I miss my dog

Koda is my baby. She is the most wonderful creature in the whole world. She can be obnoxious and defiant, but at the end of the day, I can't wait to snuggle her in my arms. Today, I can't do that. She's in Michigan, and I'm 2500+ miles away in California.

I know she's "just a dog"... but she's my baby. So she's not just a dog.

This is a whiny, stream of consciousness nonsense post, but I don't care. My baby is far away, and it hit me like a truck today.

I need to post coherently soon. I have so much to say that is not whine related... like how kickass my husband is for standing up for me to his mother. That's a big deal that deserves a big post. How about how I feel about the SATC movie? I have much to say about that. Also... I have a lot of musings that have been dancing in my head about how much I've grown up in the last 3 years, and how happy I am that I attend the school I attend. So much to say... tomorrow...

NKOTB returns

This is pure, unadulterated self-indulgence.

When I was 8 years old, I love the New Kids on the Block. When they were gone, I thought it was possibly too soon. That was when I was still very very young.

I'm 25 now. They're back.

It's been almost 20 years. Have I been pining? No.

Have I been waiting? No.

Did I find myself wanting to get up and do "The Right Stuff" Dance with them?

Oh, you betcha.

Doc's Wisdom

I know I usually restrict my movie related posting to Disney wonders, but Tag made me watch "Tombstone" with him yesterday, and it is full of many little gems. I'll stick to a short one because I should be writing a paper about the environment and law, or studying for Jurisprudence... but I can almost certainly proclaim that there is nothing I could learn from ENV law or Jurisprudence that I'll value half as much as a one-liner from Doc Holliday:

"There is no normal life, Wyatt. There's just life. Now get on with it."

I love moments... little gifts of grace. This line was a moment. Sometimes, when I have time to think about my life as a forest and not as a tree here and a tree there, I wonder if I'm doing it right. I sometimes say silly things like,"I got married so young," or "Shouldn't I have had a baby by now?" or "We might not have time to travel 'later', so we should definitely go to Europe asap." Life shouldn't be about whether or not you're doing it right, or whether or not it's normal. Doc was right. There is no normal life. However, his wisdom was in the imperative statement of the phrase: "Now get on with it."

So, I'm going to try to get on with it better. Sure, I may feel like I'm not living when I spend the afternoon snuggled with Koda on the couch watching re-runs of "Charmed" for the fifth or sixth time. Maybe there is always something else I "should" be doing. Or maybe this is my life, and it doesn't matter if I spend an hour of it here or there not being productive. Maybe it's a part of how I get on with it.

there's far too much to take in here

Any Disneyphile will immediately know the title line from "Circle of Life." It came to mind this morning as I am suffering from a major case of wannabe explorer/traveler/pioneer/gypsy. Maybe it's because I've been spending more time on Google Maps than anywhere else in the websphere lately, or maybe it's because I'm trying to avoid the monster that is the looming exam period. Whatever the reason, I'm overwhelmed by all the world I'll never see, and I'm at once exhilarated by the possibility to take in as much as I can.
My baby brother maintains a list of places he's been and places he wants to see. It's a pretty extensive list for a 19 year old, but he's been fortunate enough to be the baby and have the opportunity to travel with mom & dad on their dime for a little longer than the rest of us. I, too, have been bitten by the travel bug, although my vacation plans usually are consumed by the opportunity to go back to Disneyland or WDW. I need to either make a ton of money and live very simply so that a chunk of my earnings finance my budding family's adventures (Disney & non-Disney related), or I need to kick the Disney habit and give some other places a shot. Let's face it, folks... it's going to have to be the former or the only German village I'll ever see will be the one in EPCOT.
When my folks took the fam to the Mediterranean for mom's 50th, they invited Grams & Buddy to come with, and my grandpa rejected the invite. My grandpa traveled the world as U.S. Air Force fella, and we all thought he would jump at the chance to travel back as a civilian. We were all pretty surprised when he indignantly rejected the invite, and his reason was that he hasn't even been to Hearst Castle or many other CALIFORNIA landmarks, so he wouldn't go anywhere else until he explored more of the sunshine state.
So, that's my mission this summer. I'm coming home to Cali for 3 weeks, and 10 days without my Tag... so I'm picking up my grandpa and we're going exploring in our own backyard (well, technically Hearst Castle is about a 5 hour drive, but whatevs). I'm anxious to explore some other lesser known tourist attractions of the most beautiful and terradiverse state in the U.S. Sure, we'll likely be paying $5/gallon for gas, but no one said adventures were cheap!!
After Buddy and I tackle the backwoods of Cali, I think Tom and I will have to carry the mission to Michigan. So far, we've done pretty well exploring the states around Michigan, but we're missing out on our own Midwest backyard.
I hope my "path unwinding" allows me to take in as much as I'm able... I hope I find much of what's too be found. Endless possibilities aren't impossible, nor are they meant to be daunting. I believe God blessed humans with a pioneering spirit as a gift, and it's not one I intend to squander.

Meme?

Ok, Ms. Southerner. I give. I don't know 5 bloggers though... so the buck might stop here for now.

