Recent Holidays

"The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example." ~Benjamin Disraeli

So much has been going on, but I haven't had time to post. I'm not going to post about everything, I'll just focus on two most recent holidays and their accompanying celebrations.

First of all was Mother's Day. I celebrated my first Mother's Day as a step mother. My beautiful step-daughter made me the sweetest card [I feel like such a mom because I have this hand-made Mother's Day card proudly displayed in my office] and she bought me this beautiful gift of Mango Pomegranite lotion. At this point, I'd been a step-mother for a little over a week. I didn't expect anything, so I was practically moved to tears for these gestures. Mother's Day was spent picnicing in Silver Lake with P, the kids, their mom, her boyfriend, P's mom, P's sister, and her husband. The whole family was there and it was great. The weather was perfect, the food was delicious, and just knowing that the extended family can get along so well also made me feel quite teary. I'm quite a mush about all of this, but I'm really so grateful for how seemlessly I've been able to blend into the family.

The other thing I want to blog about was the great Memorial Day BBQ we celebrated yesterday. P and I hosted about 24 mates for some chook on the barbie. (That's "chicken on the barbecue" for you non-Aussies). We also had burgers and other tasty things. Again, perfect weather, delicious food, wonderful people and great times. And since I wasn't feeling very well at the end of the night, my delightful and wonderful husband cleaned up everything all by himself. How did I get so lucky?

Poetry Thursday and a word on old friends

Here is my Poetry Thursday submission. I'm not quite sure what it is about these 13th Century Persian mystical poets, but their poems just grab my heart.

If God Invited You To A Party
by Hafiz

If God
Invited you to a party
And said,

'Everyone
In the ballroom tonight
Will be my special
Guest...'

How would you then treat them
When you
Arrived?

Indeed, indeed!

And I know
There is no one in this world

Who
Is not upon
His Jeweled Dance
Floor


In other news, I've been spending lots of time catching up with old friends who I hadn't seen in quite a while. On Sunday night I had dinner with Cornelia, Monday I had lunch with Mary. Tuesday night P and I hosted Rob and Corinne for dinner. Last night I had my book club meeting (we hadn't met in quite a few months). It always feels so good to re-establish ties with good friends. Seeing how effortless it is to reconnect always reminds me of why we're friends in the first place.

Friends

"Mm, gonna try with a little help from my friends
Yes I get by with a little help from my friends"
-John Lennon/Paul McCartney from "With a Little Help From My Friends

I want y'all to check out my friend Jeff's great new website ecouragement.com. It's a very positive new website and has all sorts of great information on ways to improve your life ... from your health, to work, to family, to charity (he has an article on the NPI Project you should check out). Also, if you'd like to be charitable this holiday season, please consider donating to the NPI Project. Any amount is appreciated.

Send your tax deductible donations to:
NPI Renovation/Healing Project
PO Box 691941
Los Angeles, CA 90069
Checks should to made payable to: UC Regents
On the memo line please reference: NPI Renovation/Healing project

In other news, my friends came to help me out on Friday night. We had a little tree trimming party. The tree looks beautiful and it was great to catch up with folks over some egg nog and holiday treats. I'll try to post some pics from the party later.

"Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: 'I'm with you kid. Let's go.'"
– Maya Angelou

Things have been very good. That last hockey game was outstanding ... we won in the final shootout. It was an action-packed game all the way and our seats were unbelievable.

On Saturday night we took advantage of some other free tickets and went to see the Nutcracker at the Shrine Auditorium. It was staged by the Universal Ballet which is based in Seoul, Korea. It was SOOO good! Clara was unbelievably outstanding and the sets were like nothing I've ever seen. I had a blast. Who invited us? P's ex-wife. She invited me, my mom, P, and the kids. Talk about a functioning extended family! I think it's great that we can all be friends.

This week is busy with seeing friends. I have three "it's been so long since we've seen one another, let's go out" dinners and a small tree trimming party on Friday. It's all lots of fun, but I wouldn't mind some total downtime.

Thanksgiving

"We are all of us from birth to death
guests at a table which we did not spread.
The sun, the earth, love, friends,
our very breath are parts of this banquet..."
Rebecca Harding Davis

Thanksgiving was truly a banquet! We had 40 guests and 3 large tables full with food, family, and friends. It was divine. Everyone feasted and then everyone got up to say what they were grateful for from the past year. I could have gone on for hours and hours, but I limited myself to a few key points -- my fiance, my step-children-to-be, my siblings and parents, my expanding family, my friends, my new business... The long and short of it is that 2006 has been a phenomenal year.

I'm off to see the Kings tonight. Since I left the law firm I hadn't had any boondoggle sporting tickets -- lo and behold my darling P also has access to his own corporate tix. We're taking his employer's tickets and making a night of it at the Staples Center. I can't wait. :)

Tales from NYC

"Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish."
– Ovid

I got back from NYC on Monday morning. P. came with me and we had a great time. He attended the men's class and volunteered to be on a men's panel (doing Q&A for the women on Saturday). He loved both of those, but especially the men's panel. He complained that the only problem was just that it was too short. He sounded just like his son after getting off the Back to the Future ride at Universal Studios. My friend C. also took the class and spoke on the panel. He's single and quite enjoyed all the female attention. His final words to me: "I owe you big."

Now, I'm in "getting ready for Australia" mode. We leave on Friday. Most of my preparation is centered around thinking about thinking about preparing. I actually haven't done anything. I feel like mental preparation is 9/10 of the job, so packing should be no problem, right?

I feel like I'll have more interesting things to post about from Down Under, so I won't post too much now. That being said, my days are lovely and full of pleasure ... this morning I went running on the beach with Katie. Mid-run we kept jumping into the ocean to swim with the dolphins (there were a couple dolphins very close to shore). After our run, we spread out our towels and I gave her reiki. It was a beautiful morning.

Yesterday, Katie and I had a lovely lunch with Eleonore at Dreamworks. We were planning the movie that we're putting together for the NPI Project. Going onto the lot to talk about a movie, made me feel like I was having a real "power lunch." Life is grand.

P.S. I saw a rat while I was sitting in the Spring Street subway station. It was running through the tracks. I didn't even flinch!



C., P., and I at a party following the Men's Course on Friday night in NYC.