Lids for bowls, totes, and …

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It seems that about every 2 years I really clear out and reorganize. It’s usually in the middle of purging a lot of ‘stuff’. Like socks missing from the dryer, lids and matching bowls as well as lids and their matching totes seem to wander off.

Recently I noticed that I have quite a bit more lids than I do bowls and containers in my cupboard. How does that happen? I use them, they get washed and put away. I have the same issue with totes. Totes of all sizes from large storage totes to smaller ones. I have a box of lids and only two empty totes. I know I went through and had matches just a couple of years ago.

I’m a pretty organized person, so to have things turn up missing is a bit baffling. It’s one of those things that makes me shake my head, roll my eyes and chuckle it off. It seems that it’s a part of this life that just is what it is.

Yonder Firpiece?

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I grew up in Colorado and then moved to Idaho. My folks were born and raised in New York City and New York is where most of my relatives lived for much of my life. Other than occasionally on TV, New York accents were about the only accents I was really accustomed to hearing.

In the mid-90’s I was part of a team who was working on a project that primarily took place in Nashville. There were eight of us on this team, all from different offices within the Company. I was the only one who did not live in the South, two of them were from the Nashville area. I had been to that office a couple of times and over the years had been on the phone with some of my Nashville co-workers.

Our first day in Nashville to begin work on this project, we took a lunch break and it was decided that I would drive to where we were going to eat. I don’t know why I was the one driving since clearly I was not a local. This lunch outing would truly be my first introduction to the southern language. Most of these gals had as much fun with sarcasm as I have so … you can imagine the fun we had understanding each other. There were 5 of us who went to lunch that day.

I was guided to turn onto a road and then told to go ‘yonder firpiece’. For the first time in my interactions with my Nashville co-workers, I really felt like they were speaking a different language. I first asked how far ‘yonder is’. I would think that at least one of them would know how far ‘yonder’ is but I could not get a clear answer. I could let that go because from time to time we all say something like, go that way for a bit, a ways, etc but … what is a firpiece? When I questioned the definition of a firpiece’, we all laughed so hard I thought I’d have to pull over.

I can tell you that the only answer I got was that ‘firpiece’ is actually, ‘for a piece’. When we got to the restaurant it was a BBQ diner. I’m not a big BBQ fan but hey, when in Rome. I looked at the menu and had a tough time figuring out what to order. I wanted some basics since I was unfamiliar with most of the items listed. (I never imagined how different our foods were.) I ordered pork, corn bread, beans and hominy. When my plate was ready there was shredded meat, a pancake, bbq beans and the hominy. I went back to the ordering counter and told the gal that I got a pancake (I’m not fond of pancakes) instead of corn bread. … you guessed it, that was my corn bread.

One time in a restaurant the waitress asked me if I wanted a ‘coke’. I asked if that was the only ‘pop’ they had. She looked as stumped as I had felt on the drive to the BBQ diner. She said we have coke or water or sweet tea. I thought it was odd that they only carried coke. When the laughter at the table subsided I learned that ‘coke’ was the term for any soft drink just like the word ‘pop’ is to me.

I loved these gals and we worked together on this project for about a year and a half. I can’t tell you the numbers of times we teased and laughed about the differences in our food and language.

A dirty computer screen

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I was on a Zoom call with the ‘gallery’ view set so that I could see everyone. There was just three of us this call so each image was fairly good size.

I was looking at a gal while she was speaking and a spot on my computer screen, near her shoulder distracted me. I wanted to ignore it so I could give her my full attention but knowing it was there, my eyes kept going to the spot.

It was a small spot. I assumed I must have been eating something the last time I was at the computer and some food leapt from my mouth onto the screen.

I reached to wipe it off, finger to the screen and … it wouldn’t wipe off. Not only did it not wipe off but I couldn’t feel a raise like hardened on food either. Hmmmm, I thought it was distracting before, yikes.

I decided to let it go and I’d take a closer look when the call was over. Only a few moments later, the gal who had been speaking got up. The spot on my screen was actually a ball on the top of the back of the wooden chair she was sitting in. The way she was sitting, I couldn’t see the back of the chair, just the ball on the screen right above her shoulder.

