Half full or half empty?

Is the glass half-full, or half-empty?

The glass is half-full or if were to be half-empty, it is only half-empty waiting to be filled to the top. I always found it interesting that someone coined that idea to visually and symbolically explain the difference between optimism and pessimism. I must admit that I am happy and grateful to be an optimist, it makes life easier to live. I can get very dark and very sad but those days or those hours do not last for long. Those emotions and feelings are more like a wet, heavy blanket shrouding my vision and mind, the blanket isn't a permanent fixture, it gets thrown off. I'm still trying to figure out how to banish it forever but I don't know if that would be good. If you don't have occasional sadness then how will you truly appreciate happiness?

Where's my wall?

Reblogged from thankyouandgoodnight:

Robert Frost wrote a poem called "Mending Wall" and the interpretation we learned in class was that it was about how we build walls to keep things out like fears. We also keep people out, people we don't like or people we are afraid to let in. Many people have walls and are afraid to let their walls down. Me? Well I don't have a wall.

Read more… 270 more words

I found this to be brave and very thoughtful.

Wiped beyond belief

Tags

exhaustion, family visits, postaday2013, writing

I am so wiped from this weekend, I feel as if I ran a marathon; in between walking Jack a mile six times a day, helping my mother and my sister with the Mother’s Day celebration. My mother and I made two quiches both with caramelized onions and leeks and prosciutto de parma and when we got to my sister’s, we helped her with chopping and mincing the herbs and vegetables for the frittata, and setting the table. We even shared my Mother’s Day gift of cheesecake with my sister and her family. The two and a half days of making sure that Jack didn’t have any accidents and the walking plus with the helping, makes me one exhausted lady today.

As for my gifts, my hubby indulged me on my love affair with handbags with my newest acquisition that he picked out himself. He picked a beautiful and interesting handbag, I love it. My babies for the first time went to the mall and picked out my presents, just the two of them, and bought them without being reminded by their father. They were so happy and proud of themselves, they touched my heart, my babies did with their thoughtfulness. Being a mother is the greatest challenge that gives the greatest rewards, everlasting unconditional love.

Daily prompt: Fill in the blank

Tags

blogging, daily prompts, fill in the blank, imagination, postaday2013, writing

Three people walk into a bar, they stand closely together at the head of the steps looking left and right, obviously not sure which way to go. The bar that they chose to enter is the Horseshoe Bar in the Alphabet City, N.Y, calling it unique is an understatement to say the least. The Horseshoe Bar is famous in the neighborhood for being fiercely protective of its decidedly local flavor, bohemian feel and low key atmosphere. The patrons aren’t looking for flash, pizazz or celebrity, they have their home away from home and that is how they want to keep it.

These three individuals are obviously put off by the layout of the joint; a large horseshoe of a bar with beautiful wood varnished by years of hand rubbing, the oils from the multitude of hands producing a rich mellow hue on the bar’s surface. It was obvious to the usual patrons that these three were like fish out of water, definitely not in their normal environment. They were stuck in space, unsure which side to choose. No one was sure why they chose their neighborhood bar to enter, it didn’t have a fancy sign on the outside, it wasn’t known outside of Alphabet City and if you walked past it quickly, you wouldn’t even know it.

The three meekly descended the steps and made their way to the middle of the horseshoe and tried to get the barman’s attention. The barman, probably sensing their discomfort, quickly got to them, looked at the tall one n the eye and asked “what can I get you folks?” the tall one said “3 beers, please”.

The tale has started and who knows where it will lead.

Happy Mother’s Day to everyone!

Tags

Mother's day, postaday2013, presents, writing

Happy Mother’s Day to everyone. I had a wonderful Mother’s Day and boy was I spoiled! I’ll write about it more tomorrow because I am way too tuckered out. So I am sharing pictures instead.

The little things

Describe a little thing-one of the things you love that defines your world but is often overlooked.

I'm trying to think of a little thing that defines my world and is often overlooked and I am not entirely sure what it is. I know that I get giddy over the simplest of things like what I had written about the other day, the fact that I saw new green shoots on my sage and thyme that I left outside this winter that was especially harsh. Perhaps such simple things are often overlooked and under appreciated but not in my gardening world.

Some visuals of New York

Tags

Driving, freedom tower, New York, postaday2013, sight seeing, Staten Island

This afternoon my hubby, Jack and I went in the car to venture off to Staten Island, the one borough in New York that I have never been, to visit with our cousin Nancy the artist. She is currently living there in a beautiful loft apartment not far from the Staten Island ferry, giving her very cheap access to New York City. It was a miserable day in the neighborhood, crazy dark clouds on top of thick white clouds interspersed with ribbons of blue sky, Nancy could well have painted the sky, she is very, very talented, and what better way to spend an icky day than to go and visit with someone you love, even for just a little bit.

