Author Archives: Kami

Chocolate Love

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Kami

It’s Gratituesday! Today I’m grateful for Chocolate! What food group better addresses my emotional needs? None.

If decadence had a flavor it’d be chocolate. Don’t you agree?

You know, it is American Chocolate Week here in the United States, March 16-22. Not that I find American chocolate all that amazing, it’s not really one of our strong points. I think of it more as a holiday wherein Americans celebrate chocolate’s wonders, magic and joys.

Nothing else warms me quite like a cup of Hot Chocolate with hazelnut.

Hot Chocolate with hazelnut. Ahhh.

Chocolate can gentle me awake on especially groggy mornings. Hot, in a mug, with a dash of hazelnut and cream, its soothing heat penetrates and slowly shakes the Sandman’s dust from my brain. Once a daily ritual, it’s now become seldom, more special in its rarity.

I’ve experienced chocolate in a main dish, which is surprisingly not as weird as you’d think. A Mexican wonder of rich spice and complex flavors, Mole adds an interesting twist to an often overtired food genre.

Has anything escaped being dipped in chocolate? I think not.

What a messy treat!

From my earliest memories of a chocolate dipped soft serve ice-cream cone, to my more recent love affair with chocolate covered cinnamon bears, I can only conclude that everything’s better dipped in chocolate. Cookies, cake, apples, pretzels, strawberries, pineapple, caramel, nuts, cherries, marshmallows all reach their natural order of perfection when joined by chocolate. Did I mention coconut? I should have mentioned coconut. Now I have.

I suppose carrots and celery might not mix well with the creamy succulence of chocolate, but pretty much anything else ramps up a notch by pairing off with a bit of the creamy perfection of melted chocolate.

Give me a box of chocolates and I’m your friend for life. Seriously. Keep in mind that I prefer milk chocolate to dark, unless mint gets involved. A box with a map included for navigating the hidden treasures beneath the twists and twirls and peaks of chocolate gift wrapping will make my heart go all a flutter.

Mmmm, Manna.

A chocolate factory in Phoenix creates what our family refers to as “manna,” also known as “the food of the Gods.” Cerreta’s turns the standard chocolate mint on its head by encasing a delightfully rich truffle in a blanket of green-mint-melt-in-your-hand-before-it-gets-to-your-mouth white chocolate. Oh my Hannah! You have to try one. Worth every penny you invest in them. I can make one last a good ten minutes by taking teeny bites and letting them simply sit on my tongue, becoming one with my taste buds, serenading my mouth. Another thin sliver of a bite slips over my lips, one after another, until ten minutes later, I’m finally, blissfully, practically in heaven. Mmm. One is enough for a while.

The only thing close to Cerreta’s perfection is a Lindor truffle. The centers of those playful round orbs of Swiss chocolate seem nearly liquid. Just thinking about it makes me salivate. I figure Switzerland must be one of the happiest places on earth if it can produce such wonders and others like them.

I may need to make a chocolate run here any minute now.

Up close and personal with Texas sheet cake.

Other favorites include the infamous Texas Sheet cake, which is mostly butter with some chocolate and sugar added for good measure. I can make myself content with any chocolate enhanced slice of cheesecake. Pour some ganache on a dessert and resistance is futile.

MSH will occasionally arrive home from some errand and quietly slip a Cadbury fruit and nut bar onto my nightstand. I won’t see it until I’m tucking in for the night. Like an unexpected kiss, I feel cherished and known and cared for by such a gesture.

Sometimes the small things bring a smile, turning the corners of my mouth northward. Sometimes it’s the sticky, lick your fingers kind of things that make me grin. Today it’s both.

Categories: Food, Gratitude, Gratituesday | Tags: candy, Chocolate, chocolates, Comfort food, Food, Gratitude, Gratituesday, hot chocolate | 5 Comments

A Recipe for Spring

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Kami

We didn’t get much of a winter around Phoenix this year. I think I covered plants to protect them from freezing one time. I’m not complaining. Flowers still bloom and in fact thrive from last fall’s plantings.

Today’s post is in homage to spring, or what few weeks we have left of it here. It’s not long before the heat locksteps itself into its summer encampment. So I’m reveling in what I can.

If you’re still cabin-bound with snow and ice and freezing temps, maybe this can give you hope of things to come.

Here’s this year’s version of my recipe for Spring.

