Two Thirds Down

I'm reminded on almost a daily basis why I'm having my One Year of Opus...and it's not always why I thought I was doing it. But it's one thing in my life that's always good. It's never been a negative. Occasionally I do ponder the idea that I'm crazy....as in How in the Hell am I going to Make Money!? but I never think I made a mistake or a wrong decision. A few days ago a picture popped into my mind. A picture of a small table, with a bit of carving (I got a Dremel kit for Christmas), some paint, and a whole bunch of Chinese fortune cookie fortunes shellacked all over it. Pop! There it was. I thought, that's my Good Fortune table. So today I built the table part. I love wood and power tools. The sound of the electric drill screwing in 1/4 inch screws. The solidness of all the pieces attached together. Measuring using a CD case instead of a tape measure because the tape measure is no where to be found. Wooo-Whoo! I felt excited about it and sometimes, when life in general gets crummy or overwhelming and I forget my purpose, I stop being excited. So today it was so good to feel like I KNOW where I'm going. And I thought that was all.

Then the phone rang about 10:45 and it was my son calling me from school. He has a science project due in a few days and his partner is out of town for a week. He asked me to come help him with his project...which is Which is Stronger, Recycled Paper, Handmade Paper, or Plain Paper? It felt so great to say yes I'll come help you. So I sat on one of those small chairs and cut strips of paper and asked Jay questions so he could do a table (the kind on paper this time, with facts and figures) and he said thank you several times and I thought thank you several times. There were three little girls at the same table doing their project and one of them did not understand the graph thingy and just started to cry. She was so dear and confused and so I asked them if they needed help too and I felt so at home, working on science projects and answering questions.

Sometimes I feel like I've gotten off track. I haven't bought clothes but I have occasionally bought more than two coffee drinks a week. I haven't used my credit card but Holy Cow I bought a house in Kansas. But mostly, I wasn't doing the creative stuff, I was doing the housework, or talking on the phone, or going to lunch. So, this week, I get back on track. I've got a little less than four official months left of my OYOO. I have three book ideas, loads of furniture to paint, and a garden to start. Plus all that other stuff, like working on science projects with Jay, that fall under the Art of Living category. I wonder if I can file an extension :)

Read all about it!

A couple days ago I was running an errand with my son Jay. I had just picked him up after school and he was a little quiet. I asked him the usual questions...how was school, did he eat his lunch, did anything exciting happen. He answered those and then said, hey mom, did you know that scientist's say that the world's gonna end in four years? I was quiet. Honey, I said, I don't think the world's gonna end in four years. And I don't think a scientist said that. No mom, it's true.

Well, I tried as best as I could to refute the official "world's gonna end in four years" news but he would not believe me. He finally admitted that he heard this from a schoolmate who KNEW a scientist. Four years. Poof.

Just a few years ago that child would believe anything I said. I think this is our last year for Santa Claus.

Sunday morning

My seratonin level is over-producing again. I have coffee and a newspaper. My office is cluttered but the rest of the house is fairly straightened. I think one of the dogs did a little yuck behind one of the chairs which I need to attend to. My son is in bed reading a book. The sun is shining but it's br-r-r cold outside. I am looking forward to spring. But I love my now.

Just watch this

Birthdays

So, my birthday was yesterday. I love birthdays. And not just my own. I think birthdays are like a personal, private New Year's Eve. That's always when I make my resolutions and feel like I have a fresh start. I made prime rib and Yorkshire pudding on Friday with a few girlfriends (It was so good and none of us had ever done it before) and then Jay and I went out for a sushi lunch on Saturday. He is a great gifter already at ten years old. He picked out this stained glass dragonfly and a polished rock in the shape of a heart.

We were sitting there at the sushi bar, eating our shrimp tempura rolls, and this song comes on. It was one of those songs that you can't remember the name of (It was all piano music) but I knew it had meant something at one point in my life and it was familiar and took me back somewhere but I just couldn't quite place it. So that got me all sentimental. Then, Somewhere Over The Rainbow comes on (I AM from Kansas), and that got me to thinking about my mom and dad and how this is my first birthday as an orphan. Then, The Way We Were comes on and I had the tears going. What a DORK! Jay looks over at me and just stares. I said (blubbered), I just love these songs. He must think I am so weird. And anyway, it's really just another day.

This was me on my second birthday. I thought a little man lived inside the camera and painted our pictures and I liked to wave at him. I don't think I'm an overly obnoxious person but I do like to tell people it's my birthday. If I'm going trough the check-out at Target, I tell the person ringing my stuff up. If I'm getting a bagel or a coffee, I tell the cashier. Hi, It's my birthday. They always say Happy Birthday. I don't expect free stuff or a ticker tape parade, I just like having lots of people wish me Happy Birthday. I like birthdays so much I want to have a hundred of them.

Cheers to a new year and another chance for
us to get it right.
-- Oprah Winfrey