We all got a good laugh over that one.

Bed and Breakfast?

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I’m sure it’s happened to all of us and/or we’ve done it to others. Someone mispronounces a word or the wrong word comes out of their mouth and it tickles our funny bone. Well, I cannot even count how many times something comes flying out of my mouth that entertains someone else. Sometimes we get the giggles thinking about it for years. This is one of those but at the time it annoyed me.

I have no recollection of the conversation except for this one piece of it. My boyfriend and I were in the car and I said, “… bed and breakfast …” or so I thought. He said what? Confused at what part he missed, I repeated myself. When I got to the “Bed and breakfast” part he laughed and said, “That, say it again”. I repeated myself but he kept laughing harder and I was becoming annoyed.

I wound up saying it over and over, slowly and all of a sudden I heard myself saying, “Br-ead and br-eakfast”. UGH I still roll my eyes and laugh about it, 20 years later.

Out the In door

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Growing up in Colorado and then living in Idaho my maturing years I was amused by many things during the mid-90’s when the Company I was working for sent me to Tennessee. One of those amusements was the name of a grocery store chain, “Piggly Wiggly”. My amusement may have been the reason for choosing that store to shop at one day.

I went in, got a few groceries. Well, not groceries. I was on a project team for the Company and I was in Tennessee 2-3 weeks at a time. My first stop before I got to the hotel each trip was always a grocery store, to stock up on snacks. The Company agreed to allow us to include grocery stores on our food allowance budget since our out of State stays were so long.

This particular snack-shopping trip I had checked out and was heading to the exit door. Pushing the grocery cart to the doors to exit, the door wouldn’t open. I rolled the cart back and forth in attempts to trigger the automatic door opener but to no avail.

Before long I had a few people waiting behind me. I let the people behind me know that the door wouldn’t open in hopes that someone would get an employee to help us. A gal from the parking lot approached the doors. She walked to the outside of the door that I was in front of and it opened.

Looking up, the EXIT sign was in front of the other door and we were all standing in front ENTRANCE door. I would have felt absolutely ridiculous however I was the out-of-towner. I always thought it was funnier that the other people stood behind me instead of going to the other door. I should have titled this, “Follow the leader”.

Irresistible Rescues

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Warning: This may start off a bit emotional. If you want to skip that part, go down to the fourth paragraph.

I love animals large and small, large like bears and lions; small like pet (domestic) rats. When I was young I wanted to be a veterinarian and even had the opportunity to begin an apprenticeship of sorts when I was 14 years old. I found that I couldn’t handle watching animals who had to be put down and I never returned.

We had a few pet rats when I was a kid. They were very friendly and sweet. They would cuddle and lick and never nip or bite. We had dogs and cats I loved them all. My weakness is the baby animals.

From the time I was a young adult, I always had rescues. My first as a young adult was a black lab pup that was found. A work colleague called and asked if I wanted it, knowing the answer of course. Unfortunately he died when he was only six months old. When my boys were very young my husband and I got a black lab. When he was about 4 years old he had a neurological issue and became vicious and eventually had to be put down.

When my boys were still pretty young we got a lab pup from a nice small kennel. She grew to be a large lab. This was my third lab. She was a beautiful yellow lab and almost white. Her AKC name was Accents of Ivory Jasmine.

I had never had a small dog and thought it would be nice. My husband went to the pound and found a half-chihuahua/half-terrier. We named her Sugar.

One day (while Sugar was still a pup) the boys and I went out garage sale-ing. My oldest boy needed a bathroom so we went to a former baby-sitter’s house. She was happy to see us and told my son to use the bathroom in her bedroom.

Only moments later my son was making all kinds of strange noises. He yelled for me to come and I bolted into the bathroom only to find a litter of kittens. The garage sale-ing stopped because we needed to go to the store and buy whatever our new kitten could possibly need. Her name was Spice. (Her name was Spice because I was starting a theme, not because I baked a lot).

