February 24: Beauty Bar

"Don't limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve." Mary Kay Ash

 My Mary Kay Spring beauty bar all ready to go....this is such fun, and an awesome  business opportunity for me. I am learning so much about myself, and extending myself far beyond what I though was capable. Hopefully my enthusiasm will rub off somewhere! Who would have thought 20 plus years ago when my hands were covered in mud and fish scales!!

February 23: Spring already?!?

"The beautiful spring came; and when Nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also." -  Harriet Ann Jacobs

 How exciting is this? The first bloom peeping through the lawn....but although we have been having oddly warm days, there are cold days to follow. Unreal that blooms are appearing before the end of February!!! Hopefully they will survive the roller-coaster weather in between. I am not complaining though!!! My soul is feeling revived, but too scared to be fully immersed in the feeling in case we are plummeted  back into winter!

February 22: Mud pond reflections

"When was the last time you spent a quiet moment just doing nothing - just sitting and looking at the sea, or watching the wind blowing the tree limbs, or waves rippling on a pond, a flickering candle or children playing in the park?" - Ralph Marston

One thing I love about having to get Riley out in the morning before work is watching the change of seasons unfold before my eyes...It is not noticeable on a daily basis, but when I look back over my pictures, I suddenly notice something different. I don't have lots of time to spend quiet moments doing nothing, but I always appreciate a beautiful morning, with no wind, blue skies and perfect reflections. There is something uplifting in the air...will not get too excited with the anticipation of Spring...anything can happen!!

February 21: Taste of home

"You can't escape the taste of the food you had as a child. In times of stress, what do you dream about? Your mother's clam chowder. It's security, comfort. It brings you home." Jacques Pepin

This is so funny....home from home, except that it is not really what we used to eat! (Definitely not clam chowder...and not really yellow rice and spinach!) Fun that UCSD integrates different cultures into their weekly menus!

February 20: Odd beauty

"People are like stained - glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within." Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

You find beauty and interest in the oddest places...this was in the hallway of the doctor's. I only noticed it because the waiting room was full, and we were waiting for some results, looking around. No, we are not sick....standard medicals for this long immigration process...second time around. This long process can be completely disheartening, so it is important to always have a light shining within, so your true beauty can be revealed and you can draw on this for strength. Your light within will always be a beacon for others who maybe can't find their light!

February 19: Where is Riley?

"It's good to feel stupid sometimes and do things that are out of your comfort zone." - Mary-Louise Parker 

This is now a habit...whenever I can't find Riley, I look in Cait's room! He hates it when I am getting ready for work, and takes himself off to his happy, secure spot, nestled in all the pillows! I have found myself being extended way beyond my comfort zone recently, and have realized it is good to be extended. But, there is nothing nicer than crawling into that safe and secure nest to catch your breath for the next round!

February 18: Beautiful day on Mission Bay

"In rowing, you're always striving for that perfect stroke, that repetition, each one being as good as the last." Bryan Volpenhein

The scrimmage was cancelled owing to expected stormy weather, but it turned out to be a magnificent day for the rowers, who got some good practise in, striving for that perfect stroke, repetition, and consistency! The only way we are getting to see Cait in action is via pics...which is better than not seeing her at all! Ah, the life of a student in San Diego!

February 17: Jumping dog

"The Perfect Dog is an enticing fantasy pooch. It's the dog that instantly learns to pee outdoors, never menaces or frightens children, plays gently with other dogs, won't jump on the UPS guy, never rolls in gross things, eats only the appropriate food at the right time, and never chews anything not meant for him. This dog does not exist." - Jon Katz

With the increasing temperatures and sunshine, we have been venturing out a little more, and Riley remembered just how much he loves to jump on the trampoline!!! When he is not jumping, he just sits and watches me doing the chores from his vantage point, and when he sees people on the footpath, leaps off and races at a thousand miles and hour to the fence. We definitely do not have one of the non-existent Perfect Dogs...probably completely the opposite. All-in-all, very entertaining!

February 16: Melting snow

"Colors are the smiles of nature." - Leigh Hunt

After a couple of weeks of dull dreary grey skies, along with mushy landscapes, the blue sky today made everything light up, and lifted my spirits. The snow is melting, and spring will surely soon be on its way with longer days, warmer temperatures and bluer skies! Yay!!! Enough of the depressing winter and cabin fever!

