It's Been A Long Time

It's been a long time since I've spied anything...Today I went out and this is what I spied:

Breakeven

Acoustic sunrise on my drive to work...

BREAKEVEN - The Script

I'm still alive but I'm barely breathing

Just prayed to a God that I don't believe in

'Cause I got time while she got freedom

'Cause when a heart breaks, no it don't breakeven

Her best days will be some of my worst

She finally met a man that's gonna put her first

While I'm wide awake she's no trouble sleeping

'Cause when a heart breaks, no it don't breakeven, even, no

What am I suppose to do when the best part of me was always you

And what am I suppose to say when I'm all choked up and you're okay

I'm falling to pieces, yeah

I'm falling to pieces

They say bad things happen for a reason

But no wise words gonna stop the bleeding

'Cause she's moved on while I'm still grieving

And when a heart breaks, no it don't breakeven, even, no

What am I gonna do when the best part of me was always you

And what am I suppose to say when I'm all choked up and you're okay

I'm falling to pieces, yeah

I'm falling to pieces, yeah

I'm falling to pieces

(One's still in love while the other one's leaving)

I'm falling to pieces

('Cause when a heart breaks, no it don't breakeven)

Oh you got his heart and my heart and none of the pain

You took your suitcase, I took the blame

Now I'm tryna make sense of what little remains, oh

'Cause you left me with no love and no love to my name

I'm still alive but I'm barely breathing

Just prayed to a God that I don't believe in

'Cause I got time while she got freedom

'Cause when a heart breaks, no it don't break

No it don't break

No it don't breakeven, no

What am I gonna do when the best part of me was always you

And what am I supposed to say when I'm all choked up and you're okay

(Oh glad you're okay now)

I'm falling to pieces, yeah

(Oh I'm glad you're okay)

I'm falling to pieces, yeah

I'm falling to pieces

(One's still in love while the other one's leaving)

I'm falling to pieces

('Cause when a heart breaks, no it don't breakeven)

Oh, it don't breakeven, no

Oh, it don't breakeven, no

Oh, it don't breakeven, no

New Year's Eve

What is the meaning of this New Year's Eve song? Auld Land Syne is about old friends who have parted and meet again. To celebrate their long friendship, they share a drink together and reminisce of memories from long ago. The basic message is that we should not forget our old friends and should celebrate a reunion with them.

Auld Lang Syne by Robert Burns

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

And never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot

And auld lang syne?

Chorus:

For auld lang syne, my dear,

For auld lang syne,

We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet

For auld lang syne!

We twa hae run about the braes,

And pu'd the gowans fine,

But we've wander'd mony a weary fit

Sin auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl't in the burn

Frae morning sun till dine,

But seas between us braid hae roar'd

Sin auld lang syne.

And there's a hand, my trusty fiere,

And gie's a hand o' thine,

And we'll tak a right guid willie-waught

For auld lang syne!

And surely ye'll be your pint' stowp,

And surely I'll be mine,

And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet

For auld lang syne!

Translation:

Should old acquaintances be forgotten,

And never brought to mind?

Should old acquaintances be forgotten,

And days of long ago !

Chorus:

For old long ago, my dear

For old long ago,

We will take a cup of kindness yet

For old long ago.

We two have run about the hillsides

And pulled the daisies fine,

But we have wandered many a weary foot

For old long ago.

We two have paddled (waded) in the stream

From noon until dinner time,

But seas between us broad have roared

Since old long ago.

And there is a hand, my trusty friend,

And give us a hand of yours,

And we will take a goodwill draught (of ale)

For old long ago!

And surely you will pay for your pint,

And surely I will pay for mine!

And we will take a cup of kindness yet

For old long ago!

Navy, Burgandy, and White...Khaki, and Black

Lovely. I've decided that I'm going to walk around looking like a bruise come January 1, 2011. I can't further divulge any more information, but insiders who read this probably know what I'm talking about--and I dare any of them to walk around looking like bruises, too.