To one small plot of ground add the following:

Fresh jalapeno’s

Fresh jalapeno’s,

Cilantro

Tomato plants. (These have some petunias nearby for a dash of color and interest.)

Tomato plants

Basil, comes in handy for more recipes than this one.

And don’t forget Basil

I used Romaine, but any will do.

Newborn tiny lettuces, which hopefully grow quickly before the heat makes them bolt could liven up the flavor of your spring.

Newborn flowers, also known as seedlings if you forget what kind you planted there.

Add some newborn flowers of various types. (Hopefully, unlike me, you mark which kind you planted where so you know what they are when they sprout.)

Time, patience, kindness, love, they’re interchangeable, really.

Mix well and water often and gently.

Bake for a little bit of time and with some patience thrown in for good measure.

Grapefruit, still a few unpicked on the tree, and their blossoms, bring a particular sweetness to this recipe.

Top off with some fragrance as well, like grapefruit blossoms, which in the evening become particularly intoxicating on the cool air.

Serve on a platter of surprising wildflowers, this pink one showed up among the yellows and oranges, all by itself and makes a sweet addition.

Gnome 1

What garden is complete without a gnome?

Gnome 2 (they won’t tell me their names)

I added two as a nice garnish.

Bird. This one’s pretty quiet.

Although real birds will visit, I also garnish with a little bird of my own.

Some new leaves on a tree add a nice touch.

Serve alongside anything else you might want to add: new leaves, penstemon, or even a bird bath.

Penstemon comes in many colors, choose your favorite.

I think you’ll enjoy this recipe, or any variation you decide to make of it.

Note the bird bath in the corner, attracts birds and toddlers alike.

A bird bath attracts birds and toddlers alike.

You can never go wrong with Spring. It’s fresh, lively, invigorating, and full of hope.

Dig in and enjoy as soon you can!

Categories: Gardening, Hope, Nature, Outdoors, phoenix | Tags: desert spring, gardening, photos, plantings, spring, springtime | 4 Comments

Can Nothing Feel Like Something?

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Kami

The pass I’d given myself to wallow, read, sleep, and grieve, expired its “use by” date about a month ago.

“I’m sorry ma’am, that coupon isn’t valid anymore.”

Somehow things suddenly kicked into high gear a couple of weeks ago and my mind and body filled up the space and time I rent from the life library. I went back to the gym, put away my pile of “to read” books, started a new volunteer project, began cooking dinners, even made bread, and made headway with the stuffpiles that inhabit every room in the house.

photo by Sarang

In other words, my life shifted into a new normal. At least I thought so.

Two nights ago, MSH said something completely innocent and ordinary, and with his words the doorknob to my emotional storeroom clicked.

The door opened.

The air changed not in a physical sense, but just as clearly as the temperature and smell in a house changes when a door gets left open in midwinter, I knew something was different.

Can nothing feel like something?

Yes. Without argument. Absolutely yes.

I felt the loss of my best friend as raw and new as January. Instantly.

That emotional door allowed an onslaught of emptiness and loss to escape. I could no more push it away than a person can shove the cold air back outside and slam the door on it. The cold inhabits the room. It takes time and effort to reheat the inside air.

Two days, almost three, and I’ve felt lost again, unable to force away limbo and hurt and sorrow.

It’s not like I’m constantly thinking about her. Not at all. It’s more like her absence inhabits me. How does an emptiness fill something? I have no idea. I just know that’s what it feels like.

There’s a mental numbness involved as well. I find myself not engaging in conversations, barely following the words, the back and forth of it. My body’s in the room, but my mind, my focus, simply isn’t anywhere.

Photograph by Tomasz Sienicki

What do I do about it?

I don’t know. Keep breathing. Keep moving. Do.

Or maybe I need to not do anything. Maybe I give myself over to the feeling of loss, all over again. Sit in my porch swing and stare, again. Cry randomly, again. Pray more than normal, again. Muster up energy to respond to texts and emails, again. Sleep way too much, again. Stand around aimlessly and unproductive, again.

I’m guessing this sensation will go away eventually. I’m expecting that writing about it, out loud, here, might help.

It might come back again, too. I think grief does these looping things. It’s not a linear, stage by stage processing of the loss, but a kind of wandering path of varying emotions or lack of them. Occasionally the paths cross, I wander on to a different one without even realizing I’ve changed direction.

Don’t get me wrong.

I don’t feel hopeless.

