In-House Matinee

Today I did something great.

OK.  I did a lot of “great” things like finding a way to get all of the ornaments off the tree and back into the same number of storage bins, a couple loads of laundry, some dishes, brushing Poofus without losing some flesh…see?  A lot of great things.  The greatest though?  Taking 90 minutes of the day to sit on the sofa and watch Princess Bride from start to finish.  No reason why other than the impulse hit and I kept snickering at all the great quotations that PB fans all say back and forth to one another like:

            “Have fun stormin’ the castle!”

“There’s a shortage of perfect breasts in the world.  It’d be a shame to damage yours.”

“Inconceivable!”

“As you wish.”

I could go on.

            “Anybody want a peanut?”

Sorry. 

Anyway, this film is a classic!  It gave Robin Wright her start before that soap opera “Santa Barbara” and before Sean Penn.

It brought Columbo out for a new generation to take note.

It shows Fred Savage in his pinchable-cheek youth.

It gave us memes to cover our social network walls.

 I have picture of my husband in this costume from a wedding he officiated for a lovely young couple.

It gave us the all time greatest sword fight scene.

I saw an interview about this sequence.  They practiced during breaks and finally showed Rob Reiner the 3 minutes they came up with.  He said, "That's it?" They beat the longest ever filmed sword fight as a result, but as you see here, the final cut was only...3 minutes!

 It gave us romance, revenge, monsters, and miracles. 

It gives us a smile every time we watch it.  Therefore, I simply said to my husband that I wanted to watch it. 

And we did.

And we laughed.  We said lines along with it. We sang “Storybook Love” along karaoke style at the end. 

 Thank you Mark Knopfler.  Who knew that voice matched this image?  Great name Willy DeVille.  

Sometimes a little time out for a classic movie that you adore just completes an afternoon.  It certainly kept my spirits high on this gorgeous, sunny, January Saturday.  I've watched this movie countless times, and I will watch it many more.  I smile every time.

TGIFB

Thank the gods it's Friday beer!
That's right.  Today's post is about that first hoppy slurp of a delicious beer that heralds in the weekend.  Today's beer is Jubeale: a festive winter ale.  How lovely is that?

My brother in law also makes his own beer.  I am positively giddy that he will offer up some of his tasty stash tonight.  It wasn't quite ready for New Year's, but he thought perhaps it'd be good to go this weekend.  Here's crossing fingers and toes.
In college, we were poor as so many students are.  We also spent a lot of free money on alcohol.  Also a common trait of college students who just recently turned 21 are prone to do.  In college, we bought beer by the suitcase.  Keystone became our favorite because it was so stinkin' cheap.  Tasted..well...like bitter water honestly.  We could afford it though, so it became a staple for weekends.

Thankfully, I stopped drinking that *ahem brew because a doctor told me I was probably allergic to it. NOOOOOOOOO!

I of course then joined the Big Sky Hash House Harriers and quickly returned to imbibing beer of a much higher quality.

Please note that my tongue is firmly planted in my cheek.  Miller Lite is a step up from Keystone...if you trip and fall back down again.

If you don't know what the Hash House Harriers are, Google it people.  Think--drinking club with a running problem.  Essentially it was a lot like a fraternity of people who enjoyed beer, running (I walked because nothing is worse than running when it comes to exercise), and violating just about every politically correct behavior known in society.  We drank a lot of beer.  We sang a lot of inappropriate and mostly sexual in connotation songs.  We ate a lot of pizza and BBQ and burgers.  We had a lot of fun.  Great people, great times.  Alas!  Many of them moved on as those of the military must from time to time.  However, I still adore each and every member of that club.  I simply cannot enjoy a beer without smiling about those times.  So many wonderful people and so much beer!

Anyway, I will leave you with our blessing prayer:

Our lager,
Which art in barrels,
Hallowed be thy drink.
Thy will be drunk, (I will be drunk),
At home as it is in the tavern.
Give us this day our foamy head, 
(BSHHH, you know what to do here.)
And forgive us our spillages,
As we forgive those who spill against 
us.
And lead us not to incarceration,
But deliver us from hangovers.
For thine is the beer, the bitter, and 
the lager.



Barmen

Fun Sock Day

Today’s happy actually began last night.

Perhaps it was the lack of sleep.

Maybe it was the TED talks series on artistry and illusion I watched last night.

Then again, it could just be a fetish.

I LOVE FUNKY SOCKS!    Today my husband and I declared “Fun Sock Day.”  He wore Batman and I wore a lovely pair of knee socks with a knee length denim skirt.  Both pairs were Christmas presents. 

