Be Kind ... And Sing Anyway!

People will say you sing too loud and sometimes sound off key. Keep practicing, hang with supportive vocalists, and sing anyway!

People will say you have no rhythm and can't dance. Keep swaying and dance the night away anyway!

People may be indifferent when you strum your guitar or make music.  Play that darn guitar anyway!  Or bang on your bongos ...

People will say your skirt is too short or it's too long.  They'll say you're style is not hip enough or you're not hip enough.  Wear what pleases you and not everyone else.  And if you're reported to the folks at What Not to Wear take a few tips, but never let 'em take your spirit!

People will tell you, you need to lose weight. Then when you lose weight, they might say you're too thin.  Love yourself,  eat more veggies than carbs, and walk whenever you can.  Know that you're so much more than that number on the scale.  And keep telling yourself : You will get to a healthy weight.

People will comment on the fact you got a haircut, then say nothing more. Assume they love it and enjoy the new you.

Publishers will say you're writing is not what they're looking for, if you're lucky enough to receive any reply.  Take constructive feedback if offered, but for goodness sake keep writing anyway! 

People have a lot to say.  It's not always nice.  So grow the skin of a rhinoceros. 

Have faith in yourself and God.  And be kind anyway!

Inspired by the poem The Paradoxical Commandments by Kent M. Keith and Do It Anyway by Mother Teresa.  copr. 2010 donna tessitore

How Old Is Your Baby?

I don't know about you, but I'm constantly driving through my local Goodwill donating clothes that we've outgrown or grown tired of.  It seems I'm up at Goodwill at least on a weekly basis.  I hate to admit it, but I'm a bit of a pack rat.  Open up one of our closets and you'll wonder why this small family of three has so much stuff.  Well, that's because I don't do a very good job of letting go.

On Friday I again hit Goodwill.  You're not going to believe this, but I had six medium ziptop bags of clothes filled with my daughter's baby things.  The bags were filled with soft blankets, handknit sweaters and hats, bonnets, cute dresses, and tiny booties et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

The day before I had unzipped the clear bags and surprisingly the clothes smelled just as clean as the day I had washed and packed them all away.  I savored the scent and saved a knit hat or two, some bunny booties, and a bonnet. Pretty good for a pack rat.  I vowed the rest of the bags were going.

That morning, I loaded the bags into the Explorer.  On my way home from work, I stopped at the Goodwill drive-through and laid all of the bags along the curbside. 

That's when my plan fell to pieces ...

Life is Good When Your Plumbing Works!

It's been a tough week at our house. We've had plumbing problems galore.  It started last Saturday when our hot water heater sprung a leak.  We took  ice cold showers all weekend long until our plumber could come first thing Monday morning.  $675 later we had hot water.

Then we heard a bizarre shaking sound coming and going from our crawl space.  We called our water filter guy, since we had narrowed the problem down to that system.  But naturally he could find nothing wrong when he arrived and the noise just mysteriously disappeared. 

On Tuesday, I was filling my pasta pot with water and suddenly felt a cool wave hit my ankles.  I opened the cabinets to a mini- flood and discovered more plumbing problems.  I have to admit that I'd reached my limit on plumbing issues and simply broke down and cried after bailing all that water and toweling it dry.