My designer, M and I put our lists together. While I am in Berkeley (YEA!!) to see munchkins and BFF (thank you for flying in from NY), she will put together a portfolio that we will begin to fill with ideas, pricing and timetables.
Quote of the day: “A hero is an ordinary individual who has the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” – Christopher Reeve
Discussing Love it or List It was going on around here. And I believe we are going to love it. After attending countless open houses, surfing the entire array of available homes with pictures on the internet, driving by and frowning at all the treeless small lots, we are going to dig in and just renew our abode.
Plans and updates to follow. I figure if I am going to go through another whole house upgrading, I need to chronicle it. Because it always takes longer and costs more than you initially think and it might be a great way for me to vent, think, re-think, imagine and live through it.
With three kids in tow, we managed to barely live through our addition and remodel back in 1997-1999. There were no cell phones, never mind laptops then. I had no time to keep a log or diary except for bills and before and after pictures. This time, I am committed to journaling through it. I might not post it, but I am totally going to document this historic account somewhere in writing.
After much discussion, I had my friend M, the designer/general contractor over. She walked the whole house and gave me her vision after I gave her mine. Tomorrow she returns for a second round so we can get a more concrete conception.
Meanwhile, maintenance continues. Last week, our hot water wasn’t working and toilets were leaking. We had our plumber fix it and now, our air conditioner gave out last night. I know it is retrograde and things break down but it is also a super time to get things mended or improved. Hopefully, the repair person coming to take a look at it today in the late afternoon can get it running again.
I see the $$$$ coming out of our renovation already but you have to get everything up to par before you can do the fun stuff like decor.
Alas, it is the from-frou and the hope and desire for the end result, that will keep me motivated.
Fate, Nature, Divine Source…whatever you want to call it, if I connect the dots, has always shown me the way and fills my heart.
I know I am more than this body vessel.
When I remember to ask for help, I receive it … and not necessarily when and how I thought it would look like either.
What I consider most important in my life is my breath, the gift of my heart, my soul, my connections, my love and life itself.
Even Cindi loves to shop at Target.
Happy Sunday!
It is always a pleasure to bathe our little Cindi in the kitchen sink where she behaves and seems to enjoy the scrubbing bubbles, the conditioner and the warm towel treatment afterwards. I sing her the same song I sang to all three kids when I bathed them. “This is the way we wash our hair, wash our hair, wash our hair, this is the way we wash our hair, so early in the morning.
This is the way we rinse ourselves, rinse ourselves, rinse ourselves, this is the way we rinse ourselves, so early in the morning. This is the way we condition ourselves, condition ourselves, condition ourselves, this is the way we condition ourselves, so early in the morning. This is the way we rinse the conditioner, rinse the conditioner, rinse the conditioner, this is the way we rinse the conditioner, so early in the morning.
This is the way we dry ourselves, dry ourselves, dry ourselves, this is the way we dry ourselves, so early in the morning.
Waking up early in the mountains and walking along the lake before anyone is around or shops are open is the way to enjoy it on a heavily impacted Labor Day weekend. By 8 am the Waffle House was jammed and we headed home with Jensen’s bagels and apple fritter goodies.
After a few morsels of breakfast for Cindi, M and I, we jumped back in the pick up truck and with memories of last year’s bargains, we swung our way over to the once a year Labor Day weekend Rummage sale at one of the nearby churches. Everyone is having a garage, estate or yard sale!
Last year, we purchased Cindi’s mountain stroller we used again today, for $10. Amongst clothes, house ware goods, gardening paraphernalia, baked goods and coffee, there lies a room with books. In this small, compact space, juicy discoveries were made, paid for and taken home, now safely put away on my shelves, a few titles set aside to bring down the hill and a few set aside to read by my lounge chair in a few moments. The best find by far was a first edition of Jane Goodall’s In the Shadow of Man, from the early seventies, signed.
