Happiness Is: Christmas Feathers

The tree is up, and glitter dust is wafting off the ornaments and all throughout the house. I even found some in Anthony's underwear today when I was folding it. Don't tell him though. I want him to come home soon and tell me about the mysteriously magical day he had, and then I can tell him it is because I didn't shake the glitter out of his undies! I can't wait.

New to the tree this year, to accent the excess of glitter and sequins, are red feather ornaments. Some just vibrant little puffs, and others attached to two shimmering little love birds. Joyous little love birds that are going to poop glittery Christmas cheer all around our house this season.

DVR Alert: The View ~ Tuesday

Set your DVR for Tuesday's episode of The View on ABC...to see me!!

Actually, we just have audience tickets. So, the only shot of me might be when I throw myself on stage as a volunteer to make the commercial break comment, "George Clooney, when The View returns." Or, if they give away a great prize and then pan to the audience, I will be the one out of my seat doing the vigorous fist pump in the air.

Regardless of what happens, our memento photo will likely end up looking something more like this:

Happy Thanksgiving!

The turkey is in the oven, the pies are done and the parade is on TV showing the Smurfs that flew in all the way to New York from Smurfville. Life is good.

I've got so much to be thankful for:

♥ a life full of amazing random adventures

♥ so many opportunities to love and learn

♥ that Anthony is doing the dishes right now

and

♥ YOU! Thank you for being a part of my life; I am a better person because of it.

I spent part of my Kodak Gallery $15 on Thanksgiving cards for the amazing 'little' ones in my life. Soak up some love from the cutest gobblers around...

May your day be filled with love, laughter, lots of pie and 2 extra scoops of whipped cream.

Wanted: Rights for Teachers

Today's life adventure brought me to a rowdy booger-filled 3rd grade classroom at a local elementary school. I don't know how I got there...it all happened so fast...but deciding to make the most of it I joined in on their 'make turkeys out of candy' activity. Mind you, it was not a Thanksgiving activity because it is not appropriate to acknowledge those holidays that some groups do not celebrate. So, the kids wrote their own books titled What My Parents Would Say if I Had a Turkey as a Pet and then made their candy art. Just a random activity...about a popular bird...totally unrelated to any holiday. The piece pictured above was made by my new 8-year-old friend Kennedy who has a very bright future. The little orange bird beak part wasn't shown in the example but she went the extra mile. So impressed.

Once the kids scattered I helped their teacher create a 3-D Cam Jansen book wall sculpture to help measure the class progress towards their reading goals. The measurement arrow is not posted yet but you can still get the gist of it from the photo below.

You'd think that candy turkey creations, funny kids and wall art would keep me on cloud nine for weeks, right? Wrong. Today is the day that AZ House Bill 2011 goes into effect. You know, the one related to Arizona teachers that, "allows arbitrary reductions in [teacher] salary, prohibit seniority as a criterion for reduction in force, eliminate deadlines for issuing contracts, and limit employee rights to to engage in professional association activities." Tenure? Nope, gone. Contracts...job security? Ha, ha no. Baseline salaries? Think again sucker! It appears that the state of Arizona has decided to 'fix' some of her budget issues by giving the school districts the green light to get rid of those teachers close to retirement that are costing too much and then lure in new teachers by offering restaurant server pay (without tips).

Wow. Seriously Arizona? Unbelievable.

Instead of going off on a rant about how important I feel it is to invest in quality education for our future leaders and take care of our ridiculously underpaid teachers, I choose to share this:

~ Thank You, my small town teachers with big world skills. Cheers: Roger, Jim and Loren.

~ Look out Mississippi...thought you could be #50 for education quality forever, did ya?! Well we're coming for ya.

~ Did you think my Cam Jansen creation was cute? Wait until you see my 'fight for teacher rights' posterboard.

AZ House Bill 2011

Gussy Up: Spider Grill

The photo above is our old grill in his quiet little nook next to the house where he sat comfortably for two years after we got our new grill. I was determined to get him out on the curb for junk days* but for some reason missed about eight opportunities to do so. He was not going to go down like that and it wasn't until this past July until I finally figured out why.

*Side Note* When I say junk days, Anthony graciously reminds me that places outside Luverne, MN call it bulk trash pick up. I refuse to convert.

