A sentiment after my own heart...

There is no hope for a civilization which starts each day to the sound of an alarm clock. ~Author Unknown

Word

Never apologize for the condition of your house. Trust me, unless it is for sale, our homes look just the same. Word.

Making Ant Hills

The view from my seat is…ants. No, not “ants in the pants” (sheesh). It’s us…American people and how we resemble ants. Busy, busy, busy. Travelling to and fro. Carrying important “stuff”. No time to stop. Hurry, hurry. Must build the house, must decorate, must work, must do more, more, more! And then someone will step on the anthill, or it will rain and flood the hill out, and what do we have? A mess.

I think of the Frank Sinatra oldie “High Hopes” – anybody else remember it? Here’s the ant sample –

Just what makes that little old ant

Think he’ll move that rubber tree plant

Anyone knows an ant, can’t

Move a rubber tree plant

But he’s got high hopes, he’s got high hopes

He’s got high apple pie, in the sky hopes

So any time your getting’ low

Instead of lettin’ go

Just remember that ant…

Oops there goes another rubber tree plant

My questions: Did the rubber tree plant need to be moved, or did the ant just think that’s what needed to be done? What would have happened if the ant hadn’t moved the rubber tree? What if the ant had made a date for a cup of coffee with another ant instead? Or gone for a walk in the country? Or played hide-and-go-seek with a little ant? Nooooooo…we all take great pride in that lil’ ol’ any moving that rubber tree plant. And Frank encourages us to be like the ant…have high hopes and aspire to do what can’t be done.

How and when will we break out of this?! Are we really better off? I vote NO! Let’s let the rubber tree plants stay where they are and make time for each other! Time for conversation, reading, playing, enjoying life, time for JOY!

So, I am willing to start the revolution, if you’ll join me.

We can call it…hmmm…what’s a good name? How about:

• Let’s Try Enjoying Life (LTEL)? Not snappy enough?
• OK: TINTED (Time Is Not The Enemy Dummy)? Personally, I like that one, but some may think it offensive.
• INA (I’m No Ant)?
• BREAK (Be Real, Enjoy, be Attentive, Connect)? There – I think that’s it. Operation BREAK.

The first part of Operation BREAK is data collection:
Step one: Make a list of the top 5 things that are really, really important to you. Not what you think SHOULD be important to you… no one but you is going to see this.

Step two: Make a list of the top 5 things you would do if you won 55 million dollars in the lottery. Won it TONIGHT. What would you do first tomorrow? If you say “Quit my job” that’s fine, but what will you replace that job with? Does what you would do, if you could, reflect what you say is really, really important to you? If not maybe you need to re-evaluate what you say is important. It’s OK, we’ll wait. (tap, tap, tap, sigh)

Step three: Bank balance and calendar audit. Take a look at your bank statement (online or on paper, doesn’t matter) and your day planner. Does where you expend your money and time match what is really, really important to you?

Yes, it IS cheating if your job didn’t make the top 5 and you justify time over 40 hours per week (or whatever percentage of full time that you work) as “being for the good of one or more of the top 5”.

Step four: Consider this – what in your life is really a NEED? How much time and effort goes into acquiring, maintaining, and (possibly) upgrading WANTS? Just consider – think about it without judgement. This is just data collection.

Step five: Over the next week note your reaction when one of these things happens:

1. The phone rings as you are engaged in something.
2. A co-worker stops by your office (cubicle) to talk with you about a non-work related topic.
3. You run into a friend, or someone you haven’t seen in a long while, as you are shopping, pumping gas, or involved in some other essential activity.
4. Your offspring asks you to do something for them.

Think about this stuff, watch some ants, see if you’ve got rubber tree plants that you are rearranging, and let’s talk more about this view … later.

Breaking News!

Direct from my brother ... Professor at Rutgers and the smartest person I know ... so it MUST be true...

"In case you did not hear, the CDC has identified the source of the swine flu outbreak (or "patient zero" in their parlance). A picture of the patient has been released but name has been withheld to protect privacy. (see photo above)

I don't think their advice to "wash hands thoroughly" will suffice in this case."

"Neither do (wo)men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house." Matthew 5:15 with slight modification by Kovar

I know that you all have likely seen this many times, and heard all the fuss in the press.

https://mail.wku.edu/Redirect/www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY&feature=related

Well, I was led to think about this from a totally different perspective. What if Susan Boyle had looked in the mirror one day and said, "You are an unattractive cow. Stay home, stay out of the way, and don't embarrass yourself."

