I wish I could just go to Japan for a month to teach English again. I wish it were an option only for the alums of our program, so they know that we know what we’re doing and that we won’t need much support. It could be a way for schools to test out having an assistant language teacher with the program. Then, if they like it, they hire a full position. If they don’t, they only had to pay someone for a month.
And we get to revisit the country and culture and the work and students we so love and miss, but without having to commit forever or move fully.
I very distinctly had a desire today – a pull, more like – to read religious books, books that somehow use religion as a foundation for whatever they want to communicate… could be about building a relationship with God, about being a woman today of God, about Church itself, about prayer… whatever. But “Church books” is what came to mind specifically.
Guess I’ll start reading the book Church gave out the other week, then. It was meant to have a book study with it, and I even signed up online to be in a remote group (since I don’t live near that church), but I haven’t heard anything from that since signing up. Perhaps it is time for me just to start myself. If a group pops up later, I can still participate, even if I have already read the thing in its entirety.
Let’s do this.
Thank you, Life, for being a beautiful opportunity for me, and thank you, God, for joining us. Amen.
My mom mentioned to me today something that she read just this past week about reaching for our dreams. The question she gave me was “If you woke up tomorrow, and your dream were fulfilled, what would be the first thing you would notice that told you that your dream had been fulfilled?“
I thought about this question. It somewhat baffled me, because I could not easily come up with an answer. Why is that? Well, if my current dream were fulfilled when I woke up tomorrow morning, I still would start my day the exact same way I do right now. I would get up early and go to the gym. I would exercise with delight and rigor. And then I would head to school. Only at this point would I have the noticeable sign, as the bag I had packed for school would be a bit different and where I showered would be different (at school versus at the gym).
While the exercise was interesting simply for the idea of what one thing would give it away, should my big dream come true, what was more fascinating and valuable to me was that my day would begin the exact same way. Put differently, I am already, in part, living my dream.
And that is quite cool.
Sure, I don’t have the specific work and finances and all the follow-up details and activities that come with those, but the person I am being, the habits I am pursuing… those are already exactly part of my dream life being fulfilled.
So, how do we level up now to the next step in fulfilling this dream? That is the question.
Post-a-day 2022
(Just a touch of hesitation now…)
I dreamt of what seemed to be being married and pregnant last night… I wasn’t openly sharing about it, but I felt pregnant in the dream, though I hadn’t shared it with any colleagues. And, what’s interesting, is that my colleagues were actually for the job I really want to have in real life. So, in an odd way, several hopes and dreams were realized in this odd dream – it was something of a first communion-type event for a Spanish-speaking community, though I only knew for sure one person at the event. But I was thinking about how I might want to do the event for my own child, completely in Spanish, too, but without warning people ahead of time. 😛 Because, clearly I am still myself in dreams(!). Haha
Anyway… there’s that. Also, I helped a few students with some research on their French project today, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. AND I ended up speaking in French with a friend before the workout this morning at the gym. That was both fun and fulfilling… surprisingly so, at that. I hadn’t realized how much of my current self was present in French. It was a cool discovery to make this morning. Guess I need to work on speaking French more often in my daily life. 😀
I went to the gym for the early Saturday workout today at 7:30. Then I went to meet my mom and a friend to help remove and dispose of the Christmas wreaths that had decorated all the graves at the Houston National Cemetery for US Veterans. It was really neat, and there were loads of people there to help. (I even got to see the spots for an old family friend and my current housemate’s/host’s grandfather.)
Then I had food and goofed around with the baby for a while before finally showering and taking a needed nap before tonight. Then I went to our rodeo committee’s social, collected some tasty barbecue that I’ll eat tomorrow, danced with a friend to live Kevin Fowler music, and then rushed into downtown to attend another live concert – but this one was unknown to me until this morning: Elton John.
