LOVE

Love can be something so beautiful that it fills your life and makes you feel that nothing can harm you ... but sometimes it feels as though the love you have isn't enough.

My post is for all out there who are seeking love of a specific kind and can't seem to find it. I hope you are able to find happiness and fulfillment with the love you have right now.

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Love is all we have, the only way that each can help the other.

~Euripedes~

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The one thing we can never get enough of is love. And the one thing we never give enough is love.

~Henry Miller~

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And love can come to everyone, the best things in life are free.

~Lew Brown~

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We love life, not because we are used to living but because we are used to loving.

~Friedrich Nietzsche~

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I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.

~Arthur Rubinstein~

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All love shifts and changes. I don't know if you can be wholeheartedly in love all the time.

~Julie Andrews~

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Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up.

~James A. Baldwin~

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The best proof of love is trust.

~Joyce Brothers~

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Love is always bestowed as a gift - freely, willingly and without expectation. We don't love to be loved; we love to love.

~Leo Buscaglia~

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A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge.

~Thomas Carlyle~

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The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost.

~Gilbert K. Chesterton~

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The art of love is largely the art of persistence.

~Albert Ellis~

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You don't have to go looking for love when it's where you come from.

~Werner Erhard~

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The hardest of all is learning to be a well of affection, and not a fountain; to show them we love them not when we feel like it, but when they do.

~Nan Fairbrother~

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We waste time looking for the perfect lover, instead of creating the perfect love.

~Tom Robbins~

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Love is what you've been through with somebody.

~James Thurber~

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Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit.

~Peter Ustinov~

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Love conquers all.

~Virgil~

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HAPPY 55TH BIRTHDAY VINNY BOND!

B-man and I hope that your cake is yummy

and that you get to double-dip your candles, too.

Happy Birthday, Uncle Vinny!

House Updste

After only 2 weeks listed online, my parents have sold their house for the asking price. They were overwhelmed by the interest, but I knew it would be that way. We are going to miss it, but I can see how relieved my parents are and that's what matters. Now we have to get them moved into their new apartment ...

Home Is Much More Than A House

It was inevitable. My parents are of an age (and have been for some time now) when their very large Victorian-era home is simply too much for them. Between the yard work and the housework, my 80-something Dad and my "39-year old" Mom (she has been 39 for nearly 40 years now, by my calculations) have been struggling for years now and I, with my full-time work, single-parent status and home of my own, haven't been as much help as they need. There was a simple solution, although none of us is happy about it. Our ancestral home is to be sold.

To that end, last month I went to my parents' home with my cheap little digital camera and took numerous photos of the interior and exterior of the home in which we all grew up. My parents have been a solidly rooted fixture in the community where I now am employed as a teacher for more than 50 years. They are part of the reason I returned to teach in the village where I grew up - the first 25 years of my life was intrinsically woven into the fabric of that place and the people who live there. That house was my only home until I finished university and got my first permanent job.

It will be both a wrench and a relief for my parents to move into the seniors apartment building they have chosen. I know there will be a period of adjustment, more for my Dad than my Mom, I suspect, as he was always tinkering in his garage with one thing or another, and he loved going down to the coffee shop every day to sit and chat with his buddies, or to the Kiwanis Center to help out with one of the various projects. I suspect he will be spending a lot of time here in my garage looking for things to do ... I'm already compiling a list (:D).

So back to the house ... I emailed the photos to my brother and he put it on Kijiji Moncton to sell. My Mom wasn't convinced that she would be able to sell it online, but in the two weeks that it's been on Kijiji, they have received over 120 calls, had 48 visits and 2 offers. This Thursday, they will find out if the first offer has gone through.

This is my way of saying goodbye to a house that is far more than a home. It means family and security and friendship and tradition and memories. When I walk into my childhood home, it's a foregone conclusion that my Mom's crosswords or sudoko will be spread out on the kitchen table, lit by the warm golden sunlight that streams in through all the big windows, that somewhere in the house, music will be playing, and my Dad will be sitting in his chair, surrounded by stacks of books, reading - just as things have always been. I can still picture my grandmother standing in the kitchen, even though she has been gone for 20 years now. I can hear my grandfather's big belly laugh in the familyroom, yet his voice was silenced over 30 years ago now. I remember sitting on my bed under the sloped ceiling as a child, as a teen, as a young adult, sharing confidences with my best friends, playing the game of "what if". We still giggle about learning to dance in the big empty playroom directly over the kitchen and my Mom complaining about plaster dust all over the countertops. My brother and I reminisce about the summery Friday nights when my parents allowed us to host pool parties and the music was so loud that people across the river in Pre d'en Haut could hear it and would dance on the dock and set off fireworks for our mutual enjoyment - friends we had never met yet with whom we shared wonderful memories while growing up, or the times we hosted pizza parties or craft circles or Saturday night dances for the church Youth Group. I remember with considerable less fondness than my brother the smell of sauerkraut on Friday nights, Saturday night wrestling matches and the times he would torture me as I practiced my piano lessons under the stairs in the front room. We recall tv dinners on foil plates, homemade baked beans in Gram's old brown crock, the smell of fresh-baked bread on Saturday mornings and Bugs Bunny on Saturday evenings. The porch glider is still there and still a congregating place for company, even in winter. Holidays meant a houseful of people - family and friends and even the occasional stranger who had nowhere to go for the holiday. We had room for everyone, it seemed. No one has ever been turned away from my parents' hospitality. I wonder where will we all go now?

