good news!

hey all y'all,

the good news is that Chris called me yesterday to tell me he won his custody case. he has permanent full-time custody of his little boy.

little boy's mother gets 12 supervised visits a year. she has to come to them, not the other way around.

i know some of you have followed the threads of this story for the past couple of years, but since Chris and i broke up this past summer there have not been any updates. so if you are a new reader, this might confuse you.

regardless of confusion, please join me in a heart-felt "YIPPEE!!!!"

:)

sunny day

here we are into double digits in the first month of the new year already! i personally am glad to get back to a more "normal" schedule and menu. i have stashed 5 boxes of Trader Joe's Candy Cane Joe-Joes in the deep freeze, and am going to ignore them until June, when i will dig them out and sell them on eBay for mucho dinero!

in case you don't know, these are the BEST cookies EVER to be mass-produced and sold in a store. think oreo, but with intensely minty bits (actual crushed candy canes) in the creamy filling. they are soooooo wonderful, but i'm truly burned out on them. i sent many packages through the mail this year, to share the wonder with my less-fortunate siblings who don't live near any Trader Joe's, much less three of them.

and that Joe is a smart guy. he knows that the best way to drive demand is to limit supply, so these cookies are only available during a few weeks in late autumn. until this summer, that is, when i'll make my eBay debut selling cookies. hmmmm, maybe i should pick up a few more boxes while i can. this could be really big!

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the sun is out, and Tucson is enjoying temps in the low 60's lately--but don't forget, we head into the 30's at night. when the sun goes down, you'd better have your woolies handy, even if you've been sunbathing nude in the heat of the day. (every sunday at the Sweat, i'm singing my new song, "Sunbathing Nude In January," bound to be a hit!)

25- and 30-degree (per day) temperature swings are par for our winter months. but more than the warmth, i would miss the ever-present light if i were to move elsewhere. my cultural thermostat is set to be comfortable in the mid-40's (i'm scots on my dad's side and german on my mom's), so the heat really takes a toll on me in the summer. but the big sky and bright sun is worth it, or has been for the last 20 years at least.

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i'm 'bout out, nothing too interesting happening in my life, but i got tired of reading my HNY entry. hope all y'all are enjoying the latent beauty of this still season.

HNY!! (some good thoughts to chew on)

Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 2
"People have to be responsible for their thoughts, so they have to learn to control them. It may not be easy, but it can be done."
--Rolling Thunder, CHEROKEE
WE control our thoughts by controlling our self talk. At any moment we choose we can talk to ourselves differently. The fight comes with the emotions that are attached to our thoughts. If our emotion is high and seems to be out of control, we can say to ourselves STOP IT!, take a few deep breaths, then ask the Creator for the right thought or the right decision or the right action. If we practice this for a while, our thought life will be different. It helps if in the morning we ask God to direct our thinking. God loves to help us.

Great Spirit, today, direct my thinking
so my choices are chosen by You.

(you can subscribe to this daily email HERE)

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Change what you dwell on.

Instead of linking one worst case thought to another, start to create a new dwelling place in mind. Start dwelling on simple circumstances where things went right, people laughed, and activities flowed. Start dwelling on which body parts ARE working and praise them for it. Start dwelling on what bills you CAN pay and be grateful for what that service provided you.

Dwell on possibility.

Dwell on what HAS worked, who you DO like, who HAS shown up, and what GOOD is happening in the world. Do that for a day. Do it for another. Then another. And before you may realize, a collection of those deliberate dwelling days has become a month. A month has become a season, and a season a year."

-- ©2007 Rev. David Ault

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Stop thinking this is all there is. Realize that for every ongoing war, religious outrage, environmental devastation, and bogus Iraqi attack plan, there are a thousand counter-balancing acts of staggering generosity, humanity, art, and beauty happening all over the world, right now, on a breathtaking scale, from flower box to cathedral. Resist the temptation to drown in fatalism, to shake your head and sigh and just throw in the towel. Realize that this is the perfect moment to change the energy of the world, to step right up and crank your personal volume; right when it all seems dark and bitter and offensive and acrimonious and conflicted and bilious, there's your opening. Believe you are a part of a groundswell, a resistance, a seemingly small but actually very large impending karmic overhaul, a great shift, the beginning of something important and potent and unstoppable.

-- Mark Morford
columnist for the SF Chronicle

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Find Your Voice in 2008

When we understand that the core impulse of every religion is good and noble, we find our way to unity and peace. Underneath them all is the human quest for truth. In the year ahead, be a voice that honors and respects that quest; be a voice for interfaith dialogue and reconciliation.

When we understand that human rights are universal and indivisible, then we can celebrate and affirm the historical and cultural diversity of all of Earth's peoples without compromise. In the year ahead, be a voice for the fullest expression and implementation of human rights by all nations.

When we understand the interdependence of all life on Earth, we thrive in the context of creative collaboration with each other and with Nature. Only resourceful collective action can prevent severe environmental degradation, toxic poisoning and climate imbalance. In the year ahead, be an urgent voice for ecological and sustainable development.

When we understand how paradigms change, we can explore a future that is radically different, a future that supports our highest values. Human civilization requires that scientific exploration serve our highest evolutionary potential, not the paradigms of crude materialism, militarism, and exploitation. In the year ahead, be a voice for scientific explorations that help us shift to higher creativity and more evolved consciousness.

When we understand the nature of choice and the power of intention, we will choose our leaders wisely. We cannot have enlightened societies without visionary, compassionate and emotionally intelligent leaders. In the year ahead, be a voice for choosing leaders who are worthy exemplars of these qualities.

When we understand the potential within each human being we will wake up to the importance of developing the inner life. In every age, mystics, sages, and teachers have shown us how to go deep within and, by doing so, experience the great gift of awareness itself. In the year ahead, listen to the voice within.

The world is waiting for you to find your voice.

-- James O'Dea, President
Institute of Noetic Sciences

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The Sevenfold Path of Peace

1
When we are at peace within our own hearts
we shall be at peace with everyone
and with our Mother the Earth.

2
When we recognize that our planet itself
is a living organism co-evolving with humankind
we shall become worthy of stewardship.

3
When we see ourselves as stewards of our planet
and not as owners and masters of it
there shall be lasting satisfaction from our labors.

4
When we accept the concept of Right Livelihood
as the basic right of all
we shall have respect for one another.

5
When we respect the sacredness of all life
we shall be truly free.

6
When we free ourselves
from our attachment of our ego-personalities
we shall be able to experience our Oneness.

7
When we experience our Oneness—
our total connectedness with all beings,
we shall be at peace within our own hearts.

-- from “The Earthstewards Handbook”
by Danaan Parry