A Mindful Life

“Placid” / 7 x 10″ sketch paper with colored pencil I had no idea what I was going to make when I started. It seems now that it was an attempt at self-soothing or balance. I drew this while watching Eugene Jarecki’s movie, Why We Fight — a provocative, disturbing, multifaceted analysis of the U.S. [...]

From Seed to Leaf / 4.5 x 6.5″ card stock with collage and natural ephemera Last night I could not fall asleep. I went to my workspace, which was a mess from making the journal/calendar, with the intention of cleaning up. But bending over is becoming harder; I had the card stock in my hand [...]

I swear, it doesn’t take much to make me all soppy and weepy. Some examples: The nurse teaching the childbirth prep class mentioned that it’s such an overwhelming, momentous event that women often burst into tears when the baby is born. She said the fathers do too, and just wait, we will. Well, I had [...]

Well. Yesterday Husband and I showed up for our 3:00 p.m. appointment only to be told the Baby Doc had just been called out to deliver. I remained calm, standing there with my little brown bag containing my urine sample, sweat dripping down my face. The walk from the car to the office took what [...]

And now for a not-whiny post. Leah wrote about how she is reorganizing her space so she can work more fully, and she’s also trying to manage her time and projects more efficiently. Like her, I forget to look at the calendar on my computer software, especially since I don’t bring the laptop everywhere. I [...]

I hate air travel since 9/11. I’ve been pulled over for extra inspection almost every time I’ve tried to board an airplane. On top of that, changes in airline business practices make flying odious. I never wrote about our Christmas trip, but leaving San Jose was nearly impossible due to massive airline screw-ups and delays [...]

From Weather Underground, the forecast for today: Sunny in the morning then becoming mostly sunny. Highs in the 90s to 105. Light winds…becoming northwest 5 to 15 mph in the afternoon. On Tuesday we were notified that in two weeks our entire townhome community will be re-roofed. We’ve been told it will take “about” six [...]

It’s hot, humid! *pant* *pant* Happy 4th!

When we lived in Austin, we were outside the city limits, so every July 4 we didn’t have to go anywhere to see fireworks. Our neighbors on either side, along with dozens of others in the subdivision, put on quite a show. They used serious fireworks. The first year it upset us; we worried about [...]

I was talking with my sister yesterday about the climate here, and the fact it does not rain (at all) from about April through September/October here. It is bone dry. She mused that there must not be much agriculture grown in the summer, but I assured her otherwise. I got curious about how much produce [...]