I remember your peanut allergy even when I don't have to and therefore, I love you.

This morning I poured my coffee and popped my twelve grain toast into the toaster and hit the cupboard and fridge for the PB and J. When the toast was ready, first up was the peanut butter. My knife smeared the oh-so-yummy organic raspberry jam on top of the PB and the toast was transformed into a canvas of tasty swirls. I dipped my knife back into the jam in an effort to recreate the artwork on the second piece. Then I stopped, thought, and said to myself, "We'll need to be sure to get rid of this jam before "Mr. Monster" and "Hellfire" come back to visit. (These friends already came with nicknames but regardless, they are indeed nickname worthy.)

This is how you know you love your friends. You consider their needs (or in this case, allergies) even when they're not around or planned to be around any time soon.

Reason, Season, Lifetime

It's not hard to explain HOW I came to be in possession of this poem (my mother sent it to me) but WHY she did so is a very long and sorted story so I'll save you the dirty details and just share the poem (or whatever you might call it). It was sent in a pretty little email with photos and such and was broken into the tiniest of lines. I've tried to make it flow a little better here. Hopefully, I've done it justice. It's not the most well written of statements, but the message is worth the read.

The story it tells is a good reminder of why sometimes people will come into our lives and make it better but not stay. Sometimes it ends badly, sometimes it just ends but either way we all change and grow, learn and teach and when those jobs are done, it's time to move on. What we fail to realize is, that is perfectly okay. It is life.

Enjoy.

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.

When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person.

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When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be.

Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.

What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

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Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn. They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.

Believe it, it is real. But only for a season.

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LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons, things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.

It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

I have been changed for good

There's this little song in the musical Wicked! that goes something like this:

"Who can say if I have been changed for the better? But because I knew you, I have been changed for good."

Think about that for a minute. I'm sure everyone has had special people in their lives who have changed them and couldn't imagine living without them. But this particular line made me think about those others as well. The ones that we all encounter and wish we hadn't. The ones we think our lives would have been better off without. Maybe that's true or maybe it isn't because although it might have been a very difficult experience, we were changed by it and learned from it. Maybe I just think too much.

The point is that there have been many people, both positive and negative that have passed through my life or are in it still that have changed me. There have also been many experiences that have also changed me in ways that I couldn't even imagine possible. Travel is one of those experiences. I have something from my trip to NYC that I'd like to share. Soon. In the meantime, think about what has changed you.

Maple Syrup Day

Look at me go! I haven't posted for months and now all of a sudden I'm stacking up two in the same week. Don't get used to it. Just two more sleeps and I'll be in the Big Apple for a week so there will be, "No more posts for you! Come back one week!" Ahhh... how I wish I could actually "do" funny.

Anyway, today will be another random thought entry. Some days I need inspiration to beat me over the head with an idea and other days, they just flow like golden maple syrup. Today is a maple syrup day.

Toddlers With Chainsaws
Now that the kids are back to school the doggies have had the house to themselves during the day. The first few days weren't too bad. Unfortunately, Mr. B left his Rush hat out somewhere before he left for 'la Belle Province' and it was mistakenly identified as a chew toy. The next day I think perhaps their allergies were acting up because they used ALL of the Kleenex but were not polite enough to put them in the garbage when they were done. I see that we'll have to have a refresher course on proper etiquette. The day after that we were very careful to remember that dogs have the capacity of a toddler. A toddler with a chainsaw. That day was incident free. Yes! We're on to something here. (insert big sigh here) But alas, all good things do come to an end eventually. Although we didn't get a picture of the actual presentation they chose for their masterpiece, I did manage to grab a shot or two of the gathered disaster. This is what they did:

Quality Over Quantity

Has something bad ever happened to you that you were actually thankful for afterwards? One of the books in there was a special little book given to me by a dear friend. A dear friend who loves me as I am and who probably knows me better than I know myself sometimes. She shares my passion for photography, particularly black and white, and she shares my view of quality over quantity when it comes to friends. We're the kind of girlies that stand the test of time. All that being said, it was quite fitting that she gave me this book. She gave it to me many years ago for no other reason than she knew I would like it. Those are the best kind of presents, aren't they? It's been proudly displayed on my bookshelf since she gave it to me but I shamefully admit that I've only looked at it two or three times.

