3 Short Days and 1 Long Day

Dear Followers,

My trek north and back consisted of 3 short days that flew by in the blink of an eye and one long travel day to return south.  In order to get here last night I had to follow an 18 wheeler over a mountain in a snow storm.  No, not really, this is just another one of my metaphors.  My mom likes to tell a story about when we were kids, driving to Florida one February and it started to snow.  We were in Virginia traveling through a mountainous region.  My father started following an 18 wheeler.  My mom suggested stopping somewhere for the night and not continuing on in the snow.  My dad insisted that if the trailer truck was going, he was following.  So off we went up and over the mountain and out of the snow.  The storm brought Roanoke to a halt for 3-4 days, which is where we would have been had we stopped for the night.

(Side note: the reason my mom tells the story is because after following the 18 wheeler my dad said he couldn't believe that truck driver had just risked driving his new rig over that mountain in a snow storm.  Meanwhile, he drove his wife and children over the same mountain in the same snow storm.)

Anyway, when I got to the airport yesterday my flight was cancelled due to the winter storm wreaking havoc in the southeast.  This left me with two choices.  They could put me on the same flight the next day or they could reroute me to an airport about an hour away from my original destination.  Postponing my travel by a day would've given me extra time in the homeland but it would've meant calling out of work today.  (No work, no pay.)  Taking the alternate route added an hour and half of flying and layover time, renting a car and driving an hour to get to my car.  Since I wasn't at all convinced that my original travel route would be anymore accessible today and one day could easily become two, I chose to drive my 18 wheeler over the mountain in the snow storm. It was a long day though given the circumstances, everything went well and safely.  After collecting my car and then Jak, I arrived home at 10pm last night no worse for the wear.

If I didn't get to see you this trip, I just ran out of time.  The good news is, that puts you on the priority list for my next trip (which is unplanned at the moment and will most likely not be during snow season).  I'm thankful I had the opportunity to go.  In a lot of ways it was like no time had passed.  It also felt different to be back, still home but not currently home.  Or maybe my home away from home. 

The weather today has been cool and rainy, though upper 70's are predicted for the weekend.  Since it was 16 degrees when I got on the plane yesterday I like to think today's weather is just easing me back into the warmer weather.  Best not to shock my system.

Until next time...

Peace, Love & Stay Warm,
Hope

What is Grace?

Hello Friends,

Today I am pondering this question.  What is grace, really?  It's one of those words that feels know as well as being lofty and big, kind of like hope, but I'm not sure that I've ever took the time to consider what it actually means. 
Insert dictionary definition here:

grace

noun

1. elegance or beauty of form, manner, motion, or action: 

2. a pleasing or attractive quality or endowment: 

3. favor or goodwill. 

4. a manifestation of favor, especially by a superior

5. mercy; clemency; pardon

 

In my metaphoric mind, I have decided that grace is the spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down. The reason this has been on my mind is because someone who has been a part of my life for many years recently got some tough news about her health.  I have been in awe of how she is handling it with what I would describe as grace.  Her updates always include how nice the doctors and nurses are to her and that she feels comfortable in their care.  It pulls at my heart strings to see someone, when faced with unpleasant news can still see past it to see the good in others.  If that isn't grace, I don't know what is.

 

This weekend I will be making a brief visit to the home state.  To see family and friends and especially the above mentioned person because sometimes a real in person hug is the best medicine.  There's no way I will be able to see everyone in a few short days so please don't take it personally if I breeze through like a whisper in the wind.  I'm thankful that I've been able to work it out with Jak care (he'll be cared for by his great aunt) and with my job (by only taking off minimal time) and with a plane ticket (thanks Mom!).  I've been looking at the weather and with highs predicted to be in the teens I can't say I'm thrilled to be visiting in winter.  However, as the theme song to one of my all time favorite Disney World attraction says, now is the time.  And so now I will go.

 

Until next time...

Be good to each other.  Hugs and laughter really are the best medicine.

 

Peace, Love & Grace,

Hope

In Another's Eyes

Good Day Friends, Family and Anyone Reading This,

Jak has been dancing around for the past few minutes trying to get my attention.  As I was trying to figure out what he wanted (go out, his ball, food), I caught a glimpse of my reflection in his eye.

If you look close you can see me here, holding my camera.  If you look even closer you'll see I'm wearing sweats and a skull cap on this chilly morning.  Aside from lazy day off morning attire, seeing myself got me thinking about a concept that has always fascinated me.  How others perceive me.

