The thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices

This is a simple post to wish everyone, a 

Very Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone can take a minute to remember what Christmas is really about, and give praise for the amazing gift that was given to the world. 

"The angel said, 'Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you're to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.' At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God's praises: 

   Glory to God in the heavenly heights, 

   Peace to all men and women on earth who please him."

Luke 2:10-14 (The Message version) 

Love your friends, family AND enemies, be full of joy and commit to bringing peace to earth for just one day... and don't hate that I chose NSYNC's version of holy night, because its awesome.

*ish 

I've had the time of my life...

I have wanted to write a post like this for some time now but I’ve been too scared and nervous to give in to what will be a lot of self-disclosure. However, one of the comments I receive about my blog most often is that people really like how honest I am. Maybe I wasn’t ready to write this until today.What I do know that even if honestly delivers an initial sting it always ends up being the right thing in the end. I know some people specifically who are dealing with a similar situation and even if reading this helps them,  I’ll be happy I shared.

My calendar for 2010 is from one of my favourite movies, Dirty Dancing. Every month is a picture of a classic scene accompanied by a quotation. Of course, the classic quotations like “I carried a watermelon” and “Nobody puts Baby in a corner” are depicted. A couple of months ago I started looking at the quotes and trying to apply them to the kind of month I was having. In October my calendar said, “God wouldn’t have given you maracas if he didn’t want you to shake ‘em!” October turned out to be a month where I really needed to go out and have fun and just enjoy being Ish. So I did. But when I turned my calendar over to December I knew something had shifted.

 “You never forget your first love”. 

My goodness this calendar couldn’t know my life any better if it tried. I would assume that if you’re reading this and you know me personally you know that in the past year I have had to come to terms with saying goodbye to my first love. Insert emotionally charged sigh here... I don’t even know where to begin to write about it but I feel that I have to because it has had such a large impact on me.

While our initial break was made last year, right before Christmas, a final and real separation only came this past August, on the date of my birth of all days.(Side-Note: because apparently these days, when couples "break-up" its doesn't usually kick in right away!) At first I thought that was a harsh way to end things and now I see it as a new start. My year as a 24-year-old began with tears, sadness, disappointment, anger and frustration but it has come so far since then. 


I will spare everyone the gritty details because its probably too personal to disclose over the world wide web. Not to mention that there is another person involved and it probably wouldn't be very fair to him. However, I do want to share a little bit about how it affected  me because really, you're incredibly lucky (or perhaps un-lucky) if you get to share your whole life with your first love. I think its pretty rare and therefore its something that most of us will have to come to terms with at some point. 


I shared 7 years of my life with this person, and at 24 years young, thats a significant chunk of my life. This is not to mention the fact that the years spent together are years that are also spent trying to figure out just who the heck we are. I have no shame in admitting that I was completely head-over-heels-goo-goo-ridiculously-bury-myself-in-you in love with this person. So I spent a good portion of our relationship just being content to define myself as his girlfriend. Not really a good idea, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone! Therefore, when we broke up I was left to not only deal with grieving the loss of someone I loved but I also had a lot of, shall we say, soul-searching to do. A good friend and I recently talked about how break-ups also include a grief for the portion of your identity that was tied to your ex. I think this is true for everyone, especially those who began long term relationships in their teens, or early adulthood. I am also quite stubborn so, in all honesty, it took me quite awhile to just admit that the story I had written for myself was not going to come true. Oh yes, I was wrong. 


I really want to have a point or a significance to this post and although I'm kind of rambling and writing with little direction because this topic makes my head spin just a little, I do have this to share. Break-ups suck. They are never easy and I'm pretty positive that its even worse when its your first love and you can very vividly look back to a time where you thought your world would end if you lost that person. Nevertheless!! 


It gets better. It really does. 




Good always comes out of bad situations and if you're willing to look for it, you will find it. This past year has been one of the hardest for me but also one of the best. I have come to know myself so much better and I feel for the first time in my life that I am okay with who I am. I have also come to know God in an incredibly real and new way. I feel like it all started when instead of crying and throwing a temper tantrum when I felt like complete crap last Christmas eve, I picked up Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller and began a journey with God that has been life-changing. I have also made some incredible new friends and reconnected with two that had been absent for awhile. Its really amazing what can happen in your life when you open yourself up to it. 