I was very sad to see that my goggies had chosen that particular book to chew but I'm not angry that it happened. When I found it, I sat down and looked through every page to assess the damage and it occurred to me that they had actually chosen the perfect book to destroy.

You see, I needed a reminder of sorts. I didn't need a reminder of how much I love Shannon or that I should spend more time with her or any of the typical things that would go through one's head at such a time. We have extremely busy lives but we use every resource we have to communicate and get together when we can, stress free. We both appreciate every minute no matter how frequent or far apart they are. In fact, the NYC trip is a sort of celebration of the friendship that she, her beau, Mr. B, and I all share. So, I didn't need a reminder of what a good friend she is, I'm well aware of and thankful for that. I did however need a reminder of just how rare our friendship is and how amazing we are together, as well as individually. I needed a reminder to remember those things in me which she loves. I needed a reminder to stop using my camera just to take pictures and start capturing moments and telling stories again. ;)

My Life in Coffee Cups

I won't go into my rant about how difficult it is to be a Gemini again, you've heard that enough but it's necessary to touch on it to explain the dilemma I faced this morning.

A huge part of me loves order, balance, and coordination. Another huge part of me hates performing the work necessary to obtain order, balance, and coordination as is evident by the photo of my drink ware cupboard.

If you look closely you can see that I have a rather large collection of just plain white cups and just clear tumblers... somewhere in behind the beer glasses of the world and the mish-mash of coffee cups.

When I open this cupboard I usually feel this overwhelming sense to straighten it and hide the monstrosities that do not match but then my desire to actually use one of them dominates and I leave it for another day. A day that comes only two or three times a year when the control freak in me can no longer take the disorder.

I saw things differently this morning. The need to match, tidy, and organize lasted only a second and then I had trouble deciding from which story of my life to drink my morning courage. I placed them all on the bar top so that I could examine each one individually, remember where each of them came from and why my love for each is stronger than my compulsion and make a well deserved choice.

It was not an easy choice.

I had my RadarSat-2 cup which is important to me because Mr. B and I were part of the team that built that satellite and other cool stuff including the OBSS that allowed NASA to "Return to Flight" and reignite the shuttle program. Although we were just small drops in the bucket of effort to make both of those missions happen, we contributed and are therefore entitled to a little piece of the pride. We met astronauts and had lunch with NASA execs. That's a huge deal to two little Canadian kids who started their life together far too young and who never thought they'd amount to very much. To you it might look like just a cup, to us it's a symbol of how far we've come and how far we can still go. (and how yummy the spacecraft factory breakfasts were)

Then there was my Gemini cup from the Disney Store with Stitch on it. I love Hawaii, I am a Gemini, and I love Lilo and Stitch (Mr. B's folks call me Lilo, I love them) so this mug represents a whole lot of happy to me. However, I just whitened my teeth and so I really shouldn't drink quite that much coffee today, so I decided to pass.

That left me with my hibiscus mug that I bought at the ABC store in Hawaii, my Wicked! cup that I bought when I went to the musical last year, a beautiful Starbucks cup and saucer given to me for my b'day by my pal Marianne (because we always meet there), and my Wicked Witch of the West cup that Mr. B bought for me because it says, "I'm a wicked witch. What's your excuse?" and well, it suits me. All very important to me for various important reasons. I usually always use the wicked witch cup so I gave it the day off.

It was a tough decision but I chose the Wicked! cup because in just four more sleeps I'll be sitting in 4th row at the Gershwin Theatre in New York City with my dear friend and our darlings watching my most favourite musical. I'll try to remember to capture the moment but I have to admit that I'll be more concerned with just living it.

If I was the Queen...

... I would make all of my friends some manatee bread on a regular basis because I wouldn't have to work and would have so much more time for kneading and proofing.

... I would buy everyone who can eat dairy products a 14 day supply of Activia yogurt because I've taken the Activia challenge, and folks although you don't REALLY get the flat tummy with the green bellydancing costume, you feel like it. Of course, it's only been 7 days so maybe it takes the full 14 days for that to happen?

... I would make plastic surgery FREE for women who've gained and lost weight or had babies because let's face it, carrying two big babies, nursing the little buggers, aging skin, and 14 years of caring more about everyone else's health are not the winning criteria for a firm, gravity defying body.

... I would take a graphics course because although I really want so badly to be good at it, I suck

... Mr. B would still be my King