Feeling Good

Dance like no one’s watching

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I watch little Kennie dancing to music and can’t help but laugh.  It’s too cute!  It’s funny!  No matter how much WE laugh she keeps right on creating her own dance moves.  There is arm swinging and some jumping and quickie deep knee bends.  Then there is the stick out your butt move and the rhythmic clapping.   Not to mention the swaying and the laying down and getting back up.  Yup, we laugh.  Really good belly laughs.  Does this make her stop doing what she’s doing or make her run away?  Heavens no!  She is there to dance and have a great time.  Who cares what anyone else thinks?

When did everyone else’s opinion become the most important to us?  When did we forget that we have to love ourselves first.  We are who we are and by loving ourselves we can only shine brighter in anything we do.

I am constantly saying that I can’t draw.  I look at the pictures and sketches that The Artist draws and I am amazed.  I would LOVE to be able to quickly jot down lines and make a beautiful finished product.  I recall my early early sketches.  Drawing family was always the best.  You remember, the stick people wearing pants and skirts.  The curly hair.  There was always a big round sun and birds…well, more like Ms flying around, but we knew they were birds.  And we could draw a million pictures a day and they were ALL the best.  Not one was bad.  All the people in the picture were smiling too.  Yes, everyone was happy and my picture showed it.  When did my drawings go from “Way to Go!” to “Oh No“?

Same thing with telling jokes or making music or singing loudly or boogie woogie dancing.  When we were little we could do anything and everything.  We were invincible!  School started and suddenly it seemed that we were “very good” at some things but at other things we “needed improvement”.  I am not saying the school system is bad or that parents mean to belittle their children.  It was all done to make sure that we would be protected.  Here is the concept:  they will show you your shortcomings so that you won’t embarass yourself and no one will laugh at you and this way you won’t have your feelings hurt.  It’s ok that they, the ones who love you, tell you that you aren’t good enough because they love you.  Makes sense right? 

It never really made sense to me.  What does it matter who actually says it as it will hurt your feelings no matter who says it.  That is, it will hurt you if you are constantly relying on others’ opinions of yourself.  What if we told children and friends and family only about all the good stuff.  Give them that daily boost.  Make them see how wonderful they are.   Think how much nicer our world would be if we consciously decided everyday that we were the best and we could do anything.  You would be happy all day!  

This year I decided that it was time to prove to myself (not anyone else) that I could do the things that I had been moulded into believing that I could not.  It started quite innocently when The Baker came over (thankfully) to help me bake goodies for my niece’s bridal shower.  It is tradition for family (and friends) to bring sweet treats and I was tempted to go to the local coffee shop and pre-order a whack of donut holes that I could stick with toothpicks on a foam pillar.  Yup, if nothing else, I would get bonus points for creativity.  The Baker jumped in and volunteered her time and baking expertise to make me look like a star.  We baked chocolate cupcakes.  We created yummy frostings (one cream cheese and one peanut butter).  We continued with fruit tarts.  Yes, I was nervous.  Yes, I kept saying “no no..you’re the baker, I’ll just help”.  Nope, she would have none of it.  We baked, we frosted, we made simple syrup for the tarts.  Some attempts didn’t work out and others turned out fantastic.  Whose goodies looked great the next day at the shower?  Yup, mine sure did! 

What I realized most was that, yes, it was nice for everyone to oooohhh and aaahhh at the dessert masterpieces, but I just felt so proud and good inside because of what I had accomplished.  I had baked!  Me!  Me the one who tells everyone I have ice cream on hand for dessert because I don’t bake.   Thanks to The Baker for pushing me.  Sometimes a kick in the pants is a good thing.  She never doubted me so why did I?

This year I am going to continue my journey into bakingdom.  From there I am going to sit with The Artist so that she can give me some pointers on how to move beyond my awesome stick people drawings.  I also have all these neato machines needed for scrapbooking (cricut and expressions…amazing stuff) and will be making my own cards.  The Artist made elegant “save the date” cards for her wedding.  Absolutely beautiful.  So I will definitely be telling myself that I CAN DO IT and I will forget about what I had heard for so many years about how I couldn’t do something.

With every new venture I will enjoy the learning and all the hiccups and hardships that come with it.  Most importantly, when someone decides to point out that something doesn’t look nice or I did it wrong, it really won’t matter because I have almost finished learning Kennie’s flamboyant dance moves.  Dance on in life like no one’s watching and be happy!

Family Innings

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I am part of a large family.  My mother was one of 8 children and my father was one of 9 children.  On average, each child had 4 children.  That is a heckuva lot of cousins.  You do the math (I am not a math whiz so really, you do the math). 