My appreciation of strange socks began in high school.  It continued in college thanks to the support of my family and their gifts.  Once an adult, I began to expand and discovered toe socks like these:

I love how the NYE purple Monster High nailpolish shows through.

Once I started on toe socks, I couldn’t stop.  I then moved on to knee socks like these luscious argyles:

Fun fact: these were actually purchased as part of a Velma from Scooby Doo Halloween costume.

Eventually I even added these to my collection:

Fun fact #2: I love pairing one of these with one of the Velma socks for Clash Day at work.

Anyone who knows me knows I detest pink.  However, I couldn’t resist the obvious clash of melon and fuchsia.  Too awesome to discount simply because pink is the anti-Christ of the color world. 

Fun socks can also be artistic like these Laurel Burch socks I picked up in Bozeman, MT a few years back:

The best part?  I posted this declaration of Fun Sock Day on my Facebook wall and some of my friends joined in.  Woot!  Some with the “I have a ton of fun socks” and some with the worry of the argyle not being fun enough.  Argyle?  Always fun.  Just like paisley and houndstooth in my opinion.  Polkadots too.  Anyway—my favorite though was one young lady who posted her rainbow toe socks for everyone to see.  Totally made my day! 

Here’s to Fun Sock Day!  

Those are moose fronts and butts in case you're wondering.

Gnarly Grumblies

Today’s moment of happy provided quite the stretch.  It seemed insurmountable.  The summit of this task proved daunting.  How was I ever to make the happiness happen when I slept for less than four hours and I had to return to work after a vacation?  Yet—it happened.

Here I thought my title was clever.  Then this image came up in a search for "grumblies." *sigh  Great pic right?

Granted if not for a healthy dose of coffee the gnarly grumblies might have bested me.  However, I did indeed find a way to persevere.

I made a Top Ten List of reasons why I was glad to be back at work.  It included items like “another chance to be my best” and “no Mayan apocalypse.”  Then I did a little writing about an awesome event from the break followed by either a funny, unfortunate, or embarrassing event.  Each time a group did this activity at work today, I shared a different set of events from my own break.  I even made myself think of more awesome details when people asked how my vacation was.  Once my drowsy cobwebs cleared and I had two hours back in action, I admit—it definitely felt better than draggin’ my heels and wallowing in the pity party to which I could’ve succumbed. 

Top Ten Lists come in handy everywhere!  Even in Wayne's World.

As I shared my stories, my spirits lifted, but what was truly inspiring was listening to other people tell me of their stories.  One person went to Belize over the vacation.  Did you know almost all of the food in Belize is grown locally by Mennonites?  Another person just met her uncle for the first time over the holidays.  No elaboration but it deeply affected her from her demeanor.  Then another person said he and his cousins wanted to play basketball, but the court was covered in snow.  They decided to shovel all the snow and play a little freezing temperature ball at the park.  Can you imagine? 

These rare moments when I can really make a personal connection keep me going sometimes.  Seeing people as the individuals with depth and dimension rather than numbers and graphs and statistics reminds me of all that is important.  The insight I gather gets tucked away for future reference.  I wish I had more chances for this kind of activity and understanding.  For now though, it sustained me through the first day back.

There you have it: a daily dose of happy from a sleep-deprived, grumpy-butt person just tryin’ to get through the day.  

And So It Begins...

Happy 2013!

As many people have done in the past and will continue to do in the future, I started the year with a gentle and loving kiss with my husband.  I love the New Year’s kiss.  I really just love kissing in general, but on New Year’s with my Snugglebunny it holds a wee bit higher status for me.  I had no idea why this tradition came about, so I went hunting for answer and found more than I bargained for.

Among other and sometimes stranger NYE traditions of course is the Spanish tradition of eating 12 grapes—one for each toll of the clock at midnight.  This is for good luck.  My nephew upon learning of the tradition reached a different conclusion.  He saw it as a way to have healthy bowels. Really.  You see, he knows grapes make him poop; therefore 12 grapes to start the new year means his intestinal health will prosper.    Oy!  There’s also the direction of the wind idea for New Year’s.  I personally was unfamiliar with this tradition.  Apparently the direction of wind foretells the upcoming year’s events.  For those in my area where this morning’s winds were from the northwest, I am truly sorry.  Luckily it’s just superstition, right?  For some, the food’s the thing.  Black eyed peas, greens and cornbread baby!  I didn’t realize this one had so many variations, but yummy about sums it up!  Now I’m hungry and I have more write.

