Simple Pilgrimage

This picture was taken on February 11 after getting 51 inches of snow in 5 days.

This picture was taken this morning, March 10, after more than a week of warming temperatures and bright sunshine.

The snow is quickly melting away without causing flooding. Flowers are sprouting up all around the yard.

The official start of Spring is only 10 days away – come on Spring!

Posted on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at 8:25 AM

What a day, guys.

Monday tried it’s best to kick my ass. I spent all day fighting back. As of early this afternoon I was winning, then bam – a headache from hell. Monday was back in the lead, but I wasn’t about to give up. I rested, fueled up on some pizza and came back strong enough to knock some really important things off my to-do list.

It was about 10pm when I reclined in my big comfy chair thinking “Ha, Monday, I showed you!” Then, I remembered – it’s Birthday Month!!

I hadn’t planned anything to do to celebrate today!

What a great reflection of my life! I easily get caught up in the business of life that I forget to do the fun (and important) things I promise to myself.

With just two hours left in the day I was left with a couple of choices. I could give in to the fact that I didn’t plan or make time for this and skip today. Or, I could scramble.

I chose to scramble! (Take that Monday.)

Thankfully, I have an emergency stash of sparklers and a good friend nearby. So at 10:30pm we had a Surprise Sparkler Pajama Party!

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Today’s celebration was shared with everyone in town who took advantage of the beautiful, sunny day. I celebrated the afternoon by taking a walk thru the city with a good friend. Along our walk we chatted about the joys and stressors of life right now. Starting out there seemed to be more discussion about the stressors, and not so much about the joys. However, by the end we discovered Utopia.

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I only have one word for Day 6 of Birthday Month…

Champagne!

photo credit: federica esse

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Today was one of the busiest work days I’ve had in the past couple of weeks, but I still found a few moments to do something to celebrate birthday month.

Recently I (re)discovered the power of expressing gratitude. To celebrate today and the amazing people around me, I spent a few minutes writing thank you notes to people who have gone out of their way to do something kind for me, or that have inspired me.

photo credit: Indie Bands With a Mission

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I’ll let you guys in on a little secret, I absolutely love presents! I love giving, receiving and sometimes just dreaming about what I would give people if I had all the money in the world.

My mom knows this about me – well, actually she nurtured this love affair with gifts that I have. No one will ask me what I want for my birthday more often than my mom. Over the years she’s given me books, shoes, clothes, cat toys and many other things that girls adore.

But, there are some gifts that no one can give me, not even my sweet mom. These are beautiful, priceless gifts that only I can give myself.

On Birthday Month Day 4 I gave myself permission (and encouragement) to speak my truth.

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A vital part to throwing a great birthday party is having the perfect guest list of people you love and that are fun to be around.

But, occasionally someone who was not invited feels the need to stop by and crash the party.

An uninvited guest crashed my Day 3 birthday celebration.

photo credit: W J (Bill) Harrison

Day 3?s celebration took place at a bowling alley with some new friends from my BNI group for the group?s monthly social event. I curled my hair, wore a fun top and put on some pink lipstick for the celebration. Once there I laughed with my new friends and tried my first (and second) Long Island Iced Tea.

When I was younger I loved going bowling with my sister, brother and friends. We would often be found at the bowling alley on a Saturday night for Midnight bowling, when we would bowl till 3 or 4 in the morning. However, I retired my bowling shoes after college, and calling my comeback performance rusty would be a generous compliment.

Being somewhat athletic most of my life there have been only a few sports and activities which I couldn?t complete to my satisfaction. However, bowling has become one of those activities.

Maybe it was the Long Island Iced Teas, but I quickly attributed it to losing my athletic ability because??I?m getting old. My body and mind are starting to fail me. I had heard this would happen, and what better timing than Birthday Month.

As I was letting those thoughts seep into my brain and work on being ok with getting old (because I hear you can easily accept that notion in just a few moments in a bowling alley), a couple of my friends made innocent, harmless comments about my age?.about how much younger I am than them.

And, that?s when an uninvited guest crashed my party. That bitch, Insecurity, popped in to reinforce the lie that I am not ?enough?.

Great – what?s a birthday celebration with out some confusion on feeling too young or too old, instead of just right?

Over the past year I?ve been working hard at battling back against Insecurity. I call her out for what she is ? a coward and a bitch. She is simply an obstacle that I must overcome.

My gift to myself on Birthday Month Day 3 was the courage to name my insecurities and the wisdom to embrace being ?just right?, which I did by taking a drive through downtown late at night. The dark, empty streets nestled between the tall buildings seemed to be waiting for the hustle and bustle of another work day. It served as a great reminder that life is too dynamic and complicated to be summed up into ?I am too much this? or ?I am too little that?.

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For day 2 of Birthday Month I treated myself to a mini-vacation. I escaped from my world of dirty laundry and deadlines to visit the world of another young woman in her moment of truth.

My trip was to the Cultural Center at Glen Allen to see the On The Air Radio Players present “The Philadelphia Story” – which was released in 1940 as a movie staring Cary Grant & Katherine Hepburn.

Watching the radio show was fun, as the actors were in costume and also performing all the sound effects for the show. The actors did their best to keep up with speed at which Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant would deliver their witty lines –  a fun duo that I fell in love with when my sister and I saw “Bringing up Baby”.

The gift I received came from the main character, a young woman struggling to define herself and her relationships. After much therapy and liquoring up my friends to the point where they spill their inner most thoughts, I have come to the conclusion that we are all fighting this battle of being true to ourselves AND being in relationship with others. I’m front and center on the battlefield, equipped with my heart on my sleeve and an arsenal stock-piled with weapons of mass destruction.

In “The Philadelphia Story”, she won a battle in the war of living. Watching her find a way for love and authenticity to co-exist gave me hope that I can also win those battles and taste the sweet victory when my heart stays intact and I experience the miracle of connecting with another human being.

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Most of you only think of today as March 1st.

Yet, my family knows that today is the first day of Birthday Month. Some people just celebrate on their actual birthday, others may stretch it to an entire week, but I’m not most people.

I love to celebrate, plus I know so many wonderful people with birthdays in March that I declared each day of the month shall be celebrated!

Each day this month I will do something to celebrate life, all the way up until the 31st (which is my birthday).

Today I celebrated the love of a good friend and the sweetness of life by enjoying a delicious vegan cookie that was given to me. I also celebrated my desire to be a writer by starting an article/essay I hope to craft into something worthy of publication.

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Accuweather.com says “March 1st is the official start of meteorological spring in the Northern Hemisphere. The months of December, January and February make up the coldest three months of the year, which is meteorological winter. Meteorological spring continues through the end of May.”

Accuweather.com historical weather data supports the above in the sense that the average high temperature for days in March is in the 50’s and 60’s, and the average low temperatures are above freezing. Historical temperatures will improve steadily with the Hi/Lo reaching 60/40+ by March 24. We can only hope our actual temperatures improve that quickly as well.

We have learned from experience that the swimming pool water temperature closely tracks the average Lo temperature for the period so it will have a large bearing on opening the pool for the season.

Welcome March and meteorological spring! 19 days until the Spring Solstice when the hours of daylight and darkness are equal.

Posted on Monday, March 1, 2010 at 7:42 AM