I learned that life goes on, as it should.

I learned that you can make an amazing craft for preschoolers using one foam strip, 2 pipecleaners and some stickers.

I learned that plans don't always go according to schedule, but I can adjust.

I learned that it's important to have a garbage can in every bedroom at all times, in case someone vomits during the night!  (nuff said)

I learned that even in a quiet and seemingly safe community, bad things can happen.

I learned that friends are the glue that hold a busymom together.

Ha Myst!  Bet that was interesting!

I learned that 6 weeks was too soon to go back to my trainer and workouts following a hip flexor injury. 

PMS is cured by time.  And golden oreos.

I learned that  it feels so good to feel good after having a case of a 24 hour stomach flu bug.

I learned that sometimes I am better off keeping my mouth shut and not saying something when I actually want to correct someone about something (cause sometimes I am wrong ).

 I watched a large chunk of ice melt on the beach this week and, day by day as it fell apart, I was fascinated to see the quite weighty sample of beach it had brought with it from somewhere far away... to the north of here (I guess): different shells, a type of sponge and different pieces of stone had been frozen into the ice and transported to this beach on "Up West", PEI) by the currents and the winds.

I can always count on the sea to fire up my imagination and make me fall in love with the mystery again. The world is made of stories, not atoms, as someone far wiser than I once said.

I learned that a bad day that leaves you feeling hopeless and dreading the next one can be transformed by breathing, a good night's sleep and a debriefing.

I learned that retail therapy works  Too bad the first hit isn't free

Up

I learned that I am beginning to love working out hard in the pool again . .  . and am enjoying the strain and the pulls and the groans and the out of breath moments

I learned that if my stomach is quavering while I am stroking, I don't necessarily need to breath.  I am now doing bilateral 5 stroke breaths on regular lengths.

And my kick in back crawl is coming back together so that I am not straining my shoulders.

Down:

I learned that my bosses are so uneducated that you can't explain what bullying is and that when they do get it, they only mock me and do it more, because they want to imagine that they are harmless and that they have the right to bully people because if they don;t have the right to bully people they have no other reason for existence and they might have to committ suicide because their wives will reject them because they can't prove that they have a bigger dick if they don't bully people who intimidate them.

games games games games games.   There should an index so ya can keep up. 

I have learned that my boyfriend is the most loving, supportive, kind-hearted man I have ever met.

I learned that you should eat as much of a birthday cake as you can in one day so it won't go stale.

Hi ninja. I do believe you are right. And that excellent beer would be Brains Smooth. Brains is the national beer of Wales and it really is smooth. I have however developed a taste for Tuborg as well.

 I learned that two weeks for spring break seems to go on forever.

I have learned that love and support sometimes comes from the most unexpected places.

I have learned that God works in mysterious ways.

Oh, the phrases and words that have come my way this week:

Inspissation

Psammoma bodies

Inotrope

Adoring someone's submental necklace can be a compliment

Sheer poetry, all of it!

Just a Self-writing poem,

InannaWhimsey

Who by???

(I hope it's not Down There from Down Under.)  

I learned that I can keep my mouth shut even if I have an opinion.  (it was not something that needed to be said)

I've learned a lot of things about creating blog-type websites, have learned more about some of the people in my life, learned that one of my sons is really struggling with his college course, learned that I had some measure of success in my job (even though I"m off work right now) where victories can sometimes be few and far between, am learning about the fragility of our bodies, I could go on...

However, a fun thing that I am learning this week is all about the theology of Calvin and Hobbes...interesting and fun, that is.

 I have learned that the death of a person I only knew on line can affect me greatly.  MM's suicide made me feel guilty for what I should / could/ wished I had done to help.

I have learned that I am stronger than I thought.

I have learned that even though they are 19 and 22 my kids still need my advice.

Crazyheart you are not alone in feeling this week was crap.

I started writing the following before reading Admin's post that just adds to the emotional pile of the week and making me realize the week is still not over - but even so, I still contend that what I wrote is true for me......

I finally commented to my co-worker on Friday that this week has been like the proverbial Perfect Storm. A confluence of all the crap that could conceivably occur swirling about in one single week building towards that catastrophic drowning wave of emotional shit.

And then the storm broke. It broke for a couple of reasons but the main one was recognizing the joy to be found even in a rotten day.

There was the laughter just from my description of the week, the venting of the frustrations by identifying them for what they were – events beyond our control. The co-decision of both of us to keep laughing in the face of the uncontrollable - even a bleedin’ box of rotten tomatoes I had to sort through.

There was the absolutely delightful opportunity to have coffee with someone wise, witty and profoundly human warts and all. It was, after leaving that meeting, I realized how down I had been because of how up I felt.

To top it all off I went to the hairdresser and got a hair cut.  My partner told me I look years younger!   It was the perfect ending to a perfectly stormy week.

It is times like these that I am reminded of the joy to be found. It is the moment I realize that little things that bring a smile have the power to shatter the illusion of a big problem and make it small. It is those times that give strength to ride out the wave.
 

If we can turn one disaster into many crises, we can conversely turn small mercies into big favours.  What has occurred here and elsewhere this week is a disaster - no doubt about it.  There is a lot to be negative about.

But there is also a lot to be positive about as well.  No matter what the source, the genuine outpouring of care and concern is a good thing.   That is what needs to be held onto.

I didn't learn this today, but a long time ago after being deeply hurt by someone I loved.  I can choose to let that hurt harden my heart, blind me to the beauty that is in the world or I can be vigilant and open to the possibility - even the smallest sign - that there is good to be found and beautiful things can sprout from dark places.

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

      Emily Dickinson, Hope

Ninj ... thanks for the hug!

((((((anytime)))))

I've learned that not only does time heal all wounds, but also time wounds all heels!