Happy 7th Day of Xmas

This is where I'm not. My Ellen friends are freeeeeeeeezing in Times Square tonight and having a v. fine time. I am in my jammies, having successfully failed to get a timely post on this last day of 2008. I'm going to eat gluten free mac 'n' cheese, have some tea, and have a movie fest with Mum. It's a rockin' night! :-) H.

6th Day of Christmas

On this 6th Day of Christmas, I offer the word penultimate. It means second-to-last.

e.g. Today is the penultimate day of 2008.


I'm looking back at 2008 and I'm ready to say goodbye and welcome 2009. I don't really do resolutions. They seem to have a built-in failure to them, like you're not really expecting to have them work. Look at all the gyms on Jan. 1st. To quote U2: nothing changes on New Year's Day.

Years ago, Doug O'Brien had a newsletter in which he said something like,
Instead of resolving to do something different, perhaps you can resolve to feel something different. Food for thought.

What are you feeling that you want to let go of now?
What do you want instead?
How will you begin to make that happen in 2009?

Happy 5th Day of Xmas

Today I forgot until I remembered that I have a blog. Mostly when I reference my boss-friend John Morgan, it's as the philosopher and author of Grasshopper Notes. However, today I've been v. busy getting together interviews with radio stations as we start our seminars next week.

STOP SMOKING FOREVER

OR LOSE WEIGHT & KEEP IT OFF.

It's pretty amazing to see a room full of die hard smokers throw away their cigarettes at the end of 2 hours-- cheering. Yes, CHEERING!!! The weight-loss seminar doesn't have as dramatic an ending, but the results can be v. dramatic. Both are life-changing & life-enhancing. Click here for the seminar schedule, and give yourself the gift of health, on this 5th Day of Christmas.

Day of Rest: 4th Day of Christmas

I've been working on a blog calendar. This is for December: a photo of my Christmas bay window last year with some ornaments I made. Light dusting of snow outside, with pretty lights inside. LOVEly.

On the 3rd Day of Christmas . . .

give a house. You may remember Mum's Habitat adventures in Hungary. Habitat for Humanity is another teach-to-fish organization. AWESOME. Check them out. :-)

Mum's Habitat friend, Jack, literally gave the shirt off his

back.

Happy 2nd Day of Christmas

The 12 Days of Christmas isn't just a song, there really are 12 days. I like this idea because it spreads it out. How was your first day? Merrie? Let me tell you what I did yesterday--wait, back up to Christmas Eve Day: mild weather, perfect for . . . cleaning out gutters? Really, Mum? This is how we're celebrating? Hehhhhh . . . . here's a little tip about gutter cleaning: if you wait until it's been freezing, then the gutter stuff comes out in convenient, icy chunks and it goes relatively fast. I also split my first log for the woodstove. First and last. Now I know I can do it if I have to. My Pioneer Sister is a regular lumber jack with a real ax. We used some wedgey-splitter thingie. Yeah, I'm a wimp.

On to Christmas! It was another mild day and Mum was looking out the window. You know what would be good to do today . . . .

Really, Mum? Wash the cars? That's how we're celebrating Christmas???

But we decided to have a Bones Fest. She made a big pot of veggie soup (YUM!) And then, THEN! Mum stabbed her hand getting an avocado pit loose. That's all right, I'll be fine. Just a minor flesh wound. And she wanted me to stitch it up. But then she found some steristrips from 1978 in her first aid tackle box. Once I knew she was OK, I immediately called Brother D to make fun of the situation.

When we were growing up, he cut his finger and Mum stitched it up at the kitchen table. When Brother D winced in pain, Mum told him to "think of England." So of course, that was the first thing he said, after recommending super glue. We didn't have any, but apparently it works v. well, tho it stings. Well, just think of England.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, Mr. Bailey

Favourite movie of all time.

My first memory of this movie is when I was 8 and I was getting over a cold. I don't know where the sibs were, but Mum & I were watching this movie and I was drinking lemon-honey tea and she was giving me a foot rub. I loved the whole concept of this movie, that you could have an alternate ending--a redo, to your life.

Buffalo Gals about to get wet tonight!