That isn’t it at all. I just feel lost. Lost. Lost. Lost. Or empty. Very empty. Very very empty. As if I’ve been poured out on the sand and absorbed.

Wow. That sounds horrible. It isn’t as bad as it sounds, but then it isn’t really great either.

I’m fine. Really.

It’s just…grief.

This thing:

“Grief is a multifaceted response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or something to which a bond was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, it also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, spiritual, and philosophical dimensions.” ~Wikipedia

Sounds complicated.

Multifaceted response?

Dimensions?

Ten dollar words to describe and define sadness, sorrow, emptiness, hurt, and the left-behind perspective.

It’s today’s normal for me. And apparently yesterday and the day before. Maybe tomorrow and the next. We’ll see. Like a lifeboat on the ocean I’ll just drift about and see where the current takes me.

In the meantime, I’ll do my best imitation of a normal person when I’m in public.

There’s this last thought, which I like because it feels hopeful, and it acknowledges that there’s a process in play that I can give myself over to.

“Not knowing when the dawn will come I open every door.” ~ Emily Dickinson

photo by Klaus D. Peter, Wiehl, Germany

Categories: Death | Tags: bereavement, Death, grief, grieving, loss, sadness, sorrow | 6 Comments

Stir in A Teaspoon of Silliness and a Pinch of Nonsense

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Kami

It’s Gratituesday! Today I’m grateful for those little nonsense moments of inane laughter that happen on occasion. For me, now that the kids have all flown away, those moments come most often disguised as a video clip, a status update or a tweet.

I know, it sounds really pathetic. And maybe it is, but I don’t care.

My daily laughter happens one way or another. Some days more than others. Other days I simply shake my head (SMH) and sigh at the stupidity without the laughter. Depends on my mood, actually. What’s funny one day might not strike me as funny the next day.

My kids have always provided the best laughs. They still do, but mostly by saying, “hey, did you watch this video on Facebook?” Or, “did you see this joke yet?”

Long before I joined Facebook my kids shared tickle-my-funny-bone stuff like the Llama song. I still crack up every single time I see it.

And the Russian Car Dance video? Totally makes my day. I still want to make up my own car dance. Haven’t yet. I think I need a posse to do it, y’know a group of people in the car with too much sugar in their system and too many miles under their seats. We could rock some of those tunes. I’m sure of it. Maybe not enough to make our own video, but it’d be fun, at least.

One of my favorite tweeters can make me chuckle as well:

Abe also teaches first grade, so he has great material to work with.

Lately more than the normal amount of cat and dog videos have made the rounds. I reveled along with that Siberian Husky running through a pile of leaves. I felt like I was living vicariously for a few moments through that dogs obvious joy and abandon at such fun.

I secretly take joy in the videos where the cats get their comeuppance. That’s probably because I inherited my Dad’s cat tuning genes. Not to mention cats often get a bit uppity, as clearly evidenced by nearly any cat video out there, of which there are millions.

No apologies today. I’m just grateful that I can laugh at all. I don’t always feel like laughing, even though I know it’s good for me.

Please feel free to send me a link to your favorite laugh-inducing nonsense. I’m sure we could all use an extra laugh or two.

Happy Gratituesday!

Categories: Fun, Gratitude, Gratituesday, Humor | Tags: Gratitude, Gratituesday, laughter, memes, nonsense, silliness, status updates, videos | 1 Comment

I Think It’s Time for Some Recess, Don’t You?

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Kami

It’s spring break in our school district here, so the playground’s quiet.

“Whoever enrolled me in the school of life…

didn’t schedule enough recess.” ~ Peppermint Pattie

Do you ever get to feeling like Peppermint Pattie? Are you all slumped down in your desk? Can you hear the responsible grown-up people doing their “wha, wha, wha, wha, wha,” droning? Do you find yourself staring blankly off into the distance with not a single thought in your head?

Pretty sure I couldn’t make it across these monkey bars even if my life depended on it.

Yeah. Me too.

I’m pretty sure I need more recess scheduled in. Life’s school has knocked me on my butt big-time this past month or three and I’m tired of the learning curve. I’m afraid the road’s still aimed uphill though.

I think about what kids do at recess and wonder how I can get the same benefits without hanging upside down on the monkey bars. I’m pretty sure I’d probably pass out when the blood rushed to my head.

