The Decorative Bandage

This morning I had to stop by the doctor's office and of course they wanted to do a little blood work. Afterwards the nurse kindly plastered me with a Garfield band-aid. I like Garfield just fine but have you ever stopped to wonder why they don't make decorative band-aids or a band-aid for adults that looks a little nicer than the standard taupe color? Through the years I have had to leave the doctor's office with band-aids such as Scooby or Hello Kitty but wouldn't you love to walk out wearing a Monet or a Renoir? Or have you ever thought about a lace trimmed or polka dot band-aid or even holiday band-aids? It seems that at one point band-aids came with stars and spots but I must have missed those year. I guess for now I will stick with the weird flesh-toned band-aid that just does the job. Somehow, though there is just not much fun in that.

Hard to Say Goodbye

I try to find joy in everything but I had to really ponder yesterday's situation to find the joy so that I could share this event. You see my oldest son leaves for Iraq next Saturday. We had carefully planned this past weekend around my son, meaning that he was in charge of plans. We ate at his favorite restaurants and eateries and we kept to his schedule doing our best to maximize our time together. The weekend was so much fun until we got to the goodbyes. Through the years during partings with my children, I have made it my practice to never cry as we say goodbye. I know that it is just as hard for my kids to say goodbye and I would never want them to carry my sadness while dealing with their own sadness. Instead I wait and cry in private. But yesterday as I hugged my son, I asked him to give me a big hug from his heart. As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I cried. He then got in his truck and drove back to South Carolina.

The rest of the evening seemed so heavy with sadness but today I got up grateful for all the good times we have had together this summer. We had a mini-vacation in June and a big family cookout in July. This weekend was the last of the celebrations and memory making.

So now I will turn my attention to preparing fun packages with goodies from home so that he will find some joy in every box.

Celebrating Yang Peiyi - A Beautiful Child

Have you been watching the Olympics? I am not really a sports fan (except for my high school football team) but I do enjoy watching the Olympics and cheering for "our team." I also get excited about the global participation in an event where, generally speaking, politics are put aside. People compete in so many arenas and then congratulate one another. Other countries win events and the world celebrates anthems from countries all over the world. I feel happy that we respect one another. But today I felt sad for one little girl. In today's news we learned that young 7-year-old Yang Peiyi sang "Ode to Motherland" beautifully on Friday during the opening ceremonies but another little girl was chosen to appear before the world. It was decided that Yang Peiyi was not adequate because the child appearing in the ceremonies should be "flawless" in the camera's eye. It makes you wonder who decided this but today I want to use my blog posting to celebrate this beautiful young singer. Maybe my bi-focal contacts need to be changed but to me this little girl is beautiful.

Friday Fun

We are having splendid weather at the moment so yesterday at lunch I decided to spend the hour outside. It just so happens that my office building is a block away from Atlanta's High Museum of Art and I thought it would be a perfect place to go for lunch and a way to enjoy an outing What a treat for me. The complex has a wonderful restaurant and a small cafe. The cafe has a has a well landscaped private patio with a peaceful gurgling fountain.

I bought a sandwich and sat outside in solitude just enjoying the flowers, butterflies and the rushing sound of the water. What a restful and enjoyable lunch. After sitting for about 30 minutes or so I enjoyed a walk around the piazza just taking in a few of the public exhibits.

For those who have never visited the High Museum the structure itself is a unique and beautiful complex. It is an all white building though in areas there are vine-covered walls that make the architecture so interesting. I thought I would share some
pictures of my fun Friday outing.

A Morning Surprise

This morning I had an early meeting in the downtown so I left my house extra early. Unfortunately I arrived 45 minutes ahead of time and found myself sitting outside on the patio of a small downtown diner. As I was reading headline news on my blackberry (bad habit those blackberries), I began to hear someone playing the flute somewhere nearby. I looked all around and noticed out on the street, two homeless individuals just enjoying the morning together. One of the them was playing a flute. The sound of the flute was beautiful and it added so much to the start of my day. As I headed off to my meeting I was reminded how rich we are if we only stop long enough to hear the music.

Do You Have a Collection of Wishes?

Last summer I decided to make a wish board or a manifestations board. It is a visual poster made up of all sorts of things that aren't in my life or maybe they are but not in big ways so I decided to make something that would keep me focused on the things I want to be doing. The idea was to visually remind me of things I can improve on, pray for, or spend more time doing. To make my board I found a piece of cardboard and covered it with pretty wrapping paper. Then I went through old magazines and cut out pictures or words that inspired me. For the past year as I would get up in the morning and while brushing my teeth, I would concentrate on the wish board. My wish board is a now a year old and needs to be refreshed so I have been saving up magazines to make a new wish board. Many of my previous items will be reappearing on the wish board but it will be a renewing exercise that will inspire me to continue to follow my dreams.

Giving Up Plastics

I think most of us are serious about taking good care of our planet and doing what we can to help with conservation but would you be willing to give up plastic for the month of August? In today's BBC a woman posted a story about her attempt to give up buying or accepting anything made from plastic for one month. After reading the article several of us at work began to discuss whether or not we could make it through a month without plastic. Just think of all the foods in the grocery store packaged in or wrapped in plastic. In my grocery, you can no longer buy a head of lettuce...salad greens are all in a bag. After we began naming all of the products that we couldn't purchase because of packaging, we shifted conversation to the things we do every day to conserve - refusing plastic shopping bags, saving shower water for plants, composting, recycling, turning the water off when you brush your teeth, turning lights off when rooms are not in use, setting thermostats on 78 in summer, 68 in winter, drying clothes outside when possible. One of the best things mentioned was the use of water from a salt-water aquarium. When changing out the water my colleague said he poured the salt water on kudzu beds! If you live in the south you are so familiar with the invasive and aggressive vine. It overtakes an area in no time flat and has been known to choke a forested areas to death! I am not sure that my colleague has been able to do much towards kudzu control but we did like the creativity of his use of salt water. A couple of us who had parents who grew up during the depression also had great stories of things we do that our parents did to conserve - recycling aluminum foil, repurposing containers of all kinds but the best was making a skeleton out of milk jugs!

It was encouraging to know that people are really thinking about how to consume less. I would love to hear what you do to conserve, recycle or repurpose.