Dear World,

Dear World,
It's time we sat down for a meal together.
Might I suggest buffet-style?
We could stand in line for all the helpings we want,
Serve one another when our arms are too full,
Pick off of each others' plates,
Get a taste of something new and different,
Devour conversations,
And fill our bellies with sweet laughter.

DIFFERENT

The events that unfolded in Pakistan today break my heart. I wrote this piece in January 2012 and was reminded of it today. Those sweet children! What kind of animal?!!!!!!...sigh.......

 

Different

Two enemies stand side by side, broken.
Clothed in anger adorned with contempt.

They know no warmth, only an insatiable hunger
That sends shivers through their bones.

Their skin is rough,
Signs of kindness chiseled from their faces.

A higher power brought them together that day.
Each placed before the casket of their enemy's child.

Two deaths caused as a result of their hatred.
Grief filled the silent spaces in-between the violence.

That day forced them to shed their skin
Their eyes overflowing with salty tears.

They would never be the same,
Nor could they see each other as different.

The Catch

He found his favorite spot,
A secluded wilderness where he could be alone and fish.

He was so angry he screamed at the fish and the birds and the sun.
He screamed to the higher power that let him down.
The rage engulfed him,
He ached.
He hurt!

The pain of the past year stuck to his body,
So he shed his clothes
And jumped into the ice cold water.
He cringed.
He cried.
Not because the water was cold,
But because he finally felt something other than grief.

The mountains mimicked his cries,
Then silently awaited more.
He shivered.
He felt!

He emerged from the water,
And wiped it all off,
His pain,
His sadness.

The sun spread warmth upon him,
And the trees stirred up laughter.
They must have known he finally caught his breath.

Sense of it All

I closed off for a while.
Said my peace.
Waved goodbye
To the fun girl who smiles
And nods,
And pretends she won't cry.

I didn't, you know
Break down,
Hit the wall.
I merely stopped
Shut the door
And made sense of it all.

Time

This is a re-post from last year. I've got a few more to add, so I apologize if you've seen these before. I wanted to have them all in one place.



Smashed was the sculpture that symbolized togetherness.
Closed was the restaurant where we first met.
Boxed were the letters that once said, "I cherish you".
Love and laughter echoed in the ruins,
Until it was silenced by dust...

And time...time erased that feeling of no longer.

Must Be Your Sunshine

Bizzy finally had enough of the darkness behind her eyes and banished all negative thoughts to the space under her bed.
The monster cried out, "Your thoughts don't sit well with me!"
She paid no mind to that monster and pulled the drapery back to let the sunlight in.
The monster was furious and rumbled and roared until it exploded.
She opened the window to let the dread out of the room.
The negative thoughts slowly crept out from under the bed and gave her an encouraging smile.
The room was radiant,
And her eyes,
Bright.
She turned her thoughts to the sunshine.

Come Back

You grabbed my hand and set the world back on its axis.

Out of nowhere you appeared

And erased years of mistakes made in the dark.

I sat patiently as you drew the heart and those three words on my back.

No more guessing.

It was real.

This is what I've missed most about love.

The rain woke me up and I tucked you away.

The best dreams always come back.

For R.P.

The Comedian

This is an old piece that I recently came across.

When I'm high on depression
And bursting with rage
I've got this face of happy,
That makes love to the stage.

You like it,
But it's deceiving.
I fear it,
These thoughts I'm conceiving.

I'll play it out for you,
This maddening dance.
You'll clap and you'll laugh
At my circumstance.

I bow and step down
And become me again,
But all you'll ever really know
Is the comedian.


On another note, as some of you know, I was blogging at a different site last year. It just didn't feel like "me". I'm back to writing on this blog.

My Place of Belonging

This is the place...

Where my thoughts are at home.

It is this place.

Here.

Where my backyard is family.

I plant ideas and wait.

The hammock swings,

Secured by the roots

Of those sturdy old trees.

They are strong

Yet giving.

I rest.

Here.

In my place of belonging.

And I think.

The Reveal

Cherish is what you do

when the "newness" wears off

and the feelings reveal themselves

to be true and lasting...

It's how you say, "Thank you."

Ideal Birds

It was one of those important moments where she knew if she opened her mouth the Ideal Birds would fly away with her empathy, so she promptly shut the cage door, sat down, leaned in, and listened.

