Write things that make me happy, daily

Mr. Yes texted me that the camera he has, which I quite like, was on sale at Costco for $165. So I had him pick it up for me. It’s a Canon PowerShot SD790 IS with 10 megapixels, 3x zoom and came with a 2GB memory card. It also shoots video. Some things I’ve learned:

I have really green eyes. I mean, I knew I had green eyes, but those suckers aren’t some namby pamby greenish-blue. GRRRR-EEEN!

I have big eyes. I always thought they were kinda small.

I have a crooked nose. Kinda cool. Like I used to be a boxer.

I have blotchy skin. Human eyes are kinder than megapixels, thank goodness.

My voice is very NoCal. I sound like Sarah on the Alice radio morning show.

EDIT: I look kinda bony and emo in this pic. Swear I’m not either in real life. And I’m likely to be flooding y’all with pics until the excitement wears off. Sorry ‘bout that.

Buying decorations and plants for my living room (just moved in). And then of course, the decorating itself.

My mother going to the pharmacy for me, so I don’t have to go after work :-)

93 days of consecutive poeming!

Great conversation/sweetness with Mr. Yes last night. He had to take a work call, so I got to listen to him be Super Engineer, which I find surprisingly hot.

The truly horrible plastic dog statue ring that I got my sister. She’ll love it.

Roberta Flack added me as a friend on facebook. We have no mutual friends, so I don’t think it was a mass add. Odd, but cool!

Tomorrow off. I’m going to paint, visit with my sister and do a whole lot of nothing.

Sea turtles

I inherited a helluva mess at work, which means I get to make new systems and spreadsheets. Yeah!

Little Yes asking about me. I was telling Mr. Yes how glad I was that he had him two weekends in a row so it wouldn’t be three weeks between me seeing him and Mr. Yes glowed, in that quiet way of his.

The donations of time and materials that people contribute to the program for the homeless and working poor at my job.

The gardens at work, which are spectacular and smell divine.

Ginger cookies

Ginger candy

Ginger beer

Death & Taxes black beer. Damn, that’s tasty stuff!

Deciding that while I’ll remain a monthly supporter of Save the Redwoods and Bat Conservation International, I’ll rotate the other $80 a month to different charities per year. For the rest of 2009, I’ll continue giving to the Just Like My Child foundation to help build schools in Africa. I think for 2010, I’ll give to Save the Frogs. Still more research to do…

That my job is one in which I can constantly be sipping water.

Walking on College Ave last night reminded me of how much I loved living in Oakland. I’ll make it back to that side of the tunnel some day.

Crying about my late husband the other night and waking up happy the next morning. It’s always going to hurt, but it doesn’t derail me anymore.

Rope

That my shower at home has good pressure and temp control and shelving

My nearly 14yo nephew is on facebook now. That’s one great weird kid.

Rain, and the cooler weather it brings.

Going over my thousands of photos and deleting masses and finding gems.

The relief when what you thought was a disaster either resolves itself, wasn’t that bad to begin with, or is cleaned up and just bloody over with.

A nice shower after said disaster.

So You Think You Can Dance. Seriously. So good.

Getting surprise packages in the mail. I never get snail mail.

Finding long lost friends. I love Face Book.

Relaxing and coming to terms with the fact that it does not all have to be done right now.

My made up pork tacos… these things came out GREAT. In a crock pot. A pork roast, a chopped onion, half a chopped pepper, a couple of chopped garlic cloves, a spoonful of pureed chilpotle con adobo, a small can of pureed tomatoes, tbs cumin, tbs chili powder, tsp oregano tsp adobo… on high for 4-6 hours. Shred. Fill a flour tortilla with meat, sour cream, guac, diced jalapenos, scallions, tomatoes, whatever floats your boat. YUM.

A call from my cousin in California.

Cuddling with the kids.

Going to the beach. Mr. Yes and I went yesterday. It was lovely being with him, but even if it had been a solo trip, I would have loved the gulls, penguins, hundreds of black ducks, cormorants, surfers, ocean breezes, walking in Carmel, the morning fog, good coffee and lying on the sand. We made little people out of beach debris. Mr. Yes’s had a lot of personality, though he swears his right brain doesn’t work anymore after so many years of using his left brain so much at work.

89 consecutive days of poeming! Can you believe it? I still like more poems than not.