As for that whole, "You'll never forget your first love" thing... Well, I think Dirty Dancing is right. I'll never forget my first love. But, for the first time, I can honestly say that I'm okay with that and I will not let the "loss" of my first love define who I am. I can learn from it, remember the good times that were had, and let go of the bitterness and hurt over the bad times. There is something special, and innocent that one shares with their first love. I'll never be able to recapture that, but I will fall in love again. And believe me... there was a time where I honestly thought I wouldn't. When you learn to let go, you suddenly realize there's a big, 'ol world out there and there is bound to be someone who wants to be with you... and he or she may have been right in front of you all along.


So, to first love... 

*Ish

Sidenote: Anyone else feel like the combination of the winter solstice, full moon and lunar eclipse all on the same day is throwing things outta whack? Maybe thats why the font on this post changed half-way through and I can't fix it...

  

Satisfy My Soul

"When I meet you around the corner, you make me

 feel like a sweepstake winner."

I think I will have this in my wedding vows. I love the idea of meeting you around the corner and marrying someone who satisfies my soul.

yes, when you hold me tight you make me feel alright.

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.

As many of you probably know today is the 30  year anniversary of the death of John Lennon. It will forever make me sad that someone who had such a vision for promoting peace and love had to be killed in such a violent manner. The anniversary of George Harrison's death just passed on November 29, so I thought I would take this time to honour them.

The Beatles have had a HUGE influence on my life. My parents live by their music and if I look back it feels like their music has always been playing in the background. I don't think that any band will ever have the kind of influence and creative powers that The Beatles possessed. It is strange that the two who have passed on are the two I feel the most connected to.

George has always been my favourite Beatle. I consider him the real underdog of the group. He was just as talented as John or Paul but he was more apt to sit back and let the other two take center stage. He has a quiet and mysterious intensity that I identify with. To me, he is the epitome of the strong but silent type. Who would have known in the early days of The Beatles that he could pull out songs like While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Something. Maybe he never said much until it really mattered but all along you knew he was rock solid. 

John, on the other hand, always shone and it is clear that he belonged front and center. My identification with him comes from a kindred spirit in his never-ending quest for peace and love. John is the complete epitome of a hippy. While I don't exactly agree with the drugs or free love bit, like John I wholeheartedly believe in pacifism and just want everyone to get along. Some may think its strange that as a Christ-follower I can identify with someone who was very vocal about his gripes with religion. But thats just it, John was against religion and so am I! I believe in Jesus, and really, he and John wanted the same things for the world. A person like John Lennon seems almost rare nowadays.  But I think we can all agree that the world needs more peace makers.  

To end, I'll leave you with three favourite Lennon quotations and Harrison song. Rest in peace, big guys...

"If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace" 

"If someone thinks that love and peace is a cliche that must be left behind in the sixties, that's his problem. Love and peace are eternal." 

"As usual, there is a great woman behind every idiot." 

I'm stepping out this old brown shoe, baby I'm in love with you.

*ish

Better Shape Up, Cause I Need a Man Who Can Keep Me Satisfied

Sometimes I read "spiritual" books before bed to bring upon good dreams... And sometimes I can't help but read "trash". So, as I sat in bed the other night, drooling over People's latest Sexiest Men I thought maybe I would give my readers something to drool over too.

Here are some of who I consider the Sexiest Men...

Coming In at 6", Jake is a Saggitarius who are apparently optimistic, affectionate and loyal...

Clive hails from England and speaks to the cave-manesque look I strangely desire... He also has probably the sexiest voice of any man in Hollywood. Ignore the ring on his left hand...

Funny, scruffy and a bit rough around the edges,insert Bradley Cooper. And yes, thats just how I like them.

There is a quiet, mysterious feel that intrigues me about Emile...

I am really just smitten with his accent... Mr. Gerard Butler

But my ultimate... has always been, and will always be... fellow Canadian Ryan Gosling...

And just because I've been thinking about it lately...