I don't want any plastics and I don't want
any ground floors . . . .

I can quote this movie by heart.

George: I see it still smells like pine needles around here.
Mary: Thank you?

I love the old-movie-proper-diction accents:
Mary's mother: Marrrry, Marrrry! Who's down there with you?
Mary: It's George Bailey, Mother!
MM: George Bailey?! What's he want?!
Mary: I don't know? To George: What do you want?
George: Me? Nothing. I just came in here to get warm.
Mary: He's making VI-O-lent love to me, Mother!

Lessons from It's a Wonderful Life:

The power of one person.
You can touch hundreds of lives and your influence ripples out. You never know what impact you may have on a person. You can be a George or a Mr. Potter. The choice is yours.

You can have plans for your life, but in the meantime, your destiny awaits.
George wanted to build skyscrapers. He wanted to travel. He got to build homes for the people of Bedford Falls. He thought himself a failure because his idea of who he wanted to be didn't match up with who he thought he was. The desires in your heart can manifest in more than one way.

You are part of a community
Your friends, family, co-workers, strangers at the store. We're in this society together.

When disaster hits, ordinary people become heroes.
Natural, bank, whatever. There are angels everywhere, waiting to give and be of service. Not just the Clarences-in-Spirit, but people. There is a saying that God doesn't have hands, so He uses ours. We see the best of humanity when we are tested with adversity. It is our calling to be of service.

LOVE wins and life happens.
What do you want, Mary? Do you want the moon? Here, I'll lasso it down for you.

Observations from someone else give new perspective.
Clarence was able to point out all of George's accomplishments where he saw none.

When you know the truth, it doesn't matter what other people gossip about.
You know it's all over town that you've been giving money to Violet Bick, says Mr. Potter to George. It doesn't matter, he knows the truth. Now wipe off the thank-you lipstick from your cheek, George.

On this first day of Christmas, I'll leave you with:
Merry Christmas, Bedford Falls.
Merry Christmas, one and all!

Last Minute Gifts

The only poverty is poverty of the heart. ~Mother Teresa

I like creative and caring gifts. Years ago I learned about The Heifer Project from a woman who donated part of a cow on my behalf. Cool! It's an organization that teaches people to fish instead of handing them a fish--except fish isn't in the catalog. That's kind of ironical, innit? $10 will buy one rabbit, or you can buy the whole trio for $30. That's less than a cup a coffee a day. Well, unless it's Starbucks, but you know what I mean.

Heifer Project Poem for the Day
Goats and chicks
and geese and cows
End hunger on earth
this is how
If you're veggie
buy some bees
If you're vegan
buy some trees
Sheep and goats
llamas and pigs
all sort of choices
for Christmas gifts.

Getmas

The above comic is from last year's Brewster Rockit. I was sending a gift to John, which I would reveal here except that he hasn't opened it yet. Well, he'll know it's a book--there's a surprise! Anyway, I thought I'd include some gifty-thingies for the other members of the House of Morgan, so I emailed & asked what I could get for his son. He replied, Something from the heart. D'oh! I was looking for tangibles. It's so much easier just to get a gift card or some generic trinket, but how much more meaningful when we put some thought and care into it.

I love Christmas and I've rebelled against the consumerism of the season. All the STUFF. And all the rushing about that accompanies the getting of the stuff. Watch out for those stressed-out rushing people in the parking lots. They'll take you out.

Perhaps things are a bit different in these economic times. Perhaps we are putting more time and energy and thought into our gifts this year. Perhaps it really is the thought that counts. That's what a thoughtful gift is all about. From the heart.

HAPPY Birthday, Princess

May you chase butterfly dreams

Ride rainbow moon beams

Hold LOVE in your heart

with ones near or far

Take smiles and laughs

and put them inside

to shine in your eyes

for all to find.

HAPPY Birthday, dear one.

HAPPY Birthday, my sweet.

May today bring JOY

and lots of FUN treats!

Day of Rest

OK, I'm at Mum's and there's so much going on, but I will endeavor to slap up a post. The above picture was taken from a Sample folder, but I thought it looks appropriately frosty. Mum is doing the crossword puzzle and Brother D says my quote this a.m. should be:

I am the grammarian about whom your mother warned.

