OASIS

Oh my goodness I’m so tired.

I was planning on getting home at a reasonable hour this evening and whipping off two blog posts tonight, but I can tell I’m not gonna make it.  Can I tell you why?

I signed up to volunteer at my local animal shelter at the end of May and have been working there whenever I can.  I just put in two hefty days in a row – we’re gearing up for an adoption event.  I can go for one long day, no problem, but at the end of two my legs stop working easily and my heavy work boots feel like lead.  You basically hit the kennels running and don’t stop til you leave.  Plus it’s hot and muggy at the moment (at least for us spoiled kids in Cali), and I know I’m not drinking enough water because last night I was woken up by a thumping great Charlie Horse in my right calf!  Last time I had one of those was… well, oh yes, it was the last time I worked two big days in a row at the shelter.

There’s a mountain of things to tell you about what I’ve seen and been doing there, but the question I’m asked most by members of the public is doesn’t the noise get to me?  True, it’s really hard to carry on a conversation sometimes but otherwise, no, I say, I just tune it out.  For sure though, it can definitely be described as a deafening doggy din (ooh, some alliteration in my fatigued state!).

We have an adoption event (this will be my third!) this coming Sunday, so we’re making sure we have a gaggle of pooches to take with us, adjusting daily, as dogs come and go all the time.  Anyway, there are many sad tales of course, but many happy wagging ones too. I will share more on my new efforts, but you know I LOVE it.  I can’t wait to get back, and have to be really disciplined with myself on the hours I put in.  If I didn’t have to make a living I’d be there every day I swear.

Here are my very own pound puppies  🙂

P.S. I am participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge this month – 31 days of July, a blog a day if I can.

Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream

I don’t think I’m at liberty to drift along merrily, aimlessly, in the stream any more.  I mean I still drift merrily on occasion, but no longer without intention and not for very long.  In fact I’d say my drift is more of a hover.

Stop, take stock and then off we go…on our merry way, just not drifting.

It’s not that I don’t like being without a care in the world, it’s more that there are so many things to do and see. Now I really want to do and see them, not just dream about doing them and seeing them.

How about you?  Are you drifting and dreaming, or taking stock and doing?

P.S. I am participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge this month – 31 days of July, a blog a day if I can.

Some days contain such diverse activities that at the end of it I’m not sure how I feel.  Except I think I like precisely that…the off-kilter feeling.  I’ve consistently gravitated to the quirky, unusual, just outside the box kind of stuff.  You might say I’ve always liked odd, in an even kind of way.

When you’re in one groove that ends in a satisfying tied-up-with-a-bow kind of way, how easily can you move into the next one?  Can you use your feel-good reserves to tackle a less than favorite task and still have a little left over at the end of the day?  I think the key is simply to be aware, to pay attention to yourself, make sure you’re actually plugged in to the sweet socket so you get charged up with enough of that honey to tackle the sour.

I believe you can.

P.S. I am participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge this month – 31 days of July, a blog a day if I can.

“..know that action is man’s foremost obligation, regardless of anything he feels..” – Ayn Rand from Part 1 of Atlas Shrugged.

I am reading Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.  This novel and “The Fountainhead” are books I’ve had on my reading list forever, although I really knew nothing about them, I definitely knew they were significant somehow.  The reason they were catapulted to the top of my list and why I now own both and have started reading is entirely due to someone using the word “mind-blowing” in his review.  Apparently I’m ready to have my mind blown.

Funny thing, I bought both novels on-line, either on Amazon or through half.com, for very little money.  The books are brand new, in small sized paperback of over 1,000 pages each – they’re actually labeled Student Edition.  But my heart sank when I turned to page 1. Oh boy, can I tell you how I struggled to read type that small.  I’ve never had this happen before, but with or without glasses it was difficult – wow, did I wait too long, nooooooo?

Well no, I persevered and as the story began gathering steam (pun absolutely intended!), the reading became easier or I found the right light or something.  In any event, I am into it big time and, frankly, in awe!

If you’re like me and have always loved reading (it’s a deep, personal enjoyment for me) don’t you find it exciting when you pick up an older book and it just flat out knocks your socks off?

P.S. I am participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge this month – 31 days of July, a blog a day if I can.

July 1 having started out all chirpy, July 2 became a day from hell from which I was saved by family and my dearest and truest friend and her support and white russians.  I know I’m making this a little dramatic, but guess what, I been managing the drama of others for several weeks now and frankly I am entitled to some of my own just so I can release it!  You follow me?

July 3 – today feels light and airy and good again.  I’d therefore like to send out vast swathes of heavenly vibes to all on this U.S. holiday weekend.  Love yourself, love your family, love your friends and I hope you enjoy the festivities, relaxed and safe, swaddled in this cocoon.

P.S. I am participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge this month – 31 days of July, a blog a day if I can but 31 no matter what!

How exciting to be back on another blog challenge.

How have you been? My life’s been really busy, more than a little challenging in some departments, but completely awesome in others (I’ll share some with you this month).  I am still happier than I’ve ever been because that’s what being in business for myself continues to do for me.  Hope you’re getting some of that good stuff too 🙂

One thing that’s struck me lately is that I no longer seem to need to wear a watch.  Yes, my little watch tan line has gone… see…

In fact I was at a lovely business mixer last night and got in a conversation about this very subject, about how freeing it is, how even though we’re busier than we ever were in the corporate world, we don’t need our watches because our time is now our own!

Tick tock and you don’t stop y’all.

Anyone else feeling this?

P.S. Can’t wait to read all your wonderful words of wisdom this month, fellow UBC bloggers.

P.P.S. I am participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge this month – 31 days of July, 31 blogs a day if I can. Come join us, it’s really fun!

Been busy but wanted to share with all the happy outcome – pup and new Dad a match!

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Stay tuned to hear tales of my experiences at an LA County Animal Shelter!

Last night at the grocery store I found this pup. He looked really miserable.  When I offered $5 to take him off their hands, the people at the store said go for it.  What do we care?, they said. So I brought him home with me.

I have a friend who’s birthday is this Thursday and he’s been wanting to get a dog.  So I guess it’s Happy Birthday Lou!

We’ll take him over to his new home on Thursday, but in the meantime, here’s what he’s been up to at our house.

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A Thought To Take With You

This is my all time favorite quote.  It came in a roundabout way from my younger sister’s husband and dear brother-in-law Tony, who died from lymphoma in November 2007.  I have it on my website, on my desk, stuck on the wall, many places.  It resounds very deeply with me.

We shall not cease from
exploration, and the end of all
our exploring will be to arrive
where we started and know the
place for the first time.

T.S. Eliot

Be seeing you bloggers on the next one!

P.S. I’ve been participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge this month – 30 posts, one for each day of April.

Just wanted to express my appreciation for being able to be part of this challenge – thank you Michelle and Michele.

Thank you all for your comments and ‘like’s and for the opportunity to read your blogs and get to know you a little.  As I think I might have mentioned, by coincidence I was reading Stephen King’s “On Writing” when I started this challenge. There are a couple of things he said that I’d particularly like to share because I think they’re wonderful.  Hope you will too.

Responding to the question “Do you do it for the money, honey?” King says ” …I have written because it fulfilled me.  Maybe it paid off the mortgage on the house and got the kids through college, but those things were on the side-I did it for the buzz.  I did it for the pure joy of the thing.  And if you can do it for joy, you can do it forever.”

And this one: “Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends.  In the end, it’s about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well.”

Cool, huh?

P.S. I am participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge this month – a blog a day if I can.