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February 27, 2004

deep - well, maybe not so much

I find myself in an interesting state these days. No, I don't mean Illinois. I mean more a state of deep reflection - or maybe not so deep. A state of sincere longing, but I'm not quite sure for what. Which is my normal state in any case. Where am I going? Wha?

I find myself moving in and out of focus mentally - emphasis on the "out." The in-focus moments are fleeting and oh-so-short. And the out-of-focus moments (hours, really) leave me with a feeling of longing. And exasperation/frustration at times. Like those dreams in which you are trying to run away from something but it's as though you are moving through molasses or have 50 pound weights affixed to each of your limbs. Yeah, that feeling. Yuck. Double yuck. It makes you understand why toddlers throw tantrums out of sheer frustration because you cannot understand what they are trying to say in their own special language. I'd scream and throw a fit too.

I know - I'm being vague. That's pretty much what it's like in my head.

So this indicates to me that despite my best efforts to take a few days off to rest - which I madly enjoyed with my girls CharlaMarla and Faithie in Pensacola, even though it rained during our "off" days - I feel the need to book a ticket for me, alone, to some far-off locale with mountains, climb one of those mountains, and sit at the top. For a long time. And just contemplate. And breathe. Deeply. Where do we go from here?

I had several fantastic, dare I say life-altering conversations in the past week or so that have left me in awe of humanity. Particularly women, but ultimately all of humanity. First, with my man Sina. I can never learn enough from this guy. This will probably embarrass him, but he'll get over it. And then with Rebequa. There was something she said, which of course I cannot remember in whole, that really moved me. To tears. It moved me because it spoke to my heart and my heart sighed, "Yes, I feel that." When I can more fully remember, I'll share. I promise.

And finally, Skye. What a triumphant spirit. She is truly an angel who walks this earth. And her tribulations have left her pure, in a way. Pure in the way that a glass is crystal clear and faithfully reflects all the good liquid inside. No spots left from the dishwasher, no scratches - just pure. Good stuff, and very inspiring.

We are all given certain precious gifts - the kind of gifts that cannot easily be learned or acquired. It is indeed a tragedy when we do not allow them to find their full expression because of what others might think or what we perceive is expected of us in various roles or times in our life.

So, I guess I'm longing for fulfillment of sorts. Hopefully that too will come.

February 20, 2004

great leaps and bounds in randomness

Check out Anthony, Texas and their leap year celebrations. I read about this on the plane the other day and it just cracked me up. Can you imagine if we had celebrations like this every four years? So cool!

Kind of like Ayyam-i-Ha, in a way. At least the multi-day celebration part of it. I love this time of year - Ayyam-i-Ha is just about the only redeeming quality to February. Maybe this year there will be another redeeming quality, but I can't talk about that right now. Tee hee.

But back to Ayyam-i-Ha, check this out too - lots of cool resources and fun stuff!! I really love this Baha'i holiday.

And oh, did I mention Paulie and I (and family) just received possible dates for going on pilgrimage in the mail! WOO HOO! 2005 to 2006 are gonna rock!

If you're unsure what the fuss is about, just ask me. Ok, back to my meeting...

February 19, 2004

oh - and also furthermore in addition

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FARREN!!

And yes, I'm traveling again. I'm in Pensacola for a fantastic meeting of the minds, spirits and hearts. It rocks already.

This after having just come back from the fabulous NEBY Fest in Stamford, CT. Lacey, Richard, Andrew and I had a blast, not to mention we worked our tails off. It was so great, I can't even tell you. See photos on bahaiyouth.com which is also looking rather fabulous these days.

I actually had time to do laundry in between trips. How about that.

And now it's my brother's birthday. I called him to sing Happy Birthday earlier today, but I haven't heard back from him yet. Perhaps he's sleeping in. Hee hee.

angels do exist

My husband is an angel at times. Recently, it has been more often than not. How lucky for me!

The other morning, he spent an hour waiting for me to finish packing (a process that has an instruction manual that accompanies it) so that he could take me to the airport and say goodbye to me in person. Smooches and all. Aw.

The night before that, he cooked a special dinner just for me - coconut shrimp with an AMAZING dipping sauce, broiled salmon and rice pilaf. FABULOUS!

The night before that, he stayed up later than usual to watch last week's TV shows and snuggle together on the couch. Again, aw.

These may seem rather mundane, and perhaps they are on the surface. But they are all outside of Paulie's comfort zone - or, perhaps more accurately, they indicate that Paulie's comfort zone has expanded.

It's good for our comfort zones to expand from time to time. I'm glad I get to benefit from his latest growth spurt.

And I love him madly.

February 12, 2004

and on and on

Valentine's Day, shmalentine's day. I will be out of town this weekend - but just as well since Paul and I don't particularly celebrate this holiday as a regular part of our calendar. Believe me - there's plenty of love that goes around the rest of the year, especially on our birthday. But for whatever reason, we just don't get all "lovey dovey" about Feb 14. Could be that it's just our rebellious nature. Could be that we find plenty of other times all year long to say "I love you" and "There's no one I'd rather be with than you" or whatever.

Blech, though. The only thing I've ever really loved about cupid's day is people tend to be nicer to you in public.

Or whatever. What I'd like to see are more holidays like "Spontaneous Day Off From Work Day" or the ever-popular "Celebrate Your Favorite Dinosaur Day." Or how about "Day of Redundant Things Day" or "Blue and Orange Day." This last one would be Paulie's favorite holiday as most of his favorite sports teams are blue and orange.

But I digress. If you feel the need to spend all kinds of cash to get your freak on this weekend, have fun. Just save some dark chocolate for me, will ya?

February 09, 2004

primal screaming can commence now

I have my own list of four-letter words, you know. And very few of them actually have only four letters. They are, in no particular order:

stress
cheese
stress
milk
oreo
donut
stress
cramps
cold
time
late
stress

There are some common themes on which you have no doubt picked up.

Now, I don't use them the way people often use (and abuse) four-letter words. However, they have an incredibly negative impact on my being and therefore are four-letter words.

I am predicting this week is going to be full of four-letter words. But I'm no astrologer.

February 08, 2004

on a more positive note

Spending time with friends rocked this weekend. Between women's night on Friday, which was fabulously fun and riotous, baby shower for Hoda on Saturday, and shopping with Mojan Rouge on Sunday and finding some bargains, it just rocked.

Check out super half-off sales at Lord and Taylor and Loehmann's in addition to everyday bargains at TJ Maxx and Jewel.

Good stuff.

February 05, 2004

a quickie

Rundown:

Blog was broken.

Lacey is super fix-it woman.

Mayhem will soon ensue. (insert sinister laugh here)

Stay tuned.