He is, too. He's the reason they created a Grammar Award at Wakefield School. Yesterday we did Xmas. One of the funniest parts of the day was when Brother D was re-enacting the woman in the parking lot who was freaking out. "I done lost muh teeth!" she said while digging down her shirt. Hahahaha

Chiro-sister is celebrating the fact that we have real Q-tips here and not "the daggers" from a previous visit. None of us can leave the house without cleaning our ears. Yeah, TMI. All right, have a GREAT day-of-rest, back tomorrow.

P.S. Here's another quote:
"Marlene, that snowflake is for looking . . . I said LOOKING, not licking!"

Will Smith has got it goin' on . . .

Yeah, THAT Will Smith. How many Will Smiths do you know? Except for Mum. She's thinking, Will Who? He was on Oprah yesterday. [Side note here: I love DVR! You can zip thru all the commercials and watch Oprah in half an hour. Watching TV in real time is now excruciating.] Back to Will: he was so quotable yesterday. So here's my favourite:

Now this is the story
all about how
my life got flipped,
turned upside down . . .

Kidding. But it's amazing that he has come from this:

. . . to this:

I'm at a point in my life where I've made a decision that nothing in my life is going to be without purpose. I've grown to a place where I realize that the only true happiness, the only way to really be happy, is to live in service to humanity.

I want my life, I want my work, my family--I want it to mean something . . . and if you're not making someone else's life better, then you're wasting your time. Your life will become better by making other lives better.

Makes me want to work with orphans somewhere. :-) Back tomorrow.

Belated Mum Post

Mum has been and come back from Scotland, but I promised to share a bit of her trip. I would like to credit much of my writing talents to my v. fancy education. However, the greatest influence has been from Mum, who writes the BEST letters and is a wonderful storyteller. I have told her she needs a blog, but she thinks she has nothing to say. Ha!

She went to The Orkneys to visit my cousin J and help her finish painting rooms in the new home. She packed her paint brushes. Well, you have to have the proper tools! [Side note here: on Mum's last visit, she spent all day winding up & down a narrow spiral staircase bringing down boxes of cousin's Hubby K. Mum thought they were books. There were not. They were his ROCK collection. I thought they were a bit heavy, said Mum.]

The Orkneys are off the northern tip of Scotland, v. remote, windy & COLD! When my husband had asked her if it was cold, she said it wasn't that cold. "Not cold?! My SIL was wearing a hat & winter coat with gloves in June!" So then Husband got an atlas. The Orkney's are one degree difference in latitude to Alaska. Yeah, not cold . . . .

You may remember that I shared her first email to me, detailing how she hitchhiked up the coast of Scotland to make her ferry. Here are a few excerpts from her emails:

Dec. 1st

Haven't heard from you for ages ? I did get a very brief note from D but other than that not didly squat from anybody.Hope you had a great thanksgiving. I am making decent progress but the days are SO short ; it is dark by 3-30 and it isn't bright enough in the morning to get started before 9am. J's cooking is incredible .I shall definitely miss all these catered meals. lots of love Mum

I wrote back, Haven't heard from ME??? Who's in the arctic??? Hahahaha

Dec. 9th

J and I are going in to Kirkwall this morning and my comment last night was that we were going to shop till we drop and K and J burst into laughter and and said hey ,yes , this is Kirkwall you're talking about. It takes all of half an hour to get around ALL of the shops .I'm hoping for good sailing weather on Fri.and not the same fiasco as getting up here. Yesterday we had lunch with the local air-traffic controller who said he would guarantee good weather and no cancellations .I shall attempt to keep you informed and I will have my cell on when I get to Dulles.See you Sat. Lots of love,Mum

Dec. 10th

I have put coat no. 3 on the stairs today and now I am going to relax with some knitting which I am doing for J. She completed a sock over a year ago and started on the second one and it was just waiting for me to come along and finish it.I walked across to the pub a few minutes ago to mail some stuff for J (the PO is in the pub) [Oh, come on, Mum. We know you were slugging back a few pints! Hahahahaha Kidding.] It is only a few yards away but I was very glad that I had my quiltty coat ; I could easily have frozen from the wind and sideways rain. TTYL L.M.

