One of My Favorite Things

Driving down a road like this with my eyes closed.

I have a favorite country road near the mountains, and when I drive down it, if the sun is shining, I close my eyes. I love the sense of the sun flashing from light to dark on my eyelids as I pass each tree. Especially when I drive fast, and it flashes like a light switch. On. Off. On. Off. On.

What About A Thank You?

In this world, there are a lot of givers, and A LOT of takers. Which one are you? Giver or Taker?
I consider myself to be a giving person. I find myself offering to do service projects, throw parties, host events, and generally do things to help other people out. I like it. I like that people know I am dependable, that I am in fact, a giving person. A little vain right?

I have always said that you never do anything if you expect a thank you, because you might be disappointed. You shouldn't do things for someone to say thank you, it defeats the purpose of helping. You should do something because you genuinely want to help another person.

BUT- yes, this is where the big BUT comes in- What about Thank You? I LOVE me a good thank you, a call, a card (cards are my favorite), even an email or a text. I think some people have forgotten just how important a thank you is. And, quite frankly, it's starting to really make me mad. I have a few projects I am working on right now, and one in particular is really frustrating me. I am doing it for a friend, who not only hasn't said thank you, but is actually being a completely unhelpful beast. To the point that Miss. Don't Do Something To Get a Thank You, is thinking "Where the heck is my thank you?" Bitter much? Yes.

So, if in the beginning you thought you were a giving person, think this- how often are you thanking people? Because I think truly giving people (and, really good friends) are the ones that say Thank You, too.

Favorite Quote This Week

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to suck all of the marrow out of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

Henry David Thoreau

HDT

I have come to find I am deeply interested in anything Henry David Thoreau has written. I started reading Walden (Life in the Woods), and in his descriptions of being isolated from society, he makes widly amusing statements, things you wish people would say but don't. He is extremely self deprecating, -something I excel at- but he sees the humor in it. I read this: I require of every writer, a simple and sincere account of his own life, and not merely what he has heard of other men's lives; some such account as he would send to his kindred from a distant land: for if he has lived sincerely, it must have been in a distant land to me.
First of all, that is funny.
Second of all, which seems to be the more important aspect to me, is that I would have no idea what to write were I asked to jot down my own sincere account. I don't live sincerely, there are many people who know me that would agree- but for the wrong reasons. And there are probably just as many people that know me that would disagree.
Regardless, I find it slightly frightening that in the account of my life I see mostly regrets and mistakes. Frightening that out of the many friends I have, the vast majority of them have no idea who I really am. Some of that is their fault, but a larger portion of that blame resides on my own shoulders. I find myself at a never-ending crossroad where I am either appeasing someone or layering what I really think and feel and want in order to mask my true thoughts. So, in writing an account of my own life, I would be hard pressed to write something of meaning to myself, that I would want or allow others to see. And while I wrestle with these uncertainties it is amusing and also a relief that HDT believed he lived in a far distant land from sincerity and a sincere life - as I believe I do.

So... There's This New Guy in My Life....

So... there's this guy.....


And he holds a sign, and waves at people as they drive by. Don't get me wrong, I'm not attracted to him, we aren't destined to be soulmates, I don't even know his name.

But this is the reasoning behind my simple happiness. Ever since I was a young girl, I would see a person in a costume waving, and I would wave back- it didn't matter if they were in the Maverick Man costumes, dressed as the Statue of Liberty, a Cell Phone, or a regular cardboard pizza box from Little Ceasars, they dressed up and waved, and I waved back. It's always given me a happy little thrill when they notice me waving, and wave doubly back at me.

So this guy, he's amazing. This photo is of him blowing me and Kayla a kiss after we waved back as we drove by him just a short while ago today. I'm sure many of you have seen him, he's been there for months. He stands on 5th west and Bulldog and holds this massive sign for a furniture sale. And he waves.
Every time I drive by, he waves, I wave back, and then, he blows me a kiss. And it makes my day.

The First

This is just for me. My thoughts, reflections, points of interest, and complete randomness. If you read something on here you don't like, stop reading, I won't be issuing apologies.