staying the course

I can’t belive that November is almost over. When this month started and I challenged a friend of mine to blog every day for a month I really didn’t know if I could do it. For the most part (just this past week) I have written a post every single day this month.

There are so many thoughts that go through my head every day and thoughts to sit down and write about. Sometimes they actually go out of my head if I don’t write them down, sometimes they come back as a different thought or topic and then maybe they don’t.

I have had so much feedback on my writing, it is overwhelming. People have sent me messages that my thoughts and theirs are in the same place at the same time. How what I am writing about strikes chords in people. I am writing my life as I see it, and if I can write how someone else may be feeling but not able (or willing) to put it out there, that is okay. I am willing to put it out there.

Putting yourself out there is hard work. No matter what anyone says, you care about what others think about you. Do they like what they are reading? Do they think I am full of s**t, does any of it make sense to anyone other than myself? Does anyone feel the way I feel? Am I making them laugh, cry, think about their own life? I would like to think (and hope) that the answers are yes to these questions.

Something I found out about myself that has really impressed me. I am not always the best person for follow through. I say that I want to do this or that, and have big ideas and don’t always see them through, but for the last 27 days I have seen this through. I have stayed the course and made the committment to myself and that is just one of the many things I will take away from this experience. To thine own self be true…Shakespeare right?

Stay tuned…a few days left of “Me”vember…..and more thoughts from the way I see it….

Time moves really fast…..

This time of the year always seems to move very fast. It feels like from October 31st onwards the rest of the year is a blur. Before the halloween is even over, the candy is still on the shelves, the shelves are being stocked with Christmas cards, decorations, and everything else that goes along with this time of the year. There are always the one or two shelves for the blue and white of Chanukah, but otherwise it is a sea of red and green.

Until I found the Bouclair flyer at my parents house a few weeks ago. Guess what, this holiday season is a sea of purple and fuschia – I found my heaven! LOL. Seriously, I was tempted to buy the purple feather christmas tree and the dozens of purple, silver and fuschia ornaments to put on it. But alas, I settled on some purple and fuschia nutcrackers to put on the display. I may go back and buy the small little tree with the mini ornaments in purple – they are just too pretty to pass up. And for the record, ‘festive’ not religious, so what the heck, they are PURPLE! 

This time of the year always introduces the all christmas, all the time radio station channels. I like Christmas music, but I think starting on November 20th is a bit early…..December 1st and for the month…okay….but how many different ways can you hear, Frosty the Snowman, Little drummer boy, Silent night, and all the other songs.  Of course, other than Adam Sandler and the Chanukah song, how many songs are there about Chanukah….? I dare you to let me know…..haha.

I really DO LOVE Christmas. Over the years I have had amazing opprotunities to spend amazing holidays with my friends family’s, sitting by their fire and their trees. I have to say that it has always meant so much to me when I would go to the Gilliland’s for Christmas cheer that there was always a gift for me under the tree. Her mom has always treated me like part of the family, and last year, her brother’s family did the same. I always cherish those memories over the last wow – probably close to 12 years.

The funniest part of spending December 24th with friends is that my own family was always waiting for me to come home so that we can do what everyone else we know that wasn’t celebrating Christmas was doing – either going for Chinese food or ordering it in for delivery or pick up!

It is a very busy time of the year. A time for me that I ususally reflect. Reflect on the year that has been, and this year there is time for a lot of reflection. Writing every day for the past month has made me realize that.

The musical interlude today is really one of my favourite songs. Going back to my post the other day about singing loud and proud in the car – if you pull up beside me this time of the year, and this song is on, you can believe that I am singing along with Bono, Sting, and the others….turn up the volume and sing with me today!

Enjoy!

American Pie – do you know the words?

A long long time ago

I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they’d be happy for a while
But February made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn’t take one more step
I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died


So bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singing this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die

Did you write the book of love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so?
Now do you believe in rock and roll?
Can music save your mortal soul?
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
Well, I know that you’re in love with him
’cause I saw you dancing in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues
I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died


I started singing
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singing this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die

Now, for ten years we’ve been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rolling stone
But that’s not how it used to be
When the Jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and me
Oh and while the king was looking down
The Jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returned
And while Lenin read a book on Marx
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died

We were singing
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singing this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
Landed foul on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the Jester on the sidelines in a cast
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance
‘Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?


We started singing
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singing this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die

Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again
So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
‘Cause fire is the devil’s only friend
And as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in hell
Could break that Satan’s spell
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died

He was singing
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singing this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I’d heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn’t play
And in the streets the children screamed
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died


And they were singing
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singing this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die