I have the Spirit!

I have Christmas Spirit this year. Not that I have money to spend, or even time enough to Create gifts. The tree is trimmed; carols permeate the house injecting me with an overwhelming sentiment of joy. Feelings of gratitude adorn my heart as I reflect on my fortune: a peaceful country where I can sleep restfully without fear, friends and family who love me implicitly, eyes to soak in the twinkling lights and vibrant colors of the season, ears to hear the melodic sounds of music, tinkling ice cubes and laughter of loved ones.

In previous years I’ve been caught up in guilt and resentment, unable to be as charitable as I would like. I mourned the old generous spirit I used to be.

This year I won’t be getting a new Christmas outfit, or buying lavish gifts. I won’t be shopping in the malls; I won’t be making the Christmas dinner, or filling my liquor cabinet. However I will bake something for the old folk’s home up the way, visit with dear friends and family. Try to find a special token that suits them or bake something special. I’ll personalize a few cards expressing my love and send a few personal emails.

Feeling fortunate trumps any resentment I may experience being unable to give those I love something wonderful. Having been doused in the Christmas spirit this year, I’m able to enjoy each tender moment with fresh eyes, immersed peacefully in the season’s essence of love and beauty.

If you feel overwhelmed by the Christmas preparations check out “The Meandering Muse” where Shelley lists a few strategies to embrace as you prepare for those holy nights.

Writers Island " The Letter"

Writers Island prompt " The Letter"

In the early nineties I wrote the following letter to our City newspaper. It was my response to Ian Haysom’s positive article endorsing the import of eccentrics from Britain. I was pleased that he actually responded via snail mail. Advising I opt out of nose piercing. Unfortunately I can’t find the original article or his reply. I just remember it was very humorous.

Dear Ian

I’ve canceled my lobotomy, and framed your article to my fridge, (Our country’s deliverance – more eccentrics Feb18) Thanks to you I no longer feel like one of life’s misfits, and I’m dearly considering moving to Britain where I can become a national treasure.

As an eccentric my father called me an extrovert, where my mother preferred odd ball. Yes, I’m creative flamboyant and parade around with big hair. Friends tell me I’m never boring, while relatives find me a bitter pill to swallow. That’s okay though because I’ve been adopted by a whole gamut of interesting people, some whom are of conservative flavor.

Your article was a great affirmation to the worth of uniqueness. I’m sending all my friend’s copies and entering one into my daughters scrap book, just in case eccentricity is inherent.

Nose piercing here I come! Thanks to you I may go though with having my nose pierced on my fortieth birthday, only if it doesn’t hurt!

I went ahead, had my nose pierced right on the day of my fortieth, and haven't looked back. Another eccentric feat was to marry myself along with my friend Violette and her two childhood friends. I basically made a commitment to honor the spirit within, nourish and love it, no matter what, with or without a partner. Even though life can be roller coaster ride of unknowns, I have been ecstatically happy ever since. Scroll to the bottom of the page of this link for more crazy pictures of the wedding, one of which ended up in a local paper.Check out Malcolm in the middle! Not only are we eccentrics at play, please remember "girls just wanna have fun!"

To my dear blog friends, so sorry I haven't posted lately I have an out of town guest whose company I am sorely enjoying! I have the joy of Christmas spirit too!

Busy Body

Happy Thanksgiving
to my American Friends....we enjoyed ours last month!

My fridge has been on the fritz for longer than I can remember. It has a mind of it's own too. Three years ago it started leaking. Last year the freezer stopped freezing and the fridge warmed up a few degree's. Food just didn't keep as long. I shuffled what I could to the top freezer compartment to keep it colder. Left the condiments and fruit below. In November of last year we had a thirty two hour power outage. After that the fridge was back to normal and froze the food I had shuffled to the top.

Three weeks later the freezer was out of commission again. So I played musical compartments and switched the fridge food to the freezer again where I have stored all my perishables for the last year. Thankfully I do have a small freezer in my garage. A new fridge just wasn't in my budget. Every time we thought we'd get one something more financially pressing appeared.

For the last six month the fridge has been making crazy sounds. In fact one night last week I was so frustrated I got out of bed to boil water and throw it down the front vents just so I could sleep. Some days it's sound like I have a helicopter in my house or a Semi. Just imagine, I used to be a woman with all kitchen aide appliances.

Bryan has resorted to talking to our fridge. The other morning he was heard to say " aren't you being a good fridge this morning." It was only half as loud as normal so we could actually hear ourselves speak. Some days I feel like it's going to take off, walk across the kitchen. open the door and leave. Other days I wished it would!