Wiseguy comes from a large extended family.  Many aunts, uncles, cousins.  Meeting all his relatives for the first time was a bit awkward as it was a funeral.  The only easy part, which was quite intriguing, was that every aunt’s name was Mary and every uncle’s name was Joe.  Honest.  I can’t make this stuff up. 

As a child, I never realized how fascinating it was being part of a large family.  Every Sunday after lunch we would venture to an aunt or uncle’s house or their families would come over to our house.  There was always giggling and laughter. We kids played in the basement.  The adults hid out upstairs.  We made up very creative games as we did not have a lot of toys.  We played school and took turns being the teacher.  We played desert island where we would lay cushions on the floor and jump from one to the other because if you touched the floor then the crocodiles would get you.  We played hide and seek and tag and red light green light.  We played restaurant.  We put on shows for each other.  We played soccer and badminton.  Sometimes the day would end with someone being really mad at someone else and “un-cousin-ing” them, but by the following weekend it was GAME ON! 

As we got older, we somehow grew apart.  Everyone got busier with school and part time jobs (and dating).  Years passed and then we would see each other at weddings or funerals and we would promise to visit or write.  Even with facebook and e-mails and texting and so many other types of media available, there just doesn’t seem to be time.  How did that happen?  How did our parents always find time? 

My first thought was distance.  Even with my siblings, the closest is 20 minutes away and the furthest is an hour and a half drive.  Ok, but even factoring in the drive time, it seems that everyone has so many extracurricular activities, either that they do or that they drive their kids to.  I don’t recall having so many after school activites as kids nowadays do.  Work schedules are different now as well.  Retail stores are now open later and Sundays too.  I remember when stores were closed on Sundays.  Restaurants and other food places are now open all the time.  Statutory holiday or not, they remain open.  Even trying to create family outings, prices have gone so high that it’s hard to arrange for a good day or night out.  Even going to the movies you need about 30.00 per person if you would like a popcorn and drink with the show.

So, is that really the reason why there are fewer family visits?

It wasn’t until The Wiz and The Debater both said to me, “I love it when it’s just us.”  Hmm.  Just us. Just us would be myself, Wiseguy, The Wiz and his fiancee The Baker, The Debater and his wife The Artist, The Princess, and little Kennie.  Just us.  Why is that better?  Huge family functions are so much fun!  So many stories to tell and funny past history tales.  Yes, as we get older we just remember the fond times.  What about the family feuds and battles?  Even planning weddings has become more difficult because you need to know who is not talking to whom and who can’t get along.  Coming from a large family, we dealt with all situations and many times we did wish that we weren’t part of  large family because we would have so much more time for ourselves and our immediate family.

I have stopped trying to plan a huge family get together with the extended family.  I am looking at how wonderful my life is and what wonderful kids we have and how blessed and happy I am that no matter how busy everyone is, we all take the time to figure out how we can all get together for a  wonderful sit down meal and playing games afterwards.  It’s nice to know that they do still WANT to come over.  So many parents end up not seeing their kids for months or even years at time.  We have the honour and pleasure of having their company a minimum of once a month but sometimes even twice a month.  SCORE!  How lucky are we?

So, family outings can be fun.  It’s true.  However, I’ll take my family innings any day of the year.  Love you guys!

Spring in my step

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Ahhhh, smell those lilac blossoms!  Look at all the colours of the leaves on the trees.  Such variety!  Deep green and subtle purple and bright yellow and crimson red.  A dragon fly just whizzed by my head.  Little butterflies floating around too.  Seems like they were gone for a few years and now they have all come back to welcome spring.  I see birds flying in couples, building their nests.  What is there NOT to like about spring?

Ok, some may say that the rainy days of spring are a downer, but once you see all the growth and beauty around you, how can you not love the arrival of spring?  This is especially true of anyone living in Canada.  After months of cold and shoveling piles of snow, the arrival of spring finally means we can open our windows and we can wear sandals and we can wear shorts.  Yes!  As soon as it hits 10 degrees celcius (50 on the fahrenheit scale) we are out there showing off our mighty whitey legs.  Pasty?  Oh yeah, nothing like pasty white legs to repel the sunlight.

Spring really is about renewal.  There are so many sounds that have returned, that were gone for so long.  The morning chirping birds…those wake me up now because of their cacaphony every morning.  But I love hearing them chatter with each other.  The sound of lawnmowers is a daily constant in the neighbourhood.  Then there are the new sights and smells.  We can actually wake up to sunlight instead of that eternal darkness we seemed to have experienced for months.  The clouds seem whiter and brighter.  The smell of grilled fare on the BBQ wafts through the air.  Critters have come out of hibernation.  The squirrels are out and about and playing Russian roulette in traffic.  The skunks have reappeared too.  I haven’t seen them, but my nose tells me they’re back.  (Pepe le Pew for sure!)

