Day 3341: My son’s birthday

My son, Aaron, turns 24 today! He is in Europe with his girlfriend right now and we had this interaction earlier:

People who have been regular readers of this blog for years know that my son is creative, hilarious, smart, and honest. They also know that he gets along really well with his step-father Michael.

I have a tradition of including in my blog on Aaron’s birthday this YouTube video he made twelve years ago:

When Aaron reads my blog (which he’s told me he will after I’m gone from this earth), I imagine him rolling his eyes when he sees this. He made this sooooo long ago, and he’s done so many wonderful things since then. I’m a sucker for a tradition, I guess, and this video still cracks me up.

Here’s what I tweeted last night, on the eve of my only child’s birthday:

Aaron has given me many memorable words of wisdom and I can only hope I’ve done the same for him.

I remember this exchange when I was having a bad time:

Me: Is the universe conspiring against me?

Aaron: No.

I can’t tell you how often I’ve thought of this when life has been difficult. Aaron is a man of few words but all of them count.

Happy birthday to my son, happy banana bread day to all, and thanks for being here, now.

Day 3320: Groundhog Day 2022

On 2/2/22, I have 22K followers on Twitter and I’m celebrating my 22 + 47th birthday!

My plan for Groundhog Day 2022 is to take the day off from work; spend it with my husband, my son, and our two cats; play our annual game of Sorry; eat flourless chocolate cake with whipped cream; read; take a walk; listen to music; and practice this song on the ukulele:

Two days after Groundhog Day, I’ll be performing that song at a remote Open Mic.

I was able to catch, live, the Groundhog’s prediction for 2022:

Of course, commercials almost ruin that, but the prediction is there (and no surprise).

Can you see evidence of Groundhog Day in my other images for today?

Because of the rare heart condition I was born with, I’ve never been a girl or woman in sports. However, if you can’t play a sport, be a sport, which I guess I am.

How are you going to celebrate Groundhog Day 2022?

I’m going to express my gratitude to all those who have been there for me during Groundhog Day(s), including YOU!

Day 3000: Three Thousand Days of Blogging!

To celebrate my 3000th day of blogging, I am going to post a few typical photos.

A seascape near where I live.

A delicious and nutritious meal prepared by my husband Michael.

A cat!

The Daily Bitch Calendar for this momentous and precious day.

Here are links to some blog posts from those 3000 days:

Day 6: The Ascending Coil

Day 38: Reasons why I should move to Charleston, SC

Day 120: A walk down Boylston Street on April 29, 2013

Day 277: Very Unique

Day 377: Free-floating, re-sticking anxiety (The __ Metaphor)

Day 581: Ann’s Beauty Tips

Day 759: We go on

Day 783: Best supporting Oscars

Day 822: April Fools

Day 1000: A Thousand

Day 1358: In the clouds

Day 1367: What does “INR” stand for?

Day 1379: My boyfriend, Michael

Day 1505: The Year of the _______

Day 1818: Children

Day 2000: Two thousand days of blogging

Day 2292: A Year of No Worry

Day 2423: The Greatest Theatrical Event Ever

Day 2553: Why we love weddings

Day 2608: Fun with Phobias, Part 5

Day 2684: Oscar

Here‘s “I Love You 3000” with Stephanie Poetri & Jackson Wang:

No matter what numbered day it is, it is Day 1 of the rest of your life, so here‘s “On Day One” by Pat Metheny:

Three thousand thanks to all who have helped me blog over three thousand days, including YOU!

Day 2976: What do you see?

What do you see, here and now?

Do you see how what you see is affected by your

• mood,
• formative experiences,
• assumptions,
• habits,
• perspective,
• fears,
• hopes, and
• awareness about what other people might see?

What do you see in today’s images?

What do you see in that photo of last night’s dinner? What you DON’T see are the little pin-bones Michael could not remove from the sablefish before cooking it.

What do you see in this old video created by my son Aaron, who turns 23 today?

What will I see in the comments section, below? Perhaps comments about what you see.

What do you see at the end of every blog post from me? Gratitude.

Day 2955: Groundhog Day 2021

Well, faithful blog readers, today is my 68th birthday and the best gift for me is that we’re all still here.

I am celebrating this incredible feat of mutual survival, here and now, by sharing my latest images.

The Daily Bitch Calendar does it again, because later today Michael and I (and maybe Mr. Harley) will be dancing.

I just searched “Happy birthday Groundhog Day” and found this from a few years back in Punxsutawney:

Thanks to all who help me celebrate this day and every day, including YOU.

Day 2908: Something to celebrate

It’s difficult to find something to celebrate these days. Also, people are used to celebrating in person with loved ones, which spreads the coronavirus and is nothing to celebrate.

So I guess we have to practice finding something to celebrate alone.

Let’s try this: Can you find something to celebrate in today’s images?

Besides celebrating a new USA administration, a new way to see something familiar, and not having to commute to work in a blizzard, I am also celebrating this: Michael will be making potato latkes on the last night of Chanukah and serving them with sour cream AND applesauce.

I am also celebrating Lines for Ladies (featuring Kristin Korb) performing “Something to Celebrate.”

Do you have something to celebrate? Celebrate that in a comment, so we can all celebrate it together with you (without making COVID more widespread).

Now it’s time for me to celebrate all the humans and cats who’ve helped me find something to celebrate on this blog every day for almost eight years, including YOU!

Day 2588: Needs

Yesterday, in a Coping and Healing therapy group, which people attend as they need, we talked about needs.

When somebody in the group said they needed kindness, I needed to ask, “Who else in this room needs kindness?”  Everybody needed to raise their hand, including me.

If you were in that group and I  asked you, “What do you need, here and now?” what would you need to answer?

