Awards all around

How do you like that?! I have been given this award by Val over at the most amazing blog, Monkeys on the Roof. For brilliant observations of what it's like living on the African continent, this is the place to go. Thanks Val.



I've been thinking about what Val had to say about awards meaning something after all. She is so right. And even though I think that if this award came in sizes I would have the postage size one and she would have the poster size, it's still a gift. And it still means alot to me. And it's made me think how such a seemingly small thing can add so much to a persons life. Everyday since getting this reminder to pass it on, pay it forward, I've been trying to do just that. At home and at work, with my friends and family. Little notes, messages, reminders to say I appreciate you, I like and or Love you. It really made me think, sometimes even pay attention a little more closely , be more watchful. Giving out Good You!awards just makes you want to give more. So now I think the thing to do is pass this little bit of blog love along to 7 others. And again, I wish it were more.



There's just one problem...



I read and love many of the same blogs that Val does...is it ok to pass the award back? no? yes? are there rules? Oh well, I'll just make up my own and hope that the blog police don't come after me...


For excellent reading, sure to enrich and educate your life, make you smile, laugh, open your mind, even make you want to jump on a plane, here are THE blogs I would like to pass this award back to and on to!




* monkeys on the roof * Plan to stay awhile. You will be transported. It's just that good, go see for yourself if you haven't yet.



* letters from usedom * For a great story and for lovely words of kindness and wisdom, always, visit Angela .



* the times of miranda* get in and hang on, and really enjoy this ride. Miranda is funny and charming and always entertaining.



* fleeing muses* always interesting and fascinating, Tamara is the talented sister of Miranda.





* fire byrd * inspiring and lovely creative writing.



* border town notes * Karen writes from a border town(oh, yes, that's in the title!), another kindred soul.




* absolute vanilla...(and atyllah) * is a must (witty and wonderful) read, as is * blog that mama * hilarious! and...one more and I will stop , * ngorobob house life from the hill * by Janelle and her incredible writing she inspired me to blog with her words of encouragement and by giving the very first comment to my blog. (and then when I was considering not doing this after all, she gave me the keep it up comment). I'm glad I listened. Thanks Janelle. Thanks everyone for the fun.




xxx lori

Hello World

Please allow me to introduce myself. I am an American, a 3rd Generation Californian, part Native American, Spanish, Norwegian, Austrian, German and most likely more. My life is here but my heart is everywhere, all round the world, in the places it has been and some not just yet. Not Yet. For me, there's no end to the people and places a heart can grow to hold. It's like having a child, with each one my heart grows in size and understanding, ahh, so this is what it feels like.








Everywhere I turned today I felt the love of family and friends, some friends I've not yet met. People who have the same hope as me for a better world. A world that we can all be proud of. Maybe not everyone voted the same, but what I'm hearing is that there is still hope.

At this moment in time, it feels like we are all looking in the same direction. Towards a better future. I couldn't sit still in my seat at work. I get that way sometimes when my heart is aching with happiness. So I walked out at closing, walked right down to the beach. I don't know what it is about the endless ocean that soothes me, calms me, welcomes me. I stood here and made a wish that I sent out to all of you. That the change we want, the healing we need, will come. And that this feeling circling the globe will stay with us.

Oh, and I made one more wish, this time from you and me, only for this one I needed my cell phone. I haven't used this number in a long time so I had to scroll through forever till I got to the W's. I made a call to THE WHITE HOUSE. The phone rang and i selected the option to leave a comment. A friendly voice answered "What state are you calling from?" I replied, "California & The World" she laughed and said "OK, what is your comment?" I said " Please tell PRESIDENT Obama, We all say WELCOME!"

xxx lori

Election Day

It's the afternoon here in California, and I wanted to let you know what it's like on this Voting Day. The headlines of the Los Angeles Times shows a photo of both candidates with a caption that reads: The End of The Trail, and right next to this an article titled "Voters' nerves raw on last day."



Amen. Everybody seems to be anxious, exhausted and emotional. It's been a loooooog presidential campaign. It's time for it to be over. Almost.



