Taking Flight for Adventure!!

The time has come to take flight like the butterflies and go out into a new world for adventure.  This time, my bags are packed and I am ready to go.  Mid-West here I come!  The first days are with Beth and Will in Iowa and then a short hop to be with Ivy and Heather in Nebraska.  My guess is that I will spend time in very different environments and with very different relating styles. Each will be a special treat and I am honored to be welcomed!  Watch for the stories and photos!!

On Butterfly Wings

A few days ago, I was leaving the house to go to an appointment with a pulmonologist - and no, I didn't know one existed either before I had a few CAT scans done to check things out.  Now, I was about to meet one.  Yes, going to talk about a 'mass' in the lung is not the most relaxing thing so as I went to get in the car, I gave myself the gift to pause and be still.  What a gift I was given back.  This butterfly was on our butterfly bush and so were FOUR others!  I stood there for the longest time and just watched as they gently glided back and forth dancing with one another as they became filled with the sweet nectar!  It was a very special and peaceful sign for me that everything was to be OK!!  The doctor, very pregnant, was very kind and supportive.  Next steps, a needle biopsy soon!  The love and support from family and friends is so totally special.  Thanks!!

Garden Flowers for My Friends!!

In a few short days, I am to fly out to the mid-West for my summer vacation?!?  Well, it is not the shore or the mountains and why am I going?  It started out to see Ivy's bedroom - my friend Heather's daughter in Nebraska.  Since I am to be so close to Iowa, well, I just had to spend time with my other friend , Beth and have the chance to meet her grandson, Clarence Pete.  He just turned 1 last week and I sent him a drum for his birthday.

So why the flowers??  I picked this bouquet from our garden for my friends.  Knowing that they would not last on the plane flight, the next best thing was a photo op.  Hey, isn't it wonderful how many more friends can enjoy the spectacular colors that Bill grows for me to pick?!?? Enjoy every gorgeous bloom and the amazing array of colors.  You wouldn't think they 'go together', yet with Mother Nature, a mixture is the order of the day!!  One last word about the cactus.  A few years back, I volunteered to visit with a hospice patient, Phyllis. Before she moved to Florida, I asked for a piece of the cactus to remember her by. Ever summer, she is back with me, gifting me with gorgeous yellow blooms.

                                                    

Imperfectly Perfect!!!

Well, it is not a 'perfect' picture, nor is it a 'perfect' world.  My thought though is that all is perfect in its imperfection.  Yesterday I wrote about Julie and her gift to me.  Today, the gift is from a greater source. Both fill me with awe and appreciation, a gratitude that fills me with an excitement to wake up every day to see what will come next! Life is truly a phenomenal adventure IF only we allow it to be so!!  Who could say they are bored when they could go and watch the flowers, bugs and nature in all of her glory?!?   Why did I post this particular sunset?  I haven't seen the sky light up with this beauty in days and this view was by accident - ok - there are no accidents!  I was coming down the stairs, looked out the window and saw the sky.  It was almost too late to get a picture and this is what I got - a GIFT  to be sure.  Enjoy every minute!  It is all the you are given - the precious present!!!!

Gifted by a Friend! Blessings!!

http://www.remo.com/portal/artists/5264/Julie_Bunucci.html

Synchronicity is something I talk about a lot when I write the PhotoSchmoozer blogs.  I find that when I am awake and aware, people and situations just come to me that are so special and meaningful!!  Ya' know that I am interested in hand drumming and learning more about it.  So I tend to follow my nose and seek out like minded souls.  In June, on one of the first HOT days of summer, Bill and I went to West Cape May for BarkBash!!  It was so exciting for me to be surrounded by drums and really cool drummers!  There was so much energy flowing.  One of the people I was fortunate to meet that day was Julie Bunucci.  We talked generally about drumming and then go to Remo's Health Rhythms, the training I am going to in September!!  Julie has already been there and we would meet again in Princeton.  We traded information and then met again at Auggie Doggie's drumming in Brigantine a few weeks ago!  Julie's a kind gentle spirit - so resourceful and a great listener.  The other day I asked Julie if I could come to one of her sessions to see what HealthRhythmns drumming protocol is all about.  Listen to this?!?  She said she would love to 'gift' me with a session at my house!!  Am I filled with gratitude?  Have I invited people?  Are we ready to go?  You bet!!  It's a perfect case in point about reaching out and meeting new people.  Ya' never know what will come of it all!!  Julie also facilitates a Health Rhythms session every month at Gilda's Club in south Jersey. 

 http://gildasclubsouthjersey.org/

Check it all out and THANKS JULIE FOR BEING YOU!!!

Twins Turn Twenty!!! YEAH!!

Can you believe this?!?!  It was just 'yesterday' when my brother-in-law Mark called and said, "The girls are here!"  Yes, we knew how many and the sex as well, so the excitement wasn't quite as strong and oh wow as it might have been with a total surprise.  Still it was a joy and a blessing - two totally healthy individuals and yes they are twins.  Rebecca Lynn, on the left, is a junior at Goucher College in Baltimore.  She will be studying abroad in the Fall in England.  On the right is Kathryn Hope, a junior at Dickinson College, in Carlisle, PA.  She will be studyiing abroad in Argentina and leaves in a week!!  As the proud aunt who is entitled to spoil these girls, I could go on and on with pictures and stories but, every family has their wonderful children.  These are just ours!!  How their personalities and temperaments have evolved were evident from the beginning yet, there are twists and turns and surprises that make the adventure of their growing up delightful!  As I get to know them as young adults, I hear how one believes she was affected by the other and their reality doesn't always match mine!  I say that 20 is the age when young people come into their own, and my girls are yet more evidence of just that fact!   In my ways, I love and affirm them and as always, wish them love, joy and the gift of empowerment to be all they can be!!

