It was time for Mommy & Me !

My Mommy came for some yummy, yummy Mommy and Me Time this week.

We did a photo shoot, Queen of Arts Style, on the back deck.

Can you tell how happy we are to be together ?

On Thursday, we went on a Mommy Shopping Spree, with me acting as my lovely Mom's personal shopper.

We discovered we look mah-vel-ous in matching outfits

and that purple suits us both. ;)

Thursday Night, we donned the green and got ready for Laughter Yoga class.

Here we are practicing.

We had a blast. Laughter is a fanatstic workout (my core muscles really feel it today !) and it was so fun. We had a lovely group of 6 women there, who all bravely came to try something new, who opened up to the experience and ended up having a really special time together. I was so grateful to be there with my Mom, my wonderful mom, cheerleader, guru, friend.

Today was a quieter day, mostly just spent being together. She leaves tomorrow (Sat.). I have so loved having her here with me. I am so lucky, you know, because 43 is not too old to really enjoy Mommy and Me !

Remembering Blue...

One year ago.

I am remembering her today,

and celebrating life.

Remember your neighbor today.

Lucky New Beginnings

So I am hoping that the sweet synchronicity that I experienced this morning is going to lead to a whole bunch more...


We have this lucky bamboo plant. We bought it to bring us luck in the area of our finances. I kept in David's office, where the bills are paid, hoping that with this plant in our corner, things would stay on the right track.


Well, recently, the bamboo has been looking really poorly, kind of like our financial situation. Yellow leaves, yellow stems, dying pieces in the circles of stalks. I think I over watered it. I have kind of neglected my indoor plants a little this summer. Whatever, the lucky bamboo was in grave danger of becoming the dead bamboo.


So this morning, I took the whole thing apart...took off all the dead (and as I discovered rotten) stems and leaves and put the survivors into a new container. I need rocks to hold the stems straight, so I took out my pail of rinsed sea rocks that I use for my Rock My World Rocks. As I was positioning the rocks, I noticed that one of them had a world written on it. It was one of my rejects that had gotten tossed back in the pail because of messy hand writing.

The rock said "new beginnings". How cool is that ? And how synchronized with our lives right now, and the end of the summer and the beginning of the new fall cycle, etc...

My message from all of this ? Got some areas of your life that need some tending ? Getting rid of dead wood and excess, giving things a new perceptive and creating a new jumping off point, well that is just plain good...for growing your garden or for growing in your life... Here's to creating our own lucky new beginnings...

Our "new beginnings" lucky bamboo in my studio window, in my grandmother's crystal ice bucket, with a picture of me when I was 6 years old, holding play money...now how's that for an altar to some good change !

Hope your week is off to a good new beginning !

Do You Want to Know a Secret ?

So Anne at Gaal Creative kindly nominated me for the MeMe Award, where you reveal 7 Secrets about yourself and then nominate 7 other bloggers to do the same.

The MeMe Award

I haven't passed on awards very much lately - I really do appreciate receiving them and the recognition from my fellow bloggers but I don't always want to use my posting time to fulfill some of the requirements and I also have a hard time nominating one blog over another as I have so many favorites that mean so much too me for different reasons.

The fact that this award asks you to share 7 Secrets about yourself worked for me today. It gave me an opportunity to share some more little details about myself, little things that make me Me !

Here are my 7 Secrets :

1. I only got my driver's license at 31, the same time I bought my first car (A green Saturn SL - it is still on the road after 13 years - my Mom has it now). Before that, I lived in a big city, took the bus a lot and relied on friends to drive me where the buses couldn't take me.

(Kim in the Banana Boat Yellow Mustang - FLA in 2003)

2. I met David when I was 34 and he was 39. He asked me to marry him after we had long distance dated for only 3 months. After knowing him for 10 years now, I have come to realize how brave and unlike him it was to ask me to get married after such a short time. He tends to be much more cautious and a planner than that. I guess it just shows that it was completely meant to be !

(David and I in St. Pete's Beach, FLA in 2001, our first trip after we got married )

3. If I could play any instrument, it would be the piano. I would love the play the piano the way Chris Martin of Coldplay plays the piano...magic !

Art Journal Page - 2007

4. My two younger sisters, Natalie (4 years younger) and Kristina (5 years younger) used to drive me nuts when we were kids by chanting "Kimberly Diana, Kimberly Diana..!" over and over again at me. I don't know why I hated it so much (My real middle names are Kimberly-Anne Pauline) but it still kind of makes me cringe even now !

(Art Journal Page 2006 - photo of me at 6 years old)

5. I am horribly afraid of sharp objects like saws (especially electric ones) and blades. It is so intense that I sometimes wonder if I was amputated in some way in a past life or something ! David is slowly helping me deal with this fear, but I still refuse to let him use a chainsaw !

