I Heart Faces - Beautiful Eyes

When I saw the theme for this week's I Heart Faces I knew exactly which photo I wanted to enter! Sweet Alexa and her rainbow coloured eyes....and if you look real close you can see me reflected in those sweet "windows to the soul!"

Once more, with feeling!

Look, look! Two posts in two days!! See I DO remember how do do this blogging thing.

So today I would just like to say, I *LOVE* musical theater. Like, a lot. The cheesier the better.

I'm not really sure when this started to be honest with you. My first exposure to theater would have been some mediocre Gilbert & Sullivan productions at ICS, and one or two plays that I went to with Laura when Premier gave discounted tickets to the G&S productions that happened at the Concert Hall (I think?). Of course, there was also the "Newsies," the cheesy Disney musical that I think might have been shown at every 12th birthday party for awhile, as well as other movie classics like "The Sound of Music". When I got a bit older I got introduced to the racier side of musicals, with "Chicago" and "Rent," things we could never dream of seeing, let alone performing, in our school.

I guess it was a slow development. I started to appreciate the nuances of theater, the history of old movies (not just musicals) and then I went to Broadway. I saw "The Lion King" and was officially hooked. If we had the time (and the money!) I think I would have quite happily have seen every Broadway, off-Broadway, and maybe even off-off-Broadway production while Darryl and I were in New York. There is something about a soaring voice, a blasting band, and maybe some dancing that just makes me happy! Add some jazz hands and I'm on cloud nine.

Over the past year or so I have watched more musicals on TV, and have even seen one or two in person. Watching "White Christmas" in December with Darryl at the MTC was awesome! While Darryl cringed at the silly dance numbers and actors randomly breaking into song, my smile grew bigger with each coordinated dance move. The louder and more ridiculous it got, the happier I was!

Sunday night after work I turned the TV on and was pleased to find that the Tony Awards were on. Most of it was fairly dull, as award shows typically are, but I loved the re-enactments of numbers from various musicals. It had been a busy and crazy day, I had gotten home from work late, but none of that mattered when I watched the actors sing and dance. Tonight I went to Famous Players to watch a filmed version of "Company," a musical by the renowned Stephen Sondheim. It was silly and absurd, and I loved every minute of it. I can't wait to experience more!

Finding my Focus...

*cough cough*

Pardon me as I blow the dust of my poor abandoned blog. I've had a few times where I started to compose a post for here, whether on the computer or just in my head in the shower (where I find myself doing most of my thinking) and found I could barely finish a sentence, let alone a blog post. Lately my head has mostly been an uncoordinated jumble of thoughts, ranging from positive and exciting (I spent a week and a bit in Europe, so that was pretty cool), to the negative and not so exciting (mostly work stuff).

The negative thoughts, unfortunately, are the ones that aren't so easy to get rid of, so I've been a little leery to sit down at my blog, not wanting this to be super whiny or negative. This is supposed to be "My Pile of Good Things" after all. So why write this post now? Mostly for catharsis. I won't deny that I'm going through a bit of a mid-(twenties)-life crisis, but the one thing I remain powerfully aware of is that my life is full of good things. As much as there are things in my life that I find stressful and somewhat depressing, I have watched over the last month as friends have been dealing with far worse - from losing friends to losing the life growing within them. I am also reminded every day when I go to work how truly fragile life is - I have had patients with history of sexual abuse, to patients nearly losing their lives while trying to bring their child into this world (and that's just this past weekend!).

Okay so where's the positive in all this? That's why I've been trying to remember. The hugs from patients as they walk out the door. The sincere "Thank you's" from terrified fathers, and exhausted mothers. My co-workers. They make the days at work bearable. It's the things I fill my life with OUTSIDE of work, however, that give me joy. My photography has recently been a huge source of joy for me. And yet, at the same time, a huge source of stress. A good stress though, the kind where you are truly being challenged and the effort that you put in has a real, tangible payout. I've always longed for a creative outlet in my life. I'm not a hugely creative person, and I'm also kind of lazy. I realize now though, that the abandoned scrapbook pages that sit on my desk, and the abandoned cross-stitches that sit beside my chair in the living room are there because I was searching for something I could really pour my heart into. I think I've found that in photography. I say I *think* because I'm very aware that I am very new to this craft. One thing I know with certainty is that it has been a LONG time since I have found something I am actually this invested in, this interested in, and have this much desire to better myself in.

