Noury's Creative World…

Remember when I posted about going to do my good-for-me walk at my Community Center?  Well, that was not working for me.  I felt like the little rodent that goes around a circular cage and just goes nowhere.  It is always running in place.  That’s exactly how I felt.  So due to that excuse, I wasn’t walking too much.  But last week on Wednesday, I felt my legs getting kind of lazy, so I thought, OMG, the blood is not circulating the way it is supposed to do.  I need to do something for my many-happy-birthdays body.  Otherwise, if I don’t take the bull by the horns, my time to convert back to energy may be closer than I imagine.  I try not to imagine too much in that department.

So there I went for a walkabout in the outer spaces.  Beautiful weather today and twice last week.  Immediately felt my blood circulating at a faster pace than it had been doing, and I could feel the oxygen full of whatever stuff is in the air we breathe, going around my neurons, because I felt full of energy and vibrant.  I felt good that I was doing something for myself.  If I don’t do it, who is going to do it for my 62+ years body.  We need to be kind to ourselves and that include le garbage we send down our throats and our pipes.  Think twice before we put, trying to find a nice word to describe what I feel like saying without being crude.  We have to think twice before we put into our mouths any manure.  Bad manure.  Get the point?

These are some of the pleasant to look at things I found today during  my walkabout.  I stopped to talk to Charlie, the builder of my house, then stopped to take some pictures and pick up my mail, and had in general a good time on my wild outdoors.

Then, after having lunch, I proceeded to go upstairs to my intellectual corner, where this blog gives birth everyday to a wonder posting;  talking about getting off track.  After seating at my desk, I started the process to continue to re-learn the french I studied in high school.  I studied for months before I went to Paris, but after the trip I just stopped. 

I read in the newspaper yesterday, I think, that learning another language, researchers have found out,  slows down Alzheimer.  I manage in English, Spanish, and dabble in French.  So French it is right now.  My daughter gave me a very expensive software package for French before we went to Paris, and it is very good, but I found this one for $2.99 at a store together with one for Italian, so I am giving it a try today.  It is not too bad, kind of pushy when you need to pronounce back the words, but nothing I cannot manage.  So I am going to go back and forth between these two packages to keep from becoming forgetful.  Don’t need any help in that department.

I am doing what I think is best for me at this time in my life, and by sharing with all of you my mundane experiences, I hope that somehow you find something to ponder on, disagree about, or some enlightenment.  That is the whole purpose of my postings.  But most of all, I am doing this for myself.  It gives me something to look forward to during my day, and sharing good things makes me happy.  Leave it alone, it gives me the opportunity to practice my English.  Webster has become my best buddy.

Until the next experience,

Your Happy Contessa

“If we keep waiting for just the right time to begin something, we may never begin anything.  Let’s begin where we are right now, with what we have and what we are.”  Me,  from some books I have read along my journey.

 

I kind of live in a very special bubble.  I like it that way.  I didn’t used to be that way.  I used to have a need to be informed, know whatever was going on in the world.  This need to know.  Didn’t like to be in the dark. 

The picture above is moi on my first and most precious happy birthday, because I thrived on just giggling, smiling and plain being happy.  I was oblivious of what was going on in the world and it seems that I was very content being that way.  Look at my happy smile. 

But as I said before, change is good, remember?  After millions of changes in my thinking, physical arrangements, and lots of happy birthdays, I was caught by  surprise when today while talking to one of my friends in Florida, she asked me if I knew the latest.  I said, what about.  She went on to tell me.  I said, no I very seldom watch the news anymore, I just flip through the main networks and listen to the headlines, and if the world seems to be just as I left it the last time I checked, I move on to watch my recorded favorite soaps.  I have created this universe where my soaps are more fascinating, interesting and informative (full of eastern wisdom).  Also, they make me laugh.  I feel so much better when I laugh so much that tears cloud my sight.  That’s a good laugh.  It is the only exercise my internal organs get to do, because when I laugh, my insides move along.  Neat.

