99 things

I poached this off @JessicaMcD's blog ... 

The idea is to look at this list of 99 things you could have done, and bold the ones that you actually have done!

1.) Started your own blog
2.) Slept under the stars
3.) Played in a band - (does a church band count?)
4.) Visited Hawaii
5.) Watched a meteor shower
6.) Given more than you can afford to charity
7.) Been to Disney World
8.) Climbed a mountain
9.) Held a praying mantis
10.) Sang a solo
11.) Bungee jumped - (does a bridge swing count?)
12.) Visited Paris
13.) Watched a lightning storm
14.) Taught yourself an art from scratch
15.) Adopted a child
16.) Had food poisoning
17.) Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18.) Grown your own veggies
19.) Seen the Mona Lisa at the Louvre
20.) Slept on an overnight train
21.) Had a pillowfight
22.) Hitch hiked
23.) Taken a sick day when you’re not sick
24.) Made a snow fort
25.) Held a lamb
26.) Ran a marathon
27.) Went skinny dipping
28.) Rode in a gondola in Venice
29.) Witnessed a total eclipse
30.) Seen a sunrise or sunset
31.) Hit a home run
32.) Been on a cruise
33.) Seen Niagara Falls in person
34.) Visited the birthplace/home of your ancestors
35.) Seen an Amish country
36.) Taught yourself a new language
37.) Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38.) Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39.) Gone rock climbing
40.) Seen Michelangelo’s David in person
41.) Sung karaoke
42.) Seen Old Faithful erupt
43.) Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44.) Visited Africa
45.) Walked on a beach by moonlight
46.) Taken a ride in an ambulance
47.) Had your portrait painted
48.) Gone deep sea fishing
49.) Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower
50.) Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
51.) Kissed in the rain
52.) Played in the mud
53.) Gone to a drive-in theater
54.) Been in a movie
55.) Visited the Great Wall of China
56.) Started a business
57.) Taken a martial arts class
58.) Visited Russia
59.) Worked at a soup kitchen
60.) Sold Girl Scout cookies
61.) Gone whale watching
62.) Gotten flowers for no reason
63.) Donated blood, platelets, or plasma
64.) Gone sky diving
65.) Visited Nazi concentration camp
66.) Bounced a check
67.) Flown in a helicopter
68.) Saved a childhood toy
69.) Visited the Lincoln Memorial
70.) Eaten caviar
71.) Pieced a quilt
72.) Stood in Times Square
73.) Toured the Everglades
74.) Been fired from a job
75.) Seen the changing of the guards in London
76.) Broken a bone
77.) Been a passenger on a motorcycle
78.) Seen the Grand Canyon in person
79.) Published a book
80.) Visited the Vatican
81.) Bought a brand new car
82.) Visited Jerusalem
83.) Had your picture in the paper
84.) Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
85.) Visited the White House
86.) Killed and prepared an animal for eating
87.) Had chickenpox
88.) Saved someone’s life
89.) Sat on a jury
90.) Met someone famous - SA sports celebs
91.) Joined a book club
92.) Got a tattoo
93.) Had a baby
94.) Seen the Alamo in person
95.) Swam in the Great Salt Lake
96.) Been involved in a law suit
97.) Owned a cell phone
98.) Been stung by a bee
99.) Swam in the Black Sea

That gives me 42 out of 99 ... not sure if that's good or bad :)

LOVE LETTER

I bought the book "Love Letters of Great Men" to see how the men waxed lyrical to their women in days of old. 

Here is one from Pliny the Younger to his wife, Calpurnia -

You will not believe what a longing for you possesses me.  The chief cause of this is my love;  and then we have not grown used to be apart.  So it comes to pass that I lie awake a great part of the night, thinking of you; and that by day, when the hours return at which I was wont to visit you, my feet take me, as it is so truly said, to your chamber, but not finding you there I return, sick and sad at heart, like an excluded lover. The only time that is free from these torments is when I am being worn out at the bar, and in the suits of my friends. Judge you what must be my life when I find my repose in toil, my solace in wretchedness and anxiety. Farewell.

Or Ludwig van Beethoven's letter to his unnamed 'Immortal Beloved'

You - my Life - my All - farewell.  
Oh, go on loving me - never doubt 
the faithfullest heart
Of your beloved L
Ever thine
Ever mine
Ever ours

I do miss the art of writing and receiving letters. There is nothing better than being able to hold the slightly worn pages of an old love letter in your hands, re-reading the declarations of love and feeling the emotions it stirred up in you the first time you read it. For those agonising over lost love, it's a small part of their past. For those looking back on current loves, it's a reminder to celebrate love and tell those dear to you, what they mean to you. For those who have lost loved ones, it is a treasure trove of happy memories of love.

I challenge you to take up the pen, literally ... and write someone a love letter today.

BEDSIDE MANNERS

Having read http://jessgiggles.wordpress.com/2010/07/16/bedside-manners/ I thought I would share my own bedside picture for all to see.

On the left is a sculpture of a woman holding two arum lillies, a stainless steel oil burner, a carved soapstone holder filled with rings and a photo of Shaun from our early dating days.

On the right is a Madagascan Vanilla scented aromatic diffuser and my little lamp, which casts a very gently glow in the evenings.

Missing from this picture ... since I took it this morning ... is a glass of water for during the night, lip-ice and my cellphone :)

I’m curious to see more bedside tables.

Dsc_0009

Happy heart

A happy heart. How often does that happen? I used to have a happy heart. But it was ripped out of my chest and I haven't been able to breath freely for a very long time.

Then on a sunny day, surrounded by awesomeness, I felt free again. Was it the sun? Was it the awesomeness? Was it me?

TIRED

I have been having many restless nights. My focus has shifted, I’m permanently preoccupied to the point where I feel like I’m just not giving those around me sufficient of myself ... keeping myself closed off. I may appear disinterested and faraway, but I’m dwelling in one place at the moment.

The place where I am trying to remember what your voice sounds like. The place where I am trying to remember your smile, your laughter, your touch. The place of safety that you always were to me. The place of peace, quiet and rest. The place where we fulfilled our needs within each other. The place where we could be ourselves without judgement. The place of strength we were as partners in everything, spouses, lovers, best friends.

I’m tired from remembering and hurting and feeling lost and adrift.

Grief

What comfort not to suffocate. 
Not to love. 
Not to hurt, to want, to grieve. As if grief is not only my right, my prerogative, my due, but my comeuppance. I caress the grief as I once caressed him; as long as it's here, he is here; as long as I'm pretending to live, I can be near him. I've paused over it, one, two, three years nearly, going on the fourth cartwheel of despair, I'm bereaved, let me alone, and let me gaze at the grief with my passion and my ardor. 
We thought I was strong. We thought I could make it. We thought I could live through it all. 
But we were wrong. 
I just can't seem to live through you. 
Though I want to. I want to so much.

- Tatiana & Alexander