Oh, by the way, Alessia. I've decided to eventually release all of my back blogs that I've saved, but not published and are crapped up in cyberspace waiting to be edited. Which means that they either need a quote or a pic. And thanks for feeding my fish.

Pirate

Arrrr...what is this lass? Not a real pirate. Look on her shoulder. It's a FLAMINGO?! WTF. I was Googling funny pirate quotes, and this was the second on the page: "Parrots are the preferred pirate companion. Monkeys are an acceptable substitute, unless they fling their feces at people. Then they are an awesome substitute." I think our friend here got a little confused. I blurred one of her eyes out like they do in text books to hide the identity of the subjects in the photographs. I couldn't blur the other one out because it would totally ruin the pic.

Wicked...

Went to see the musical Wicked tonight with some friends. Didn't know much about the musical before I went, except that it was about the witches before the whole Wizard of Oz/Dorothy stuff happened. Amazing enough as the musical was, the understudy actually stepped in (in Act II) for the part of Elphaba - who becomes the Wicked Witch of the west. Even though she was the understudy, her performance was first rate. A long musical, but I enjoyed it thoroughly.

I've heard it said

That people com into our lives for a reason

Bringing something we must learn

And we are led

To those who help us most to grow

If we let them

And we help them in return

Well, I don't know if I believe that's true

But I know I'm who I am today

Because I knew you...

"For Good" from the musical Wicked

Birthday--Haaaaa

Funny thing about facebook...if you put your birthday down in the info section, everybody (and quite possibly their mother) will know when it is your birthday. In fact, fb sends out a birthday reminder a week ahead, then posts it on the right side of your home page.

So, today is my birthday. Here are some pics for the day taken from sunrise to sunset (which happened to be ruined by a huge thunderstorm)...

"At sunrise everything is luminous but not clear. It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us. You can love completely without complete understanding."

~Norman Maclean

"Quite minds can't be perplexed or frightened, but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm."

~Robert Louis Stevenson

"Let no one who loves be unhappy, even love unreturned has its rainbow."

~ James M. Barrie

"Walk on a rainbow trail; walk on a trail of song, and all about you will be beauty. There is a way out of every dark mist, over a rainbow trail."

~ Robert Motherwell

I do not recommend taking photos while the photographer is the one driving the vehicle.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day, mom. Here's a rose from your garden.

"Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever."

~ Unknown

just not the same...

I did something today that I haven't done for about a year. The ritualistic working on Sunday, followed by a stop at Bread Co to pick up lunch. After my father died 5 years ago, whenever I would work on Sunday, I'd call up my mom on the way home and ask if she wanted me to pick up lunch from Bread Co. Her answer would always be, "Do they have black bean soup?" Yes, that was one of the selections of the day. So, we'd have a late lunch together, sitting in front of the television, watching some sort of Lifetime movie--or the baseball game.

Today was different. Just not as exciting eating the lunch as it used to be. It's been almost a year since my mom was last at home. I can still see in my mind, those lunches with my mom, watching her savor her bowl of black bean soup. One of the little things she enjoyed, and one of the things I didn't mind doing for her, even when I had to park down the street and then go stand in line and wait for our order. That was a tradition. I hope they don't ever stop selling that black bean soup. It's one of my favorites, too.

"I miss thee, my Mother! Thy image is still the deepest impressed on my heart."

~Eliza Cook

Say Whaaaaa?

Sheesh. Where's the year going? I'm going to just tell a quick story about something that happened tonight, just so I don't feel bad that I haven't entered something in a while.

I went out to dinner tonight with a friend--a place called Chinese Noodle Cafe. A short plump server came up to the table and said, (in a kinda Chinesey accented English) "Are you Chinese, Korean, or..."

"Nope, I'm Japanese," I replied.

She added, "Oh, well you look like you might be something."

"Hey, I'll be Chinese if it'll get me a discount," I quickly responded. I laughed and looked at my dining companion. He smiled at me and grinned.

Why can't I keep my mouth shut? I dunno. Chinese, Japanese--we all look alike :)

Spring

The sun was shining.

I wish the weather would stay like this all the time.

Today was a beautiful day.

Indeed it was.

The end.