Defining the Rules of Relationships?!?!?

The other day, Allison and I were joyfully creating a prototype for our Recipes for Relationships cards.  We started talking about each card and what we needed to include. Being the counselor who studied sociometrics in school, she was sharing about coencentric circles representing relationships with SELF at the center and then other levels all the way out to the casual person who comes into your life once!  Then I was talking with Karen, and she said she didn't get the 'rules of groups'.  I have been paying attention to the relationships in my own life and today was a quiet reflective day where I began thinking about the Rules of Relationships.  I am particularly perplexed about one.  I have never quite understood how to define it and now, before I could figure out the rules, they have drastically changed!!  Several of my relationships often follow the rule of calling when they are driving somewhere; others only text or email and yet others are available to truly be there and listen and care!!  You guess which are which because I won't get myself into trouble by stating the obvious!!   Allison and I talk about the Ingredients for Relationships.  I look for respect, trust and lots of listening.  I strive to reciprocate though I do know that neither I nor anyone else is 'perfect'!!  What we really need to strive for is all of the aforementioned ingregients and then add acceptance.  What we also have to realize is that not everyone is meant to have a close relationship with everyone else. It's a lot of work to be a human being and engage in the dance of relationships.  Sometimes our toes and those of others hurt as they get stepped on,  The beauty is that we keep listening to the rhythms and strive to get in step!!

Drumming with Auggie Doggie: Brigantine, NJ

Since I first became enchanted with hand drumming and the Healing Power of the Drum(Robert Friedman), my wish has been to drum on the beach!!  On 7/7 my wish came true and honestly, folks, it lived up to all of my expectations!  I connected with Auggie Doggie a few months back, met him at the BarkBash in West Cape May last month and knew he would be facilitating drum circles soon on the beach in Brigantine, NJ.  My friend, Karen, decided to live the adventure with me and we took off 'down the shore'.  We were welcomed to Atlantic City by the massive array of casinos and 5 windmills generating electricity.  The night was hazy and the skyline was not clear, but not at all daunted, we arrived.  There was an ocean breeze, very few green head flies biting, and before the night was over, there were more than 25 of us totally engrossed in one another and the drumming.  Auggie Doggie is a wonderful facilitator with a quiet energy.  He has a special knack to make everyone feel welcome.  Again met up with Julie (she will be at HealthRhythms in September) and found some new friends.  Next week, Mimi and Bernadette will join us and then...  It's all about the synchronicities and they abound!!  Ask and you shall receive and that I did!!  Keep the rhythm in your heart - listen to your heartbeat!! 

Uniquely Her!! Expressions of Self!!

Shouldn't we all express our uniqueness and individuality?!?  I have done so with my Guardian Angel doll and while we were at Cold Spring Village near Cape May last weekend for a quilt show, a woman stopped by to view our beautiful work and this is what she was carrying!!  I had to talk to her and take a picture because, although traditional quilts are 'ok' to look at and for most people to sew, this totally made me excited!!  Now I NEED to express myself and make something to carry around with me too!  My challenge right now is WHO AM I and how will I express myself.  My friend Annee gave me a Suzy Toronto Wild Wonderful Wacky Woman mug last week and the persona that Suzy draws is the woman I am becoming!!  My wish is to release 'HER' and get on with my dance of life!!  Last night I was with some 'balls of energy' and at first I thought that I needed to be like them and then I woke this morning and said, "STOP!!"  They are NOT you nor do you choose to be them!  Working at home has created a piece of me that is quieter and more reflective and honestly, that feels like a strong part of my individuality.  My friend Susan shared this, "That is why we have daisies, maple trees and green grass and they are all the beauty of nature!!"  Oh my what wonderful realizations and for that too I am totally grateful.

She is ME!! and She is WONDERFUL!!  She matters because SHE HAS VALUE!!!

The Guys Love to Hang Out and Schmooze!!

If you spend any time Uptown Pitman, you will see Tom all around town.  He is one of the favorite local characters, often has his coffee, and loves to be ornery.  This day, early in the morning the day of the Pitman Bike Race, I first noticed the 'cool guy' Wes with the Sanford t-shirt.  Then he went to get his son, the owner of the Grill (newish restaurant in town) and like, the three monkeys - though I won't assign a role of see no, hear no or speak no to any one of them - I asked them to pose for me on the bench.  They are full of life and just make PhotoSchmoozer forget the cares of the world and laugh!!  How catching can that be?  Then last week, at Fourth Friday, well, I looked around and there they were again!!  Of course, another opportunity for laughter, hugs and photo ops!!  This is life as it needs to be in Small town USA.  Now it is soon time for Fourth of July celebrations - can you believe the town even had signs printed that no one could put their chairs for the parade out before July 2?!?  It's a tradition.  Just wait until the opportunity comes for photoschmoozing with parade goers and our neighbors for the fireworks!!