Advice from a Butterfly

I'm making a quilt to give as a gift, and the "theme" of the quilt is butterflies and ladybugs. After yesterday's post about Advice from a Ladybug, I decided to go looking for Advice from a Butterfly. Anyone care to guess what's going to get embroidered onto the quilt? You can view the t-shirt here.

Advice from a Butterfly

Let your true colors show.

Get out of your cocoon.

Take yourself lightly.

Look for the sweetness in life.

Take time to smell the flowers.

Catch a breeze.

We can't all me monarchs!

~*~*~ May you always remember to dance in the rain, and may you have plenty of ladybugs beside you! ~*~*~

Blessings,
Kat

Advice from a Ladybug

I love catalogs. I don't usually buy much from them, but I seem to get about half a dozen of them a week anyway. This week, I ran across a t-shirt with "Advice from a Ladybug" written on it. Of course, I was smitten and wanted to share it. You can view the t-shirt here.

Advice from a Ladybug

Spot new opportunities.

Spend time in your garden.

Be well rounded.

Enjoy the wonders of nature.

Don't let small things bug you.

Keep family close by.

Be simply beautiful.

~*~*~ May you always remember to dance in the rain, and may you have plenty of ladybugs beside you! ~*~*~

Blessings,
Kat

Happy Tears

If anyone knows how to explain the word "humbled" to a 5-year-old and terms she can understand, please post a comment here 'cause I'd love to know!

This morning was fairly typical. I was doing my daily "chicken with her head cut off" routine around 7am -- simultaneously making lunch for Rachel and myself, trying to convince her to eat her breakfast sometime today, helping her pick out hair doo-dads and reading emails on my Blackberry, trying not to get THAT covered in strawberry jelly like my shirt already was. My husband and younger daughter had already left (20 minutes late!) for the day and I had 17 minutes to get Rachel and myself out, too. What I read on my daily Feedblitz email stopped me in my tracks.

My wonderful friend Julie (aka, The Surrendered Scribe) blogged yesterday about Character. You'll never guess who she chose to talk about. I'm humbled and grateful and very surprised.

I've cried before in front of my kids, there's no shame in that, I don't think. But this morning, I found myself trying to define "happy tears" and "humbled" to Rachel on the drive to school. I don't have the right words to describe those and I don't have the right words to describe how Julie's post made my day (week? month? year?). So Julie, THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart.

Has someone made your day today? Did you tell them how much it meant to you? Or better yet, did you make someone else's day? If not, maybe now is a good time. I can tell you first hand how amazing it feels when someone sends a compliment your way.

~*~*~ May you always remember to dance in the rain, and may you have plenty of ladybugs beside you! ~*~*~

Blessings,
Kat

Angels for Ana

Once in a while, people come into your life that just "become" your family. I don't mean the "she married my brother" kind of family... I mean the "love and support you no matter what" kind. Ana is one of those people.

Almost 10 months ago, Ana received very severe 2nd and 3rd degree burns on over 20% of her body (legs and feet) when a large pot of boiling water tipped over next to her. Her healing has been a long, challenging struggle and still continues today. She was uninsured at the time of the accident and though she did receive a temporary insurance (from the county) to help out, that is expired and she is uninsured once again.

I have watched her take one step forward and two steps back for longer than any person should have to. And speaking of steps, she's actually only started taking steps (on her own) very recently. Ten months in bandages, sitting in a wheelchair, because of hot water. Can you imagine?

Anyway, enough was enough and I needed, needed, to find a way to help her get better. Faster. Now.

I needed to find a way to show her that there are people out there who will love and support and pray for her, even in her darkest, bleakest, most painful moments.

I needed to do something. To make a difference. To offer hope. Here's what I came up with:

www.AngelsForAna.com

I hope you'll take a few minutes to visit and considering becoming an Angel for Ana.

~*~*~ May you always remember to dance in the rain, and may you have plenty of ladybugs beside you! ~*~*~

Blessings,
Kat

Hero on the Hudson

All the people from the New York office that were supposed to be on my 4pm conference call yesterday were late. Once they finally started trickling on to the call, I heard the news about the US Airways plane that landed in the Hudson River. They could see the rescue efforts from their office building.

My heart started racing, my stomach was in knots. I've been on literally hundreds of flights, a good majority of them into or out of LaGuardia. I've been on dozens of flights with my kids and all I could think about in that moment was some mom with her young children, hoping and praying and trying to be strong in order to save her babies.

I went right to my favorite online news source. The picture there showed an almost submerged plane with no people around it. The panic increased. I was relieved when I surfed to another news site, which had pictures of the plane much higher in the water, with people standing on the wings, surrounded by rescue personnel. Obviously, this picture was taken earlier than the first.