Dec. 12th

The sun is shining over Scappa Flow and it is like glass.Looks good for a ferry run tomorrow. Not that it s a guarantee. [insert family stuff here] OK , back to the sock!!!! just have the foot left. Love mum

Dec. 13th

This is probably the last e-mail I shall send before I embark on the return journey.I am gearing up to get on line and get my boarding pass and a seat. As I glance out of the window Scapa flow does not look so calm today ; I see white horses and I see a boat which is tossing about. There are a few hours before sailing and one can hope that it will calm down before the evening.I won't be taking pictures ; we sail at midnight.See you soon. L.M.

As it turns out, the ferries weren't running due to rough seas. Cousin J helped her book a flight to London, so she managed to make it back. And now we are gearing up for the Xmas family gathering tomorrow. I'm going to make a prediction: Mum is going to say, "What's that postcard illustration on this post?" I wanted to do something because Mum didn't take any pictures. Hehhhhh . . . . [This is where she says, "Well! The battery was dead!" Yeah, I know.] Anyway, I wanted to do a some sort of graphic and when I was getting clipart for Scotland, this one showed up. I don't know if Kilt Guy is golfing [Mum will set me straight on this] but I thought it was a funny picture. So that's why. This is where she'll say, "Oh you and your brother are so much alike!" Hahahahaha

P.S. Mum emailed me:

Scottie guy is participating in the Highland Games (that has to be capitalized!) and swinging the shot-put which weighs a ton.

Should

I was at FedEx sending my XBox from Ellen to Ex-XM Radio Guy. FedEx Guy measured the box and then taped up a cardboard box to put it in. When he placed the XBox in there, he couldn't close the flaps. It was too big for the box.

I don't understand it. It should fit, he said. And then--THEN! He took the XBox back out and measured it again. Then he measured the empty box. It should fit, he repeated. Back it went into the box. I stood there watching this. This was an amusing case of Shoulding vs. Reality. He couldn't quite believe that it didn't fit because it was supposed to fit. The tape measure said so. The evidence suggested otherwise. He needed to get a bigger box. Which he did. Begrudgingly.

We create a lot of disharmony when we hold on to what we think something should be. Jerry Stocking has said that the definition of a problem is anything you think shouldn't be the way it is. Hmmmm . . .

John Morgan had a v. elequent quote in yesterday's blog:

We always say no to peace when we continually piece together the reasons it shouldn't be the way it is.

Some food for thought. What am I shoulding about that I can let go of? Now there's a resolution for the new year!

P.S. Sorry for the late post. Am v. busy-and-important with John Morgan Seminars. I endeavor to be more consistent . . . that's right . . . I should be.

Oprah Doesn't Get It

I am late-ish with the post because I have been v. busy with John Morgan Seminars. I'm booking our weight-loss & smoking cessation seminars around the country. T'is the season to get healthy!

What about Oprah? you ask. Well. I was reading O Magazine about her weight. Again with the weight. No matter what other accomplishments, it is her lifelong challenge. [Side note here: A couple years ago, I was actually heavier than Oprah. It gave me a kick into gear. Really? I'm bigger than Oprah? How can this be? Oh, it be. But not anymore.]

This is what I notice: there is no attention paid to the subconscious, or Other-Than-Conscious, as Dave Dobson calls it. It's the part of us that drives our behaviour. Wouldn't you want to get in rapport with that part of you? Wouldn't you want to work WITH your subconscious instead of trying to strong arm it with "willpower." Dave used to say that it was like holding a beach ball under water. Eventually, it will pop back up. What if every part of you was in alignment for your highest and best good? What if all parts of you--your beliefs, your body, your feelings were all congruently working together? Wouldn't it be nice to stop fighting with yourself?


We could hallucinate all sorts of reasons WHY Oprah is fat again. She has. Reasons can keep us stuck where we are. As long as she fights her body, she will continue the struggle. John says that 95% of the women in his programs come up to him and say, "I hate my body." If you had someone in your life that you were openly hostile to and more than that, told anyone who would listen how much you detested that person, how receptive would your enemy be to a request? That's what's going on with your body when you hate it and fight with it and create a weight struggle.