February 15: My favorite beach

Another thing I like to do is sit back and take in nature. To look at the birds, listen to their singing, go hiking, camping and jogging and running, walking along the beach, playing games and sometimes being alone with the great outdoors. It's very special to me." - Larry Wilcox

I love all of the above, and when the weather is terrible here, and I am longing for home, I have awesome friends who send me pics of one of my favourite beaches with loads of happy memories to keep me going! What a blessing to have really enjoyed the sea, sun and surf for so many years!

February 14: Valentine's Day

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." Lao Tzu

Beautiful flowers bought for me by my daughter on Mike's behalf. Loved by both, because she cared enough on Valentine's day in his absence! Their love for me has given me enormous strength, and through my love for my family I have courage to extend myself in ways I would never have imagined previously possible.

February 13: Frozen in thyme

"It's a moment that I'm after, a fleeting moment, but not a frozen moment." Andrew Wyeth

The weather this week has created the most amazing beauty. After the snow, we had ice rain, which I have never really experienced before, which coated absolutely everything in a layer of ice! This is my frozen herb garden..Each little twig of thyme - perfectly frozen. Tomorrow, with increasing temperatures this beauty will have melted away. It is the fleeting moments in life that we should appreciate and be grateful for!

February 12: Procrastinating....

"There's nothing wrong with procrastination. Or is there? I'll leave it to you to decide, but only if you have the time." Craig Brown

I love getting snaps of the girls day! I would agree with Cait on this one...definite procrastination. But, a girl after my own heart, procrastinating with delicious fish...could be worse!!! Now eat those fish, and get on with the assignment!!!

February 11: Snowy sunset

"Perfect happiness is a beautiful sunset, the giggle of a grandchild, the first snowfall. It's the little things that make happy moments, not the grand events. Joy comes in sips, not gulps." Sharon Draper

After a cold and tiring day, navigating the traffic in icy conditions, this was the view down the street - a beautiful sunset. It added happiness to my day, reminding me of my joy inside, that never takes long to bubble up and overflow. I am so excited that I come across these unexpected joyful triggers almost every day! Thank goodness for that, otherwise winter would be hard to bare!

February 10: The snowy aftermath....

"A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water." Carl Reiner

About that bright side of life....after cleaning up the driveway I am starting to feel like it was completely unnecessary to have frozen this water....rain would have been just as good! But, I am proud of my effort! Yay, girl power!!! And, while the snow is still clean and white, it looks pretty!

February 9: SNOW DAY!!!

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather." John Ruskin

SNOW DAY!!! The first one since we have been here. After 60 F yesterday....could not believe that the weather fell over in the middle of the night! This was the scene out of the garage door...still snowing. Can't even see the road. Snow is exhilarating, even the smell. There is a freshness in the air, almost like opening the freezer door on a hot summer's day. The only concern is when it will stop....guess I should start shovelling seeing Mike is away and Nic needs to get to work later! Oh well, the shovel will replace the run, and if I hold my tummy muscles in tightly when I shovel, it will be a dual, all-over body workout! The bright side of life ;)

February 8: Semester 2 music concert

“Music is the great uniter. An incredible force. Something that people who differ on everything and anything else can have in common.” 

― Sarah Dessen, Just Listen

A great evening of great music. It is amazing to see the development of the musicians from when they are first starting out in the band, until they are in the top band at school. When I think back, I can't believe that Nicole carted the tuba around from Grade 3 when the case was bigger than she was!!! I am so pleased that she has perservered, and is still playing! It was awesome to absorb the talent, and be unified as an audience, just enjoying what we heard.

February 7: Skype makeover

"I can go all over the world with Skype." - Ram Dass

Skype is amazing...and we would not have survived being so far from friends and family as easily without it! It is amazing to chat around the world. This was a fun makeover so I could get practise my makeover skills for my new  business! What a lot of fun! How amazing that you can even do business over skype! It is not the same as in person, but when there is no option, it brings you a little closer. Thank you Sophs and Christine, madeover from Mendham to Milwaukee, you were awesome models and look stunning!