Yesterday Pepper went to liquidation world and picked out a nice stainless steel fridge. Tomorrow is happy fridge day. It may not be a fancy fridges with ice makers that Pepper remembers as a child. But it's new, it was a great price and we'll have ice this year at Christmas, made the old fashioned way!

We also get thirty dollars with the fridge buy back plan at Hydro! I thought I would have to pay to get it taken away! Merry Christmas to me!!!

Abstract

The quality of this Abstract doesn't compute properly, but it suits this post!

On the way to a craft fair my friend announced how she went to a birthday party the previous night, that it was her party. I didn't quite compute the last part, that it was a party for her. Here we were in October, while her birthday was middle of August. For some reason the Girls she'd worked with for over twenty years had decided it was her birthday, so they threw her a party, a surprise fiftieth party. SHE IS NOT FIFTY!!! Now that's organized! A surprise fiftieth, only ten months too soon! Unfazed my friend chuckled in amusement, suggesting that forty nine must be the new fifty!!!"

Writers Island Dream

Taken on Main Street in Vancouver on a rainy Thursday night. Just minutes away
scattered on the side streets the homeless carry their dead dreams anesthetized by drugs and alcohol.

This weeks prompt for writers Island " The Dream"

Resilient Dream

A Dead dream haunts the soul

Dormant amongst decay

Pining for detection

Until a beckoning

Of inspiration tweaks

Scratching faintly

At our essence

Scarcely familiar

Dismissed fettered dream

Knocks frantically

Demanding resurrection

Reconstruction, regeneration

Tenaciously refusing rejection

Holding ransom health

Emotional conciliation

And the quest for happiness

Declining pacification with

Victuals, copulation or intoxicants

Dark nights, lone moments

Harvest continued reminders

Badgering us

To renew "The dream"

Ask yourself what dream you're suppressing in dire need of being expressed!

Can you revamp it? Is it nagging you, but not yet realized? Or are you romancing that dream and following your bliss?

Home from Regina safe and bushed

Pepper has returned from the prairies where the cold can nip your face so hard it aches to the bone. Where a green hoodie during football playoffs can make you feel right at home!

Regina, the capital of Saskatchewan where the sunrise mirrors the rows of wheat in the fields.

A place where the wind knocks at your window,

Parade during Remembrance Day

and RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) are trained to protect us.

A city where a random metal Elephant sculpture stands across from the library,

and a beautiful mural sits unscathed at the bus stop.

Home of The First Nations University of Canada!

Where the weather changes on a whim, from a sunny crisp day with a dusting of snow,

to a wonderland of frosting covering trees and pathways. Where a shirt could be seen to blow in circles on the road.

A place where a peculiar sculpture of bells is planted in a park,

and a picture metaphors the slow lifestyle.

A quaint city where several historic sites marry a mall Christmas tree and a present day perspective!

Sprinkling Christmas spirit to the odd farmers who may only leave their home for dire necessity.

Regina, a homey little place where a Armchair tomato sculpture done by Victor Cicansky sits in the airport to commemorate the 2005 milestone of the 100 year old Province.

Sunday Scribblings " I Carry"

Sunday Scribblings " I Carry"

Compartmentalized

I carry laughter in my invisible back pocket

Beside silliness, and some humorous antics

I carry wisdom perched on a shelf in my soul

Beside sorrow, courage, and experience

I carry love in my big old heart, squished beside

Memories, joy, and compassion,

I carry guilt, abuse, anger, and illness

Layered in pound after pound upon my body

I carry hope and faith together, snuggled in my soul

With creativity, generosity, and Gratitude

In my conscious mind I carry dreams

Floating with reverence, visions of peace

Celebration and success!

I also carry the memories of my favorite "Carry On" movies of the seventies. To this day I still enjoy a really good English made comedy!

Awaiting her Return!

Mother and Daughter Thirty year age difference

So last night, way too late I posted a whole montage of black and white crazy pictures. This morning I had posters remorse. I replaced them with these. I called Pepper in a tizzy wanting to redo the post. She agreed that we didn't need to air our dirty linen. Some of the pictures did look pretty childish and ugly. At least these ones depict only a little silliness, instead of full on crazy!







These pictures are posted to comfort Pepper, make her smile while she is alone so far from home!

I MISS YOU TERRIBLY HONEY!










