After the Spirit

New Year’s eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights. ~Hamilton Wright Mabie

With great gratitude to all my friends and family for being part of my life this year, years before and years to come ~ for each one of you have brought me gifts that without, I would not be who I am.

Let this be the year that marks the beginning of real peace. Begin at home, then to take it to your neighbors and friends ~ if each us does this all the circles will overlap and we will see change in 2010 ~ every day is a holiday; every day is a new start. Get out of bed in the morning and greet the world with hope, love and peace ~ and every night be grateful for all that you have ~ and the hours in between learn to forgive ~ it is a double gift.

Happy New Year ~ love, nannette

If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough. Meister Eckhart

The journey of the holidays, the season of love, the start of a new year, the path of life is now. No matter what your particular tradition is, the energy is undeniable. If you are wrapping gifts, preparing a meal, building a fire, playing a game with your children, holding your partner’s hand, remember to open your heart and prepare to give and receive. As Yoda says, “Do or do not… there is no try.” Choose to do. These are the things of which memories are made. Make the memories good ones.

Pay attention to each precious moment, love all who come your way, live with purpose. Remember you are sacred and unique~ just as when Jimmy Stewart in It’s a Wonderful Life, wishes he’d never born and Clarence the Angel grants him his wish, everything changes. Each moment is extraordinary. Savor these small increments of your wonderful life. Without you in the mix, nothing remains the same.

Remember, you are always on the journey of the holidays, the season of love, the path of life. It is always now ~Live in the season~

I am grateful for my followers on twitter, my friends on facebook, and all my family & friends.

Love & peace, nannette

“Sitting in the flickering light of the candles on this kerchief of sand, on this village square, we waited in the night. We were waiting for the rescuing dawn – or for the Moors. Something, I know not what, lent this night a savor of Christmas. We told stories, we joked, we sang songs. In the air there was that slight… fever that reigns over a gaily prepared feast. And yet we were infinitely poor. Wind, sand, and stars. The austerity of Trappists. But on this badly lighted cloth, a handful of men who possessed nothing in the world but their memories were sharing invisible riches. “
— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Wind, Sand and Stars)

Went to Kinko’s copy center yesterday to get 100 copies made. A line of people stood in front of me, so I decided to run the copies myself. Ran one copy~poor quality. Got back in line. I explained to the employee behind the counter that I wanted to get 100 copies but that the self-service machines were not acceptable quality. She said, “Well lets go over here.” She was leading me back to the machine from which I just ran the unacceptable test copy. I told her that I wanted better quality. “You’ll have to come back later to pick up the copies,” she said. “No worries,” I said. The employee then said, “I’ll run a test copy.” Which she did. When she showed me the test copy it had black toner spots all over the copy. I looked at her, looked back down at the “proof” and said, “This isn’t acceptable. I can’t have black spots all over the copies.”

I wish I would have had a camera to see my own face for this next part. “Well, you’ll need to fill out this piece of paper requesting no black spots.” Honestly, I looked around to see if I was on Candid Camera. I said, “You’re kidding, right?” As she put an X where I was to write my request, I asked, “What am I supposed to say?” Put out, she said, “That you don’t want black spots on your copies.”

So I wrote “No black spots on the copies” and then the employee said, “Make sure you sign your name.” Which I did. She asked me if I wanted to pay right then…I don’t think so…

I returned today to pick up the copies and the manager of the store waited on me. I asked, “Is it customary to have to ask that the copies not have black spots?” He said, “No.” I said, “I had to make a written request yesterday that I didn’t want black spots.” He said, “That’s just the instructions you are giving to the person who runs the copies.” Okay, I’m losing my last marble and this guy simply doesn’t get it.

Whatever ~ I guess next time I go out to eat, I’ll make a written request that my food be uncontaminated ~ Is it me?

Took this in Kansas City last week! Nearly had a car accident stopping to take this one ~

When are some of the crazy things in our world going to stop? How will they stop? Who will stop them? Two weeks ago a student at my son’s high school threatened my 15 year old son’s life.

I was preparing to drop my son off at school~he was in a great mood when we left the house. When we pulled into the drop off area of the school, my son’s mood had changed to very agitated.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“This guy wants to beat me up because I broke up with my girlfriend.”

Not thinking, I asked how he knew…he’d received several text messages from friends that said this kid was out for him. I had the mentality: kids will be kids~there’s nothing to this.

On the contrary, this was serious enough where the school called me a couple of hours later asking me to pick up my son and keep him away from the school. As any parent can imagine, this was an alarming situation. “We cannot guarantee your son’s safety on the campus,” the dean of students said. Not very comforting words~words of worry, anxiety and question.

According to the school, many students had heard of the threat. The kid threatening my son, had shown several other students the knife he intended to use on my son. And this kid’s school counselor said he believed that the kid “may be capable of carrying this out.” Naturally, I drove to the school and pulled my son out until the administration could figure out what was going on.

After two days of my son being home from school and not hearing any new news, the student called my son and apologized. My son’s response was, “whatever.” While I wish my son would have been more accepting of the apology, I could certainly understand his feelings. It did not erase the stress of the past couple of days.

I received a call the following morning from the administration. They had found and spoken to the threatening student. The administrator asked me if the student had called and apologized and I told the person that student had, but my son was still feeling uneasy. The staff member mentioned the police and restraining orders, then said, “This kid is virtually homeless; he and his mother live in a campground and he’s being bullied by another student on campus.” My response: when does this stop?

After hanging up the phone, I told my son of the circumstances of this other kid and my son said, “I’ll be his friend. I’ll have his back.” I spoke with the school again and told the administration my son wanted to speak with the student to straighten everything out in different way, to reach out. A surprised and relieved sound came through the voice of the administrator. The school made arrangements for both boys to meet the next morning. They would speak with one another, one on one in what I call the aquarium room ~ all glass ~ where they could be monitored visually and still have privacy.

I was not in eye shot, but according to those looking on through the glass windows, both boys shook hands, sat down and spoke for over an hour. They discussed music, video games, their home lives, etc. and discovered they actually had quite a bit in common. According to my son, near the end of the conversation, the other boy asked why he was willing to meet with him. My son said, “My mom says that Abraham Lincoln once said, ‘I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.”