So here's my prescription for Oprah:

Perhaps she'll get this part: acceptance. Really, it's very Eckhart Tolle. And John is a huge Eckhart fan. My wish for Oprah is that she finds some peace within herself, and that she discovers a new, easier way not to lose weight, but to create balance, harmony, and health for the new year.

Day of Rest

WELCOME HOME, MUM!!!

Here's a flower for Mum. I picked her up at the airport last night. You may remember our past airport disasters, but we've worked out the glitches. Anyway, with her permission, I will have an EXCLUSIVE Mum post tomorrow. The above photo comes from a v. sweet email from my friend Pam with a bit about her adventures in Puru, and it was too good not to share. So here you go:

If you are someone who loves garden design or if you are looking for a Holiday gift for a gardener..check out Carol Cumes’ brand new Chakra Garden book.

In October I stayed at Carol’s retreat center, the Wilka Tika in Peru and experienced her incredible garden creations. Carol was just back from a US trip when we arrived and she gave us the very first sneak peak at the book. The photography is beautiful and the book is abundant with information on building your own healing gardens.

While in Peru, Carol also invited us up to the remote Andean mountain school that her Children’s Fund supports. To met these amazing little spirits and actually SEE where the money goes was life changing for me. I saw firsthand how these children benefited from Carol’s big heart and all the people who have supported the fund.

I was delighted to learn that through a donation you can receive the Chakra Garden book as a gift…or you can just purchase it directly. All the info is on the website and you can take your own sneak peak at some of the pages. Also see info from Carol’s email attached below.

Here are two of my photos from the trip..one from the chakra gardens at the retreat and the other of some of the boys that we met at the school. It was an extraordinary experience and thank you for letting me share a little bit of it.

Puruvian school boys.

And this is from the author herself:

The seed of the Willka T'ika Children's Fund began over twenty-four

years ago, as my way of giving back to isolated mountain communities

high above the Sacred Valley. Our mission is to foster self-sufficiency

in remote communities in the Peruvian Andes and to that end we raise

funds to improve educational facilities, build libraries and schoolrooms

for primary and secondary education, provide supplemental nutrition and

hot meals for children, and provide emergency medical attention.

Together we can all have a positive impact on the Earth by finding our

way back to the Garden. Together we can have a tremendous positive

impact on the lives of Quechua children. Some of the ongoing projects

funded through the Willka T'ika Children's Fund include the building of

a secondary school, funding for a Young Women's Academy and the creation

of an extracurricular program in art, music, English and business skills

for gifted and talented children. These are ambitious programs that can

only succeed with funding provided through donations and book sales.

HAPPY DAY OF REST, everyone!

City River, Country River

I never gave a proper THANK YOU to my friend Maryann for telling me about Oakwood. I had a whole studio apt. with a kitchen, so it was really nice to be able to cook & not worry about hidden MSG or Gluten. PLUS there was my favourite Trader Joe's that she took me to for groceries when I first got there.

Here's a shot of the L.A. River on my way to Warner Bros.

You call yourself a river?

Any fellow Blogspot bloggers out there? Do you upload in a particular order only to have them randomly reshuffled? Hehhhh...So this is spozed to be a shot of my river:

Except it's not. This is yesterday from my front porch. It rained a lot and you can see the mountains are all icy. The next pic is taken from the other side. This is the only time you can see my house:

Now this, THIS is a river:

Beautiful. I actually took this with Aida in mind because we were both joking about the L.A. River. Oh you City People with your fancy concrete-against-nature rivers. ;-)

Holidaze

This post was inspired by The 12 Daze of Christmas. Go see, I'll wait.

