Today

I have decided to make today a celebration. A celebration of the ones we love and have loved. The ones we have gained and the ones we have lost. The ones who have survived against all odds and the ones who were taken from us too soon.

I want to make it a celebration of each day, waking up, sharing love, feeling, connecting.

The last couple of weeks have brought the loss of an old friend, but also the birth of friends new children and grandchildren. The removal of cancer from my boss. A new liver for my girlfriends father. The end of some things and the beginnings of others.

I have decided to make today a celebration.

I'm not a Yuppy...Am I?!?

Several years ago my mother called me a Yuppy. I remember being offended thinking of the sterotypical Yuppy of the 80s, the young hot shots in their designer suits and serious faces in stark contrast to their day glow wearing or punk rocker counterparts. So what if some of my best friends own a sailboat?!?

Websters Dictionary defines a Yuppy as: noun. a young, ambitious, and well-educated city-dweller who has a professional career and an affluent lifestyle.

Uh oh friends...looks like we've become Yuppies, but I am not complaining one bit.

As a matter of fact I am quite pleased with my Yuppy lifestyle because I know that it has come with blood, sweat and tears. I've worked for it!

I enjoy sitting on the porch of my house in downtown Denver drinking local brews with my yuppy friends. And now when I go sailing with my friends, fly off somewhere for the weekend, sit in my season ticket holding friend's seats, I embrace the judgement that may befall me.

I laugh about it sometimes too. Just this weekend as I pulled up to a 5 star hotel that I was visiting for a work event and the valets and bell hops greeted me by name and carried my over packed suitcase and garment bags to my suite, I thought back to a few weeks ago when I was checking into a tiny mosquito infested bungalow with no a/c, no hot shower and lizards that ran in under the door. At that time, I was carrying everything I had needed for a 3 week trip in a small day pack. Was I a yuppy then?!?

Either way, I know people like to label and I love to shatter labels. I love the look of shock when people learn something new about me when they thought they had me pegged. So I will continue to embrace this lifestyle, my lifestyle, whatever you decide to label it.

I heart social networking

There are a lot of people out there that really have an issue with social networking websites like facebook, myspace and twitter. Now I have to admit, I have not gotten into "The Twitter" as Betty White calls it, but I loved myspace before it became completely weird and now I'm sure you are all aware of my FB addiction.

When I encounter people who are adverse to social networking I always ask, "Why?" and am usually answered with the standards "I like my privacy", "the people I want to talk to know how to get ahold of me", or "there are weird people out there and I don't want them to know all of my business."

While I do understand that reasoning, I also recognize the fact that I moved away from my hometown the day after I graduated high school and lost touch with a lot of people that were my world for so long. And while I do try to stay in touch with everyone, there are still times that you lose people and it is fun to catch up and see what has been going on in each others lives. I have my facebook set to private, so only my friends can see pictures and status updates, I don't respond to requests or messages from people I don't know, and I love catching up with friends, old & new!

I was reminded how great these sites can be when I recently reconnected with some long lost BFFs. Man, we used to do EVERYTHING together! I never could have imagined my life without them, but as happens in life, we lost touch, grew apart, and didn't have a way to reconnect. Now I get to see them on a daily basis, whenever I need a smile, or when I want to remember the good ol' days. I get to see pictures of their kids and see how they've changed (or not) over the years.

Instead of passing notes, we send each other a message, tag each other in photos, or write on each others walls. When one of us updates our status, the other's can chime in. It's like we're kids again, or still. Either way...I heart social networking.

Somedays...

Somedays...even if the sun isn't shining, even if I am late to work, even if I am not crossing things off of my to-do list...Somedays, I just can't help but smile.

Today I am smiling about new friends I have made, and old friends that remind me they are always there. I am smiling because husband came home from a weekend of mountain biking and this time didn't have any new bruises. And I am smiling for no real reason at all.

Sometimes it's easier to focus on how much better things could be, but I would rather remind myself that things could always be worse and to keep my chin up and forge on.

I can't believe that this summer is already coming to an end, I feel like it's just begun. I remember my mom used to tell me, "It just keeps going faster and faster the older you get." I used to try to rush through everything always looking forward to the next item on the agenda. Now instead I embrace the moments as I am in them. Before we know it they become memories and I don't want to wish I had've enjoyed something more.

So today I am smiling, and I wanted to write about it to remind myself down the road to do it.

"I'm not a perfect girl. My hair doesn't always stay in place and I spill things a lot. I'm pretty clumsy and sometimes I have a broken heart. My friends and I sometimes fight and some days nothing goes right. But when I think about it and take a step back I remember how amazing life truly is and that maybe, just maybe, I like being unperfect."

It's the little things...

I've come to realize that it truly is the little things in life that make me happy. But at the same time, it is little things that can set me off, like the girl who cut me off last night on my drive home, just to put her car in reverse and try again (without success) to parallel park her car. I almost got rear ended and yelled some very not nice obsenities before driving off. I used to stew over these things for longer than I should have and it would have ruined my whole day. Now, instead I yell and it's over, and I think myself silly for even getting so upset to begin with. At least I got it out though.