Now to be clear, this is not an ego driven curiosity about my physical appearance, I'm talking about as a person -who I am underneath the skin.  A few months into my current job, someone asked if I have kids.  No.  The response was, you'd make a great mother.  Right there, that perception.  What is it about me working at a coffee shop that makes someone else think I'd be a good parent.  Tell me more.  I want to know because it is not necessarily a way in which I see myself.

On the flip side of this concept, I also wish there was a way for others to see themselves through our eyes.  I think as humans we spend too much time beating ourselves up over little stuff.  If just for a second we could see what others see there would be more compassion in the world.  We would know we are doing way better than we think.  That we are more beautiful, more loving, more kind and more caring than we allow ourselves to believe. 

Maybe the lesson for me here is to absorb and appreciate those glimpses at myself in another's eyes.  And to find a way to share my perceptions with others because it is meaningful to me when I hear them. 

Perhaps the universal lesson is stop kicking ourselves in the ass.  We are all putting one foot in front of the other each day, the best way we know how to.  And when someone is kind enough to share how well they perceive you, listen.  Really hear it and appreciate it.

Until next time...
Peace & Love, Love, Love,
Hope

Birthday Week Commences Now

Hello World,

Look who is turning 37 today...

Yup, that is correct, it would be me!  A few years back I saw in an interview with Carrie Underwood in which she talked about not just celebrating one day for her birthday, she celebrates a whole week.  I like the idea so for the past few years I have adopted this custom.  Today I am having breakfast with a friend from work, maybe going to see a movie and hitting the dog beach later in the day.  Who knows what the rest of the week will bring?!?

Last night, I was feeling too tired to sleep (I got up at 3:30am to be at work for 5am) so I was having a cup of tea in a mug that my mom sent me before going to bed.  I realized that not only is the mug in line with my word for the year, it also pertains to my post about planting seeds of hope.

Earlier this week it got downright cold here.  It dropped below freezing at night.  This meant that Jak and I spent a few days entertaining some house guests.

This is one of my four tomato plants and they have come to far to risk them being hit with a frost.  It was sort of funny driving around here on those cold days.  Everyone's yards looked like refugee camps with old blankets and sheets covering plants and fruit trees.  I started to go that route but it was windy and I didn't want to take the chance of the sheet blowing away during the night.  They were low maintenance guests so it all worked out just fine.  And when it started to warm up Wednesday morning I kicked them all back out.  Except Jak.  The weather today is predicted to be in the upper 60's.  Anyone who knows the history of me and snow on birthday will understand how happy I am that it won't be happening here today.

The other day I took a few minutes to decorate my front door, outside this time, for Valentine's Day.  My colleagues have kindly taken to saving gift cards for me and in the second picture you will see that one was even personalized just for me.

Well peeps, this day is waiting for me to get out there and get it started.  Even though you aren't here to celebrate it with me, feel free to go out and celebrate anyway.  On this day, hope arrived in the world.  Party on!

Until next time...
Peace & Love,
Hope

Planting Seeds

Greetings One and All,

Happy 2014!  It's hard to believe we are already four days into the new year.  I don't think I've had reason to hand write the date yet so perhaps that makes it surreal for me.

This morning while I was out tending my plants, I was thinking about the process and how I started this project back in early November.  In keeping with my word for 2014 I realized that planting seeds is really planting hope.  Believing that the seeds will grow into new life, nurturing them as they develop and eventually bear the fruit of the labor.  Not everything that I planted grew.  Not everything that we hope for happens.  However without the hope that it all would grow, I wouldn't have planted anything. 

 

Yesterday was a chilly day here.  I think it got up to about 45 degrees.  Since the heat in my apartment is reportedly functioning at its best which in my mind is equivalent to producing cold air, I purchased a small space heater.  If I could use the apartment heat effectively it's electric anyway so I'm no worse off financially by using an electric space heater.  And really I just need it to take the chill out.  The weather today is mid 60's and predicted to be even warmer tomorrow.  Next week more cold is in the forecast but warming up again by week's end.  I knew when I moved here that every day in the winter would not be 80's degrees, however there is a chance it could be.  Back in the home state it was 8 degrees and snowy yesterday. No thank you, I'm all set with that.

Today I will leave you with a quote I just read from Elizabeth Gilbert because I believe in the essence of what she said.  "Don't let people throw vitriol at you & try to get away with it by calling themselves "truth-tellers". Honesty needs kindness to be a virtue."

Honesty does need kindness or else it is just hate in disguise.  Be good to yourself.  Be good to each other.
Love always wins.

Until next time...
Peace & Love,
Hope