Yellow Dog/Bleeding Heart

My last post was about all the stupid things that annoyed me last week, which is a negative karma to put out there. In an effort to balance that negativity I will now post about all the great things in my life last week. 1. Little Dog. My son is incredible. I am truly blessed with him. He is kind, funny, moral, compassionate, intelligent and not bad looking. I enjoy being a part of his life. His friends are all great kids whom I also enjoy being around. 2. Furry. I love this impish little boy! He lifts my mood whenever he's around. He fascinates me as he learns about this world. His smile brightens the room and his tiny hand in mine makes me feel as if I am the luckiest person in the world. 3. My new computer. It rocks! 4. My hero, Jen , whose husband I have adopted as a brother and whose children I have come to love. She inspires me and makes me want to be a better person. 5. Muller. ( Holla Muller!) I could not have a better best friend if I designed one myself. She loves me and...

I try really hard to say only what I mean. As an armchair (or at least academic) Linguist , I take language very seriously. Therefore I do not ever claim to " hate " something. In fact, I cannot think of anything worth expending the negative energy to hate. Even RB. I also do not say, "I cannot stand" or "I will not tolerate" because time and experience has taught me I can stand quite a bit of adversity and I have tolerated some things that surprised even me. I have, however, realised that I say " stupid " a lot when referring to something that has annoyed me. Not so much people, as while there are some ignorant people, I would rarely consider someone stupid . Okay, so I abuse the term stupid. It was a really long week last week, and I am pretty stressed these days due to overwhelming work at the firm and my current finals. (Thesis? What thesis?) When things are this busy I do not have the time to properly meditate, and after a while it really s...

Little Dog recently told me about an exchange that took place during his second hour Science class. For some reason the teacher asked, with the obvious expectation of receiving no "yes" answers, if anyone in the class was Buddhist. Little Dog was the only person who raised his hand and with confidence stated that his mom was Buddhist. (Note that he didn't rock the boat by admitting that he, for the most part, is also.) His admission led to a discussion of how "weird" it is that his mom is Buddhist - especially since we are not Asian. Yeah. Racist in middle America High School much? Anyway the reason for bringing it up in the first place was to discuss a recent article in our local paper that was about a deformed (two-faced) baby whom the "Buddhists" believe to be a "God." To his credit Little Dog did assert that Buddhism is not a polytheistic religion, but he was outnumbered by those who, still shocked about my Buddhism, refused to hear any l...

There are times when Little Dog will say something that makes me say, "Man, I really do have a teenager now." You know, the requisite eye rolls and responses of " Fiiiiine Mommmm " But then there are other times when he will say something that reminds me I have raised exactly the kind of young man I wanted to raise; the kind that makes me burst with mama pride. Like recently, on the way to school, he said, "Mom, is it okay if I go make sandwiches for the homeless before school Thursday morning?" This was not something I had particularly pushed, but merely an opportunity he came across. Never mind that, in the back of my mind, I had always wanted to find an opportunity to somehow do something hands on to help the homeless. He has a friend who spends Thursday mornings before school making sandwiches to be distributed to our city's homeless population and he wanted to help too. Yay him! I have always tried to live a life that exemplifies giving back. H...

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions so much as I embrace the opportunities offered by a new year. I like beginnings: blank sheets of paper, Mondays, the first of the month, the beginning of a semester, the first stage of falling in love, empty rooms and blank walls. So much opportunity when you start from scratch! This year is starting out well, which is easy enough to say when we're only two weeks in. By November I was pretty much done with 2007 and ready to start anew. For me, 2007 was a year of health crisis - from root canals to emergency surgery and most everything in between. It was also a year which included a poorly thought out relationship which, thankfully, I regained my senses enough to end. It was fun while it ... no, scratch that, it wasn't ever really even that much fun. It was as much my fault as his though, so don't think I am pointing fingers here. I wish him the best on whatever he chooses to do, I am just no longer willing to wait around to see what that ...

First we cleaned out the attic! Then we chopped down all the trees in the world! Okay, so really we had a major freeze disaster that ruined most of the trees in the city and left us without power for a week! But the power came back on and we had The Most Patient cat in the World help us to get in the spirit. Then, just to make it even more festive it snowed!!! After that we were far too caught up in the excitement to take any pictures, so I will leave you with one final picture of Bojo, Little Dog and Furry dreaming of sugarplums....

These past few weeks I have been living more like an ordinary person than a Buddha and it has begun to trouble me. I seriously think I have broken all five precepts, which for you Christians out there is like breaking the commandments. Do Not Destroy Life: Aside from the giant bug incident of which my hands, if not my Karma remained clean, I have been shamelessly killing ants in my kitchen. Not even just spraying bug spray to keep them away, but literally smashing them with my finger. There are just sooooo many of them. And they are getting into my food. I don't know what else to do. Sigh. Do Not Steal: For a Buddhist stealing is not just tangibles, but also things like time and ideas. Aside from the fact that I have a new intellectual history hero who all but wrote the final version of some papers for me last semester, I also have been guilty of stealing everyone's time. I've kept Little Dog waiting after school; spent too much time visiting rather than working during t...

Last weekend there was a horrible gi - normous bug in my entryway. Ordinarily I can deal with the average bug, but this one was BIG. And creepy . Little Dog is worthless when it comes to bugs, as he squeals like a baby mouse and flees at the sight of one. So, Saturday afternoon we were standing on the stairs, a good length away from this interloper, both of us wondering what to do. I had the phone in hand and was wondering just who was closest for me to call to come shoo the monster out when my neighbor, Ron, pulled in. I darted out the back door and explained the situation. He is not a big fan of the bug himself, but his chivalry is unrivaled. He grabbed a broom and a bucket from the garage and headed to my house. I felt justified when he saw the creature and was visibly astonished at its size. "What do you want me to do with it?" "Get it out!" And with that, he dropped the heavy bucket smack on top of the bug. Little Dog Shrieked and I must have exclaimed somethi...

I had a very nice day today. Good things kept happening to me. They were small things, but I think sometimes it is the little things that make the bigger picture so much nicer. Everyone remembers to be thankful for healthy babies and near misses, but few remember to be grateful for full bellies and coupons. But back to my day, which was sunny and beautiful for the first time all winter. I headed first to the car wash and after I paid for my De- Luxe wash the machine spit out 2 bucks in quarters for me. I paid with a credit card, so it's not like this was change for a ten or anything. I briefly considered the Karma on this one. It was not my money after all, but then, whose was it? There was no attendant on duty to return it to, so I went ahead and tossed it in my console. Then I headed to the grocery store, where upon my arrival a lady was pulling out of the very first spot by the door! Not only that, but as she closed her trunk she asked me if I wanted her to leave the ca...

Luck. I have never been a big believer in it. I think everything happens for a reason. I also think we make our own luck. Take, for example, a happily married couple I know who just celebrated their 25 th wedding anniversary. Many people told them they were very "lucky to have found each other" and subsequently such happiness. The wife and I were talking about how this was not a compliment. "We worked very hard to get through some bad times. We almost split up once, but in the end we chose to work it out. It was not always easy, but it has always been worth it," she said. She went on to explain that they both view their relationship as something they maintain. They make it a point to work through the little things. Their successful marriage was bourne of choice, commitment and hard work. Luck had nothing to do with it. It is like when people tell me how lucky I am to work for such a wonderful employer. I did not just stumble into this job. I have worked a lot of c...