How many times do we (and I mean all women) judge ourselves critically. Especially if we choose the parameteres that American society has set for measuring the worth of a woman.

Speaking for myself, it goes something like this: "My chest is too small, my hips are too big, my butt..well lets just say I've seen drive-in movie screens with less breadth. My hair never behaves, my eyes are too close together, I have no clue how to apply make-up, and my nose made Jimmy Durante jealous (God rest his soul). I still get acne. My teeth are showing their age by yellowing, and I don't have enough discipline to use white strips. I laugh like a donkey and don't seem to be smart enough to fit in with these PhD folk. I need to be quiet and behave like a lady."

Bullshit. We need to hold on to our dream. No, not hold on to, we need to chase that puppy. And swing our hips because we believe we are as saucy as any other woman. We are not our eyebrows (and Susan Boyle does have some bodacious eyebrows), we are not our employment status, nor our hair that is (choose one) too thick, too thin, too curly, too straight, or between good lengths.

Talk about being more than the sum of our parts!

We need to be just who God created us to be. For Susan Boyle that is a singer, whose songs I will download with glee. Oh, to teach young women the joy of being REAL!

According to Christine Aguilera:

I am beautiful no matter what they say
Words can't bring me down
I am beautiful in every single way

Memories

Recently, a friend was bemoaning her loss of memory. Recent, as in first noticed soon after she had an affirmative + sign on the home pregnancy test. Recent, as in even more intense since she was asked, “Do twins run in your family?” Many women believe that they become more forgetful during pregnancy: a new study by Australian researchers suggests that they are right - and that their memory can be significantly impaired for at least a year after giving birth.

Until recently, much of the evidence for pregnancy-related memory deficits was either anecdotal or based on subjective reports. The new study, published recently in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, is the first to assemble and analyze data from a wide range of scientific studies into the phenomenon.

The results indicate that the impairment - dubbed "baby brain" - is still evident a year after childbirth. Since none of the studies has extended beyond that time, scientists claim not to know how long the deficit continues.

Nor do scientists understand why a woman's memory should be impaired at such an important time, although several theories have been put forward.

Luckily, readers of this blog are about to be on the front row of a scientific breakthrough: Baby brain is the fault of Albert Einstein.

It all has to do with the Law of the Conservation of Matter. Those with a scientific interest are well aware of this fundamental principle of physics: that matter cannot be created or destroyed in an isolated system (with apologies to Dr. Einstein for my abbreviated definition).

Is there any better example of an isolated system than a gestating woman?

It boils down to this. As the baby, or in this case babies, grow in the mother’s uterus we have a veritable explosion of new cells. We’re talking placenta, lots of amniotic fluid, extra breast tissue, some additional fat stores, and last-but-not-least the piece-de-resistance – BABY. If we follow the laws of physics, and really what other choice do we have, there must be a counterbalancing diminution of cells within the isolated system. Enter into the equation the mother’s brain. Yes, it is official, mothers lose brain cells with every pregnancy. And the really bad news? They don’t come back (brain cells that is).

This is why after a first pregnancy, new mothers note that they have more difficulty assembling all the items needed to leave the house; car keys are misplaced; and there is no recollection of a good night’s sleep. The second pregnancy results in more irretrievable brain cell loss. For instance, mothers feel an increasing need to write things down so that task won’t be forgotten (eg. “Wash face, brush teeth.” “Eat”) It is no coincidence that more post-it notes are sold to households with two or more children than to all the Fortune 500 companies combined. The problem is as with all home/office supplies, mothers can never find them once purchased. Somewhere in most family homes lies an enormous pile of post-it notes, tape, pencils, pens, and notepads. Meanwhile, we take phone messages by using a frozen chocolate chip to write on the side of the refrigerator.

By the third pregnancy the issue is noticeable even to strangers. When asked the expected date of arrival for the new baby, mothers awaiting the birth of number three have been known to say “2009.” Mothers cannot recall their own child’s name, resulting in the “litany of the sinners” frequently heard in homes everywhere, “Tommy, Michael, Jason, Fred, Chad, Alex…you know who you are! GET DOWN FROM THERE!” (Child’s name is actually “Joe, Jr.”) When leaving for vacation Moms no longer ask, “Did I unplug the coffee pot?” That’s a post first pregnancy level question. No, after #3 we hear, “It’s YOUR turn to count. They are all back there aren’t they?” I’m sure that third pregnancy syndrome was the cause of my niece Jessica being left at the picnic area after a long ago family gathering. Don’t panic, she was twelve at the time, but still…

For my friend, the news is nearly tragic. From a competent educator, recently enrolled in a prestigious PhD program, she will soon be reduced to attempting to deposit grocery coupons at the bank drive through and wandering mall parking structures hoping to locate her car by pushing the remote and hoping to hear a friendly chirp of the horn. With twins, she jumps directly into Level 2 brain cell loss.