(Art journal page - 2008)

6. I believe that my houseplants and my animals communicate with me, kind of telepathically. I feel like I just "get" their language. I have to ask a plant before I cut a branch or dying leaf off. I just know when they need some extra TLC or if they should be put into the ICU window to get some extra boosts of light. I know when Chica is feeling depressed about a lack of walks or when Azzy admits to me that he really loves me in spite of the fact he is still not sure if he can trust me (he was a street cat and it has taken him over 2 years to come and lie beside me). David thinks I am nuts about this but I just know I hear them talking !

(Chica and I on the top of the world - Mt Washington, 2009)

7. If I knew for sure that I had just 37 Days left to live, I would spend that time at the ocean somehow. I would probably take up smoking again (damn things, I still miss them after a year !) and eat yummy fruits and veggies and cheeses and bread and drink some fine wines. I would paint and write and watch the waves and smell that smell of the salt water. I would invite my family and loved ones to come and surround me, and I would spend as much time as possible listening to the kids laughing and chattering as they played by the sea. And I would then run up and join them and play the day away in the sand. I would breathe it all in and make it a part of my Soul and Spirit so that I could take it with me when it was time to go...

Me at Hampton Beach, Summer 2009

As I was writing this post, I came to realize that I have little or no fear about sharing parts of myself this way. I think it comes from being an extrovert in many ways. I feel like by sharing myself openly, I can help others feel safe and trusting to share themselves with me. That is a good thing in my world as it helps me make connections on a heart level, which I so appreciate.

So rather than choose only 7 people to take up this MeMe Award, I challenge any and all of the bloggers on my blog roll to take some time to share some secrets about themselves and then let me know they have done so. (Well, I will be reading the posts anyway !) Let's do it in celebration of the fact that we are all in this together, and for the fact that this Blogland community is so supportive and kind.

Happy Labor Day, all you Blogland Beauties !

I Won't Be Made Useless...

So I went to the movies last night (I saw"Julie and Julia" and loved it - what blogger, foodie, passionate person wouldn't ?), and one of the previews was for this movie "2012". Have you seen this preview ? It is basically about the End of the World, and using the most incredible talents in computer graphics and film making, they have created an visual and a theory about what will happen when the world ends. Absolutely TERRIFYING !

Earlier this week, Patti Digh shared some incredible poetry about the extinction of several unbelievably beautiful creatures who have shared this world with us and who we are about to lose or already lost because of human "progress". The message of the writing was also about how we must come to terms with the fact that our own species in on the brink of extinction too, and perhaps, it is too late to change that course... I felt so powerless in the face of such forces...

And yesterday, Patti also shared a YouTube video of a poem by Andrea Gibson called "The Pursuit of Happiness" which depicts the devastation of war in the Middle East in a way so graphic, that I just had to stop watching after only a few seconds...I felt ill, and hopeless, and knew it would enter my dreams even after only watching a moment or two...

And then this morning, I had a spat with someone I love on the phone. Just a difference of opinions on a morning where this person was in a big hurry to get some important things in her life done, but unfortunately, the difference of opinion ended up leading to unkind words and a very quick and terse good bye.

UN-kind...

Think back to the last time you said something unkind to someone...

Did you use unkind words with a stranger or did you use them with someone you love ?

Isn't it weird to think that we would use unkind words with someone we love ? What do we think ? That because they love us, they can take it ? Or that because we love them, it hurts less when we are mean to them, cushioning the blow somehow ? I don't know....

On a day like today, when I have war, unkindness, and even the Apocalypse floating around in my consciousness, I don't feel like I know much about anything, or feel certain about much at all.

And yet, when I look inward to find something I can be sure of, something I do know for absolute certainty, what do I find ?

That in the end,

Only Kindness Matters....

I was looking for quotes about kindness this morning after my spat, when I had let hurt and sadness kind of take over my being. I was writing them in my new little journal of "Good Things" to work through my feelings.

(Good things Journal - new, bought at Barnes and Noble for 9.95 - love the already designed pages !)


(Kindness quotes - click to enlarge
"Love is saying " I feel differently" instead of "You are wrong."- unknown)

Of course, this song by Jewel, "Hands" came up in Google a lot. It has become my anthem, my theme song, my solace this morning. I think I have listened to it about 10 times, and will probably listen ten more before I really let everything go today...

I have to admit that I never really loved this song by Jewel before, but I think I never really listened to it with these ears before either. The lyrics are so perfect.

They give me power in a world that sometimes makes me feel helpless.

They give me hope in a world that sometimes makes me feel hopeless.

And they make me feel loved in a world where we can still be so mean to one another, even to those we love.

They inspire me to put my beliefs into actions and to always remember that

In the end,


(Art journal Page - Only Kindness Matters - September 5, 2009)
(art journaling as therapy !!!)

"If I could tell the world just one thing,

It would be, we are all okay..."

Oh, The Stuff This Chick Gets Me to Do !!!