Back to the kiss.

Did you know that it isn’t just the person you date or married that you should kiss?  The midnight kiss is a ward against “a year of coldness and lack of affection.”  Whew!  Dodged that one.  However, it need not be a human you kiss.  According to one survey, more people will kiss a pet on NYE than a human!  A gender gap exists here; women are four times more likely to spend NYE with a pet than a man.  In that same article it is apparently a political choice as well with Dems spending NYE with a pet more than Repubs do.  Historians though do trace the practice of the kiss back to Romans.  What didn’t come from the Romans when it comes to celebration practices right?  Anyway, Saturnalia apparently did give rise to the New Year’s kiss as did the English and Germans who held masked balls.  They used the removal of the mask for a kiss as a way to rid evil spirits from the new year as well as setting the tone for your relationships that year.  No pressure.

Of course, no discussion of the New Year’s kiss would be complete without the clip from the classic rom-com When Harry Met Sally.

Anyway, as I look for all those little things that make me happy, kissing is definitely high on the list.  My husband has always been a fantastic kisser and I couldn’t ask for a better start to 2013 than a generous and sincere kiss from this gentleman.  

So long! Farewell! Auf wiedersehen! Good bye!

Another year ends tonight.  Whoopee!  Ok, that said, it’s been a tumultuous and at times darn right aggravatin’ year.  So many details of my life were upended and changed without my input or voice.  Not having an iota of control over my professional world really upset me these last few months and I allowed it to steal away my peaceful state of mind.  However, I am now going to pat myself on the back for several New Year Resolution accomplishments from 2012. 

This year I expanded my employability endeavors.  I began tutoring online and met with success in this venture.  I have more to do in this field and I am looking forward to the opportunity to excel. Last week another site asked me for a writing sample.  Tempting…I need to check it out and see if it is better pay or better hours than I what I am currently doing.  Right before the holiday I finished editing a novella for a young man from Haiti.  It mostly involved correcting punctuation and other mechanics, but it’s something new to add to a resume.  I also wrote a piece that got published by someone other than me.  I got paid for it even.  How cool is that?  Not too shabby on exploring other job options.

I’m making tremendous progress on the understanding of personal finance.  I’m watching more closely where our money goes.  We are learning to live within different parameters so that we can be freer in our money goals.  I’m learning and I’m spending time analyzing how we can live the lives we want to without money feeling like a burden.  I believe in being responsible and making informed choices.  I will continue to work toward independence and contentment in this area.

Another opportunity occurred when I got to visit a city I have never been to.  In September I flew to Vegas and got to spend a whirlwind weekend learning new dance moves, watching professionals demonstrate their prowess, and enjoying time with my fellow belly dancers.  While there I saw an old friend who kindly gave me the shot at getting published (thanks again, Craig!).  I got to experience a bit of Sin City; enough to realize that the strip is devoted to pleasure and vice.  You want it, they got it.  I also concluded that Vegas is not my city.  I am not meant to reside in a desert, but visiting again would be all right with me.

Along with new resume fodder, money matters and travel, I read a lot.  I wanted to read more books and I think I did.  I read everything from ridiculous sci-fi Douglas Adams style to the classic sci-fi Dune and Stranger in a Strange Land as well as non-fiction Physics of the Future by Michio Kaku, Wolf Gift by Anne Rice, and the Dalai Lama’s latest book Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World.  I averaged more than 2 books a month all year.  I love reading!  When I don’t get a juicy story to read, I feel something in my life is missing.  Each year I try to read a few more of the titles on the top 100 must read list.  Eventually I will read them all.

 A while back I started eating according to a different method.  Since then I have maintained the initial benefits of weight loss and increased health and energy.  I wanted to make sure in 2012 that I could continue the positive eating and living plan I started.  One vital part of any lifestyle change involves finding something you can keep doing without getting bored or complacent.  Eating from a primal menu brought me so many benefits that I can’t imagine going back to the way things were.  Honestly, I ate well before this switch, but I eat even better now.  No lie.  I don’t feel deprived or hungry or like I can’t manage it.  It’s simple, easy, and oh so tasty! 

Most importantly I maintained a blog all year!  Granted, once the chapter a week of Scott Cunningham’s work was finished, I slacked off on the postings, but I did find other topics to keep me writing.  By doing so I worked through some of my core beliefs and emerged even stronger in conviction.  I think my self-assignment helped me gain perspective, solidify my beliefs, and find a level of comfort in my own skin.  I honestly do believe that this is who I am and while others may not always understand or accept it, it’s my life to live, not theirs.  I will continue to live the best possible life I can on my terms. This is one resolution kept and met.  Hopefully I will get to bring a little joy to others along the way in the coming year.