To her husband, good-old “What’s His Name,” be proactive! Stock up on Post-It notes. Investigate whether infants can be microchiped at the vet’s office. And start wearing a name tag – who you are will soon be the least of her worries.

Animal House

I came home the other day to find Emily’s cat, Sugar, on the family room porch, balanced on the back of the beautiful porch swing, staring into the window of the family room, looking for someone to let her in. My question is: How do animals learn the concept of a window? Sugar is not the first family pet to demonstrate this understanding.

Matt’s first cat, Claire, had this concept down pat as well. When we lived in the Virgin Islands we had a very interesting experience with a stray dog, who became the family pet, Sammy. To make a long story short…Sammy wandered into our yard, bone thin and thirsty. We made the mistake of taking pity on the poor guy and fed him. Well, on Day 3 he had apparently received enough nutrition and hydration to realize, “Why that’s a CAT!” And even worse, “I LOVE to chase cats!” The next sound we heard was a loud bark, followed by an even louder cat yowl. A streak of calico cat flew by the dining room window followed by a blur of white and brown “coconut retriever”. On the heels of this sight was the sound of a panicked Matt, “Oh no! Claire’s scared of Sammy!” (He always was a master of understatement)

A three hour search ensued, but to no avail. Claire had disappeared into the thick green untamed island foliage surrounding the house. Matt was heartbroken, Sammy was in time out, and Steve and I were thoroughly embarrassed. We’d sequestered our dinner guest (our pastor) in the hurricane shelter with Sammy while we’d searched. We knew Claire would never come home if he was out and about (the dog that is, not the priest).

Fast forward to the middle of the night. Our bedroom windows are open to let the soft, cool tradewind flow in. The soothing melody of the tree frogs is suddenly broken by two syllables: “Me-ow”. I push up on one arm, look out the window, and there…balanced on the 1” width of the wrought iron handrail… is Claire. Despite the low light of only a quarter-moon, she has found our bedroom window and is summoning us to open the door.

How did she know how to do that? To understand where we were and to understand that the window was a means of communicating with us?

Golden Retriever, Lucy, spends her days sitting at one of the dining room windows watching the street in front of the house. She’s like Gladys from “Bewitched”, there isn’t a single neighborhood action that she isn’t aware of. Unlike Gladys, she doesn’t share the info with anyone (that we know of). She clearly understands that this is life, rather than a TV show, as she heads toward the door when she spies her favorite human, Steve, approach the house.

Hmmm. Since the pets use the windows, do you think they’ll help clean them?

Why wait for April 1st?

Get a head start...a 101 ways to be a fool:

