Found a little bit of mojo.....

This past Thursday was my friend Jon's birthday and so we all got together on Saturday night at a lounge for some wine and then a pizza joint for their famed pizza and pasta.

I was signed up for a free crop at one of my local lss' earlier that day, so I threw a few things into the car with no real plans. Once there, I somehow got the mojo to create a masculine birthday card for Jon. I was inspired by a rawkin' layout on display using this Teen Angst paper line from We R Memory Keepers, and I just thought the rock out guitar vibe was a perfect fit for Jon's personality.

What do you think? Is it masculine enough? I couldn't help it at the end as I added that last thin border of polka dotted black ribbon at the top and finished it off by tying it off!

Here's Jon messing around with our friend Diane's fabulous hat! lol, you had to be there to know how hysterical everything was! We had a great time laughing our heads off!


This weekend was filled with lots of fun and laughter indeed!! Friday night, I hung out with my cousin Tony and his daughter, Angie, at the Lobster Festival in San Pedro. I love that I now have some new cohorts to go with me next year! Yes! They're hooked!!

And yesterday, on Sunday, I got to hang with my BFF Jim who's increased dexterity is just amazing me every time I see him. (He suffered a stroke a few years ago.) We had lunch at Olive Garden, which is my favorite place to celebrate my bday and then we hung out a bit at Red Robin where it was cooler because we missed our movie times due to me talking my head off! Jim can't come to my bday bash next week, so we decided to celebrate together early. :)

Needless to say, I'm totally pooped!! That was one FULL weekend!! And on a happier note, I'm happy to share that I made a whopping $62 at a scrap garage sale that yet another one of my lss' were holding this past Saturday. I brought in two HUGE boxes filled with bagged items priced to move at $1 each. So I'd say, moving close to 50 BAGGED items (out of 75) is pretty darn successful even though my monetary take was low. I'm proud of myself because this de-hoarding process is part of my self ascribed therapy. As Oprah said, in her hoarder's episode, there's usually a psychological issue when people hoard, and when you can deal with the tangible clutter, you can successfully clear out the psychological issues too. I KNOW I will be soo much happier when I'm not feeling the allegorical pressure of all this STUFF surrounding me all the time. 50 items is alot, but I know its just a dent in what I'm working with. As my good friend Eva has said to me, just 3 foot tosses at a time...else, I'll get overwhelmed!!

I'm proud of creating loving and nurturing environments for myself this past weekend while actually achieving the much needed decluttering of my mind, soul and space!! And I can't wait to go back to the lss this coming Saturday, when I'm in the area doing errands, to spend my $57 worth of store credit!! Go me!!

Ok, just 9 more days til my Birthday!!



"They Say 38 is the new 18"
Paper: WRMK Teen Angst
Embellishments: WRMK Teen Angst Cardstock Stickers; May Arts Ribbons; Kaiser Bling; MM Journalling Spot Sticker; Creative Memories number stickers
Accessories: Spellbinders Pinking Edge Circle Dies; QK Lemonade Alpha Die

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Rhonna, the Clairvoyant?

Today, I decided to take a nice quiet lunch for some much needed alone time. Had a coke (and no, I'm not going to launch into why I probably shoulda had an icea tea or diet something) and decided to pull out Rhonna's description of what her {21} Challenge was all about this round.

My serendipitous energy must still be flowing as I found these quotes, that she used in her challenge introduction, to resonate so loudly and clearly with my current mindset.

I found this on Rhonna Farrer's blog, who quoted THIS from Marianne Williamson from her "A Return to Love"

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

And also from Rhonna's blog, by D.F. Uchtdorf

"Don’t let fear of failure discourage you. Don’t let the voice of critics paralyze you—whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside. You are a great power for good. You will make the world a better place. Lift up your chin; walk tall. God loves you."

Clearly the cosmos is speaking to me!

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Uncanny Serendipity!!

I've been "marinating" the last 48 hours due to therapy sessions with my friends Eva and Michael, and with my own new therapist, Lisa, that took place the last 7 days.

And its so funny that now that I'm taking note of and really confronting my personal demons, I see this little graphic reminder pop up on my Facebook from a friend's feed this afternoon which kinda of breaks the intensity of my mood. It put a smile on my face this afternoon amid all the chaotic busy busy at work today!

Serendipity eh?? Its like all of cosmos is in cahoots to send me off on my road to recovery or something. Because this time, I'm sooooo sick of it all, that I feel THIS compelled to finally face it all now, once and for all! I'm sick of not being able to function!

I have to create both the emotional and mind space to sit down and look at what new "insight" I've collected in the past week on my "mental table," so that I can focus on what's in front of me, and make a game plan of action to commit to. I know, small, baby steps are the way to go so I don't feel overwhelmed.

