Pick it up.

Haunting beauty.
I find myself craving this type of music right now.
Please share any songs you may know of that are similar.

On my mind.

Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.
~Marilyn Monroe

Someone was hurt before you, wronged before you, hungry before your, frightened before you, beaten before you, humiliated before you, raped before you...yet, someone survived..You can do anything you choose to do.
~Maya Angelou

Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.
~C.S. Lewis

One foot in front of the other.

Last Tuesday I got the call and felt the world stop turning. My cat of 17 years was not well.
Skip the math but I got her when I was 13 filled with angst rebellion and misery. She was my calico-coloured light. We had an immediate understanding, a connection that bonded. She'd sit beside me and snuggle affording sandpaper kisses to only my hands. I'd let her play with my long strands of box-dyed midnight purple hair. She yank and pull but it didn't matter. Fast forward 17 years. We'd both grown and the bond only strengthened. She accepted how I changed and loved me all the same.
My cat lived with my grandparents just because that's the way it was. Then last Tuesday I got the call. There was something very wrong with Candy and she needed to see a vet fast. A whirlwind of an afternoon left us faced with the humane decision in humanity.
Whispering softly with tears streaming, I said goodbye.

On my mind.

Grieving is a necessary passage and a difficult transition to finally letting go of sorrow - it is not a permanent rest stop.
~Dodinsky, www.dondinsky.com

It's so curious: one can resist tears and "behave" very well in the hardest hours of grief. But then someone makes you a friendly sign behind a window, or one notices that a flower that was a bud only yesterday has suddenly blossomed, or a letter slips from a drawer...and everything collapses.
~Colette

There are things we don't want to happen but have to accept, things we don't want to know but have to learn, and people we can't live without but have to let go.
~Author Unknown

On my mind.

For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.
~Lily Tomlin
There is more to life than increasing its speed.
~Mohandas K. Gandhi
If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles.
~Doug Larson

Dessert dish.

I'm aching. I miss this small space of mine. I am carving my way through making time again.
Today, let's enjoy a virtual soft serve sundae:
Vanilla swirled in a waffle cup bowl topped with warm caramel drizzle and hot creamy fudge. Mini chocolate chips are sprinkled all around the bottom and the top is dusted lightly with toasted coconut flakes. The top is kissed with a bright red cherry, stem still attached.
What's on your dessert dish?

On my mind.

When you own your breath, nobody can steal your peace.
~Author Unknown

I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart: I am, I am, I am.
~Sylvia Plath

Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.
~L. Frank Baum

Over and out.

That one's over and there's nothing I can do today to change it. The two month wait until marks are released begins and my next class gets rolling next week. It was rough and I have no idea how I did. I knew what I knew. What I wasn't sure on, I tried anyways. Fearlessly, I broke led after led in my pencil, hammered out numbers and formulas, and spewed ink until my arm ached. It is what it is.
For today, I'm soaking up the space with down time. I poured myself a cup of patience, mixed in a spoon of relaxation and added a drop of happy. I even tucked my little camera into my pocket to see what wonders it will capture. It's been much too long since she and I have danced.

Calculators at the ready.

Exam day.
3 hours - each mark on paper translated into minutes on the clock.
Pencil led in full supply.
Ink, too.
Nerves shot.
Last week summed up in a word - rough.
Deep breathe.
Another journey.
Determination - at max capacity.

On my mind.

You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around - and why his parents will always wave back.
~ William D. Tammeus

Everybody knows how to raise children, except the people who have them.
~P.J. O'Rourke

Parents who are afraid to put their foot down usually have children who step on their toes.
~Chinese Proverb