Ancient Gifts

(Painting of Hafiz by Mahmud Farshchian)

I first learned about the poetry of Hafiz two years ago, and have been entranced by his mystical, magical way of relating to the universe ever since. For those who don't know about this bad boy of mystical poetry (as my dear friend Asha affectionately refers to him), he lived in Shiraz in the 1300s, and is one of the most celebrated Persian poets of all time. On less than prime days it has become a frequent practice of mine to simply pick up his book of poems, choose a random page number in my mind, and turn to discover what message is waiting for me. Below you will find one of my recent favorites. More to come soon ;-)

Your Mother and My Mother

Fear is the cheapest room in the house.
I would like to see you living
In better conditions,

For your mother and my mother
Were friends.

I know the Innkeeper
In this part of the universe.
Get some rest tonight,
Come to my verse again tomorrow.
We'll go speak to the Friend together.

I should not make any promises right now,
But I know if you
Pray
Somewhere in this world ~
Something good will happen.

God wants to see
More love and playfulness in your eyes
For that is your greatest witness to Him.

Your soul and my soul
Once sat together in the Beloved's womb
Playing footsie.

Your heart and my heart
Are very, very old
Friends.

Saltwater Shots and Plastic Blue Teapots

As I rested my cheek on the side of the sink basin, bringing myself to eye level with the faucet, I had one of those “Yes, I am actually sitting here at 1:23 in the morning on Valentine’s Day (or morning after as it was) with the business end of a plastic blue teapot stuck up my nose” moments. Another “moment” was soon had when in an attempt to proceed with recommended sinus irrigation, I accidentally rerouted some of the lovely neti pot saltwater mixture down the back of my throat. Mmmm, tasty. All of a sudden I flashed back to the yearly treks my mother, sister and I would take to Houston to see Gigi, my maternal grandmother. Part of our yearly romps down south included a day or two playing on the beach in Galveston. The sad fate of an exuberant yet clumsy child like me on these beach adventures was that I frequently experienced a little more wave than ever initially intended. Being the eternal optimist that I was, I would see a wave approaching and grossly overestimate my ability to surf, swim through, or simply stand up against said wave. Before I knew it…WHOOOSH…I had a mouthful of saltwater. It stung for a moment, and most definitely loosened up my sinuses. But did it ever stop me? No! I kept right on truckin’. I suppose it wasn’t necessarily an accident, this neti pot sinus irrigation turned full-on saltwater shot that I had today. Feeling like I had developed a little too much closeness with the "bottom of the bucket" as I clumsily maneuvered the plastic blue teapot into my right nostril, the memory of my tenacity on our beach vacations reminded me that sometimes we have situations, days, people, months, or even years that get us down. But the most important thing is that no matter how big the wave that knocks us off center, we always get back up again....or, try the other nostril.

P.S. If you ever find yourself dateless, and standing in the Wal-Mart pharmacy contemplating saltwater sinus irrigation in the middle of the night on Valentine's....take a quick trip over to the seasonal section after stocking your allergy artillery, for they start selling their mounds of red cellophane-wrapped goodies at half price when the clock strikes midnight. You'll appreciate having a little treat after enduring your saltwater teapot adventure.

Me, Galveston Beach...circa 1980-something ;-)

Tupperware....

Tupperware ~ it pretty much *rocks*....

Yes, I'm a nerd. I admit it, and that's the first step.

Springfield Christmas '08

Cookie crumbs and milk left over from Santa

Manny playing with the Santa toy Nana gave him

Sarah and Claire Bear ;-)

Good morning Sunshine!!

Shhhh! It's a Sleeping Carson!!

More to come soon!!! Hope everyone is having a fabulous holiday season!! ;-)

Pfft You Were Gone.... (Christmas '08)

Carson & Parker's Rendition of Hee Haw's "Pfft You Were Gone"

Hee Haw's Original Rendition of "Pfft You Were Gone"

Another Denton landmark....

And so my friends, another Denton landmark is closing its doors.... I just found out tonight that Voyager's Dream will be closing soon. First it was Karma Cafe, then the Tomato, Mr. Chopsticks.... and now Voyager's. I can't begin to tell you how many amazing memories I have of this place. It's where I bought my first drum, it's where I always used to buy my favorite incense (when I still lived in Denton), and ever since I can remember it has been a place to meet like-minded, peace-loving folks. Simply put.

We'll most certainly miss your presence on Fry Street Mike.... your car with all its bumper stickers and paint pen markings, the Banana Tree (plus the other inhabitants of the back space), and your candles of varying height at the check out counter -- depending on how long they'd been dripping -- only true Fry Street folks know what this means ;-)

Thanks for all the wonderful memories.......

Wrappin' Presents

The boys and I are wrapping presents this morning. Mostly I'm doing the wrapping actually, and Manny and Divo occassionally do some sniffing here and there, then rearrange scraps of wrapping paper when they fall on the floor. Identity of present on top has been disguised in order to maintain surprise until opening ;-)

Today is my first offical day of winter break ~ YaY!!!! I get two FuLL weeks off from work. My plan is to spend about a week (possibly more, depending) in Springfield with mom, dad, Sarah, and crew...then head back to celebrate New Years in Dallas.

My break has gotten off to a fabulous start! The best part yesterday was getting out a little early after the Christmas party at Huie. The party was fabulous, and they did a real "bang up" job of roasting one of our coordinators who is retiring (even held an entire mock ARD to address transition services since she is "aging out" of the system) ROFL

I originally thought I would go to a winter solstice event in Dallas last night, but ended up at North Park Mall and India Palace with Belinda instead. I was a little nervous about venturing into a mall the week before Christmas.... but parking wasn't that bad, and once we got inside we were greeted by a fabulous orchestra playing holiday music. AbSoLuTeLy loved that, as it really created a warm, fuzzy holiday feeling. Plus.... I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff ;-)