Next we bred Jasmine (a one time thing and we gave away most of the pups to our friends). One of the pups had to be resuscitated shortly after birth. We kept her because her feet were huge and we knew she’d be a big girl. Thank goodness we kept her because she was developmentally challenged. She was such a sweet dog but much like Odie (of Garfield) and was like a 4 month old puppy her entire life. My husband named her Comet. Comet? After a ball of fire in the sky or a cleanser? Who knows. Obviously there was no respect for my pet-name theme.

Our next pet came to us, much like all the kids selling whatever. There was a sign above our door that read “Sucker” or “Softy”. Regardless it seems that we were the only ones that couldn’t see it. There was knock on the door one evening. There was a person with a kitten. I melted and my husband (standing behind me) said, “No” before this person even spoke. The person pleaded and said they were moving and that the mother cat was hit by a car and … oh my what a story. Who knows if it was true or not but my husband still said no. And me, well I don’t need a story.

The next morning, my husband left for work and within 15 minutes there was a knock on the door. It was the same person with the kitten again. I can’t even remember what was said, probably, “Please”. I, of course took the kitten. The boys went off to school and I went off to get kitty stuff. I’m not sure why I wasn’t at work that day but thank goodness.

When the boys got home from school I told them not to say anything to their dad when he got home. Ha! He walked in, the boys were standing there with grins as wide as their faces and he knew. He said, “You got the kitten didn’t you?” His name was Cinnamon.

Halloweening

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Just a bit of reflection and nostalgia-tripping. When my kids were young Halloween seemed to be the time of the first snowfalls of the season, in these parts. There was definitely more snow.

When we chose Halloween costumes, they had to be large enough to go over the jackets. I do remember one year (when they weren’t so young) that the neighborhood boys all dressed as female cheerleaders. If I remember correctly, I think they were very cold. I’ll post a photo when I come across it.

For years now I buy bags of selected party favors so I have about 15 varieties of little toys. I avoid sugar and don’t want to support anyone else’s sugar habits (it’s just not healthy). The Teal Pumpkin Project is about handing out treats to kids that are allergy free so that if kids have allergies to certain food, they can still enjoy the treat. I heard of them a couple of years ago. It’s actually less expensive to buy the little toys and the kids LOVE them! I have kids return each year excited to see what’s new. For the first and second year trick or treaters I usually have small bottles of ‘bubbles’ or something toddler-friendly. I get such a kick out of seeing them have fun.

Although during this pandemic I’ve social distanced, I chose to hand out these treats this year. My safety though was, once I open the door the kids choose their toy from a large tray and they leave. We don’t have too many conversations and they are not there very long. It seemed safer than a grocery store, as far as spreading. Most of the kids (few that we did get) this year were wearing masks.

Only in the movies?

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There are some things I had only seen in movies and then a couple of years ago …
I guess it was time to bring a little movie comedy into real life. This is why America’s Funniest Home Videos has done so well.

Shoe laces: I went outside to get the mail wearing tennis shoes/sneakers with the laces untied. I can’t count the number of times I’ve done this. I came in the door, with the screen closing behind me and bam! The shoe laces caught in the screen door and I went down face first.

Luckily my arms hit the ground before my face so I wasn’t hurt. I laid there and laughed at what that must’ve looked like. I couldn’t believe it really happened.

Treadmill: My mom wanted a treadmill. I was so happy that she was willing to exercise that I found one and went and got it within 18 hours.

The treadmill was pretty big. It was actually seemed much larger taking it out of my Jeep than having help putting it in. …duh…

The walkway to the front door has a sharp angle/turn because it begins at the driveway and has to angle to the end up at the front door. The treadmill was about 4-6 inches narrower than the sidewalk which is only about 2-3 inches extra on each side.

The treadmill has small wheels on one side and it folds up pretty well. I found that I could bungee it together (to stay folded securely) and walk backwards, pulling it and it could roll pretty easily. Easy as pie right? I’ve never made a pie, hmmm.

As I was rounding the turn in the sidewalk, I miss calculated. I turned just fine but the treadmill, not so much. A wheel went off the side and down it came. In a moment, I was laying on my back on the sidewalk with a treadmill laying on top of me. Again, thankfully I was not hurt. I laughed so long and so hard that I had to gain my composure to get it off of me so I could stand up.

Facing my fear of heights

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I imagine this is the longest blog post I’ve ever written. I hope you get a great belly laugh reading it.