Top Five Sexiest Qualities (Physical)

1. Nice Eyes
2. Scruff. Isn't is obvious
3. Good Sense of Style. Totes a deal breaker if you dress like a slob.
4. A healthy head of hair.
5. In-shape abs.

Top Five Sexiest Qualities (Non-Physical)

1. Good Sense of Humour
2. Loyal & honest
3. Spiritual & Loves Jesus.
4. Values family above all.
5. I love a man who reads.

Honorable mentions go out to: a musical man, a good driver, men who are good with children, good taste in music and those who know how to dance...

I'll leave you with this... Who wants to dance?. Oh... and if you're interested in what went down in November, click here

*ish 

Whisper Words of Wisdom, Let it Be

Hi, my name is Ashley and I’m kind of a control freak. I am bossy and theres a good chance that I will think I know a better way to do something than you do and I will then make sure  we do it my way.

Well, now that we got that nonsense outta the way. Lately, I have really noticed a common theme during times of stress that seem to really hit me hard. I tend to feel really stressed out when I don’t get my way. Whether it’s something really big, like breaking up with the person I thought I was going to marry, or not getting to do what I want on a Friday night. It really upset me when I don’t get my way!

Silly? Yes. Childish? Most definitely. A fact of being a broken human being? Sure. A good way to live? No.

I know that I have a lot of trouble ahead of me if I can’t learn to deal with not getting my way. Especially because I am a follower of Jesus and I claim to be His servant who will follow wherever He leads. However, as I learn more and more each day my plans more often than not, do not really coincide with Gods plans. Sometimes when I’m listening and praying we meet each other halfway. More often than not, I go off to Ashley land, make a big elaborate plan for something I want to happen in my life and then feel really crushed and stressed when it doesn’t happen exactly as I planned.

Ooops.

So, learning to let go and let God has not at all been easy and I’m still learning and praying and struggling through some really tough time.  Like last weekend. For some reason everything was really hitting me hard, possibly due to hormones. I felt like every door I’ve tried to open for myself in the past two years has firmly and promptly been shut on me. While I’m trying my best to let go of my plans and be open to going with the flow, letting go of some things has been extremely difficult. Last Friday, after a particularly hard day I climbed into bed and opened up my latest devotional book Solo: Uncommon Devotional. Seeing as God is pretty awesome he gave me exactly what I needed to hear. Here is a part of the passage that I was assigned to read:

            

“Martha, dear Martha, you’re fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential and Mary has chosen – its the main course, and it won’t be taken from her.” Luke 10:41-42

While the context that it comes from is a little different, it totally rang true for me. A little dose of perspective reminded me that I don’t need to fuss or get worked up over every little detail of my life. My hope is real, one day the main course won’t be taken from. I wish you could all hear my huge sigh of relief. My God will take care of me, and in the meantime, if I can learn to stop planning and controlling my life may surprise me – in a good way. 

This song is making everything okay right now.

 Although theres pain in my chest I still wish you the best, with a forget you.

*Ish

These Are a Few of my Favourite Things...

If Oprah can tell the world about her favourite things, so can I. Here we go!

I LOVE to paint my nails, and my favourite polish to use is the moderately priced, Essie. Not only does it go on lovely, but I enjoy reading the unique names.

My latest purchase, Going Incognito

Hairbands! One day I would like to become a weather girl, and my "thing" will be to wear a different hairband a day.

Moccasins!! They are comfortable and quite stylish and it doesn't bother me in the least that everyone mistakes them for slippers. My favourite pair are from Soft Moc

My peace sign necklace, given to me by the bestest of best friends. http://www.juicycouture.com/

Aveeno Products! I have the utmost in sensitive skin, and everything I have tried from Aveeno is excellent. I use everything from their face wash, body wash, sunscreen, lotion.

Although I switch between perfumes, my all time favourite would definitely have to be Burberry Brit. And may I say I've gotten more than a few compliments.

Fuss will appreciate this one, the best lipstick? Chatterbox by Mac. Its the perfect pink!

I am most definitely in love with the slouchy winter chapeau! This one is from aldo, but great ones can also be found at h&m.

My favourite cd for easy listening? Norah Jones, The Fall

As the holiday season approaches, one of my must watch movies?

