Just Good Stuff | Posted by Jannie on 22 January 2010 @ 6:46 AM
64 Comments
These little gems are all from her current age, 8.
1. Me: Don’t you want to read the “Girl’s Body Book,” Honey? She: Nah, I already know all my girl stuff. But if I read this, someday when I get a boyfriend I’ll probably know more about him than he knows about himself.
2. Why do they call it a HAM-burger if it’s made from beef?
3. Sorry about your headache, Mom. Here — can I massage your templates?
4. Me: Hey, you wanna carve your pumpkin when your show’s over?! She: Um, let me see when I’m available (consults guide on tv remote control.) I have an opening at 2:00.
5. I’m not impressed with you always bossing me around, Mom — it’s not like you’re God, or something.
(Well, actually child, yes I do believe I AM God.)
6. She: Mom, what if I don’t know if Santa’s real or not when I grow up and my kids might not have any presents on Christmas morning? Me: Well, you could always buy some presents to put under your tree and if Santa hasn’t come, your kids will still have nice surprises. She: Good idea! ‘Cause I want my kids to be happy and well taken care of, like I am.
7. Mom, have you seen my Genius Book of World Records??
8. Actually, I kind of like that you’re not normal, Mom. Just don’t be like this around my friends, okay?
9. She: What’s your favorite word, Mom? Me: My favorite word? Hmnn. Um, gravitas – I like the way gravitas rolls off the tongue. What’s your favorite word? She: My favorite word is Jannie.
10. If I can’t afford private school when I’m a mom I guess I’ll just send my kids to public school — it’s probably better than nothing.
11. Actually Mom, it’s a good thing I broke my arm! I saved you and Dad a lot of money because you didn’t have to pay for Kung Fu and gymnastics for me for two whole months! (She reasons as I contemplate the stack of broken arm bills totaling about $2000. (We were “between” health insurances at the time of the elbow incident.)
So, there you have it, lovely peeps.
And fyi, my first installment of cute things she said has been Stumbled almost 10,000 times to date!!! I know — amazing. Who knew the cute little things kids say would capture the heart and spirit so!
Just Good Stuff | Posted by Jannie on 15 January 2010 @ 6:40 AM
66 Comments
Our beautiful jumble of loose photos could no longer be denied.
The pictures called ever louder and more insistently each time I approached their general vicinity, “Jannie, Jannie, help us. Sort us. LOVE us. Please, Jannie. Pleeeeease.”
Photos, photos, photos. All those pre-digital photos.
Something had to be done! But what?
And how?
Think, Jannie, think!!
Baskets? I had those 3 baskets full of CDs I used to keep in my car. Could they be the right size for photos?
Yes! Even 5 x 7s fit perfectly into each of the 6 compartments. Excellent. I ousted the CDs to a cardboard box and got busy.
I brewed more green tea.
I cranked the Bach to 11.
So many loose photos. But luckily quite a bit of time — I was taking a break from the child’s room re-do. I was a woman relatively in control of my own domestic destiny.
I labeled each basket compartment as thus,
1. Family
2. Friends
3. Kelly (ones of her alone)
4. Texas House (remodel)
5. Trips
6. Misc.
I was kicking organizational buttock!! I was singing. I was dancing as I sorted.
The Child arrived on the scene and was intrigued. She poured over photos that hadn’t been seen in years. She was a good help at sorting. (And a good sort at helping!)
From the depths of the broken-down laundry hamper she excavated the stack of greeting cards from her First Birthday! She read them bemusedly, nostalgic for and “missing the good old days.” Seriously — that’s what she said!
Little-by-little, with joyous fury, the photos found their way into the correct basket categories, as the broken-down laundry hamper was emptied, then lovingly stomped on and tossed to the curb.
As I post this today, my photo-organizing is far from finished, but the lion’s share is well on its way towards something mysteriously beautiful, unfolding like life itself with incredible lightness of being.
Ironically, the photo I was searching for in the first place — one of Dad helping Jim cut out the wall between the old living room and the old master bedroom 12 years ago — has not turned up yet! Where, oh where, can it be? Maybe in one of the albums in the bedroom closet, but I doubt it.
And all the photos of Jim and me in the snow in Canada 18 years ago? Hmmn. There must be another box of pictures somewhere.
Somewhere, yes.
All to be revealed in the great fullness of time.
Meantime… please sample below one of the Family photos unearthed during this organizing frenzy — a shot from Kelly’s Christening day I didn’t even know we had!
How ’bout you and your photo organization? Anything to tell?
