All Equal, All Here.

             Hope everyone had a delightful and festive Equinox today.  Ready?  SPRING!  Wait, what?  Not where you live?  Sure it is.  What ever your weather is doing, it’s exactly right.  Besides, we can’t have those sprouting flowers if we don’t have those cleansing showers.

             And I have the perfect example for  you.  Look at this phone photo from just hours ago.

Between hailstorms and cloudbursts.
Barely.
(You can’t see me, but I AM wearing my raingear.)

             Here is a view from part of my ride earlier.   When I go through this park on my way to the pool I pedal along here.  Some days it floody-er than others.

             When we talk about this season we always think of the greening.  It’s so fresh and lively; there is such promise, in our physical lives as well as our spiritual ones.  Here’s something that I recently found which sums it up beautifully:

“This is a time of balance in our life.  Spring Equinox represents fertility and the urge to create.  We are poised with our desires and visions though.  We want them to be exactly what we love the most since we’ll reap the fruit of every seed we plant.  It’s time to review and renew every part of our life, to redesign and empower our relationship to outer reality from a clear vision within.”

             Marielle’s SITE is a great one, and I plan on going back there to read more.  (Bonus, she’s in Canada!)  As she points out, this is a good time for going over and evaluating where we are presently, looking deeper at our progress and addressing anything that’s not going so well.  It’s also an excellent opportunity to tune in.  That “clear vision within” will help with all of these fabulous new endeavors and blooming gifts.

             Our daily draw message corresponds perfectly with this.  And it’s also what we’ve been focusing on for quite some time around here.  (Additionally, this is one of my all time favorite illustrations.   I can’t even tell you how much  I love it.  It will be my next extra-large copy to go on wall.)

“Awareness  ~

Practice present-moment awareness.

The meaning you yearn for lives in the ever-present NOW.”

             There are several* shards and scraps of papers near all of my work areas, one of them says, “present moment, be in it NOW!”  I can see it from where I sit right this second.  So yeah, this has been on my mind.

*Okay, there’s LOTS of ’em.  EVERY damn where.

             As you well know, I jot down a positive statement everyday while I do my “morning” journaling.  Today, this is what came out of my pen:

“I am present now, enjoying and acknowledging this perfect and blessed moment, blissful in my gratitude.”

Today’s Deck:

Self-Care Cards by Cheryl Richardson

Today’s Mileage:

is not complete because I have trouble with time math, and my wee tracking device did not get zeroed out after our ride yesterday, so the evening trip was added to those previous numbers.  It’s almost four miles, up and back, as usual, at 9.2 MPH average speed.

Today’s Sharing:

go HERE to see* what my Hurricane was up to lately (it involves beer, very good, and very local beer).  In the e-mail she said, “just thought you’d want to see it. You can Like them on Facebook at Northwest Beer Night.”  So Facebook people, you can go do that.  (Seriously, once again, I just couldn’t BE any more freaking proud of my children.)

*You will actually SEE her, talking and everything.

Yesterday’s Baking:

turned out for the best, in the end.  At several points along the way though, it was worrisome.  Dan used every piece of hot temperature-measuring implement he owns (which is several) and determined that our new-old oven heats effectively and pretty precisely.  That’s good.

             We argued over a recipe (which I am not going to share, because it’s super basic and you can find tons just like it, or close enough, all over the interwebz).  That’s about how we roll, bickering being our standard operating procedure.  The treats were edible.  That’s also good.  They did not, however, turn out like any cupcakes WE have ever eaten (or made).

             (Okay, I changed my mind.  Sort of.  I’ve tweeted the recipe.  But that’s as far as I’m willing to take this.)

There were many more, but we gave a bunch to Emma, and we ate several.

             There was a ganache topping that was recommended.  Daniel whipped that right up, and we dunked those tiny rascals down into it.  He also (begrudgingly) crafted a white chocolate glaze.  That didn’t do exactly what we were expecting.  But it tasted fine!  (Highly unlikely that the deputy and I will be attempting these again.   Tomorrow I’m back to cookies.)

This Week’s Mom-ism:

is from the other day, after we had dinner with my parents.  I made a printed copy of that post where I told you about how she’d be available  should anyone need a knitted hat or a hug, and I left it on her desk.  She called me the next day (before noon, knowing I wouldn’t be up, but it was when she’d been reading it and thinking of me) and left this message on the home phone,

“Oh Julie Terese!  That article (or whatever the hell it was) that you wrote for your blog about me was so sweet.  It was like the most loving and touching eulogy, but I’m not even dead yet!  Thank you, Honey, it made me cry.  And it’s true, I AM the richest woman in the world!”