Boy, do I remember some amazing times spent on various playgrounds. Perks galore happen at recess:

fresh air
screaming time
time to chat with friends
letting boys know you like them without letting them know you like them
figuring out if the boys like you without directly asking
dodging skills
throwing skills
hiding skills
how to stay warm in a dress when it’s fifteen degrees
bathroom break
getting a drink or two
tether ball mastery
figuring out when to tattle and when not to tattle
being glad to get to sit down in the desk again
figuring out the whole being part of a group/or not thing
making plans for later

Admittedly, since I’m married, there’s a couple of those I don’t have to worry about. And since I live in Phoenix the question really isn’t about staying warm as much as it is how to stay cool in the summer while wearing clothing.

Who doesn’t love a slippery slide?

The other thirteen items seem important for navigating life’s school as a grownup. So if I take time to chillax, veg, cool it, take a load off, rest and relax, recreate and even play, in other words, have recess time, I’d probably get some of the same benefits as those kids screaming out on the school playground. At least, logically, you’d think so.

I’ve been known to scream, but not lately. Mostly my screaming comes out in the form of crying at random unexpected times. Maybe I should try scream therapy? Or maybe not. Of course, by attending a sporting event I’d have a good excuse to scream without making anyone feel bad. That is, if I don’t scream mean things at the ref or the coach. Which I don’t. Usually.

RECESS-ISH

What do I really do that’s like recess? Hmmm.

I recently started back at the gym a couple of times a week, playing Pickleball. That’s very recess-ish. I come away hot, sweaty, tired, laughing and energized. Great way to start a day.
Walks, I keep meaning to add those back in to my mornings. Mostly, my walks are spur of the moment with MSH rather late in the evening. Recess-ish? Sure! Chalk it up to the boys/girls relationship thing.
I belong to a book club. We chat, we mingle, we nosh. Feels very recessy.
My writer’s group has undertones of recess because I LOVE writing, it’s actually fun, enjoyable, relaxing and energy producing. I’m pursuing a long-delayed passion when I write and this amazing group of women encourage me in that pursuit. Definitely recess.
Reading. For fun. No assignment involved. Feels like a vacation, an escape, a decadent pleasure in its physical nothingness. A nice contrast to the constant motion of the rest of my day. YES, another recess moment.
Sitting on my front porch swing and watching the world go by. My ultimate recess pastime lately. R&R at its best. Does watching others play at the park count as recess? Does relaxing and swinging forward and back letting my mind wander count? I think so.
Picked up this bumper sticker at the Phoenix Marathon. Thanks to runnersfeat.com for their brilliant product.
Time on Facebook, playing online Scrabble and online Scramble all give me brief moments, okay, sometimes more than moments, of respite from the everyday non-stop to-do list of life. I laugh at a bizarre conversational thread, see what my sibs and friends have been up to, catch a quick cat or dog video, score a pathetic twenty-two points to my cousin’s fifty-six word score, spend two minutes finding words among a square of sixteen letters. A nice mental break. A score for the recess bracket.
One forty-five minute segment of a TV series a day. That feels decadent. That feels like sneaking out of class early and spending extra time on the playground when I shouldn’t. Why? I don’t know. Something about staring at the screen mindlessly letting stuff filter in? I shouldn’t feel that way. There’s just SO MUCH to do besides sit there. And I rarely feel satisfied, relaxed or energized by that particular pastime.

There’s something oddly relaxing about the squeak -squawk of a swing going back and forth…

Other things I could do that would rest and relax my mind and heart, but that I haven’t done lately: Listen to music. Dance in the kitchen. Garden. Bake. Nap. Camp. Hike. Bike. Eat dinner outside. Try something new. Plan a real vacation.

What am I doing still sitting here? I’m pretty sure I just heard the recess bell.

What do you do for R&R?

**Check out runnersfeat.com for more awesome bumper stickers related to running and other sports**

Categories: Fun, Happiness, Mental Health | Tags: Destressing, R&R, Recess, Recreation, Rest and Relaxation, Spring break, Time Out | 6 Comments

My Cousin Went Completely Bonkers This Weekend

Posted on March 6, 2014 by Kami

Last year my cousin ran the Phoenix half-marathon. Which, according to a bumper sticker I bought her, made her only half crazy. You can read my version and/or her version. They’re both entertaining, even if I do say so myself.

This year, she ran the full marathon. That’s 26.2 miles if you were wondering. And, she did it in under five hours!

