Remembrance Day - November 11th

I know I haven't been around in a while, but I couldn't let Remembrance Day go by without acknowledging it here on my blog.

Let's all take time at 11am today for a moment of silence. Not sure if they do that in other countries but it's what we do here in Canada.

The silence is usually followed by a trumpeter playing the Last Post and then the saying of the poem, In Flanders Fields, written by Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae in 1915.

IN FLANDERS FIELDS

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
the torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

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You can find my 2 previous Remembrance Day posts by clicking here.

Too Balanced To Blog?

Yeah ... I've been wondering if all my meditation classes have taken away my edge. Made me too balanced to blog. I'm not all tense and angry ... well, yeah okay I'm still a bit of those but not enough to blog about it. Perhaps I need to rethink this self awareness journey. Oh god ... I used the word "journey". I hate when people say stuff like that it really irritates me.

Huh ... perhaps I'm not as balanced as I thought.

Anyway ... the meditation classes are going well. Much better than my first class where the internal noise took over. Oh sure, I still have a bit of that but it's all about coming back to the breath. Breath in ... breath out, yada yada. Actually I'm finding it quite relaxing and it's helping me to focus. All good stuff.

The thing is life's not bugging me as much as it used to, which is great for my health but not so great for blog material. For example, the other day some guy cut me off in traffic, it was a big long story and could have been a post but ... meh. He probably has a lot going on in his life and ... whatever.

See? Before meditation I would have never reacted like that. Let's just hope it's not like that Serenity Now Seinfeld episode. I'll be all calm and zombie like and then one day ... Hoochey Momma!

I don't mean I'll become a hoochey momma ... never mind. If you're not a Seinfeld fan I can't be bothered explaining it to you.

See ... I still have an edge.

MYM #40 - Birdie Update

Thought I'd take this Mellow Yellow Monday (yes, I know it's Sunday) to give you a brief update on the birdies.

As you can see in this photo, Bobby & Betty love each other and Buddy is still the lone wolf. Bobby is the blue bird ... and turned out to be a girl for those wondering. Betty is the white bird who turned out to be a boy. And Buddy is the green bird who turned out to be a girl ... a very bossy girl who doesn't really appreciate living with other birds. But when I gave her her own cage she didn't like that either. I think she's like me - she enjoys living with other beings so she can complain about them. I totally get that.

As you can see they're enjoying the sunny view and have lots of yellow toys. They're now in a smaller cage now ... you may remember the large one. I've found in the smaller one they play with their toys a lot more. Not sure what's going on there psychologically, but they seem happier.

To view other Mellow Yellow posts or to play along, click on the link below.

Only in America

So, it's 1:30 am and here I am watching a re-run of Star Trek Next Generation ... and it's a good one too. The one where they engage the Borg, "Best of Both Worlds". It's a 2-parter, so that means I'll be here watching it again tomorrow night.

Anyway, as I sit here enjoying great American TV ... a great American commercial comes on.

I laughed, and laughed. Then wondered if I'd hit the remote by mistake and was now watching Saturday Night Live - but nope. It's a real commercial, they even have a website. So I quickly googled it to share it with you so you could laugh and laugh too. Or order one. Whatever floats your boat.

Gotta love the American ability to commercialize anything and make money. Truly! I love it!



I love how it's all serious in the beginning ... then breaks into the "Ch, Ch, Ch, Chia" song. Plus I totally dig the chia 'fro.

Happy Thanksgiving

It's a long weekend and I have a cold and fever ... again! This bug is annoying. It kind of went away but now it's back and I have laryngitis. Me without my voice is just not me.

But luckily I can share my words through my blog. Phew.

So other than this annoying cold bug which has taken up residence inside of me ... I am actually thankful for a lot of things in my life.

I'm thankful for my family. They're amazing and we're all very close - which I'm finding is rare. I'm very grateful that we all love and like each other and spend a lot of time together.

I'm thankful for my job. It's a great place to work with wonderful people and a very positive and encouraging environment.

I'm thankful I can afford to live where I do - which is a safe building in a great location. I've had some dicey neighbours over the years - the hookers and drug dealers come to mind. The hookers were fine, their clients were not.

I'm thankful for my health, I mean other than this nuisance of a cold bug I'm in pretty good shape for an old gal.

I just read my Thanksgiving post from last year and the list is pretty much the same - which is nice to see. Although it's weird that this time last year I also had a cold. Perhaps I need to rethink the health issue. Or take more vitamin C ... or something.

Anyway ... even if you're not celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend I hope you take a few minutes to think about what you're thankful for in your life. Enjoy!