I'll be around

First, I want to thank you for the lovely birthday wishes. We had a wonderful time together as a family this weekend. Unfortunately the hotel pool was closed so we changed some of our plans. However, Chicklet had a blast Saturday night at Chuck E Cheese playing the firefighter game (she completed all levels) and skee-ball and we made it back safely after a 6 hour drive yesterday.

Unfortunately, I came home to some not so good news for a member of my family. Thankfully it isn't a health issue and since that's the most important, I'm hoping this situation is for the good.

Looks like I'm going to be a busy girl this month and I'm not sure just how often I'll be posting. I will however try and visit as much as I can.

I leave you a "huh?" moment I had last month when I drove by the home improvement store and saw this...

Showing you... a room with a view

And the challenge continues. Robert from Thoughts of a Father has been hosting a fantastic photo challenge, asking us to show everyone something different everyday. Today (Day 5), he's asked us to share our favourite view from anywhere in our "home".

I have three...

The first one that pops in my head is quite simply a view that I can gaze upon anywhere my daughter is. Watching her is my favourite pastime. Looking into her eyes when we're engaged in conversation, the way she cocks her head when she's doing her homework, the determined look on her face when she's attempting to master a new skill, those precious few minutes first thing in the morning when I enter her room and she's still sleeping - the top of her head peeking out from under her beloved magenta plush blanket. And her smile... *sigh*

THAT gets me everytime.

The second is when I'm "home", with my Honey. It's that view from my pillow, the one where I see him for the first time in the morning and I know all's well with the world.

Those first two are fleeting moments that live in my mind's eye... and that belong to me.

Here are the loves of my life... taken at the Georgia Aquarium this summer.

Now, for the actual photo sharing part associated with The Challenge...

The third view I love is the "traditional one". A vista that no matter how many years go by, and however changing the sky is, it's familiar and comforting. It's the sky from either my Chicklet's bedroom window (which used to be mine growing up) or when I stand on the front porch at dusk.

Over the years, the treeline has changed. Some were cut. Others have grown tall and strong... and a multitude of colours and clouds have come and gone.

From my Chicklet's window we can watch the fireworks on Canada Day.

At dusk we look up to see the colours play in the clouds.



And sometimes, if you look hard enough, you can actually see a heart shaped cloud.



Guess love really is in the air.

Don't forget to head on over to Thoughts of a Father, visit Robert and through the magic of Mr Linky you can view other lovely views that speak to the heart of my fellow participants (some truly cool folks I'm glad I'm getting a chance to get to know).

Tomorrow? Something that soothes my soul and helps me relax.

summer bliss

I sat down to my computer for a few minutes thinking that it would be nice to visit a few folks out in the blogosphere. And after visiting the extremely talented Charles, I popped over to Lana's (his lovely bride).

She had the most peaceful video of the rain that had fallen on her little part of heaven on earth (heaven on earth always includes one's love, doesn't it *winks at Lana*). Just as I was leaving a comment, the skies opened up and... you guessed it: RAIN!

It's odd, as the clouds that came with the migraine left me... rain clouds rinsed everything clean here around our house.

It was lovely and refreshing! The only thing that could have made it better was if my Honey had been holding me under that rain. Tendrils of hair sticking to my cheeks, water landing and tethering on my eyelashes, gentle drops cooling my skin, soft slow kisses and a tender embrace... and a giggle or two. The promise of shared passion.

When you were a child, did you ever run out into a summer rain in your bathing suit to play? It was one of my favourite things to do. Still is...


"Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby."
- Langston Hughes

What I did last weekend... (the tame version)

A lot of stuff has been happening in my little circle of friends lately and although some of it is good, there's too much of a disturbance in the force.

First the good stuff:

1- Happy Birthday to The Man with The Big Leather Couch! Enjoy your day. I know it would be far more special if Matt was there, but you know as well as I do that we always carry our children with us no matter where we go and what we do.
In your honor and in keeping with your weekend birthday extravaganza, have a little tuneage...

2- I met my friend Jo this weekend. YAY!!! My Honey (who was so sweet letting the girls gab and catch up and picked up the tab for it) and I drove into Toronto and picked her up in front of Union Station. We went to dinner and although the wait for our food had us wondering if they were actually hatching and raising the chicken for Honey's dinner, we had a lovely time. We then headed for the Beaches area of Toronto for a lovely walk on the boardwalk and some easy conversation. The weather was fantastic and no, I didn't stick my toes in the sand (I know Songbird... WTF! *giggle*).

