Saturday

Today is one of those days I wish I could record and play back over and over. One of those days where everything feels in place, there is calm, and contentment. There seems to be enough time to do the things I want to do. There is an easiness, a nice flow to the day. I don't feel rushed or behind. Do you have any idea how rare that is for me? Not that my life is so busy - I mean what am I doing that I'm so busy? -but I so often feel behind, and I too often feel rushed. Nothing we have done today has been special or out of the ordinary. We went to the Y this morning to a total body conditioning class. (Makes you feel alive, I tell you...of course, by tomorrow my arms will be screaming and I will say that I will never go again, but of course I will.) Then we had lunch, and I cleaned a little while The Kev watched the UT game. Lit my favorite candle...blackberry smoothie...mmm mmm mmm...., did some laundry, sat on the deck for a while and threw the ball for Bailey. Nothing special. It must be part exercise endorphins, part weather. It is a gorgeous day, folks. We've had the windows open all day -there's just enough breeze to make you want to curl up and take a nap. Fall is here! My favorite time of year. I hope your day is good, too.

Untitled

I want to take you out into a field
and scream at you until you understand.
I want to wrap happiness and hopefulness and confidence
in shiny silver paper with a crimson bow and give it to you on your birthday.
I want a giant eraser to take away the pain,
leaving behind only pink residue on a blank sheet.
I want you to look inside and see what I see.
I want so much for you,
But can do so little.

Grand Canyon

I'm Not Afraid

These are the lyrics to my favorite song when I'm working out/walking/etc.

I'm afraid of growing old
I'm afraid of staying young and running out of fun
I'm afraid of photographs of mom and dad when they were young

I'm afraid of spending my life
Waiting for a day that may never come
I'm afraid of earthquakes hurricanes and other acts of God

I'm afraid of having kids
I'm afraid there'll be no world for them to live
I'm afraid of pleasing all the people all the time

I'm afraid of jeaslousy, cupidity
And all words that end in "ee"
I'm afraid of men with bombs who think they're God

But I'm not afraid I'm not afraid I'm not afraid of you
I'm not afraid I'm not afraid
I'm not afraid I'm not afraid I'm not afraid of you
I'm not afraid I'm not afraid

I'm afraid of driving on 65
I'm afraid of flying in the sky
I'm afraid of getting out of bed with nowhere to put my head

I'm afraid of multiple choice
When a and b and c are true
I'm afraid... of not being afraid

But I'm not afraid I'm not afraid I'm not afraid of you
I'm not afraid I'm not afraid
I'm not afraid I'm not afraid I'm not afraid of you
I'm not afraid I'm not afraid

Maybe you are afraid of something? Maybe you won't be if you listen to this song over and over....it rocks.......

http://www.myspace.com/flemingandjohn

ta-ta

You can ignore this post

I am just linking to something here. Faithful readers, you may ignore this bit of housekeeping. Or, if you are nosy you can click my "technorati profile" and read much of the same stuff you have already seen. Later...

Technorati Profile

Photos

The Kev kissed another

Vacation was going great. I was excited to finally see what the western part of our country looked like. It was beautiful - so very different from here. The Kev and I were getting along splendidly. He was being the usual "vacation Kevin" -extremely agreeable and affable. We were having a fine time. We were a young (ok, semi-young) couple in love. But then it happened. He kissed someone else. And it wasn't a girl. I don't remember his name. But I will never forget his face. I stood nearby and watched as he leaned in and licked Kevin's chin. And Kevin looked so happy. I wasn't mad, just extremely disappointed. Disappointed because the "him" was a giraffe on the "safari" that we were on, and because I missed -not once but twice- the photo of the giraffe "kissing" Kevin and taking the carrot from his mouth. Kevin will never forgive me for that. It was a wonderful time, though. If you ever find yourself in Arizona, I highly recommend it. We were hesitant about going, because it was an hour and a half drive from Scottsdale. We had passed it the day before, but they were closed on Tuesdays, so we had to drive all the way back to Scottsdale, then back 1.5 hours to the park, then 1.5 hours back to Scottsdale. But it was worth every second. (We had extra encouragement because the night before we watched Steve Irwin's memorial service. We were inspired. I will miss that exuberant man, God rest his soul.) It's called Out of Africa, and it is wonderful. www.outofafricapark.com.

You didn't really think The Kev would kiss someone else, did you? ;)

Trans Fat

Feeling preachy today. Please, if you do not know about the dangers of trans fat, go to www.bantransfat.com and read about it. Read labels. Save your heart. Do not eat anything that contains "partially hydrogenated oil," "margarine," or "shortening." A law was passed recently that makes food labels have the amount of trans fat grams. But, beware. By law, a food can contain a certain amount of trans fat and still call itself trans fat free. The only way to know is to read the labels. Trans fat is found in many things like cookies, pastries, crackers, and powdered things like soup mix, coffee creamer, and hot chocolate. And of course, most things that are fried. You can eliminate trans fat from your diet!

I saw this article about NYC banning trans fat and it got me all riled up. See my post here. My comment here is down near the bottom...my name is "down with trans fat."

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thecheckout/2006/09/nyc_to_restaurants_get_an_oil.html

Happy label reading!

Flying

Flying demands a certain reverence from me. Stephen King once said that he believed that planes were kept in the air because they each contained enough people that feared they would fall, and the collective wishing kept them up. Sounds good to me. And I’m definitely one of those wishing -for a safe takeoff, a safe flight, a safe landing. You won’t see me making jokes or being too playful on a flight. It’s a somber affair, ladies and gentleman, and it commands a certain frame of mind. Maybe because the very first time I flew was right after September 11 (yeah I’m a late-in-life-first-time flyer, I know), and I took with me a printout of the most wanted terrorists. Armed soldiers patrolled the airports with guns slung across their backs. My boss told me I was “brave” for not canceling my vacation. It was not normal circumstances for a first flight, that’s for sure. Or maybe it’s just my fatalistic personality. I don’t think of myself as being negative, really, on the contrary I consider myself an optimist -but a realistic optimist, nonetheless. Why am I scared as we are driving down an insanely steep and curvy mountain road in Arizona? Because in my mind’s eye I can see with perfect clarity how The Kev could turn to say something to me at just the right (wrong) second as a deer or something steps into the path of our vehicle. He could panic, hit the brakes, slide off the shoulder, overcorrect, and there we are - flipping end over end to our untimely deaths. Death on vacation. How ironic. Yeah it sounds morbid, I know, but this is how my brain works, folks. It’s the curse of an imagination that is in tip-top shape from years and years of practice. So, if you see me on a plane and you think something’s wrong, don’t worry. I’m just trying to keep us in the air.

Welcome!

Welcome, constant readers, and random passerbys! I decided to check out this beta blogging and see what the fuss is all about. Thus the new blog. I have a link to my old blog here, just in case you get to missing it. Also, I had grown tired of the "world according to woo" title. It served its purpose. It was time to move on. So welcome to ramble on. I hope you stop by often.