Musical Thankfullness

Yep, totally off the Thankful wagon...it may have been too much to ask of myself. Still, I do think that just verbalizing and beginning it made me mindful to keep Thanksgiving in November. I am already doing some preparation for Christmas, for survival sake, but my mind is tuning out the noise of holiday advertising and premature Christmas music. I think it is doing the mind good.

I went to see "This is It" with Sue last night, and do believe I am still recovering from it. In a lot of ways it did not live up to what I expected it to be, but it did turn out to be one of those experiences that gives a creative "shot in the arm," so to speak. I left the theater, again amazed by the musicianship of Michael Jackson. He had such an integrated understanding of his music and how he wanted it to sound. He felt his music, and perhaps related to it as much or more than he related to the real world, and as much as that may have been the real problem for him, it gave the world an amazing catalog of musical genius for eternity.

THEN there was Orianthe! Good God that girl could rock out. She was the lead guitarist for MJ's band and just oozed cool, along with playing some kick ass guitar! True to form and predictably, I ran home and downloaded her album, and have been rocking out to it all day. It was $7.99 very well spent.

Finally, a new webisode of "Live From Daryl's House" dinged into my email inbox this evening and I have been listening to collaboration between Daryl Hall's band and Fall Out Boy. Never had really paid attention to their music before, and really only knew of the one member that is married to J Simp's little sister, but now, whew! The lead singer, Patrick Stump, is also the songwriter, and I was really impressed. Probably more iTunes in my future...sigh. Where DOES my money go?

Still, as much as all of this may be my little sideline frivolity, it does make, like I said, for the creative shot in the arm. Every time a new LFDH webisode comes out, I am inspired. Every time I hear of a new and interesting artist, I am inspired. Every time I hear an old artist, or an old song, reinterpreted...or if I simply come across an old friend I have not heard, or heard from, in a long time, I am inspired. Music is inspiration, and, guess I am not totally off the wagon, because I am ETERNALLY thankful for that.

-Cheryl

So, have already fallen off the Thankful Wagon as I missed yesterday, but really yesterday and today can easily be combined into one great big moment of thankfulness. Spent last night at Sue's for a festive dinner party, because, although it was Tuesday, we celebrated like it was a Friday, knowing today was a day off! So, yesterday I was thankful for "Tuesday/Friday," and today for "Wednesday/Saturday." There is also the fact that the sun is brilliant and bright, and Tim is buzzingly happy preparing for his big Duck's Unlimited dinner tonight. (am considering wearing the Unwanted Necklace to the dinner...we'll see.)Mom and Dad are coming up to stay with the kids. It is truly amazing...there really IS a LOT to be thankful for, every minute of every day.

Namaste,

Cheryl

Today, I am thankful for food, overall. Sometimes I wish I didn't love to eat, and cook, and think about eating and cooking as much as I do, but I will admit that the tastes of the season got me off on the right foot today. I bought Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese at the grocery store this past weekend, and let me tell you, that spread on a bagel in the morning, along with Pumpkin Spice coffee, it was a real treat. The day went on in its ordinary fashion, and was really just your basic Monday, but the taste of the season, the pumpkin, THAT is what I was thankful for today.

Namaste,

Cheryl

HoHoHo...blah!

Is it possible to be burned out on the Christmas season on November 8th? I am just about fed up with a lot of it already. Of course, I was out shopping both yesterday and today so I guess I did it to myself. Still, "The Christmas Creep," which has now come to define the fact that holiday items appear in the stores earlier and earlier, and not just your Uncle Larry after too much eggnog, has certainly hit, even in rural Upstate New York.

To that end, I am going to give myself (yet another) project. I am needing a lot of these to keep my mental capacity strong in the face of the aforementioned ugly school year. It has been done before, but I think it'll be good for me. I am going to log on here, even briefly, each day, to chronicle my THANKFULNESS. It is November, the month for THANKSGIVING, not CHRISTMAS, and I am going to honor it as such. I need to retain some level of peace, some level of balance and sanity before December is upon us.

Today, I am thankful for many, many things...I will go with the top 5...