So July 2009 comes around and Anthony's brother moves into a new place. A new place without a BBQ grill. We decided on the drive home for the west side that we would give him our old grill...repaired...and in the theme of Spiderman! Why Spiderman? Because Anthony's brother is to Spiderman as Heidi is to sequins, except that I don't have three sequin tattoos on my body.

In one Spidertastic week we worked hard on our assignments:

Together: cleaning and scrubbing

Anthony: new gas hook-up installation, wood cutting and wood finishing

Heidi: pattern layout, wood burning and spray painting

One big grill dodges the landfill? Check

One brother in law grills up superpower patties and dogs? Double Check

Enjoy the photos:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Celebrate Your Life - Day 3 & 4

Are you ready to complete the conference recap and return to the awesome randomness that is my life? Well, you are in luck...conference wrap-up below...still not judging.

Kathlyn and Gay Hendricks offered one of the morning sessions on relationships and taking them to the next level. I wasn't familiar with their workshops or books but figured that a boost in the 'ol relationships department never hurt.

In the short time of their session they spoke of how some of us get to certain points in our relationship and get comfortable. We should be able to grow that love and reach new levels, but instead, some develop 'upper limit behaviors' that keep us in that comfortable place. Things that we say or do to bring down a moment of joy in each other's days. Examples:

Criticism - "Hi honey! Welcome home! *hug, hug, hug* Um, are you ever going to get a haircut?"

Interrupting - "You are never going to believe my day today! I was at Target when" *kiss* "You think you've had a great day, listen to mine!"

Sniping...Sulking...Disengaging...You get the idea.

It sounded crazy and irrational. And I do it sometimes. Criticism and sulking and disengaging, that is. Sorry loved ones.

So, some of the tools to use to overcome your own upper limits behaviors?

~ Take Healthy Responsibility: Hmm, I wonder how and why I am contributing to this tension...Hmm, I wonder how I can get past this

~ Speak the Truth: Notice the true feeling in your body and speak them out in one breath. So, instead of the haircut comment it might be, "Hi honey! *breath* I'm feeling tense and worried because it is late and I didn't know where you were."

~ Express Appreciation: See new aspects you love about the other person and vow to eliminate blame or criticism. I tried hard to think of a good example of when I have needed to blame a loved one for something. I couldn't do it...it all looped back like a vicious circle to that taking responsibility thing.

~ If kid issues and things that need to be fixed at home always come up at moments of love, then schedule business meetings twice a week to talk about repairs and the schedule so you don't have to do it during your connecting time.

Another person I had never heard of, Sonia Choquette, is a celebrated psychic, healer and teacher. Her focus was the same as the title of her bestselling book, The Answer is Simple....Love Yourself, Live Your Spirit.

She started things out with a few meditative breaths and then some music. The music was funky and rhythmic and she said she wanted some dancing. We were encouraged to join in 'as the spirit moved us.' I love to dance, but my moves aren't what you would call cool...fresh...or even sometimes socially acceptable. I was in the back and waited nervously until those around me got up before I stood, head bobbed a bit and did some fist pumps. I wouldn't call it spirit moved.

Once everyone was up and had gyrated sheepishly for a few minutes, we sat back down and got on with the presentation. Wow, what a ball of fire. Amazing storyteller, witty, knows how to work a room, hilarious and super loving and encouraging. I want to be her when I grow up.

We had to turn to a partner and share what we were grateful for...deeply grateful. Then, she had us get into groups to do an exercise to remember what it is we love. We sat in a circle and just shouted them out as they came to us. I love cake! sequins! Anthony! red! pictures!...just to name a few. By this point everyone was giddy...you could feel it...we were inspired!

Some of the rules to live by that she shared are simple:

Love yourself

Laugh

Remember what you love and take time to love it

Move

Be Grateful

Live your spirit

Share your gifts

To end it all she turned up the speakers again and told us to get dancin' as the Spirit moved us. This time, everybody was up instantly. I'll be honest, I even did a little robot...and it felt good. The whole thing felt good.