I told my friend about me and my ignorant universe, and then thought to self, hey, that’s not a bad title for a posting.   Here I am developing a whole essay about ignorance.  On the other hand, later on while having a conversation with one of my sisters, I told her that knowledge and information are empowering.  Have I been talking through both sides of my mouth?  Ignorance vs knowledge.  Serious matter.  But being the smart cookie that I am, I decided after these two very challenging  conversations that I was going to select the best of both.  I am going to play ignorant when it is to my advantage (sounds like something Ron would do) and play mighty knowledgeable when I needed that card.  Do they call that poker face?  What is a poker’s face anyways?  I think you need dark sunglasses for that, right.  I already have quite a supply in my house.  They protect you from showing the very big bags under your eyes.  Have quite a good number of them.

As far as I am not hurting anyone, and I don’t think I am, I am going to try to go back and analyze what kind of dynamic was going on in my mind when I was a little girl, and try to go back being that way.  I am reversing the aging process.  No professionals involved.  I am going to pretend I am just starting to dream big dreams, and to think I can conquer my oyster.  Sounds to me pretty exciting and gives me lots of hope to continue making my dreams come true.

How about you?  I’ll call it the “Pretend Game.”  Let me pretend I can accomplish anything I set out to do.  And do it.

I need to get going.

Your Happy Contessa

“I’ll think of it all tomorrow, at Tara.  After all , tomorrow is another day.”  Scarlett O’Hara – Gone with the Wind.

It is the journey…not the destination…Right.  I had all these plans for today (remember that most of my postings are written the afternoon or evening before).  Beautiful weather, good disposition, going to the Mall in Raleigh, hoping to find good opportunities to look good in new outfits paying very little, etc.  You get the picture.  Then after dealing with the little tick tocker, decided it was time to get ready and ready I got. 

Then suddenly…the mood totally changed.  Drive all the way to Raleigh?  Not so appealing, going to the outlet mall…what did I really need?  Nothing.  So there was I all ready to go, looking really cool, no socks for the first time in months, my jean jacket, hair looking at its best, … and out of necessity I ended up going to my favorite hangout.  The big-box-looking store that does not need to be named.  Just look at the picture.  If Martians were to land anywhere USA,  talk about confusion.  All of them look the same anywhere you go.  Is that a good or not so good thing.  Leave it to the experts in Marketing.  What we don’t know that they know.  We have become like little robots, we don’t even notice architectural or pleasant to look at buildings.  Because there are non-existent.  They feed us visually the same manure.  Thinking about it, boxes-looking buildings are in.  I guess it is a thing of being cost conscious for them and for us.  Our made-in-Asia goods can be had for a song and a half,  because realistically, that’s what we can afford.  I am for inexpensive stuff also.

So my all grandiose plans ended up at the big W.  Nothing to complain about, but I felt like I had a date, and then it was cancelled.  A good thing came out of my shopping experience.  I bought a magazine that is supposed to tell me how finally I am going to get what I want, how I want it and when I want it.  Magic.  This magazine was placed on top of about twenty others pending to be read, and a funny thing, all of them promise the same thing.

We are such a gullible society.  But as one of my favorite sayings goes, “it is what it is.”

With this startling renewed and improved wisdom, I will be in touch with y’all next Monday.

Hasta pronto,  and make sure you do have a very lovely and happy weekend.

Your Happy Contessa

Depressed…this is a word that has been recently annoying the heck out of me.  We use it so lightly.  When we don’t have a valid reason for anything…there it goes…”I am depressed.”

Ok.  Let me go first go ahead and list some things we SHOULD NOT DO  when we are feeling not so groovy…

• Get on the weight scale.  Depression is a heavy burden, around five to 10 pounds extra.
• Look at yourself on a full length mirror.  Depression will only increase.
• Go shopping for skinny jeans.  They definitely won’t fit.
• Eat donuts or greasy stuff.  They have a tendency to hold on to depression for longer periods of time.  Forget about ice cream.
• Call someone who usually has a little black cloud on top of their aura.  Their aura is most of the time gray to black.

Open the fridge, when you are still feeling full with stuff you just ate ten minutes ago.

Look at your face and hair roots with a magnifying 10x power mirror.  It only gets uglier.  Notice mine is a very small one.  The less I see, the better I feel.

• Look at your hands if you haven’t put on lotion.  Mine look as if I am 100 years old.
• Look too closely at your husband’s face.  You will notice you are starting to look like him.  Sorry guys.  This one I’ll leave for y’all to interpret.  Do not want to get in trouble.

