Through The Tulips Words of 'Wiz'dom

Day 20-  This month, in great detail.

This has been a month of mixed emotions so far.  I’ve been to a funeral which really sent me on a tailspin for a little while, found out earlier this week that my uncle has cancer and not sure what the prognosis is.  

On the whole, it has been a great month.   I celebrated a late birthday with four friends on Wednesday for a high-tea.  The food was good and the company even better.   I’ve also made many impromptu trips to Starbucks and spent time with friends.    Haven’t seen Desere that much because she’s been on vacation in Greece.  We’ll pick her up at the airport on Sunday, along with Hein and the rest of the family.

My iPhone 4 arrived, which meant  a whole lot of excitement on my part.   Work has been good, and there have been rainy and sunny days- today happens to be sunny.   I find that I’m letting go of people who only have the desire to take, because I would rather spend my time and energies with people who also want to invest in relationships and not just take from them.   I’m learning a lot about letting go and moving on, because dwelling on things I can’t change serve no purpose.

Ainsley and Olivia started college and I’m so proud of them.  This is a big time in their lives- and also the lives of Samantha and Tommy. 

The rest of the month will keep me busy with work, plus I am getting together next week with friends, and then again on the 30th Bobbi and I are headed south to visit our friend Kimmie.

If I could sum up this month in one word- I’d say blessed.   I feel blessed.

Day 19-  Something you regret, in great detail.

I really try not to live my life with regrets.  I’ve made plenty of mistakes that I’m not proud of, along with some very stupid choices- but honestly I don’t regret them because the lessons learned from them have helped mold me into the person I am today.

Looking back- if I had to choose something then probably the biggest regrets that I have are hurting people that I love.  Not intentionally, but I know when I was younger I wasn’t always the best friend or maybe even the best daughter.

Day 18- Your Favorite Birthday, in great detail.

This is another hard one-   simply because I have so many great birthday’s.    Last year when Samantha turned 40 and visited for both her birthday and mine was an awesome experience.  We traveled, had a great time and ate lots of chocolate.  It definitely ranks in the top of my favorites.

I think if I had to choose an absolute favorite, it would be when I turned 21.   I had three parties-   One with friends at a mexican restaurant,   one  very wild and out of control party at a huge warehouse and a surprise party that Carol, Kristina and Kerri gave me.   I was on top of the world and grabbed life by the horns.   It was a wonderful time of life and I remember it with a huge smile on my face.

As you have probably figured out, I’m running a little behind on my little 30 day of honesty adventure. The hosting company had an attack on their servers which created some problems and I’ve been so busy that the only time I’ve really spent at the computer is when I’ve been working.

I’m happy to say that for the next three days I’ll be home for the most part, with the exception of picking Hein, Desere and the boys up at the airport on Sunday. They’ve been in Greece for the last 11 days, so it will be great to see them all again. Desere and I have a date at Starbucks.

I do have much to talk about, but little time- especially if I want to catch up before I have to start my work day- So, here goes.

Day 17- Describe your favorite memory- in great detail.

Wow!  These seem to be getting harder and harder.   Either that or I’m actually having to think about the answers.     This one is extremely difficult to me because I have so many favorite memories that there is no way I could dare quantify one as my absolute favorite.   Instead, the memory I share is one of my favorite- of many.

The year was 2005 and my parents, Marcel and I took a trip to Scotland.   My dad’s ancestors are from Scotland and for as long a I can remember he wanted to visit the ancestrial castle (where some of our distant relatives still live).    We spent a week in the country and dad drove us through the countryside.   We were amazed at how different the weather could be from one moment to the next, but finally after being there several days we crossed over the Skye bridge and headed onto the Isle of Skye, which is where the McLeod ancestry is from.     

I’d actually emailed back and forth with the people at the castle and they tried to get us connected with John McLeod  (who lives in the castle with his family), but he was out of the country the week that we were there.    Even still, we toured the castle and it’s truely one of the most amazing places I’ve ever been.   Possibly because I know it’s owned by family, but also because it’s beautiful.  The gardens are gorgeous.

One of my favorite moments came when we were walking down the path towards the castle.  We couldn’t see it yet, but mom and dad were walking in front of us, and it hit me that diddy (my word for daddy) was having one of his biggest dreams come true right before my very eyes.   I couldn’t help but cry at the magnitude of that moment.    Even now, when I think about it, I find myself with tears in my eyes.   The joy that it brought me to see him realize one of his dreams was beyond words. 

Today has me describing my first kiss.  Since this isn’t exactly clear on whether it’s supposed to be the first kiss I received in my life (which I’m sure was from one of my parents) or if they mean my first romantic kiss, I’m going to go with the first kiss from a boy that I ever received.   Well, let me rephrase that, the first kiss from a boy that I remember.  There could have been earlier ones, but they must not have made much of an impression.

Day 16-  Your first kiss, in great detail.

I really don’t remember how it came to be that I received this first kiss, because it wasn’t from a boy that I liked or had a crush on in any way, shape or form.  His name was Donald and I was in 7th grade.    I remember we were at school and somehow the subject came up of kissing.  Maybe someone dared one of us to kiss-  I really don’t remember.   What I do remember is that we stood by the bushes in front of Magnolia Jr. High and he kissed me.    It was the one and only time he kissed me and that was that.     I don’t remember it being weird or even awkward.  It was a kiss- nothing more, nothing less and I certainly didn’t see fireworks or even sparks.

Day 15-  Describe your dreams, in great detail.