We left her place at five because all of our cell phones beeped with an emergency warning of flash floods in the area until five thirty, so we said our good byes in the rain, Nancy kindly walked us to the car.

Her apartment is seriously nice. The open space has been smartly separated into the living section and the artist’s work area. Her work area was full of hints of future sculptures and the space was resplendent of light from two walls of window after window and a large skylight. It, as a working space bathed in natural dream, was every artist’s dream. Nancy is so happy with her loft, her work shop, her projects and her art. I’m happy for her, she truly has a happy home.

On our way back, my hubby decided to take us back to my mother’s house via the city. We took Battery Tunnel into lower Manhattan and emerged looking up at the Freedom Tower, it was a beautiful sight, it’s almost completely done.

We then drove up West Broadway through Soho reminiscing about out many forays to really lovely restaurants throughout the years. The trip down nostalgia lane continued through the Chelsea District, midtown, up until East 57th where we turned to take the Queensboro Bridge. It was one of the best car rides that I have taken in a long time, seeing all these points of interest and having an instant happy flash of a distant memory and cementing the reality that my hubby and I have truly lived in our 23 years together. We have tons of adventures under our belts and it’s nice to be nostalgic about it every now and again.

Mad Libs

Turn to your co-workers, kids, Facebook friends and ask them to suggest an article, an adjective, and a noun. There's your post title! Now write.

The fast dog, that is what our little Jack Russell thinks of himself. Whenever my hubby comes home from work, our Jack greets him at the door squealing with joy at his Papa's return and then runs off to start the game of chase me and try to catch me. Jack thinks he's fast but if he senses you aren't following he waits for you around the corner. He only runs again if he is certain that you are chasing him. It's quite cute.

Outside in the back he will go tearing in a wide circle as fast as his little legs can propel him and it looks like he is dashing around the backyard on a slant, not upright but more of a an angled run. I would say that since Jack thinks that he is fast, then for him, he must be a fast dog. Personally we don't care if Jack is a fast dog, I know that I get a huge kick from watching him move his little body however it moves him; whether he is prancing, doing his weird hop/skip, his scurrying or his version of running. It's all good solid entertainment.

New York City here I am!

Tags

cheesecake, dogs, Mother's day, New York, parks, postaday2013, wisteria

The babies, my hubby, Jack and I hopped in the car and we all descended on to New York City to see my mother and sister and her family. I traveled with the cheesecake in the front seat, it traveled well as did Jack, he was in the front seat with me as well.lol The only tough thing about being in the city with Jack is the whole going to the bathroom thing. He’s a country dog and there isn’t enough country in New York to meet his requirements, not to mention the intense distractions all around, it makes his bathroom experience a little stressful. This won’t put a damper on our visit, I will just have to walk him long enough and far enough where he won’t have a choice but to go to the bathroom, it will be far from the indications of earlier today. Good exercise for both of us, that’s the bright side that I need to keep in mind.

Happy news on the baking front, my mother broke down and asked me to cut her a sliver of cheesecake tonight and she loved it. She couldn’t wait until Sunday, hee, hee. That made me happy, just knowing that someone really enjoys what I have made them makes my day. It fills me with much happiness. Hooray for me.:)

Tomorrow is an open book, we have the whole city as our oyster. We can visit uptown, downtown, Eastside or Westside or a mixture of each.

My stomach is so full from all the sushi we had this evening at a new Japanese restaurant not far from my mother’s house. The occasion was to celebrate the coming end of baby boy’s college education and sushi is his favorite. I have one big belly, it will gradually go down tonight. It’s only fish and rice, all good going down and so good for you on top of it.

I hope that Jack gets used to New York, it will make his life easier and mine too. He does get the “aw he’s so cute” looks everywhere we go and he has had fun chasing the fat squirrels in the park. I don’t worry for the squirrels, they are extremely savvy and no country dog on a leash will ever catch one. Jack sure does like trying.

Personal space

To what extent is your blog a place for your own self-expression and creativity vs. a site designed to attract readers? How do you balance that? If sticking to certain topics and types of posts meant your readership would triple, would you do it?

My blog is most definitely my place to express what I am thinking about, concerned about, passionate about and the little things that happen in my day to day life. The positive reinforcement that I get when I get comments and likes gives me a definite lift. However would I change my creative output only to get more traffic, I don't know because a strong reason for my writing is for its therapeutic value for myself. I need to write my blog in ways that make me happy and answer my need to get things out so if it doesn't get immense circulation or traffic that's fine. I appreciate whoever comes my way and joins me in my writing journey, I have developed important friendships in my two and half years of writing and I wouldn't trade them for anything. Before starting my blog, I had forgotten how immensely satisfying pen pal relationships can be, before the rise of the internet and social media. All I know is that I will keep writing and maintaining my friendships and along the way hopefully I'll make new friends. It's an evolving thing, writing and readership, it rarely remains static and that is what makes it so interesting and exciting.