Monkey in the middle.

Kick back and chill today right beside this big guy. I know I sure wish I could.

On my mind.

I never look at the masses as my responsibility. I look at the individual. I can only love one person at a time - just one, one, one. So you begin. I began - I picked up one person. Maybe if I didn't pick up that one person, I wouldn't have picked up forty-two thousand...The same thing goes for you, the same thing in your family, the same thing in your church, your community. Just begin - one, one, one.
~Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Thanks today.

Well wishes of a Happy Thanksgiving to my friends just south of the border today.
May you enjoy good food, great company and many thankful thoughts.

Where the Sidewalk Ends.

by Shel Silverstein

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

On my mind.

The greatest conflicts are not between two people but between one person and himself.

Whatever I do, I hope it's quality, I hope it's something that's class.

I want to get within myself and write. I really, really want to write.

~All quotes by Garth Brooks
(how I'd love to catch his Vegas show)

Music makes me think.

Does it ever. While I'm no where near a music connoisseur, I will listen to just about anything and I find this spills over nicely into my flow of life.
In any spare moment I can swindle, I'm buried in my studies. Life is busy and finding a balance is hard. The pursuit of any designation requires determination, perseverance and some mad study skills. Add to that a busy household, two active kidlets, a hubby and the dog and it's a recipe for this mamma to lose most of her mind.
The Study Music Project created this play list which I find helps me zone in. When I hop on the one-track-mind-train into the books, this music blocks out the noise around me and sets me up in the study zone. It's also an nice play list for so many other occasions. Maybe you're an artist needing something with a soft flow or a writer who hears unwritten words in the melody. Perhaps you're hosting a few people for dinner and want something in the background. It also works if you've got a friend coming for tea. Grab a book and curl up in a cozy chair. The potential for this play list is endless.
I hope you enjoy.

Learning discipline.

Behind the desk, beneathe the books, connected and yet not.
An urgency settles in.
I am there.

On my mind.

The shell must break before the bird can fly.
~Alfred Tennyson
The difference between try and triumph is a little umph.
~Author Unknown
The best helping hand that you will ever receive is the one at the of your own arm.
~Fred Dehner

Pillow, popcorn and a cozy couch.

No, this is not a love story.
But it is a story about love, and the power it has over our life.
The power to heal or destroy.
And this is where the story begins.
**
Mr. Vargas? Luis Vargas?
You don't recognize me, do you?
Miss Russell?
Yes.
Julia Russel?

Original Sin is a movie I fell for the moment I heard of it many years ago, so many actually that I owned a VHS copy. From the first few lines that are read to the music that had my heart pumping and me gasping in the same melody to the choice of actors and the locations, it was all delivered with just the right am
ount of desperation. As Angelina Jolie reads in the opening lines, it is not a love story but it is a story about love. I don't get caught up in what's "wrong" with the movie. I choose, instead, to get lost in everything that's right about it.
It's a late night movie or a rainy day one or one I can pop in when I'm looking for an intense heartstring story. It is thought provoking. Is it love? What is love? How far are some willing to go for love? What sultry deception or naive smile are we each willing to fall for?

Have you seen it? Tell me, what are some of your favourite, go-to movies?

You cannot walk away from love.

Elise, oh, Elise! C'est Fur Elise.

Another one of my favourites. I could listen to the sounds of the piano forever. Again, this piece fills my soul with snippets of stories, moments remembered and wishes for tomorrow.

Recap: Mission - October

Taking stock on last month:

1.Read my heart out. This may well be the last month for a while that I get the chance to leisurely read. I'm going to take complete advantage of it. Speaking of reading, I need to charge my e-reader...
My e-reader needs charging again and I've got in some serious and severe reading for my heart. Mr. Potter and I are nearing our end and already there are hints of a void.

2.Finish both my courses. Gulp!
I missed the mark on this one. I finished one and I've completed the mid-term for the other. There is some work to go but it's about to be wrapped up. Just a few more weeks.

3.Take pictures. More on this later.
I did. I'm learning that it isn't the picture taking that causes such a struggle, it's the picture maintenance that I need to work on. Uploading, sorting, labeling, filing, sorting, printing, sharing...

4.Dream something big.
I'm scatterbrained on this. I need something that hasn't quite come about yet.

