Day Four: Life As I Knew It

Today was blah. I lied. Today was different. I woke up nice and toasty, like most mornings but I was unaware of the changes I would internally make due to external factors. I picked up my borrowed copy of Tuesdays With Morrie skeptically. Having previously been told how "terrible" and "boring" it was, I wasn't looking forward to the next one hundred and ninetyone pages. I glanced over the praises and found the table of contents. Unlike Way of the Peaceful Warrior, the titles of each chapter were captivating and I made my way through the first, second, third, and before I knew it I had finished. I was incredulous. Of course I've read books before, but this one was different. It had heart. Ironically enough, Tuesdays was written by a Brandeis graduate about a former Brandeis professor. Beyond that, the words really stuck with me. How terrible: slowly and painfully becoming the prisioner of your own body, your mind awake and alive and desperate for this shell of a cage to get better as you know it will only get worse. Two hundred pages, thousands of words, and yet, I have never been hit so hard by a piece of literature. I'm so thankful that I refused the urge to skim or sparknote, and I feel sorry for those who will. This book is more than a book. It's change. It's making me take the steps to be the person I've always tried to be. I doubt you'll ever see this, but thank you Mr. MacKenzie. This book just made the course for me. It's pushed me to forgive others for hurting me, and it's also made me realize that it's okay for me to forgive myself and feel.
I called someone from my past today. I never imagined that he would just be that, but circumstances change when people do. Forgiveness. Not expecting him to pick up, I left a voicemail. I seriously doubt he'll ever read these words but the thanks and the wishes were genuine. I am not the newly minted adult that I am without the people I have met along the way. So thank you, everyone. Thank you for making me cry, laugh, think, love, and now, forgive.

As I hung up, I realized I wouldn't mind if I didn't hear from him. It would be great, but it's not something I'll be holding my breath for. People come and go in your life. Some are meant to stay longer than others. It's the quality, not quantity of the moments that count. I learned an awful lot about life, love, friendship, and what it's like to lose someone you truly care about. Perhaps that's all they were meant to be; a catalyst for the life knowledge that was headed my way. In whatever form, I thank you old friend.

"Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I am alive." - Mahatma Gandhi

live simply.

Day Three: A Hard Day's Work

Today was busy. After muscling with the stupid format of these pictures, I finally sat down to blahg about the day's events. I miraculously woke up on time, 8:15 and threw on my favorite jeans and my favorite college tee (Brandeis... cross your fingers for me!). We hit the road, to use a terrible cliche, around 9 and headed down to Exeter for an appointment with our family dentist. Riley chipped her tooth, again, and I originally went for new retainers. Being the lucky girl I am, I found out that I need two of my wisdom teeth removed. Excellent blog material, but not so great in reality. Such is life. 

After the dentist we made our way into Wells, Maine for my younger brother's basketball tournament. I have never seen a grown man fallen so victim to male pattern baldness, as well as be so intense on  an elementary school level. While thoroughly amusing, the psychological and emotional abuse of the players became apparent and I became increasingly more uncomfortable. He needed to grab some Rogain and take a chill pill.        

Lunch was provided by my mother, and the tasty dish up top was a chicken stir-fry quesadilla from D'angelos. In the years I have been to that single restaurant, I've never had a bad sandwich. Don't you just love consistency? 

The photo of the two lovely ladies in the center (I splurged and put up three pictures instead of the promised two) was one of many at the final game in the Brian Doucette hockey tournament. Showing off my Kodak and getting in a few laughs, I was able to snap some quality pictures of my friends at their best (or worst :-P). Gossiping is never more fun than when you gossip at a sporting event. Strange but true.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge" -Albert Einstein

live simply.

Day Two: Shoes and Salads

Today was today. Started off pretty lazy, I successfully slept in. So glorious. Babysat the sleeping brothers until I was whisked off to lunch with my two pals M & S. It was so wonderful just sitting there eating great food and talking about college life. I am so unbelievably excited for college! While S had a rougher first semester, I was reassured that college would be all I've been dreaming of since I was seven, and more by M. I suppose it's all in the way I look at it, but it's always nice to hear the stories and the fun experiences, and dream myself in her brand new running shoes. After three hours we called it quits, for then. When you're with people you love and love being with, time becomes irrelevant.
After lunch came some downtime, which I spent very lazily with my new slippers that I'm showing off above (thanks S!!). Life is soooooooo good with a good pair of slippers. Tea shortly followed, then a few hours later the hockey game. We won, I'm not quite sure the score, or even who we played, but it was fun nonetheless. Sometimes you bond with the most unlikely people, and tonight was one of those nights. Even though I didn't get thrill out of watching our boys athletically hand the purple-accented opposers their backsides on a platter, great conversation and good laughs were present. You can't complain when you're laughing, right? Oh, and the boots? Tims. The lineup? All men, minus the first pair on the right. Kudos, TX, kudos to you my friend.

"The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground." -Buddha

live simply.

Day 1: There's a Blizzard in my Mcflurry

Hello hello blogosphere (I hope that's how you spell it)!
To celebrate the arrival of my new toy, my Kodak EasyShare Z981, which is actually pretty nice quality for a Kodak- surprise, right?- I decided to embark on a new project. Even though I received the camera Christmas day, I didn't come up with the idea until yesterday afternoon, and then I couldn't get my pictures uploaded...
Third time's always the charm! Blogging has always been a foreign concept to me, so I am attempting to blog to mark my eighteenth year. Here are the parameters of my project:
1. Take one picture of myself and two pictures of people/places/things that detail and describe the day.
2. Blog a little about my day. (I've done this type of thing before with journals and a livejournal, so this shouldn't be too difficult)
3. Share a green tip/fact or inspirational quote.

Here is yesterday's post-

FIRST REAL SNOW STORM '10!
Today was ridiculous. Not that I went outside to see... I spent the morning safe in my pj's and slippers watching the snow come in sideways. It was wonderful to watch my siblings play in the snow plow pile across the street. Every once in a while, one of the neighborhood kids would get stuck. Such were the days of icy toes and frosty noses, I'd rather just take pictures of the flakes than taste them. Later in the day I headed to work where it was cold and unpleasant. Minimum wage treats me like a queen! In all, I'd say that the Blizzard of 2010 was a success. I didn't get a White Christmas, but I am completely content with Frosty knocking on my door as close to January as he wants.

Green Tip: Millions of men, women, and children don't have access to clean, safe drinking water. Check out Summit on the Summit and help out!



live simply.