February 6: Upcycling

"But our waste problem is not the fault only of producers. It is the fault of an economy that is wasteful from top to bottom—a symbiosis of an unlimited greed at the top and a lazy, passive, and self-indulgent consumptiveness at the bottom—and all of us are involved in it." - Wendell Berry

I have this continual guilt for wanting new things, but not fully utilizing old things. So, where possible, I try to recycle or upcycle before throwing things out. I am still continually amazed at the flow of goods onto the verge every Sunday does not stop, despite the education regarding recycling. The sad thing is that if the goods are not picked up, then they are smashed in the back of a garbage truck...it seems like such a senseless waste. I am under strict instructions by my family not to become a  hoarder...but there are so many things I could find a use for. On one of our little adventures at the weekend, Nic and I spotted this stunning chest of drawers on a verge...so, we circled the block and stopped to have a closer look...it was yellow and gold, and in serious need of a little TLC...so we loaded it, giggling like mad, into the back of my car in the middle of the night, and gave it a touch of paint (the only paint I could open in the garage was ceiling paint...oh well!)...I now have a shabby-chic dresser in my room!!! Very pleased that we saved something from the garbage, and it has a new life!

February 5: Sunday afternoon naps

"Short naps are good. Given modern workplace demands, this is not possible for many people - but if you have the option, try napping for ten to twenty minutes in the afternoon, preferably lying down in a darkened room." Andrew Weil

What an awesome opportunity...for the first time in months, I had finished everything I had to do, and was home alone, and the weather was too miserable to go out....so I decided to curl up with a book on the bed (seeing bookclub is on Saturday, and I haven't had a chance to read the book yet!!). Of course, the animals have to be included, and since Mouse was napping somewhere else (probably on my clean washing in the laundry), Riley took advantage of snuggling close!! The best place to be for a power nap!

February 4: Out for supper

"I think America's food culture is embedded in fast-food culture. And the real question that we have is: How are we going to teach slow-food values in a fast-food world? Of course, it's very, very difficult to do, especially when children have grown up eating fast food and the values that go with that." Alice Waters

With Mike being away, Nic and I can sneak out every now and again for some (vegetarian) fast food!...She has challenged me to vegetarian for three weeks, and so far, I have not missed meat in my diet!! We usually have slow food, so fast food is fun, where you can order online, pick up your food, eat, and leave. We do have a rule, no matter where, that when eating together we can't be on our phones all the time...so we still have some old-world values, and actually have real conversations!!

February 3: Frozen river

“Silence can always be broken by the sound

Of footsteps walking over frozen ground

In winter when the melancholy trees

Stand abject and let their branches freeze” 

― Merrill Moore, Illegitimate Sonnets

Each day is different in winter, and there are always beautiful surprises to see, even when you have seen the same landscape a thousand times. On our walk this morning, Riley and I explored the frozen river. To get there, the silence around use was broken by the crunching of the ice on the grass under our feet. It was fascinating to watch, as Riley was confused by the new sounds he was making as he walked! The trees stood silently, watching over us, patiently waiting to spring to life again. The river was gurgling and bubbling through the holes in the ice, and was beautiful to watch and listen to. A good way to start the day, noticing nature around us!

February 2: Rowing hands replace dancing feet

"There is advantage in the wisdom won from pain." - Aeschylus

There is definitely a certain amount of wisdom won from pain. There is also a large amount of self-control exerted when you want to give up because the pain is so intense, but you won't because of your competitive edge...Cait has replaced dancing feet with rowing hands. The pain of living through enormous bleeding blisters on her feet got her to Worlds in Irish dancing, so who knows where it will take her in rowing! No pain no gain...living your dream!

February 1: Thomas Paine reflections

"I believe in the equality of man; and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow-creatures happy."- Thomas Paine

Every day when I drive to and from work, I drive past this statue of Thomas Paine (1737-1809), and have seen him sitting here through the seasons, reflectively writing his thoughts with his rifle over his knee. He was "an English-American political activist, philosopher, political theorist, and revolutionary,.. and a Founding Father of the United States; he authored the two most influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution, and.. inspired the rebels in 1776 to declare independence from Britain" (Wikipedia). Dusted with snow, he seemed more pensive than on other occasions when the weather is brighter...he was truly revolutionary, but his quotes are not outrageous. We need to go back to the thinking of equality, loving mercy, and trying to do good by our neighbours in faith and hope to keep this nation great!