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Showing posts from February 22, 2011

Magical Moment 389, "The First Time She Called Me 'Daddy'"

"It was just her and her mom for a long time when we met, and naturally she was a little protective of her mom when we began dating. I tried to plan activities that the 3 of us could do together and over time, we became good friends. Three years went by and I asked her one day after I picked her up from school, 'How would you feel about me and your mom getting married? Would that be okay with you?' She looked down shyly, but I could see that she was smiling. I knew it would be okay. Our relationship shifted after the wedding as I took on a more paternal role. I was involved in her school decisions, her daily life, and her discipline. I always loved her, but now I loved her like my very own daughter. She still called me by my first name and I didn’t blame her. I knew I could never fathom the feelings and emotions of a preteen girl and I just wanted her to be comfortable with our family situation, though I secretly longed to hear her call me Dad. One day she got home from

Magical Moment 388, "The Unobvious Beauty"

Do you ever get frustrated with where you are? Do you ever feel jealous of the people who live near mountains, or ocean, or lush, vibrant pastures? A few days ago, I spent some time in Thomas Edison's Greenhouse, taking pictures of the  stunning flowers . I went back today and I found even  more  beauty to inspire me. This time, it had very little to do with the blooms of the prize winning orchids.  I discovered that a single drop of water, contains as much beauty as an entire ocean. I noticed that this tiny, little orange had fallen from its tree branch into this watering can. I couldn't imagine an orchard being much lovelier. One petal fell. And it rested lightly above the earth, casting its gentle shadow.  I wouldn't have thought a New Jersey Sunset could look so stunning behind the smoky, steamy window panes of an old greenhouse. It takes slightly more effort to notice this kind of unobvious beauty, but it makes me thankful f

Magical Moment 387, "One-Legged Pigeon in the Making"

After I forced Eddie to join a gym with me so I could get some running in during the winter months, my plan backfired. Eddie has a bad lower back and insists that yoga does wonders for his back muscles (he also makes me play raquet ball with him once a week and I wake up with nightmares of that stupid rubber ball shooting straight at my head). I have no doubt of yoga's benefits for the human body, I just prefer a work out that lets me use my iPod. At the beginning of the class, the instructor directed us to hang forward at the waist, allowing our fingertips to reach as low as possible towards the ground. Mine went to about mid-shin. I spent the next hour breathing, stretching, contorting, and bending into every unnatural shape imaginable. At one point, I looked like a sad little, messed up pretzel that wouldn't make it through quality control. Everything was painful and I couldn't even form the full poses like the rest of the class. At the very end of the session however

Magical Moment 386, "Emily's Cozy Spot"

On rainy days like today, I like to cozy up on the couch. I guess Emily the cat has her own place to cozy up. Having a dog and cat, I find animal hair in my carpet, on my clothes, and all over my furniture. The bathroom sink was the one place I thought was safe, until today... (Although, she might think it's raining inside , when I turn the water on...) The best kind of rain, of course, is a cozy rain. This is the kind the anonymous medieval poet makes me remember, the rain that falls on a day when you'd just as soon stay in bed a little longer, write letters or read a good book by the fire, take early tea with hot scones and jam and look out the streaked window with complacency.   - Susan Allen Toth , England For All Seasons

Magical Moment 385, "The Best Time I Ever Got Pulled Over"

I rushed out the door one Saturday morning, worried sick that I would be late for work. If there is one thing I hate to be, it's late! I zoomed down the Garden State Parkway, forgoing my morning Dunkin Doughnuts coffee, and switching into "New Jersey Driver Mode" (it's not pretty, and I only do it when I have to). After I got off the Parkway and onto the residential streets that would take me to the ballet school , I noticed a police car hiding on a side street waiting to catch someone. I immediately slowed down, as I was going about 5 over the speed limit. Whew! He didn't get me. Once he was completely out of my rear-view mirror, I again sped up. I was almost to work and if I could just maintain this speed, I would get there exactly on time. I was in the clear! In fact, I could see my final destination, when all of the sudden...lights. My old buddy was right behind me. Sneaky little guy. Defeated, I pulled over. My clean driving record that I had worked so h

Magical Moment 384, "Considering"

I  have a lot to consider lately. I've been reflecting a great deal and  looking for signs  since I've been  accepted into a law school  on Long Island. To go, or not to go? How will this affect my music goals? Is this the path I want to go down? What kind of future do I want for my family? These are the things I'm considering. In the decision making process, I thought perhaps the first step would be to spend the day in the area where we would most likely move to. If only the ultimate decision was based solely on today. It would be an easy choice as the day was absolutely perfect.  Islip, NY has everything I could ever want: Wildlife The deer are so numerous, they're considered pests  near Fire Island National Park. This little red fox actually came to me when I called him. I'm not even zooming in on my camera. I've always been a sucker for geese. Love 'em. A hist oric, beautiful lighthouse I couldn't get enough of these giant reeds. Beau

Magical Moment 383, "Giggles"

One of the greatest bonding rituals among female kind, is the sacred act of uncontrollable giggling. It's not just a chuckle, or shared laugh, or even a knee-slapping, gut busting howl. No, a true giggle is much more complex. If you've been lucky enough to have one with a fellow sister, then you'll be familiar with these key elements that makes up a real giggle. First, you have to share the same sense of odd, quirky humor that no one else in the universe understands. Like when my best friend Deb and I find it absolutely hilarious to make goat noises within ear shot of total strangers. It's very tricky to make the sound in a way that people can't tell where it's coming from. When we're out together with our husbands and the goat noises come out, our husbands suddenly don't know us. They hide their faces in shame and deny their own wives. But they just don't get how funny people's faces are when they think they hear a goat noise just walkin' d