It wasn't long before the headline announced that all passengers and crew were believed to have gotten out, no serious injuries reported. That's when the tears began to flow. Tears of fear, tears of celebration, tears of "what if."

Last night when I got home, I couldn't stop hugging and kissing and holding my two beautiful little girls. I'm not sure why it sometimes takes something so significant to inspire those moments, but I'm thankful not only for the happy ending of that airplane and all aboard, but for the reminder that life can change in the blink of an eye, and I need to cherish what I have as often as I can.

It may only be the third week of the year, but already I've chosen my Hero of the Year. His name is Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III.

~*~*~ May you always remember to dance in the rain, and may you have plenty of ladybugs beside you! ~*~*~

Blessings,
Kat

The Road Not Taken

One of my favorite poems has always been "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. Not sure why, I've just loved it since the first time I had to read it in grade school.

Lately, I've been wondering which path I'm on... the one more or less traveled. And is it the one I should be on? Would taking the other road really make all the difference? Or just lead me to a place I can't get back from? All good questions, no good answers yet. While I try to figure them out, at least I have a beautiful poem to keep my company.

The Road Not Taken

by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

~*~*~ May you always remember to dance in the rain, and may you have plenty of ladybugs beside you! ~*~*~

Blessings,
Kat

Mr. B's Wallet

My family was in town (South Florida) from Upstate New York for 2 weeks over the holidays. Taking advantage of the beautiful weather, my dad embarked on many of what he calls "Grand Adventures." These are basically exploration missions where he takes long walks around my development and the surrounding area to see what he can see. We have wildlife and plants that don't live in Upstate New York and being that he's a 6th grade science teacher, the little lizards and coconuts we're so used to are always fun for him.

After one Grand Adventure he came back with some coconuts, which he cracked open to find very foul smelling coconut milk. One of them had a gecko on it, which hitched a ride all the way from the community pool back to our house. Other times he found loose change or saw a cool bird. Other times, it was just a nice walk.

The day before he left, though, he returned with his biggest find of the trip, a wallet... complete with driver's license, bank debit card and cash. He found it next to the newspaper vending machines about a mile down the road.

I thought it would be easy to track down the owner since the license was inside. It took all of 30 seconds to find the phone number on yellowbook.com. Of course, the number was no longer in service. A call to directory assistance yielded no match for that name in my county or the 3 surrounding counties. I searched through his wallet to see if I could find another phone number, with no luck.

There was a fitness club membership card in the wallet, so I called the one closest to my house (the card didn't say which one he went to and it was a national chain), explained what happened and asked if they could contact the man (Mr. B) and give him my phone number. They told me I could drop the wallet off to them and they'd give it to him if he came in to that particular facility inquiring about it. No, thank you.

There was a bank debit card in there, too, so I called the local branch. They wouldn't relay a message but told me if I brought in the wallet, they'd call Mr. B while I was there, so I'd know they really contacted him. Off Dad and I went to the bank, wallet in hand, only to find out that even though someone was answering phones, the branch didn't really open for another 20 minutes. Oh well, it was a nice day to wait.

The first phone number the bank rep tried got through to Mr. B, who knew right where he'd lost the wallet and when. It hadn't been gone long, and he was quite relieved to get the call that it had been found. He asked to speak to me so he could thank us in person and asked what he could do to repay us. Nothing, I told him, we were happy to help him get it back. He went on and on about how thankful he was, how he needs his license for his job and couldn't work without it. What a great way for us all to start the new year, with Mr. B knowing there are still honest people in the world, and with Dad and I knowing we did a good thing.

We left the wallet at the bank, Mr. B was going to come pick it up. We didn't leave our name or phone number. Didn't need to... we knew it was in good hands and we didn't want to give Mr. B the impression that he needed to thank us again. In hindsight, I wish I had left him a little note about Paying it Forward when he could, or tucked myself away in the corner of the bank lobby to see the reaction on his face when he realized everything in his wallet was still right where he had left it... license, bank card, $49 cash in the main part and even the $100 bill he had folded up and tucked in between a collection of other cards and papers.

Though I'm sure we made his day brighter, returning that wallet to him probably meant just as much to us. It was nice to do a nice thing, an honest thing, for no other reason than it was the right thing to do. If you ever have the opportunity to do a nice thing anonymously, take it. It'll make your heart smile.

~*~*~ May you always remember to dance in the rain, and may you have plenty of ladybugs beside you! ~*~*~

Blessings,
Kat