What else gives me joy? The people I fill my life with. My friends who I sadly don't see enough of, but treasure when I do get to see them. My family, who I am blessed to see LOTS of (and the older I get, the more I realize how much of a blessing that truly is). A church family who accepts me, flaws and all. A loving God who accepts me flaws and all!! All 202 Facebook friends who have all touched my life in various ways and in various degrees but without whom I don't think I would be me! Silly TV shows, singing along to a great song at the top of my lungs driving down the highway, talking to myself, chair dancing in front of my computer (yep, I'm doing it right now), sitting alone in a dark movie theater losing myself in a big bag of popcorn and a really good movie, a really good book, a really good cry, this kid, enjoying junk food when I really know I shouldn't, and way more things then I can even think of right now!!

It shouldn't be this hard to remember the good things in life, but some days it is. When your day grows dark, count your blessings. It's amazing how much it can brighten your day!

Two other things to brighten your day...they certainly brighten mine!!

You are My Sunshine(s)...

People talk about how great it is to be a mom. People talk about how great it is to be a grandma. What I've never understood is why there aren't more people talking about how great it is to be an auntie! Particularly a single auntie with a fairly generous budget (both for money and for time). I find as an auntie I get the best of both worlds. I'm young enough and (mostly) in shape enough to run around after the toddler-turned-big boy, yet I'm old enough that I feel confident watching him, and taking him out and about as if he was my own. I've got a car-seat in the back of my own car, yet I have the freedom of knowing that it isn't always filled! I can sleep/eat/read/watch tv/and pee in peace, but I know that nearly any day still has the possibility of being filled with snuggles/hugs/kisses and love-filled smiles. I can spend as much time as I want with the little stinkers and still have the freedom to go home after it all. I was there when both of them were born, and I hope I can watch them grow up and eventually have families of their own. It isn't always wonderful, but they are both bright spots in my life, and for that I will always love them.

Alexa

Nikolai

Talk British to me....

In the last couple of years I have developed a new fascination, or obsession if you will. The British people. I blame it on my brother. Quite innocently he introduced me to a new (and yet very old) show called Doctor Who. A classic show in Britain, Doctor Who is much beloved by geeks in North America, and has quickly grown in popularity over the last few years. I believe Darryl introduced it to me sometime in 2005, when the "new Who" as it has been called, started airing. We, of course, watched it on probably illegal downloads, but we loved it nonetheless. What Darryl didn't realize of course, was that by innocently introducing me to Doctor Who, he would be spawning a bit of an obsession of mine, particularly when in 2006 David Tennant, my Scottish hero, would take on the role of Doctor Who. Never underestimate the female mind when adorable Scotsmen are in play.

The infatuation that I had for David Tennant first gave me more of a working knowledge of Who than any sane girl should have, but in recent years, has introduced me to other aspects of British television and radio. Youtube searches, mp3 downloads, as well as North American movies and television, have found me developing quite a taste for British humour (which can be more classy, and more crass than North American humour, sometimes at the same time!), as well as an unhealthy desire to speak in a flawless British accent.

I suppose, in a way, it shouldn't come as a surprise. After all, I grew up with Coronation Street playing on our television set. The one TV vice my mother allowed herself was British, so why shouldn't one of mine be the same? Who knows, if Coronation Street contained a good looking male lead when my mother grew up watching the show, and if she had the terrible, but amazing powers of the Internet, maybe she would have found herself in a similar predicament!

I'm sure one day I will mature past the stage of silly obsessions. Or perhaps when I eventually travel to England I will find that it's NOT the magical land of my dreams (I hear real British people are actually quite unfortunate looking, with bad teeth). However in the mean time I shall continue swooning whenever I hear an English or Scottish accent, and giggling like a little school girl when David Tennant appears on TV.

My New Blog

Welcome to my new blog! I can't quite believe that I'm actually STARTING a new blog, but I'm hoping that this will give me a place to share my thoughts on the world without spamming up everybody's Facebook pages with my frequent status updates. It should also give me an outlet to rant, comment or celebrate the world around me, which should cut down significantly the number of shower conversations I have with myself. I haven't quite decided what will all appear on this blog, but it should be an interesting sight to see.

When I mentioned on Facebook a few weeks ago that I was thinking of starting a blog, I hit a roadblock. The first step in starting a blog is picking a name, and a URL address. It is amazing how many blogs exist already with the countless unimaginative names that I dreamed up. So, waiting for inspiration, I continued living my life, blog-free. It wasn't until a snowy afternoon (this snowy afternoon, to be precise), that a dear Doctor friend of mine said something that struck my interest.

"The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice-versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things and make them unimportant." 

Yes, granted this is from a fictional character, but I think it is a meaningful statement nonetheless. It also fits quite nicely with my recent pact with myself to focus more on the "haves" in my life versus the "have-nots," and really, isn't that something we can all benefit from?