And the Stingy Old Grinch's Heart Grew TWO Sizes that Day!

There are good, good people with whom we share this big blue marble.
Thank God for them and you, too!
That
Is
All

How can we sleep while our beds are burning? #burniture

The rite of Burniture burning!

So, I thought I would take a moment to introduce you to a really fun and exciting new trend...started by my boyfriend Aaron and named by me. Aaron has always been offbeat and quirky in the best way possible. When I met him last year, for example, he encouraged me to bring an old dresser I had kicking around over for "burning in a bonfire." I didn't quite understand. I assumed he wanted to take a hatchet to it and use it as wood for the fire. No, that would be a bit too conventional for him. For Aaron, burning furniture holds a much more sacred allure. It's a ritual. A sacrificial rite.

It was the second fire in as many weeks when I asked Aaron if he needed me to bring him any "burniture" for that evening's festivities. Thus was born a fantastic new name for a fantastic new trend...originating here in the crux of Connecticut's redneck zone. Look at how fun it is! Hashtag it on FB and Twitter and Instagram.

So someday, when Hipsters are eating their ramps and drinking their PBR by their burniture parties, remember folks, you heard it here first.

Get Real on the Internet Week...I'm Real on the Internet!

 We walked out the door. We decided to go for a noon hike. Mia (the little yellow dog), Bear (the big, poorly shorn dog), my friend Christine and I headed out the door of my little cottage. No sooner than we had walked across the yard we saw something like this coming:

Ruh roh, I knew what this meant. I knew someday, I would check "Street View" and be able to circumnaviagate a cyber image of me. Well that day has come...and here I am...I am trapped in the wide world Web. For at least the next little while, I know I exist because I can Google my address and see me there, frozen like a mosquito in amber.

And Another Thing...

So, common apocrypha would have us believe it takes 21 days to form a new habit. However, I just read an article that suggested for complex tasks, it's really more like 50 days...and can take the better part of a year. How long do we think it will take a person to forget a person? I'll explain...

A year and a half ago, I met a man through a dating site (this truly was beginners luck, because I have been back to that dating site well many times with nothing close to these kinds of results). Anyhow, we had a first date that I characterized on a scale of 1-10 as a 10. We dated for a couple of months, but he was not looking for commitment, turns out. So, we stayed friends and talked on and off everyday for a long time. He dated others, I dated others, but we remained friends. He got me. I got him. I was let inside his fears and insecurities and I revealed mine. We acted as therapists, life coaches and advisers to each other.

We were lovers at times. We truly loved. I fell in love over and over again, but was it the dream? Was I in love with the idea that I had created on our first date of what we would be? I believed I had met my match in intelligence, humor, quirkiness and extreme outdoorsy-ness. I was a pioneer who had met her homesteading partner. My strengths and his strengths were similar, but different enough to be complementary (PS: I just spent five minutes contemplating if this was the right "complement/pliment" to be using here).

I found this Anais Nin quote to ring true. I thought I got to know the human being with the flaws. I thought I loved him. As it turns out, I might have not ever even have known him. I might have always been in love with the dream. And now, I find myself at the beginning of a new year ready to let die this old habit. Let go of the myth. Let go of the dream. Let go. Letting go......

New Year...Resolute...

resolute - firm in purpose or belief; characterized by firmness and determination; "stood resolute against the enemy"; "faced with a resolute opposition"; "a resolute and unshakeable faith"

I am trying to get back to blogging. Writing is such a centering activity for me and I need centering. I don't like resolutions. I don't like setting myself up for failure. And, when it comes to exacting willpower in my life, I fail way more often than succeed. So instead of a specific resolution, I am vowing this new year to be resolute.

Resolute in my faith.
Resolute in making healthy choices.
Resolute in stopping unhealthy activities.
Resolute in being a better parent. 

In 2013, I enabled myself. I put on weight. I drank and ate too much. I allowed myself to dwell in a world of anxiety and distress. I got all hung up on a silly bunch of notions that I couldn't shake. JUST.COULD.NOT.SHAKE. I don't know that I will do any better this year, but I am resolute to try.