3- And yeah.. I was home for the weekend. Bliss. Before meeting Jo, we took a romantic walk along the water on the western part of the boardwalk. There was a Paddle Festival (I can see you perking up there Vince, but no, not that kind of paddle *snicker*), the colours were amazing and all manner of people were milling about.



Now for the not-so-good stuff:

1-I wasn't around enough to help my friend, and that sucks. I kept getting cut off on the train, who knew cell phone reception sucks when you're zipping about on the rails.

2-I found out when I got home late last night that my friend Julie's father-in-law is having major health issues. *keeping fingers and toes crossed*

3-And my friend Travis is in a funk, which I can't fix, but would like to.

4- Oh... and I had to leave the bliss of my Honey's arms to come back to the daily grind as it exists now.

For Turnbaby... I love you my friend.

"Courage, it would seem, is nothing less than the power to overcome danger, misfortune, fear, injustice, while continuing to affirm inwardly that life with all its sorrows is good; that everything is meaningful even if in a sense beyond our understanding; and that there is always tomorrow."

- Dorothy Thompson

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. "
- Theodore Roosevelt, From a speech given in Paris at the Sorbonne in 1910

Dona Nobis Pacem

My dear friend and kindred spirit Mimi has invested so much of her heart and soul in this day, in these globes she has been collecting. And I love her dearly. I must be worthy of my Queen and such a noble cause.

I thought long and hard about today. I thought: "I should post something profound and inspired and wordy". Thoughts that are torture to someone like me, the non-writer. Thoughts that cause anxiety. What if... I mean... There's the distinct possibility that I'll fall short of such a monumental task. We ARE talking about bringing peace to the world, people. THE WORLD! PEACE! MOI! With a POST! *whimper* Some words I write and send out into cyberspace are meant to reach others, set off a chain reaction and inspire PEACE. -This is the point at which I start to hyperventilate and desperately look for something to keep me busy that will give me an excuse to step away from the blinking cursor (curse... how appropriate...) and my total and utter brain freeze (I have brain freeze, writers have writers' block, I have brain freeze and I didn't even get to eat some ice cream - how unfair!).

How? How do I pull this off? Me!

Think Anndi...

OK

What it all comes down to is...

Love.

Her love for her Papa and his love for her, that's how this started. A love she then shared with us all, so very eloquently and generously.

Such small gestures can make a difference... and no one is too small to impact the world. Even a few words sent out into cyberspace. Setting off a chain of events. One small marble touching another after it is cast... Like in a child's game.

"If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room."
- Anita Koddick

So... I thought I'd bring you someone else's words. These are WAY better than anything I could have come up with.

Mother Theresa said it best...

"What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family."

That's exactly it.

Home... Love... Family...

Peace!



Thank you, Mims... for everything.

Love you my friend!

what I want...

Home...

New beginnings...

This blog came about because of changes that needed to be made in my life. I stopped posting here for a bit, going back to the familiarity of the old blog I used to call home.

June is before us, and a year ago last June I made the best decision of my life. I came to a realization about what the path forward was to be. So, I'm back here, the new home blog, the transition towards where I ultimately want to be. I will bring with me some of the silliness, the irreverance, the good parts that the old blog held.

The truth is, in order to be happy, I have to make some monumental changes in my life.

My Honey is in Alabama. My home is in his heart and he is in mine. I want to go home. We've lived the long distance relationship for a long time now. I was afraid for a while we would never make it work and I denied my heart's true desire.

So... I have to make a very drastic change. In order to go home, I have to move thousands of miles. People do it every day, right? Should be easy, right?

But I need my daughter and I can't make a move without her. For seven years, it's been the two of us with people acting as satellites, but no one ever truly made an effort to be a part of our family, until my Honey. And although her father left us and moved into the city, leaving me to be the primary caregiver, how do I move her so far away from him? Chicklet asks me when my Honey and I will get married. She knew even before meeting him last year. She is aware of the implications.

I'm an only child... with one living parent... how do I move and not feel like I'm a bad daughter abandonning an elderly parent? Not being physically close.

I'm not really asking you to tell me what I should do. I have to trust my heart and find my way. I do want to thank Turnbaby (it's her birthday) who was the first friend to follow me here for always encouraging me to grab on to love and let my heart lead.

"Paradise is always where love dwells."
~ by Jean Paul F. Richter ~