you shoot that boar/elk/deer/bear/alligator ALLL by yourself, Mr. Hunter?"  As it was, i didn't but still enjoyed the atmosphere.  It was quite alot of fun and i highly enjoyed the Birds of Prey show.

As we were leaving, i was with two of my sisters and we headed towards the outside doors.  A Man went in front of us and held the door for us.  That wasn't unexpected as we were right behind him.  However, unlike the normal, he didn't let it fall back on my outstretched hand but rather stood to the side and completely held the door open for us.  We all said 'thank you' and i really meant it.  It is unusual, in this country, for a Man to do that - most times because women 'can do it by myself' and don't care for such chivalry.  However, i fully enjoyed it and it made me feel...well...like a woman.  i am quite capable of doing many things 'by myself.' i am a strong woman, can carry heavy loads, can do lots...and like doing it too.  But there are times when though i can do something, it's nice to not have to do it. 

So thank you, Mr. Man, for that small gesture.  It made my day.

 

 

oh and ps.  Russell Watson's voice is WAY better than Josh Grobin...check him out.

For the love of shoes

i almost had a slight tizzy the other day when my mother said calmly that she just doesn't get excited about shoes.

She, my flesh and blood..the one who nourished me for 9 months in the womb and then lovingly cared for me after i was born.  She who dressed me and played house and coloured with crayons.  She who taught me how to be a good homemaker and how to fold laundry properly and how to love the earth and the feeling of dirt between your toes.  She who scolded me until i practiced the piano the correct way and who praised me without fail when i had done it right.  She who would leave secret thank you notes in my room when i had helped her with entertaining or some other job.  She....who is my hero..doesn't understand shoes?

i think there must be some mistake. 

i might need a new pair of shoes to help me over this mini-crisis in my life.

::sigh::