First off, let me say how grateful I am that I find such humor in my challenges and mistakes. After-all, I’m only human. I have a terrible fear of heights. Even when someone is close to the edge in a movie, my knees quiver and my stomach heads upward to my throat.

The balcony: A week after I was married (20 yrs old), we went to a concert. My husband got balcony seats. gulp I was so scared to go down the steep steps to our seat that I cried (literally). My husband was one of those very popular people and of course we were surrounded by people he knew. He repeatedly was telling people that he just got married and then would point to the girl who was standing against the wall sobbing. After that, I always made sure that if I were going down steps, that someone was directly in front of me so that basically, I couldn’t see where I was going.

I don’t like how limiting this fear is so for years, I’ve been challenging myself. This rarely turns out well but I have continued to give it a shot.

The small town bridge: Just last month, while my vehicle was in the shop I walked around town. I walked on a bridge that went over the railroad tracks. I focused on looking forward and I did great, even though the sidewalk seemed narrow and the cars went by, I did it! On the way back I crossed the same bridge. For some reason, this time the sidewalk seemed much narrower and the cars seemed to be wizzing past me. As I neared the top of the bridge I mistakenly looked outward from the bridge, my eyes dropped and I instantly went into a panic attack.

I made sure to keep breathing. My knees wanted to buckle and I found myself mindfully putting one step in front of the other and again, and again. I can’t imagine how slowly I was moving. I wanted to be rescued but that was not realistic. I kept putting one step in front of the other until I was close to the bottom and the sidewalk widened to a normal size again. whew … I made it!

The glass elevator: There were many similar instances. In 1995 I was in Nashville for work and stayed on the top floor of the Embassy Suites. It’s a beautiful hotel with a glass ceiling over the atrium lobby and, of course they have glass elevators. I got in the elevator looking just like any other adult. I pushed the button for the 9th floor, waited and up we started. As soon as we left the ground floor, all I could see was how high I was off the ground; my knees buckled and to the floor I went. I squatted on the floor until the doors opened for my floor. … at least it was most likely unforgettable and entertaining for everyone else in the elevator.

The grand staircase: While in Nashville, I also went to the Opry Land Hotel; which is another gorgeous place with many restaurants and a breathtaking atrium area. When I went in I saw a huge staircase that looked like it was from the Gone with the Wind movie set. I went up it so fast that I didn’t take time to think about how I would get down. Stairs are an issue for me so I ALWAYS use the handrails. Well, this banister and handrail was beautiful wood approximately 6” wide which of course is too wide to grip. I could gracefully put my hand on it if I were in a movie with a long flowing gown in quite dramatic fashion … oh who am I kidding? I would trip on the long flowing gown and slide my way down (hopefully on my rear end vs my nose). I stayed up on the landing until someone was willing to walk down in front of me so I couldn’t see where I was going.

The Royal Gorge bridge: Just to give you some perspective: The Royal Gorge bridge is 1260 feet long and 18 feet wide. The steel base structure is covered with 1292 wooden planks and is 955 feet above a canyon (the Arkansas River). It is also a suspension bridge so you can feel a sway as you go across it. From 1929 – 2001 it was the World’s highest bridge.

I grew up in Colorado and we would take our out of town visitors to see it. I could never go across it. I would stand at one end and … you got it … cry because I was too afraid to go across.
In the late 1990’s I took visitors (one being my chosen daughter) from the South to go see it. Two of the three I brought there were young (about 10 and 13 yrs old). I stood at one side and looked across to the other where the gift shops were. I decided I was an adult and by golly I was going to make it across that bridge.

As the kids darted back and forth looking over the side, (ha ha ha over the side, I couldn’t even look in the direction of the side). I bravely walked right down the center, eyes focused on getting to those buildings on the other side. I got about half way across and felt the sway. My knees buckled and I went down. I squatted and kept control of my nerves. I contemplated turning around and going back but that didn’t seem to be an option because I was unable to turn myself around. I took a few deep breaths, got up and with a fast-paced, focused walk, I made a b-line for the other side.

Of course to get back to the car, I had to do it again however … I had a focus point on the other side and went right down the middle walking as quickly as I could.