"It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want -oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!"

~Mark Twain

One track mind

I'm up. Fell asleep watching "new moon" and forgot to turn down/off my phone, again. And my sister decided to send me a fb message, which made my phone ding to notify me of my inbox message.

Since I'm up, I've decided to type up a quick entry. No pic. No quote--unless I get some wild hair and decide to throw it in later. Today's entry is brought to you courtesy of one of my patients.

Here it goes...I was working with one of my patients in her room yesterday morning, helping her complete her morning self care routine. We were up at the sink with the curtain pulled, when one of the doctors came in the room with her entourage of short coats. Mind you, these rooms are small enough for two patients, but to cram this group of cornheads into the room was quite ridiculous! The thin curtain giving my patient barely enough visual privacy kept moving as those dorks kept filing in. I was so tempted to jack one of them up through the curtain, but I kinda like my job.

"Can you feel me when I touch you down there?"

My patient and I quickly looked at each other with odd looks on our faces, as if to make sure the other had heard the same words.

"What the heck is she touching down there?," my patient "whispered" as quietly as her dysarthric voice would allow. It was all I could do NOT to start cracking up.

I missed what the doctor had said next, but my patient whispered, "They've got vibrators over there, too!"

Later on, as I heard her retell the story to another therapist, she added, "Yeah, I heard the doctor say, 'tell me when you feel the vibrating stop' and I was like what the fuck...???" I know it was totally inappropriate, but I just couldn't keep from cracking up this time.

Ahhh...sometimes I "go there" courtesy of my patients. It's nice how some people can keep their humor in the midst of a life-altering ordeal.

Let's Give Them Something To Talk About...

Ok, as I was walking around the zoo the other day (yes, I go to the zoo quite often), I was at the penguin and puffin house. I saw these two penguins following each other around the outside display. Kind of cute how they fought over this one piece of dried grass. It got me wondering...are these two penguins siblings, friends, or lovers? I hear penguins mate for life. Kinda awkward when you live in a small area and you don't really get to choose who lives with you. I'm thinking that they were mates. Actually, I did see two of the others doing the naughty. It was kind of funny because I didn't realize what they were doing at first. HELLO! Oops, shouldn't have been staring at them. No privacy! But maybe they like people watching them. Ick.

"Once there was a darkness, deep and endless night, you gave me everything you had, oh you gave me light."

~Sarah McLachlan

"Do what you will, always walk where you like, your steps do as you please, I'll back you up." ~Dave Matthews Band (I'll Back You Up)

lunchtime

My sister is in town and I took her to the zoo so she could try out a new camera that she had bought for one of her daughters. It was a beautiful sunny winter day.

On our way out, we stopped at the sea-lion pen just as feeding time was about to begin. The sea-lions were frolicking in the water, as if their internal clocks sensed the event that was about to begin. As the woman who was going to feed them unlocked the gate, the sea-lions all went and assumed their fish-eating positions. I noticed that one of the sea-lions had taken position away from the others, on a rock, eyes closed, head swaying left and right--looking as if she was doing her best Stevie Wonder impression. What the heck? It was mealtime and why wasn't she bobbing up and down in the water with the rest of the sea-lions? I pointed out my observation to my sister and questioned whether the sea-lion was blind.

It was entertaining watching the keeper toss each sea-lion fish, making sure each one got a portion of the meal. The sea-lions would catch the fish, flip it in their mouths, and then swallow it. Even the one on the rock would do this, eyes closed and all. Occasionally, a fish would slip beyond her reach and fall to the bottom of the pool.

After the feeding, the keeper asked if there were any questions. My sister asked if the sea-lion was blind. Indeed she is blind, and has been for two years. Nothing traumatic or exciting to cause the blindness. Just age-related, something the twenty year old sea-lion was experiencing.

Here is a sequence of pics showing the blind sea-lion catching, and eating her meal. I swear, in the last pic, it looks as if she is smiling at the camera. Could life not be greater?

Here comes the fish! You can see it flying in on the left side of the pic.

Searching under the water for it...

...finally grabbing it under water...