1. Keep thinking that you can get a different result doing the same old thing.
2. Wait until someone invites you to join in on a planned activity (eg. lunch, seeing a movie, learning a hobby).
3. Expect your loved ones to read your mind. After all, they should know what you need, want, prefer, and dream about!
4. Lie to yourself.
5. Never, ever, try something new.
6. Envy. Anyone, anything, any circumstance.
7. Believe gossip.
8. Love anyone more than you love yourself.
9. Believe that loving yourself = always putting yourself first.
10. Expect someone else to make you complete or happy.
11. Wait to be thinner, more educated, better looking, older, married, divorced, a parent, in a new job, retired, wealthy, or in a new town so that you can relax and enjoy life.
12. Ignore a sincere compliment.
13. Act your age.
14. Dress younger than your age.
15. Ignore an opportunity to “Pay it forward”.
16. Say “I can’t do that” without ever trying to see if you can.
17. Go for a whole hour without smiling.
18. Think that you are better than another person.
19. Park in a handicapped spot if you are able bodied.
20. Think small.
21. Ever say to a small child “Be good, or else I’ll have that nurse give you a shot!"
22. Never do a kind gesture anonymously.
23. Keep count (eg. “I gave him a $5 gift and he only gave me a crummy $1 gift. He owes me. – or – I traded shifts with you when you needed help, now you owe me a trade whenever I need it.)
24. Don’t drink water.
25. Avoid asking for help when you need it.
26. Have gone for more than 5-years without seeing a children’s movie.
27. Discontinue an antibiotic before you’ve finished it because you “feel better."
28. Try to use current lingo without knowing what a word or phrase really means.
29. Use “stupid” or “loser” to describe yourself.
30. Go a whole summer without eating outside.
31. Fail to see sunrise at least once a year (mindfully SEE).
32. Take yourself too seriously.
33. Know that you are NEVER wrong.
34. Assume the worst about someone because of skin color, dress, or spiritual belief.
35. Make excuses.
36. Think that Reality TV is reality.
37. Think that all young people are spoiled, irresponsible, and/or greedy.
38. Believe you are irreplaceable to your workplace, so you can coast.
39. Steal from your workplace (Yes. I do mean paperclips, pens, paper, and time).
40. Miss a chance to say “I love you."
41. Wait for someone to say “I’m sorry” before you begin to forgive.
42. Keep the “good stuff” on a high shelf and never use it.
43. Tip small.
44. Believe that anyone who is uninsured is lazy and deserves to lack access to health care.
45. Talk rudely to a server, barista, or cashier.
46. Have to be right, in every instance, no matter how small the issue.
47. Never take a nap.
48. Not know the capital of the state you live in.
49. Fail to see sunset at least once a year (mindfully SEE).
50. Throw away an item that someone else could use.
51. Yell at the cashier about the price of an item.
52. Believe that advertising is for your education and to help you.
53. After seeking an exam and advice from a health provider, get a second opinion from a neighbor, stranger, co-worker, or family member.
54. Know the name of the “bachelor” or “bachelorette” but not the name of the Vice-president.
55. Think that all elderly are feeble, out-of-touch with the reality of today’s world, and/or incompetent.
56. Eat at chain restaurants when you travel.
57. Believe money buys happiness.
58. Stockpile back issues of “Real Simple” magazine.
59. As you eat something, talk about how you “shouldn’t be eating it".
60. Count fat grams at the dinner table.
61. Never, ever, do something just for the fun of it.
62. Break a promise to a child.
63. Pick your nose in the car.
64. Watch “Dancing with the Stars” but never dance yourself.
65. Avoid a friend because you are hurt or angry at something they did.
66. Always wait for the video to come out.
67. Think it’s a bother to romance your spouse.
68. Forget your mother’s birthday.
69. Decide to stop taking your blood pressure medicine.
70. Have a custom kitchen yet eat out all the time.
71. Kick a dog.
72. Use a racial slur.
73. Wear pajama bottoms in public, unless you are a toddler.
74. Tell someone that they are going to hell because of the church or religion to which they belong.
75. Say “I don’t remember” or “I can’t recall” when you really do.
76. Believe that the end really does justify the means.
77. Tolerate cruelty or torture.
78. Argue with a teacher about one point on a project when you already have an “A".
79. Adjust a private body part in public.
80. Wear droopy pants if you are over the age of 2 years.
81. Talk about a group of people as "them" or "those people."
82. Apologize to a friend for the messiness of your home.
83. Say no to a dinner invitation because you are dieting.
84. Spend less time with family so that you can buy more stuff or take a better vacation.
85. Have a room in the house that no one can comfortably sit in.
86. Unless absolutely unavoidable, wear shoes that hurt your feet.
87. Think that the woman your son loves isn’t good enough for him. Tell him that.
88. Defend or excuse bad behavior (especially your own or your offspring's).
89. Complain about the wait to be seen in the ER when you are on Day 1 of cold symptoms and have not tried any acetaminophen, ibuprofen, tea with lemon and honey, chicken soup, or simple rest.
90. Quote People Magazine in a conversation about world events.
91. Order anything on QVC or the Home Shopping Network if you can’t pay your credit card bill each month…in full.
92. Ask a question for which you could find the answer with a little effort.
93. Do something just because you should.
94. Diss your mother-in-law.
95. Drive in a way to make sure that car with the turn blinker can’t merge into your lane.
96. Never have been inside your local library, and never intend to.
97. Laugh at someone else’s expense.
98. Get drunk.
99. Two words: comb over.
100. When you are invited to spend time with people you love say “no”, so that you can stay home to clean or mow.
101. Really believe that it IS all about you.