Although, I am sure there are plenty of thangs that I missed, I hope you enjoy!

I leave you with my current jam... Which foreshadows a spring vacay to Paree!

Fuss & Ish are going to paris

The Fuss & Ish show October edition!

Presenting...

The much anticipated (at least by Fuss & I) follow up to The September Edition

Another month in pictures...

Kicking off the month in style with cosmos and G&T's at the raddest bar in town, Resevoir Lounge

A Fantastic Fall Day spent on a hayride and hunting for the perfect Golden Delicious!

Another beautiful fall day spent searching for stinky salmon

A tired couple after a L-O-N-G weekend of baby-sitting

A Thanksgiving visit from The Boss

An unfortunate rat tail after an afternoon of halloween costumer hunting. 

A fun evening at the queens head, complete with a Zach Galifianakis sighting, or his doppleganger at least

Can you spot him?

A Halloween Costume in the making...

Tinkerbell & Betty Boop! 

Betty Boop WOULD marry a gangsta!

And Finally, another doppleganger/look-alike... You tell me...

What does Novemeber have in store? It's all up to Fuss! 

I'll leave you with a song for the lovely month of October

*ish

Someday My Prince Will Come

"Anyone could see that the prince was charming, the only one for me!"

Alright, maybe I should just preface this post by saying this: I believe in love, probably more than the average person. However, I have been thinking more and more about the notion of The One and after much deliberation I would like to present my view. I hope that it doesn't come across as cynical but rather as realistic and possibly even a breathe of fresh air. So, here goes, 

If you're looking for The One, you're not going to find him or her. Unfortunately, or fortunately (depending on how you look at it) I really do not believe that there is one perfect person out there for me, or you, or anyone. The idea of a prince charming, or perfect woman is a fabrication we are fed to make us feel comfortable. I think that many people go through their lives just waiting to meet The One, when really its just a coping mechanism and something to keep us warm on an otherwise cold night. 

I can't even begin to describe the enormity of problems the myth of The One will cause. I could go on forever with just this topic alone. However, I will say this, I think the worst thing it does is create false expectations. Many people dream of the one and come up with a pretty perfect image of what the one will look like, inside and out. Humans are not perfect and thus the false expectations begin. In another scenario, those searching for the one will begin relationships that seem oh-so perfect in the beginning and decide right off the bat that this person is finally The One!! But then, uh-oh, the exciting beginning stage of the relationship ends and all of a sudden the relationship takes work! Another lie many people believe is that when it comes to The One there will be no need to actually work at the relationship because, well, this person is THE ONE!!! In both situations, false expectations lead one person, or both to criticize the other and their relationship. One or the other may end things because their significant other does not live up to their expectations of The One. 

No one will ever be perfect and no relationship will ever be perfect. In Donald Miller's book which I mentioned in a previous post, "A Million Miles In a Thousand Years." he ponders this topic after a failed relationship. Which, to be honest is basically the same boat I'm in. He asks an author who writes on relational needs and fulfillment if she thinks there is "one true love for everyone. Miller reports her answer as follows: 

"Susan essentially said no. And she said that with her husband sitting right there in the audience. She said that she and her husband believed they were a cherished prize for each other, and they would probably drive any other people mad. But then she said something I thought was wise. She said that she had married a guy, and he was just a guy. He wasn't going to make all her problems go away, because he was just a guy. And that freed her to really love him as a guy, not as an ultimate problem solver. And because her husband believed she was just a girl he was free to really love her too. Neither needed the other to make everything okay. They were simply content to have good company through life's conflicts. I thought that was beautiful."

And I think its beautiful too. The concept of The One puts an incredible amount of pressure on another person and this can never end well. I know this from experience. As you may have noticed its kind of a theme with my blog. I make mistakes and then spend an incredible amount of time trying to find out what I did wrong so that I can A)not repeat them and B)come on here and write about it! Basically, I think that the myth of The One can be a gateway to expecting the other person to fulfill your every need. While I no longer believe in The One, I do think you can find someone who seems almost perfect for you. I also think that relationships will ALWAYS take work. As well, I don't think they will work until a person is ready to disband their belief in The One and remember that their significant other is just a girl or boy and will never be his or her everything. This may be especially hard for women, as I believe we are socialized to place our identity and value in our relationships. While, relationships are the essence of life and we are designed to be relational, it can be a slippery slope when one puts all her worth into the expectation of a significant other loving us back.

