Life tips from an older gal.

Tips from me:

1.  Eat chocolate for breakfast.

2. Put lots of chocolate, cream, hazelnut and whatever else in your morning coffee.No steak or potato chips.  Tastes too crunchy. Stir.

3.  Drink the whole pot.

4.  Commence being productive somehow.

5.  Walk.  It's good for you and easy and gets endorphins going.  I like walking my dog, Ginger.

6.  Watch a lot of tv.  Listen to a lot of music.

7.  Take anti-depressants like Effexor.  Hard as heroin to get off of, so might as well stay on!  (update:  as of Jan 2012, I've quit it.  Screw the pharmeceutical companies.  Screw the detox and screw the price of doctor visits, pills, etc.  not to mention my diminished eyesight and weight gain as a DIRECT result of this nonsense.  I'd rather be just me now, thank you very much.  Withdrawls suck right now but I'm determined to do it. )

8.  Drink  a bit when you can.  But not every night.  That's not cool.

9.  Don't chase dirt.  It always comes back in some form.  If it's really obnoxious, tidy up.  Otherwise, throw stuff in closets or under beds.

10.  Watch as much comedy as possible.  Even dumb stuff like Adam Sandler movies will cure what ails you.

11.  Use compound W on brown spots on face.  It gets rid of them.  No dermatologist.

12.  Use salt or sugar on face.  Exfoliates and is cheap.

13.  Pet animals a lot.  Lowers blood pressure. 

14.  Avoid hard drugs at all cost.  The illegal kind.

15.  Buy vintage.  It's "green" and totally cheap.  Also, chock full of designer labels.

16.  Garbage pick when possible.  Treasure troves are out there on the curb.  Wear disguise when schlumping crap into car so no one knows it's you.

17.  Sing and pretend you're  a good singer.  That doesn't last long.

18.  Bake.  It's fun and I usually get to eat it all.

19.  DO NOT DIET.  It kills your soul and kills your passion.

20.  If stuff breaks, who cares?  You can't take it to the afterlife when you're dead.

21.  Do a nice gesture for someone else.  Narcissism is necessary to a point, but giving to a sad person makes you feel good.  And it's spreading kindness.

22.  Get angry.  It beats the hell out of depression.  Plus it mobilizes you to actually DO something.

23.  Pray.  It can't hurt.  Just in case someone is listening.

24.  Play.  Eat. Sleep. Give. Love. Bathe. Work.  Pray.  Laugh.  Be.

25.  Don't feel guilty. Do your best, and let it go.

26.  Listen to others.  They can help you if you truly focus on what they are saying.  Be silent and the answers will come.          

27.  Vindictive thoughts are ok.  Just don't act on them.

28.  Act like a fool.  Being silly is very underrated.

29.  Buy American.  Or vintage.  Or salvation army.  China's vast resources won't get any bigger if you do that.

30.  Always wash your hands after shopping.  Germs abound on grocery carts and railings.  Just sayin.

31.  Give and donate.  Even if it's a little.  It is good and gives sunshine back into your soul.

32.  Respect your parents even if they are not perfect.  Nobody is.  So respect them.

33.  On the other hand, dump toxic people who treat you like shit.

34.  Smile at a stranger.  Someone did this to me down south and it literally cracked my consciousness...for the day.  It was so genuine.  It was odd.  But I liked it.  I smiled back.

35.  Don't follow all these tips.  I'm just an older gal who is having fun.

Rose Hill 3 - Coming Home - Easterly

She is gone and she was my friend.  Perhaps she is home now...?  Is her body sleeping and her soul alive?   Is she with her parents and beloved friends.....is Jesus there to greet her?  Is she once again smiling with the neighbor ladies?  Where is my friend?

  I'm not there with her.   I'm here. I can't speak about this anymore, but I have so much pain and grief and hollowness.It sits inside me always, waiting, to take me for a spin...I can write and pray for peace.  I don't indulge the despair, it captures me and I am descending .........seeking airspace.

Is it possible she is in another dimension, finally free of the physical and mental pain that bound her?   That's what everyone says. She has said her good  byes.  We left no words unsaid, but we left each other. Too much love now lies above me circling me like wings fluttering around my head.  I did not feel  my good bye to her.  Those were words I spoke to her, but I didn't mean it.  I was not ready to say good bye.

I see an old garland on a  christmas tree.I think of Tinsel. She would put those on the tree. I am cascaded into a sad place again.  No one uses garlands or tinsel anymore.. I decorate the tree early, and alone. I am longing.

I have to believe she is in a beautiful garden now. As natural as the sun rising, we are born and we die. But I feel left behind. There was too much love to just....be.....nothing now. How can love feel so terribly gutting....it's a wonder anyone tries to love at all. When the loss, is neverending. I miss this person who happened to be my mother. A friend. Confidant. Loyal, All encompassing. As powerful in death as in life.   I can put her in a rose garden. 

Still......

Her energy breathes in my blood daily. I almost wish it would vanish. Go away. Enough.  Enough.  Grief taunts me.  Please go.

I covet statues of angels now. I look at them and somehow their beauty pleases me.  Some are in my rose garden.  But it is November, and there are no roses.  Everything is bare.  The statues reside there.  It is getting colder.  . I hide the shameful grief from everyone, and it finds me. I want the pain to be taken  I cannot indulge this or encourage it.  I cannot hold it any longer.  Please, someone, put it in a christmas box and tie it with red ribbon to be put on a shelf.  It can reside there with pretty things.

 That is what I want for christmas.

Jen
Nov. 2011

Call the police

If a child is abused or hurt, shouldn't we all go to the police instead of trying to handle it "internally"?  Whether it be within a college campus, organization or the home, there is no resolution to abuse without the police.  No job, no image to the outside world is important if a child is being raped or hit.   I don't think campus police, adminstrative policies or internal protocol can ever protect a child like the police. 

Bush - Letting the Cables Sleep

I do like the dudes named Gavin, for some reason......  The 90's did have some solid music and this is one....

Happy Halloweeny

The boy really looked scary on Halloween!  Hubby and I both got to see him at the school Halloween parade.  The mask bothered him a bit, but he wore it for the parade as we asked.   He did pick the costume out, after all.  And it wasn't cheap. For trick or treating, we said he could take it off.  For a boy who requests all tags be removed from all shirts, he did great.  And, he found a friend to trick or treat with as I trolled along behind them.  The small smile on his face and the "hey guys, wait for me!" as he was running along, warmed my heart.  We LOOOOVE this child. Forever and ever and ever and ever.