100 Truths

I stole this a long time ago and then never completed it. My apologies to whomever I stole it from because I forgot to note it down and now I can't remember. I thought it was a good blogpost for a day when I felt like blogging but didn't have any fresh ideas, so here you have it. My 100 truths:

LASTS:

1. Last beverage→ water

2. Last phone call→ Carl from NJ, checking on my wellbeing. He's such a sweetheart.

3. Last text message→ "I love you" from Romeo. (Yes, that's his real name and he's JUST a dear friend.)

4. Last song you listened to→ B-man, playing "Old MacDonald" on the piano

5. Last time you cried→ Last night because I was lonely.



HAVE YOU EVER:

6. Dated someone twice → Yes. Dated him, left him for someone else, went back to him, got smart and dumped him.

7. Been cheated on? → Yes, the bastard!

8. Kissed someone & regretted it? → No, I never regret kisses or hugs.

9. Lost someone special?→ Yes, and that's all I've got to say about that.

10. Been depressed?→ Yes.

11. Been drunk? –> Yes.



LIST THREE FAVORITE COLORS:

12. dark crimson red

13. dark forest green

14. dusty rose pink



THIS YEAR HAVE YOU:

15. Made new friends → Yes

16. Fallen out of love → No

17. Laughed until you cried → Yes

18. Met someone who changed you→ Yes

19. Found out who your true friends were→ Yes

20. Found out someone was talking about you→ Yes

21. Kissed anyone on your friend's list→ Yes



TRUTH:

23. How many kids do you want to have→ I want more, but I'm going to have to adopt to get them. The B-man wants siblings.

24. Do you have any pets → We have a husky named Daisy and a baby ball python named Gomez.

25. Do you want to change your name→ When I was younger, I always wanted a name that everybody can spell on their first try but now I like that my name is "memorable".

26. What did you do for your last birthday→ My son took me out for supper and then we had cake and frozen yogurt at my best friend's house.

27. What time did you wake up today → 5:45 am

28. What were you doing at midnight last night→ Standing outside in the rain with the dog.

29. Name something you CANNOT wait for → summer vacation

30. Last time you saw your father→ Thursday night at my parents' house for supper.

31. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life → I would like to have my hearing back.

32. What are you listening to right now → B-man practicing piano.

33. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom → Yes, I have two students and a godson named Tom.

34. What's getting on your nerves right now? → "Old MacDonald had a ... Old MacDonald had a ... Old MacDonald had a ... Old MacDonald had a ... Old MacDonald had a ... Old MacDonald had a ... Old MacDonald had a ... Old MacDonald had a ... Old MacDonald had a ... Old MacDonald had a ... Old MacDonald had a ... Old MacDonald had a ... Old MacDonald had a ..." aaaaaaaaargh!

36. Whats your real name- Corinna Rose

37. Relationship Status → Dating a lot

38. Zodiac sign: Cancer

39. Male or female→ I love being a woman! :D

40. Elementary→ Hillsborough Consolidated Elementary School

41. Middle School → I went to Junior High (grades 7-9) at Caledonia Regional School.

42. High school → Caledonia Regional School

43. Hair color → red-brown

44. Long or short → shoulder-length

45. Height → 5' 7"

46. Do you have a crush on someone? → Not recently.

47. What do you like about yourself? → I'm kind to everyone.

48. Piercings → Ears and ... something unmentionable ...

49. Tattoos → Not yet, but someone designed one for me that I am going to have done in memory of Roran

50. Righty or lefty → mostly righty, but some lefty



FIRSTS :

51. First surgery → Broken neck

52. First piercing → My ears when I was 12.

53. First tattoo → Not yet (see above)

54. First best friend → Shane, the little boy who lived across the street from me. We were 2.

56. First pet → Happy, a big collie

57. First vacation→ I don't remember the first one, but the first one I remember in detail was our family trip to Ireland for a month when I was 12.

58. First concert → Burton Cummings when I was 13.

59. First crush→ Ohhhhhhh ... Leslie McKeown of the Bay City Rollers!

60. First alcoholic drink→ I was 12. It was very illicit and I discovered that I am not a fun drunk.



RIGHT NOW:

61. Eating → Nothing

62. Drinking → Water

63. I'm about to → do housework

64. Listening to → didn't I already answer this question?

65. Waiting for → a phone call about a birthday party



YOUR FUTURE :

66. Want kids? Absolutely - I'd like to adopt again.

67. Want to get married? I would like to, but it has to be for the right reasons.

68. Careers in mind? If I couldn't be a music teacher like I am now, I'd want to be a buyer for a shoe boutique.



WHICH IS BETTER WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX?