I firmly and relentlessly believe in true love and that its out there if you're willing to seek it and find someone who wants to work as hard as you to make it last. Maybe, once we let go of our false expectation of The One our eyes can be opened to something or someone really good.

So, here's to love and to finding someone who isn't The One but a someone who is almost perfect and  refuses to give up on you... this is one of my most favourite romantic songs by the late Solomon Burke

sooner or later, i know i'll get it right


*ish

I wear my sunglasses at night

A project to celebrate the versatility of aviators and the greatness of wearing them at night... in a crowded bar... I call this:

"It's Soooo Dark in Here"

The sexy hippie look

The Jesus look

The laidback look

The retro movie star look

The rocker look

Classic...

Enjoy! and imagine how cool one might feel, walking with their aviators on whilst this song plays...

From the houses of the holy we can watch the white doves go

See the sky in front of you...

Happy Thanksgiving!

In the spirit of thanksgiving I wanted to share a couple things that I am so very grateful for:

*First and foremost would have to be my family. I am so lucky to have such a great family and I really don't think there is anything else I can say about that!

*My cat. Who is really just another member of my family. 

*My friends, those who are old friends, new, and those who I have drifted from. I am thankful for you all and the part you are playing or have played in my life. 

*My health. nuff said.

*My job. I love having a job that lets me do what I do best and besides that, I am always thankful to just be employed.

*second chances. I'm so glad that I have a God who is really the king of second chances. 

*hair straightners. for real. 

*music. it always gets me through. 

*love

*nail polish. such a simple pleasure

*my new aviators. hee hee...

*my blankie. 

Finally, I am thankful for all those little things we are blessed with by the simple fact that we live in Canada

I hope everyone has a lovely long weekend! If you're lucky enough to have this long weekend off, do enjoy! And if you don't, i hope you can still find time to enjoy all you are most certainly blessed with! 

Here's a song to start your weekend off! 

speck of white so fair and pale, have you seen a lady fairer?

- ish.

Lay down your money and you play your part, everybody's got a hungry heart.

I love to read. I'm a huge bookworm and I could sit and read a good book for hours.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I would like to share with you the book I am currently reading and some of the thoughts it has provoked in my mind:

"A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" by Donald Miller 


This is the second book I have read by Donald Miller and there is just something I love about the way he thinks, and how he expresses those thoughts to us in his brilliant books. While I am only on page 61 I am familiar with the general idea of the book because of a Donald Miller lecture series I had the privilege of listening to at my home church this summer. Miller is posed with the challenge of making his life into a movie and therefore into a "story" that an audience will relate to and find captivating or, at least interesting. Easier said than done, right? This of course gets Miller thinking about what makes a story meaningful. His conclusion is this:

"A character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it"  


brilliant, right?

This has gotten me thinking about our lives as stories. What kind of stories are we making? The book opens with this and I think it is something interesting for us all to chew on:

"If you watched a movie about a guy who wanted a Volvo and worked for years to get it, you wouldn't cry at the end when he drove off the lot, testing the windshield wipers. You wouldn't tell your friends you saw a beautiful movie or go home and put on a record to think about the story you'd seen. The truth is, you wouldn't remember that movie a week later except you'd feel robbed and want your money back. Nobody cries at the end of a movie about a guy who wants a Volvo. But we spend years actually living those stories, and expect our lives to feel meaningful. The truth is, if what we choose to do with out lives won't make a story meaningful, it won't make a life meaningful either." (Miller xiii)

It reminds me of the movie The American, which I found to be completely awful. After reading this, I know exactly why I walked away from that movie thinking that it was horrible. I couldn't really be clear as to what the main character wanted and even if I did know what he wanted, it was clear at the end that he didn't get it. I walked away from that movie thinking that there has got to be a lot more to a movie, and in turn, to life than that. 