Our phone started ringing first thing, there is still work to be done. My daughter was organizing carpools to get all the volunteers out to the polls, and voter guides are still being placed on doors this morning. The volunteers will be available to answer any questions, make sure people are aware of their rights, even give rides to those that can't make it on their own to the polling place. Then my phone rang at 7 am, it was my son's girlfriend, my "daughter-in-love", calling to tell me she was on her way up to vote. She had registered in our town and didn't realize that her polling place was here, it was too late to change it! So she's driving all the way up from L.A., almost 2 hours away, to get her vote in. On my way to work I saw 2 different polling places with people queued up already. I stopped to get a latte and at the counter there was a little hand printed sign that read "counseling 25 cents". The young coffee barista smiled at me and said, "we figured people needed to talk!"

Then I got to work and found an email from my friend Anja in Germany... it said, in giant letters,

YEAH - YOU CAN!! HAPPY VOTING!







For the past three days we've had rain, the first of the season. I don't know how much we got but it came down pretty steadily. This morning I woke to the sound of dripping, the sound you hear at the tail end of a storm. And the sun was shining. I went outside to find the most gorgeous day I've seen in a long time. Everything was bright and clean, raindrops hung on every leaf and resembled tiny crystals reflecting all the colors of the garden. It was a morning photoshopped by mother earth. I wondered if this was a sign...for change...for hope.







xx lori

The story of James & Betty

This is a true story. It happened just last month.



There is a couple named James and Betty, they lived in a little cottage down by the beach. It seemed to me they lived here forever. Well, I think it was about 50 years... so in a way it was.



If you were to take a walk on the beach or through the neighboring salt marsh, you would probably seeing James and Betty out too, walking hand in hand, sometimes stopping to watch the waves or the birds and wildlife. Then, about five years ago ,Betty started showing signs of dementia. Eventually it became full blown Alzheimer's disease and Becky began failing to recognize family members, including her own husband of 64 years.



So one night in September, 84 year old James tried to kill himself and his wife via carbon monoxide poisoning that he piped into his home through a hose connected to an Oldsmobile idling in his driveway. His plan to die peacefully beside his wife of 64 years was interrupted by a neighbor who was walking his dog and noticed the pipe running into the residence.



James admitted that he intended to kill his wife and prosecutors sought to keep James in jail on a $ 1- million bond. A superior court judge said the case called for compassion and set bail at $ 100,000.



The couple were extraordinarily close, and James was his wife's primary caregiver as she descended into dementia over the past four years.



James plead no contest to a count of attempted murder, and the charge of elder abuse was dropped. Betty is now residing permanently in a nursing home, from all appearances, out of harm's way.



James spoke of "the crucial night" as resulting from compassion for his wife and his desire to prevent their separation.

The defense said it will push for probation due to lack of a criminal record and the unusual circumstances of the case. But the deputy district attorney said James could still face severe punishment at his sentencing, set for early January. An attempted murder conviction could bring anything from probation to life in prison.

James will undergo a psychiatric evaluation before sentencing and will be watched closely to be sure he follows his bail terms, which include no driving and no unsupervised contact with his wife.

He recently made a visit to see Betty, with his children as monitors.

He sang to her.

She hummed along.

Last week at our Anniversary dinner, my husband and I decided that if we are ever to find ourselves in similar circumstances, we should have a plan. It is heartbreaking any way you look at it, to surrender lives, or to be separated after a lifetime of companionship, bestfriendship. The only state in the U.S. where physician assisted suicide is legal is Oregon, called the Death with Dignity Act. I know that this is a highly emotional subject, one where there is just no easy answer.

Except, i think James and his wife should be together. In whatever capacity they decide. What are your thoughts about this?

xx lori

Fifty more please?

Three years ago today...




What a ride it's been... deserted islands in the Indian Ocean, glaciers in Canada, dirt roads in Africa, deserts in the Mojave , the highest Mountain in the U.S., volcanos in Hawaii, surf in New Zealand, fales in the South Pacific and much much more...





everywhere is home when we're together.

xoxoxoxo lori ann

Vote.Like.This.

Here it is!



My Ballot. My mail in ballot. My Official Mail in Ballot. I Love to vote, I love the feeling of holding the ballot in my hands. Looking at all the names and props. Feeling powerful and thoughtful. It's a heady moment, sure.



Filling it out oh so careful. I don't want to make a mistake. I'll read everything twice and then just like the instructions say, I'll fill in the little bubble with my blue/black pen. Vote Like This.


Because here is the one box I Don't want to have to fill in. Do you see this here? What the heck is this? I've Spoiled my Ballot. Spoiled my Ballot. Does this mean like I've spilled my scrambled eggs all over it, or I left it with some ripe tomatoes and it got a little mold on it? I showed my daughter. She said "that sounds like you pooped on it". I mean spoil your ballot. For heaven's sake America. This is the Presidential Election. Please let's try not to spoil our ballots.