It's almost a cliche, this hustle-bustle of the holidays. I look around at the mad-dash of people securing STUFF. Ex-XM Radio Guy has always said that he doesn't like the mandate of gift giving. His family got rid of it years ago. Nobody needs anything, and if they do, they can buy it themselves. We just get together and eat. I always liked Thanksgiving, not just for the yummy yams, but because it was a fun family gathering without the gift pressure. Every family has traditions and rules. Here are some rules I've observed for the Holidaze:

1. Matriarchs who insist her entire set of children, grandchildren, etc. MUST be at their homes ON Christmas Day. Followed by:
2. Nothing starts until the entire family is there. Just eat the chips on the side board & watch TV for 3 hours until Sister-brother-so-and-so can get there.
3. Mandatory Gift Giving for everyone in the family.
4. Assigned seating for gift-opening. (I am not making this up).
5. Opening one gift at a time with 50 people wedged into a room. Sweater in the wrong size & colour that I won't wear? Returnable. 3 hours of my life: priceless.
6. Co-workers who insist you eat the shortening-icing store bought cake because "it's Christmas." [side note here: for some hilarious cake mistakes, check out Cakewrecks]
7. Anyone who uses the excuse Because it's Christmas.
8. More stuff = more love
9. Expensive gift = more love

In my family, Christmas has evolved. These days we keep it pretty simple. We all do something homemade. We go for funny or smart or delicious. We have Christmas the weekend before or after Christmas. That way all the nieces and nephews can spend Christmas morning in their own home in their jammies. When my stepsons were growing up, we had the 3 Gifts Rule. That's how many Jesus got, so that's how many they got. They still got lots of other stuff from all the rellies.

Here's the beauty of being an adult: we get to choose how we want to celebrate. Just because "that's the way we've always done it" doesn't mean you have to continue that way. You can turn the holidaze back into happy holidays. Or in the case of our family, from Hollidaze to Hollidays.

Rula Lenska is in the House

When I was growing up, I would get laryngitis every once in a while. Apparently, I still do. I woke up in the airplane somewhere between Burbank & Dallas at 32,000 feet with a cold. Or something. My alter-ego when I have laryngitis is Rula Lalenska. She was a "famous English actress" back in the 70's because the Alberto VO5 commercial said she was. She has this deep, husky voice and she says:

Iiiiiiiii'm Rula LENska. Friends are here from Ameri-CA, and I'm going to show them LONdon.

And then you see her navigating the drippy-wet streets of London with this Helmut Hair that doesn't budge. I looked for the commercial on Youtube, but they only have this one.

But I found this other one that is equally entertaining.



Not stiff or sticky???

Helmut Hair: Ozone Layer

Connection?

Touristy Stuff

Yesterday my friend Henny came & picked me up and we did some touristy stuff. So we went to the mecca of cement hand & footprints. Here's Henny with John Travolta:

*sigh*

It's a WONDERFUL life!

I love this. She wrote "hand & foot prints" with her initials in case there was any doubt. Thanks for breaking it down for us, Gloria.

Sunset.

Blogger shuffled the pix. Anyway, after the handprints, we went to an art gallery. It was an odd experience, mostly because we were followed around by the guards. I think Henny's one-year-old made them nervous. Plus, I imagine there's not really that much for them to DO except tell me I can't use a flash with my camera. And no pix of things not on permanent display. Oh, and not to touch the art piece that had a knob on it. Oops. It was really cool. Of course you're supposed to OPEN it, that was the whole point! Why else did the artist put an knob on it? And the inside was this awesome display of intricate lines. . . . Here's a shot of Ganesh, hundreds of years old:

You're not allowed to touch this one either, but you can see the patina where centuries of hands have rubbed him. For luck, in worship. It was odd walking around this particular room with Indian deities--it all seemed so sterile and dead. Not like that sense of the sacred that you would feel in a temple. After the gallery, we went out for Indian food. I had the BEST chai! The BEST, Jerry!

Today I am heading back to VA. A day of travel, woo hoo. Back tomorrow. :-) H.

Creativity

I received a HARO query about Creativity from Gary Unger. He was requesting thoughts on creativity from both experts & laypeople, and to list which one you are in the subject line. Hmmm . . . what are his qualifications for an "expert?" I consider myself an expert, would he? I was thinking about how creativity to me is like breathing. I NEED IT. The best creative endeavors come from stepping aside and allowing creativity to flow through you.

