Holiday craft and treats

we made cards


we made treats


'take out' treats and other goodies

yes it's the season.

Never be too sure because that is when you'll look like a fool. If life is a journey, it is sometimes a damn long one. How do you know when to get off the train? Where is my stop? Tired of the same reocurring garbage. I'm restless for change & reaching the breaking point. I guess that's when change happens. When you break.

too much 'stuff'

i was washing my face where random thoughts would enter and leave as they please, when a wee small guilty poked, nudged me...waste.

it began like this.

my brother-in-law playfully, in somewhat, chagrin humour thanked me for keeping the lovely jade tree he gave me one christmas. He had previously come upon a nemo print that was in the 'garage sale' pile with a price tag on it. He had bought this for the girls one Christmas.

it's not so much the amount of 'stuff' we have. we have lots of stuff. but more the neglect we have toward our 'stuff'.

not so much is treasured anymore, and the treasured get down graded so quickly sometimes, that there is no real joy and pride in having the things we have, the things we are given, or the things we buy.

there is way too much of everything in this world and our senses are numb. too much information, technology, junk, toxins, to-do's, stress, madness, yes even pleasures. - too much 'stuff'.

there are now thousands? more? books, seminars, new age philosophies, new psychology, on how to organize, deal with, get rid of, live with, all this 'stuff'.

we are such an accumulating, all consuming, greedy society. and it is showing in the attitudes of the desensitized mini-me's we are having.

we really don't need so much 'stuff'. what we need most is the sharing of ideas, human interaction, community, good network of family and friends, health, time, lots of laughter, joy, good spirit and strong bonds.

'stuff' like that, that we really need, is scarce to too many of us.

as we are all busy busy, doing doing, paying paying blindly into a crazed world of capitalism and consumption that is killing our planet, our consciousness, our sanity...

just another random sub-conscious knowing to put into action.

always restless, never bored.

transitions

well a few more days and i will be back grinding like all my fellow working friends. a year has flown by so fast and i would like another two years. yes just two years :) well maybe three...

it has been a wonderful, overflowing and sometimes trying year. but there were many blissful, cherishing, sweet and pure moments.

elex is transitioning to daycare and it is breaking me. Logically i know all the steps but my emotional mind is illogical. i will buy a lottery today.

it is a bit unnerving when life goes through the different phases ...the transition point is always a bit difficult. that's my stage right now.

it's like an analogy someone used about something else, but is relevant for me now:

to eat chocolate cake or fruit cake? Now who would pick fruit cake when there is chocolate? well doesn't it depend on the cake?

transitions brings some life choices.

Just a story

on March 17 2007 Fred & Kari had a bouncing baby boy. They were over the moon with so much gooey love. Each moment was such joy and wonderment. Fred spend hours on a baby website posting mundane sillyness like each poop baby maddy had or posting a photo of almost each sleeping pose or just describing what each day was like. Kari was adjusting to her changing self in many ways but still in awe at the tiny miracle that needed her so. They were both tired, overwhelmed at times, but so very much in love with him.

A few year went by, and Fred & Kari found out that they could not have any more children.

The tears, anguish and heart wrenching pain was deverstating...

They clung to Maddy with a quiet piercing desperation.

Together but to each, the silence was lonely & deafening.

Happy B-Day Internet!

Apparently April 7 1969 was the birth of the Internet.

RFI1 I think was the first seed. Many debates on the actual day but definite this was the year.

What a fabulous year!

bad day

i would like to be a man today and forever.
yes that would be good.
not the best solution, but there isn't a better model out there yet.
this female thing is a great illusion and our delusion.
the alien that made this counter part should be fired.
it's like windows vista...it sucks.

an english breakfast

ambrey and i made our version of the english breakfast i so loved in london, england.

Yum!

blind faith

i am head over heels for my lovely John Fluevogs! the soles are inscribed:

"blind faith - you need it to see where you are going."

so perfectly fitting for me in my present stand:)

i will run with it!