Dr. Darren Weissman spoke about the strong connection between our emotional pain and our physical pain. He's developed a program he uses to help people that are struggling with physical ailments and pain by identifying the stress or suffering that they may be carrying in that area. It didn't get too detailed, but from my understanding, it is related to the chakras and then you work from there to identify the final issue. He didn't say that ALL physical issues stem from internal turmoil, but he definitely believes that the turmoil carries more weight than food or environment.

Would I say that the tension and cramping I feel in my body when I am super pissed or worried about something affect me more negatively than the delicious feeling of glee I feel after enjoying a glaze dripping fried apple fritter? I believe so...but I will read more about it in his book Infinite Love & Gratitude.

James Van Praagh is another respected psychic and medium that offered readings to the crowd during the conference. This time it was during a general assembly, so we were looking at about 1,000 people in attendance.

Again, the group thing. He said that there was an older woman coming through that had passed recently and her daughter was in attendance carrying the memorial program from her mom's funeral service in her purse. Three ladies in the same section raised their hand. Really?! Yes.

It was similar to the John Holland experience from the day before in that the people that received messages were either spending a lot of time mourning, hating or smoking. New to this session though, was a man (dead) that came through to his wife and apologized for cheating on her. Crazy.

The last session was Sunny Dawn Johnston doing a presentation on the Archangels and how we could ask for their guidance in our life. Some of them I recognized from Bible stories (Michael, Gabriel) and others were new (Zadkiel, Chamuel). She said that they speak to everyone in subtle ways, but most of the time we don't take the time to notice...to reflect on those 'coincidences' in our life that are trying to bring us an answer.

One exercise she had us do was automatic writing. First we wrote down the question:

Dear Angels, What is the message I need to hear today?

Then we had to write for 5 minutes without stopping. Just random words, keeping the pen moving, doodling, focusing on the question...writing...writing...writing. Afterwards we took time to read them over and look at all the details. Words and ideas that repeat are generally meaningful. The crazy part was that words came out on my paper that I generally don't use...and some I use often like sequins, cake and frosting. Did I get a message? This is what I choose to read between my lines:

There is a family wedding coming around the bend. Who will it be? That I don't know. But I do know that I will be there, dancing under the lights, wearing sequins and eating lots of cake with frosting.

So yes, lots of different ideas and topics at the Celebrate Your Life conference. Do I believe all of them? I don't know. I do believe that I felt more love at this conference than I did at Sunday school learning about Sodom and Gomorrah burning up in hell flames. I believe that there are a lot of new books I want to read and I do believe that I want to talk to you about any of the conference stuff if you have any question.

Stay with me for one more second as I tell you how this whole thing ends for me. In Sunny Dawn Johnston's room, having wrapped up a nice session talking about our loving angels, we formed two equal numbered groups and joined hands in a circle. One circle faced inward and the other circle faced out so that each person was standing directly in front of someone from the other circle. Then we had to sing. Sing looking directly into the other person's eyes. Then the inner circle rotated and we started over singing to a new person.

This was the song:

HOW COULD ANYONE
Words and music by Libby Roderick
c Libby Roderick Music 1988
BMI All Rights reserved.
From If You See a Dream

How could anyone ever tell you
You were anything less than beautiful?
How could anyone ever tell you
You were less than whole?
How could anyone fail to notice
That your loving is a miracle?
How deeply you're connected to my soul

Holy crap. It was moving. Me, Heidi, the person that cringed at the point in the Lutheran Church service where I had to share the peace with people because I didn't want to shake their germy hands...now gets it. Loving and forgiving people is serious business, and I need to do more of it!

I'll start with you, angry bastard that cut me off yesterday and then honked at me for what seemed like two minutes. I send you love! You are a beautiful spirit! Period.

Celebrate Your Life - Day 2

A new day. Day two. Ready to listen without judgement.

The morning started out with the whole crowd gathered to hear Iyanla Vanzant. She's written several books on life and has a couple of CDs out too. I didn't know her, but knew I loved her after she got on stage and proclaimed, "Hellooo, giant room full of white people!" She spoke the truth and it was pretty funny.

She shared much humor in her life lessons and affirmations, but these two stuck with me:

~ If you don't give enough hugs, you get ugly. ~ I'll admit it, I want to be pretty, so without hesitation I walked over to the 60ish gentleman at the end of my row in a black velvet suit jacket and gave him a big squeezer. It felt good, and I could feel my pores minimizing as I did it. OK, that last part is a lie, but it did feel good.