Pretty impressive! Or full-on crazy.

Training, Training, and Training

Just another early morning for her. We left for the race at 3:45 a.m.

She logged a boatload of miles while training for this run. There were twenty-mile training runs, eighteen mile training runs, six-mile training runs, all sorts of running happened frequently outdoors and indoors. Imagine running for three hours on a treadmill. Can you say mind-numbing?

Keep in mind that my cousin holds down a full-time job and does volunteer work as well. She woke long before most of us even begin to drop into dream number three for the night. For months she did this! Her dedication and perseverance astound me.

Cheering from the sidelines took on a different feel this year. For logistical reasons I didn’t even show up at the side of the road until mile twelve. Last year at that point she’d be nearly finished with the race. This year it wasn’t quite the half-way mark. I arrived a bit early to stake some semi-permanent one-word signs in the ground. “Breathe” “Smile” and “Stroganoff.”

Stroganoff?

Yes. A story she told me about a friend of hers she often and unintentionally ended up eating stroganoff with. She suggested that before the race my cousin should write “Stroganoff” in Sharpie marker on her arm to remind her of her friend who’d be cheering her on in spirit. So I figured, if I included the word “Stroganoff” in a sign, she’d know the little series of three signs came from me. She said it worked.

I had a fresh water bottle waiting for her and a backpack filled with possible items she might need. The forecast had called for one hundred percent rain, which changes a race you thought would be warm and sunny, into a different animal altogether. Luckily, it only sprinkled a bit a couple of times. The deluge came later, raining out the Cubs spring training game, filling up water retention ponds and raining on various “parades.” But that’s another story.

One of several signs I’d whipped up for the occasion. Next time, I’d post some in the ground ahead of time.

I stood with my sign, and a whirligig. Yes, a whirligig. So my cousin would notice me among the crowd. My first sign said “YES YOU CAN.” Many runners say “thank you” when they read an encouraging sign. A couple of runners said, “Yes! I can!” And one said, “Boy, did I need that reminder.”

I made eye contact with some, others were focused, moving forward without notice of anything going on around them. Every face told a story. Some spoke louder than others.

Mile Eighteen

Once my cousin found me and got her fresh water bottle, I got back in my car and headed to our next agreed upon meeting spot, at mile eighteen. Navigating streets blocked off by a race this big takes some planning and luck and some good parking spots. I did better this year than last year.

Many of the same runners ran past that I’d seen at mile twelve. Makes sense if you think about it. The stories on their faces had changed a bit with eight more miles to go. More of them were walking, running slower or at least looked more worn.

The ones that really intrigued me still had smiles on their faces. I’d like to get their stories!

Familiar Faces

I was glad to see familiar faces and relieved to see them progressing. I was caring about these total strangers again, just like last year. Wish I understood that better.

My cousin ran by without needing any water, so she got my cheering and hopes.

Not much past that point she said it got really hard. Walking didn’t help, so she just kept running. I’m hoping she’ll write about her experience and let me post it here. I think her telling this story makes the most sense.

That’s here in the pink jersey. Notice the clouds? Not normal weather around here.

I hustled to get to my next stop near the finish line. I missed her crossing that line last year. Bad planning, heavy traffic, lots of closures.

26.2 Miles

This year I watched eagerly, not just for my cousin, but for the woman in the burka head covering, and the older woman who ran with such conviction and determination it nearly hurt to watch her move. And the woman who ran with a smile. There was a dad whose three young kids joined him for the last hundred yards. Some nearly burst into tears as they rounded the corner and saw the finish line so close.

I wanted to cry and cheer for all of them. What an accomplishment!

That last stretch looked like it hurt. My cousin wasn’t interested in seeing me there. Her focus zoomed in entirely on that finish line and getting her body across it. She managed to give the official camera a thumbs up and a smile as she crossed.

Simply being on the sidelines is an honor. Witnessing such a feat feels like something almost intimate and privileged.

Completing a marathon is an act of devotion and dedication, one involving the heart in more ways than we know. That’s something my cousin has a ton of.

Congratulations, Kettie!

Categories: Exercise, phoenix | Tags: dedication, Marathon, Phoenix, Phoenix Half-Marathon, Phoenix Marathon, runner, running, spectator | 2 Comments

Construction Zone Ahead, Please Merge, and Don’t Forget to Say Thank You

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Kami

It’s Gratituesday! Like the person with a leaky roof, I’ve got gratitude options pouring in on me. I haven’t got enough buckets and pans to set out to contain it all. To zero in on any one of them feels somehow unfair to the rest of my gratitude.