Spring, even though it’s a noun for this season of the year, I find the verb quite appropos as well. It’s synoynous with leaping, skipping, bounding, hopping.  Yes, that’s how I feel about this time of year.  I see the smiles on peoples’ faces and believe they agree with me too.

So, don’t be surprised if you see a lot of white-legged, hopping, jumping skippers out there.  It’s SPRINGTIME after all!

What’s in a song?

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I am sitting here, listening to the album Faith by George Michael.  What a memorable album for me!  It reminds me of high school.  It reminds me of a trip to Europe.  It reminds me of  how utterly embarassed I was when I first heard it in the car while driving my mother to the store.  George Michael said the word S-E-X.  He said it many, many times.  I don’t think my face has ever felt THAT warm.  Catholic mother and a song about S-E-X.  Yikes!  That was one of the longest car drives in history!  But I digress.

Has anyone ever asked you what your favourite song is?  I always found that a difficult question.  My answer was always, “it depends.”  It depended on the mood I was in.  Was I sad?  Was I happy?  Did I feel like dancing?  Did I feel like relaxing?  So many questions in order to be able to provide the most accurate answer.  Now, if you asked me today, I would definitely say “Faith” by George Michael.  That song is, like, totally, like making me like happy right?  (so feeling the high school vibe right now.)

Yesterday it would have been Nora Jones and her beautiful, hypnotic voice singing “Come Away with Me“.  The day before it was definitely Adele and “Rumour“.  See what I mean?  Sometimes it’s AC/DC and something from “Back in Black“.  On sunny days, when I am driving and the windows are rolled down and the wind is blowing through my hair, there is nothing like Sheryl Crow and “Soak up the Sun“. 

I don’t have a specific genre or a specific band.  It really just depends on the type of day and the type of mood and what season it is and how sunny or cloudy it is and the company I am keeping and what I’m wearing and if I’m having a good day or if I need a pick-me-up.

Oftentimes I have found that I preferred movie soundtracks because they have a mix of bands or artists and a variety of music styles.  From pop to disco to rock to all the new kinds of music that I like the backbeat to but have no idea who the artist is.  That happens a lot and that is when I need The Princess or one of the other kids to tell me who it is as well as to somehow provide me with said music.

How about foreign music?  Love it!  I have music from Europe and Asia and Africa.  So much talent and such different sounds!  I love when artists find ways to mesh the varieties of music.  Isn’t that how rock ‘n’ roll started? 

You are probably listening to music on your MP3 player or on your computer, or maybe the old fashioned radio.  There is something about having background noise that can easily calm you and make your day a better day.  If you think you know your friends and family really well, ask them what song or music they enjoy listening to.  It really is an eye opener.  Some of their answers may surprise you.

I leave you with this quote that I found.  It really does express my true feelings about music.  I don’t know who said it, but that person put my thoughts into words: 

“Music is what feelings sound like.”

World of Wonder

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The weather we have been having lately has been damp and chilly and wet. I myself need sunshine to flourish on a daily basis.  Without my vitamin D I feel like a slug under a rock.  Sluggish (ouch..bad joke).  I do find that on cloudy, cold days everyone around me also gets into a slump and the world just seems wrong.  Traffic is heavier.  Road rage is at its peak.  Comfort foods are definitely more desirable.  Sadly, the happy smiles of yesterdays are gone.  How does one get out of a weather funk?  In my case, it’s having the privilege of watching my granddaughter love everything about life.

It is amazing how we, as adults, forget the simples joys of life. Here is the perfect example of what I am referring to.

Our granddaughter Kennie (short for Mackenzie according to Wiseguy) came to our house yesterday.  I told Wiseguy that for a snack she would probably like a banana.  Now, when Wiseguy cut big chunks of this simple banana and gave little Kennie one of the pieces, well let me tell you how wonderful life was for her!  Her hands were opening and closing.  Her feet were doing the happy dance.  She smiled the biggest happiest smile.  Why?  Well, it’s a banana!  How can you NOT see how amazing and wonderful a banana is? 

Yup, after watching her eat that banana and smile after eating each piece, I couldn’t help but be reminded about how beautiful life really is.  Sure having a beautiful home, nice cars, stylish wardrobe are all nice to have, but sometimes the having and the appreciation of them are two different things. 

