I Am Innocent!

I am Innocent Ms. Loony!

There is a mystery afoot on the blog photosfromtheloonybin (go and check it out)  and I am being blamed for it. But it is a good blame and I really wish I had been the perpetrator. Many who frequent her blog also think it is me; and to be honest I may have fed the fires, but I have finally come clean.

It was not me.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Though after reading the note sent by the culprit I would have thought it was me too. Ms. Loony almost convinced me that I was the one who did the dastardly but kindly deed. Wish I had. Whoever did it got Ms. Loony back for the difficult “mystery photos”  she posts every Friday.

So, if it was not me—who was it? Anyone know?

Bliss is being blamed for something good. What do you think?

Melancholy Bliss?

Candles on Good Friday, at the Church of St. Cyril and Methodius (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Good Friday brings with it sombre introspection. For some of us, it is a sad day. In an effort to not eradicate this solemn day, but to lift it out of its melancholy grasp, I give you this quote by someone wise, but Unknown:

“Easter is not a time for groping through dusty, musty tomes or tombs to disprove spontaneous generation or even to prove life eternal.  It is a day to fan the ashes of dead hope, a day to banish doubts and seek the slopes where the sun is rising, to revel in the faith which transports us out of ourselves and the dead past into the vast and inviting unknown.”  ~ Author unknown, as quoted in the Lewiston Tribune.

Have you ever noticed just how wise Unknown is? I think I will claim that moniker as my nom de plume.

Bliss is finding something that lifts us out of the melancholy, while at the same time giving Good Friday its due. What do you think?

Three Years Ago Today

Snow Day: One Tree Hill. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Three years ago today: It was a Monday. There was a rain snow mix, and the roads were bad so no buses were running. How do I know this? Just ran across my daybook/calendar for 2010, and from the notes I made that day I am getting a sense that time moves on in some ways, and not in others.

It moves on in that in 2013 the fact that whether or not the buses are running for school is no longer an immediate issue in my life as both of my sons are now out of high school. One is at college, the other is in a rock band just waiting for his big break.

I had a council meeting penned in for that Monday night, February 22nd, 2010. Things have stayed the same on that front as I have a council meeting on the Monday coming up.I noted that the meeting was only an hour and a half long. That no longer happens, as the municipality has eliminated one meeting a month, so now the two meetings on the second and fourth Mondays run at least three hours. That is a lot of doodling!

I was working for a magazine at the time, as I notice a reminder telling me to write up the articles due for Our Homes. I no longer work at the magazine. It is a choice I made that I sometimes regret (miss the money) but mostly do not.

For some reason I did not make a note to write my column and write up council news for the newspaper. Maybe for once I did it ahead of time. But that is doubtful—I usually work to deadline and that means writing my heart out on Monday morning.

I made note of where my husband was working that day (as a contractor he works at a variety of places) and that my eldest son was at work. At the time he worked in the printing press of the newspaper that I write for. (Yeah, yeah, I know I am not supposed to end a sentence like this—don’t bug me Robin!) Times change–as he no longer works there.

I am supposed to call Salisbury—but I think that is a note for my husband as I do not remember who Salisbury is. I also have a note to  email Charlene. Charlene is in my Writers’ Group so I was probably supposed to tell her when the next meeting was, or the prompt we were supposed use for our writing for the meeting. Hard to say three years down the road.

So that was my day three years ago—which proves that some things change and some things stay the same. The weather today is very much like it was three years ago, except we are getting inundated with snow right now, and the mix is coming this afternoon.

And since I have to work in BLISS, as it is the topic of the year—I find it very blissful that I do not have a council meeting tonight—as the weather looks foreboding. The good thing is–I no longer have to worry about whether the buses are running or not.

So what are you finding blissful today?

Capturing Weekend Bliss

Downton Abbey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Weekend? What is a weekend?”~  Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) from Downton Abbey

I heard the traffic girl on tv call today Friday Eve. I remember the days when that would have meant something to me. When Friday Eve would produce some excitement—the weekend was almost here, so adventure was surely around the bend.

I do not know when I lost my excitement for weekends. I would like to get it back in this year of finding my bliss.

The Dowager Countess was completely mystified when she came across the word “weekend’. It was obviously a foreign concept if you were not among the working class.