Here is the 5 Things Meme

First, the rules (and oddly, only two of them...why not five?):
1. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
2. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves a comment letting them know they've been tagged and to ask them to play along and to read your blog.

what i was doing ten years ago...
1 soccer... constantly
2 homework... when I wasn't playing soccer
3 playing second mom to my bros when mom went back to work
4 planning my sweet sixteen party
5 getting up at 5am like it was fun and easy to run 3 miles every day

five things on my to-do list today...
1 hit the post office to mail my nephew his 1st Communion card
2 talk to an Ave hopeful from CA
3 love on Koda
4 make Tag dinner
5 blog... twice, evidently

five snacks i enjoy...
1 red pepper strips
2 apples with peanut butter
3 a ridiculously large glass of unsweetened, lemony tea
4 grilled cheese sandwiches
5 cookie dough

five things i would do if i was a billionaire...

1 pay off everyone in my family and close circle of friends' debts
2 set up a killer charity... not one for actual killers... that sounds really horrible. Set up a great charity for people who don't kill people but need money
3 have lots of babies and adopt more
4 buy a home big enough for my family but not so big that people realize we have money
5 take my and Tag's immediate families on (separate!) vacations around the world

five of my bad habits....
1 watching TNT drama in the daytime as often as I can and way more often than I should
2 eating stuff that's bad for me because it's cheap
3 being online during class (doing that now)
4 procrastination
5 apologizing... for EVERYTHING

five places i have lived....
1 Fairfield, CA (born and raised)
2 Davis, CA (college and a year after... am I that old?)
3 Lake Buena Vista, FL (DISNEYWORLD.. yep, I sure did live there for 5 months!!)
4 Ann Arbor, MI (law school... I don't want to talk about it)
5 Oakley, CA (dad's house... parental visitation counts, yeah?)

five jobs i've had....
1 Disney cast member
2 bus driver
3 sears jewelry sales associate
4 waitress
5 Assistant store manager of a starbucks

Special Features

Ok, now that I've been linked to, I officially have to start keeping this thing up. I'm going to have to ask my girl how to do nifty things like linking -- otherwise this is doomed to be a boring in mechanics blog that is left to wow through writing alone. That's too tall an order, methinks.

I suffered from the worst bout of bronchitis to grace my lungs last week, and as a result, my horizons have been broadened. Law students shouldn't watch movies during the semester. That being said, I watched about 15 movies last week. While my grades are certain to suffer, I experienced a new enlightenment -- DVD bonus features.

Koda (my rockstar of a dog) and I spent a glorious week of reliving some Disney classics. Now, I can admit that this was not the first time I glanced at the Special Features tab of my DVDs' menus--many a time I've heard the creators' of "FRIENDS" in their audio commentary. However, this was the first time I really gave Disney special features a second look. Here's a gem or three we discovered:

(1) The Jungle Book -- audio commentary by Mowgli himself!! All grown up, of course. To hear his perspective of working with the Disney masters of the 50s and 60s made this Disneyphile's** heart glow.

(2) Mulan -- Mushu delights in this bonus feature where he takes the viewers on an easter egg hunt of historical tidbits about China, from fireworks to paper to the Huns to Mulan herself. Educational and entertaining.

(3) Bambi -- This one's a biggie for any Disneyphiles out there... There's a feature that walks the viewer through the film as Walt and his team of animation imagineers artfully dream up and deliver Bambi's forest, family, and friends. It's an insight into how a wonderful story is adapted into a masterpiece screenplay, as well as how Walt personally lead his dreamers to achieve new heights in storytelling. Hearing Walt's voice command and guide his team as the viewer sees glimpses of original sketches evolve into the final product is like taking a time machine and taking a seat at the dreammaker's table.


**Disneyphile--a term Disney uses in its newsletters to communicate to adults who never stop reveling in Disney magic and wonder! LOVE It.

Although I decidedly learned NOTHING about the law while I was sick, I definitely learned that if I slow down and re-read, re-watch or delve further into a medium (just like rereading my favorite book for the hundredth time and then reading the "about the author" section) the gifts I receive can make my soul dance --

...and I'm grateful!

Renew

It's a lovely, snow-laden Michigan Spring morning. I'm snuggling with my darling puppy, and we're watching the story building of "Bambi" as dictated by Walt Disney himself. Koda is contentedly curled up on her daddy's pillow, only occasionally standing to spin and yawn and curl up again. I have a stack of books next to me that will be delved into in a few minutes, just as soon as I get some journal therapy on this page.

Spring is a wonderful time to begin a journal. Tomorrow is Easter, and for all intents and purposes is another opportunity to resolve to do and be better in this time of renewal. Spring yields hope and optimism, even when it's covered by a thick layer of snow. One cannot help but to feel the necessity of being cleansed, refreshed, and ready to begin on a new foot. The winter blues that were so real and heavy only weeks ago are as hard to recall with any certainty as are the details of a wispy dream from nights past. It seems that those feelings that were once so burdensome and scarring have been gently whisked away with the spring breeze.

Even though I realize that there is an immense amount of pressure upon me for the end of the semester, I more sense it than feel it. That's a remarkably empowering realization. When one merely senses pressure rather than feeling its weight, one can handle it without struggling beneath it.

Pressure is always upon us, especially as we grow older and take on more responsibility and more charges. Every year, the grand design choreographs a renewal, and we are annually blessed with the opportunity to take part in the empowering inspiration of the spring. I choose today to rebuild myself as nature does in the Spring. I choose to handle pressure as the breeze carries the winter burdens away. I choose to assume the force of the wind and begin... again.