Found on Pinterest...

Just one question...how did whomever wrote this get into my head?  A perfect start-of-the-work-week giggle!

Backyard dreams for Pink Saturday

For the past few months, my husband has been working hard on our backyard. There was tons and tons of decking, covering over half of the yard. And it was all rotting, so up it must come.

He's done a lot of it already...and teh rest is in progress.

But even before the first board was removed, I started recreating the space in my head...

1) It will be green and rich and shady, to make it perfect for an early morning breakfast or a late afternoon cup of tea.

2) It will be welcoming, with comfortable places to sit and secret spots of beauty to discover.

3) It will look as though it has been there for years, growing and becoming. No neat rows of perfectly spaced identical plants.  Nothing that would be called "landscaping" or "shrubbery."

4) But most, most most of all, it will be a place where fairies and other magical beings will feel at home. Where the mere fact that a visitor hasn't seen them is not enough to convince anyone they aren't there.  Instead, they will say... "Was that a glimpse of a wing just around that tree?" Or perhaps,   "Did I see an odd sparkle among those flowers? "


For now it's still in the dream stage.  There are piles of wood, and some still to be removed.  Then there is the ground to level, and plants to buy....

But it's on its way! And that is good enough for now :-)

Happy Pink Saturday!

Working hard on a Wednesday

Lots to get done today at work, and it's doubly challenging because I didn't sleep well last night.  Never a good thing when you leave for work counting the hours until you can sleep tonight!

A quiet farm road near Lancaster, PA....

But I didn't want to neglect my blog and my readers today, so here are some thoughts on work and sleep, along with some images of where I would rather be right now....

“If A equals success, then the formula is A equals X plus Y and Z, with X being work, Y play, and Z keeping your mouth shut.” ~  Albert Einstein 

and from that same great mind, as I prepare for a meeting where I have to explain a fairly complex process....

“If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough”  Thank you Al...I'll keep that in mind...

Cinderella's castle in Walt Disney World...

And on sleep, from one of philosophy's most "cheerful" spokespersons ...

Sleeping is no mean art:  for its sake one must stay awake all day.  ~  Friedrich Nietzsche

And my personal favourite, which my husband is just learning to understand....

Life is too short to sleep on low thread-count sheets.  ~Leah Stussy

So now, it's off to work, perchance to dream a bit, to imagine where, when my head hits the pillow tonight, my dreams will take me....

Dream house? Why not?

The other day, I posted a link to my dream house on my Facebook wall. It's a beautiful home in Boulder. The view?  Well, you can see the view.  Perfect. Just perfect.

So why did I post it?  It's not that I have $2 million in the bank, and can buy it today.  I posted it because I could at some point, have 2 million in the bank.  Or 10 million. Who knows? I posted it because it's good to dream, and to remind ourselves what it is we dream about.

It's so easy to get caught up in the day to day, focusing only on meetings at work, the grocery shopping list and what the kids need to do for homework.  Days, weeks, months or even years can pass by without us lifting up our heads (or our hearts) long enough to look at where we're going in life -- or remembering where we want to go. Some people forget their dreams for decades, only to realize one day, maybe when this life is almost over, what they once wanted to do and be but never got around to trying.

So here is my challenge for you today.  Take some time and think about something you want.  Something you dreamed about.  Make it a big dream. It could be a trip you wanted to take.  A degree you wanted to complete. Or a house on a mountain side you wanted to own. Find a picture that represents your dream, and post it somewhere.  On your wall, your door, your bulletin board or your Facebook wall. Tell the world what you dream about.  And then -- and here is the really important part -- tell yourself about it. Feel it. Dream it. Make it real, and see it happening.  Dare to challenge the universe -- and yourself -- to make it happen.

Dreams do come true.  But first you have to have the dream.  Happy dreaming!

What would you do with a free month? Wow!

I just read a post on a London blog asking what I would do with a free month?  Their post was inspired by an ad that claimed that NOT having to shave one's legs would free up an entire month of time....of course, they were talking about laser hair removal, and my thoughts went to friends who went to Reed and left their legs (and pits) hairy, but hey, a month is still a month!

Anyhow...before memories of my friends with hairy appendages gets me off track (just one more thing -- never wear hose with hairy legs!  Please!)

Here is my one month plan (assuming all bills were paid, of course!)

Day One -- Find a nice sidewalk cafe' and spend the morning reading, people watching and chilling out to jazz or classical music. Go home, take a nap, and zone for just that one day.

The rest of Week One -- Alternate Catching Up on all those annoying things around the house, like my messy clothes in the closet, rearranging the pantry, and sorting through folders of warranties for things I no longer own, and having lunch with friends, walking on the beach, and going to bookstores (remember, I said alternating -- all work and no play would NOT be on my agenda!)

Week Two and half of week Three -- Fly up to PA to hang out with my son and my friends up there.  Go for long hikes, shop for yummy fruits and veggies at the Farmer's Market, and take about a zillion pictures of tiny architectural details on old buildings. Show my new husband all the places he's heard about, from Mount Gretna to Lancaster to Lititz.

Remainder of week three and half of week four -- Fly to Boulder, Colorado to visit friends, hike and soak up the scenery, cool evenings and magnificent sunsets and sunrises. Take all three of my kids with me, because the older two have probably forgotten the Rockies, and the little one has never been there. Take my husband because he's ultimately fun to be with and would love it there. Go to inspiring Renewal services in the mountains.

Last few days of the month -- Fly home, relax, write, chill, get ready to return to work, inspired and happy and finally, finally, finally rested.

PS -- I have not had a vacation (not counting long weekends and family visits) in over 15 years!

Flyaway...

Dreaming of flying away, with my love, with my children. Far away, through the rainy sky and clouds. Landing ever so gently near a Paris sidewalk cafe where we could warm our hands and our stress-tattered hearts with big cups-that-are-really-bowls of steaming hot chocolate and dip flaky butter croissants and not care about the bits that drip on our clothes.

Dreaming of finding a hidden bookstore, carefully crafted to be invisible to those who rush by on their way to meetings and business and busy-ness. Sinking down deep into an armchair, warm lamplight illuminating the faces of those I love, our laps laden with beautiful books and our minds finally free to imagine what we really want to do with the rest of the day and the rest of the week and the rest of our lives, now finally finally finally free from boxes and chores and plans that never worked out no matter how hard we tried or how little rest we allowed our selves.

Dreaming of seeing that the stories in the books we hold aren't the stories from other lives and other pens, but our stories and knowing, at last, that we can write the rest of the pages with our days and fill the empty picture-spaces with the things we see and the people we come to know and the our-selves we finally meet.

Dreaming of standing on a hillside, seeing the landscape spread before us and the endless roads we can wander and knowing that there is now time to walk and time to stand still and time to climb and time to just sit and watch the pictures G-d makes with the clouds and the light.

Dreaming of drifting off to sleep in a featherbed, the lights of Paris below, the days ahead. Somewhere in the distance, a faint whisper of music offers the perfect score for our dreams of this new life. Dreaming. Dreaming. Of Flying Away.