Poemfish

A little sun

  

Sometimes when we feel like we're failing,
it's hard to find the energy and motivation
to pick ourselves up and start again.  Today,
I found a bit of inspiration in my Inbox.

I have been failing at my commitment to post 30 blogs in 30 days
so I've found myself hiding from my blog again.
I feel like I have not just let myself down, but that
I've disappointed anyone who reads my blog.

But this morning I got a lovely email from a friend of
mine I don't see that often, and her words filled a space
in my heart that has been yearning for some sunlight
for a while now: 

"well i decided to blog daily when i saw your 30 posts in 30 days...
just to "do" and stop the insanity of unhappiness that i am soooo stuck in!
as little as I've seen you, you have been one of the highlights of "this time"
(the time that must not be named!) ... having coffee forever ago,
going to your art show, your christmas gift to me, the cubicle book and pictures,
I havent shared my gratitude, and i'm sorry for that! But, thank you,
thank you! you remain a bright light in my life! I hope you are well well well &
tell your fabulous hubby hello - and we'll have coffee again& hopefully soon!"

Even though I don't see this person all the time, whenever we talk or
spend time together, it's like we've never missed a beat.  We're old souls.
And her words fill me with hope and happiness and the simplicity of
just being honest and speaking from your heart, no matter how much time
or messiness has passed.

SO here I am, writing again.  Standing on my own two feet,
wearing my sparkly pink sandals.  Unsure of where my life is going,
but accepting that I am far from perfect, and well, that's okay.

I am writing not to make some new blog quota commitment, but rather
to honor the place I am in my life right now, and move forward with
the hope and love and passion that make up the pieces of the person
I am and the person I'm still becoming.

Thanks, friend, for checking in and giving my laugh lines
a little sun.  Just what I needed.

MJ

  Photo by: unknown

If you asked me a week ago if I was a
Michael Jackson fan, I probably would have
said, "No," without giving it much thought.
But since his death and the resurgence of
all the music that made him such an icon,
it's like I've been transported back to
a part of my childhood, the part filled
with music and dreams and dancing.

I grew up loving Michael Jackson's music,
playing the Thriller album over & over again.
My brother & I used to make up dances to his
songs and perform our routines for my parents
in our living room on Stanley Street. 

We even had a glove my brother covered with glue
and several jars of silver glitter.
We wanted the glove to be a surprise when we performed,
so we'd practice our routines in the basement &
then hide it in one of the ceiling tiles so no one would know. 
Of course when we finally broke it out
for our big performance, there was glitter
everywhere and we were banned from bringing it
out again.  But We kept it hidden in that ceiling tile
and took it out when no one was around because it
was just so cool.  We felt like we were superstars ~
like Michael Jackson.

I remember when my brother taught me how to do the
moonwalk while we wore our footed pajamas and
how cool it was watching the "We Are the World" video,
knowing the importance of what the song was about. 
And "Man in the Mirror" came out at a time in my life
when I was realizing the importance of trying to
have a positive impact on the world around me. 

As I got older, I began listening to other
types of music, and Michael Jackson seemed over shadowed
by all the stories in the media ~ accusations and
plastic surgery, strange behavior and appearances.

But today's Memorial Service was a touching reminder
of the creative genius he was.  We will probably never
know the truth from the fiction, but I, like many others,
will always remember the impact his music had on my life,
the excitement of singing along to Billy Jean, and
practicing those slick dance moves in the mirror
as we watched the Thriller video hundreds of times.
Great memories and stories that will stay with me
for the rest of my life.

Rest in peace.

Lessons Learned

 

Last summer we bought a new bed and, in preparation
for its arrival, began the process of stripping away
layers of wallpaper so we could prep the walls and
then paint them.  We finished about half the room -
basically just the walls directly around where the bed
would go, and then of course, never finished.  Well,
this week we've decided to finish the process once & for all. 

 

The only housework I might like less than removing wallpaper
is probably raking leaves.  Something we learned after
burning through about 6 bottles of DIF wallpaper stripper
(at about $6 a bottle), then moving on to detergent mixed with water,
(read about that online) & even using a steamer, is that plain water
in a spray bottle works the best and it's the cheapest! 
The key is to get the paper really wet and let the water soak in
for a minute or so.  By the last wall, we had actually
perfected the technique so the paper came off in strips with
a scraper once we got it wet enough.  I can't even tell you
how horrible it was before we realized just how wet we needed to get
that paper to get it off.  Lesson WAY learned.

 

So this morning, we finished removing all the layers of old wallpaper, and
I am feeling pretty great about our accomplishment.  Next comes sanding and
puttying the walls and hopefully we can paint next week!  I might take the
weekend off.  Yay!