I had such a good time this morning. There are two companies that I work for. One of them dispatches for several numbers and when I log in with them I'm on the phone constantly. The other company only covers itself and it takes a while to build up a clientele so when I log in with them I may not take any calls because I'm new.

Well, tonight was one of those nights. I logged in around 11:00 and haven't taken a single call and it's 4:15am. But, I had a great night...I ended up chatting with a friend and we just had a wonderful time. In addition to finding out new things about each other, we laughed...we laughed a lot.

It's a wonderful thing, laughter. It's healing, restorative, aerobic exercise and just plain fun. Studies have been done showing that laughter is good for your heart. The University of Maryland showed that that laughter is linked to healthy function of blood vessels. It causes the tissue that forms the inner lining of blood vessels, the endothelium, to dilate or expand in order to increase blood flow. It's used for stress reduction, mental health and the list goes on...

Honestly though...remember the last time you had a good belly laugh. A laugh that runs through you from the very depths of your soul to the tip of your head leaves you feeling euphoric, relaxed, and just plain good. You know you've had a work out; your cheeks hurt, your sides are sore, your stomach aches but you feel wonderful. That's how I feel this morning. And, to be honest, I really needed it.

So, to my late night friend, thank you very much. Not only did you encourage me in certain pursuits, but you made me laugh like a child with complete abandon. (Oh, and did I say I still had thigh highs on....?) LMAO

Have a good heartwarming laugh everyone!

I decided I needed to start tapping the well of creative juices again. It's been far too long since I sat and wrote something. I used to write poetry in college and a little afterwards but life always got in the way and I made excuses for not doing any. Well, I'm up alone now in the mornings and there's always a lull in call activity so I decided to start trying to stir my imagination again. I like the early mornings and to me they are like a muse in that I have time to think and listen.

Well my first trip back to creativity...its a first draft but I kind of like it as is.

My Muse
My muse comes to me in the early morning
He speaks to me as light begins to shred the darkness
He lifts the pall of night from me
Shining his light into my soul he fills me with joy
He enters me like a hungry lover
and stirs my passions
Wake up!
Dream with me, of what could be!
Be alive!
he reaches in and strokes my emotions
He excites me 'til I'm left shaken
Seducing me to bare all to him
He is my gentle lover and leaves me sated before he goes
He whispers promises to return
and kisses me softly
and I know we will walk through life hand in hand
For he is of my soul
Part of me
and only with him will I be complete.

I was messaging someone regarding my new job. They were concerned that I not allow myself to be degraded and I don't. I did start talking a little about the educational experience taking calls has been. The education is not all about the fetishes that are out there rather, I see a piece of someone's mind. The education is one of the nature of humans.

One thing seems to stand out to me and that is that there are so many mismatched people out there. There are so many couples who, while they still love each other, shouldn't be together. Their perfect mates are still out there waiting. There seems to be a whole part of themselves that they can't share for whatever reasons. In some cases it might be a fetish that the other partner doesn't care for or understand or even know about. In other cases it's just not a perfect love, the one "you cannot live without".

For whatever reason these people were attracted to one another and did end up together but the person who fulfills them, completes them hasn't been found yet. The question is, how do you know when someone is the right one? I think once you find them you know because you've never experienced anything else like it. The right person is like the other half of you, when you're not with them you feel like you're missing a vital part of yourself. But, until that day comes, there are no touchstones and you go with what you know.

I think instinctively you would know something is missing but it's human nature to think we can control things. So often one looks at the other and wonders what can be changed. Yet, in true love, no changes are needed. The person is accepted unconditionally as they are.

And I've begun to ramble so I know it's time to sit back, have a cigarette and ruminate some more while I wait for my next call to show me yet another slice of human nature.

Enjoy your day people May true love and happiness shine on you today and all your tomorrows.

Well I was waiting to update my blog til I could throw a pic or two in here but the site I use to host the pics is still not accepting any yet.

I wanted to share the little treat we found the other day. My guinea fowl had hidden their eggs under some prickly bushes and they actually hatched a bunch of guinea babies. They're so damn cute. I hear that guineas usually make lousy parents but I guess we'll just have to wait and see. There's about 15 of the little buggers. I can't wait to see if they all manage to survive. At least I have to say they picked a good spot to nest in. I can't reach in there without getting all scratched up.

Just another wonder of nature. The miracle of birth repeated over and over again, ensuring the perpetuation of the species. The survival, against all odds, of yet another generation.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

OK, I've sunk to a new low. My main phone line was out yesterday and someone went on line to let me know. Sure enough, it was out all right. So, I used my second line to call the problem in and schedule a repair. They would fix it by 6pm today.

The phone guy showed up about 30pm despite the fact that I had cancelled the call because the line came back on. Just as well though because there was a horrible hum on the line. In he comes to test everything and give me something to look at this afternoon. He found a few problems in house, fixed one of the jacks, replaced another one and mucked about for about an hour. I certainly wasn't going to stop him from doing his job.

