It's Not Fair!!!

(And, yes, I do like cheese with my whine!)  Okay, it's time to vent. You can totally disregard my previous post about having a good day!

My 21-year-old son is home from college for the weekend.  He comes in my office to ask me a question.
 
"Do you know any websites, where I can get information about citing sources", he asked.
Thinking back to when I was in college I say, "I had this wonderful book, which I consulted for almost every paper, but it will take me some time to figure out where it is".

On second thought, I am sitting at my computer and figure there's got to be sources online to help answer this question.  So, I pull up my browser and type "MLA bibliography" in the search box.  I click on the first source that shows up on the page, and it takes me to EasyBib.  (I already don't like the sound of this.)  When the page opens up, what do I see?  A video tutorial, of course!  I am such a visual learner, I could spend a whole week watching how-to videos on YouTube! 

"Well, how cool is this", I say sarcastically, as I hit the play button.  "Pull up a stool and we'll watch this five minute video".

As we watch the video.  My memory flashes back to the days of stacks of index cards, receiving graded reports back only to find points deducted in my bibliography section of the paper for a semi-colon where a colon should have been or because something was underlined where it should have been italicized.  Not to mention having to take my stack of cards and spread them out just to make sure they were in alphabetical order as I transcribed them into my computer. Then there was the forgotten one.  The one sentence that I got from a source and forgot to get the citations from it!  That perfect transitional sentence! UGH!

All he has to do is choose the type of source he wants to cite from a list.  Then a window pops up where he enters the prompted data into fields.  Push a button and PRESTO!  It translates all of them, puts them in alphabetical order and even spits them out into a MS Word document.

So, off he goes in total bliss.  I can hear him throughout the afternoon exclaiming from the other room to himself, "OMG, this is so awesome"!  And all of his woes about term papers on Facebook now turned to "Chris is acing these term papers!" Yada, yada, yada.  (Gee, thanks mom.)

Perhaps his generation takes it for granted how easy life is with all this technology. But then again, perhaps mine did, and we didn't know how hard our parents had it either.  At any rate, we choose to work hard for our goals.  My college career took me as long to attain as my twelve years in grade school.  Yes, twelve long years to get my degree.  Looking back, it was worth it.

Joanne

How do YOU have a good day?

I have something to say about holding yourself accountable. We have such complex minds. Do you realize how much we self-sabotage with our thoughts, words and actions? We make ourselves feel guilty by setting expectations for ourselves and then falling short. We make agreements with ourselves that we don't keep. We make goals and then fail to reach them. No wonder we have low self esteem and lack of motivation!

I am determined to stop the self-talk that's negative. I believe that we have power beyond the scope of what we think we have! The first thing we can do is to start creating something each day that we feel good about. for example, I, for one, recently started my frequent no-coffee-for-a-week caffeine cleanse rally.

OK, that's not the thing that's making me feel good: I'm getting to that! Now, I love a cup of coffee in the morning as much as the next person. I have a ritual of making a certain blend, a certain way, with a french press and a special cup or travel mug and the time I spend drinking my java is a regular "pre-morning" morning feel-good fix. AND if, Heaven forbid, someone should use my cup, take my travel mug (and my son has been known to do that despite the fact that I've told him I would drive toothpick's under his fingernails if he did it again) or something else should come up and I don't get to enjoy my coffee ritual (disclaimer here) I cannot be held responsible for the actions that take over my body and my mouth while I walk around the house in a grumpy state of being!

Today was my third day without my ritual morning coffee fix. I recognized that I chose to do this because I believe it's good for me. I chose this, not you, or my husband or my parents or anyone else. There simply is no one to blame.

My point is, it would be so easy to blame someone else for our shortcomings, flaws and moods even if they are self-inflicted! Even just an emotion of "not feeling good" is no one else's fault but mine.

So instead of focusing my attention on the LACK I was feeling, I chose to do something else to focus on and make it a good day! It was chilly all night since this turn of the season to Fall. I was inside working until lunchtime. I really paid no attention to the weather until I got hungry and went to the kitchen for something to eat. The sun was beckoning me! It's warmth was calling to me and I felt like I could use a boost of vitamin D! I made some broccoli cheddar soup in a favorite bowl (because it was a gift from a friend I made while living in Germany). I have had this bowl for two moves and roughly twenty years! The saucer was lost when I made some soup for a neighbor when they were sick and took it over never to have the saucer returned. So be it...won't fret.