Simplify

My word & mandra for this year is to simplify. I'm finding it more difficult than I thought... It seems that life nowadays is filled with a billion ways to cluther. One can only avoid temptation to a certain degree. So I am very slowly walking up a downward escalator. I still have lots of will and energy left so things are still hopeful:)
I have just finished a very interesting book by Margaret Atwood called Payback - debt & the shadow side of wealth. It explores the 'psychology' & 'history' of debt in a very intriging way. From mythology to religion to literature to the structure of human society, psychic & vengence.
"debt-is built into the human imgination and is one of it's dynamic metaphors".

It seems more than a manmade structure but instead a shared even animal instinct.

Read it. It's quite fascinating.

This blog write has been submitted using my iPhone. Love it!

horoscope

"Fall not in love, therefore; it will stick to your face."
- National Lampoon
"By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out."
- Richard Dawkins
"The ability to delude yourself may be an important survival tool."
- Jane Wagner

audacity of hope

barack obama is ushering in many things. i would love to be renewed with optimism and idealism again. is it the purple pill? in any case, it is good.

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/3623/125/

monday

Reading made Don Quixote a gentleman. Believing what he read made him mad.
- George Bernard Shaw

india

i was reading maria abagis amazing blog and was reminded of the time i was in india. we were riding in a cab going somewhere, and had a wonderful conversation with the driver who invited us to his home. unusual we thought, but we were intrigue and he was a very warm soul. i remember winding through narrow alley ways like a maze where we finally reached a section where he stopped. Bursting with pride, he introduced us to his family. we were presented with tea and many tasty treats. i cannot recall what we talked about, who we were introduced to, or many details. what i do remember was the amazing feeling of connection and the wonderful time i had experiencing human generosity and camaraderie.

brand spanking new year 2009

i hope you are with many happy moments and the year continues with much wonderfulness.

like every year, my year was full of experiences and learnings. every year, i find that i know less and there is so much more.

a recent heartwarming event happened when we lost ashti's jacket.

************************************************************************************
Mr Mallen and Ms Blight,

I am writing to compliment you on one of your Assistant Managers at the Chapter's at Metrotown.

My daughters and I were shopping on December the 29th, 2008 at the above location. We thought somewhere between the cash register and the Starbucks store, we lost one of my daughter's newly (Christmas) acquired Lululemon jacket with $120 worth of gift cards, some cash, her eye glasses and her cellular phone. These were all the Christmas presents she received this year. Needless to say, she was extremely distraught and in tears. I went back three times in the hopes that someone found and returned her jacket.

On my third visit Theron introduced himself and asked if he could help. He searched again, as the other services representatives did, in the same areas, as well as the office. He suggested that to leave my name and number, just in case anyone else or the cleaners may come across it.

On his way out of the mall in the P2 elevator area, he noticed a black jacket and after investigating realized that it was the jacket I described. (The elevators were not working that night, thus, my daughter Ashti (who has a broken leg and was on crutches), made her way down the stairs while I disassembled the stroller and car seat to take the baby down the stairs. A kindly security guard help me maneuver the stroller and I carried the car seat down the stairs. I am assuming somehow the jacket fell between the floors onto the area where Theron found it.)

I have a very, very happy 12 year old. I commend and am very grateful for Theron's keen observation, his integrity and excellent customer service. Does your establishment have an award program that recognizes this?

We all live in a very busy and sometimes self-absorbed society, where human kindness is often overlooked. Theron's deed has made a big difference, and I hope that it is honored and rewarded.

If there is anything that I may offer to assist this, please let me know. I have offered him a monetary reward which he has refused.

With much warmth and appreciation,
Janice
***********************************************************************************

i have some resolutions for the year, but "simplify" will be my mantra that will direct most of them.

i hope this year is good, full and rewarding for all! i hope you find yourselves surprised and joyed by life. i hope the not so great days are experiences that help you grow and be the persons you would like.

Happy New Year.