"Yes"

I've had a pretty fun week. Work is busy, but not too bad. I've had some great nights out and have been spending time with people I care about. I had some work done on my house this past weekend. Just some minor things...nothing exciting, but I did have the handymen move some furniture around in my living room...fresh look and a whole wall to figure out how to decorate. (Yes, I know...I need to post pics.) Peanut's Spring Break starts Friday afternoon. My mom will be in for a week so I don't have to take off of work. They may even take a road trip to Austin.

Here's a little bit of what's popped into my head in the last week or so.

SOLES:


Helen took off her running shoes.

They were old and heavy and no longer gave her support.

The very thing that was supposed to give her freedom

of flight was weighing her down.

She decided to sit still for a while,

Dangling her bare feet in the thick of it.

It was then that she learned how to move forward...

The places she'd go would be light on her soles.

***

FEET:

When putting your "best foot forward" how do you choose? Do you go by which one is prettier or by which one will taste better if you say the wrong thing?

***

THE DAYS IN-BETWEEN:


Anna smiled through the rough days and wept when a day brought overwhelming joy.
Most would think she had that backwards…
But Anna always had a good feel for what she needed.
Perhaps this is what made her whistle on the days in-between.

***

Right CJ?

We've been having some fun at my house lately. Peanut had $25 Chanukah gelt (money) to spend. About 3 weeks ago we went and got a guinea pig. The precious little creature snuggled right into Peanut's chest when the clerk at the pet store put him in her arms. He's calico colored, like a cat...so she named him Calico Jack ("CJ"). He was about 3-4 weeks old when we got him. I haven't had a guinea pig since I was little. I forgot how sociable they are! This silly creature has totally captivated our hearts with his squeaky, chirping ways. The third night we had him, Peanut was kind of wound up. I sent her up to her room for the night. It was 8pm. I told her she could play quietly with the guinea pig for 20 minutes and then it was bed time. I went back downstairs and lost track of time. I was on the phone. It was way too quiet upstairs!

This is what I found when I got up there!

Sweet girl fell asleep with her Calico Jack tucked under her arm! It's hard to tell from the photo, but he was not being smushed by her...he was just quietly sitting there. We've had so much fun letting him play with her old toys. We put her old "Cars" movie play rug on the floor for him and a wooden barn that my mom gave her. He loves it. He's quite the ladies man and he likes browsing on Amazon.com for interesting cage decor! 

I'm posting pics of him on Facebook like he's my child! Just tickled by this little dude!

The cats have yet to see him. We have him locked in Peanut's bedroom. We're going to just keep it that way, right CJ?

Future Good News

I'm blogging from my Kindle which could prove interesting. My computer died a quick and sudden death a couple of weeks ago and I've been too busy to find its replacement. I had hoped to share some good news this weekend, but instead will tell you good news for the future: My mom is moving here from Albuquerque. She's building a home in a senior community. It will be so nice to have more family here. My ex's parents have been wonderful but I'm looking forward to not having to ask them for help...I'd rather just contact them because I like their company. My mom found a buyer for her home...a cash deal! They were supposed to close on March 7th and she'd move here on the 8th. Well, the flaky people backed out of the deal. It took them a month to make the decision,(they gave my mom a low ball offer, she met them in the middle and they originally turned it down...then changed their minds and signed the offer last week). I was supposed to find her an temp apartment this weekend...those plans are on hold...sigh...we are all crossing fingers that she gets another offer by the time her new home is built (mid July). I know it'll work out. Now if we can just keep anxiety at bay! I have more to write but am wiped. Off to bed for me. I hope to catch up on reading some blogs this weekend. I miss that, and I'm sorry for not checking in sooner. Love, Stephanie

These Things That Make Life- EDITED

Happy Friday!

Here are some bits and pieces of me from this past week:

Watched "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" with Peanut on Tuesday night. Amazing to watch your kid's wheels turning as they try and figure out the meaning behind a story. "Why are his leaves falling off his legs? What do you think that means? Why can't he stay with them? ....." Huge conversation about compassion, acceptance and the important role people play in our lives regardless of the amount of time you get with them... We had a good cry over characters we didn't personally know, but really, it was a nice outlet for our own life's tears.

