A GOOD DAY...

My husband and I have been working on a project this summer, and while this may not seem unusual to some, those of you who know us personally can attest to the fact that we are rarely on the same page when it comes to the execution of projects. Usually one of us has a bright idea and the other either shoots the idea down or offers so little support that the initiator's momentum quickly disappates. This time however, after months of pushing and pulling, poking and prodding on both sides the wheels have been set in motion!

The mission at hand is to de-clutter our lives! I confess...I am a PACK RAT...not quite a hoarder, but pretty doggone close--therefore, making this a very necessary activity. I have accummulated so much stuff in the last ten years that I could easily supply a few households with various items, particularly clothing and toys! So this sunner we are emptying the closets, going through our storage units, giving away items of excess...all in hopes of eventually being able to fix up our condo, rent it out and be prepared to move into a home that better accomodates our family of five.

In accordance with this plan, today was a particularly good day! We sent the kids over to good ole' Uncle Myki's and Auntie Pamela's house while we rented a U-HAUL, emptied one storage unit and combined its contents with that of all miscellaneous items taken from our home in the last two weeks!

Now, we simply have to PURGE.

While my recounting of this seems so nice and neat, it was anything but! Especially since it was so HOT today! We probably lost tons of water weight!

Despite the blazing heat, the "coolness" of the situation lies in the fact that everything sort of fell into place without too much stress or strain. We were both committed to the task at hand and were present in the moment. We worked hard supported each other, trusted each other's judgement and accomplished a major task on our checklist all in four hours! Best of all we both feel energized and like a heavy burden has been lifted from our collective shoulders!

Another cool side effect of the whole day is the fact that this whole feeling is addictive!

Lesson learned: everything happens in its order, you cant rush progress, and once "it" begins to happen, the only place to go is FORWARD!

Here's to hoping that today was the beginning of many good days to come!

FOR THE LOVE OF READING or Lion's story of the night

Admittedly,I've been slacking on the nightly story front, so this is story #2 for the week and I highly recommend it! Oh, the Places You'll Go by Dr. Suess should be daily reading for adults and children alike!

(FW: This is a test...)This is a test of the mobile blogging system...regularly scheduled programming will resume shortly. Had this been a true emergency, this test would be followed by some really meaningful information about what to do next! Alas this is only a test!

Guiltless Cookie Jar Fillers: Low-Fat Cookies

Guiltless Cookie Jar Fillers: Low-Fat Cookies

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I'm BAAACK...I hope!

Thanks to inquiries and the encouragement of quite a few friends, family members, colleagues and an awesomely inspiring artist by the name of Jackie Battenfield (author of The Artist Guide: How to Make a Living Doing What You Love...she recently visited So FL and gave an awesome workshop), I have decided to resume writing this blog!

True to form, I had somehow convinced myself, despite evidence to the contrary, that nobody was reading or cared whether I wrote another word...but I guess that wasn't at all the truth (shout out to all my friends/family)! While perhaps the whole world doesn't care about what I have to say or what my kids are doing...I experience something akin to euphoria every time I successfully complete and post an entry. I move closer to my artistic goals every time I re-engage the craft of writing; every time I accurately and artfully capture an idea and share it with whoever may care to read.

Consistent with my personality, I had gotten myself totally worked up about the nuts and bolts and forgot to focus on the enjoyment of the creative process. Case in point, I had tricked myself into believing that I needed to do more research on the topic of blogging, that I was somehow not capable of blogging without some sort of instruction and therefore had to learn more about all the tools and tricks of the trade...despite the fact that I had already been posting updates for over a year and had a whopping four followers ...(don't laugh).

In essence the disease of procrastination coupled with the often simultaneous ailment of self-doubt had infiltrated, taken over my brain and resulted in an all encompassing bout of creative paralysis! Many very creative and otherwise intelligent people fall prey to this combination of ailments and even more devastating, is the failure to recognize this brain drain for what it is and as a result remain stagnant, fail to move forward and ultimately become ZOMBIES...you're laughing, but you know what I mean!

But, I think I'm better now...at least I hope I'm better now...but I guess this is a part of this whole process (at least it is for me anyway). I mean, after all, this (blog) is about my having gotten derailed in the past (and obviously in the present) and my desire to and pursuit of getting back on track...isn't it (see my profile for clarification)?

Stick with me folks, apparently its gonna be a bumpy ride!

Haiti, the earthquake, and my family: newyorker.com

This article written by Edwidge Danticat says so much! Not only does she illustrate the full range of emotions as can only be evoked following a tragedy, but she also gives a resonating glimpse at the spirit of the Haitian people and their iron clad survivor's spirit.
Haiti, the earthquake, and my family: newyorker.com