They were taken the day before she left for her trip. We took a few moments out of an extremely busy day to jump in a photo booth. But after paying three dollars for three pictures ( one didn't even develop) I decided to take some myself using my own camera.
Very often my daughter has been mistaken for Avril Lavigne...too many times to mention. She's about the same size, with similar features and hair. Quite a few times while she's been away she has heard young girls whispering, insisting to their friends that she's Avril! Arguing excitedly, believing that's who she is!


Pepper met the Drummer from Trooper since she's been away. Most of the band members live in the lower mainland of B.C. too! She had to restrain herself from singing the song" We're here for a good time, not a long time". But it played in her head the whole time he spoke to her!
She sat on the plane beside a CBC Photographer. Also in town for business. He said one of the worse assignments he's had so far was those California fires. Woman were begging him to take them through to see if there homes were still standing! He found that heartbreaking.


Pepper talks to everyone and really enjoys meeting new people, she loves the quaint city but misses her family! We miss her so much too! It's been ten days! We're counting down......three more to go! I think this is the longest time we've been apart since she was born!
Love you baby! Hugs and kisses Mom!

Writers Island " Friendship"

Pepper this Halloween,

I miss my daughter who is a long way from home in Canadian Prairies on business. I am so fortunate to be able to call her one of my best friends. Big shout out to Pepper who will be reading this in the morning before work! Love you baby, come home soon, you are so missed! Hugs and kisses to you!
I am also blessed to have an eclectic array of friends.My high criteria for friendship manages to be exceeded by these wonderful people in my life. I'm not as attentive a friend as I have been in the past. My energy level isn't conducive for maintaining daily communication with each and every person that I love. So I pace myself and my relationships as so. Still I feel more fortunate than most, because my friendships are intimate, genuine, and fairly harmonious. We share intelligent conversation, as well as some crazy blather! I am so lucky to have such good people in my life! Hugs to all my friends off line and online!

Writers Island Prompt "Friendship"

Fabulous

Reasonable

Interesting

Enduring

Nice

Dynamic

Savvy

Humorous

Indispensable

Passionate

Fanciful

Reputable

Innovative

Extraordinary

Noble

Debonair

Silly

Honest

Intimate

Peaceful

Sunday Scribblings "Right and Left"

Sunday Scribblings " Left and Right"

Now I know why I can be so whacked out at times! According to Similar minds dot com,I’m fifty two percent Right brained, thirty four percent left brain….and well who knows where the rest went…seems to be fourteen percent a float.. That must be the eccentric part. The crazy side of my brain, the in-between side that agreed to let my daughter dye her hair with green Kool-Aid for Saint Patrick’s Day when she was eight. It’s must be that brain void that put me behind the wheel sanely heading in one direction only to have me make a complete one eighty towards a totally unexpected destination.

I know my right brain is the part that despises too much structure; in fact an itinerary of any sort makes me cringe. Time is an adversary for me, never enough, with days being way too short. If I could structure things my way, we’d sleep and eat when we felt the urge and days would be at least 72 hours long. I guess that’s why I never wore a watch much. Drum roll please. Yeah and that’s why I’m always late too! I can’t seem to judge time well! I always think I have more of it than I do. Miscalculation of integers is my nightmare!

Thankfully some of the left brain invasion has made me a fairly good parent. I promised myself I would assure punctuality for any functions pertaining to my daughter. I did keep my word; clearly she tends to be early most of the time. I’m quite practical despite the side of me that’s a bit of a nutcase. I am the type of person who could think up a South Park episode just by living through a plugged toilet. I’ll admit there are times when I’m crassly bazaar in my thinking. But I always come back to the safety of my left brain logic.

Sometimes my goofy blunt vulgarity is exchanged for a deep, insightful wisdom. Other days I feel like a hot air balloon ready for take off, needing to expunge some of that assorted silly grossness just to get off the ground. Anyway I am off to attempt a poem around this craziness.

Illustration Friday "Scale"

Illustration Friday "Scale"

Wouldn't it be fun?

I often wish I could revise
the colors of nature
and the mundane
on a whim
Just to make my eyes
laugh
and to surprise my soul!

Writers Island " Unforgettable"

After much nagging from friends and family Pepper finally got her learners license…Freedom is just around the corner for me, Woo-hoo, I can feel it now! She loves public transit which is her little contribution to keeping the world green. But soon she may get the driving bug!!! It’s about time!!! Good job hun!!!

I have out of Town Company plus my daughters preparing for a very impromptu business trip which seems to always involve me. I played the hurry up and wait game all day long.

