Thought for the day

“You are here to enable the divine purpose of the universe to unfold.
That is how important you are!“

— Eckhart Tolle

Welcome!

I’m starting my Christmas 2007 list early and have this magnet at the top of the list. She’s just so damn cheery! I love her. I want to be her.

This is a test, this is only a test.

Had this been an actual blog post, you would have been instructed on how to actually read the blasted thing. Since this post is only a figment of your imagination, please disregard it and go back to whatever you were doing.

The Tao of Yoda

Is it spring yet?

Brrrrrrrrr. Looks like it’s chilly all over folks (at least for those who are sharing my continent), so wherever you are, I hope that you are warm and toasty and enjoying all the good things life has to offer.

I decided the other day when I didn’t want to leave my warm bed to head to work that people should take a lesson from bears and spend the winter hibernating. Babs thinks it’s a great idea, and, as we are all learning, what she thinks matters, dammit.

(As a complete aside, you’ll hopefully get a chuckle to know that Shuck’s sold Jon the wrong battery for my car yesterday. Babs tactfully told us that that’s what we got for going to Shuck’s. It’s not like she didn’t warn us.)

One wonderful thing about winter, though, is that it contains my favorite holiday of the year. That’s right woodchuck-chuckers. Groundhog Day!

If anyone’s planning on heading up to Punxsutawney next month, please take pictures. I know it can’t be as fun as the movie, but it’s on the Things To Do Before I Die list that I’ve been working on.

Until I’m actually able to go to Punxsutawney, though, and since I won’t be skiing this year thanks to the Butterscotch horse that is sitting in my living room collecting dust, I will just dream of spring and wish that I could hibernate the way the bears do. They’re on to something, I tell ya.

Photo credit goes to gaposh617 on Flickr. Great stuff! Excellent pick-me-ups for winter.

When I get home

It’s not uncommon for Jon or me to tear up when we’re on the phone with Little Jon. As far as kids go, he is one of the sweetest souls (if not the sweetest) I have ever met.

So when he asked to talk to me on the phone last night and loudly told his mother that he was “talkin’ to An-jew-la!” I knew that I was ready to have him here and wrapped in a big bear hug.

He is not as talkative as Babs, so I normally find myself prompting him quite a bit with questions. He is, after all, only three, and for being just three, he does a hell of a good job on the phone.

Last night, though, I didn’t need to prompt him. He went on and on about his trains, the Ant Bully and the pirate ship we’re going to play on when he gets here.

“When I see my Daddy, I going a run to him in da airport. An he gonna run to me, too.”

“Yes, sweetie. He is.”

“An I gonna hug him.”

“He’s going to hug you, too. We love you.”

“Yeah.”

“And Smokey loves you.”

“Yeah . . . Smokey like to play ball.”

“Yes, Smokey loves to play ball. Will you play with him when you get here?”

“Yeah. I play wid him. I play wid him when I get home.”

At this point, I started to tear up, and Jon got that look on his face, you know the one. The one that made me turn my head away from him and put my attention back to the little one on the phone.

We spoke for a few more minutes, and I passed the phone back to Jon.

There are times when I feel like a failure, like the things I’ve done in my life that have received recognition really don’t mean that much and the things that mean everything I haven’t done so well at.

But when I hear that little boy’s voice, and he tells me that he knows his Daddy loves him, I have a respite from the mother guilt that is too present in my life, and I get to breathe deeply of this little boy’s love and spirit.

For him — and for Jon — I have made a difference, and I am grateful to have been in his life. It helps make up for all the other stuff. Someday soon, maybe I’ll get to go home, too.

More stuff that is too good not to share

With thanks to Deepak for posting this on his blog. Excellent reminders for 2007.

When I Asked God for Strength

He Gave Me Difficult Situations to Face

When I Asked God for Brains & Brawn

He Gave Me Puzzles in Life to Solve

When I Asked God for Happiness

He Showed Me Some Unhappy People

When I Asked God for Wealth

He Showed Me How to Work Hard

When I Asked God for Favors

He Showed Me Opportunities to Work Hard

When I Asked God for Peace

He Showed Me How to Help Others

God Gave Me Nothing I Wanted

He Gave Me Everything I Needed

– Swami Vivekananda

Mixing it up

Last night, during what I can only describe as the dearthiest dearth of good television I perhaps have ever seen, Jon and I stumbled across a video clip of Posh Spice posing for pictures in the airport with her husband.

“Like we really give a crap about Posh Spice,” Jon said. (Maybe I said it, though. Memory. It’s a crazy thing.)

“I know, huh?” I replied in typical fashion. “I was only minutely interested because I thought for a second that it was Angelina Jolie.”

“Brangelina?”

“Yeah.”

So that led to a discussion about what our name would be if this small-town community actress and this not-so-small-town guitar player were unlucky enough to be branded by the general populous.

“Angelon?”

“No, Jongela.”

“Eeew. Sounds like a cross between gondola and gonorrhea. Nasty.”

“I like it.”

Thank God we’re not famous.

Hence, a new hair color

File this one under Things My Husband Should Keep to Himself.

“Does she like her hair that color?” said my mother-in-law to her son.

No, actually, no I don’t, but it’s one of those things wives do when their husband’s say, “Ooooooh, I like that.”

Sheesh.

And now for a word from our sponsor

If anyone finds my stapler, I’d like to have it back, please. Oh, and cake. I didn’t get any last time because I was told to just keep passing.