Teachings of Gautam Buddha *below is an exceprt from ask.com*

On Judgmental People:
People with opinions just go around bothering each other.

On Anger:
Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.

On Truth:
Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

On Anger:
You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger.

On Work:
To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.

On Friends:
An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind. 

On Love:
You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.

On Envy:
Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.

On Good Deeds:
Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death can erase our good deeds.

On Thought:
The mind is everything. What you think you become.

On Gratitude:
Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.

On Hatred:
Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.

ser·en·dip·i·ty

We were out in the backyard when Kaine found a beautiful blossom. We slipped it behind Lilli’s ear and I took an impromptu snapshot. Voila! I love those divine moments.

Fellow blogger lazyjulie posed the question or statement rather MS is…

An opportunity for anyone to fill in the blank. It took me awhile to answer that one because it is so many things to me. It means different things to different people at different times. This is finally how I summed it up as best I could.

MS is…

• a real eye opener. 
• a pain in the arse.
• unpredictable.
• difficult to explain.
• not the end of the world or my life.
• a thief.
• a teacher. 
• expensive.

Now, I urge you to go to lazyjulie’s blog and add a comment on what MS is to you today, yesterday or tomorrow. I can’t wait to hear what MS is to you too.

I am profoundly upset this morning. Sleeping on it last night apparently didn’t work any magic. My faith in people is shaken.

Yesterday evening, while it was still light out, my oldest Khy took our dog Oreo for a walk around the neighborhood, like he does everyday at the same time. He was gone about 30 minutes when I heard him come in the house telling our daughter “Where’s mom?!” I came out of the kitchen and he asked me why I didn’t answer my cell phone, he had been trying to call me. 

After I asked him what was going on, he tried to tell me but was noticeably upset. I heard him explain that a pit bull attacked Oreo, twice. Oreo was bleeding and covered with saliva from the other dog. Khy told me that the dog owners had come out yelling at him that their dog was a good dog an what did he do to make him attack? They had to punch their pit bull in the head several times to get his teeth out of Oreo. 

While all of this was happening, Khy said the guy dropped a porn DVD on the ground, lovely. I guess he was too busy to care about his dog. UNBELIEVABLE> and he had the nerve to yell at Khy. What an asshole.

After I called the police, Khy showed me he had teeth or nail scratches on his arm, and a small spot where the dog broke the skin. When the police came, they took Khy over to identify the house and owner. The police officer said that this idiot who was intoxicated, claimed the dog was on a rope but broke the rope when Oreo went on is lawn. Khy laughed because the dog and Khy & Oreo were all on the opposite side of the street the entire time. The pit bull was down on a neighbors lawn when Khy first saw him and then he charged at Oreo. Even the police officer knew the guy was lying.

I pressed charges for him breaking the leash law which won’t do much. TN is not strict on the leash law by any means. Dogs walk the streets like they own them here. I think it is a $50 fine and that is it. After my hunny took Oreo to the vet, they said he is bruised and missing a few nails and has a cut on his tongue. We will call to ask Khys Dr if he needs antibiotics today but at least no one required stitches. 

What am I really pissed off about? That this is the 3rd time Khy has had to deal with a dog attack, in our own neighborhood, in 6 months. The vet said it isn’t safe for dogs to be outside because of the dogs who attack and the slack leash law. So, am I supposed to send out my child and dog to get attacked again? Uh uh.

What makes me so angry is that walking the dog around the neighborhood has been Khy’s entrance into society, independently. Due to his Autism, he has had a very difficult time crossing streets safely. But with a dog to take care of, for some reason, he is more focused and aware of cars on the street. For the first time, at age 15, he has been able to go outside and take a walk without anyone helping him. I always worry and we have had a few scares with his blood sugar but he has really grown in confidence and independence. Now he is freaked out and so are we. It is just not safe to take your dog on a walk here so there will be no more dog walking. 

Luckily, we are moving out of here in 4 weeks, and I know CA has very strict leash laws and dog parks too. In the mean time we will work on addressing the mental and emotional effects of the dog attack, so, hopefully, we will reduce his perseverations by the time we get to CA.

Khy said he feels a little guilty because he didn’t know what to do. He asked me if he should have tried to break them up. I told him he did everthing right. It is very dangerous to put your hands on a dog while they are in fighting mode. He could have very well ended up with hand injuries which would have been horrible because he is an artist & plays guitar. I am very proud of how he handled the situation. He screamed for help, he called me, he came straight home and tried to avoid getting injured. It was at least an opportunity to see how he handled a crisis on his own and he did a god job.

For today, we are going to go get a statement from a neighbor who witnessed it all. They tried to make sure Khy and Oreo were ok which I wanted to thank them for as well. I don’t know if I should go talk to the pit bull owner, so am going to talk to Animal Control first. I wonder if I should ask him if he damaged his porn DVD in all the ruckus? Why the hell would he bring out a porn DVD while his pit bull was attacking another dog anyway? What a moron. Eeeewwww. Yuck.

Dear Hunny,

Today is your Birth Day and you know what? You are working when you should be eatin’ cake. You asked me to not get you anything for your Birth Day and you know what? I thought about it but with all due respect, I had to get you something…because I celebrate your life and I love you so much. 