So now I try to focus on those little things I mentioned before that make me happy. I get teased from time to time for being so easily excitable, but I figure the hecklers should get more excited for things too.

Here is a list of just a few of my favorite things to reflect upon when I may not be having a good day, or just maybe to share with you.

~ Getting a package - I don't even care if it is office supplies, it makes me happy!
~ Driving without shoes on - Husband says this may not be legal, but it makes my piggy's smile
~ Hugs - if you know me, this is not a surprise
~ Waking up refreshed and not in a rush to do anything ~ I love the weekend mornings when we wake up and just lie in bed talking, Sierra & Lily jump on the bed to lay with us and everything in the world seems right
~ Calling someone I really want to talk to and having them answer the phone - we are all so busy these days but taking the moments to chat with the ones we love always warms my heart
~ Seeing Husband's face when he gets home from work - he always seems genuinely excited to see me
~ Talking to my sister on the phone - not that I don't love talking to everyone else, but I truly love talking to her. She is an amazing, inspiring sister, mother and friend. She always makes me feel good, even if we aren't talking about anything important
~ The sounds of my niece and nephews laughter - no description necessary
~ Walking barefoot through the grass
~ Laying in Husband's arms - they mend, they comfort, they reassure, they make me warm, they make everything okay
~ Snuggling with Sierra - it is no suprise that my dog loves to snuggle too, but I still love it
~ Just seeing my family & friends - I am so blessed to have such amazing people in my life and I love spending time with them and miss them when I am not with them

I could go on and on, but just thinking about those things has filled me with happiness and smiles.

Hope you are having a great day!

Public Transportation

I have always loved seeing the rush of the trains and the use of public transportation when I travel. I've ventured into Boston on the Orange Line, overnighted in a shared cabin in France, eluded pickpockets in Barcelona, double paid because I couldn't figure out a "transfer" in Chicago, even been kicked off a bus (we got on the wrong bus and ended up at the bus garage) with my bestie in San Diego. But I have never, ever experienced public transportation in my own city. Until today that is.

I have to say, I was quite nervous about the whole journey. What if I get on the wrong train? What if I miss my stop? What if...

I worry too much.

The longer I live downtown, the more I love it. While the big box stores and gas stations are not on every corner, there is an amazing convenience and connection to life. So at 6:30 on this gorgeous summer morning, I walked the 2 blocks from my house to the nearest Light Rail station (Chicago has the El, Paris has the Metro, London has the Tube, we have the Light Rail.) Just for living downtown, the transporation authority mailed us a couple of free passes to ride the Light Rail, so a FREE ride was even more exciting. I just had to figure out how to validate my ticket. I went to the ticket machine figuring I would use my pass like a coupon. No luck. After a couple of tries with that thing, I realized that there was a plainly marked Ticket Validator machine. I was an obvious first timer for sure.

I was supposed to take the D train 3 stops to the convention center, then get off and get on the F train for 12 stops which would take me to the stop nearest to my office. I had it memorized. Imagine my shock then when the D train came but it was going the wrong way! Oh jeez...maybe I should call husband and have him drive me an hour and a half out of his way to drop me off at work instead. Breathe...I asked the one other person sitting on a bench at my stop. He told me that the train would be back in 5 minutes going the right way. He couldn't have been more than 14 and he had it down. Again...obvious first timer here.

The rest of the trip was completely uneventful. The trains were on perfect schedules, I read my new "This Old House" magazine that had arrived the day before. After dogearing all of the pages of project ideas, I just sat and thought about all that I could accomplish each day if this was my commute. I could read books, magazines, sketch, come up with ideas for the house, mentally organize my brain. As an added bonus, the train drives down the west side of the city, so there are gorgeous views of the mountains.

The commute is nearly double a "normal" commute from my house, however an accident, bad traffic, or snow can vary my commute by 5 minutes to an hour or more depending the cause and it seems like there is always something. The train's schedule is far more accurate than the stop lights and traffic. Plus, I got to work without any incidents of road rage!

While I definitely enjoy the freedoms of having my own car (running to target at lunch, picking up people from the airport, stopping at the grocery store on the way home), I think I might actually give this a shot. I mean, if husband can ride his bike to work everyday, surely I can withstand a productive train ride.

Yea...I think I could handle this.

Yea...I think I could handle this.

Renewed views

Did you ever feel like you were living in a dream? I felt like that for a long time, and I still do, but now in all of the best ways possible. Today I feel alive, happy, refreshed.

Look mom...I can blog!

After being inspired by friends' (and strangers') blogs, and talking about starting my own for years, I have finally decided to do it. Not that I am vain enough to think that people actually care what I am thinking, but sometimes it is just good to get it out there. So read it if you want, don't if you don't. Either way, here it is!