In the house wares I found a brand new Sheffield relish plate with spoon and glass dish set atop a simple West German silver platter for $3. I bought vegan treats to die for, for a mere $4 (lemon madelines and oatmeal/nut cookies with frosting). I also found a rare electric wind chime propelled into tinkling by an underneath fan that my yogini ladies and I will fawn over. Imagine not needing to play the chimes while I use both hands to whirl the brass tone out of my Tibetan singing bowls.
In the large women’s wear room, I took a liking to a delicious, pearl white, laced, petite, Spencer Alexis number with the tags still in place (supposedly suggesting it was never worn). Another woman took it into the dressing room and tried it on. I went over to check out the treats once again and told my husband all about the dress that got away when suddenly the volunteer from the clothes rack is right by my side. From way across about four rooms down, she had come over to announce that apparently it was available, it didn’t fit the other woman. I hurried down the hallway and as I was about to use the makeshift, corner dressing “room”, shielded only by a 6 foot folding divider, the former try-er on-er let me know, out loud so everyone could hear, it would not fit me (like pleeeeeezzzze, it didn’t fit me, it will never fit yooooouuuuuu). Well, then, I had to make it fit. And so it did. The volunteer helped me zip it up and I explained it was snug but I WAS five pounds over my usual weight, don’t you know? Doesn’t everyone gain a little extra during the summer? But no worries, it zipped, it DID fit and that other lady could just go spit. A little known fact is I am always a few pounds away from my ideal weight that’s why it is ideal and not in my destiny but maybe once a decade. And that’s how I got my size 2, $198 dress for $25.
Hopefully, I will be able to slither into it next time I do a liquid juice fast.
I better stop eating bagels, vegan madelines and fried anythings for a while. Oh well, after Labor Day…and snuggling and munching while reading my new Agatha Christie paperback.
I love to see the connections between humans, between nature and between nature and humans when it is positive, not destructive.
Certain acts of kindness shown me or given to me freely; even at a detriment, a sacrifice, a hardship or an inconvenience for the donor, blows me away. I am so grateful.
Why am I so lucky? How can I ever be grateful for all of my blessings?
You are an amazing miracle. You have grown and learned so much. You are in no shape or form perfect or done but it is wondrous how much you have grasped ideas and applied them to your life.
Have you realized all the opportunities you have been given?
Raw and difficult, thorough and rough, your trajectory to here is well documented into your memory … but release all disempowering energy…now.
What a ride… and what awesome rewards!
Much to my chagrin, our Dr. Wayne Dyer has passed at the age of 75. We knew he was ailing even when L and I went to see him last year in Escondido for the PBS taping. I thought he was doing everything he could to beat his illness but alas he has left this world yet has left us with a legacy of spiritual understanding and philosophical designs for living.
He said, “Whatever you focus your thoughts on expands.” And even though many great thinkers before him stated the same, it was the way Dyer wrote – so simply yet clearly, that brought legions of readers to his speaking engagements.
He espoused, “Practice being the kind of person you wish to attract.” and “Remain in a state of eternal gratitude.”
Dyer was a huge reader too. Most of his ideas are culled from ancient and modern sages. His take on Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching (Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life) was accessible to everyone in contemporary society. His book on sixty of some of the wisest teachers (Wisdom of the Ages) is his concise interpretation on their gifts to the world. He was a huge fan of education, educating himself and sharing it all with others.
He shall be missed.
My friend gifted me a 5 year diary wherein every day you just jot down one sentence that encapsulates your experience of the day. Each entry has a quote and enough lines for five entries, a space to write in the year, alongside it.
I just received it on Friday and I love summarizing at the end of the night, one thought that speaks to me, after reviewing the last 24 hours. It is a great way to also see what and where your priorities are/were for that moment in time.
I keep a daily, morning journal where I write anywhere from one paragraph to three pages, but this is handy and forces me to be a bit more concise.
Maybe, start your own one-liners or check out Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Project Journal.