When I think about my life I can look and see all these little vingettes of me wanting something and attempting to overcome conflict to get it. One of worst/best qualities is that I am stubborn/persistent. Plain and simple. Sometimes I am persistent and I succeed and other times I am so stubborn and I just don't know when to give up. Usually, the thing I don't know how to give up on, is the story I have formulated in my head and am trying my best to live out. While I know that I have a tendency to create expectations of life that are simply impossibly to live out, maybe viewing my life as a story isn't a bad thing.

SO... my final thought is this, if its not so bad to live out a story, maybe the thing one should focus on is making a story meaningful. If someone watched the story of your life would they laugh? cry? root for you? Or would they walk away, like I did at the end of The American, feeling like you wasted their time and money? Maybe this is the key to making our lives meaningful. These are just some seeds of thoughts. I'msureI will have more to say on this topic as I delve further into the book.

Since I've been listening to The Boss a lot here's one of his songs... and it kind of tells a story

like a river that don't know where its flowing, I took a wrong turn and I just kept going

thanks for reading
-ish*

All we are saying is give peace a chance

According to my calendar today is the International Day of Peace. I am quite drawn to the concept of peace and to what it really means. I am sure most people conjure up images of hippies, protesters or John & Yoko in bed. However, I have come to be familiar with what shouldn't be but is, quite a new concept to me. That is the idea of peace as one of the fruits of the spirit, or as one may commonly know it, inner peace.

"When the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Galatians 5:22-23

or as The Message translation puts it:

"But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard - things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely." Galatians 5:22-23

My reading of this or what I am able to draw from this is that peace must be something that is developed within us. Peace is not something that one can demand from his or her external circumstance. To do some more borrowing I will use a quote from Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life:


"God develops real peace within us, not by making things go the way we planned, but by allowing times of chaos and confusion. Anyone can be peaceful watching a beautiful sunset or relaxing on vacation. We learn real peace by choosing to trust God in circumstances in which we are tempted to worry or be afraid" (pg. 202).

To divulge some personal information without getting into the nitty-gritty of it, the external circumstances of my life in the past year have really been anything but peaceful. My dear old dad always told me that while I cannot control what happens to me I can control my reaction. Now that I feel at a much more peaceful place, I look back and the real unfortunate part of my not-so-peaceful circumstances is that I kept trying to control people and things in order to make my insides feel better. Guess what? It didn't work. In fact, it produced a great deal of anxiety and worry in me that was completely needless. The more I tried to control things and push them in the direction I wanted, the further away things went. That produced more anxiety within me and the further away from peace I flew.

Finally, things ended up hitting a bottom I was pretty much afraid of hitting all along. The only thing left for me to do was to restore my inner peace. I cannot even begin to describe how emotionally draining it is to continue on a quest where you are trying to control the people and circumstances around you. All I can say is that it will never bring permanent positive results and it will never make you happy.

So, in the spirit of International Day of Peace try to remember the power in having inner peace. No one can take that from you. It may seem easier said than done, but trust me, as someone who will openly and freely admit that I have some pretty major control issues, It can be done! Maybe if we concentrated on restoring our inner peace we would be capable of restoring peace in our beautiful but very broken world.

To remind myself of the value of maintaining my inner peace, I have this dovely little friend:

It wouldn't be right if I didn't leave you with a song,

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.

*ish

It's him or me, that's what he said...

I like cats.

After listening to the song,"Man of the Hour" by Norah Jones I felt inspired to do a blog post dedicated to my one and only man of the hour...

Heathcliff Huxtable a.k.a Cliff McGriff

Delighted to meet you!

"So I choose you because you're sweet, and you give me lots of lovin' and you eat meat" 

"You never lie, and you don't cheat, and you don't have any baggage tied to your four feet" 

"I know you'll never bring me flowers but flowers they will only die, and though we'll never take a shower together, I know you'll never make me cry... you never argue, you don't even talk..."

Give your pets some extra lovin' today, because really who is always there when no one else is?

*Lyrics in Italics, from "Man of the Hour" by Norah Jones. Listen Here

*ish

Honorable pet mentions go out to: sweet pea, rickety, fif-squad, olly, yimmy the babe, dody & tugan. My apologies to those I may have forgotten.

