Thanksgiving Celebration...

It turns out that our Cable company has been having problems with a line which happens to be the one that connects into our area, so the image is all pixelated on and off and they can't find where the fault is. They came, they fixed and they couldn't so while they are fixing their problem which causes us not to have TV when we want it while we are paying for it, they gave us 3 months free of HBO and wouldn't you know HBO works just fine, Hm!

So this morning I'm looking at the  HBO guide and they were showing a Drew Barrymore movie I saw and remembered liking years ago called "Getting in the Car with Boys". I knew the premise and some of the challenges but I really didn't remember the important parts so I kept on coming back to watch. I'm really not one to get hooked on watching TV, rarely turn it on if I'm alone, I rather listen to music or write and TV is a total distractor to that which I love to do.

This movie was different though, as if it was trying to remind me of something I had forgotten. I forgot how incredible it seems to me that we either cannot see the mistakes we are making along our path since we keep making them in different ways at every stage and we always find a way of justifying or we just cannot help ourselves and we are weak or fearful so we have to keep on doing the same things that we already know what the consequences are and handle them at the time, although when that time comes we can't handle the pain and break down, than try something totally new and different and take a chance at a better outcome.

If it's the first one that we are blinded to our own mistakes then I say ouch, because maybe there are a lot of people that chose to remain ignorant and just remain alive however but there are so many others that are intelligent, well read, smart, clever and you're going to tell me they can't see it? they're too afraid? too weak? How does that happen? Why does it happen?

This is a movie about a 15 yr. old girl who got pregnant by her boyfriend. Her dad was a policeman and mom was a loving stay at home mom and she decided to have the baby and winds up marrying the boyfriend who is and ends up always being a heroin addict. You should watch it, it has a good message.

The point here is that when I lived my life in the past before I realized it was I who was allowing all the chaos I remember very well many things I did within that perception and I remember well how I felt when I made certain major decisions, how I behaved, the choices I made, the risks I took and those I was too afraid to undertake and when I remember I actually feel the way I felt then only now I can see it so much better from this angle and let me tell you it's not easy to understand why I made some decisions I made throughout my life but I assure you that will never happen.

Thanksgiving was always and still is my favorite Holiday and one of the few I don't like to see pass without me celebrating it with anyone who happens to be around. In the past few years it has been my husband and I. He cooks these lovely meals for the two of us and I'm just the kitchen helper :) but this year will be different and I will be crossing a line off my "Bucket List!"

My daughter and her boyfriend will be flying in from Los Angeles and my son and his fiance will be coming from home which is just down the freeway and will bring with them their two adorable pekinese that I love and miss so much. I will be sitting around the table spending Thanksgiving with the three most important people in my life and their most important people, laughing, singing, playing guitar, breaking bread together like Poppo used to say, seeing pictures, exchanging ideas, playing board games and most of all being Thankful that we have this new opportunity after all these years to show each other how much love we have. Have the other one feel the love rather than just read about it or hear the words.

In the past it would've been perhaps just another Thanksgiving but I don't see it like that now, now I give thanks every day for everything I've experienced, everything that I Am and moreso for all that's yet to come.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Wherever you are may you surround yourselves with Love.

Hugs xoxo
@nit@

"If I Knew Then, What I Know Now!"

                     

There was an article my daughter sent to me January 18, 2011, exactly a year and a half ago, well I was cleaning my e-mails, too much clutter I don’t need in my life right now when I’ve become a minimizer and very little satisfies me very well, so I see this message of hers asking me to please please please read this article and to do it for her and we’d discuss it later.                                                                                                                                                              
   
Now I’m in the habit of reading everything my children take the time and effort to send to me because I love and respect their words and actions. I have learned so much from them, but this article must have gotten pushed down as new e-mails kept arriving and I had to tend to them and 1-1/2 yrs. passed and just when I was truly ready to read what was on this article it found me again, knocked at my door and said to me, “Hey you forgot about Me, remember me now? Are you ready to read me?” 
                      
 I was actually quite excited to have found it and confessed to my daughter what had happened with it and she said, "well good that you found it, you must read it slowly and take it all in, this is the right time for you to read it", so I did and it just blew me away because I recognized so much of me in it, the good part is that even though all this information is pretty new to me, a lot to take in at once, my intuition has been telling me what to do. or maybe I've just been paying attention to what it says and how it feels and seems that finally, in my older age, I’m beginning to do the right thing intuitively. 
                      
 it only took me 50+ yrs. to get it see? so I can’t possibly not do the right thing now that I know cause I am NOT willing to go through any more discomfort than absolutely necessary or waste one more second of my life, once I’ve gotten over to the other side of the river, nothing is keeping me from moving forward with the fulfillment of my dreams, as many as I can, otherwise it’s like we’ve always done, all of us, looking back and saying “If only I knew then what I know now, then I’d do it different to get better results” but that’s always hind-side, that doesn’t even count, since there is no hind-side, what’s important to remember is that NOW I KNOW BETTER, so if I ignore what I know from my own experiences, then don’t you think I deserve to get the pain and all that comes along with it? If you know now why do we keep on making the same mistakes over and over again, don’t you wonder? Here is a link to the article she sent to me, see how much of it if any, you can identify with.

Do you Love to be needed, or need to be Loved?

As with everything that I write, to whomever takes the time to read I send each and every one my Love. I receive quite a few anonymous comments, thank you for taking the time to do that, but if you ever want me to reply you must leave me your e-mail address. 