Okay then... Here is an extra bag I brought home after the weekend's volunteering I did. I was thinking that perhaps someone reading this would like this for their own. Today my daughter worked again, and she said the day was even more interesting because of the international support she received. She talked to the Dutch, English, Japanese, Irish and more. They all said they wished they could vote. They were all very excited to be able to bring Obama souvenirs home.

So... it made me think, maybe one of my blogfriends around the world, would like to have something too. To remember this historic time by.

The back side of the bag.

And this New Black long-sleeved thermal xl t-shirt with Obama and a peace sign on the front. I think it would be fun to send these out to someone that would love to have it. So, I would guess it could work like this, if you'd like to have it (t-shirt or bag) then leave a comment with your preference. If there are more comments, I could pick a name out of a hat. For fairness sake. I wish I could give one to everyone that wanted one.

I really just want to share the love.

And keep busy for 8 more days.

xx lori

Headquarters For Change

My daughter works for the Democratic Party. For the past 3 months the focus has been on voter registration. Now that that's over, it's all about getting the vote.



So, she asked me if I would like to volunteer with her this weekend, setting up a table at the Farmer's Market on Saturday and the Paseo on Sunday. Our job would be to pass out literature, sell t-shirts, stickers, buttons, be there. Get out the Vote. So I said OK! watching her enthusiasm over these last weeks was contagious and I was anxious to be a part of the Obama Campaign.









The first thing I saw when we arrived at the headquarters was this sign, taped to a car parked outside. It's funny right? Even if you are a supporter of the other party, it's still funny. I thought so.





Here we are, The Headquarters For Change. This is in downtown Santa Barbara. Here is where a lot of dedicated volunteers come to be involved. Here is where we will pick up the boxes to take to Farmers Market.


There are several tables set up with phones, with volunteers manning each and everyone. I didn't feel right about taking pictures of people I didn't know working, so here are some of the other things I saw...
Many different styles of buttons, it was hard for me to pick a favorite. I think the one that most people wanted was the HOPE one, there weren't any of those left.

Shirts and sweatshirts and tote bags, lunch bags, kids clothes, even clothes for baby...

Mr. Obama and my daughter.

Here is where my daughter checks in for instructions. She tells me this place can get really busy, all the phones going off at once, people running around...it's a big room behind me, you'll just have to imagine it.

getting the boxes ready to go....

At the Farmers Market with Mila, waiting for tables to set everything up on.

Nick and Kimberly and one of her favorite bumper sticker, Republicans For Obama!

I wished I could have taken more photos but we got busy and my camera never came out again. I didn't take even one today.

This weekend showed me some of the best and the worst in people. We were thanked and then yelled at. Many, many people told us "Thank you for what you are doing" Some would yell "McCain!!" and then this "Fuck Obama". And even though this was all donation for the campaign one man even stole a shirt. My daughter saw him and ran through the crowds after him. (of course this is NEVER a good idea, you can't be sure what people will do)it just shocked her I'm sure. When she came back with the shirt she told me she said to him " If you had just told me you didn't have the money, I would have given it to you" and you know what? he apologized. We had several tourists from Japan, England and Germany (hi Angela and Anja!) and they all bought t-shirts to bring back home. We had several young people that said they wished they could vote. There were the 6 or 7 college students that were low on cash but really wanted posters to hang in their dorm. We gave some to them. The most interesting thing to me was the fact that we were set up today in a highly visible place without a permit. The Banana Republic store nearby had given previous permission to put up a table by their place, but it was in the shade and we were cold so we thought we would just take a chance. My daughter said it depends on who the Security Guards are voting for. And she was right. We spent most of today camped out with alot of stuff and all we got from the guards was a wink and a smile!

Oh, and we made several hundred dollars for the campaign!

There are now just 9 days left.

p.s. No doodles this weekend, they were off to the Sierra Nevada's near Yosemite for the annual Tarantula Festival. With the other g-parents.

yep, I said Tarantula Festival. It's the only time I'm glad the kids(and tarantulas) are 287 miles away.

xx lori

Special Delivery

At work today one of our dealers called to tell me she had a package being delivered to our business instead of her home. She asked if I wouldn't mind signing for it and she would come collect it later.


