This is a tease...

And only a tease.  If this had been an actual warm up, it would have lasted for more than half a day!  And it wouldn't have covered every available outdoor surface with a glistening layer of ice.  Not that I would complain, since I have taken the pledge to quit witching about the weather.  I'm just sayin'!  The really amazing thing is how clever Mother Nature is!  To avoid the ice from damaging her trees, she has astutely instigated a "brisk" north wind to move the branches and free them from her frosting of solid water (obviously I am trying to use the word ice again!).   In my continuous effort to find anything positive about this weather, I believe I have stumbled on the one thing that is incontrovertibly a positive.  Everyone agrees this winter sucked!  (Yes, my former students, I really used that word!  And you were right.  Sometimes it is irreplaceable.)  But Pollyanna believes that while teasing can be negative, it can also further whet one's appetite for what is to come.
Whet away, and know you are loved!

Absolutely fabulous, and I speak not of the tv show!

Photo courtesy of twitpic

Sometimes two forces collide, and the resultant image is absolutely amazing.  By now, my readers have ascertained my affinity for giraffes and their ability to see from a different perspective.  Now, thanks to an e from my niece, I have the ultimate example...a giraffe in a different perspective!  Awesome!  Take two of my all time favorite concepts...attitude is everything and don't let someone else determine your attitude, and you have my friend pictured above!  I understand there are times when fitting in can be important, and as long as it doesn't compromise basic principles of honesty and fairness, go for it!  But we are a uniquely diverse people, each holding in our physical and emotional makeup, differences that make us who we are.  We need to celebrate, nay flaunt those differences!  We are each in our own way, fabulous, and it is YOUR fabulosity that allows me to tell you that you are loved!

Birthday card philosophy

I love birthday cards.  I love to buy them.  I love to get them.  There are times I stand in the card aisle and laugh out loud, thinking to myself, who among my friends would not find this offensive.  Of course, the answer is always the same.  None would find it offensive for they are, after all, my friends!  My favorite card was one I never had the opportunity to give.  It was a birthday card for my sister that I had purchased months before her birthday.  (I hate to miss the opportunity to send the right card just because the event is a long time away.  This time, however, I held on to it...unfortunately too long.)  The card simply said this:  "Happy Birthday."  On the inside it said, "Maybe this will be the year mom and dad love you as much as they love me!"  Unfortunately, WA died before I could send it, and it kind of lost its impact.  But, I digress (imagine that...a first!)  Some years, a theme emerges in the cards I receive. This year, I believe the count was 10.  10 of the cards I received addressed themselves to flatulence!  Really!  There were enough comments on my gaseous emissions to fuel a hybrid car for a year.  Problem is, they were spot on.  These, however, are not the reason for this commentary.  One card stood above all others this year.  The reason for this is two-fold.  First it was from very dear friends who keep us grounded and help us enjoy fine food and an occasional dip in the hot tub.  Second, the point was ever so spot on.  It was the picture of a man, riding a bicycle, with his hands in the air, balancing for all he was worth.  On the top of the card was a quotation by Pablo Picasso.  Simply, it said, "It takes a long time to become young."  Inside, it said, "You're off to a great start."  Light bulb.  Eureka!  Truth at last.  As I have aged, I have discovered that the magnet on the refrigerator is right.  Life IS too important to be taken seriously.  I remember the exuberance of youth.  It slowly returns.  I remember that wide-eyed wonder of youth.  It returns.  (Of course, sometimes it's wondering where I left something, but it's back!)  I remember the ability to become so completely absorbed in something that I lose track of time.  It returns. I remember the overwhelming realization that friends make all the difference in the world.  It returns.  And I remember how funny it was when someone mentioned or performed a release of methane in a loud and odoriferous manner.  It returns.  The joy of youth need not be wasted on the young.  May you find your whoopee's (cushion or celebration) as you continue to grow toward youth.  And know you are loved!

As I sit here...

The snow falls.  The dogs bark.  The television is turned to ESPN (that should be a sure hint that I'm in the woman cave upstairs), having just finished a recorded episode of NCIS Los Angeles.  There are days when it is just so apparent how lucky I am.  We are warm.  We have pets to care for us and the time to watch what we want.  It probably shows that the trip to Florida was successful!  The weather will change.  We will endure, and we will enjoy each other!  As I said.  Lucky!  And you are loved!

Just in case ... Tomorrow's blog tonight!

It's the skeleton song.  The knee bone's connected to the shin bone.  The shin bone's connected to the ankle bone.  Or, the Baton Rouge flight's connected to the Sioux Falls flight, and if the Baton Rouge flight doesn't have a captain, the Sioux Falls flight doesn't fly.  That would explain why we are still seated in the Atlanta airport, having no idea of whether South Dakota is in our immediate future or not!  It's simply one of those things over which we have no control, so we also serve who sit and wait!  Of course it is 70 degrees here and -3 in Sioux Falls right now!  That may explain part of the reason we're not completely flummoxed by the turn of events!
Good news.  Baton Rouge has been upgraded to maybe soon!  It could happen yet!  We are thankful we are connected to you!  You are loved!

They say that all good things must...

Our last day in the Sunshine state...and today promises to definitely explain from whence cometh the name.  It has gone all too fast.  Waking up without the sound of a snowblower has been amazing.  Dressing without covering every square inch of flesh has been amazing.  Eating fish that hasn't been frozen is amazing.  Sitting on the porch watching golf has been amazing.  Walking and running on dry pavement has been amazing.  Reconnecting with friends has been amazing.  Knowing that all this has certainly adjusted my attitude...thank you Jesus!  (That would be my new imaginary Hispanic friend I have created in the wee hours of the morning, but that's a totally different blog!). I can now make it to the end of this abominable winter season.  I can once again smile.  I can quit hooching at every opportunity.  And I can continue to celebrate the fact that you are...amazing!  And you are loved!

Blue on blue

There's something about blue flowers that always captures my attention.  Let's face it, at this time of the year, any flowers capture my attention.  But the blue ones are so unique...so unusual.  Perhaps, it also explains my choice of friends.  I tend to look for unique.  I always gravitate toward the unusual.  If you were to put my friends into categories, you would have as many categories as you would have friends.  Granted, they share characteristics.  They're all respectful of individuality.  They all share a love of learning.  They all share without compunction.  And they're willing to put up with strange, unique things in return.  Like flowers, they exist to add beauty and purpose to life...especially mine.  And isn't that why we bloom?  Know you are loved!