I retired to my computer room and chatted with Lunna. During the chat I'm looking over at the door where he's kneeling on the floor and tell her, "hey this guy's kind of cute." I proceed to tell her what he's wearing..."He's got a toolbelt over jeans, t shirt, workboots, baseball cap...not bad looking either."

What does she say? Now mind you she's at work. "Take a pic"

I did the eye roll and asked how the hell I was supposed to do that..walk up and say hey can I take your pic for my rican friend? To which she replies ...don't let him know.

I take this as a challenge...

So as he's working my dear cat decides to park himself right in front of him. WONDERFUL!!!

I take the camera, start talking to the cat...now stay there...oh no, this will never do, let me get down at your level...so now I'm pointing the camera at a slight up angle so I can get the phone guy in the picture. LMAO. Worked like a charm!

He leaves, I pull out the flash card and immediately send the pic to Lunna. She loved it! I've sunk to a new low...I'm now taking secret pictures of total strangers so we can perv them! LMAO...

well, from a lady's perspective, he was worth it. Don't you think ladies? ...

Actually it wasn't all that bad. I can't really complain about Mondays. I work outside the home on Monday nights and I always say I don't feel like going but once I get out there I enjoy it. I work with the elderly two nights a week, Mondays and Wednesdays, unless I move them.
Monday's I work with a sweet woman who is just beginning to start down the road of dementia. She knows it, she sees it but she's still doing whatever she can and she's still a very lovely person. I go in, do her laundry, clean her house, run to the store for her and chat. I play with her dog because she can't do that anymore and Buffy still has a playful streak in her despite her age.
While I'm there I talk to some of the other residents. There's Mr. D who grows tomatoes from seeds from Italy. He gave me some last year so I could harvest the seeds. They're fabulous. The taste is so much better than what we currently have available in the states. So sweet and delicious. There's Ted, my drinking buddy. We chat and then when I leave I stop in for a beer and a talk. There's the lady with the dog...I never knew her name but we talk about my client and how sweet she is and then we talk about the dogs. And there's the african american woman. I love her spirit. She's such a sweetheart. She calls me girl or child and always leaves me feeling happy. My job is supposed to make my clients happy and their lives easier yet I always leave with a smile and often new found wisdom.
I've always had a profound respect for the elderly. It probably comes from growing up with them, my dad being the super for an elderly highrise and me being born there. I've always been perturbed by the fact that our society really tends to push them aside. Our culture is so youth oriented unlike many other cultures where the elderly are revered for their knowledge and experiences. I like being able to remain in contact with the elderly and to continue to learn things from them. I love listening to their stories. I like just being able to sit still with them and learn to appreciate what life brings.
This isn't what I expected to write about in this blog but I suppose it needed to be expressed or I wouldn't have gone on about it. Somehow, my initial thoughts have flown away for the time being. So I leave you with this and remind you to try to be a little more patient with the older people you encounter and try to remember the wisdom that they have to share. Appreciate them people...we too shall be there someday and no one wants to be forgotten. I'd like to believe that the attention that I shower on them will come back to me when I someday reach those golden years. In the meantime, just think of all the wonderful things you can learn from them.

These beautiful little sunflowers grow wild all over the place. I first saw them in Texas and fell in love with them. I'm a real sucker for sunflowers. A bouquet of these would make my heart melt.



And I would be remiss if I didn't show you sunset in California. It was a rare treat for an east coast gal to see the sun set over the ocean as opposed to rising over it. Beautiful isn't it?

We visited Mt Rushmore which is really amazing. Even standing at the bottom you have no real concept of the magnitude of this work. The eye of George Washington is actually 8 feet across. It just amazed me.

Zion National Park in Utah – such a brave little soul growing up there.



Arches National park



Another view in Arches

It is so difficult to try to narrow down the pictures to only a few to show you.
The comments are wonderful and make me think how lucky I was to be able to take my son on this trip so he could see how big, beautiful and diverse this country is. He and I were also very fortunate to be able to meet people from different areas. I'm not just referring to the NNer's, which was absolutely wonderful, but the people who live in those areas we visited. The Mexican street vendors and waitstaff in the restaurant, the border patrol folks in Mexico and Canada, the Italian restaurant owner in Ft Worth, countless store owners throughout the country and so many others... What wonderful memories he'll have to reflect on as he gets older.

I agree so much with Kat, the west, and particularly the southwest for me, is vast and amazing. I love to see the road open before me. It speaks of freedom, an open heart, an open mind and limitless possibilities. I love New England as well but our landscape is so different. Lunna tells me I am really just a cowgirl born in the wrong time and place. Maybe she's right..oh hell what am I saying? She's always right. lol

Thanks everyone for enjoying this trip with me, giving me shelter and/or suggestions when you could, treating me with your company, and for just being you. Such a wonderful family we have here. How lucky I am.