~ Dream big, follow your dreams, take risk. If pee isn't running down your leg then the action isn't big enough...let go of control. ~ The best part was that she kept talking about pee for 5 minutes giving examples of how she agreed to do things and then realized just as they were about to begin that she wanted to pee herself. I want to start rating all my adventures on a pee scale now with a cute little icon that depicts the level of saturation in a pair of pants. We'll see.

The morning continued with Alan Cohen, celebrated author and contributor to Chicken Soup for the Soul, New York Times and appearances on Oprah. He talked about living with enthusiasm and asked that we complete this activity with the person we were sitting next to:

For 3 minutes, keep telling your partner these two sentences inserting new words into the blanks.

_________ brings me life.

_________ deadens me.

3 minutes is a long time, forcing you to really get specific. And by the end of it, I'll be damned if I didn't have a pretty big list of specifics I was going to use when choosing my next path. Want just one? Photoshopping brings me life. Rules deaden me.

These were the shared quotes that made it on my notepad:

~ Comparison is the death of joy.

~ Motivation is when you take hold of an idea. Inspiration is when an idea takes hold of you.

~ If all you are being paid for your work is money, then you are grossly underpaid.

I had to check badges at the door for Michael Tamura. His little giggle after everything he said was amazingly intoxicating and awoke souls (yes, literally and figuratively...seriously).

~ "From love we are born. To love we must return. This is the journey of the soul we call life. To be who we are, to have all that is within us and to fully express our divine heritage - that is our purpose for living and the destination of our journey. Our destiny is our freedom. And the process of fulfilling our life purpose is to choose truth at every crossroads and act upon it with love."

Again, I was scheduled to work. This time in John Holland's room. He is a medium and hilarious...with his Irish Boston accent transporting you right to the Red Sox game. He shared his experience that sometimes when he does medium readings in large groups (there were about 300 people in the room) that people sitting in the same sections often have similar connections and that he can link messages. For example, later in the session there were 3 mothers (unrelated) that raised their hands when he said that he was connecting with a young woman who had been murdered within the past 5 years whose mother was in the audience. He had snippets for each, but a main message for one. Seriously?! They all sat in the same section? Wow.

As I continued to listen without judgement, I realized that most of the messages that were coming through, were going to people that were really carrying around a lot of grief and anger over the passing of their loved one. The message to the murdered girl's mom was that the mom needed to forgive the attackers, because the hate was unnecessary and causing too much stress on her body...stuff like that.

My favorite moment of the whole thing was when John was talking to a gay guy in the back (alive) that had just lost his partner of 15ish years. He had mentioned some pretty specific details, and then asked if the dead partner was humorous. John said that he was hearing an off-color message and seeing an image and told the guy in back that he was going to say it and see if it made sense to him.

Image: large crucifix

Message: I wouldn't have been caught dead here, but I guess I have been.

The guy in back laughed (and maybe peed a little) and explained that his partner was a devout Christian and wasn't supportive of the spiritual hocus pocus stuff. Hmm, interesting.

Even for the skeptics in the room, you couldn't deny that the people that John had passed on message of comfort to had left the room with lighter hearts than when they entered.

The day ended with Julie Murphy Casserly presenting on the emotion behind money. Everything that she said seemed sound and easy...you know, the stuff that a lot of us understand and then don't do because we get busy or freaked out or don't trust ourselves? She offered much, but here is just a little:

~ Words like budget and spending limits can create this subconscious feeling of lack and restriction for some people. Use words like cashflow or gravy...OK, gravy is my word.

~ If you shame, blame or judge someone about their money habits you are just helping to feed that pattern.

~ Invest equally in your past, present and future. It creates balance and minimizes the feelings that you can't ever catch up on your old debt...or can't afford to enjoy life now...or will never be able to retire. Take that extra $3 you have at the end of the month and put $1 towards each (I'm speaking in thousands of course...ha!).

~ If you are working with financial planner make sure they are listening to what you want and what feels good for you.

That seems easy enough, but she gave many examples of people buying plans that are ridiculous but still made the planner a big commission..."I knew that plan was shady from the get-go!" Really?! because you still gave them all your money.