Something to think about

In today's climate of unrest on many fronts, I find this especially worthy of contemplation:

The Roots of Violence:

Wealth without work,

Pleasure without conscience,

Knowledge without character,

Commerce without morality,

Science without humanity,

Worship without sacrifice,

Politics without principles.

~Mohandas K. Ghandi

Planta Fasciitis

Plantar – of, or pertaining to, plants. Ex: “My grandpa, he was a plantar. He grew corn, and hay.” (from the Kovar abridged dictionary)

Fasciitis – a proliferation of fibroblasts in a fascia (from dictionary.com)

Modern science is not making fast headway in healing my plantar fasciitis. It can be frustrating, what with having to recline on the couch while Steve does all the cooking, cleaning, dog walking, laundry, and bill paying. Sorry, I got off track….those ARE the good parts. The bad part is that my dang foot hurts! 24:7. And it is a long walk from the parking lot to my building on campus. So, I have decided that I must take the cure into my own care.

First, I need to define the problem. Hence my recent foray into linguistics as noted above. I don’t know about you, but fasciitis sounds like something that happens after you take Metamucil. I mean that fiber does proliferate. And Grandpa did need Metamucil in his later years, so I’m pretty sure I’m on to something here. The real indicator is that when I first get up in the morning, I walk like a grandpa because those first few steps are gawd-awful. I shuffle, moaning slightly, wishing the bed was actually in the bathroom so the walk wouldn’t be so long.

Now the Physical Therapist seems to think that balancing on a board on top of a ball, trying to push the wall out into the rear parking lot, and spelling the alphabet with my tootsies is going to fix this problem. Ha! I think he’s trying to get a winner for “America’s Funniest Home Videos”. I’ll be channel surfing one of these days and see myself doing Hillbilly Surfing, hanging ten on the darn plank. He’s had his chance. Now I’m going to tackle the real problem.

What do plants and Grandpa’s Metamucil have in common? Go on ahead, think about it for a minute…. You’re right! Water. The problem is all this water I’ve been guzzling. Don’t water the plant, it dies. Don’t water the Metamucil, concrete. Since I’m told the pain is caused by tearing of the tissue on the sole of my foot, I figure a little concrete is just what the doctor ordered.

So, no more H2O. I’ll be switching to only pomegranate juice, gin and tonics and coffee. I’m going to call that the “Healthy Wealthy and Wise Plan”. Pomegranate juice is supposed to be so healthy, seems like rich folk spend their summer sipping G & T’s, and there is no doubt that being awake is wiser than being asleep at the wheel. “Healthy Wealthy and Wise”

A couple weeks on this program ought to fix most anything. I’ll up the ratio of the G & T’s if progress isn’t fast enough, patience is a virtue after all. Stand by for updates.

Does the early bird get the job???

Showed up today for a second interview for the FNP job with a Family Practice group. Proud of myself for arriving at 11:55 for a noon meeting: not too early, not too late I thought to myself. Unh huh....appt. is tomorrow!

Pharmaceutical News!

Check this out! It's about time is all I have to say!

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/fda_approves_depressant_drug_for

No words necessary

This just ain't right....

Some people just can not carry off a hat. But then again, some folks can....

An inspiration to the Queen of England, churchladies, and drag queens everywhere. Love you Aretha!

Mental Snapshots this week

Monday: Six beautiful, nicely spaced stitches on a practice pad. Gorgeous - now if I can get my time down under 20 minutes! LOL!

Tuesday: Carol Watwood's grin as she talked about her teen age daughter driving. Mother pride from a soft-spoken generous woman.

Wednesday: Elderly gentleman wearing a sky blue dress shirt under a well worn tan winter jacket. Standing in the lobby of the clinic, looking a bit lost. As he glanced my way and I smiled at him his face lit up and I could see he had beautiful blue eyes. Just like my Grandpa Green. He made my day. My mental snapshot: blue eyes with a sparkle.

Life is good.

Life is not a comma

“Every stage of life is the right one, including the stage I’m in.” ~ Younger By the Day, Jan. 29

Those words resonated within me as I read them yesterday. They led to a stunning realization: I am living my life as if this time is a comma. The comma between having kids and having grandchildren. The comma between one job and the next. The comma between what I HAVE to do and what I WANT to do. The comma between unfit and fit. The comma between hating my body and loving my body.

