I'm suffering from the stomach flu today. Need I say more? Hopefully R day will be about "Recovery".
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
L, M, N, O and P is for Life May Never Operate Perfectly
I've been away since Thursday, so in keeping with the spirit of the A to Z Challenge and not wanting to drop-out, I've decided to combine five days into one, as indicated in the title.
My family wasn't rich when I was growing up, and we had our share of struggles within the family dynamics, but we made do. Our crazy lives were peppered with happy, memorable times.
I did pretty good in school, but not enough to earn scholarships to university, so I made do and went to community college. I didn't become a surgeon, but I'm a mortician. Aside from the pay checks, the years of additional schooling, and the respect, there are some similarities. I get to hold a scalpel.
I grew up knowing that I wanted to get married and have a family some day. Things worked out a little backwards. I had a son, then got married. That situation wasn't working out, so I made do and got a divorce. That decision turned into something ideal...I met and married my current husband. Perfect, actually!
I always hoped my son would be a Mensa member, or a child prodigy. He earns A's and B's in school. I make do. JUST JOKING, JORDAN!! I'm very proud of you and love the person you are becoming and always were.
You get my point. Life may not operate exactly the way you'd hoped, but the alternatives can be pretty sweet if you accept the opportunities offered to you.
My husband and I are in our 40's and it is our dream to be able to purchase a sailboat to live on by the end of the decade, to keep our beautiful house so that we will always have a home base, to fly our children back and forth whenever they want to vacation with us, and for me make a living as a writer while doing this to be able to afford that lifestyle. That would be ideal...perfect.
Chances are, our lives won't operate that way. I may never become the writer/author I dream of becoming and we will probably have to sell our house. BUT, we will make do. We will take any opportunities to help our wishes come true. I will continue to write and to learn. We will continue to scrimp and save. We will do what we have to do. We had an opportunity to go to a huge sailboat show in the Bay Area of California this past weekend. We compared a number of sailboats we have been researching for the last year, and have narrowed our favorites down to two brands. Next step is to become certified skippers. Chances are we will have to deal with many obstacles along the way. Life may never operate perfectly, but we'll make do.
My family wasn't rich when I was growing up, and we had our share of struggles within the family dynamics, but we made do. Our crazy lives were peppered with happy, memorable times.
I did pretty good in school, but not enough to earn scholarships to university, so I made do and went to community college. I didn't become a surgeon, but I'm a mortician. Aside from the pay checks, the years of additional schooling, and the respect, there are some similarities. I get to hold a scalpel.
I grew up knowing that I wanted to get married and have a family some day. Things worked out a little backwards. I had a son, then got married. That situation wasn't working out, so I made do and got a divorce. That decision turned into something ideal...I met and married my current husband. Perfect, actually!
I always hoped my son would be a Mensa member, or a child prodigy. He earns A's and B's in school. I make do. JUST JOKING, JORDAN!! I'm very proud of you and love the person you are becoming and always were.
You get my point. Life may not operate exactly the way you'd hoped, but the alternatives can be pretty sweet if you accept the opportunities offered to you.
My husband and I are in our 40's and it is our dream to be able to purchase a sailboat to live on by the end of the decade, to keep our beautiful house so that we will always have a home base, to fly our children back and forth whenever they want to vacation with us, and for me make a living as a writer while doing this to be able to afford that lifestyle. That would be ideal...perfect.
Chances are, our lives won't operate that way. I may never become the writer/author I dream of becoming and we will probably have to sell our house. BUT, we will make do. We will take any opportunities to help our wishes come true. I will continue to write and to learn. We will continue to scrimp and save. We will do what we have to do. We had an opportunity to go to a huge sailboat show in the Bay Area of California this past weekend. We compared a number of sailboats we have been researching for the last year, and have narrowed our favorites down to two brands. Next step is to become certified skippers. Chances are we will have to deal with many obstacles along the way. Life may never operate perfectly, but we'll make do.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
K is for Koi Fish
I could not possibly pass by K without blogging about our favorite aquatic pets...our Japanese Koi. My husband has had a love affair with Koi and has been breeding and raising them for years. He's had many ponds built for the sole purpose of providing a happy summer home for his pets, but collaterally, the ponds have served to bring us humans joy as well.