I introduced a new taboo during a romp with Mr. Yes and he followed up on it like he could read my mind. We are so well matched and I’m so grateful for a man who loves it when I explore.

My godmother has people over for dinner. People who go to the church where I work. She set a place for me, but I told her I was feeling anti-social. I felt a little silly at first, hanging out in my room with the door closed like a sulky teen, but I don’t want to socialize and I’m happy I didn’t try to grit my teeth through it.

Emails with a confused friend and his very sweet compliment about my kindness. I’m glad I came up with some alternate ways to look at the situation.

A friend in NC texted me pics of her wearing her wedding gown. She’s getting married in Sept. She looked so beautiful and serious it made me cry.

I saw the movie Roadhouse for the first time this weekend. Oh what cheesy fun and could Sam Elliot be any hotter? Damn.

My chubby little knees. I think they’re cute.

Four day work week this week. Nice!

We’re supposed to be out of the triple digit heat and into the 90s tomorrow.

90 minute phone conversation with the friend for whom I’m going to be the maid of honor in October. It reassured me a lot about her groom-to-be and the wedding.

Switching nasal allergy sprays got rid of the headache and my eyes and mouth are less dry. YES!

Baby spiders are the cutest damn things. This minuscule little angel had me enthralled as s/he attempted the truly Herculean task of anchoring onto and summiting the small traffic cone on top of my monitor. S/he was flipping all over the place, falling, flying around on bits of web and, finally, conquering! The last time I saw it, it was somewhere above my head on the next leg of its journey, so it may be crawling in my hair as we speak, but I don’t care. CUTE!

The cellphone pic with clumsy circle gives you an idea of how small it is. That dark thing is a black amethyst cluster.

Waking up to cool wispy breezes three mornings in a row.

Mr. Yes told me last night that he had a war wound from our interlude on Sunday that apparently almost brought us to an abrupt halt, but the very naughty things I was saying made him forget the pain. Yeah, me!

The sweet smart funny bartender at the bar where we have our Weds night dates wants to hang out with us outside of work.

The same people who brought me boysenberries the other week brought me yellow squash and zucchini from their garden. I cooked it up with olive oil, basil and parsley and added mozzarella at the last minute. Sooo delicious.

The trio of How to Drink poems yesterday. Three poems in one day and I really like all of them.

86 consecutive days of poeming!

Finding the right questions for each situation. A friend in NC is having major relationship issues (run! run! run!) and I figured out some questions that might help him work out what he wants to do. (RUN! RUN! RUN!)

Hawk. It’s his birthday and he’s just such a good man. I’m feeling very grateful for him.

All my 43T friends. You guys help me through so much and are supportive of me whether I’m plunging into doubt or sailing in goofy bliss.

My new creative tribe. Having the support of a community of artists gives me a lot of courage and inspiration.

The crows at work. They’re like a bunch of rowdy pre-teens hanging out in the parking lot and yelling at passersby.

So many people at work – volunteers, staff, parishioners – smile when they see me. It’s a great atmosphere.

The stars last night

83 days of consecutive poeming!

On Saturday, I wrote a poem, prayer, song, finished the chronicles of my legendary self and painted for hours and hours.

What we did Sunday was naughty and I’m still glowing.

The last thing I heard when I left Mr. Yes’s house on Sunday morning was 3yo Little Yes saying, “Bye, gorgeous!” He was in a wonderful snuggly mood. He also told me I was going to marry a cowboy, then changed his mind and said I would marry a wild animal. (When I asked him what kind of wild animal, he said an opossum, which was a bit of a disappointment.)

Rum and mango juice

Dancing with a group of wild women on Friday during my teacher’s birthday party.

Wearing my friend’s beaded purple wedding dress to the party. She got divorced last year and wanted me to have the dress and take it somewhere happy. I told the women that we were repurposing the dress and dedicating it to joy, dissolving any negative energy that might have been lingering around my friend. It felt great.

Two and a half month old Joseph, who stole my heart with his brown eyes, goofy drooling smile and perfect tiny toes.

My teacher telling everyone at the party that my poems are amazing.

Being glad to get back to work today.

Bruises. I like the way they look on my pale skin.

- My parents being so helpfull.
- the Nespresso machine at work.
- the “welcome home” bbq for my best friend and meeting some of her relatives