Weird, I know.

One thing that I’ve thought about for a few years now might seem dumb. But it keeps coming to mind even amid the more obvious, showy, big or happy things I’m thankful for.

Up near Flagstaff, actually.

I’m thankful today, and have been for a long while, for our amazing freeway system here in the Phoenix area.

When we first moved here nearly two decades ago there existed a north/south freeway of two lanes each direction and an east/west freeway of two and occasionally three lanes. Oh, and one that kind of veered off to the south and east. At least that’s how I remember it. Traffic always backed up all day long, all night long. At certain areas traffic bottle-necked into a tangle that made side streets seem the faster route.

Then the roads started getting widened. It’s tough to see the good when an already too small road becomes a construction zone. But, I remember seeing those workers out late at night with work lights blazing, or during the day in ungodly summer conditions and thinking how grateful I was to them for being willing to work such a difficult and demanding job. When the construction finished I remember thinking how amazing it felt to zip through town so quickly.

Every year for a while, more roads grew out of the desert, then existing ones widened, tweaked, and modified. Every change makes life easier to navigate in a car and simplifies my day.

Phoenix and surrounding ‘burbs now boast a loop that services nearly every community with quick, easy access to a freeway and few areas that truly jam up too much. And more roads continue under construction. To me, it’s an engineering marvel that such things exist.

Uh oh, traffic cones, better slow down a bit.

My Dad worked for the Department of Transportation as an engineer while I grew up. I remember looking at the blueprints, the fancy drawings, the meticulous hand lettering, the pages and pages of notes, and wondering what that had to do with roads. Back then the math was done with slide rules and on paper, and then calculators; the drawings done without the aid of computers. Amazing stuff now that I think back on it. To this day when Dad drives along a road he helped engineer in one way or another he comments, remembering details and stories about specific curves, hills, turns, side rails and even striping. Is that something? I think so. It says he put himself into his work. He took pride in it. He cared about what he did.

To men and women like him back then when the freeway system was in its infancy and toddlerhood, to the many people now, with the roads somewhere between teenager years and midlife crisis, I feel a great desire to say “Thank You.” And to those who took paper and drawings and transformed them into asphalt and bridges, concrete and smoothness, I also want to say “Thank You.”

Rarely a day goes by that I’m not a recipient of the blessings of their imagination, brilliance, hard work, and sweat.

If you know someone who works on roads somehow from beginning ideas to end product or somewhere in between, could you pass along my thanks? I’m not sure of any other way to do so.

And by all means, in construction zones, slow down!

Cute car I spotted on the North loop 101 headed west. Don’t worry, my passenger snapped the pic.

Categories: Gratitude, Gratituesday, Traffic, Transportation | Tags: construction, construction zones, engineering, freeway system, freeways, Gratitude, Gratituesday, highways, Roads, traffic cones | 5 Comments

Back Flash, Not Quite the Same as a Hot Flash, But Close

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Kami

This thing is a Thing.

Saw this car the other day parked across the street that belonged to some parent watching his/her kid practicing soccer. My favorite two-year old couldn’t ignore the thing. In fact she insisted on touching it, tried opening the door, peeked inside, very nearly climbed over the side and into the cute yellow and black plaid seats. Then I suggested a photo-op and she copped a few poses for me. Then she seemed satisfied.

Little did she know I’d just done a back to the future moment during all of that.

I so much wanted to own a VW Thing back in the day. So versatile, I thought. So cool, with it’s convertible roof. I could just picture myself at the beach, my surf board tossed casually in the back after a day of sun and waves. Or just as easily I could envision my backpack and tent piled in the back as I drove to the mountains for a weekend trip. Or even better, imagine me, the famous writer zipping about town in my flashy Thing, to this book signing and that book signing. I’d pop a cassette tape of David Cassidy in the ultra-modern radio console, crank my windows down, put the top back and be the envy of all who saw me.

Not sure how I was going to afford that on my McDonald’s “how may I serve you” salary, but I could surely dream big back then.

I wouldn’t have picked yellow though. Red, fire engine, fingernail, Maverick RED.

