November 20--Bah Humbug--To Be or Not To Be

When we love, we always strive to become better than we are.  --Paulo Coelho

    Well, we hope so anyway. 

    Christmas used to be my favorite holiday. No longer spending it with my kids, it is now my least favorite, and I wish we could simply eliminate December. The past three years I had a December trip to Jamaica to placate me, but I'm not going there this year. There is enormous Grinch potential here. Knowing this would be the case, last year after Christmas I put this note in my calendar for this November: "Make treats for neighbors instead of being Christmas-grumpy." There is a part of me that just wants to be Christmas-grumpy, so we will see if grumpy or neighborly wins out. Stay tuned. 

    Yesterday I did my morning lap-swim then ran some errands and did some exploring relative to the possible anti-grumpy project. One of the postage stamp choices available now is the snow-globe stamp shown below. I'm TRYING to be Christmas-y!

        Leta

November 19--Lentils Required

Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up.  --James Baldwin

    In yesterday's "maybe I am brave" rambling, I forgot to list the bravest thing I ever did: I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane!!! Yes, I did. I have never been so terrified as I was stepping out on that ledge to fall into the skydive. I have also been zip-lining in Costa Rica and para-sailing in Jamaica. These are no small feats for someone who is petrified of heights. 

    Yesterday started with my daily morning lap-swim followed by a trip to the grocery store for soup-makings. I assembled the soup in the afternoon only to realize that when making lentil soup, it is a good idea to have lentils. Fortunately, my niece lives a quarter-mile from a huge grocery store, so I walked there as my penance for my doofus moment forgetting to buy lentils earlier. We enjoyed a soup and cornbread supper while I was beaten soundly at Rummikub. 

    The fun continues,    

        Leta

Shirley's famous "Beefy Lentil Soup"--
how many hand-written recipe 
cards have you handled lately!?!?!?

November 18--Yes, You Can!

If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.  --John Irving

    I don't tend to think of myself as brave, but others tell me that I am. I can't blog under the header of "The Brave Broad" and be a complete wuss. Then I started to consider the many times when I have had the courage to pursue: 

• Grad degree at University of Minnesota
• Moving to Wichita to be closer to my future husband
• Getting married and having two children (NOT a fairy tale in real life)
• Leaving a steady job for the flexible schedule of self-employment
• Admitting defeat to addiction and embracing the 12-Step program
• Yoga and MELT teaching training and twelve great years of teaching
• Completing my all-30 Major League Baseball stadiums quest, including two baseball tours I did solo and hundreds of miles of driving to stadiums in huge cities
• Traveling the U.S. and the world, a huge blessing in my life, with more adventures to come!

    Oh, yes, I've just driven 1000 miles to hang with my niece in Ohio. That was courageous, I guess, but I'm so used to it just being what I have to do to enjoy Ohio-family time. 

    I am lucky and I know it!

        Leta

Any beach is my happy place.

November 17--No Driving Today, Yippee!!

A woman has got to love a bad man once or twice in her life, to be thankful for a good one.  --Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

    The main thing that keeps me going on a 600-mile-drive is the audiobook. The last few drives I have been entertained by excellent mystery writer Freida McFadden. I wrote a few weeks ago about the covert narcissist (in the Oct 24/25 range) and the profound influence narcissistic abuse had on my life and the life of my niece. Yesterday's drive featured the seemingly-random pick of McFadden's book "The Wife Upstairs." Lo and behold, the main character is the poster child for a covert narcissist! I am loving Spirit's "super push" to heal beyond this issue! 

    Yesterday's drive was uneventful. It was even cloudy the whole way so I did not have to drive into the blazing early morning sun. I stopped a couple hours from my destination for a 25-minute power-nap. I arrived just before 5:00 pm. We had a relaxed evening playing Rummikub, and I slept like the dead. 

    Happy to be here!

        Leta

November 16--Arrived and Leaving

In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety.  --Abraham Maslow

    I stepped forward, or at least drove eastward, 400 miles and arrived safely for a nice visit with my in-laws. I had a new experience--my regular monthly massage was scheduled for yesterday, so I kept that appointment, and I can say that a massage right before a very long drive is a fine practice. I actually arrived feeling quite good. 

    I'm leaving here for Ohio before the "buttcrack of dawn." 

    Eastward HO!

        Leta

Couldn't resist...!!!

November 15--Always a Miller

It is true that those we meet can change us, sometimes so profoundly that we are not the same afterwards, even unto our names.  --Yann Martel

    Thirty-eight years ago, it was not a common practice, but I kept my maiden name when I married. I saw no good reason to suddenly become a "Hardin" when I had been a "Miller" all my life. Before we married, my husband said, "If you won't change your name, I won't marry you." I replied. "OK." Obviously he relented. Though I did not change my name, meeting my husband, getting married and having a family were all big change-instigators! 

    Woohoo!! Today I hit the road headed for Ohio. My overnight stop is with my in-laws in Wentzville, Missouri. 

    Stay tuned,

        Leta

November 14--Long-Lasting Love

Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.  --Louis de Bernieres

    On most Thursday mornings, I chat with my prayer partner. We have known each other since 2004 when we started spiritual coaching training together. We bonded over the fact that we seemed to be the only two in the group with a sense of humor. It did get us into "trouble" a few times. Even though we have been connected for 20 years, we have spent less than 100 hours physically together. He lives in Ohio and I live in Kansas. We talk about everything--matters on our hearts, current events, and best of all, baseball!  If one of us can't make the Thursday call, we text our prayer requests to each other. I am so grateful for this long-term spiritual connection in my life. 

    Do you have a prayer partner? I highly recommend having one. No special skill is required--Spirit lovingly takes our requests in any and all forms.

        Leta

We are not that angelic, 
I just like the photo.