Kindness?

Appreciation?

I don’t know what I need right now, so I need to think about it?

Something else?

My needs (in case you need to know) include blogging and sharing photos.

 

Now I need to

• take my little yellow car in for the 40,000 mile check up it needs,
• meet my friend Barbara, who I’ve needed for over 60 years,
• continue celebrating my birthday weekend, and
• share this song about needs and wants:

If you want or need to comment, please do so below.

As always, I need to express my gratitude for all who help me create this daily blog, including YOU.

 

Day 2561: Fabulous people

Even though I’ve met so many fabulous people in my life (and please see every one of my previous blog posts for fabulous proof of this), I’ve never written a post with the title “Fabulous people” before.

Why that fabulous title on this fabulous day?

Last night, I met a fabulous person at a fabulous The Great Gatsby/Roaring Twenties-themed birthday party planned by my fabulous niece Laura for her fabulous daughter, Victoria. I told that fabulous person  that my blog featured fabulous people and that “Fabulous people” would probably be the name of today’s post.

Here’s that fabulous person, pictured with fabulous host Laura and then with her  fabulous husband:

She told me that she thought that “The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally” was a fabulous name for a blog. It would be so fabulous if she reads this!

Another fabulous person in today’s blog is Widad, who is my fabulous son Aaron’s fabulous girlfriend and who is also a fabulous artist.

Also pictured above is my long-time, fabulous friend Ada. She and her fabulous husband Johnny brought over a fabulous wedding cake for me and my fabulous husband Michael yesterday.

Johnny, who did not want his picture taken, kept telling me that he thought my hair looked fabulous.

I’ve got more fabulous fotos of fabulous people from yesterday. Are you ready, my fabulous readers?

My fabulous niece Laura made the fabulous food in the foto directly above.  And doesn’t fabulous birthday girl Victoria ….

… look FABULOUS?!!

Last night, I kept asking people where they got their fabulous outfits and I kept hearing this fabulous answer: “Amazon!”

I think it’s fabulous that one fabulous person was dressed as the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock in The Great Gatsby .

I also think that fabulous blogger (and fabulous reader of this blog) Christopher Waldrop will especially appreciate that fabulous Great Gatsby reference, which brings me to my last fabulous new foto for today:

Fabulous Christopher has a fabulous story in that fabulous book, which I think is soooo fabulous (and so fabulously deserved).

Is there any fabulous moral for today’s fabulous story?  Maybe just this: Spend as much time with fabulous people as you can in your fabulous life, because life is short (no matter how fabulously long it seems).

Here‘s “Young and Beautiful” by the fabulous Lana Del Rey, from the 2013 movie The Great Gatsby:

I can’t say whether that film is fabulous or not, because I haven’t seen it.

Fabulous thanks to all who help me create all my “fabulous people” posts, including YOU!

Day 2556: New Year’s Eve

For a long time, my New Year’s Eve tradition has been to compile  a list of my personal ten best and worst of the year.

This year’s best includes

• my son Aaron (top of the list for the 22nd year in a row!),
• my 12/27 wedding to Michael,
• my friends,
• my therapy groups (which include sharing and mindfulness exercises),
• blogging,
• the cats, and
• Michael’s cooking.

This year’s worst includes

• the death of close friends,
• how divided my country is and
• all the time I spent on worry and dread.

Do you see any evidence of  my best and worst in these new end-of-year photos?

 

 

 

I also put musician Jacob Collier on my personal best list for 2019 and it’s the best that I’ll be seeing him perform live in 2020!

It’s best to start planning for the best of 2020 and not to worry about a thing.

What’s your personal best and worst of 2019?

The best way for me to end this post is to express gratitude to all  who have supported me through another year of daily blogging, including YOU!

Happy New Year!

Love,

Ann

Day 2553: Why we love weddings

Why we love weddings is the topic of the online article “Science Reveals the Age-Old Secret of Why We Love Weddings So Much” which includes these quotes:

“When there’s a bit of uncertainty in the world,” Norton told Mic, “looking for a little bit of order is something humans like to do. It could be by doing a private ritual. It could be by doing a social ritual. Rituals make people feel like they have a handle on things. We know from lots and lots of research that feeling in control is a huge predictor of well-being. People who feel they don’t have some control over outcomes in their lives tend to suffer.”

…

It’s easy to think that rituals like weddings are pointless and overdone. But that big cake, sparkling white dress or bouquet toss are helping us move through life in a positive and healthy way. There’s no need to apologize for embracing it.

People seemed to love our wedding yesterday, even though there was no big cake or sparkling white dress. However, there WAS a bouquet toss.

If you love any of those wedding pictures, you can click on them to enlarge them.

Immediately after the wedding in the City Clerk’s office, Michael loved pretending he was the City Clerk  …

… and his brother Martin loved pretending he was exerting some influence in city politics.

I loved that the City Clerk, Nicole Crispo …

… loved those goofy photos of Michael and Martin.

I love everyone who was at our wedding, including my friend Carol …

… who took many more lovely photos of our wedding, which I love.  If you love weddings, I’ll include those in a future post (if I can figure out how to get them here).

I love that Aaron’s long-time friend Clark …

… caught the lovely bouquet.

I love that my son Aaron looked so handsome in his tuxedo …

and I love that Michael and Aaron love each other so much.

Do you love weddings enough to watch yesterday’s entire ceremony, taped by Michael’s loving and lovely sister-in-law, Tammy?

I love that I was thinking about this wedding scene from Best Friends with Burt Reynolds, Goldie Hawn, and Richard Libertini when Michael and I  said, “I thee endow.”

I would love any comments about weddings or love, below.

Thanks to all the lovely people who witnessed our wedding, including YOU!