On Wednesday June 2, as I was driving to my workout, I drove past Tuxedo school and was promptly stopped a few minutes later with my very first speeding ticket. I wasn’t even in a hurry. I was just happily driving, music blasting (not too loudly), enjoying the wind in my face, the music in my veins and voila. I was driving at 69 Km/hr, while I had just passed a school zone, so ouch… I was 19 Km/hr over the limit. Not a cheap ticket, by any means!!! My only consolation is that this is the first after almost 20 years of driving.
I cannot believe that I have not written in my blog for a month a half. Since we returned from Florida, we have had a lot of catching up to do with visits and play dates as well community events. The kids were in a play for one event and I taught a dance for another event which ate up a lot of time. These were of course all completed by the third week of April. I have been busy reading Daniel Quinn and his Ismael trilogy which is an amazing mind-opening set of books. I have been thinking and questioning a lot of things and have not got to the point of being prepared to write about them yet. Also, I have been watching a few documentaries like ‘Crash’ and ‘Dirt’ which have plunged me into more thinking about food and growing our own food and that line of thinking. So, dear friends I have not dropped off the face of the earth, but am merely in some sort of suspended mode as I think through a whole slew of new information I want to act on.
What do these three things have in common? Well, they would all need to be present for my ideal personal holiday. This would be a retreat just for me, a meditative space. I would love to go away for at least two weeks by myself. I would take minimal things, most important in my luggage would be my books to read, journal to write in, sketch book to work in and computer on which to work on my children’s books.
In the last week at the RV park we are staying at, a family came to visit (the wife’s parents park almost right behind us). I’ve been writing a lot of tweets lately about how great it is to meet like-minded people. I wrote similar tweets when I meet Amelia and Kyle and family. On Facebook, my friend Barbara asked “But one learns more from being surrounded by those with diverse minds.” I thought this was a great topic for discussion, so here goes.
On Friday (yesterday) morning, I had a bit of an adventure, it involved the sewer. Have I got you? Are you curious? Good, I promise to fill you in, but I really need to start at the beginning.
No, your eyes are not deceiving you. I did not mean to write resolutions and by accident typoed revolutions. I have been working on these revolutions for the last few years. Read Chris Brady’s article to gain a fuller understanding of why I am doing this. I want to grow and become different,I want to be a mover and a shaker in an important movement. These are some of my past choices.
Rise and shine, today is the day….
We’re at the one digit countdown to my 35th birthday, so…….
Last night, I hurt a friend, unintentionally, yet I did it. My only consolation was that it was not malicious. Nonetheless, I felt so awful that by my stupidity, I had disappointed someone I respected. Of course I apologized and fixed my error. Luckily for me, my friend has a generous heart and was forgiving. I had read recently that in every situation or challenge one faces, there can always be found a lesson of equal or greater value. I decided, while I was feeling really low about my fiasco to not wallow, but sift through the debris and look for that nugget of wisdom. In my search, this is what I found.
- Pause before speaking, when angry, when … any time.
- Stop getting angry!
- Listen more.
- Read more.
- Start marking up your books when you read great nuggets that tug at you.
- Put up that vision board already woman!!!
- Keep exercising. No excuses.
- Go out on more dates with your husband.
- Go on more dates with the kids individually.
- Be more mysterious.
- Keep writing those ideas and then ACT!!
- Dream, struggle, victory!!! Dream more, prepare and struggle more and then enjoy/learn from those victories/failure with no apologies/excuses.
- Keep questioning, thinking, and learning the truth.
- Seek like-minded people.
- Be so very thankful, you have been blessed so very much.
- Plan-Do-Check-Adjust (PDCA) everything that is important to you: spirituality, relationships, wellness, purpose-driven work and finances.
- Find mentors in all areas and be prepared to really listen and learn.
- Be more empathetic and less judgmental.
- Forgive.
- Live your best life every day. Start it really early. 6 a.m. would be great. 5 a.m. even better.
Okay, I admit it, I am not much of a cook. My mom is a great cook, as the thousands upon thousands of people would testify. My mother-in-law is also an awesome cook. Luckily, I married a really great chef. My problem is not the lack of interest (although that was there once upon a time), nor is it the lack of ability (what I know to do, I do really well). It is the lack of repertoire and experience that is the issue. One thing I do know is that I love food, especially really exotic food.
