IT’S EARTH DAY!!!

What are YOU doing to promote the 3 R’s??

 I am out at the Sustainability Fair at AWC.  There is a lot of great stuff out here.  All businesses and organizations are here telling people who they strive to be Earth-friendly and how they can help YOU become more Earth-friendly. 

Of the various businesses and organizations here, off hand I can tell you that the Starlight Solar company, Allied Waste, various school clubs, YCAT, Yuma County, the AWC-NAU library are all intermingled out here amongst the various recycled-art displays, like the piece in this photo Janet Chasse took:

In addition, everyone is wearing GREEN to show support for the “GO GREEN” theme!  It is very encouraging!

There is a slide show looping in front of the library with a few Recycling songs.  I only recognize one artist; Jack Johnson has been singing to me all morning!  It is much better than listening to a coffee pot drip. 

All I can say, one hour into the day, is come out and see all of us!  We have great stuff to give away and info to pass on!  Then, you can come and tell me what other businesses and organizations I left off my list.

If you can not make it out, you can always “Go Green” by going to YumaSun.com!

Well, it’s begun.  My descend into age.  I am over the hill.   Running on fumes.  My time is up.  No more childish antics.  No more late nights.  No more irresponsibility.

Who am I kidding??  I have barely begun!  Watch out every one!  If this is the beginning go of the end, …what an ending!!

Today is my birthday.  I am now 26.  I thought I would feel more grown-up, more responsible, and much wiser.  As a friend of mine reminded me, I am “closer to 30…” than I have ever been.  That made me irk.  But despite the pleasure I derived from reminding her that her 26th is next month, I realized this birthday is nothing like what I expected.

I do not feel infinitely wiser.  I do not feel more responsible.  I do not feel any older.  I do not feel my youth has expired.  I do not feel as if I am running on empty or that I am over any hill whatsoever.  I feel happy, excited, and ever hopeful.

Birthdays are such fun.  Especially when it is your birthday!  I came to work this morning to find the Baseball Fairy had visited me in the middle of the night in the form of my boss!  You can see most of this in the photo here.  But, you can not see the big “Happy Birthday” banner behind my chair or all the little Baseball Confetti on my desk.  (So forgive me if I do not get much work done!) 

Baseball Fairy Visit

I have not yet begun to celebrate.  Haha.

People, especially women, make such a big deal of age that it has become taboo to reveal one’s true age.  I am still pretty young, I know.  I still laugh every time I think of girls I knew in High School who were putting on “Age-Defying” make-up between classes.  Now, I have entered my late 20s and my life is barely beginning.  It is such a wonderful thing to know how great it truly is.  I hope I can maintain that feeling through my next 100 birthdays, if I am lucky enough to have that many!

Through many family stories over the years, I have consistently heard how superstitious my great-grandmother was.  She firmly believed in things like: if your left hand itches, that means money is coming your way; if your nose itches, it means someone is coming to visit; if your lips itched, it means you are about to kiss a fool, (Or with all the itching you need a shower?).  There are so many others that escape me, but the stories say that my great-grandmother was also deathly afraid of black cats.  They were bad omens and whatnot.

I’m not superstitious.  I can’t be.  Based on the common definition, blind belief is not my thing.  My dictionary says, “Superstition- 1. a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like.”  That does not sound legitimate enough for me to use as a daily belief system.  I prefer using my every day decisions as a belief structure. With great respect towards my matriarch, whom I did not know well, I deem her convictions useless.  How do the nerves in one’s hand determine financial or marital status?

But, if anyone wants to know why the Diamondbacks are kicking the living sludge out of the NL West right now it is because I have been wearing my gold D-Backs earrings daily.  They are special earrings.  My dad got them for me on my 24th birthday.  They are the reason for all the runs and excellent plays (as long as we forget about the day games in Denver).  It’s all in the power of the earrings.  Of course, once the sway is spent, I will retire them for a few weeks and pull them out in emergency situations.  Such as everyday after the All-Star Break!

Therefore, while my great-grandmother’s silly superstitions are not valid enough for me to believe I am going to kiss a fool, anything goes in baseball.  You just don’t mess with a streak, even if it does mean bending your daily life-structure and kissing some random guy when your team miraculously makes the playoffs because your earrings made it happen!!  Truly, anything goes.

Friends. We all have them. Somewhere. They are in the form of people, family, co-workers, people you consider family, animals, machines, photos,…whatever. They care about you. They appreciate you. I have most of these and consider myself very lucky. But there is one form I do not think I can live without and that I come to treasure more and more, daily. My favorite form.

I have a few people in this world for which I am eternally grateful. They are the people I can call and talk to for an hour or two, (which is a long time in my world), about nothing. They are the people I can call and meet up with, eat dinner, have drinks or watch TV with and not say one word. They are the people who, when they find out I am at my lowest point of despair and sorrow, can send their love in a text and I feel as if the world has hugged me. They are the people who know my wildest dreams and hopes are completely impossible, yet still try to help me find my real James Bond.

Then, after I have had a meal with no words, had a virtual hug or spent an hour talking about nothing but old movies I recently acquired, I feel so encouraged and enlightened; as if my worries have been minimized just by my friend’s presence, be it long distance or 10 feet.

Nothing in the world can replace that or render it obsolete. They are a part of my life I feel very fortunate to have. I wanted to share with you that this is one of the greatest things about being alive.

Thank you.

I honestly do not consider myself a panicky creature.  Granted, I have the ability to go from tranquility to full-scale alert in 2.5 seconds, but I never lose my ability to incorporate logic into such situations and calm myself.  I know when to relax and when it may be alright to freak-out.  So with that said, all these danged old earthquakes shaking things up have really messed with me! Example: I took my car through the automatic car wash the other day and got completely disoriented for the first time since I was a little girl!  Not cool.  Also, on the days when there were 2 quakes, I had a hard time relaxing.  They made me very nervous.  Being a habitual coffee-slurper, it stands to reason.

I explained that to you to tell you this story.  On one of the days we had 2 quakes, I was very tense and sent a text message to my friend expressing my frustration.  The text he sent back to me…the next day, I may add…made me think rather philosophically. (Amazing, right?)   He said, “Tip of the day:  Do not fear things over which you have no control.”  I may be a word or two off, but since I am not giving him credit for it, (KYLE!), it really doesn’t matter to him!

That is sound advice.  Most people would agree with that.  I don’t.  It may be just that I like to argue superfluous subjects, but I do not think that is sound.  I do fear things that I can not control.  Why do I fear things that I do not control?  Because I do not control them!  If I had some kind of control, I would not fear them.  I would know what is going on and be able to prepare or remedy the situation.  Fear would play a part when it was out of my hands and coming right at me.

Now, it is not as if we are discussing fearing a change in the Diamondbacks Lineup or who will actually be our #2 pitcher when RJ eventually goes back on the DL!  That is something I can not control and while I fear that a little, it is not something that makes me nervous or disorients my equilibrium!!!  Natural Phenomena are not things that can be controlled and can completely destroy life; therefore I have a certain level of fear, or concern, for them.

My friend is a smart fellow!  But he told me not to fear earthquakes. I am not going to live my life constantly ready for the prophesized “BIG ONE!”  But I will get a little nervous when the ground shakes and my 2nd floor apartment starts creaking!

SO…do you fear things over which you have no control??  Or do you think like my clever friend, and do not fear the things over which you have no control?