The ferris wheel at the North Pole: Another attraction in Colorado is the North Pole – Santa’s Workshop in Cascade, near Colorado Springs. There is a ferris wheel. The elevation of this giant wheel is 7,200 feet and as far as I know is still the World’s highest ferris wheel.

My chosen daughter at 10 years old wanted to go on it but wasn’t tall enough to go alone. No one would go with her so I said I would accompany her. The gal at the bottom that buckled us in said to give a thumbs down if we needed to come down.

Did I mention that this giant ferris wheel juts out from the side of the mountain? Just as we near the top and are hanging over the side of the mountain it stops. I’m assuming to let someone off and another person on, regardless it stopped. I opened my eyes for a split second and decided not to do that again.

Our seat was wiggling so I peaked. My dear girl was wiggling her feet. I told her not to move. She was very sweet and compassionate, wrapping her arm around me and patting me with her other hand, reassuring me that we’d be okay. I peaked down and saw the others laughing hysterically as my head was buried into the abdomen of this 10 year old girl until we got back down to the ground.

Pikes Peak: My favorite Pikes Peak quote: “The middle of the road IS my side”. As an adult I wouldn’t go to the top unless I was the one driving. There was no way I was going to be in the passenger seat, on the edge.

Needless to say, everyone loves going to amusement parks and fairs with me because I’m the one that is too chicken to go on the rides so I’m the designated “Hold this” person.

My dog thinks he’s very clever

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My lab thinks he is very clever. There are certain times of the day he needs to go outside to go potty, especially first thing in the morning before he gets breakfast and right before we go to bed.

The rule is that every morning he goes outside to do his business (both) before he comes in to get fed his breakfast. He gets so excited to eat (he’s a lab, he always thinks its time to eat), that he pretends to do his business. He does this sometimes at night too.

He’ll do one thing and then look to see if I’m watching him. Because he does this often, I have to watch him, like he’s a 5 year old kid. When he sees me watching him, he’ll go behind a bush and just stand there for a moment and then come running to the door. I tell him that I know he didn’t finish and to go potty. He’ll go back out into the yard and do it again; stand behind a bush, peeking at me. Sometimes he’ll go behind a bush, see my watching and find another bush and continue that 3-4 times. All I need to do is stand at the door and point to the yard and he’ll go back to recalculate his next move, like it’s a game. Sometimes I need to go outside and wait, and then he’ll finish going potty.

It’s hilarious how clever he thinks he is.

Big brothers help

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When my oldest boy was about 3 years old he became a big brother. He was a kind and gentle boy. He was also as helpful as can be.

His newly arrived little brother was only a few months old when I woke up one morning and went right into their room. My big boy was so proud and couldn’t wait to show me how much he helped me with his little bother.

I looked into the crib to find his little, baby brother covered head to toe in white Desitin. Anyone who has used Desitin knows the white stain that it leaves on skin for quite awhile.

The older we get…

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Isn’t it amazing how regardless how old we are, our grown children don’t seem to age. My oldest by is getting close to 40 years old. That’s amazing to me because for many years I haven’t felt older than 35 years old. Over the last couple of years I see myself aging, I’m feeling more like … 45 years old now.

When I think of the age of my boys I’m truly amazed. Funnier yet (to me), when dreaming they are still little boys. When I see them, I still see my ‘boys’. It’s difficult to change the dialog to men, even though they’ve been men for a long time now.

When I see anyone close to the age of my boys, I think of them as kids. I wasn’t so appreciative of older adults calling me a kid when I was 30, 35 and 40 years old. I sure understand it now.

Sounds that ignite our imagination

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Many years ago I woke up during the night. I’m not sure what woke me. It could have been one of the pets, a tree limb or any number of things.

I laid there (on my side) in my semi-conscious state as I began drifting back to sleep. What a peaceful space to be in.

Snuggling unconsciously into my pillow and all of a sudden … I hear heavy, slow moving footsteps coming down the hallway towards my bedroom. I was on the side of the bed closest to the door.

Could I get off the bed, to the other side and onto the floor without making a sound? I’ve imagined before what I’d do if someone came in during the night but reality turns out to be much different.