69. Lips or eyes → Eyes

70. Hugs or kisses → I've been craving hugs lately.

71. Shorter or taller → Taller.

72. Older or Younger → Older has always been a huge attraction for me.

73. Romantic or spontaneous → Spontaneously romantic (:D)

74. Nice stomach or nice arms → LOL I would prefer nice big strong hands (is that cheating?)

75. Tattoos or piercings— Tats, but it would depend on where the piercing is located ... (:P)

76. Sensitive or loud → Sensitive

77. Hook-up or relationship → Relationship

78. Trouble maker or hesitant→ Hesitant



HAVE YOU EVER :

79. Kissed a stranger → Yes.

80. Drank hard liquor → LOL

81. Lost glasses/contacts → No.

82. Wrecked your car→ No.

83. Broken someone's heart → Yes, although it wasn't deliberate.

84. Had your own heart broken → Oh yeah.

85. Been arrested? → Is "detained" the same thing?

86. Turned someone down → Yes.

87. Cried when someone died → Yes.

88. Liked a friend that is a boy? → Yes, except I prefer the term "man" or "male".



DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

89. Yourself - Yes

90. Miracles → Yes

91. Love at first sight -- No.

92. Heaven → Yes.

93. Santa Claus → Absolutely.

94. Kissing on the first date? → Depends on the date. Depends on the kiss. Depends on the waning of the moon and the turning of the tides ...

95. Angels → Yes - I believe the world is full of angels.



ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:

96. Is there one person you want to be with right now? Yes.

97. Had more than one boyfriend/girlfriend at one time? Yes.

98. Do you believe it's possible to remain faithful forever? Yes.

99. What's the one thing you cannot live without? I've discovered that you can live without most anything, although sometimes it doesn't feel like living.

100. Posting this as 100 Truths? → Yes - my blog is slowly starving for lack of any idea at all.

Sometimes, God sends us a guardian angel ...

My workplace mentor emailed this story out to the staff of our entire school district and he got back more replies with this one story than he has with all his memos over the entire year to date. It reminds me so much of my beautiful girls, Mandy (RIP, babygirl) and Daisy, who is now 13 and beginning to show her age. I know that not everyone can relate to this kind of attachment, but I also know that most of us can and do feel deep, familial love for our pets. Is it so strange to think that the love flows both ways? Here's a true story which illustrates that kind of love perfectly.

Someone To Watch Over Me
By Saralee Perel

Gracie, my beautiful 13-year-old shepherd/collie mix, has found her purpose.
Six years ago, when I came home from a Boston hospital after my spinal cord injury, I was wearing a huge rock-solid brace that went from my chin to the middle of my chest.

When my husband Bob helped me to our couch, Gracie hopped up to give me her usual 3 million "Yippee you're home!" kisses. But before she landed her sloppy tongue on my face, she abruptly stopped herself upon seeing my brace and, I believe, sensing my pain.

And in that instant, I was no longer her caregiver. I was in her care.
Ever since then, Gracie's reason-to-be has been to watch over me.
Although she's nearly deaf now, she feels the vibration on the floor when I get out of bed. She rouses herself from her heated doggie bed. As I head to the bathroom, she leads the way as if saying, "I'll protect you, Mom. Just stay behind me." If there is anything such as a slipper in my path, she will come to a stop, turn sideways to block me, and then wait until she's sure I've seen the obstacle.

Lately, I've been re-learning how to walk. And just recently I made my first trek to walk with her at her favorite spot - a woodland path around a pond. I used to walk there with her every day . . . before.

It was emotionally brutal seeing my old dog amble so lamely now. With her head down, she tried her best to walk a straight line, but she couldn't.

The next day something wondrous happened. Gracie remembered her calling. Renewed as if granted a second life, she became happy and purposeful in her ever-vigilant new role as "Grand Protector of My Mom."

If another dog jumps up to greet me, I fall. So, on that second day, a dog about 30 pounds bigger and many years younger than Gracie raced in my direction. Gracie, barking, "I'll get him!" moved as fast as she could to shield me. She planted her old, weak body right in front of me as a barrier.

She faced the large, spirited dog. Then she barked a loud warning, "You better stay away from my mom!" The dog tried to get around her to reach me. Gracie growled, which I have not seen her do in over 10 years, "I mean it!"
The dog backed off. Gracie has taken on 4 dogs at once, to stop them from getting to me.

You see, she has shown me something I had not known before. Gracie would give up her life for me.

A verse from the song "Mr. Bojangles" haunts me.

"He spoke with tears of fifteen years
how his dog and him just traveled about.
His dog up and died.
He up and died.
After twenty years he still grieves."

Today, I said to my wise reverend friend Connie, "Do you think that having Gracie is worth the pain of losing her?"

Connie said, "Oh yes. Your sadness is so deep only because your love is so deep. What is a life without love?"

And so, I knelt on the floor next to my Gracie. "Thank you for taking care of me - for protecting me from all of the evils you think could ever come my way." I rubbed her bony hips and shoulders. "You have done a great job." I kissed her golden forehead. "I will always love you." She sighed, then fell asleep, tired from a long day of watching over me. I whispered so as not to wake her, "You are my true friend."