All in all, do not feel bad about being blue, depressed, unmotivated or whatever other labels we can come up with.  Enjoy this condition while it lasts, and because we are feeling so like doing nothing, just go and open that fridge again, take out some cake, ice cream and have a lot of it.  After doing that, you will really feel a notch higher of depression, so the first level of depression would not feel that bad after all.  Hope you do have a sense of humor.

That was good.  I feel somewhat better now.  Move on to next episode of…depression or not.  I think being with “la depre” is part of living, especially when we enter the zone of wanting life to be more and more and more.  Most of the time I carry my “depre” with me wherever I go, and say to myself, “tough, it is what it is,” and carry on.

Cheers,

Your Happy Contessa

P.S.  I do not want to minimize the genuine condition of depression.  If that’s the case, do whatever you think is necessary to be able to function in your universe.

 P.S. #2 – Totally unrelated fact I just learned recently.  Let me share.  The Prime Meridian, or Longitude O (zero) is the north-south line from which every place on Earth is measured in terms of its distance west or east.  It is actually a brass line that runs through a courtyard at the Royal Observatory in London.  The Prime Meridian is the world’s timing lodestone, the source of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) from which all time zones are calculated.  This information I am quoting from an article in my local newspaper by Kristin Jackson of the Seattle Times.  Credits just in case.   I find it fascinating to learn things I wasn’t aware of before. 

 Come to think of it, learning is a good way to combat “la depre.”

Meet the ladies at my dental spa.  Really, you must be thinking I am nuts, but honestly when I go for my dental visit, that’s exactly how I feel.   I feel like having a spa experience.  They have such good karma there.  Always checking if you are doing ok and working around you so then you feel as if you are having a dental spa experience.  No, they haven’t paid me for this endorsement.  I am doing this because I remember that when I was a little girl (so so many moons ago) going to the dentist was like being taken to the executioner.  First, the dentist was a male, probably thinking that he was God’s gift to the world and he could do whatever he wanted in my mouth, and if you moved a nano-inch, or dared to complain that you were hurting, well, that was too bad.  You would end up with a broken tooth and running out of the door.  It happened to me once.  Before I met these ladies, my heart would skip beats and hands would get sweaty whenever I thought of going to the dentist.  That’s why I think these ladies are so awesome.  Oh yes, I forgot.  My ADD showing up today.  Their names are:  Left to right Kathy, Megan, Dr. Zombek, and Joan.  They are so gracious and listen to all my blabbing.  Have you noticed how much I like to blab.  But they are very considerate and just listen to me.  I introduced them to my blog.  Hope they like what they are hopefully reading.

They are very generous too.  They send you home with a bag of goodies, ie., toothbrush, dental floss, and toothpaste, so you don’t have any excuses the next time they see you,  for having bad teeth.  The goodies are given when you go for your maintenance check ups, and I guess for good behavior.  I am just kidding.  You walk out of there feeling very good about yourself and grateful you found this group of ladies to undertake such a difficult maintenance.  I owe it to them my now beautiful smile.  I am sure you are thinking that I am being so nice and expect something in return.  Nope.  They are nice to go to.  I am the one who feels sorry for them.  Having to deal with my teeth. 

Ok, enough of my mouth and its population already.

SURROUND YOURSELF WITH THINGS YOU LOVE…

Coming back from the spa, when I opened my house door, I noticed that I really like my living quarters.  It reminded me of a book I read that stated somehow, that if someone came to your home that didn’t know you at all, what they saw, it was going to be the impression they would have of you.  Our surroundings define us.  I remember when Jacqueline Kennedy was dying in a hospital bed, she asked to be taken back to her home.  She wanted to die surrounded by her books, her family, friends and her favorite things.  I love my home and feel very grateful and blessed to be able to have such a comforting and inspiring place. 

To my dear absent muses, if you don’t hurry up and come back North, you may find yourselves without a job.  What’s going to be?

Hope you enjoy my posting and go and get yourself a spa.  You’re worth it and so are your teeth.

Chao,

Your Happy Contessa

 P.S.  From my soap “India” – “Many things have happened in our lives, but what really matters is what is happening now.”  Raj (the extremely handsome Indian) to his gorgeous Indian wife Maya.  Both of them had relationships before their marriage and are building their own love story now.  This quote can be applied to different gamut in our own lives.