And after the dance, the Stomp is what we really called the casual dances, I’d pile my friends inside and we’d head over to the local drive-in and catch a double feature. Wouldn’t that be fun in a Thing? I thought so. Still do.

I liked how different it looked. Not like every other vehicle on the road. Fitting in was for cheerleaders and football players, not smart people.

Flash Back to the here and now. Reality check.

I’m just glad to drive something reliable, even if it’s a bit dated. And, quite frankly, I’ve had my fill of cars that stand out for weird reasons. Fading paint job, a never repaired gash, a window that won’t close, shocks that desperately need replacing on a nearly zeroed out budget.

I’ve been to the beach exactly four times. Closest I came to surfing was a sad imitation of someone boogie boarding. Gave a bunch of people a few good laughs, though.

Camping, I’ve done a ton of that. With MSH and the whole family. There’s some solid good times there. Sometimes all our gear sat atop the tiny Datsun in a totally uncool car top carrier. Sometimes it all fit in the back of the custom van or SUV. Sometimes it took a combination of both.

I met MSH dancing. That turned out okay. We even have a drive-in movie story that’s pretty funny.

We still have a cassette player in the truck we occasionally drive if we have to. There’s some pretty sweet tunes in our cassette collection. Chicago, Vivaldi, Three Dog Night, MoTab, Safety Kids, Brian Adams, Windham Hill, Whitney Houston, Yo Yo Ma, Hercules the Sound Track, Mason Williams, Sharon, Lois and Bram, Bread, Kenny Loggins. I could go on for paragraphs.

No book signings yet, I’m afraid. That would require an actual finished book. Working on that one. So maybe someday…

For the record, nowadays my dream car happens to look like this:

1975 Maverick Grabber

Oh yeah, baby!

Some of us just can’t let go of the past, at least, tiny bits of it. Ah, those were the days!

Categories: Fun, Memory Lane, self-image, Transportation | Tags: ambitions, back flash, back to the future, cars, dreaming, flashback, The Thing | 4 Comments

Whatever It Takes to Put a Smile on My Face

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Kami

It’s Gratituesday! I’ve found my life runs smoother when there’s laughter generously seasoning and spicing up the day. Some of my most difficult days have still managed to fit humor into the mix. How grateful I am that I figured out laughter’s importance not too far into my adult life.

I’d been a fairly serious child. And a serious teen. And as a young adult things seemed even more weighty and required, I thought, that I keep my head down, my shoulder to the wheel and my focus firmly on life’s intensity and purpose. Luckily, somewhere in there, I found laughter’s power to lift and succor, and it’s magically ability to lighten and encourage.

So today I’m thankful that my six word motto incorporates laughter. And I’m even more grateful that laughter happens often. Whether a great joke on Facebook, a hilarious video shared by a friend, antics of my favorite two-year old, witty repartee between friends, a silly song, or whatever brings it on, I’m glad for laughter in my life. I don’t think I’d get through each day without it.

My unofficial motto.

Here’s a few things that have made me laugh lately. I thought I’d share them with you today, so you can find a moment or two of joy in your day, regardless of what else might weigh you down or have you worried.

A restaurant we ate in recently had funny signs all over the place. This one was my favorite.

Couldn’t keep myself from snapping a photo of this one.

There’s these sort of groan-worthy, but yet, somehow funny puns.

(They work best if you read them aloud. You can thank my cousin who sent them to me.)

A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.
The batteries were given out free of charge.
A dentist and a manicurist married. They fought tooth and nail.
With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.
When you’ve seen one shopping center you’ve seen a mall.
Police were called to a day care center where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.
A bicycle can’t stand alone; it is two tired.
When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

The same restaurant also had this sign, which I’m afraid isn’t completely politically correct, but it’s still funny.

Not PC.

This one’s also from my cousin:

“Just got off the phone with a friend who lives in Minot, ND. He said that
since early this morning the snow has been nearly waist-high and is still
falling. The temperature is 32 below zero and the north wind is increasing
to near gale force. Wind chill is -59. His wife has done nothing but look
through the kitchen window and just stare.

He says that if it gets much worse, he may have to let her in.”

One of my favorite bible verses goes something like this: “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” ~ Proverbs 17:22

I hope to keep my bones well moisturized by plenty of laughter and smiles. Lucky for me that’s not too hard to do.