This morning I woke up at 11am. First, I heard the kids arguing about who’s turn it was on the computer. Then, I heard you tell them to be quiet so I could sleep. On your Birth Day. You let me sleep in on your Birth Day. That is when I made up my mind you would be getting a gift. So, I woke up and rushed out of the house with 2 of 3 spawn to go and get your gift. While I was gone, you cleaned the kitchen, packed more boxes and took a shower. You even carried in the groceries in before driving off to work. 

I just want to say how much I enjoy celebrating you Birth Day. It gave me the rare opportunity to teach the kids the importance of scotch tape. Shortly thereafter, they soon learned on their own, the pain of removing scotch tape. Thank you for being born so I could have a good laugh while we wrapped your presents. I love you for that.

We missed you all day though. The kids and I want you to know that if you should ever find yourself scheduled to work on your Birth Day ever again, you should be prepared to be napped. We need to celebrate your life, with you by our side. Whether you feel like making a big deal about your BDay or not, we do. You are our rock. You have the biggest heart. You are a never ending fart machine that makes us laugh till we cry. I look forward to celebrating your life every day but once a year, it is nice to make you a cake, play pin the tale on the donkey and buy you something we know you’d love.

Happy Birth Day my hunny, we love you. Now eat your cake ;0).

WARNING!

Just having some whine with my cheese here.

My Mom sent me this email today. I laughed my butt off! It really struck a nerve because lately, on more than one occasion, I have chewed out my 15 year old and my hunny for making me repeat myself. I think they just take my patience, strength and focused-ness for granted but it feels a little insulting when you say something and 10 minutes later someone is asking you what you just said. And who likes to be thought of as a nag anyway? Not me. Maybe, just maybe, if the trash gets taken out all on their own accord, I would not have to say anything to begin with? Luckily for them, I have a sense of humor. This “Fairy Tale” must mean I am not the only woman, mom and wife that nags and bitches incessantly.

“One day, a long, long time ago…….

there lived a woman who did not whine, nag or bitch.

But this was a long time ago…….

and it was just that one day.”

The End

Wow. I hope the fires settle down. It is heart wrenching to hear about how many people are being affected. I hadn’t considered the tourism issue yet. Big Sur is one of those places in  my heart, one of my most favorite places on earth. I hope to make a trip there in the fall and hopefully everyone up there will remain safe and by some miracle the fires will die out. Exceprt below is from Yahoo News.

BIG SUR, Calif. - Many of the rustic inns, restaurants and art galleries that dot therugged Central Coast are nearly deserted this weekend at the height of the tourist season as a huge wildfire threatens Big Sur.

The blaze had charred nearly 42 square miles as of Friday in the Los Padres National Forest and destroyed 16 homes in the Big Sur area, one week after it was started by a lightning storm that also ignited more than 1,000 wildfires from theCentral Coast to the Oregon state line.

All the slogans and quotes that float through my mind on any given day…How important is it?…Let go & let god…Take the body & the mind will follow…Together we can make it…For fun & for free…

As a child of an alcoholic, I was fortunate enough to grow up surrounded by the unconditional love of the Alanon & AA Programs. I attended Pre-teen & Alateen meetings, where I found a wealth of support and developed a foundation for coping with all sorts of life issues. I do not attend any support groups anymore but what I learned there, from a very young age, has stayed with me all these years. There has been many a moment in the past few years where all I could think to do was recite the Serenity Prayer. Truly.

God, grant me…

the serenity 

to accept the things I cannot change

the courage

to change the things I can

& the wisdom

to know the difference.  

It always brings me back into a focused perspective. Like that quote,

“If you have fear of some pain or suffering, you should examine whether there is anything you can do about it.

If you can, there is no need to worry about it;

If you cannot do anything , then also there is no need to worry.

—Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama

We are heading back to Southern CA on July 27th. Although I am thrilled, I am feeling overwhelmed with the move. Not in the way of feeling disorganized, or feeling chaos, or feeling rushed. I am feeling a peculiar sense of worry that I am not more worried? Yes, I am remarkably calm. We are about to take our 2 vans filled with 3 kids with special medical needs, my own medical needs and a dog, across the US for the 2nd time in a year. I love road trips and the millions of memories but I am a seasoned road tripper and I know the dramas that occur when toting 3 kids 2,000+ miles. 

We are attempting to purchase a home for the first time too, But, I am not worried about that either. I just know it is all going to play out effortlessly. This week alone we have sold most of our furniture to finance the move. I have a detailed inventory, a calendar and a clipboard. I keep checking it to make sure we are on track and things keep getting checked off, effortlessly. I feel like I should be in a panic but I am just not even close. Tired maybe but at peace and excited.

Even the kids have been excited. Lilli was taping all the boxes today, like a professional mover (she is 5 though); Kaine cheerfully packed his books away and sorted his clothing; Khy helped me pack our DVD collection & books. I am selling stuff left & right and our moving budget is turning out as planned. I guess letting go is the way to go. We are riding a wave all the way to California, a wave of faith.

I don’t know where this peace has come from but I can tell you

♡♡♡I am so loving it.♡♡♡