5.Kick some stuff out.
BOOYAH! A whole bunch of broken things moved out. There's no need for them to stay. A few random "don't needs" left, too. One step at a time, it's coming together just the way things seem to.

6.Figure out a Halloween plan.
Check and check. Did you see the evidence?

7.Cheer on the return of our NHL team. We pick up our season tickets today! My stomach gets all fluttery just typing that.
Oh my my my. Welcome Home Jets! We're working it out. Game 1 was electric. Game 2 made more memories with my son sitting at my side.

8.Get some serious discipline in place. It's going to become essential to the winter ahead.
Needs work. That's the best I can do. I know what I'm in for and need to getting it together.

On my mind.

All the statistics in the world can't measure the warmth of a smile.
~Chris Hart
When the bold branches
Bid farewell to rainbow leaves -
Welcome wool sweaters.
~B. Cybrill
May you have warmth in your igloo, oil in your lamp, and peace in your heart.
~Eskimo proverb

A love story.

This is my most favorite piano piece written. It haunts my heart. It moves me to tears every time. I see stories every time though there are no words. Sometimes they are the same one and sometimes not. I suppose that is the power that music has.
Tell me what story you see when you hear this piece.

On Hallow's Eve, my light shone bright.

It was a dark night. The air was crisp with a creepy feeling. Goblins, ghouls, zombies and the odd zebra were on the prowl. Mixed in was Rookie, the super dog, and Grandpa (just in case). All leashed up and away we went, an odd bunch for sure.
These two not-quite-monsters were troopers and Rookie was great. Grandpa took it all in with a sparkle in his eye that sent me back 20 years to when I was one of those almost-monsters dashing about. I only hope I was as gentle to my sister as my son was to his. Trick or treat mixed with a healthy dose of please and thank yous brought in a couple bags full of loot.
But see, I'm not big on the whole Halloween bit. I dodge horror movies like the plague and have been known to jump at the site of my shadow. My overactive imagination affords me a very generous dose of terror thankyouverymuch. So, at the first chance, I dodged the boo.
Near the end of our group adventure, I split away with my dogphew. He needed some good ground pounding. We walked fast. I can concoct this story or that about why but the truth is, I was nervous. My shadow was, after all, following us. My arms pumped the air with determination, my legs fought fierce and my knee screamed. While it has healed from the surgery I had 10 months ago, I'm not sure it has actually recovered. I pushed on, knowing the experience would be good for both the dog and my mind. As we rounded the bend on the home stretch, we picked up the pace. It was a run home.
Up the front steps and inside, he dashed for his dish, tongue hanging and slopping up water like it was going out of style. I gasped and heaved falling just shy of sharing with him. My legs burned. They felt raw. I paced slow, scared to sit thinking that perhaps stopping would make it worse. Before too long, the burn subsided and the jello set in. Mush was all that was left in my legs.
Much later that night I was laying in bed. As I slowly unwound from all the day offered, I kept coming back to the feeling after my walk/run. My head was clear, my heart was calm. The light bulb sparked and illuminated. I might have found another trick to tuck away in my life toolbox. I might be beginning to understand what the appeal is to running.

Mission: November

A balmy 10C (50F) here today. It's hard to think that the forecast includes words like "flurries" for the weekend.
November is off to a smooth start. Here's what I'm striving for this month:

• Log 100KM on my bike (even if it is just stationary). So many reasons why this needs to happen.


• Wrap up the Harry Potter Series. It's a stretch given that my leisure reading time is diminishing and the series is ramping up in intensity.


• Cheer on the home team. They have a special piece of my heart. I'm working on a separate piece for this altogether.


• Kick a few exam into the history books. It's time to be done. I'm growing impatient with myself.


• Clear my camera card. I know the fundamental reasons why this is important although I don't get to it as often as I should.


• Wipe out a chunk of my Christmas shopping. I'm growing less tolerant of the crowds and the chaos that so many make of the season, so it's going to be small stores, online adventures and some shop local jewels that I haven't visited in a while for me.


• Create from the heart. Christmas cards on deck.


• Say it with me, declutter.

It doesn't seem over-the-top but given the schedule I'm working with, it's going to be an adventure for sure. All right, Movember November, I'm with you here. Let's roll!