Check yourself...

Because I have some of the best friends in the world, I get birthday gifts from time to time even though all I really ever need to feel spoiled already is the gift of their presence in my life.

This year I got a book of story prompts and a couple years back I got two books with autobiographical prompts.  Prompts are my jam.  Prompts are all I need to be off and running my fingers over the keyboard or pen over paper.

And in honor of the new book I went back to look at one of the old ones... they were selling it at Paper Source's and stores like that in the fall of 2013 

Glorious, right?!  I had filled it cover to cover by mid January of 2014.  The other one I got



I have on my to-do list to complete when I'm approaching 35 (the age I'd be privy to becoming president if I were so inclined... ahhh how I love arbitrary rationalizations)!

Anyway, I thought I'd post two of the essays I wrote in late November/early December of 2013.  I thought maybe I wasn't posting much around then on here, but it looks like I did at least a handful of times.  Nevertheless, it's still pseudo noteworthy... here's my answer to the question "how would you describe yourself" as of this time of year three years ago...

"Is it a bad thing talking about myself comes so easily to me?  Self-aware - that's the way I'd start describing myself I guess.  Eternally if not relentlessly optimistic.  A glass half full kind of girl.  A type A person who wishes she could be a free spirit.  A "Yes" person with a high tolerance for bullshit.  Remarkably unobservant.  Pretty impressively patient in my personal opinion.  Loyal.  Loving.  Lovable I 'd like to think.  I love to laugh, love to learn, love to lean in when I feel like I have something worthwhile to bring to the table.  I'm a homebody who loves to travel and loves to make the world feel a little smaller with each new trip around it.  I'd say I'm a leader by nature most likely due to my eldest sibling role.  I'm a straight shooting sagittarius and a little slight of tact sometimes if I'm being honest.  I have high expectations of the people I love because I believe in them with every fiber of my being, but I'm pretty hard to disappoint because I'm pretty level-headed anreven keeled.  I'm not a very passionate person, but I love to do the things I say I'm going to, andI am great at committing for the long haul to projects that I either believe in or think are important.  I'm pretty maternal, but also self-serving.  Self motivated, easily excitable, always open to being newly inspired.  I'm open and accepting and always trying to stop my natural instincts to judge.  I'm Catholic with a little 'c.' The oldest of 5 kids. Irish/Catholic/Italian/French Canadian and a couple other things.  A boston girl at heart.  And way more of a city girl than country bumpkin."

This all still applies.

I'll add that I'm grateful.

Snarls

When I was little, my curls were unruly.  They had a mind of their own and a traffic pattern my mother, God love her, couldn't seem to navigate gracefully for the life of her.

She'd rake through my hair with a brush when I got out of the bath, and as my head was yanked backwards with each stroke, she'd relent, "you've got snarls in there..."

I haven't heard or even thought of that word in decades.  By the time my sisters were born there were detangling shampoos for kids and no-more-tangles sprays my mom would use on their manes to make the process more bearable.

These days I know how to work with my curls.  "People pay good money for curls like those," people used to say to me when I was little, and these days I pay good money to manicure mine.

I've been devoted to the devachan method for five years

The process is 100% worth the time it took to learn and master.

The point of this post though... I just realized, is that I will always have snarls, I have just acquired patience and tools necessary to smooth them.

There is so much to say about this mess of a week and the messy divide our country is raking through in the aftermath of the election.  For tonight I can rest resolved to be willing to figure out how to work through the snarls.

My first day as a Deva girl

Falling back

My issue with falling back is the falling part.

I love getting back the hour.  I will always take and maximize free time, bonus hours, minutes that are up for grabs.

But I can't help falling a little when the days get short.

The SAD in the air is contagious if not oppressive.

And I will find rays of sun shine like it's my job.  I will, I can, I have.

It's a fight though, and I hate fights.  I don't fight, in fact.  I say it often, "I don't fight, I win," but winning is exhausting, it's draining.  I don't know how Hillary's doing it.  I am positive the toll it will take on her.  She fights to win.  I wonder if she knew all along 2008 wasn't hers, and just made the bid to get people ready for this run....

Anyway, election talk gets so dark.  Now I'm doing this to myself.  It's awful.

I think a cop out's in order.  Here let me fall back on this:  Oh, Autumn in New York :)

It's relative - I spent the second half of this last week pounding the pavement and checking out my bff's new digs