Of course I said "No problem". Later that day the delivery truck pulled up. A uniformed guy came in carrying a big box which looked to me quite heavy. He said "Package, where do you want it?" I pointed to a spot on the floor . "Right there's fine thank you" I said. So he set the box down and then came over to me. He stood there looking at me.

It was a little awkward, he just stood there. Looking. I was thinking WHAT? aren't I supposed to sign for this? What are you looking at?

Finally he said "Sign here" and so I wrote my name. He looked at me one last time, then left.

Wow, I thought, that was weird. Wonder what he was thinking.
Then I looked a little closer at the box and the label. Can you see what it says? This Package contains Alcohol
and this,

Do not deliver to an intoxicated person

He was checking to see that I hadn't confused breakfast with Happy Hour. He was trying to determine that my red bleary eyes were a result of computer over use (it was 11:00 a.m.) and not a Pumpkintini in my smoothie. I may have had an extra glass last night...does that count? Seriously, how can they do this? I have never seen this before. I showed a few people and they hadn't either. What would he have done? Ummm... sorry ma`mm..you've had one too many, I'm gonna have to take your wine back now.

Seriously.

ha ha ha. Wooo.






xx lori

Mom

Happy
Birthday
Beautiful
To the best Mom a girl could ever hope for,

happy, happy day.

xoxoxoxoxoxo lori ann

Never too old

It's October and that means only one thing when you have small children...



H A L L O W E E N.







It means finding or making the perfect costume, putting out the decorations, buying candy to pass out, changing our minds about the costumes, carving the pumpkin. But first, the trip to the pumpkin patch. The requests to go start in September when the signs begin to pop up around town. I hear "when do we get to go to the pumpkin patch?" "When it opens" I say "when does it open?" Soon, pretty soon. We repeat this everyday.







My daughter says " what is so exciting about the pumpkin patch? there's just pumpkins and dirt." I tell her to try to remember when she was little, yes there are just pumpkins and dirt but there is also something magical. I remember.

First Grade field trip to Pirate Jack's Pumpkin Patch.

Sadie Bella and her classmates. And her sunglasses.

Knobbly gourds and Indian Corn.

Pretty Pumpkins all in a row.

Finding the magic.

Sadie ran off with her class waving goodbye to her Mama and me. My daughter stood there just shaking her head. She was remembering after all. The excitement of searching for just the right pumpkin to carry home, the bales of hay to climb on and the friendly farmer to show you around and maybe even let you have a sit on his tractor. The resident kittens and scarecrows keeping away not the mice or crows... We will have to come back she says. Travis will want to come too you know.

Uh huh. Us too.

xx lori

The Zen of Listening

It's been a looooong week. I am mothering little people again. Since June, my 2 grandchildren have been living with us. It's everything you would expect if you've had kids. It's temporary (as I'm wringing my hands and typing at the same time) My first g-child was born when my own youngest was only 8, so I never really got out of the swing of it.


I find myself saying to the kids the word "Listen" alot. I tell them there is a reason we have 2 ears and one mouth.

But, it had not occurred to me that maybe I might be a better listener too. There was an article in the paper this week about this very subject. It was titled "Learning to Listen".

I didn't realize that there are mental and physical benefits to being a better listener. The author said it is never too late to break a lifetime of bad listening habits and doing so can not only improve your relationships, but also keep you younger, healthier and just plain better all the way around.

Effective listening is about paying attention to body language and tone of voice, it's about being in the moment. I read that listening is the first of our five senses to develop in the womb and the last to leave at death. There's a reason for that: It's the key to human development and how we interact with our environment.

Focused listening can improve lives and and relationships in so many ways. I know I feel respected when I am listened to. There is a certain dignity to being listened to. When we can't connect with the important people in our lives, we suffer, they suffer. In the article it says this: "Poor listening is to blame for many of the headaches and heartaches in our lives, schoolyard and workplace violence, high divorce rate, malpractice suits, dissatisfied customers and other costly mistakes" Listening closely is essential for making all relationships more emotionally satisfying.

One way to be a better listener is to "get into the movie". The way to do this is to forget about yourself, and get into the other person's movie, just like we do when we are at the movies. Deep breathing is a key element of focused listening as well as meditation, because its calming and sends more oxygen to the brain, which increases alertness. Really listening to someone is almost like meditation , and it can have the same beneficial effects of focus and relaxation.

Here are some helpful rules to be a more "mindful listener":

1.) getting the whole message by processing nonverbal cues and pauses as well as spoken words.

2.) maintaining sustained attention.