There is so much I could say about this man, this master of his art, but I will keep it short here: I grew up with this man already being a legend to me. He was unreachable status, and I never even considered one day attending a concert of his – it just wasn’t going to happen, so my brain didn’t even give itself the time to be sad about it. And then, at the gym this morning, someone invites me to go with her, and she states clearly that she won’t have me pay her for my ticket. She just didn’t want to go alone, and her friend had bailed on the concert. I was absolutely delighted to step in for the drop-out this time(!!!). The concert was fabulous. This man is about to turn 75 (on 25 March). This was his 20th concert in Houston, Texas, the first having been in 1971. He can’t sing really high anymore. He hobbles slightly with his walk. He wore two sparkly suits – one all white with a Long tail and a red snake on the back, and one like his famous red checkered blazer (super sparkly, though) – and then a pink lounge-y kimono with a sparkly butterfly on the back, which he eventually took off to reveal a sparkly red and blue track suit. He changed his glasses twice, but all three pairs had rose-colored lenses. He wore his iconic right pointy earring. He plays piano like on the record albums. His spirit is evident in everything he plays and in every arm thrust and body shake he does. And, get this, he gets up from the piano after every song, (sometimes walks around bowing and encouraging folks to cheer and make noise a bit) shuffles to a little table/stand behind him, spits in a bucket, takes a sip of water, and then shuffles back to the piano and sits back down.
I am extremely grateful for this lovely opportunity, in addition to the beautiful blessing that has been the works and passion and gracious giving and sharing of Elton John’s art. Thank you, Good Sir, for all you do and have done. And thank you, God and Universe, for letting me be part of this glory tonight. May we be blessed with such love often in our lives, and may Sir Elton John truly feel the loving gratitude so much of the world has for him. Amen.
One of my favorite songs ever is “Crocodile Rock”, which he played, of course. But he sang way low for the “la”s, and it was adorable and awesome!Beautiful concert. And all the better for not having massive screens to distract us from just seeing him and listening to the music and the feelings thereby evoked.
P.S. He said that “Your Song” was his first hit in 1972. Is that right, or did I mis-hear him? Perhaps it released in 1970… But, also, that was 50 years ago. FIFTY YEARS, and his music and performances are still amazing. Thank you, Sir!
H: Still want to do something now, or feel like something tomorrow morning? I finish at the gym around 8:45
B: I mean I’m okay with either. I’m just sitting around at home right now with nothing to do
H: Want to go help remove wreaths from military graves tomorrow morning?
H: Houston National Cemetary
B: Sure
B: Also let me just say of all possible suggestions of things to do
B: I would’ve never, in any ordinate amount of time, guessed that
B: You didn’t see it but the double take I did when I read that was cartoonish
……
Yes, that was a real text interaction I had. Isn’t it lovely? Just glorious. 😛
Thank you, Gos and Universe, for such loving absurdity in my life. Amen.
Post-a-day 2022
(Kind of remembered)
Today’s quote of the day? Courtesy of my mother: “Yeah, well, he snozed*, so he loze*…,” followed by and filled with intense laughter from the both of us. (*Rhyming with ‘hosed’ and ‘nose’)
Obviously, she had full intentions of using real words. However, her somewhat passive effort to switch the sentence to a past tense clearly failed, thus her quite literally choking on her own words (through laughter) halfway through the sentence. We could barely breathe, let alone talk, we were laughing so hard. It was glorious.
Opera always has great costuming. The show we saw tonight, however, was a rather bland costuming story, so far as opera goes. However, the program cover reminded me of a Halloween filter I had come across on a Japanese photo app…
And so, we, naturally, had to take a photo together to be in theme for the night…
Gotta love being ridiculous, and opera is certainly ridiculous. Absolutely wonderful, yes, but also ridiculous.
For those who can’t read notes out of words, that’s the opening theme to Downton Abbey, and the ring tone that played from a nearby table at lunch today. A minute or so afterward, the girl behind me was talking across the patio to the woman who, I’d guessed, was the owner of the source of the ring tone. The girl behind me was mentioning hearing Downton Abbey…, I casually joined in on how I’d definitely recognized it, too. They mentioned about a movie, or possibly another one coming out, and then, If you like Downton Abbey, you should check out Outlander! I said that I was reading the books, and they were great but filled with ups and downs with the joys and sadnesses. The ring tone girl agreed. The girls at the table behind me were intrigued. I mentioned that my mom heartily recommends Outlander, too, the show. We had a few more comments and giggles, and then finally turned back to our respective tables fully as my dad sat back down at our table, rejoining me from his bathroom stop.