***
Wednesday's Facebook Status Post:

"There will always be a person who can make your life meaningful...
don't believe me? Look in the mirror.
I know, I know...I go thru one little breakup and suddenly I'm like excerpts from a self help book"

I had a wonderful old friend who commented on this post with this:
"It is the rougher spots in life that shape our views the strongest - you're just letting your rough spot polish you to a brilliant shine!"
I don't know if it's that I just pick good friends or I'm lucky they picked me...probably both.

***

Did I mention that I got pharyngitis earlier this week and left work early on Monday and was out all of Tuesday? Yah, fancy word for really bad sore throat with a mild fever. So glad I didn't get the flu.

Did I also mention that my ex's parents kept Peanut for me all day Monday thru Tuesday morning when they took her to school for me? Peanut's dad was out of town and they stepped in...mostly because they didn't want her to catch what I had, but also because we're family.

***

This morning 20% of my annual salary was given to me as an annual bonus by my employer. To say I'm blown away by their generosity (yet again) is an understatement!

***

So that's my story for the week...one of compassion, understanding, acceptance, generosity, honesty, and the importance of a good cry when it hurts achieving these things that make life.

Light and Happy

Light and happy were the days
she'd spend when she no longer
feared the bottom would fall
out from under her. 

The Photos of Christmas Eve Past

Back peddling a little bit this morning. Thought I'd post some pictures from December. My ex's parents have been wonderful to me over the past 6 years. I've mentioned this before. Our relationship is quite extraordinary. In 2011 both of their sons were going to be out of town for Thanksgiving, so they celebrated early. This left them with no plans on the actual day of Thanksgiving. My mom was in town, so we made a Turkey Day dinner at my house. It was pretty awesome.

This past Christmas both sons were away Christmas Eve. My mom happened to be in town so we made plans at our favorite restaurant for the 5 of us. It was a hard day for me because Rudolph and I were pretty much on the outs and my world had just changed dramatically. It meant so much to me that they wanted to share their Christmas Eve with me.

They took Peanut to church before we met for dinner and she told them about my break up. At the dinner table Paw Paw was sitting to my right. He leaned over to say that he was very sorry to hear the news. It was as sincere as my own father said it, and that felt good.

These people mean so much to me, and I hope someday I will get to share them with a man who understands how important and amazing this relationship is. I didn't want to be anywhere else Christmas Eve. My heart was right there, at that table.

Here are some of the photos from that evening.

Happy New Year, my friends!

Grounded

She had her "Aha!" moment somewhere in-between the blubbering and a restful night's sleep.

She grabbed the largest balloon she could find and ran outside.

Into the balloon went all the hot air that filled her lungs.

She let the wind carry the balloon away,
Took a deep breath of fresh air,
And embraced herself.

Oh the joy of feeling grounded! 

Cheers

A "gift" was given to me this week at work. I actually ran out of PTO (Paid Time Off) days around September of last year. I had some unexpected trips (mom broke her hip in May and I went to Albuquerque for the week) and 2 weeks of illnesses between me and Peanut. My mom is fine, by the way...she's actually better than fine...her recovery time was far less than expected. Anyway, back to work...At the start of this year I was about 6 days in the hole. Here's where the gift came in...they decided to wipe my slate clean! My insides were jumping for joy, and I of course thanked them over and over....

But, I declined their offer. You see, there were some days I took off simply because I couldn't "deal" with life...aka, days I shouldn't have taken off. This year's resolution is to not do that anymore. Separating personal feelings from the work I need to do will not be easy, but it's a goal I need to reach. So far I've done pretty well considering I've started this year with a break up.

Well, it's been a long week, and this is all I feel like writing for the moment. Perhaps I'll have a burst of writing energy later in the weekend.

Cheers!

Stephanie

No Winner

This time when they played
There was no laughter to follow .
They pulled so hard the rope broke in two,
And each took their piece.

She tied hers in a knot around her waist
To display her part of their undoing.
The edges of the loose end snagged and frayed
As she let it drag like a tail behind her.

He shouted, "I was right! I won!"
She conceded without looking back,
And kept walking,
Tears streaming down her face.

She knew when he turned that critical eye on himself
He'd experience the same pain.
She realized with that pain would come grief,
And clearly there was no winner.