I can imagine that for some people this could be a long list of things they would like to accomplish and achieve in their lifetime.  I have a few myself, but ultimately I have one dream and that’s to make a positive difference in the lives of others.    The rest is icing on the cake.

I didn’t have the opportunity to write yesterday because I was gone most of the day on a blueberry picking adventure with Marcel and my friend Bobbi.  We arrived home 9 pounds of blueberries richer, and after getting dinner ready and such, I completely forgot all about writing here.  

I also spent several hours on the phone with Samantha, which trumped everything in priority because we hadn’t talked in a while.

Day 14- Describe what you are wearing, in great detail.

Since this was technically for yesterday,  I’ll share what I wore then.    I had on Fossil Sunglasses, an Abercrombie long sleeved shirt (that I love)-  it’s olive green in color.   I had on black lounge pants (that are oh so comfortable) and some plaid  slip-on tennis shoes.  No socks.   Aside from the undies (which are none of your business) that’s it.

Today is Friday the 13th, and incidentally day 13 of my 30 days of honesty.  I’m almost half way there. 

Day 13- Describe your week in great detail.

Whew- Seriously?     I’m going to skip the great detail part and only go with the Monday through Friday, because quite frankly I’ve done so much thinking this week that my head is about to explode.  I’ll break it down into days.

Monday-  Took the day off and went to a funeral with Marcel.    It was one of our neighbors and even though I knew I shouldn’t go, I went anyway.   While no one likes funerals- it was entirely too much for me to process and I felt as though my head were stuck in a vise grip.   

Luckily after dinner Desere and I took a quick trip to Starbucks where I had not one, but two Mocha Frappuccino Light’s.   It was the bright spot of my day.

Tuesday- My dear friend’s Bobbi and Suzy came over for a visit and for lunch.  They arrived in the morning and I made crustless quiche with zucchni and apple-walnut salad with feta.     They left around 2 and I spent the next few hours working.  From there-  dinner time.  Marcel worked that evening and Desere came for coffee.

Wednesday- Is it possible that I forgot what happened on this day?   My intention was to actually get up early, but I couldn’t drag myself out of bed.  I was still in a state of sadness about the funeral and about how fragile life is.   I spent most of the day trying to process everything but it was difficult.   Again, Marcel worked nights and I spent the evening home alone.

Thursday-  Again, I slept late but actually woke up feeling a little more energetic.  I did accidentally take two allergy pills and they kicked me in the bootay making me lethargic and I struggled to get work done.   Of  course, this would be the day that I had the most work.    Cooked dinner and spent some time outside with Marcel walking and playing with JJ.

Friday- I was up semi-early this morning so that I could get ready to have coffee with one of my neighbors and her daughter.  They live together and it was great to spend the morning with them.  I planned to go for an hour, but it turned into 4 and I arrived home just in time to get some work done.   Once I finished working, Marcel and I went for dinner and then off to Starbucks where I had (yet another) Mocha Frappuccino Light.   We played with JJ and in a moment I’m going to have a bath and stretch out on the sofa.

Any blanks or gaps- you’ll have to create something new- or call it a mystery -haha.

It was forcast to rain all day today but of course, wouldn’t you know the sun was shining and the temps were perfect.    That led me to want to spend most of the day outside, but with work, that wasn’t possible.   Instead, I tried to stay focused and actually finished at a decent hour where I got dinner ready.

Now I’m sitting here with the doors open- letting the cool air blow in and I’m drinking coffee.   I am waiting for a show to come on that I want to see, but wanted to share today’s little piece of ‘truth’ with y’all.

Day  12-  Describe what’s in your bag, in great detail.

Since it doesn’t way which bag, I can only assume it’s the one I’m currently carrying.   This is pretty easy- especially since they didn’t say describe what’s in your wallet.   If that had happened, we would have been here for a while.

Inside my handbag-   A referral letter from my general physician to a plastic surgeon for surgery. (Which reminds me I need to call and make an appointment).   I also have one of my passports that I carry with me at all times, my wallet, some receipts from the grocery store and Starbucks, some loose change tossed in the bottom, a tube of lipstick, a bottle of hand sanitizer inside a Zip-Loc bag.   Oh, and a key chain that says ‘BOB’- that Marcel got from the police when he went through a routine roadblock for alcohol control.

That’s it!   Too bad I don’t have a winning lottery ticket tucked away in there somewhere.

Today is day 11 of 30 day’s of honesty and today has me writing about my siblings-   Since I only have one sibling, this should be easy- especially compared to someone who has maybe 5 or 6.  

Day  11-  Describe your siblings in great detail.

As I mentioned above- I have one sibling, a brother.   His name is Matt (short for Matthew) and is a little younger than me (almost 2 years to be exact).  That makes him 41 and me-  well, 29 and holding.     

My brother and I are very close and we have email or telephone contact several times a week.   He is many things all wrapped up in a very handsome package (runs in the genes) and probably what stands out the most to me about my brother is the fact that he is an awesome dad.    In fact, I’d say that he’s probably one of the best dad’s of people in his age range that I know.   I say that out of fact, not out of bias- because for the 10 years that he’s been a father, he’s done everything he can to make sure that he’s there to do all the things great dad’s do.    He doesn’t miss ball games, he encourages my nephew, teaches him about teamwork, about morals and values.  My brother is a Christian and has raised his son to know what being a Christian is all about. 

My brother is fun, a great friend and someone to have in your corner. He is honorable, full of integrity and a hard worker.   He isn’t perfect, but then again, who is?  I’m blessed to have such a great brother and love him dearly.

Growing up we drove our parents crazy with all the fighting we did, but I’m glad that once we got older we remained not only siblings, but became friends.