Tuesdays Twenty Things

I would like to get to know you..
You see Tuesday is often a day where I am at a loss for words.. Usually it involves the routine of work dinner laundry and sleep..nothing too exciting...
If the same can be said for you then lets make some new friends and get this party started..
I will be choosing 20 Things Every Tuesday in order to get to know you better..
All you have to do is make the list.. your answers can be funny or sentimental or both this is your rodeo!
Please add your Link to the post below.. and please link back to me the more on board the better!
 ( Pretty Little Buttons May Be Popping Up Here Shortly)


This Weeks Topic : 20 Things You Probably Don't Know About Me

1. I have been consistently employed since the age of 13
2. I remember everything I read
3. My book collection is in the hundreds
4. I am total OCD when it comes to dirty clothes if there is laundry in the basket I'm washin it same if it has only been worn briefly
5. I was in a relationship for 18 years.. 10 of which I was married
6. I have made a lot of bad decisions a lot of risky decisions but I have learned from them
7. I don't eat meat
8. I feel off if I don't get my weekly Vitamin B12 shot.. I call it my crack
9. My hairdresser is one of the most important men in my life
10. The decision to stop drinking alcohol was the single best decision I have ever made
11. And one of the hardest things I have ever had to do...
12. I am a huge Woody Allen fan ..New York Stories.. Nick Nolte painting to Procul Harum..enough said
13. I hate drinking water
14. I spend more money at Starbucks than I do my car payment every month
15. I know more about cars than most men do
16. I don't have many close friends and I prefer it that way
17. Chicken Wings and Pumpkin Cake are the 2 things I make best
18. My three boys are what makes my world go round
19. I have the love of a good man who has saved my life in so many ways but also saved me from myself
20. I currently have a fascination with Soy

Monday Moments

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. - Sylvia Plath

10 Things Which Randomly Describe My Day

1. I tricked myself into thinking it was a sleep in day and woke up late and tired with the song Give Peace a Chance in my head...
2. I had car trouble on the way to work and got stuck for a short period of time on the Indian reservation
3. I had to crack the whip on my two star employees to get customers cars done and was flipped a little attitude.
4. I ate dried mangoes and salt & pepper popcorn for lunch
5. Got my hair done after work for my big weekend in Vegas and left with a hair masque on which made me look like I had no hair cuz it was all stuck to my head and drove for 45 min like that around town
6. I told my Mom something my boyfriend wanted me to keep a secret and now I feel bad
7. Everyone made fun of the vegetarian sub I ate for dinner..
8. I learned that elephants are emotionally a lot like humans and that they grieve the death of loved ones, feel pain and sorrow and can die of a broken heart.
9. The cookies need to leave the house I ate 2 today..
10. House is really a pretty good show....

The Simple Things...

Glimpse into the weekend...

Taekwondo Graduation ..From Blue to Brown

Charley Harpers Birds

Mastering The Art of The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

That's My Boy!!

Bodhisattva: A being who is dedicated to liberating others from suffering.

The Body is the temple for the soul. On loan to us for the

short time we are here on earth.

Four Noble Truths:

1.Life inevitably involves suffering, is imperfect and unsatisfactory.

2. Suffering originates in our desires.

3. Suffering will cease if all desires cease.

4. There is a way to realize this state: The Noble Eightfold Path

This is the way things are. Right now nobody can help you; there is nothing

your family and your possessions can do for you.

All that can help you now is the correct awareness.

The Noble Eightfold Path

1. Comprehend reality correctly through The Four Noble Truths.

2. Uncover unwholesome roots behind our thinking such as caring what others think of us.

3. Relinquish the desire to gossip, lie, speak harshly and instead communicate truth and harmony.

4.Avoid destroying life

Stealing

Sexual Misconduct

Lying

and Intoxicants.

5. Do not engage in a livelihood which harms others or destroys social harmony.

6.Cut off unwholesome states in the past, present, and future.

7. Discipline the mind, be present in the moment...the here and now.

8.Meditate to achieve calm and quiet in the mind. Breathe. Be Still.

Check Your Mind

Be on your guard

Pull yourself out

as an elephant from the mud..

Tell us what makes your soul sing

at The Sunday Creative

Wishing you a blessed week.

Subversive Saturday

Thomas Cobian 2011

My first Subversive Saturday showcasing all of the fine things I flat out refused to do today and all of the fun things I chose to do instead..Let's dive right in shall we....

I should have....
Wrote my paper for music class
Taken my World Religions midterm
Emptied the dishwasher
Dusted something
Windexed some stuff
Went shopping for something practical like a strapless bra

What I did instead to be Subversive?
Messed around the library
Went to the coffee shop three (yikes) times...Holy crap no it was four..
Did a fruitless search around town for chocolate covered espresso beans
Laid in bed and read for like three hours (Man...)
Drove way out of the way for Thai food & took pictures of midecentury modern light fixtures on the building next door to Touch of Thai...hehe
Forced my boyfriend to go into a Reflexology massage parlor in a strip mall (we didn't let anyone touch us)
Ate a bunch of salt & pepper popcorn
Hung out in Best Buy dream shopping for home theatre systems.. (this was not my idea..well sorta)

Mastering the art of doing nothing much... It's been a long day..but hey the kids are gone for one more day which like never happens..I think I need to sleep in tomorrow..Come on admit what you didn't do today?
Make me feel better. Thanks Lisa over at Its Own Sweet Will  for reinforcing my list of excuses!