Come a little bit closer, hear what I have to say, just like children sleeping, we could dream this night away

While watching the movie "Eat, Pray, Love" (which I recommend to rent or see on a cheap Tuesday) I rediscovered what may be one of my first ever favourite songs, "Harvest Moon" by Neil Young. I'm not quite sure if this is an actual memory or one that has been planted in my head by my mom but I seem to recall hearing the song and swaying to it in the kitchen dressed in a favourite nightgown. To this day the song still has a soothing effect on my soul. Hearing the song and the topic of my first post got me thinking a little bit about my childhood. I shared a special memory with a great friend, fussyjussy and she insisted that I make it my second post. So, here goes...


At age 8 I decided that I would like to play t-ball. My brother was registered that year as well and while he continued to play the sport for over 10 years I "retired" after my one year. Previous to this I had been a Blue Jays fan and enjoyed watching baseball on t.v. and was therefore pretty excited to play. My Dad took me out to buy the necessary equipment and I think we even played catch a couple times. I was all set!


I arrived at my first practice with my new cleats and glove, ready and eager! Quite early on in the practice we began to practice catching ground balls. The coach threw one my way, I crouched down and positioned my glove to catch it, just the way he had taught us. At the last second, the ball hit a snag in the field, coming up to hit me square in the mouth, thus beginning Ish's infamous Fear of the Ball. I kept with it for the season even though I was literally terrified and ducked every time the ball came even close to my general vicinity. Fortunately, the other girls on my team were NOT afraid of the ball and my team wound up in the championship game at the end of the season. This is where my memory really begins, picture it, Mississauga 1995...


Its the bottom of the ninth inning and the bases are loaded. My team is ahead by two runs and there are two outs with the other team at bat. The batter from the opposing team steps up to the plate about, to make the hit that will make or break the game. She swings and wouldn't you know it, the ball comes straight for third base... the position I happen to be playing. According to my dad the parents on my team heave a collective sigh/wince as they fully expect the game to be over and lost here. However, to everyones surprise, including mine, I do not cower, I hold my glove out, catch the ball and run to third base to make the out to end and Win the championship. Sweet Victory indeed...


To this day I still have our trophy (somewhere) and like to remind myself that Yes I can pull it together at the last moment, usually when it happens to matter the most. and so can you... 


Once again, thanks for reading. Enjoy this song and dream your night away.

Oh and just an fyi, this years harvest moon falls on the actual first day of autumn. Delightful...


ish.

All I really need is a song in my heart, food in my belly, love in my family

Words of Wisdom from Raffi. 


One of the first things anyone will probably learn about me is that I work with children. Many are surprised to find out that yes, I enjoy my job! Currently, I work with babies but the center is open to children aged 6 weeks to 12 years. I spent my first years there supplying in all the different rooms and therefore find myself pretty familiar with each age groups and such. 
As an "early childhood educator" I often marvel at all the important lessons we teach children that we all too quickly forget as adults. Many of us, as teachers, spend our days saying things like, "Use your words!", "Hands are not for hitting", "Share with your friends!", yet many of us do not always live these practices. 


I will be the first to admit that I am guilty of this. While I can't remember the last time I hit someone... (or maybe I can and to that person I apologize once again) I do know that I do not always use my words and I do not always share with my friends. It can be hard to remember these things, even when I shout them 20 times a day. 


As adults we lose so much of what we knew as children. I guess thats called growing up. However, maybe we had a couple things right when we were young. Another thing that always strikes me as children is how freely they love. Especially children under the age of 5. When a child likes you they are rarely afraid to show it. Children also have this way of just picking the people they like. Its as if they just have a radar and know that your vibes will mesh well. I wish adults could do this. Instead we let silly things like jealousy interfere with getting to know someone or fear inhibit us from expressing our love. Once again, I am totally guilty of this, especially the former. 


I suppose this moral of this "story" is that maybe we should all let go of our "adult" tendencies and think like a child... even just for one day. 


I leave you with this, because it came on and caught my attention while writing this in Second Cup. It's a beauty cover of an already good song. If anyone can define what exactly a "wonderwall" is, please share! Enjoy? Thanks for reading.


*Ish
After all, you're my wonderwall