As far as I can remember, I have always been a control freak.    So I was surprised at my reaction this morning when I was taking my daily doses of my sunny sun, reading a book at the same time on being efficient and being busy doing the things you want to accomplish, because as this guy says, “if you keep on doing the things you always do, guess what, you are going to get the same results.”  I had been exposed to that concept earlier in my life, but this time when I looked up to the sky to ponder again on that one, my eyes caught a glance of the little tick tocker that I always use to keep me abreast of how much time is passing through my day.  The sound of the tick tock this time did not go unnoticed.  I thought “here I am reading a book on efficiency and other good-for-me stuff, and this little beast is trying to tell me to get off my derriere and get going with the things I need to do today.”  Believe or not, I got up, put everything back on its place, including the tocker and headed downstairs to get going.  Such a small apparatus was able to control such a big me.

I looked at my list of the things I wanted to accomplish for February, and at the top of the list was the forever famous crooked quilt.  As you can see, I have made some progress and there is a batting being placed.  I had to do more trimming today, on the quilt and the batting, and I have been thinking that if I keep this up, by the time the quilt is finished, probably it will be a quilted handkerchief.  Horror!  Cancel, cancel, cancel that thought!  Later, after the constant trimming, I proceeded to iron two sheets I had purchased to put on the back side.  As the process started…

I found out that the ladies behind the manufacturing of these sheets believe in the same principle that I do.  Crooked system rules!  I took a picture of the label to show where these sheets came from, but later decided that I don’t want to receive visits in the middle of the night by some Asian cartel.  So here I have a crooked quilt, crooked by now batting and crooked back sheets.  It is becoming an awesome unique crooked piece of heirloom unforgettable quilt.  What else is new in my life.  Maybe I am sort of crooked put together individual.  You would tell me if you thought I was not exactly conforming to the evenness of a good level.  Would you?

Even this posting needs some trimming already.  Unfortunately I haven’t figured out yet how to crop things at WordPress.

The piece of wisdom today I think is…Get off my backside and get moving in a different direction if things are going to get done and are going to change.  Remember, change is good.

Hope today is an uncrooked sort of day,  and Lord please give me the strength to deal with my tiny tick tocker.  Give me a break!   Oops!  Forgot, the dentist.  Have to go and open my mouth very wide today.

Sayonara!

Your Happy Contessa

I learned something new!!!  Yeah!!!  Did you noticed there is a title under the picture?  One more for the neurons to remember.  Oh yes, this is supposed to be about my hair (didn’t I write something that had to do with it already?).  One more won’t hurt, while the muses are away. 

I went for a driveabout to take my ever rebellious hair for a change of color, to see if its attitude would change also.  Keeping my fingers crossed.  Went to see Miss Misty at the shop…

Miss Misty is such a delightful young lady.  She patiently listened to my babbling during the whole process.  I love to converse with anyone around me.  Now I understand Ron.  He would talk to anyone, anywhere we went.   

 Sorry Misty, I had to crop myself out of the picture, bags under my eyes were growing and expanding as the seconds went by.  Signs of the process of having had too many happy birthdays.

Why do humans color our hair?  I’ll tell you at least why I do it.  If you would see how I look with gray hair, you would literally run away.  I look like the great-great grandmother I don’t have.  That’s why I particularly do it.  Not a pleasant sight on the mirror, even in the dark.  Most men look kind of attractive with gray hair, I look like the scary lady from some dark lagoon story.

As you have noticed, modesty is not a forte of mine.  I have to give compliments to self, because the spirits around me do not yet know how to express themselves in the slow human language.  Did you notice the sunglasses?  To cover the you know what.  I like the darker tone of hair color.  Maybe the hair will be more subdued.  Hope.  Hey Milagros, I am learning how to take pictures of myself.  Always learning.

Usually in my postings, there is some valuable message hidden, in this one I am still searching for that moment of enlightenment.  I guess during this sugary sweet day (afternoon of St. Valentine’s) that moment is not going to happen.

Sorry.   You will just have to put up today with an episode of my unruly,  now darker than ever hair.  It could have been worse.  I could have had returned from the shop without any hair at all, and nothing to post about.  Not too bad of a comeback.

