10,000 pictures

At a birthday party yesterday, my camera “rolled over” back to 1…  I have taken over 10,000 pictures with this handy-dandy thing.  As Coach Gray asked, “How many of them are of K?”  Um, probably about 9000!!!

High Five for Friday—week of 06.13.11

*It is my goal that even when I kvetch, I still have an attitude of gratitude, so each Friday, I want to share at least 5 fantastical things that have happened to me!

PS—these aren’t in any particular order!

1.  Finalizing my adoption!  Call it DONE!!!

2.  Swim lessons for K!  This is year two, week 2, and he is doing AMAZING!!!

3.  The Voice, SYTYCD, America’s Got Talent, Deadliest Catch, Ice loves Coco (don’t judge me), Switched at Birth, Combat Hospital, The Closer, just to name a few—I could go on and on, but so far, my summer TV sked is ROCKING ME!!!  I TiVo it all, so…

4.  My friend C—we got to celebrate the arrival of her daughter I last Sunday!!!  It’s been such an amazing journey to motherhood for her.  And she’s a FABULOUS mom!  I am so glad I was able to celebrate this with her.

5.  Carlos—still very grateful for this remarkable man.

Destination or Bridge?

I was reading a post by a friend of mine and what he was sharing really resonated with me; it practically reached out and screamed “pay attention to me Char!”.  He was talking about “the gift of perspective” and within that, he challenged whoever to really think about this—is this stop in life a destination or a bridge?  While, his post was about something totally different, it’s always so funny (not ha ha funny, but…) to me that even those couple of phrases, really spoke to me about where my life is at right now.  

For those of you who know me, I am a person who can truly compartmentalize the various facets of who I am.  I am so many things besides being Char.  I am a mom, friend, daughter, co-worker, sister, aunt, and (at times have been known to be) a girlfriend.  Clearly, I know that there are a lot more “components” to me than this, but you know…  As I was sayin…It is all of these parts of me that I really am trying to “work” on.  I want to be the most authentic, best version of myself that I can be.  I don’t always achieve “greatness” on a daily basis, but at the end of everyday, I reflect and say, “What do I need to repent for?  Who do I need to apologize to?  How can I be better tomorrow?”

One of the things that I know that I haven’t been thinking about is—is this place (today, this moment, this month, this relationship, this ________________ ) a bridge or a destination?! Not only that, I haven’t really reflected on past “things” in the same light.  Am I supposed to pitch a tent and take a nap “here”?  Or is this place where I am supposed to dig deep and put down roots?

I am so glad that I have people in my life who can share, truly, a phrase, that makes me stop in my tracks and compels me take note of something that I really need to examine in my life.  I want to live a life that is aware of the destinations and bridges.  I want to be a person who knows when to slow down, smell the roses but keep walking over that bridge and someone who needs to take advantage of the destination.  Ironically enough, I may only know which is which in hindsight!

The Power of the Do-Over

Lately I have been seeing a lot of my friends on FB mention that they would like a “do-over”.  For the most part they want a “do-over weekend” or a “do-over day!”  Very rarely do I hear them say that they want a “do-over” for some serious diarrhea or a UTI.  Nor do I see any status updates about a “do-over” case of the flu and a 103 temperature!  Even having said that, sadly, I can’t relate to the “do-over”.  Really, I want to.  I want to be able to say, “Girl, I totally feel you on that one!” but in all fairness, I don’t.  When I have a crappy day—I sure as heck don’t want a do-over.  I want that friggin’ day to be DONE.  GONE.  FINISHED.  When I have a great day, I want to log it into my memory as perfection and allow another remarkable day to ride in on the next sunrise! 

Is there something wrong with me?  Do I just not get the power of the “do-over”?  Do I not know the ins and outs of the how amazing the “do-over” is?