First few signs of the new me:

• I made a conscience effort to sleep last night. No tv on in the background, no playing on the internet which is a time sucker! Everything was turned off, lights out, and I allowed myself to listen to my body's needs.
  
• I'm starting a journal to document all my behavior at the request of one of my therapists. I'm also going to start documenting all negative and self degredating thoughts just like one would with all food intake (what, portion size, calorie intake, and time eaten) on Weight Watchers! I discovered all my patterns then which were all psychologically rooted.
• I made a decision today that is indicative of my commitment to prioritizing myself. I had to battle my ego for it, and surprisingly, it wasn't a very hard choice to make after all because my need to heal is incredibly compelling for me right now.
  

I've never chosen myself over anything before. Hmm, I think I like how this feels.

Happy 09-09-09 everyone. As another friend of mine pointed out on Facebook, both "September" and "Wednesday" are both 9 letter words. lol...yeah, he's one of my more geekier friends to have made that discovery!

Another thing I saw on Facebook this afternoon was a status update from Heidi Swapp who was tooting Rhonna Farrer's new {21} Challenge. I've been aware of Rhonna's 21 day challenge to a better you for many years now. I've even tried participating in it but never saw it through. With my current personal journey, I was just telling Eva that this might be a good way for me to express myself artistically since Rhonna's theme is sooo fitting right now. BUT, before I do, I really need to assess what I'm taking on, so that I don't over commit myself and get nothing done as a result.
Can ya tell I'm a Facebook addict? lol..I love it because its not all just scrapbook this and that, you know? There, many of you are on my friends list, and I love that I can engage in the 360 of your life, and thus get to know you as a person, and not just your scrapbooking persona.

Ciao!! I'm off to see a Korean movie tonight at a free preview screening at the Laemmle theaters (I love that chain!). :)

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Penny for my thoughts.....

Just found this quote while reading a book exerpt about the perils of Leading Lives of Perfection.

forgiveness means you don't wake up every day feeling angry and bitter, that you are able to move on and find joy in your life

That is what I have to do.....

Hopefully, I can fall back asleep now.

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Just some Baby Sweetness to Share!

Hope everyone (in the US) is enjoying their 3 day weekend so far!! I've been tinkering a bit on my blog to clean things up a bit, update the information, and to give it a new look, but so far I've just been enjoying a lazy weekend catching up on sleep now that it's cooling off a bit. Thanks to you all for leaving such sweet comments on my other blog post the other day about me falling off the face of the earth. You all so touched my heart for remembering me so kindly and for your well wishes.

Had some dim sum yesterday to see a new friend off, as he's returning to the mid-west. Redeemed a voucher to see a movie for free, and I saw Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds yesterday afternoon. LOL...what a DEE-lightful fantasy movie that is!

If you're on Facebook, I just posted a movie review there the other night when I couldn't sleep. If you don't frequent Facebook, I'll just subject you to it here! Ha ha!

Throw in JUST a pinch of "bow chica bow bow" from Jackie Brown, lotsa super cool gory violence a la Pulp Fiction, a bit of the heist movie excitement from Oceans Eleven, Twelve, and heck, Thirteen, and finally a REAL good dose of fiery, vengeful rage from Carrie, and you have one sick mofo fantasty of how the war really should've REALLY ended with the Naa-zi's gettin' their asses kicked! LOL, I'm a fan of films with subtitles, and I have to say, I've never heard Hillybilly spoken quite like this! Brad Pitt turned in another hilarious performance (after Burn After Reading) as the head Hillbilly who's mustache looked like it was gonna fall off if he didn't keep his upper lip pursed quite so. His, along with the guy that played the Jew Hunter (I think an Oscar nom should come forth for the relatively unknown Christoph Waltz who terrifies in 4 fricken languages!!), and the french Melanie Laurent were all phenomenal. If I were a Holocaust survivor, Melanie's Shosanna/Emmanuellle is my new hero!! She makes me wanna drag out every Naa-zi from their graves to get their just due!

Today, I got to finally visit Kylie, my niece. I haven't seen her in almost 3 weeks due to getting a ringworm on the inside of my right mid-calf earlier in August (ugh!), and her un-availability. Her parents just bought a Spanish style house in the Valley after having gotten back from the San Francisco area to visit her mom's side of the family for the first time. For a 3 month old, she's been really busy! Moving alot!, this is her 3rd home, and her very first trip! He he he, she's soo cute!! I can't help but take and share pics of her. This one is my absolute favorites from today of Kylie sitting on her Mommy's tummy! She's got some very pretty features, little Miss Kylie does!

Monday, is a holiday for us Americans, so I'm planning on spending some quality time with my friend Eva and her man, Michael. I'm really looking forward to that since I haven't talked to anyone in, like, ages! And I really have missed Eva! Then, I'll head back home and try to do something productive before returning to work on Tuesday. Sigh! Hate that place!

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