Rise of the Guardians and Life lessons

In the world where I grew up, work was work and play was play and never the twain would meet. People grew up and got jobs they had to do to pay the bills. Then they had jobs they had to do to make sure the household kept running roughly in a forward and productive direction while remaining on the livable side of tidy and clean. If people had time left over, they played. If they played, they played pretty damn hard, because when was the next chance going to come along? Maybe never.

I confess, I pretty much hated the world I grew up in. My observation was that all work and little play made adults pretty miserable. I wanted none of it. I simply resolved never to bother with the whole growing up thing. I liked my crayons and paper and my books. I went to school and took art, so I could keep my crayons. Now I write my own books. Growing up is for schmucks.


Last week, I took my twelve-year-old daughter to see Rise of the Guardians. We laughed and cried and thought Jack was a little anime cutie, and we wanted to see it again. I've been trying for months to figure out if she still believes in Santa. I realized that day that it doesn't matter, because I still think Santa exists. I know dreams are worth dreaming and nothing exists until you believe in it
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And that's what I want my kids to learn. Because I look around at the people who learned lessons from the world we grew up in and I see them wilting and turning grey. There is no wonder left. If they can't afford bigger and better toys, they're miserable, bored and lonely. They don't remember how to play.

I'm  not so naive I don't understand there are things you have to do in life that you would rather not do. Someone has to change the diapers, clean the kitty litter and scrub the toilets. No one really wants to do that shit, because no one, at least, no one I've met, really thinks feces is fun. I'm sure these people exist, but I'm going to bet they're pretty rare.  But neither are there many people who dream of working at day jobs they hate, I think.

So I'm going to teach my kids to dream. To keep the wonder and always remember how to play. In fact, I'll encourage them to find out how they can make their play pay the bills. Because working five times as hard as anyone else at the thing that makes your heart sings means you'll make some breath-stopping, head-turning, jaw-droppingly beautiful heart music. And the world needs that like we need the sun.

Sorry for the lack of snark today, but after two weeks of one thing after another, I decided I could bitch and complain, or I could remember how lucky I am that I get to make my heart music and so I chose to sing.

And now, Bobby Wills can sing  bit, because he's way better at it than I am, actually. (sorry, fellow strong women, just plug your ears. Country music ahead!)

I'm Thankful for the Little Things

Thanksgiving is fast approaching in the States, and I wanted to write a blog that was season appropriate. And I wanted to blog about being grateful while I am in the mood. I can't tell you the number of times I'm in a pissy mood, and some well meaning, but irritating, person, will tell me that I have so much to be grateful for and all that crap. When I'm in that frame of mind, grateful is not the first thing I think of. Matter of fact, what I really want to say to them is, "Go stick your gratefulness where the sun don't shine and leave me alone." I don't, but I want to. LOL

However, today, I am in a mood where I can honestly blog about being grateful. Not about the typical stuff that usually comes to mind when we start listing our blessings. No, I'm not going to list all of that. That's too easy. Instead, I want to look at the little things to be grateful for in my life because, after all, it's the little things that either drive us batty or make us happy. So, I am going to list ten "little" things that make my life easier, and that I am very grateful for. I encourage you to add your own.

1. Wax: "Wax?" you ask. "Why wax?" Well, if you have facial hair that you don't consider womanly, wax is your friend. (It helps to have a sister who's an expert with it. Just keep her away from your bikini line and armpits!) I can thank my maternal grandmother for this. As I inherited other good qualities from her, I can almost forgive her. (g)
   
2. Tweezers: For the weeks you don't see your cosmetologist, or sister in this case, they are very handy for removing the aforementioned facial hair.
   
3. Toenail clippers: Because Frankenstein toenails just aren't very attractive in flip-flops and can cause some serious damage when you are, um, getting "busy."
   
4. Speaking of flip-flops, I love mine and would be very unhappy without them. When the weather is warm, they are the best footwear...next to bare feet, that is.
   
5. Size 13 shoes: That's my husband's shoe size. And while that is not a small thing, it's certainly something to be grateful for. (g)
   
6. Toilet paper: Imagine life without toilet paper. (shudder) Okay, let's not do that. I'm very happy to live where I have unlimited amount of toilet paper to use. (Not that I use all of it, mind you, but I know I have it there...just in case.)
   
7. The toilet: How can you be grateful for toilet paper and forget the toilet? Again, this is not such a little thing, but how often do we list this in our "to be grateful for" roll call? I've camped and backpacked where you had to find a quiet place in the wilderness to do your business. I've also been to a few countries where the toilet was a hole in the ground with some place to position your feet on either side. During all of those times, I pined for a toilet, but not a skanky toilet. I'd rather dig my own hole than use a skanky toilet! Once on a train through what was then Yugoslavia, the toilet was so disgusting that I held it until we reached the next station...three hours later. Hanging my butt out the window was starting to look like a very viable option. While I didn't worship that hole in the ground they called a toilet, I came very close.
   
8. Stupid people: They remind me how lucky I am to be from my gene pool and not theirs. And then I get the hell away from them because stupid people do stupid sh** that frequently turns bad.
   
9. Running water: This is another one that harkens back to my backpacking days. Running water is the bomb. Yes, it is. One backpacking trip, none of us had water filters (or showers, of course. We stank!) We had to boil water over a fire for three minutes to sterilize it. To this day, I can't stand anything that has a smoky flavor. That was the same trip where it was too cold to bath for three or four days. I came down the mountain with my hair plastered to my head. Ripe would be too tame of a term for what I was.
   
10. Silence: If you live in the city, or a house full of kids, and came from the country, you appreciate silence. Or really, the absence of manmade sounds. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it's a beautiful thing. The past few days, it's been really noisy. I'd like a little more birdsong and a lot less cars, airplanes, and noisy people.

That's my list of little things. What are some of your little loves?