So this incredible book was published one year ago yesterday.

Since hearing about it on many of my friends' blogs, and going out and purchasing the book myself, I have to say that it has changed my life in many ways. Not only does this book inspire me to live my life in the now, to be thankful everyday for the wonders in this life, and to connect with others in my world, but it seems to have this odd power over me.

Since this book has come into my life, I have done a few crazy things such as

- talking a good friend into driving with me into the middle of now where (Deerfield, NH) to a cafe to hear an author she had never heard of speak...

- telling a perfect stranger that I was proud of her because she had bravely taken a chance to invite an author, a woman who had inspired her but who was still really a stranger, to come and stay with her and to read from her book in a cozy cafe filled with her family and friends (Yay, DEB! - she's no longer a stranger ! ;))

- handing out rocks to an entire room full of strangers, with the intention of spreading a little love, and letting myself shine...

- writing my own obituary though I am alive and well, and then posting it on Patti's website for everyone to read

But now, this book, (or is it the incredible author herself, Miss Patti, ?) has brought me to this...

I have made a video of myself, wishing her book a happy birthday ! A Video !!!

I hate myself on video !!!!!

Really, really HATE !

I remember having to videotape myself in university reading stories to my kindergarten class, and I was totally traumatized by how I sounded, how I looked and how awkward I seemed.

I have now watched this video in disgust about six times, trying to decide whether or not to post it or to send it to Patti.

I could settle for this nice photo of me in the studio, looking not too bad, holding my bowl of cereal and bananas with birthday candles...

Or I could let go...say screw it, what's the big deal, and leave this video here for all of Blogland and the world really, to see...

Okay, please ignore the bed head, the "ems and ers", and the odd way my lips seem to be pursing as I speak, and watch me facing my fears...

(I know you will be kinder than me !)

ACKKKK! Well, at least that is over, right ?

"Life is a verb" is now my gift of choice for all my friends and family. I think everyone should read it. You should read it ! Before you know it, you will be inspired to live mindfully, reach out and connect with others, and to live this life as fully as you can in the time you are given. And who knows, maybe you will face some fears and jump out of that box too.

Congratulations, Beautiful Patti, for this great work.

Happy Birthday, LIAV !

(Oh, and Patti is having a juicy giveaway in celebration of the book's bd - send her out some birthday wishes here and you could be randomly picked for some sweet prizes !)

Grace In Small Things...

(art journal page detail - digitally altered)

So I have to say thank you to all of you wonderful blogland friends for the hugs and prayers, support and wisdom, and just plain LOVE you give me everyday and especially when I express a need for it.

I haven't really said what I have been worried about for two main reasons. One is that this a challenge for David and I as a couple, and I wanted to maintain our privacy, as this is my blog, my blogland pals, and not his world so much.

The second was because I really, truly believe that if you keep the focus on what is wrong, you get more of it. So yes, I am being challenged by life's bumpy road, but I am choosing to focus on how to get over the bump rather than on the bump itself.

I talked to David about sharing a bit of what is going on and he was fine with that. He knows that my friends are concerned for me. I also was thinking a lot about what my darling Sherry said, about how maybe sharing some of my "angst" as she called it could help someone else too. We are all in this together, right ?

That said,the bump we are working with is financial. Like so many people in this country and around the world, money is becoming an issue in our home. There are all kinds of solutions and permutations, and possibilities for surmounting this bump. None of them are completely clear right this moment and some of them are pretty low on the optimal scale. But today, I just know we will be okay. As a good friend who is facing some crises of her own told me yesterday, "If it ends up all going to pieces, we will still have each other, our dogs and kitties, and we will be okay." and that is so true.

So I am choosing today to celebrate a few things that are so good in my world, some wonderful Grace In Small Things, some of which are not small at all in my book. The bump...she is still there, but in this moment on my path, this is what feel like the right thing to do.

1. My neighbor Stephen wrote me am email in response to the card that I put in his mail box yesterday. He said he cried healing tears at this loving remembrance of his "Kath", and that my note helped him more that I could know. Hmmmm....my heart feels so good about this.

2. Acorns are everywhere on my walks with Chica. Are they not the cutest seeds ever ?

(a shot of some treasures from my walk)

3. David so appreciated lovely fall mum plant I left for him on the dining room table along with a mushy card saying how together, we can get through anything.

4. My friend Darlene is quitting smoking and I have become her smoking cessation coach ! Who would have thunk it ? Not Me, that's for sure. With love, laughter and much bitching where bitching needs doing, we will get her through this !

5. My blogland friends give me such love and appreciation that it blows me away. It feels like such a gift to have connected with women like these, loving, brave, funny, and so very talented. I get them, and they get me. What more could a Big Heart Walking ever want ?

(Big Heart on the back deck)

Here is a beautiful song for you, my Lovely Ones. Listen and know that you are loved by this Big Old Heart.Have grace-filled Wednesday !