Lizzy and the orange ball

Lizzy is OBSESSED with this ball.

She plays with it all the time.

Every morning. Every evening.

When I'm looking. When I'm not looking.

ALL THE TIME.

Here's a series of shots from when I was brushing my teeth.

First she drops it by my feet and backs up:

Then she sits down and watches it:

So I roll it toward her...she watches:

Then she pounces and returns to her position:

Then she lets it roll:

And continues to watch it:

Then it starts all over again.

The best is when she plays this "game" in the kitchen. There aren't any rugs in there, so when I make dinner a little orange ball will roll by...at least 20 times...every night.

Darn her cuteness.

Adventures in sewing: The birds are DONE

The birds are done! The birds are done!

I still don't have the rest of the supplies I need to complete the whole bird project that's in my head, but I have 10 complete birds. Go me! (Some of them need a little cosmetic surgery, but I'll get around to that, or I'll just accept them as imperfect and be happy with that - I'm thinking option two.)

Cleaning, learning, optimism

This past weekend's motto (and probably next weekend's as well):

I didn't do my typical Sunday cleaning routine. This is momentous. I'm usually OCD about it. And ironically, I'd say I'm even more clean than my mother. But a quick wipe down and vacuuming is in order this evening. (Oh, and I love Dove chocolate!)


From The Daily Love:

"There are no mistakes. The events we bring upon ourselves, no matter how unpleasant, are necessary in order to learn what we need to learn; whatever steps we take, they're necessary to reach the places we've chosen to go." - Richard Bach, writer

"I have become my own version of an optimist. If I can't make it through one door, I'll go through another door - or I'll make a door. Something terrific will come no matter how dark the present." - Rabindranath Tagore, author

Make mistakes, learn, feel pain, be passionate

From The Wellness Warrior:

From A Beautiful Mess:

From The Daily Love:

"When you welcome your emotions as teachers, every emotion brings good news, even the ones that are painful." - Gary Zukav, author

"Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you've got to say, and say it hot." - D. H. Lawrence, author and poet

"Disappointment to a noble soul is what cold water is to burning metal; it strengthens, tempers, intensifies, but never destroys it." - Eliza Tabor, author

"Find a place inside where there's joy, and the joy will burn out the pain." - Joseph Campbell, American mythologist

Old pictures and mason jars

When my parents came to visit, they dropped off a few boxes of what they like to call "my stuff." I prefer to call it "mementos of my youth that they saved over the years and don't know what to do with." I now have quite a collection pictures, awards, drawings, certificates, trophies, news clippings, etc. Great. More boxes of stuff that I feel obligated to keep.

But I do have to say that some of the pictures gave me a good laugh and inspired me to want to actually do something with them (at least for the moment). So I took a tip from Young House Love and A Beautiful Mess and used some mason jars to come up with a little display. I love the idea, but I'm not completely happy with the way I have them set up, so I need to work on that (and don't mind the inspirational quotes plastered to the fridge).

Here are some of the images up close (and some that aren't in the jars).

 

  

Free bird necklace

My present to myself arrived the other day! It's a birdcage necklace that I ordered from a designer in Ireland. I love it!

Birds flying free and birdcages are my current life theme. I recommend life themes to everyone. My last (and still applicable) theme was/is the lotus flower.

Webcams and cupcakes

I wasn't going to write about this, but I changed my mind. I'm fired up.

First, there's the Rutger's University student who took his own life because his roommate was trying to be funny. It saddens me, angers me and makes me sick to my stomach. THIS IS NOT OK.

But Rutger's is ahead of the game when it comes to civil rights. I'm impressed to see that they were launching Project Civility prior to all of this happening.

Then there's the Indianapolis bakery that refused to make rainbow cupcakes for National Coming Out Day.  Oh, and you know how I found out about the rainbow cupcakes? Not on my local news, that's for sure. I found out about it from my BlogHer news feed! And that news feed? Yeah, it's national. Thanks local news. It's finally making the local news now, since, if you Google the issue, it comes up in the news for places like San Francisco. And the mayor is now involved! It will be interesting to see how this unfolds.

Discrimination is not ok.

Violation of civil rights is not ok.

Invasion if privacy is not ok.

I know there are a lot of people who don't agree with me and you're entitled to your opinion just as much as I'm entitled to mine.

But we should agree that everyone deserves to be treated with respect.