I held my breath and listened. The footsteps stopped. I breathe quietly again and the footsteps resume. Panic begins to set in. The footsteps get heavier as my breathing gets harder.

Again, I hold my breath to listen and the footsteps stop. I blink and just then I realize … there are no footsteps. My eyelashes were hitting the pillow.

Who knows best? Apparently not me

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Many years ago, my chosen daughter wanted to go horseback riding for her 12th Birthday. She had never been on a horse and I thought it would be great to grant her wish.

When I was young, living in the mountains we had a horse and a couple of ponies. I had also rode a friend’s horse after high school (that didn’t go so well). Even though it has been many years since I had ridden, I felt confident that it would all come back to me.

I chose a tourist riding company because I figured they would have calmer horses, unlike my friend’s horse. When we got there, it was exactly what I had hoped for.

They chose a sweet mare for my chosen daughter and a large male for me. She was in front of me and they told me not to let him get to close to the mare. There were about 12 of us all together who would be riding through an area behind the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs (which is hilly and rocky).

As we went along the trail it became obvious that these horses did this every day, possibly several times a day. As we’d come up on a bush that I didn’t want to be brushed against, I’d tell the horse to move over (gently using the reins, of course). When I would do this, my horse would stop, turn his head to look at me as if to say, “I do this every day and know what I’m doing, you just sit there”. When he was confident that I got the message, he would continue on. The first time he did it, I thought it was funny. The fourth or fifth time I couldn’t believe it. I gave up after that because he wouldn’t do what I asked anyway.

I laugh about the look on that horse’s face, every time I think about it.

Questions in sleep mode

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I don’t know how you are when you’re in sleep mode but for me … when I was younger (20’s – 30’s) when I slept, I slept pretty hard.

One day when my boys were young I fell asleep on the couch while they played. When I woke up, my youngest “O” had something purple in his mouth. I’m guessing he was around he was around five years old.

I asked him what was in his mouth and he showed me this little purple piece of plastic. Yikes! I told him not to put random things in his mouth and as most mom’s do, I probably ranted a bit about what goes into the mouth and what doesn’t. Ok for me, I probably ranted for longer than a bit but I was groggy so I’ll give myself the benefit of the doubt.

He told me he had asked me (while I was sleeping) if he could put it in his mouth and I said, “Yes”. Then we had another talk about how not to ask me questions while I’m sleeping.

Bees and other flyers

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When I was a kid, well and way into my adult-hood, I was terrified of bees and other flying creatures.

I didn’t like butterflies because they seemed as confused as moths and would flitter about aimlessly. I couldn’t dodge them because I didn’t know which way they’d be going.

I especially didn’t like bees. I was terrified of them. When I was five years old we were on a camping trip. My older brother and I were exploring and found an old ticket booth. As he opened it up we were surrounded by bees. He was stung mercilessly while I only got a few stings but one that would forever remind me. I had a little crevice in my nose for most of my life from one of those stings. (I think it finally went away about 15 years ago.)

My fear of bees was a source of entertainment for all who witnessed it. When I’d work in the flowerbeds, if a bee came I’d run as fast as I could, flailing my arms like a mad women. The elderly couple across the street loved it. I had other similar occasions where people would see me screaming and running; at picnics, in parks, etc. I’ve seen adults and kids alike, laughing hysterically at the sight.

In late 2003 I had a TBI. One of the very incredible things to come from that was that I no longer had any fear of bees or other flying creatures.

In 2005 I went into a butterfly hutch and was surrounded by thousands of butterflies, I was amazed by them.

I realized I no longer had a fear of bees when I went with my mother to a lavender farm to cut fresh lavender. I was squatting on the ground clipping and realized that I had bees buzzing all around me and I was fine.

I now have a tree not far from our front door. This time of year, as I walk by it, all I can hear is the beautiful hum, the buzzing of many bees on the blossoms and I feel a sense of awe throughout my being.

The difference? The TBI slowed me down and reconnected me to nature in a way that I hadn’t been since I was a child, living in the mountains of Colorado.

Dogs like kids

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I’m not sure why I tend to get the pets who have funny quirks. Hmmm, what does that say about me? (Yes, that is a rhetorical question, because we know the answer).