This is Brad acclimatizing and releasing some of the Koi into their new summer home...
Oh, they were happy in there...
They didn't even mind SmellyCat hanging around...
Koi need oxygen, just like humans, so Brad built a little waterfall to aerate the water...
One of Brad's favorite breed of Koi is called an Asagi, which looks like this...
One of my favorite breeds is the Platinum Ginrin (shiny, large scales). We had one like this that was about 18" long...
Koi are veracious eaters and can even be trained to eat right from your hand...
This Yondon (four-step) Kohaku will give you an idea of the average size healthy, well-cared for Koi can grow...
I hope you enjoyed my pictorial essay about Koi. They are a joy to raise and to watch.
See you on L day.
J is for Jumping In
When I think of "jumping", the picture that automatically comes to mind is that of a person making a decision to exert themselves so that they can get their feet off the ground - physically. It also conjures up more figurative images of "taking a leap of faith". You know where I'm going with this, right?
Let me get the obvious analogy out of the way. Once you decide that you want to be a writer, you just have to jump in and do it...learn as much as you can, build your platform, and start writing, and hopefully that physical act of jumping in and the figurative act of taking a leap of faith will pay off in the form of a tangible book that you authored.
However, in life, I've learned that "just jumping in" can mean deciding to do just about anything and then hopefully reaping the rewards of that decision. Following is a pictorial journal of some of those decisions...
Jumping into the water with snorkel gear rewarded me with such visual splendor of seeing this big guy...
Deciding to jump in and get inked, Brad and I were rewarded with tattoos we really love...
Emma decided to put on a life jacket and just jump off the side of the pool, and she was rewarded with confidence and freedom...and we were rewarded with her huge smile!
Brad just jumped in the dirt one day and started digging, and it resulted in a beautiful koi pond and garden...
When you've been divorced, yet fall in love again, sometimes you have to make that decision to take a leap of faith that this one will succeed, and just jump right in...
and hopefully you'll end up this happy...
Brad and I have decided to take the next big jump in about four years. We decided that we're going to jump right into the cruising lifestyle by buying a live-a-board sailboat and sailing for the rest of our lives. We're heading to Oakland on Thursday for a huge sailboat show. One foot is already off the ground.
What's your next big jump or leap of faith?
Let me get the obvious analogy out of the way. Once you decide that you want to be a writer, you just have to jump in and do it...learn as much as you can, build your platform, and start writing, and hopefully that physical act of jumping in and the figurative act of taking a leap of faith will pay off in the form of a tangible book that you authored.
However, in life, I've learned that "just jumping in" can mean deciding to do just about anything and then hopefully reaping the rewards of that decision. Following is a pictorial journal of some of those decisions...
Jumping into the water with snorkel gear rewarded me with such visual splendor of seeing this big guy...
Deciding to jump in and get inked, Brad and I were rewarded with tattoos we really love...
Emma decided to put on a life jacket and just jump off the side of the pool, and she was rewarded with confidence and freedom...and we were rewarded with her huge smile!
Brad just jumped in the dirt one day and started digging, and it resulted in a beautiful koi pond and garden...
When you've been divorced, yet fall in love again, sometimes you have to make that decision to take a leap of faith that this one will succeed, and just jump right in...
and hopefully you'll end up this happy...
Brad and I have decided to take the next big jump in about four years. We decided that we're going to jump right into the cruising lifestyle by buying a live-a-board sailboat and sailing for the rest of our lives. We're heading to Oakland on Thursday for a huge sailboat show. One foot is already off the ground.
What's your next big jump or leap of faith?
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