yeeouch

I have the mother of all muscle knots in my neck and shoulder,
I'm moving around like Joan Cusack in 16 Candles. Ooooo Halloween costume idea!

and now for you viewing pleasure

trash talk

I never claimed to be a writer and I never will. I write. That is it. I took a look at Naked Without A Pen blog and saw this post: Turning Trash Into Writing and it got me thinking about trash. Walking around my neighborhood quite frequently, me and my dog, Boddington, spy lots of trash, especially considering the main through street has a fast food restaurant at one end. As you would guess, there are lots of discarded fast food bags and wrappers, which probably also accounts for the various bone pieces that Boddie can find anywhere. (Do you know how difficult it is to get a KFC chicken bone out of a dog's mouth? It's not easy, I tell you!) There are the standard roadside trash, like cups and cans, but we have also seen some out of the ordinary trash:

The cap of a fire hydrant in an area that no fire hydrants were missing a cap
A pair of pants, men's, Chinos, khaki
A single marble
Pregnancy tests (two different times, and, no, I don't know the results)
Empty small ziplocks (likely once containing illicit substances)
A plastic army man
The letter "m"
A plethora of losing scratch off tickets (and I mean a plethora)
A single melted crayon, red

You never know what you can find. What oddities have you found roadside?

this blog has the bumby seal of approval*

One of the things I enjoy about blogging, is keeping up with friends, old and new. (Old friends as in friends I've known for a long time...not OLD friends...but them too.) I love getting the chance to glimpse into their lives and I love being able to express myself to them and the web that is world-wide. Sometimes I wonder if this self-indulgent expression is too self-indulgent...then I remember that it is okay to be self-indulgent. Yes it is.

Many years ago, I just couldn't understand why people do this blogging thing, but having always been interested in stories of "everyday people" in memoirs, short stories and documentaries. I realized that reading blogs was an additional opportunity to engage with other everyday people.

Do most people care about what I write about? No, of course not. But for the few that I connect with online, it is worth the online time in the blog-o-sphere. I know I have readers, for people comment on here and on FB, but I also know I have lurkers (hi lurkers *waves enthusiastically*) and every now and then, a lurker will make their presence known which adds to my online connections.

*this blog may or may not truly have the Bumby Seal of Approval. I may or may not have made an assumption of this honor. I do, however, encourage you all to keep up with his tales, tall and otherwise.

one step closer

We are so close to being fully under contract for the house we are trying to purchase. Ideas of interior design have been rolling around in my head. And yes, something WILL be fuchsia, even if it is just the ceiling of a closet. (I always joke that I am tired of being a renter, that if I want to paint the ceiling fuchsia, I want to be able to paint the ceiling fuchsia.) That's the fun part. The not so fun part: moving again...during the winter. We moved from Denver to East Providence the day after the first snowfall of the season. We moved from Rhode Island to NY on a very chilly week in November. I will just have to look at it as an adventure. I wonder how sparse my friends will make themselves on moving day? Maybe an offer of pizza and Irish coffee will be enough to lure them into helping with the move. Hee hee hee

beginner's mind

Shoshin, or beginner's mind, is approaching new things without allowing preconceived ideas influence your learning. It helps you view things for what they are and not what we expect them to be. Today, I am making a conscious effort to approach everything presented to me with a beginner's mind and see what arises. And I will not hold any expectations of what this day will be like...to the best of my ability.

tuesday state of mind

So much on my mind but it is such a tangled ball of yarn, I'll have to be careful around cats today.

I won't bore you with the minutiae of each twist and turn (like that one, Jim?) but my head is filled with goals and house buying
and animal rescuing
and career building
and exercising
and exploring
and arts and crafting
and home redecorating
and all sorts of packing
and various other "-ings" and things.

Sometimes life and so full, it overflows.
And it is good
and brilliant
and joyful.
Even when its a bowl of spaghetti.
With a soy meatless ball on top.