I would like “weekend” to no longer be a foreign concept for me. I think part of the problem is that I work at home, at a desk in the corner of my dining room, so I never really get to leave my work behind. Weekend used to mean a break from school or work—not so much anymore.

Any suggestions about how to make my weekends more blissful?

Sunday Bliss ~ 1/6/13

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Sunday bliss is:

1. Having just enough syrup to cover your pancakes, a special Sunday breakfast that is a change from our usual oatmeal (or as my husband calls it gruel) and multi-grain Cheerios.

2. Tickets to a movie with popcorn and a drink included. We are going to go see Guilt Trip–which looks like it is funny, and I don’t know about you, but I find funny blissful.

3. A tentative agreement with the NHL – does not really affect me, but I know that it does thousands of people and for you I am happy.

4. Watching Sunday Morning on CBS. Absolutely love this program and love Charles–he calms me for the week ahead.

5. Getting ready to take on the work week with renewed vigour (at least at this point).

In my quest to find my bliss, I am going to feature some of my followers and how they find bliss. I do not refer to the next blogger as a follower (which someone pointed out sounds rather cultish), but as a good friend. Over the last six months we have shared important life happenings as well as jokes and fun. Check her out, but especially check out her Friday Mystery Photo day–we have a riot trying to guess the mystery photo. And it is another form of bliss for me. Without further ado, this is how she found Saturday night bliss:

Cindy from photosfromtheloonybin:

Sitting on the couch with my feet up after a great supper, checking my emails, watching TV with my hubby and smiling as I look around at my clean house = total bliss

Give me an example of your total bliss.

Friday ~ A Fractured Haiku

Oye! It’s Friday! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Friday ~ Thank God It’s

Used to be my hue and cry

No longer, darn it!

Comforts ~ Day 5 or Now We Are Getting Maudlin

English: A Dentist and her Dental assistant (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This gratefulness stuff seems to be working on some level. I was in a bit of a funk when I started this, and though this is only Day 5, things seem to be looking up. It has been subtle, but as you will see from my three things today, things are starting to go my way. Silly, simple things—but aren’t those the things that throw us off, and make our lives miserable? So without further ado:

1. My youngest son is going back to school next week and before he goes he must get a dental appointment. His dentist only practices in our town on Wednesdays and Fridays. So, today I called to try and get an appointment for next Wednesday. The dentist and her staff are on vacation all next week—but get this—they are triple booking on Friday so they can take care of their patients! They worked Tyler in at noon because he usually goes in to work at 3. But when I told him he said, “But Mom, I told you they changed our hours to 1-9 instead of 3-11 on Friday.” So I called back, and they again changed his appointment to 10:00 so he could get to work at 1:00. They mentioned that we may have to be patient!

2. The hits on my blog are still out of this world. It seems you all got into the groove and it carried over to Thursday and I received the second most hits in my year of blogging. For this I am grateful—and feel like such a part of the blogging community.

3. Again this is about my youngest son. He called while at work today to say he told his supervisor he is going to quit his summer job a few days early, so we get to spend some time with him before he goes back. Though I am not looking forward to his departure—those few days off will give us a chance to catch up on our favourite TV show, “Community” (he has it on DVD) before the new season starts, pack  leisurely, and get in a little “do nothing” time.

So these are the simple things that rock my world. Though not earth-shattering, they are happy making.

The Quote That Will Go Down In Infamy

English: Logo from the NBC television program Chuck (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“WE ARE NOT HERE FOR A LONG TIME; WE ARE HERE FOR A GOOD TIME!”

~ Chuck from Rochester, New York: 1974-1975

It is Friday. At the wise age I have attained, the joyous hue and outcry of “We are not here for a long time; we are here for a good time” has changed its status. When first declared by Chuck, a friend and fellow communications student at university over three and half decades ago—these words meant : “let the party begin”.  Classes for the week were over and we had a weekend of dancing, partying, imbibing, and general hail fellow fun ahead of us.

Regis Philbin is famous for talking about his glory days at university even now in his eighth decade. I understand. I loved the years I spent at university. Sure there were exams and a million papers to write and studying to be done, but it was also my first taste of freedom. I had to account for my own wins and losses, my own victories and mistakes.

Today, as there seems to be fewer years in front of me than behind, these words should be taken more seriously ~~because it is true: we are not here for a long time. I think I will start letting the good times roll…..again.

Notes:

1. hue can be spelled hew

2. Chuck may not have originated this saying, but so what?