Angels in my neighborhood…

The way it looked when my angels delivered it…

Their names are Miss Kim and her delightful and ever so pretty daughters Little Miss Hannah and Little Miss Loran.  Around 5 pm today (Valentine’s Day) I heard my door bell ring.  I opened the door, and guess what.  My real tangible Valentine’s for the day.  A red velvet cake with pink frosting.  Is life full of blessings and with lots of angels around us.  This lovely family has adopted me since Ron went back home.  They have always been there for me in significant days, such as today.  As of this moment of typing half of the cake is gone!  Very delicious, homemade too.  Thank you Lord for allowing some of your angels to populate our planet and make a difference in people’s (like me) lives.

With a moment of gratitude and a very full stomach, I must admit this Valentine’s Day has not been that bad at all.

Your Happy Contessa

P.S.  “Love is never absent or too far away from us all.”   Me

“Learn to love yourself first so you can feel what is to be loved, and then you can proceed to love those around you.  If you don’t know how it feels to be loved, how are you going to be able to feel what is to love others.”  Noury

A movie line comes to mind …”you complete me”…  You better be complete before entering into any kind of relationship.  If you expect this “right” person to complete you, and then this person leaves you to complete somebody else,  you are left hanging in there semi-complete.  Come on!

This Valentine’s is not going the way I envisioned it.  Sounds kind of strong.  Doesn’t it?  But this is the way I feel.  Even with friends, you have to be a content with yourself person before you even try to make friends.  So it is with family.  We don’t have the power to make anyone happy;  or anyone’s attitude towards us should have the power to ring the bell of happiness.  That is delegating too much power to others, or thinking that we are God.

Let me put on my sweet St. Valentine’s hat.  The above card was made by my daughter for me when she was around seven or eight.  I treasure this card.  When I had the bookstore, I placed it on the window for everyone to see during the whole month of February.  It was the effort behind making the card and thinking what to write on it that is so meaningful.  She even put some roses inside it.  Thank you my dearest Milagros.

I wish every one of you a happy day and go and get yourself something that brings a smile to your face (ie., 72% cocoa chocolate bar) and some fresh flowers if that makes your heart swell with joy.  I am getting my hair colored by a professional, because I hope that will make me happy.  Hummmm…..The after-the coloring episode at a later posting.

My warmest love goes to a precious little girl who was born this past Saturday at 27 weeks.  I pray that she and her parents feel so much love for this precious gift to have each other.  My best wishes for the three of them.

I will like to close this posting with a grateful heart for having each and all of you that somehow have touched my life. 

Namaste.

The Spirit in Me salutes and honors the Spirit in You.

Your Happy Contessa

I had decided when I started this blog, that I would not discuss politics, and some religion issues.  But today I will make an exception.  Due to the fact that our brothers and sisters in Egypt are going through a change of monumental magnitude, I will say a few words.

I was born and raised up to the age of twelve under a dictatorship.  I know what the people of Egypt have been going through throughout all these years.  I believe, 30 years.  That’s exactly how long the dictator in the Dominican Republic, Trujillo, lasted.  I even had a hard time typing his name.  Still I can feel some kind of intimidation saying his name.

When you are living under such a system of government, the freedom and liberties we all take for granted in the United States of America, do not exist.  Still to this day, when I am having a phone conversation with my mother, she refuses to discuss some issues because she always says, you don’t know who is listening.  The reason my father took all his family out of the country was mainly because he had five daughters.  Daughters meant that when one of the relatives or sons of the dictator wanted to have one woman, it didn’t matter if the female was young, single or married, she will have to go with them, and if there was a pregnancy involved, nothing could be said or done, otherwise all your family will just disappear in the middle of the night.  No one would dare to ask any questions.  One of my uncles, extremely bright young man, law school student, had the courage to speak against the “government” and he disappeared.  Complete silence.  A few years later he showed up on the streets very mentally disturbed.  “They” had given him electric shocks to damage his brain.  You just had to accept things or you and your family will die.

Anyone that has not been under this system of government will never, never have an idea what it is to live all the time afraid and scare.  But mostly unable to speak your mind even inside your home.  I remember vividly when my father used to turn on three radios in our home, so he could listen to one broadcast in spanish (the program was called “The Voice of America”) to keep updated with what was going on outside of the country.  One of our neighbors will come on broadcast days, and both of them used to get very close to the radio to listen, while my mother would be peeking out of the door to make sure no one was around. 