Writers Island prompt " Unforgettable"

I had a plan for this prompt, but life got in the way!

Today we went into North Vancouver, a thirty five minute trek from home. Even though I was raised there it’s rare that I make that trip. Pepper and I spent the day tying up loose ends before she leaves. In order to pass some time while she dealt with business I popped into an urban teen store. Looking to find Pepper warm clothes for the below zero weather in the prairies. Out of my peripheral vision I spotted a man my age cranking his head around, to face me. I could feel his pensive stare. Thankfully I was wearing my sunglasses, even though it was a rainy day. (Don’t even ask, they’re my protection from the world.).

My intuition tweaked as my body continued to calculate why a lone male of fifty would be shopping in a teen’s store. Not quite cognitive of what my physical self already knew. ( Check out Gavin De becker's book “ The Gift of Fear”) When the final equation was tallied I realized he was familiar to me. In an instant my brain aligned with my physical being and I knew! He was one of the unforgettable weirdos I happened upon during online dating two years ago. An extremely desperate, needy widower who spoke in freaky staccato notes without taking a breath! He was so demanding and aggressive it frightened me.

Not surprising he would be in the store trying to control what his now sixteen year old daughter wears. After all he wanted me to wear his dead wife’s clothing. During our first ever phone conversation he wanted my full body size so I could fit into his deceased wife’s clothes. Is that a little presumptuous or what? Even though I am a large woman I am pretty particular about what I wear, it’s not likely you’ll find me wearing a fat ladies cat shirt! Did I mention this guy was into Big Beautiful women?

It was more than obvious that he recognized me. Inching himself away from the salesgirl into my direction. I began to panic. He became more blatant in his stares and gestures. He’d never seen me in person before; this was our (almost) first encounter. You know how some days you look better than others. Well today I actually looked not too shabby! I discretely ambled in the opposite direction, making as though I’d not realized him. I pushed my shopping cart nonchalantly towards my escape route, THE DOOR. With relief I bolted pretty fast down the mall towards my daughter, who could see my look of horror as she continued her important phone call. At first she thought I’d had an accident in my pants. As if! Pepper laughed hysterically when I shared my story. Later while waiting on a chair I saw him pass with his daughter in tow, heading towards the same store Maybe we were more alike than I first thought…No no,no,no….shakes head…My body wouldn’t lie!

Illustration Friday " Hats"

This is my contribution for Illustration Fridays prompt " Hats" I have been a hat freak as far back as I can remember. I had tams, a sombrero with blue tassels, black hats, straw hats, jesters hats, hats with bows, Santa hats, you name it I have tried it out. Except for baseball caps, they're not for me, and have never worn one!

I think I passed my hat fetish onto my daughter who has been wearing unique ones as far as I can remember too. She's had every color fuzzy hat, a top hat, a fedora, a western hat, toques, and special occasion hats. The latest was a pill box hat we made for a summer wedding. What a hit that was! I don't wear hats as often now but I am such an admirer. Maybe I should have been a hat maker.


Yesterday would have been my dads eighty eighth birthday. I was so fortunate to have such a kind and loving father. A man who truly knew who I was. My dad was a very demonstrative huggy bear, but I don't think he ever got the accolades he truly deserved for being such a patient man.

Hug your dad today and tell him how much you appreciate all he's done. In comparison to many dads I had one of the best.There are way too many absent fathers today. It's never too late to become involved with your children. It wasn't until my mom was married for quite sometime that she recouped a relationship with her dad. In the end it was a very fulfilling relationship that had been so misunderstood.Thankfully she took the chance to get to know him despite his past transgressions.

Sunday Scribblings " Money"

Sunday Scribblings " Money"

There's a huge hoopla here in Canada now that our dollar has risen to an all time high never before documented. A huge fear everyone will scramble to do across border shopping, affecting our economy. I have my own money issues and look forward to a few deals here at home.

The Cost

I’ve had it,

Fiscal Comfort,

With a price

Of anguish

Still frugal

Yet generous

Everything I needed

And more

Was available

For the Taking

Or the asking

Then one day

It wasn’t

But somehow

The universe provided

Deeply humbled

By Carnations

Instead of roses

Videos

Instead of theaters

Homemade

Instead of tailor made

Spiritual

Instead of material

Necessity

Instead of frivolity

The taker

Instead of the giver

The needy

Instead of the affluent

Cautious

Instead of careless

All in exchange

For Peace!

One day I will have it all again, along with serenity!