What a mistake. I frequently caution others that “life is too short…” or to “do what will feed your soul”. Those phrases do not sound like the advice of a woman who is “on hold”. These days of transition are like the days leading up to Christmas. They can be days of delicious anticipation. Why choose to have them only serve as blocks on the calendar to mark off before opening the big gift box full of “my real life” on a certain day?

This is my “real” life. Today is not just a stepping stone to tomorrow; it is TODAY. So…how to put the Carpe into Diem?

Right off the top of my head these things come to mind:

1. Stop the madness! To-do lists and electronic calendars are great things, but I either need to stray away from my programmed life more, or I need to enter fun and freedom onto the list!
2. Make it extraordinary. As I reflected on what makes vacations and holidays special, I realized that they usually involve some ritual or tradition that signal its specialness. I need to create rituals or traditions that signal that today is worthy of notice. For a start, I will return to daily journaling. Reflecting on my life, and that day, is a great way to reinforce that I am living not waiting.
3. Owe myself one mental snapshot everyday. There are times that something of such tenderness or physical beauty stops me in my tracks momentarily and I take a “memory shot” so that I will not lose the image. If I commit to looking for those images, instead of waiting for kismet, I believe that I will be able to find at least one everyday. Part of living in a comma is that I am non-observant as I go about my routine. By searching out today’s mental snapshot I will be more aware of where I am, who is around me, and how I fit into that place.
4. Savor something everyday. It is good to learn that food is fuel rather than _____________ (fill in the blank with the word of choice: comfort, entertainment, celebration, balm, love, rebellion). However, that knowledge doesn’t mean that I should not savor what I consume. Savoring can be as simple as paying attention to the rich smell of my morning coffee, bathing my tongue in the smoothness of an evening cup of tea, or discerning the flavors of that first bite of a meal. Savoring is a period, not a comma. Maybe even an exclamation point sometimes (tiramisu in Rome comes to mind as an exclamation point experience). Savor.
5. Say thanks. Living life as a comma means that I am not grateful for the gift of today. Oh, it is so frustrating when someone tosses aside a gift from me as though it wasn’t worthy of attention. I am doing that to the Father God that gave me today. By opening each day with a statement of thanks I acknowledge His love, and open the door to saying a multitude of thank-you’s during the remainder of the day. Thank you to those who give me the memory shot, those who help me to savor the moment, even the one who reminds me not to behave in a certain way. They are all reminders that the messiness of today is a gift.

My life is not a comma! Carpe Diem!

I love Jesus, but ...

The view from my seat today is that we all need a laugh. Enjoy!

Thought for the day...

Money can't buy happiness, but somehow it is more comforting to cry in a Corvette than in a Yugo.
OK...maybe I should have said silly thought for the day.

p.s. sigh...for those too young to know what a Yugo is... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugo
p.p.s. should any of my students happen to visit this posting: no, wikipedia will still not be accepted as a professional reference source in submitted papers

Trouble Understanding the News?

Here's help! I recommend watching the year-end edition first. If you don't find it funny, then Uncle Jay is not for you!

Dec. 1st edition - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tlu3zo0jNc8&NR=1

Dec. 15th edition - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vly2aL-Hxac&feature=related

Year-end edition 2008 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWiXy55OHyY&feature=related

Jan 5th 2009 edition - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzeRAwPUbbo

Love Gift

Love (luhv) – noun, verb
1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person;
2. to have love or affection;
3. to hug or cuddle;
4. to embrace or kiss as lovers.

Have you ever been in love? How do you know? What does love mean to you?

I’ve been known to throw the word around… I love my bike. I love a day warm enough to ride. I love the top of a long hill. I love a long cool drink of water. I love my camelback. I love my new polar heart rate monitor. I l-o-v-e sushi. And I love a Sunday nap. Not accurate. I enjoy those things but that’s not love.

Love is a full week on a cold garage floor, under a Honda Accord, replacing a clutch. Love is blood blisters on two fingers, and continuing to work. Love is a t-shirt, sweatshirt, and pair of jeans that will have to be thrown away because the grease will never come out. Love is early mornings and late nights on the crummiest garage creeper in the history of the world. Love is a quarter-inch scab on the crown of the mechanic’s head after said crummy creeper rolled too far, too fast. Love is a bruised rib from rolling off the crummy creeper. Love is hours spent pouring over the Accord repair manual, to learn the steps of a new task. And love is finishing that job, and then replacing two dashboard light bulbs and adjusting the hood latch “just because” it would make things better.

Love is being satisfied with payment in the form of a kiss.

Am I a lucky woman, or what?