So, its “wacky” January 6th, right — R.A.O.K.A. first Wednesday of the month? Sami? Lance?? Everybody??? 🙂 IS THIS THING ON?!?!? 🙂
Who needs snow, when you’ve got a wacky dad?! Two summers ago he zipped the olde moto-ski out of its garage to give the kids a surprise spin around the barnyard. That’s my neice Alyssa (10) in front. And Kelly’s sandwiched between her and Dad — that’s her white-sneakered leg.
Typical Canadian Maritimes’ summer recreation, I tell ya, fokes! 🙂 As you can see, I come by this wackiness more than honestly.
Isn’t my dad cute?! He was 70 in that picture. I’m so glad to have a healthy, active dad who loves life so much.
And how’s YOUR wacky today??? Done anything wacky lately?
🙂
EDIT Below… (Copied from Zeenat of Positive Provocations.) Zeenat — hope you don’t mind?? It’s my first foray into this R.A.O.K.A. and I’m learning as I go. 🙂
Friend, are you easily distracted at work, where your boss and co-workers are total jerks and the wallpaper is ugly as sin?
Do you complain about your work most of the time?
Do find yourself saying “I have no motivation?”
Do you often fall asleep at work and wake up a computer built into your right big toe and orange peels on your hair? (Oh wait — that one’s probably just my work place! Sorry.)
Do you threaten or shame yourself for not attaining what you’d like?
Do you tell yourself you’re trapped in your current job and feel guilty for desiring the job you’d really like?
Does contemplating a career change make you feel you’re going to jump off a cliff?
Do you feel the uncontrollable urge for “karrits” every two minutes to keep moving forward? (Oh wait — that’s probably just this guy! ) (Yes, a guy! We have ascertained Blue Bunny is indeed a he of the male persuasion. hoo-woo.)
But back to the book review!
Are you miserable in your job because you figure “That’s just how it’s gotta be?”
Have you acquired higher credentials but still feel unfulfilled?
Or on the flip side, maybe you are afraid of being perceived as “too happy” at work, so you wear a facade which creates a split between your “work you” and your “real you”?
Friend, if you answered “Yes!” to even one of the above, or if you can state other reasons you’re not happy in your work — this gem of an excellent book is for YOU.
Even if you’re not considering a career transition, but just want to find more satisfaction in what you do, Inner Productivity is still for you!
Inner Productivity is not about organizing our desks, color-coding our post-it notes, or turning off our e-mail to be more productive.
It’s about reorganizing our hearts and minds!
About becoming aware of our perception of things.
About noticing our patterns of thinking and feeling that tend come up when our less-than-desirable work habits surface.
About trusting our innate wisdom.
Seriously?
Seriously!
Could our work enjoyment or lack thereof really be that closely tied to how our bodies feel?
Could fully experiencing our emotions without fighting or fleeing from them actually help us?
Can we actually feel the inspiration and joy of work in our bodies?
Yes, I tell you! Yes, yes, yes!
In Inner Productivity Chris guides us to become aware of and pinpoint tensions in our bodies we probably didn’t even realize we had. Then with concrete exercises — relatively easy exercises — turning negatives into happy results.
We all want to have an overall vision for the work we do, feel significant in our jobs and enjoy the process as much or more than the product of our work. Well, Chris Edgar of Purpose Power Coaching (that’s his blog link,) guides us concisely from his heart how to do this, in a most pleasant and well-organized read.
And Guess what I found out about ME through this book??
I am NOT lazy — as drummed into me in childhood.
I will NOT die from stage fright, or any other kind of fright. All fears can be boiled down to one basic fear, and Chris teaches practical ways to release that fear on a cellular level.
I CAN prevent the migraines I realize I bring on by worrying about work stuff, by tuning into the sensations in my body . [As Chris mentions in his comment below, with focussed breathing]
(Insert Handel’s Aleleuia Chorus here, loudly — with extra cowbell.)
Oh, and I especially love the section in Inner Productivity that encourages us to embrace those “blank moments,” a.k.a writer’s block, which Chris shows are actually the moments that spur us on to our best creativity. What writer can’t fall in love with that idea?
But Friend, don’t take my word alone on Chris’ gem of an excellent book — there are tons more positive Inner Productivity reviews from well known guys and gals who write about work productivity and such.
“Chris Edgar is an author, speaker and personal coach who focuses on helping people follow their true callings in their careers, and find more enjoyment and efficiency in what they do.” (I stole that wonderful sentence from Bold BloggerTess.)
So go, Grasshopper — go joyously forward with the great inner creation that is YOU.
) (Yes, a guy! We have ascertained Blue Bunny is indeed a he of the male persuasion. hoo-woo.)
