You're Not Thinking Hard Enough.

I spent the past couple of days doing some last minute scrambling to plan for a visit to a couple classrooms of kids. I have recently decided to join Storytellers Guild which places you into classrooms where you read to the children. I love kids. I love reading to kids. Makes sense to me.

Actually, I am taking over a position for another wonderful woman who has decided to do some other things and needed to let go of this volunteer activity. She asked me if I'd like to take over. Ooo, the pressure of following in someone's else's footsteps.

What's harder, walking in someone else's shoes or following someone else's shoes?

I am confident in my ability to work with children. No problem. I can gear up or gear down and I can fly by the seat of my pants in most situations with kids. Kids don't scare me. Adults do.

So, we met at the school for introductions and the passing of the torch. "Torch"ure, I should say. They LOVE her. "We'll miss you. Are you coming back? I might cry." Hey, I am sitting here.  What am I,  chopped liver?

And, I will say, Marianne is worthy of tears. She is an amazing person. She is peaceful and happy and creative (oh, sooo, delightfully creative). She would dress up for the kids and try to make them think it wasn't her. Beautiful. I might miss her and I never saw her do a reading.

So she says her goodbyes and there I am....chopped liver. Should have brought candy. phhfft.

It went well. Introductions, a lot about me, my family, my books and all that. A get to know me session. I read a couple of books. The kids were attentive and fun. But i felt a bit under scrutiny by the teachers. I hate that.

 I am not Marianne (though I'd love to adopt some of her qualities). As my Flip Side Story, A Day Without Ms. Hatting, teaches, "When Ms. Hatting is gone, it just can't be the same."  When Marianne is gone, it just can't be the same. It can be just as good.

Kids are resilient and open to most new situations. I didn't fear that. The adults, on the other hand, have a more difficult time with change. Change is ok. New things are ok if you don't compare them to the old too critically. As the old Brownie saying says, "Make new friends but keep the old."

Actually, it should say, make new friends but keep the current ones. Old isn't working for me these days.

Embrace new things but retain the old.

It is important to give people a chance. They may not live up to your expectations but be open to the unexpected.  Look for the good in people even if the bad is more prevalent.  You might find that you will learn something new about yourself through that person.

Do you see the cup half full or half empty? Do you see people half good or half bad?

One of my favorite saying is, "If you don't have anything nice to say, you aren't thinking hard enough."

Make it a habit to tell people thank you. To express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those around you, and you'll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life, and you'll find that you have more of it.
Ralph Marston 

Fight for our Little Girls

In 2009, my friend and I made the commitment to walk 60 miles in three days in a race for the cure for cancer. My friend is a survivor of breast cancer and my hero. If she did it, I could do it. So we trained for over 500 miles through rain, sleet, snow, heat and weekend fun to prepare as the Lovely Bunch of Coconuts for the race for a lifetime. It was the ultimate experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. It built a strong relationship between us and a greater awareness of the fighters and those who lost the fight and the loved ones left behind. As sad as it sounds, it is the most invigorating, challenging, emotional, exciting, inspiring experience I have ever had.

I could have done without the tents which are hot in the day, cold and wet in the night and very small. Oh, and the tenters around you that didn't read the rules or etiquette for tenting and awoke in the wee hours of morning answering LOUD phone calls. Really? Is your tent made of wood or leaking water like mine. WE CAN HEAR YOU!

And some girls next to us who thought other things were going on in our tent as our fans vibrated through the night. Yikes. FANS! Only fans, really.

I can't forget the snorers and those who had too many beans for dinner. All of which makes you laugh and giggle. We wore earplugs by suggestion of the veterans.

The food... so good. Though I am not a picky eater. I just love to eat anything and everything. Every two miles there was food and drink like a convenience store. For the first couple of stops, we loaded up our fanny packs (cool fanny packs-I think) thinking this was the last of the food for....two miles.  Yay! MORE food! You don't lose weight on the walk. You gain weight. You might lose your feet in the end, though.

I could go on and on but the video will give you a longer than you probably want, glimpse into the event. This is the shorter version, too. You'll see each day, each tent, all the food, the friends we had, the friends we made, our families and the finale.

I post this in honor of the Michigan 3 Day Breast Cancer walk going on this weekend. Walk on Girls (and boys-there are some).  I honor the ladies I walked with who fought the fight and won and for my friends who didn't win but fought like a champs. I especially honor a friend, Katy, who we walked with and fought the fight and won and is being challenged again with another bout of breast cancer. Kick it's a@# Katy and we will do the walk again!



For the survivors, for the fighters, for those we've lost,  for our children and for a future without breast cancer. For our little girls.

Is there a Flip Side? Yes, not helping in the fight to cure a horrible disease that afflicts way to many of the people we love. God Bless.

Running

Running

We run, not away

from   and   not to

anywhere special. We

share the surrounding

space  with  our every

tread,  our  every stride.

Our  rhythmic  breath

enters  our  being  cool

and  escapes  in a puff

of warmth.   Our soles 

pull the earth,  the 

resistance  grows

stronger yet our

spirit becomes

satisfied. Our

goal is mutual,

to accomplish,

to feel free. 

A.Housey

1997

 I wrote this poem when a friend and I started running together. I had never been able to run and I'd even had dreams about not being able to run from someone. It was something that bothered me. I came across an article about how to start running. It was one of those run a minute, walk a minute and continue to increase every week. I thought I would do exactly what it said and see if it worked and it did. What an accomplishment. As a bonus, one of my best friends was my running buddy and we had a blast doing it.