...the above water flip...

...a perfect catch, and down the hatch!!!

SMILE ☺

"We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have."

~Frederick Koenig

BCPs

I know I've said this before, but there is just something awkward about going to the pharmacy and picking up a prescription of birth control pills and having a nun wait on you. BUT it's not as funny as my friend who feels the need to lie and tell said nun, "I take these because I have really bad dysmenorrhea." Funnier being that my friend is Jewish! Meshuggener. Just kidding :)

WTH?!

Look! Two Asses!!!

...oh no, silly me--they're just a couple of Grevy's Zebras. Sorry for the confusion, folks.

"When a zebra's in the zone, leave him alone."

~Madagascar

♡❤ Happy Valentine's Day ❤♡

Woke up to a beautiful snow this morning. ☃

Breakfast at First Watch with a friend. ☕

Walk after breakfast.

Shopping at Target. ☺

Cooking chili. ♨

Relax. ☸

❆❅❄Snowing again. ❄❅❆

❄❅❆Shoveling the sparkly snow. ❆❅❄

Crawling into bed beneath freshly washed and dried sheets/blankets.

Wonderful day.

The end.

by me. ❧

Gross Story--Don't Read

Warning. This is a gross, but true story. Seriously, I'm warning you NOT to read it. It's so gross, I can't even include a pic that would go with it, but I'm writing the story because I really couldn't believe this person shared it with me. Here it goes:

I was busy working--several coworkers had come up to me asking where our support staff were. I looked around and none were to be found. Somehow, they are never around when you really need them. All of a sudden, one of them popped up and asked if I had seen one of the other support staff. (I think it is a game they play with each other--try not to do more work than your coworkers.) I told her no and asked what she needed. Then, out of the blue, the one in question showed up.

I asked, "Where were you?"

"In the bathroom," she replied.

I countered, "For 45 minutes?!"

She laughed and answered, "YES! I pooped on myself."

I tried not to react, but I think my eyeballs about popped out of my head.

She continued, "Yeah, I thought it was just gas, and I let it go and pooped all down my leg. I had to wash everything. Good thing I always bring an extra pair of clothes here."

I just stood there and calmly said, "I. cannot. believe. you just said that out loud."

She closed with, "I told you I'm not shy about things." Then, she turned and strutted away laughing.

Moral of the story, always have an extra pair of clothes with you. You never know, although it feels like it, that next one just might not be air...

...I'm also thinking I need to come up with a code name for this person. That would make it easier to tell these stories. This is her second appearance in my blog and I'm sure it's not the last.

*giggle*

No pic for today. Just checking in to say I've been busy.

Was invited to have coffee this morning with two friends. Felt like I was being invited into their secret society--they've been getting together for coffee about once-a-month for eons. I'm such a crasher, but then I guess I'm not really a crasher because I was invited. Oh well.

**Somebody said something that made me giggle at work today...I noticed a coworker was looking around as if she was searching to ask someone a question. I asked her if I could help her. She got a sheepish grin on her face, and asked me, "Where do you keep your vibrator?" At the same time making a hand gesture and then a noise. Oh, it was priceless. I guess there is no tactful way of asking where the vibrator is and not have one's mind "not go there"...unless you're a prude, or just a plain liar.

Sight

Yikes. Alessia went on vacation and so did I...

Found a pic from the fall. A cool sculpture of a huge eyeball. Sight. How amazing an ability. The brain, the neurons, all that is involved to produce an image. I was talking to some friends the other day and one of them said, "If I lost my sight, then you'd just better put me in a box under the ground." I thought that was kind of a sad statement. I mean--yes, sight is a sense that most of us are born with. Beautiful colors, shapes, etc., but sometimes going by what we see can deceive us. Without sight, our other senses are heightened. Smells, sounds, taste, touch, extrasensory perception...

Ach...I don't know where this entry is going. Oh well. Let me just say that even if you lose your sight, never lose your vision.

"People only see what they are prepared to see."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but has no vision."

~Helen Keller

"Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others."

~Jonathan Swift

Stevie Wonder is a musical genius.