I Hope You Dance

While tackling my messy closet
the other day,
I ran across a few old journals
that I had tucked away amid
the Beatles albums
and baby books.

Wiping their dusty covers,
I immediately sat down on the floor
and explored the diaries
of a life I had almost forgotten.

That is one wonderful thing
about keeping your thoughts on paper.
They never disappear.

Even discovering entries
of a time when I was angry
or depressed
(or a little touched in the head :)-
doesn't embarrass me anymore.

Each and every day
has made me who I am.

And every day that follows
will make me
who I will become.
Life is work in progress.

Reading my past-
curled up on the cold floor
amid coat hangers
and cardboard boxes-
I realize that I took too much for granted.
And I took life way too seriously.

What bothered me back then
were problems that
ironed themselves out with time.
I worried about being
a good mother
and now I have good children to prove
that I was successful.
I worried about paying my bills
and now I am lucky enough
to stay on top off them.
I worried about being a good wife
and now we are celebrating
our 34th year.

If we only look at the bad things,
the good things are obscured.
If we keep wishing for tomorrow-
today will be lost.

We are breathing.

That is magic.
That is miracle enough to rejoice.

While reading through the notebooks,
I suddenly felt like I was in a giant hourglass
and the years of sand
had dumped themselves on me all at once.

I drowned in the sorrow of having
misspent so many days.

So, today- take heed.
Un-clutter your life.
Don't forget to
breathe
smile
laugh
and capture every moment.

That is surely my greatest sin.

That is indeed my only regret.

You Better Not Pout

Due to my short vacation/break/downtime,
pretending-to-get-organized-week,
I missed out on Lips Appreciation Day
which was celebrated on March 16.

I think that it's important enough
to touch upon in today's blog, however,
so I'm taking the liberty of mouthing off
about "lips".

I bet you don't even know your lips
by their anatomical names.
(That's what I'm here for-
to educate you about things you don't really
give a flying hoot about).

The border between the lips and
the surrounding skin is referred to
as the vermilion border,
or simply the vermilion.
The vertical groove on the upper lip
is known as the philtrum.

The skin of the lip,
with three to five cellular layers,
is very thin compared to face skin,
which has up to 16 layers.

The lip skin is not hairy
and does not have sweat glands.
That's why lips tend to dry out easily
under certain circumstances.

Other than assisting with speech
and food intake,
lips are considered an important
part of human attraction.
I suppose that's why
in 2006, 750,000 people
(men and women)-
shelled out hard-earned money
for some type of lip enhancement.

Of course, there are those women
who have naturally pouty lips-
and can pocket their money
for some augmentation elsewhere.

My sister and I watched a SciFi show
together the other day
and the prom queen that
was being chased by zombies
had lips like two giant leeches-
just pasted like doll arms
around her mouth.

(At this point, it was a wasted
surgery for her-
the zombies ate her lips
like piranha on steroids.)

Now-too fake lips are just gross.
And unattractive.

But we commented that
in our old age,
our lips do appear
to be thinning.

Our husbands-
who never hear anything we
say directly to them-
happened to be listening
to our critical self exam.

They unanimously agreed
to give us fat lips
if we wanted-
rolling up their sleeves
and balling up their fists
with an evil smile.

We passed on that
white-trash lip-plumping treatment
and settled for simply
keeping our bodies hydrated.
Experts say that is the healthiest way
to keep your lips soft and full.

I just don't know if I can
drink another gallon of water today...

Greetings!

I'm Baaaaaaaaccckkk!

Wow! It's hard to believe that one simple week
was packed with so much activity!
I missed writing about Lips Appreciation Day,
(I'll get to that story real soon, though),
St. Patrick's Day, Maple Syrup Day, and
the First Day of Spring!

It's also hard to believe
that I barely got a thing done
after taking a week off to do just that.

I opened my closet door this morning
and there was still only room enough
to squeeze in sideways.
It IS a walk-in closet-
or supposed to be, anyway.

And once I slide in there,
I have to crawl around
and do handstands in order
to find shoes and belts
and other needful things that
live in the corners.

I have stacks of comforters
and tablecloths
and empty suitcases.
And a bunch of old clothes
that I might need
in case I decide to paint or
stomp grapes or
spread manure.

You just never know.

And then there are
the boxes of old papers,
pictures,
what-nots,
receipts,
hats,
gloves,
and remnants of a junk drawer.

I cannot believe
that I didn't even get started on it!

But I told myself today
that it must be done.
I can't find my summer clothes
or half of my flip-flops.
And heaven forbid if my husband
decides to open that closet door!

I shudder to think.

I suppose I did get a nice week off
to let my mind and creativity rest.
But, there again,
I have nothing to show for it-
not even any good blog ideas!

But I hope you are all back
on my page again-
Hope you are all enjoying
the beginnings of spring,
the songs of birds,
and the hope of warm weather.

Tomorrow
we'll talk about lips.