When finally in March of 1961 this dictator met his creator, even to tell us the news (we already were living in Puerto Rico), my father closed all the windows of our home and got us together in a bathroom, closed the door, and told us the news and to pretend that we were sad.  That’s how bad “they” had managed to intimidate everyone.  We were out of the country, but still very afraid.

That’s why today I am making an exception.  Let’s all be grateful here in our beloved country, The United States of America, where we the people have the power, even if you believe this or not.  I strongly believe in our system of government and I am grateful for it.

To all my sisters and brothers in Egypt, I send you my best wishes for a peaceful transition and I think the rest of the world joins me in saying to you, that we are all very proud of you and your accomplishment.

A toast to freedom and its different expressions.

Your Happy Contessa

P.S.  See you on Monday!

I remember how this my very favorite painting came into our lives.  I had just started a job with a Fortune 500 company in Northern Virginia.  I started the job at the end of March 1984, had gotten married in November 1983, were planning to close on a townhouse in Reston, Virginia in June 1984.  Why all this data?  Because now you will understand the relevance.  When Ron and I got married, I had two suitcases with my clothes, that’s it.  Ron had some patio furniture that we were using as our furniture inside our small apartment in Alexandria.  We were literally starting from scratch.

At my job, one day in April, 1984 I had to go inside the office of the president and CEO of this company, to deliver to him some papers from my boss, and this painting was on one of the walls of his office.  I have always liked the French Impressionists, and this painting because of the subject matter,  (a mami and a daughter), colors and style of the brush caught my eyes.  I commented what a beautiful painting that was.  He said “really, do you like it?”  I said yes, very much.  Then he said “it really belongs to my daughter, she sells paintings.”   I gulped.  Then he said “let me give her a call and let her know you are interested.”  What??  We went from liking the painting to being interested.  I said “ok”.” and left his office.  Now, mind you, here’s the president and CEO of this big company, I am a new employee trying to gather goodwill, have literally no money and he is calling his daughter to try to sell me a painting.

A few minutes later, he comes to my desk with the painting in his hands and tells me that the painting was $250, but not to worry, that I can pay for it later, and I can take it home today.  Wow!  I had made a purchase without consulting with my new husband, needing all the money we could save for the closing of the house, and here I was bringing home a painting, that I didn’t even know if he would like it.  Help!

With trembling hands I called Ron at his office, and after asking him how his day was going, I told him that “we” were the proud owners of a very beautiful painting.  There was a silence on the line, and I said “honey, did you hear me?”  He said, “repeat this thing again.”  I almost felt like crying because I didn’t know what to do.  I was hired as an administrative assistant to the chairman of the board, and had just “purchased” a painting from the daughter of the president and ceo.  How do you say that all was a misunderstanding.  What a position I was in just because I paid a compliment to a painting.  Poor Ron.  I totally understood his position.  One of the other secretaries told me that in May (the following month)  we got paid three times instead of two, so I could use that extra money to pay for the painting.  I transferred the information to Ron, even though that didn’t make it any better.

So we had this painting in our brand new living room, no furniture, but a beautiful painting.  I love this painting, because of the attributes already mentioned and because its history about how it came into our lives.  Probably it was painted by some starving artist, but who cares.  It has a lot of meaning.

Some things come kind of forced into our lives, and at the moment we don’t realized the significance of it all.  I wish sometimes we could see in advanced, like right now.   Why aren’t things happening the way I do want them to happen?  Only when I look in the rearview mirror in a few months, years from now, I will understand.

On another subject matter totally different,  Mr. Fix-it dishwasher has left the building.  Hopefully I won’t have to see him in the near future.  The dishwasher that I don’t use is flushing, washing and happy to be with its new motor.  The guy apologized for the big charge and the short amount of time it took to do the job, but we have a saying in spanish that goes like this in Anglo “once they hit you with the stick, don’t look back.”  Yeah, yeah, just go and be happy with your rightly earned money,  mister.  Leave me alone with my new motor, new tires, new windshield wipers, new transmission fluids,  new filters, etc., etc.

Life doesn’t get much better.  All new stuff around me and the same old me.

Ta ta,

Your Happy Contessa

P.S.  “I am like a chameleon, I become what the situation I am living at the moment requires me to be.”   Yvonne, from “India.”  Hey Yvonne, need an extra?