a mellow day

Today is a wonderfully blessed day...
i get to stay home with my little son and do absolutely nothing...
except relax, watch some movies on cable, have lunch at our leisure,
catch up on email with friends, & go online & BLOG!!!!
what more can i ask?

well, why so lucky today?
my son is a little sick with a fever & a slight sore throat...
i know that's bad, but it's really a blessing in disguise...
plus it's just normal that kids his age get sick around this time...
the change of seasons does that to you...
i'm glad i didn't get sick yet.

so i already sent an email to my friend to say hey to him,
and wish him a great Friday.
I think he's working tho. cause he didn't reply yet.
that's ok, i don't expect instant gratification.
It's just great to have him as a friend.
You must think i am in my obsessive-compulsive stage huh?
Maybe so, maybe so...but that's just the way I am...
remember, flashback to my previous blogs... I am bipolar...
so there's a part of me that becomes easily obsessed with things i like or love...
But i don't think i'm compulsive...
at least i don't gamble or shop or eat compulsively...
even tho. i'm on my meds - i haven't gained so much weight,
Thank God...i do watch what i eat and exercise when i can.

But anyway, back to my mellow day...
i heard a bird singing outside my window while blogging,
it's such a happy sound, makes me happy.
& i can hear my son, laughing in the background,
while watching some comedy-movie on TV...
later we'll do stuff like read & color
& prepare lunch & then go pick up my daughter from school.
She had to go cause she wasn't the one who's sick anyway.
I am so proud of my two kids...
they bring me so much JOY!!!
my daughter is an honor student in our school,
and she's so well-rounded...she also loves to dance!
She has a dance presentation for her dance class at the end
of each semester...then next year in January she also has a fashion show
where she's one of the designers...it's a fundraiser for Darfur.
Isn't she special??
& our son - Diego...
what more can i say about him?
He's so full of energy & comic relief!
he loves to make us laugh by making funny faces & imitations.
maybe he should be an actor, ha,ha,ha...
He also has a good voice, maybe he can be a singer
& take after his Mom?

But whatever they both want to be,
that's what i wish for them....
I just want them to be Happy and fulfilled
in their lives...
& of course it starts with their Life at Home.
So i feel blessed with them...
I am truly blessed with a nice family and friends.
i couldn't ask for more!
till next time,

J

my friend

I can't stop thinking about my friend...
it's like every little thing he does is magic (to borrow from Sting :)
his capture of images, speak to my soul...
his quote of the day & music he listens to at the moment
reaches out to me too...
the way he talks about his kids & family
is so endearing to me...
i don't know why,
but i feel very close to him...
like i've known him for a while now...
even though i've really only known him since...
end of September this year...
that's less than a month i've known him...
He's the kind of friend i wanna keep for the rest of my life...
cause he makes me so happy.
His nature is so full of joy & inspiration
that it rubs off on you when you come in contact with him....
even through the world of ideas and images.
I think i will be sad if we can't be friends anymore...
someday...
i don't even want or expect anything from this friendship
except friendship...
i don't want it to go beyond that...
it's almost impossible anyway...
we're both taken and quite content in our own ways...
with our family lives...
& we live so far apart...him in the UK
and me in the middle of Georgia somewhere in the USA...
i just can't help myself...
loving every little thing about him...
he makes me laugh at little things,
his care and kindness move me beyond words...
what more can i say????

friendship

so let me tell you more about my new friend...
I would like to start with how i would define "Friendship"...
I value friendship as defined by Kahlil Gibran in his book The Prophet.

& that is....
"Your friend is your needs answered. He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving. And he is your board and your fireside. For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.
... when your friend speaks his mind you fear not for the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you withhold the "ay". And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart; For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.
... When you part from your friend, you grieve not; For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain. And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit. For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.
And let your best be for your friend. If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also. For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill? Seek him always with hours to live. For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness. And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed."

we met one fine day on the web,
& yes we are only web buddies...
I was searching for photos at Flickr one uninspiring day...
and found some photos from this guy simply named Gary*...
they were all nature shots....
of beautifully captured flowers,
nature landscapes & such...
but the best thing about his stream of photographs
is he adds his thought or quote of the day
with what music he listens to at the moment...
All in all, it struck me as quite profound
and interesting.
So, i sent him a comment,
and to my pleasant surprise he commmented back and
even visited my Flickr pages!
( & mine is not even of professional quality...)
as i said on my profile, i'm just an amateur photographer,
who loves natures, portraits and such...

but from his one comment,
came more photos to visit, more photos to appreciate & love...
his vision...
his kindness to strangers...
i just was taken by it.
So now, we're friends...
we've only written Testimonials for each other's Flickr pages...
but somehow, just a simple word from him,
a photo of a delicate flower, with words of wisdom
& music along with it...
can surprisingly make my day happier!
so, i value our friendship like a single beautiful pearl
in an oysterbed full of pearls....
this friendship is special i can tell,
& from my heart to his,
I thank him for all the joy he's brought thus far
into my blue, gray, sometimes,
crazy world.

hello again....

boy, has time flew by!!!
i can't believe the last time i spent time with you
& really sat down with U - & with myself...
have a heart-to-heart,
stop time...time stops...that kind of self-talk
it's been a long time coming....

anyway, I wanna start over and start where I am at
right now,
at this moment...
where am I???

i am now working as an Assistant teacher for Visually-impaired high-school kids
at a nice high-school in Georgia...
remember, the last time i blogged,
i mentioned my family & i were in the process of relocating to GA from
Staten Island, NYC?

well, here we are now.
We've made that big move,
that leap of faith into the then unknown, unforeseeable future...
which is now the present...

moment...
sometimes i still can't believe that we actually left NY
i still miss it a lot...
the energy, the mix of cultures and different peoples like me...
so eclectic...
& now we're here in an Atlantan suburb....
the burbs...can u imagine?
can u just imagine me in the burbs???
I grew up in the city, and have always been around big cities...
All of a sudden, this...
this, peace & quiet,
this tranquil spacious life....
this slow pace,
this maddeningly slowwwww pace of life....

i should be happy, i know...
i have all this time now to think and meditate,
and spend lots of quality time with my kids, my hubby,
my family time has improved tremendously...
we got what we wanted in terms of great schools for the kids...
a nice, safe environment to raise them up,
and a lovely house with lots of woods & nature surrounding it...

YES, we have bought a house, finally!
we couldn't afford it back in NY,
but now we have a real mortgage,
the kind that lasts forever,
30 years seem like forever to me.
Scary, at first, before signing it...
but we had to do it...it was just the next best thing to do in our agenda
of living our lives in the suburbs...
what else can one do around here,
but buy a house, if you can afford one....
that is.
I thank God that we can finally afford one...
so what is still the matter with me????
Nothing,
absolutely, nothing...
i'm not complaining or i'm not gonna be my usual
whiney self...
watch out, world!!!
I am the new & much improved version of Me...
I have a new attitude,
a different perspective now...
with a more interesting, more rewarding job...
less money, but so what?!
U can't have it All...right?
or so they say...
I even have a new Friend,
yes a new Friend...& it makes me so Happy.


tell u more later,
till next time,

- J