Old Town Scottsdale 4th Street 2011

Taking Nothing For Granted....

It has been a very relaxing Saturday so far nestled by a beautiful Spring Day.. Slight breeze blowing and all the windows and doors are thrown open..The Spring Cleaning has pretty much been done and a fun night with my man is on the horizon for the evening..sure to include a good dinner and maybe a movie..I am trying to get him to go to this coffee house I was wandering by a few weeks back in Old Town but he seems to think we have to wear berets and sunglasses and snap our fingers Beatnick style..I think I should dress up turtleneck and all and ask him if he's ready..My trip to the library today yielded some new reads and wandering around I came upon some Nora Ephron books I haven't read but also the great late Erma Bombeck who was not only a funny and amazing realist but a great woman...from time to time I read what she had written below when she found out she was diagnosed with Cancer...in light of what I am going through right now I thought it was worth a re-post..as it's been a while..Nicholas graduated to his brown belt in Taekwondo this morning and held his own when sparring with a grown man who was 6 ft tall...very proud of him..look around it is a beautiful life isn't it?

If I Had To Live My Life Over
-Erma Bombeck

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren’t there for the day.
I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the “good” living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television, and more while watching life.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn’t show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I’d have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, “Later. Now go get washed up for dinner.”

There would have been more “I love you’s.” More “I’m sorry’s.”

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute… look at it and really see it… live it… and never give it back.

Stop sweating the small stuff. Don’t worry about who doesn’t like you, who has more, or who’s doing what.

Instead, let’s cherish the relationships we have with those who DO love us.

Let’s think about what God HAS blessed us with.

And what we are doing each day to promote ourselves mentally, physically, emotionally, as well as spiritually.

Life is too short to let it pass you by.

We only have one shot at this and then it’s gone.

I hope you all have a blessed day.

Daybook March 11 11

Outside my window...The chill in the air has given way to warm days of Spring..Mosquito hawks linger around the lights..jackets are kept in the closet..sun is shining bright..and the days are getting longer

I am thinking...About my weekly trip I make to the library tomorrow...how a visit to the little resale book store always results in a treasure such as last weeks thousand page Modern Art book..How my oldest sons first teacher in town volunteers there..and I enjoy our chats as much as I do browsing for books..and I think she needs cookies tomorrow..hell we both need cookies..

I am thankful for...the fact that I went to the Dermatologist when I did and how taking care of my body is a priority to me, there were times I was too busy to do so..or thought I was.. ...I am thankful for medical insurance and that we are all healthy

From the learning rooms...You may have noticed me mentioning John Lennon more than usual..I am writing papers on The British Invasion and can't help myself..I am studying Buddhism (Zen)..and reviewing the classic movie The Maltese Falcon...Nicholas and I will be reading and studying Space exploration on Spring Break

From the kitchen..... I am eating extraordinary..Fresh smoothies every day typically filled with strawberries,blueberries,a banana, ground flax seeds,soy milk,cascade fresh yogurt and ice..sometimes I add in greens..vitamin c powder..and a little honey.. I am making Annie's organic soy cheese pizzas with wheat crust.. avocado ripe tomato soy cheese and salt/pepper on whole wheat sandwiches... and hummus lots of hummus with pine nuts and roasted peppers

I am wearing...My Woodstock T-Shirt fashioned after a vintage poster..and girly boxer shorts = My PJs

I am creating...Areas in my home that beg for you to sit for a while and relax...think mismatched pillows..lamps with beaded shades..baskets of good things to read..records waiting to be played

I am going...To take everyone to Las Vegas next weekend for Spring Break....road trip time!

I am reading...The Purification Plan: Total Body Detox, 101 Feng Shui Tips for The Home, Ms Manners Guide to Domestic Tranquility, The Farmhouse Cookbook,Charlie Harpers 101 Birds, Cooking Light Magazine, Mastering The Art of French Cooking Vol 2

I am hoping...The Nuclear Power Plant in Japan doesn't have a meltdown

I am hearing...Chelsea Lately carry on downstairs although I can't make out what she is saying

Around the house...It is quiet the boys won't be home until Monday

One of my favorite things.... Is waking up early enough in the morning to have time to savor a cup of coffee a little morning news some reading and a hot shower before work..

A few plans for the rest of the week: well it is weekend now... I am going to watch Nicholas test for a new belt in Taekwondo tomorrow morning..go to the library..have a movie night with my man..make him something special for dinner...sleep in Sunday..take my midterm exam..write a short paper..read the NY times and shop for a dress... ya the weekends are never long enough

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

I did not take many pictures this week.. but one that stands out is

the small table I have in my front room which was

set and decorated by my son Nick, who is ten

before we sat down to a wonderful dinner of Shrimp Scampi

and fresh bread Charlie made for us last Saturday...

Want to see what everyone else is up to?

Check out The Simple Womans Daybook

and read about other women, like me who find beauty in the every day.

If you daybook please feel free to add a link to your post in a comment!

Happy Weekend