Hugs xoxo

@nit@

When you gotta go, you gotta go!

Next to eating, drinking and sleeping, going to the restroom is something that we all do frequently. Most of the time, we tend to forget that the design of a restroom, especially public bathrooms, have an impact on the individual and on society as a whole.

I remember when my son was a little boy he asked me once, "Mom, how come women go to the bathroom in public places in groups?" I didn't really know what to answer, I suppose I could have said "to gossip, or for company, or just cause?", but instead I said "It's because in women's public restrooms you have to insert a coin on the toilet door for it to open, and that way one person puts a coin, goes in, then when she comes out she holds the door open for the next one to go, in case they really have to go and they don't have enough coins." "Really?" he asked surprised..."I want to see, can I put the coin in the door?", so of course I had to tell him it was just a joke ....though recently the joke was on me!

But first I must tell you how I feel about public restrooms...

For men it seems easier, all they really have to do is stand there, they don't even seem to mind standing next to each other , but it's not the same for women, most women would be mortified if they had to do that. For one women take a lot longer, so you often find lines and you have to stand there waiting your turn, sometimes you strike up silly conversations, and others you just look around, and if you really gotta go, you don't even want to strike up a conversation.

Finally it's your turn, the door usually opens inwards to avoid hitting anyone when you come out, and the place inside is barely large enough to let you get in and close, and when women go in public restrooms some do it kind of squatting and they splash the seat, the floor and the front of the toilet, so when you are trying to close the door you have to be careful not to rub the front of the toilet with your pants or legs, and if you are wearing pants, you have to roll them up so they don't touch the floor and get wet. Then you flush and sometimes it won't work, and there's other times when you can't find one that is clean because they won't flush...

And what about when there is no toilet paper and you didn't notice when you first went in because you had to go so badly, or when they put these paper holders that don't go around because of their odd shape, and the paper is so tight that you try to pull on it and it tears after just one little square, and here you are trying to tear one square at a time, while holding your purse because the hook where you hang it is missing!! And there is even the one I call sand 'toilet' paper, you're better off using the seat covers (if there are any). I've actually been to some that have plastic covers on the seat that go around when you press a button, I always make sure to press the button before and after, just in case the lady that was there before me didn't think to do that before she left.

You've seen those Port-O-Pottys. Even those come in different categories, some of the fancy ones have their own water and septic tanks, they have sinks, are nicely decorated, and they even have piped in music, while some are just plastic boxes with a hole and this awful blue chemical. It was better when I used to go on long camping trips as a little girl and we would go deep into the woods, at least you would find a clean spot and were not afraid you would fall into that stinky discusting hole, although you did have to worry about critters :o)

Then there are the very elegant restrooms, you will find those in fancy resorts or expensive restaurants. I remember taking my kids to the beach in La Jolla for years, and every time they needed to go we would walk up a steep hill and into this lovely hotel overlooking the ocean, just to go into their beautiful restrooms.

There are some that are unique works of art, some that pop up off the ground when they are needed, and go underground when they're not being used. Others in the shape of soccer balls, I've seen one that is located in the middle of the street made of glass, when you are inside you can see out, but people can't see in, that's a bit intimidating if you ask me, but I still went in. I was pretty impressed with the ones that are self-cleaning. Somehow they know when you get out and they start a cycle much like going into a carwash. It gets fully sanitized and dried for the next person that needs to use it.

Some of them you wish you could stick them in your purse and take them home with you because they were much nicer than your bathrooms at home. And the ones where there are attendants handing you paper towels to dry your hands, and they have anything from hand cream, and mouthwash, to perfume, combs and hairspary, and of course there is a little plate filled with money, so that it is clear they want you to leave them a tip, but now a days with ATM cards, I often forget to carry cash in my purse. It makes me feel like walking out with my hands wet just not to go through the embarassment of taking the paper towel from her and not leaving anything in return.

Ok you're finally done, your belly doesn't hurt anymore, but wait, you have to wash you hands, look at all you had to touch to get to that point, I'm not going out without washing my hands, and I better be sure to check I'm not dragging any toilet paper on my shoe, or have my skirt stuck up my underwear before I walk out of there... now that would be embarassing....

Of course I have my purse with me, but when other women who came in before me washed their hands, did they wipe the counter so that my purse would not get wet? Of course not, I always do!! so you either keep it on your shoulder trying to make sure it doesn't keep sliding forward, or hold it in between your legs, or go find something to wipe the counter with....

I remember a restroom in a restaurant in Mexico City, where they had a small statue of Michaelangelo's David next to the sinks. It had a metal leaf covering his private area and a sign that said "Lift at your own risk." Of course as you can imagine every woman that went into that restroom, at least for the first time, would lift the leaf. It would appear that nothing happened when you did that, however, once you got our of the restroom you'd discover that a loud bell would ring inside the restaurant, and everyone would clap when they saw you coming out. I think that was more embarassing than walking out dragging toilet paper that got stuck on your shoe.

Last time I was in Europe, guess what happened? Yup you guessed it!!!! In many places in Europe you DO need coins to get into public restrooms...I've had to pay 2 and 3 Euros just to pee at the Mall...that's between $3 and $5 American dollars... It's not like I'm cheap, but I remember what I told my son way back then, and it turned out the joke was on me :o).

We'll I'm about to go to a Movie.... I think I better go pee before I leave the house!

Hugs xoxo
@nit@