1. ) Sun,

2. ) iPods with Genius...LOVE Genius, and car transmitters that make driving to get the groceries oh so much better,

3. ) buying beer or wine on Sundays,

4. ) synergistic moments of sublime shopping

5. ) Hawaiian Burgers with Grilled Pineapple and Onion Rings

Namaste,

Cheryl

November 7, 2009
Third destination on the Journey of the Unwanted Necklace.

Sometimes when life is unbalanced and ugly, we may choose to do things that seem irrational to other people. These choices that we make provide a distraction from what is missing in the equation of our lives and help us to feel happy. Whether it be a frivolous overnight just half an hour away, laughing with a friend over a lost car in the parking lot, or releasing our feelings through writing . We need these things in our lives to resuscitate what the ugly has knocked unconscious. Let no one stand in our way while we continue our quest for the olive.

"A girl in a hat is just, so, Vogue..."

Was feeling kinda vogue today (well, as vogue as one gets in a rural elementary school...) as I took to work in my new shirt, layered with a cami, and sporting the perfectly coordinated necklace. Got a lot of compliments too, and replied to each with the fact that I picked up the cute new shirt on a shopping trip to Bass Pro Shops of all places. I am beginning to think, though, that as much as some people have NO ability to shop, I could shop in a BOX.

This picture has been on my desktop for a while. I often see an image that prompts an idea that I want to blog about and drop it onto my desktop for the time I will get a moment...but as I looked today I realized I had enough saved images to keep me busy blogging for many a day. And yet, how many written blogs do I have for all my image ridden inspiration? How many words on a page do I commit to the deep ponderings in my head? Why is this? I will explain it away time and again as "no time to write," but really, is that true? We all have time in our lives for what we want to value, what we want to commit ourselves to. There is work, and home maintenance...there is what must be done...but what of those things we aspire to do. I know that the thing I aspire to, the thing I WANT to do, the writing, I have not committed to as of late. Distractions abound, and I need to, at times, push them aside.

The saving of this image was also prompted by that wonderful title...Seventeen...title of magazine...time in life. Oh to be seventeen again. I mean, truly, I would not wish for it. Seveneteen was the end of 11th grade and beginning of 12th. It WAS a fun time, but do I want to go back? No. It is over, and highschool is not something I have ever spent a long time longing for. It is a good memory, but over, and perhaps it is because I work in a school each and every day, I do not want to go back to that.

Twenties. These were good times. First there were early twenties, and college twenties. There are many, many, many times I would go back and relive there. Now, would I want to go back entirely to days of Kraft Mac and Cheese, and no money? No, but it sure would be a fun place to visit. Then there were later twenties, young and married and working and living on our own. Again, would I go back entirely to days of responsibility that we didn't really quite understand? No, but a weekend getaway? Perhaps.

Now, deeply into my "thirtysomethings," and anticipating my mate making that jump into his 40's, I wonder if, in the future, we'll want to go back to NOW. I would anticipate that life will only get better from here on out...I am a Pollyanna afterall...but the thirties have been so rich...stable life, a home, kids, friends, finally the money, travel. I finally feel like we are ticking off the "what I want to do in life" list, but at times do I still long to go back, yes. Do I feel maudlin that so many of the "firsts" of life are behind me, yes. Do I wonder if I could have followed a different path at times and in different situations, yes. I suppose time will tell. We will finish thirtysomething, and move into the forties, leaving seventeen far behind...behind, but not forgotten.

-Cheryl

Day 2 of The Unwanted Necklace...

Just an observation, I suppose..."Sometimes, focusing on the new puts the old back in its box."

I had a jewelry party, and got all this "new stuff" just as I was supposed to be wearing/observing life through the Unwanted Necklace. It sat in its box, on my jewelry armoire (yep, a piece of furniture JUST for my jewelry habit, and, quite frankly, it is full) and I focused on the new stuff instead. Sue and I often refer to how we are going to "get through the week," and I purport to say that this year there is still "no olive in sight" and we are going to need to have ways to "get through the year." New jewelry, recently, has been it. What next? Holiday shopping and merriment I suppose...oh, and there is always the wine!

-Cheryl