We have many things (as mentioned previously in my spring cleaning blog about hoarding).  Oftentimes, after the initial excitement of the purchase and the owning of the item, the ecstasy and happiness fades.  There seems to be a need to purchase something else in order to get that happy high.  Watching Kennie puts life into perspective for me.  There are so many simples joys all around us and it really isn’t until you actually stop and think that you really DO take time to smell the roses instead of just buying them to make your home more esthetically pleasing.

My goal for today is to actually stop, watch, listen, smell.  I will take in all the beauty that is surrounding me.  I will look at and appreciate that amazingly green grass.  I will take a deep breath and enjoy the aroma from the blooms on the blossoming lilac trees.  I will  turn my head up and enjoy that bright, warm sunshine on my face.  I will not get upset when I get stuck in traffic because this will give me more time to enjoy the scenery surrounding me.  It might not be an easy task, but if I make a conscious effort, I believe I can do this and I will definitely be a happier person for it.

I recommend that today, if only for one day, you give it a try and see how different you feel for the rest of the day.  It might sound easy, but you will be surprised how our typical day revolves around rushing and worrying about how we are going to get everything done.  I challenge you to one day of life appreciation! 

Good luck with your Appreciation Day!  I myself have some important business to attend to. 

Now where is that banana ?

Spring Cleaning?

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There is something about warmer weather that gets my purging juices flowing.  I walk into every room of my home and look at all our belongings.  All my collections.  All my hoarding, as it would be.  Then the quandry begins…which room should I start in?

I have this wonderful habit of starting in one room and then as I carry something off to another room, I continue to work in the new location until I again move something to another room.  Then I wander out and start again.  This could explain why, after nine years in this house, I still have more items than I had when we moved in.  It is understandable.  We did have many goodies before we moved into our new old house.  Grandma moved in with us.  That was a bedroom of stuff.  Then my father-in-law (FIL for short) came to live with us.  That was a whole other household of items.  Pack it in.  (I believe we increased Rubbermaids sales by at last 300% that year by purchasing storage bins.)  After FIL sold his cottage…yup….more items migrated into our home. 

You can understand how every spring I feel the urge..no…the NEED to expunge everything.  I wish to see my floors again and corners in rooms.  I want to see what my house would look like if it was a modern minimalist place.  And then I remember…I am a hoarder.  Definitely something I inherited from my mother.  She is a hoarder too.  My sister is a hoarder.  We live in denial though.  It’s not “hoarding” it’s keeping memories alive.  Sadly, they are tangible memories and not mind stored memories.

Something on sale?  Buy 20 of them…ya never know when it will go on sale again.  (It’s usually on sale again within a month, but you never know right?)  Wiseguy’s favourite joke is about getting shopping carts for our basement so that people can go grocery shopping when they drop by.  (dripping with sarcasm.  Very funny Honey)

This year I am promising myself that the purge will begin and I will find my home beneath the piles.  Not piles really….just labelled bins of surprises.  Oh look..all our birthday and anniversary and other greeting fun cards….oh look….the handmade gifts the kids presented us with.  What’s this?  A Rubbermaid box of yarn?  Sure I’ll learn to knit.  This year even.  Awwww… look at the pretty christmas ornaments…some broken but they were Mom’s.  Can’t part with those.  Yes…this is how ‘purging’ finally ends up being ‘storing’.

This year is going to be different!  I can feel it!

 Maybe I’ll just lie down until that feeling goes away.

Hello world!

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This is it!

I have finally decided that I should enter the exciting blogosphere world!

I myself am an avid googler and searcher of all things exciting and popular and fun and educational.

My life, like everyone else’s, is full of so many interesting people, places, and things.  I am hoping to share my joys and my sorrows (which I am hoping are few and far far between). Life is a wonderful adventure and with my husband (a.k.a. wiseguy) of 21 years, he has been the one that makes me laugh and has always been the one that could bring me out of a slump or make me laugh until my stomach ached.  I’m a lucky girl for that.

I have happily become the proud stepmom or 3 grown children and 5 grandchildren.  Being part of their lives has also been an experience in and unto itself.  Love you guys!

So, this is it!

Welcome to my blog and to my life.  I am happy to be able to share with you the interesting view I have of life and my opinions on it as well. Agree or disagree with me, it makes for an interesting read.

I welcome myself to the Land of Blogs and am really excited about my new journey into the realm of the unknown.  Computer illiterate…yes, that would be me.  I welcome anyone willing to spend any minute amount of time actually wondering what has gotten into my head on a daily basis.   (We’ll work through the cobwebs and the derailed trains of thought together.)

Looking forward to newfound friends and intriguing commentaries.  Enjoy because…this is it!