One unexpected understanding that came to me this year involves happiness.  Finding what makes you happy is important.  Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise because it is rubbish to deny the importance of happiness in our lives.  So much heartbreak and devastation occurs in the world.  Realizing and accepting that most of it exists outside my control fills me with frustration and angst.  Finding a way to make this world a little better, a little happier challenges me.  I may not have all the answers to the world’s problems, but I can find ways to work in my own area to improve conditions here.  I can make donations, sign petitions, send my representatives letters and emails, and volunteer.  I can also find one thing each day that makes me happy and share that joy with others.  I want more happiness in my life and in my world now that we averted the Mayan apocalypse.  Time to be the change I want to see in the world.    

Yule

Happiness is a choice. 

I honestly believe that.  Unfortunately for some in society, happiness is not a choice.  Something in their bodies, minds, and spirits interferes with their ability to be happy and content.  I have no words to help them.

I do, however, have the ability to be happy myself.  I can seek peace and wonder and joy.  For that, I am eternally grateful.  Do you know what makes me happy?

1. Dancing makes me happy.  I don’t care if it is two-stepping, freestylin’ it in barefeet at a music festival or belly dancing with my favorite prop d’jour.  Dancing frees me to unparalleled levels of bliss.  I frequently cannot be dragged off the dance floor. 

2. My husband makes me happy.  He and I have known each other for over twenty years and for some reason, he still loves me just the way I am.  Fat, thin, long hair, short hair, angry, content—I’m sure he’d prefer content—but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt he loves me and always will.

photo by Micah Hewett Images

3. My friends make me happy.  Some are goofy.  Some are rowdy.  Some are intellectual and some are carefree.  I love each and every one of them as they are and for what they bring to my life.  They make me think, they offer me advice, and they keep trudging forward through this life with me.  Sometimes it’s more like separate paths that occasionally cross for brief periods of time, but I know some truly fantastic and wonderful human beings who enrich my life.

4. My family makes me happy.  The saying goes that you can’t choose your family.  In every family you have a delightful mix of personalities, quirks, and gifts.  No matter what though, we are family and we always will be despite any difference of opinion.  I can look at each one of them and always find something lovely I admire about them even if I can’t stand to spend more than a few hours around some of them.  C’mon—be honest; you know what I mean.

5. My cats make me happy.  They are three furry terrors at times and they can cause devastation in the house, but they also can be the cuddliest balls of love ever seen even when they aren’t seeking food.  A gentle head bump from Poof wakes me gently most mornings.  Link’s unbelievably loud purr calms my heart.  Hissy’s temperament makes me laugh even when I know she’d rather we humans just let her be.  They add a lot to our household despite their cat-ness.

6. Reading makes me happy.  I learn so much from books and plays and articles; I can’t put words to how happy books make me.  They take me far away from this world to someplace new and sometimes frightening.  Their protagonists help me figure out my own life’s path and the motivations of others.  I find sheer nirvana in sitting down with a cup of coffee some mornings with no further agenda than to thoroughly digest a good book.

7. Food makes me happy.  Here I am incredibly blessed with a husband whose mother taught him a love of the culinary arts.  He is skilled and he spoils me rotten with his technique.  I can give him a wacky idea and he’ll turn it into delicious dinner.  Give me spices and meat and vegetables and wine!  I love to eat!

8. Music makes me happy.  The lovely thing about music is that it suits whatever mood you may be experiencing.  You can select a sublime concerto for an afternoon’s contemplation or you can crank hard rock to release whatever raw emotion is disturbing your day.  Music always soothes no matter what the ill.

9. Nature makes me happy.  Spending time outdoors by a lake or on a mountain trail or staring at a campfire settles my spirit.  I find the natural world puzzling, peaceful, and poignant.  Learning about different and unusual life or habitats fills me wonder and delight.

10. The universe makes me happy.  I find sheer thrill in studying the planets and the stars and the Big Bang and the quasars.  Fascination.  Unbridled fascination.

At this time of year with the numerous hardships and tragedies that we as humans face on the blue marble, I wish nothing but the best for us all.  May we find the answers that bring happiness to those who cannot choose it for themselves.  May we find some way to offer joy, friendship, and harmony to everyone we meet.  Blessed be to everyone.

A Yule Blessing

Our world wrapped in darkness

We eagerly seek the light.

Together we watch and wait,

To bring hope and peace this night.