While I am not witty like Emily Dickinson, I would like to give you a very warm welcome!
I am not certain if you are entering like a lamb or a lion – and really, how many days does one have to determine these animal like qualities? Yesterday it was warm, blustery, and rainy – today you mock us with pellets of snow. Do we get a few days to determine if you are a gentle lamb or a roaring lion?
Really, inquiring minds want to know!
However, you usher in a busy month:
There is March Madness, and
Springing ahead clocks…
Saint Patrick’s Day,
a doctors appointment(!!)
and who can forget the first day of spring!
There is even a wedding, which quite frankly has me a little worried. A size too small dress and a stagnating scale are stressing me out, let me tell you!
Oh… and there are new exercise videos courtesy of Amazon Prime, these are hopefully going to alleviate my stress and that damned stagnating scale!
Happy March Everyone – what is on your plate for this month!
As I close the door on February – a blessedly short month that was not short on joy.
There was an abundance of joy over the past month.
Joy in the lengthening days – over the month we have gained 64 more minutes of daylight!
Joy in the stunning lack of winter – out of the 28 days, we were above the historical average 21 days during the month. (Although, this joy is tempered by the obvious nod to Global Warming)
Joy in the books read and listened to during the month: I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak (I gave this book 5 Stars), I am No One by Patrick Flanery (3 Stars), and Into the Woods by Tana French (4 Stars) – only 3 books this month, but they were most enjoyable!
Joy in my continued stitching – this has been truly the thing that has been bringing the most joy! Through these moments of stitches, I have opened the door to my creativity. It is an incredible feeling – this unleashed creativity. Today I will fill in the final stitches for this month and this morning offered a beautiful sunrise that will be reflected in my stitches.
Joy in letters, written and received. It was my inaugural participation in MoL, and while my involvement was not perfect it was incredibly joy-filled!
There was joy in flowers and laughter and yes, even weight loss plateaus.
I hope that February was joy-filled for you as well!
This week’s prompt for Think Write Thursday is to write about the movie you can quote the most. This may or may not be your favorite moving but you all know what we mean, right? What’s that movie, the one that once you start quoting from (probably with your friends) and you just can’t stop? Share some of your favorite quotes and tell us why you think it’s just so darn quotable.
First up, let’s cue up some music shall we?
Perhaps the best movie series ever and one I have watched dozens of times – although, the book is excellent – overall the series of movies did well to portray the saga told by Mario Puzo in his book by the same name. And, talk about a plethora of movie quotes! The Godfather is one that delivers!
My favorite quote of all is one from Don Corleone: I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.
But really, Don Corleone gives some of the best lines ever:
You can act like a man! What’s the matter with you?
A man who never spends time with his family can never be a real man.
Consigliere of mine, I think you should tell your don what everyone seems to know.
Some day, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, consider this justice a gift on my daughter’s wedding day.
Peter Clemenza also gives some great lines:
Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.
He’s thinking of going to the mattresses already.
Sal Tessio gets one of the most famous quotes:
…Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.
Michael Corleone’s growth over the course of the movie is dramatic, and he gives some chilling quotes:
Fredo, you’re my older brother and I love you. But, don’t ever take sides with anyone against the family again.
What’s the Turk paying you to set up my father, Captain?
It’s not personal, Sonny. It’s strictly business.
You have to answer for Santino, Carlo.
Only don’t tell me you’re innocent. Because it insults my intelligence and makes me very angry.
Just lie here, Pop. I’ll take care of you now. I’m with you now. I’m with you.
And, his power culminates so incredibly in the famous Baptism Scene:
There you have it – my all-time favorite and most quotable movie, ever. Now, if you’ll excuse me – I have a bit of watching to do!
If you would like to join Carole and me for Think Write Thursday’s, we would love to have you – please sign up here!
I am immersed in the Month of Letters and enjoying every moment. I have gotten letters from dear friends and letters from new friends! Every moment has been so much fun.
I have written letters, postcards, and even birthday cards!
But, I have not done blog letters in quite some time – so today is your lucky day!!
So, let’s get to the mailbag…
Dear Senators Mc Cain and Graham,
I would like to take a moment to thank you for standing up for a free press (although, why this is even a thing is beyond me)
Good reminders from you both last week on the importance of the press being free, adversarial and worth dying for.
Now, I would like you to focus some of your attention on the importance of education so that we are no longer a nation that cannot discern fact from fiction.
Sincerely,
A Believer in the Fourth Estate
Dear Mother Nature,
I am not sure what is up, but you do realize that it is February, not April or May right?