3.) making the speaker feel valued and respected.

4.) listening to what you say yourself when you speak.

Quieting the mind is basic to good listening and allowing silence is a great habit to develop and so worthwhile.

I am sure I need to work on all these points.

Maybe I haven't been so mindful with these children. Maybe their listening skills are just a reflection of the habits that've developed as a result of our hectic days...who has the time? I'm going to try to be more aware now. I want to be the one they say (or feel) really listened to them. I very much do.

Isn't that all we really want anyway? to be heard. really heard. and understood.

xx lori

...Readin' Rolling Stone, Readin' Vogue..

It is about 7 a.m. Look how dark it is now. The days are getting shorter, I like the later morning dark like this, but it's hard for the kids to wake for school. Pretty soon the time will change when we go to Daylight Savings. We're on our way to see if we can find a mountain lion. Well, not really. We are on our way to trail run, but I can't get the lion's out of my head. So I will be looking and listening. Believe me.



Romero Canyon Trail, in Romero Canyon, Montecito. This trail is one of my favorites. It's a beautiful hike/run. You can make it as long or as short as you want. But it's always hard. It's up. Up. up. Of course, until you go down, which can be even harder, on the knees. Here is the start of the trail and the signs I was telling you about in a previous post. There were several. We noticed only 2 other cars besides ours. It's probably just because of the wind. not the (gulp) lions.

We started out just enjoying the morning, me at a slow jog to keep up with my husbands long stride. We looked all around at every turn. There are so many places out here that a mountain lion would love. There are sandstone outcroppings in the chaparral. Big flat rocks that you can just picture a cougar stretched out on. We only saw one mountain biker and two trail runners. One of the reason's I love this trail is because often times you can be the only one on it. Just you and the mountain lions and bears and rattlesnakes and tarantula's...

You can see my husband going up the right fork, this leads to the top of the ridge. Most of the time I go to the left, which leads back down and it makes a big loop, about 5 miles. The way we are going today is about 10 kilometers in all.


Would you believe I forgot my bells? In my morning fog brain I forgot them. Instead, in my waistpack I put the most basic bare essentials. Here is what I grabbed. A beanie. My reading glasses, you know in case I run into a newsstand or something along the way. A debit card. Same reason. A box of tictacs. A lip sunscreen and my mobile phone. Oh, and a Sigg water bottle. We're not supposed to buy plastic bottled water. What was i saying about running with excess weight? I never said I was brilliant. I'm just sayin'.

It is so dry. It may not look it, but California is in the middle of a drought. Water is our most precious resource and wildfires in this area are one of our biggest threats. Yet even in a stressed state the trees and plants have so much beauty. The hardy oak and it's acorn.


Here is one of the creek crossings. Sometimes the water comes all the way up to the tree on the right. That is an incredible sight, watching the creek rush bubbling over the rocks!

This is all over the trail. Sage. It has the best smell. Its uses are many. My favorite besides to smudge is to put a bundle in my husbands truck and then it doesn't smell so awful. The truck. Not the sage.

Look! A porcupine! ok, not really. But doesn't it look like it? Well, I try running meditation but I'll admit, my mind wanders.In fact I want it to so I can pretend I am somewhere else. Some place other than trying to run up this hill.


Can you see him? If you look really closely you can see my husband, he's in that little divot in the hillside. He was calling "wifey! here I am!" I don't even try to keep up anymore. I tell him to go ahead. See ya when I see ya.

This may not look steep to you. But it is. Oh it is. My mantra "one more step, one more step, one more step..." sometimes turns into " take me now, take me now, take..."

Look how high we are. Here you can see Santa Cruz Island in the distance. This is part of the Channel Islands chain. Santa Barbara Island (the one we were going to) is way behind this. Hi. I see you islands. Now there is no wind. Not a bit. Stop laughing at me islands.


There is my husband. Sitting waiting for me. He is enjoying the wonderful view. I can't wait to join him. We are half way done.



I made it! Time for a little rest before we head back down. My husband said to me, "I heard you coming a long way away. What is in your pack?" I pulled out all my stuff. He saw the tictacs. "There's your bells."

He was right. The tictacs (which if you are not familiar, is a tiny box of mints) were making a sound like mexican maracas. There was a fiesta in my pants all the way back down. La Cucaracha!

Oh, and in case you were wondering why I titled my post this way, it's because that is what I did the rest of the day after our trail run... And...

after taking my grandbabies to the zoo!

xx lori