...and this is the tune that's been in my head:


and oddly this one too:

ups and downs and ups again

Life is like performing a beautiful waltz while riding The Zipper at the carnival. Lots of ups and downs and can sure make you dizzy, but ultimately it is beautiful and unique.

i spoke too soon

Post the last post, the stress hit with the home buying process. A slight bump in the road due to different advice from the Realtor and the lawyer. Groovy and I discussed and decided what WE felt comfortable with and got the process moving again. Whew! The stress has subsided a bit but I think I won't be able to fully relax until the contracts are done. Until then, I will keep breathing and asking my guardian angels for some help. Oh, and I am still the Happy House Hunter.

I cannot wait to be settled in our own home... then I can focus on blogging about things that are actually interesting to you, dear readers. What ARE you interested in reading about?

house

The home inspection was complete on Saturday and it looks like some plumbing and electric work needs to be done, the air vent for the dryer needs replacing and the deck may or may not have been built with a permit. There are some other things that can be improved upon but many of which can wait.

We didn't expect perfection and are still interested in moving forward. I am sending the lawyer the report and we will take it from there. It is amazing how quickly this is happening and even more amazing that I am not nervous about this process.

So close to moving above ground!

happy birthday thelonious monk (borrowed text)

It's the birthday of Thelonious (Sphere) Monk, who was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina (1917), but grew up in New York City. He started piano lessons as a kid and by age 13, he had won the weekly amateur night contest at the Apollo Theater so many times that he was no longer allowed to compete. In the '40s he started making recordings, and in the '50s he came out with two of his most popular albums, Brilliant Corners and Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane. His most famous compositions include "Round About Midnight," "Straight No Chaser," "Blue Monk," and "Misterioso." (Text from The Writer's Almanac)

epic sesame street brilliantness

yes, I said brilliantness.

whew!

A beautiful whirlwind of events have lead to potential home ownership. I feel so calm through this whole process. Wait, that is inaccurate. The very first morning after we discussed making an offer, a two minute wave of nervousness hit me when I woke up. Then it passed and this amazing feeling of clarity took hold and has not let go. Things are falling into place.

Groovy and I have been house hunting and researching for close to a year now, going to open houses, online searching home buying info, gathering experiences of friends who have been through the process or are in the real estate business, and looking at areas we can afford that are less likely to have gang gunfire. We considered getting a foreclosure and a 203k loan. We considered small bungalows. We created a list of things we must have, things that would be nice and the "definitely nots" that helped eliminate a bunch of homes we saw. We have taken knowledge passed on to us by our parents over the years to help us make a good choice.

Then we went to the most recent few open houses. We opened our possibilities to an area that we hadn't considered before and were pleasantly surprised. A two bedroom raised ranch. From first in-person glance, something was different about this house compared to all the others we saw. The yard was close to perfect. Just add a fence for the dog and it is ideal. The house is a great size, not too opulent and not too "cozy" (real estate lingo for "small"). Quiet neighborhood where people maintain their properties and no through traffic zooming on by. Everything in good repair and many updates on the house, inside and out. And a price that is within our means.

This house was lovingly taken care of for the past eight years by this nice old man who sadly lost his wife and will be residing with family henceforth. This obviously was truly a home for them. He tended to a sweet little vegetable garden. I can imagine him and his wife sipping tea in the kitchen, enjoying the sun on the patio and sitting in quiet bliss in the living room. I believe we will love this house as much as they must have.

So now we are up to the inspection part of the process. We hired an engineer to check out the home this Saturday and I cannot wait to show this house to my family. I am hoping everything goes well for we might be in our own home before we know it (and can maybe move when it is not snowy out...which is an unfortunate habit we have).

Breathing deep and slow.
Namaste'

feeling groovy

I want to spread little bits of "happy" to unsuspecting strangers.

I choose to smile at people on the street.

I tend to see the humor in things.

I have a habit of finding the good in people and events.

When things keep going wrong, I try to take a deep breath and keep going forward.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I try to behold the beauty in everyone.

I realistically see that everything is certainly NOT all love and light, rainbows and butterflies...but it certainly is not that bad either.

I can be very sensitive and cry at the drop of a hat...even at touching commercials and gift cards. Yeah, I'm that dorky.

monday morning pick me up

While checking in on the infamous Facebook, I spied this video that just made me feel good. Enjoy it for a few minutes:



The house hunt continues and we have found one that makes are hearts go all smiley. Some minor negatives but nothing major that we can see. If it is meant to be we will get it. More details to come but for now, I have a Monday to live.