Three of us had mostly held the conversation among our three tables, though five of us had been involved. It was awesome.
And then, my dad asked what we had been discussing. I gave him a quick recap, and then he said, ‘Oh, I’ve seen it. The movie. It’s good.’
Jaw. Drop.
I hadn’t even known about this Downton Abbey film, and my dad has already seen and liked it?? Haha Ridiculously wonderful.
Thank you, God and Universe, for such a lovely surprise of lunchtime today. May you continue to guide me to be your love in the world through all that I am and all that I do. In your name, I pray. Amen.
Today was the Houston Marathon. Chevron sponsors it now, so, really, it is titled the Chevron Houston Marathon. But I digress. I knew various people doing the half marathon, but I cared most about one family friend who was doing the marathon. This would be his 137th marathon. Last time, I had surprised him near the finish line, cheered him on, and then had lunch with him at one of his favorite restaurants. I aimed to do the same today.
However, I kept checking the tracking system, and he never showed up. Everyone I had been tracking for the half marathon had already finished, and he had yet to begin the race, so far as his tracker chip was concerned. At first, I had expected he might have started late, just because he felt like it, and maybe wanted it a bit warmer. He isn’t going for time, after all; just completion. But, when they were all done and he was nowhere to be found, I had kind of given up on going to see him finish. It didn’t seem he was doing the race after all.
Around noon, I checked my phone one more time, mostly out of habit, but also just in case. To my great surprise – and yet not – he was on there! And not only as having just begun, but at the 18.7 mile marker! I didn’t know what had happened for all the previous checkpoints – perhaps he somehow skipped the mats each time -, but he was certainly on there now. When he hit the next marker, I gauged his timing and got my things cleaned up from cooking, so I could head downtown. I wasn’t sure how traffic or road closures would be, but I had a rough plan that would get me there just in time. Dreadful traffic on the 45S exit changed everything, of course, and I had to change to the backup plan. Turns out, the backup plan should have been the original plan. But, nonetheless, I got to my goal, parked the car, and sprinted to the course.
Long story short, though the tracker estimated that he was not yet to where I was standing, he was just passing out of the intersection as I had arrived to it, ironic as that is. I had a feeling he might have been one of two guys I’d seen over there, but I gave the tracker some faith and waited a couple minutes. However, after two minutes, I was sure that he had to be past me already. Even the tracker said so.
So, I then ran toward the finish line, spirits still high, hopes still up. Alas, I never caught him as I ran alongside the course.
So, I sent him a text. Modern technology is helpful at times, after all.
He called me back, wondering what I was up to, and he was blown away to find out that I was there. We met at an easy point, and I was congratulating him when, suddenly, he tells me that he isn’t finished. ‘What do you mean?’ I ask. Turns out, he is doing the virtual race. He didn’t want to be in massive crowds, so he opted for virtual, started from home when he felt like it, and just joined the course for the last part of the course. However, he ‘finished’ the race at only about 11 miles. He had merely hit pause at the finish line, walked through the convention center, and was wondering what to do with the glass finisher’s mug that had been given to him.
Well, he gave it to me as a present. And he gave me his extra shirt, so he wouldn’t have to carry it for a while. Then he said he’d meet me for lunch in about half an hour.
But, the way he was going and the direction I had parked aligned for a while. So, I ran with him… carrying the glass stein and his extra shirt, of course. Since he was doing the virtual race, and he had turned it back on, we realized that, silly as it may sound, I was running in the virtual marathon with him. Because I was!
And I have the commemorative mug to prove it. ;P
We eventually parted ways, and then met back up for a quick lunch (a quick body charge and phone charge for him!), and he continued on his way home and finishing his marathon.
How silly, right? I knew a good little run would be helpful for me today, what with all the intense muscle soreness that was showing up last night – I seriously had some trouble sleeping, because I was so sore. I hardly expected to end up running a couple miles in the actual marathon. 😛 What a lovely surprise. And I still got to cheer him on while he ran, and multiple times. So, that was really cool. He had always wanted me to run a marathon with him. Now, I kind of have! Haha
Thank you, God and Universe, for the surprising love and joy of today. Thank you. Amen.
hannah ananas 