I had a lab years ago that didn’t like to get her feet wet. She would stand under the patio cover for hours waiting for rain to stop so she could go in the yard and go potty. Even then, she was very careful not to step in puddles. She didn’t care if she was a water-dog breed, she didn’t like water.

I had a very large cat that would hide so people couldn’t see him. He’d hide under covers; under a rug; and … in the clear (heavy) plastic bag he liked to play in. It was hilarious to see large humps in the blanket and rug and even funnier to see him in the plastic back believing that we couldn’t see him there.

I have an older black lab now. Over the last several years he doesn’t always want to go potty when he’s told to; particularly in the mornings and evenings before bedtime. Often times when I send him into the back yard to go potty I watch him. I stand by the window or door. The reason for this is that I rescued him when he was two years old. He has serious abandonment issues and wants to know where I am at all times. He seems to be comforted when he can look towards the house and see me.

I can’t help but shake my head and laugh when he’s been told to go out to potty and he stands behind a bush peeking at me to see if I’m looking. He’ll stand there a few moments and then coming running like he just went potty. When I remind him that I can see him and he didn’t go, he’ll go back out. Sometime we do this a few times before he’ll actually go potty.

Oh these dogs and kids, not realizing we’re on to them.

A childs point of view

Posted on Posted in humor, kids, nostalgia, perception

When I was young, I had an aunt that lived about 90 miles from us. We would go visit from time to time and occasionally I got to spend a week here and there with her during the summer.

Every night before bedtime, she would have a big bowl of ice cream over a chopped banana. This was one of my favorite things during my overnight visits.

I wound up moving almost a thousand miles away. Years later she downsized and moved to my hometown. About the time I was approaching 40 yrs old, I moved back so I was able to see her and spend more time with her again. Within a year of moving back, she passed. I bought her home from my cousin with everything in it (including a dog; a cat; and her grandson).

Soon after moving into the home, I opened one of the cupboards and saw a stack of bowls. They were the bowls that she used for ice cream and bananas when I was a kid. My heart was full of warm-fuzzies but I also had a laugh because those bowls were not nearly as big as I remember them being. In fact they weren’t big at all.

Cookie Sneaking

Posted on Posted in happy, humor, siblingsLeave a comment

My sister and I didn’t always have the best relationship, thank goodness it’s good now. We live a long way from each other so time spent together is precious … right?

Almost ten years ago she was having surgery and I went to stay with her while she recovered. One day, prior to the surgery we went to the store to pick up a few things. We passed a display of cookies and I commented (like a little sister would), how yummy those samoa- type cookies are. My dear sister thought so too and put a package of them in the cart.

Later that evening we were sitting around and I continually yawned. She mentioned a few times that I should go to bed, insisted was more like it. She is my older sister.

I was sleeping in the living room during my stay. The bathroom was at the end of the hall, past the bedrooms. I had already been to the bathroom and was settling in when I needed to go to the bathroom one last time. As I headed down the hall, I see my sister going from one room, across the hall to her bedroom, sneaking the unopened package of cookies in with her. I gasped and said, “Oh no you don’t”! My own sister was pushing me off to bed so she could scarf down those cookies herself. Well, being the little sister (regardless of age), I sat up with her and to makes sure that the cookies were shared with me, (like any little sister would).

This is one of those times that we continually laugh and tease about.

Welcome

Posted on Posted in ArtLeave a comment

Welcome to the Seeded Visions Blog

The purpose of this blog is to help bring peace, balance and harmony into daily lives. I share from my personal experience in finding peace; balance and harmony through inner processing; laughing so hard that I almost wet myself and well just being able to walk through this lifetime laughing, often with and at myself. I believe gratitude and laughter is a huge part being healthy and happy.

Some posts are broken up in to very short paragraphs and it may look or feel a bit odd to some. There is a reason for this. I had a TBI in Oct 2003. Since then, I have difficulty reading (and often processing) pages or longer paragraphs. I break up what I write into smaller paragraphs so I can proof and edit them. Sometimes I cannot do it. Thank you for understanding.
… by Sarah Christianson