So I had all these thoughts about creativity and then I hopped over to check out this a.m.'s Grasshopper Note . . . about creativity. Brilliant. Here's a quote:

The main purpose I see in life is to co-create with the life force that lives you. This creative force is with you your whole life. It doesn't sleep, take sick days or vacations. The only way to stop its flow is to believe it's not necessary, not in abundant supply, or not available to you.

I couldn't have said it better. So today is my last day in Burbank . . . and I'm wondering what FUN I can create today . . . .

Day of Rest

I've been thinking about luck, because I consider myself a v. lucky person. It's really just a belief that gets reinforced by evidence in my daily life. I could easily ignore all the great stuff and reinterpret myself as unlucky. But that wouldn't be as much FUN, would it?

Greetings from Sunny CA

Well. Here I am again in Burbank. How was Ellen? you say. Lemme tell ya! AWESOME, of course, what else? The show airs on this Mon. Guests were:

James Spader~ post Boston Legal visit.
Brian Williams~hysterically funny AND a dog-lover; literally tongue-kissing his dog. You'll see. She's 15 so you know she's not around much longer. It made me think of Barkley & Remi, of course. *sigh* Ellen's theme song does, anyway because Remi would trot into the living room when he heard the show starting because that was his massage time. Sweet memories...
Beyonce~OK, so she wasn't actually on the show. They just announced her & we had to cheer. Then they drop in her segment in post. See, those are industry technical terms in the biz. ;-)

During a commercial break I look over at Ellen and--she's waving at me! Wow. So I wave back. She was waving at me except she wasn't. She was waving to a woman near me. Has that ever happened to you? What do you do? So then I pretended not to be waving? How can you take a wave back? Hahahaha BTW, if you're facing the audience, I'm one in from the far left wearing a red shirt & black jacket, about 4 or 5 rows up. That's Jennifer on the far far left next to me.

No, no, what I want to know is what kinda Christmas loot did you get?

Oh...right. That. Well. An XBox 360. 380? What? Anyway, it goes to XM Radio Guy. How could I choose which family member it goes to? So now they can all just seethe at him. Stoopid XM Radio Guy, they'll say. So I Fed-exed the XBox to (ex)XM Radio Guy. Hahahaha I also got a new Canon camera, Netflix for a year with some gadgety-gizmo that I can download movies onto (cool!) and an Amex $100 gift card.

That's all the STUFF. So what was cool was getting to hang with my Ellen friends from San Diego. We were at the later taping because there's 2 on Thurs. so we went for Mexican. What a bunch of great gals! Unfortunately no pix to upload now.

I met a v. sweet young woman with fibromyalgia at the show. 3 months ago she was in a wheelchair. Of course I was all Blah Blah Blah Brimhall. This has almost become a cliche, but she said, " I think I came here to meet you." It happens on airplanes, seminars, everywhere. 4 years ago I would not have even thought it possible to be here. It would take me 2 hours just to get out of bed. So when I meet someone who is in a similar boat, I'm inviting her to switch to a different boat. Things that get worse can get better. And when you feel better, you do better.

Today is a day of Reiki, so I'll sign off here. Sending out SMILES & good vibes . . . .

December, already?

I would say that I'm temporally challenged. I lose track of time. It's a characteristic of being left-handed/right-brained. Still. Sometimes I look up at the clock or the calendar & think, "Woah! What year is this?" Hahaha No, I don't. Yes, I do.

Tomorrow I head out to Calif. again. Already! There was so much I was going to DO before I went--oh, the hazards of living in the present moment! I'll prolly blog from out there, altho, not everyday. Just sayin'.

I'll be at the Ellen show on Thurs. (don't know when it's airing yet). And I'm going to be teaching a one-day beginner Reiki class this Sat. in the Burbank area. Email me with REIKI in the subject if you'd like to come . Here's the info:

"Reiki" means healing energy. Learn this Japanese healing art to learn healing techniques for you and your loved ones. Included in this one-day seminar:

*Reiki Meditation
*Connecting to you intuitive guidance
*Pain alleviation techniques
*Toning, tuning forks & other healing tools
*Energy exercises
*FREE* Reiki handbook:
History of Reiki~ Myths & Fact
Reiki Journal

SATURDAY Dec. 6th 10 a.m.~5 p.m. in Burbank
Class investment: $108