Because, it is still winter for a few more weeks not to mention you are making Punxsutawney Phil look bad.
Oh, and in case you are thinking winter in April would be a fabulous joke – I promise you I won’t be laughing!
Signed,
A Global Warming Believer
Dear Bathroom Scale,
For months you have been giving me such great encouragement. It was almost as if you were cheering me on in my change in eating and exercise habits.
However, the past couple of weeks you and I have seemed to hit a wall. The encouragement has stopped and we seem to be at a standstill.
As in an actual standstill… a holding pattern… maintaining status quo…
I promise you I did not call a halt to our journey!
Sincerely,
Seeking Losses
Dear Hitchhiker Scarf,
I know that I have not knit you – ever. And, that is truly an error in my judgement.
However, the urge to cast you on has been increasing almost daily.
Except, I have these other projects going and this infatuation I have with you is not a good thing. All these amazing photos of you on Ravelry is not helping either.
I am not sure how much longer I can resist…
Love,
Infatuated and Trying to Resist
That’s all I have today – I hope you have a great Tuesday and maybe write a letter – it is good for you!
This week’s Think Write Thursday is to write about something you’ve been putting off doing. We all have those tasks, projects, phone calls and more that we find excuses to avoid. What are you procrastinating about? And why? And, finally, how are you going to address it? Happy writing!
I love this part – “Happy writing”
Ummmm, not so much.
This post strikes fear into my very inmost being. Really. I am going to have to talk about things I put off and I am not talking about cleaning out junk drawers or re-organizing kitchen cupboards.
Nope – even though those things are not on my “to do” list with any regularity. The Procrastination Elephant in the room for me is scheduling regular health maintenance.
Oh, I have a million excuses as to why I have not done this, but when it gets right down to it, none of them are really valid excuses.
No, I mean I really trusted her – even to talk about being overweight without shame or avoidance. And, with her I got regular maintenance done – mammograms, colonoscopies, bone density testing, and regular blood work.
Then I moved to Pittsburgh and discovered how hard it is to find a doctor. And, trust me – it is really hard.
Pittsburgh is a fairly large city, yet do you know that they do not have a single physician who specializes in Women’s Midlife Health?
So, in the time I have lived here, I have seen 3 different doctors – and last year, I did not visit a doctor at all. I have not really loved any one I have seen – and let me tell you about the Health Care Insurance Wars here in Pittsburgh. No one takes all insurances – so if you have “X” insurance, none of the UPMC doctors will see you. If you have “Y” insurance, none of the Highmark doctors will see you. (And, if you can only afford “Z” insurance – you are straight out of luck because no one will see you.) It is absolutely insane.
However, I have this list of things that has been nagging at me.
Things like getting a mammogram and a bone density test and a colonoscopy.
If this post was not hard enough, I now have to make a plan to address it.
Now is the part when I confess that typing is not easy – nor is it any easier to verbally say it out loud.
However, here I go…
I will look up my last physician’s phone number and call him TODAY to make an appointment. And, you can hold me to that – I promise to update you all with my appointment time in tomorrow’s blog post!
Will that get everything off my list? Nope, but it will be a start and I will bring my list…
If you want to join Carole and I in our Think Write Thursday journey, we would love to have you – please sign up here!
P.S. Every week is really not this hard! Promise!!
Happy Valentine’s Day, Gentle Reader! Today a poem from my favorite poet, Pablo Neruda. Go and laugh with your loved ones today.
Your Laughter
Take bread away from me, if you wish,
take air away, but
do not take from me your laughter.
Do not take away the rose,
the lance flower that you pluck,
the water that suddenly
bursts forth in joy,
the sudden wave
of silver born in you.
My struggle is harsh and I come back
with eyes tired
at times from having seen
the unchanging earth,
but when your laughter enters
it rises to the sky seeking me
and it opens for me all
the doors of life.
My love, in the darkest
hour your laughter
opens, and if suddenly
you see my blood staining
the stones of the street,
laugh, because your laughter
will be for my hands
like a fresh sword.
Next to the sea in the autumn,
your laughter must raise
its foamy cascade,
and in the spring, love,
I want your laughter like
the flower I was waiting for,
the blue flower, the rose
of my echoing country.
Laugh at the night,
at the day, at the moon,
laugh at the twisted
streets of the island,
laugh at this clumsy
boy who loves you,
but when I open
my eyes and close them,
when my steps go,
when my steps return,
deny me bread, air,
light, spring,
but never your laughter
for I would die.