Categories: Gratitude, Gratituesday, Happiness, Humor | Tags: Gratitude, Gratituesday, Humor, laughter, silliness, smiles | Leave a comment

The Hazards of Sleep

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Kami

Ever grateful when sleep actually envelops me, I really shouldn’t complain.

And yet, this morning I find myself in a fog of sleep’s detritus, muddled, mired, heavy with the night’s work. For some reason the dream machine knobs all ratcheted up to extra high last night. Someone bumped the control panel maybe?

Only in dreams can a skateboard be a perfectly logical means of transportation on a freeway, as well as on a mountain trail.

Only in dreams does a wasteland of sandy desert intersect in clean lines with a dark thick forest of tangled growth and dangers.

Only in dreams can people leap from outlandish heights and end up landing gently in a moving vehicle.

Last night’s ultra vivid movie starred people from my past I haven’t seen in decades, as well as people I just spoke with yesterday. Complete strangers, of course, show up most often. As far as I can tell, no one had anything monumental or prophetic to say. Thank goodness.

Dreams fade fast, like sunsets.

Even now, as I write, most of what went on fades into the distance as quickly as a stunning sunset. Small glimmers of light wink on briefly but with no hand holds to grab for analyzing.

A couple of nightmares played into the mix as well. Being chased by something dark and evil, a maniacal laugh behind me as I attempted escape. MSH shaking me awake from my frightened cries. I shudder a bit even now as I think about the fogged over memory of it.

Years ago, when MSH traveled frequently for work, I had a nightmare so real that when I awoke I held the nightstand over my head and was screaming at a non-existent intruder to get out. My children had run into the room and turned on the light and were yelling to wake me. Poor dears were more frightened than I by the whole thing.

Luckily, that’s the only time I’ve been up and about in a dream.

At two and three years of age my son experienced night terrors. What a helpless feeling to see your own child, eyes wide open, screaming, terrified, moving about, but unable to wake up. It took two of us to wake and calm him, one to hold him firmly, the other to get a cool washcloth for his face. Then both of us to talk him into wakefulness.

These remind me of a dream’s ethereal and fragile nature.

I seldom remember my dreams or my nightmares. The few I remember still sit on a memory shelf at the forefront of my mind waiting for me to take them down and replay at will. Those, of course, pack a wallop of meaning and symbolism. Often, when I review the details of those dreams the meaning changes slightly based on changes in my life. I wrote one down once and emailed it to MSH because he played a prominent role in the dream. His interpretation, of course, fell in different lines than my interpretation did. Still does. Otherwise, my dreams stay in my head. No writing about them.

Writing a dream down gives it a different shape and texture. Assigning words to a thing as ethereal as a dream takes away some essential element and replaces it with a less refined, more sluggish substance. Even speaking about them out loud takes away part of the dreamlike quality, like attempting to capture fog in a glass jar.

If I could place an order for a dream or two I’d ask for a dreamy garden stroll with my maternal grandmother. I’d also like a dream of a day fishing with either or both of my grandfathers. And my paternal grandmother and I at an NBA basketball game would be a dream of epic proportions. And of course, I really want a dream where Kathy and I could chat endlessly. And because it’s a dream and everything could be ideal she’d be the one driving the car and running with abandon and jumping on the trampoline and working on some hair-brained but brilliant project in the garage. Oh, and a dream of being on a cruise for a week would also be nice and relaxing. Of course, the real version of that would be better.

Yeah, I’d like to place my order for those dreams. So if anyone who knows the Sandman and can put in a good word for me, I’d appreciate it.

Awake feels good for now.

Let’s get on with the day, shall we?

Categories: Mental Health, physical health, Wondering | Tags: dream, dreaming, night terrors, nightmares, sandman, Sleep, sleeping | 5 Comments

Author Archives: Kami

Chocolate Love

A Recipe for Spring

Can Nothing Feel Like Something?

Stir in A Teaspoon of Silliness and a Pinch of Nonsense

I Think It’s Time for Some Recess, Don’t You?

My Cousin Went Completely Bonkers This Weekend

Construction Zone Ahead, Please Merge, and Don’t Forget to Say Thank You

Back Flash, Not Quite the Same as a Hot Flash, But Close

Whatever It Takes to Put a Smile on My Face

The Hazards of Sleep

At least read this short quote…

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Stay a little longer.

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At least read this short quote…

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Stay a little longer.

Kami's Mornings by Email

Looking for something?

It’s all in here.

Let’s play fair, shall we?

RSS Link