Happy Chinese New Year!

My dad and I were cleaning the house today and we found a Barron's, Learn Italian book. It had been my mom's. I was putting it on the book shelf when three pieces of paper fell out. One was a Jiffy Lube receipt, another was a dance class at the Senior Center receipt and the third were the steps to a dance. I missed her so badly right then and there.

Mmmmmm cake

Stitch!!

Brunch with Lili and Stitch

Tumbleweeds!

There was a big one stuck on the car earlier.

Sand storm on I-5

Two weeks later...

The World in a Bright Light

The following was sent in my DailyOm emails and it couldn't have happened on a more perfect day. Today I spent 3 hours watching families in need pick up their Christmas gifts. Mothers nearly in tears over the generosity of others in giving them things they needed and items their kids wanted.

One lucky family walked away with two bikes for their boys and another got a much needed car seat and another a high chair for their baby. The gratitude in their faces really reminds me of everything that I have. That I don't need to worry about having basic necessities, that I have a warm home to go to at night, that I can let the heater run without worrying how high my utility bill will be. I can go out to eat knowing I have income right now and that I can save money as well.

Today, I am very blessed and very grateful for the little things in my life. :)

December 17, 2008
The World in a Bright Light
Grateful

Everyday is a blessing, and in each moment there are many things that we can be grateful for. The world opens up to us when we live in a space of gratitude. In essence, gratitude has a snowball effect. When we are appreciative and express that gratitude, the universe glows a bit brighter and showers us with even more blessings.

There is always something to be grateful for, even when life seems hard. When times are tough, whether we are having a bad day or stuck in what may feel like an endless rut, it can be difficult to take the time to feel grateful. Yet, that is when gratitude can be most important. If we can look at our lives, during periods of challenge, and find something to be grateful for, then we can transform our realities in an instant. There are blessings to be found everywhere. When we are focusing on what is negative, our abundance can be easy to miss. Instead, choosing to find what already exists in our lives that we can appreciate can change what we see in our world. We start to notice one blessing, and then another.

When we constantly choose to be grateful, we notice that every breath is a miracle and each smile becomes a gift. We begin to understand that difficulties are also invaluable lessons. The sun is always shining for us when we are grateful, even if it is hidden behind clouds on a rainy day. A simple sandwich becomes a feast, and a trinket is transformed into a treasure. Living in a state of gratitude allows us to spread our abundance because that is the energy that we emanate from our beings. Because the world reflects back to us what we embody, the additional blessings that inevitably flow our way give us even more to be grateful for. The universe wants to shower us with blessings. The more we appreciate life, the more life appreciates and bestows us with more goodness

Nyokki after a week..

If you squint you can see...

Christmas lights on the car's back window and antennae!

Sent from my iPhone

Sprinkles!

Traffic!!

Boston!

Clusters

Usually you find chairs at the airport in rows, well in the American
Airlines area at SFO they're clusters. I wonder if it's a strange
social experiment. Instead of sitting down with a space between you
and the next person, there doesn't seem to be much space at all.
Instead you're almost forced to look into each others eyes if you
happen to look up at the same time. It definitely feels a bit
weird. :D

Battle with the laptop continues!

He was sitting on the bed and suddenly jumped off to wedge himself in
the crook of my arm.

Trying to invade and get it out of the way

Morgans jealous of the attention the laptop is getting

resurrection

My friend used to have a site where a few of us would post poems, random thoughts, etc. My postings used to consist of anguished thoughts about love. It's so funny how much has changed in the last 5 years. Loss is incredibly relative, when you're a child, losing your teddy bear is the end of the world, when you're a teenager, it's that crush... heck when you're an adult it's still that crush.

Five years later, it's my grandfather, my mother, my grandmother, and my best friend.

Now the hope of love is something I cherish and when that love comes it will be wonderful and if it is lost, it was an experience I can treasure... because losing something greater, makes one that much more grateful for everything else.

Dirt from the Handrails at SFO