My favorite old spoon too. Why? I don't know, because it's kinda square, I guess! I like things that don't fit the mold, you know? So I sat down on a chair on my back deck to enjoy my soup. I didn't even have to blow on it to cool it on the spoon, the wind did that for me! Just me, the dog, and the birds going to the bird feeder like it was a drive-through window at lunch hour. A fly-by every minute. Ahhhh!

In a nutshell, I held myself accountable for my mood. I took control, had the power, and recognized my ability to change my perspective about the whole thing. Not a big deal really to give up coffee, but I am trying to make a point here. Empower yourself! Change your thoughts from something not good to something great! Enjoy the simple pleasures and do something for yourself that you decide to do for you! If your in a pickle, look at your mindset about the situation. Whatever it is, it just is. Your perspective of it is what counts. Are you going to carry it all day? Take my advice and HAVE A GOOD DAY!

They're Back!

Do you believe in Fairies?
Well, I do! More than likely you may believe in them too after reading this. Or at least scratching your head over this "supernatural-natural" marvel! [Did I just make up a new craze?]

Let me explain...
I wrote an email to some of my friends an family before this blog existed, which was September 15th to be exact. In the email I explained what was happening.

Photo credit: Flickr - Creative Commons

The Email...

Don't open the pics until after you read this...and remember, we are STILL
having a drought here in GA.

This is our recently remodeled front entry. A few weeks ago, I noticed some mushrooms growing in the shape of a half circle just spanning in front of the deck area that juts forward in the center. I couldn't help but see them! As you can see in the first picture, by the left-most mushroom is my dog Daisy. She is a small yorkshire terrier. These mushrooms are as big as my hand! So, mental note to self...interesting.

Then David (my second-son) mows the lawn.

Next, the mushrooms emerge AGAIN only this time the arch of the half circle is bigger. There are no other mushrooms in my front or back yard or the neighbor’s yards on the rest of the street, not one. So, mental note to self again. At this point, I am questioning what it is while, at the same time, feeling it is good energy and a blessing.

Backstory...

In light of all the natural disasters and fires everywhere, I have consciously been saying prayer while walking the property barefoot and asking the spirits here to protect this land and home that I am borrowing from future generations. To protect my dwelling place and family and to place good spirits of protection at all entrances and above and below. I acknowledge that bad and negative spirits do exist, but I ask them to stay out of our "circle". I offer food to the spirits and the little people, the swimmers and the flyers, the creepy-crawlies, the fairies and gnomes, the standing people (trees) and plant and rock people, the seen and the unseen. This is how I was taught to work with our Mother Earth.

Back to the story...

David mows the lawn again. No more mushrooms and then...

They come back again. This time they span the entire front porch width!

Mental note to self...you are going mental!

I spoke a Native American elder today and asked her about the mushrooms. I had to know if there was any lore about them. Could the underworld be talking to me? (The underworld is not evil to these indigenous people as in some religious beliefs; it is a mirror of the upper world - the Earth) Is it a sign? I didn't get an answer from the universe on my own. She laughed. She told me that it is a Fairy Ring. It means blessings on your home, change and transformation. It's always growth. Some people fear growth, because it means change. It's truly about learning to surrender to the change. You accept the change and grow through levels of higher consciousness.

She asked if there were any young (maybe pre-teenish) girls that I know. She
told me to talk to one and find a stump in my yard (I just happen to have a big
one in the back...) and make a Fairy garden on it with her. It will give us
ideas of how to restore the earth mother again. And it reminds young girls that
there is more to the world than what we see. It fosters her imagination and it
could be the key, which unlocks something magical when she becomes an adult that
is not offered in her home. Then, she suggested I buy a fairy book and gift it
to her.

Anyhow, wanted to share this with you all. Don't forget about the
fairies in your area and talk to them remembering the innocence of your own
imaginations as little girls. I do.

Blessings to you and yours,

Joanne

Are you ready to see the pictures and decide for yourself? (Your decision NOW is probably "this woman is CRAZY"!)

I got some pictures and later saw our neighbor and her friend picking apples next door. I told them about the mushrooms and asked them to help make a "FairyLand" on a stump in the back yard. I gave them pointers on using natural things and ideas like "they'll need something to sleep on", etc. and then they took off with it, without needing anymore of my suggestions, and were in my back yard for THREE HOURS, each one making their own on a separate stump. (In case your wondering, I had her get her mother's permission first.)

See what they came up with! The pictures did not pick up all of the little details. It would have been nice to see a before and after picture or each stump. Notice the teeny-tiny strawberries (they grow wild and are bitter) for food and the onion grass! Clever little girls.

If I were a Fairy - I'd be camping out right there! Hope you enjoyed this post and thanks to Jennifer and her friend Lauren!

Joanne