OHHH Life

....is bigger.

Bigger than you

And you are not me.

..But that was just a dream

Try, cry, why try?

That was just a dream

Just a dream, just a dream

Dream

When the day is long,

and the night, the night is yours alone,

When you're sure you've had enough of this life, well hang on.

Don't let yourself go, 'cause everybody cries and everybody hurts sometimes

Broadcast me a joyful noise unto the times, Lord,

Count your blessings.

The papers wouldn't lie!

I sigh, not one more.

It's been a bad day.
Please don't take a picture.
It's been a bad day.
Please.

I've got R.E.M. running through my head this morning for some reason so I looked them up and smashed some songs together. I never really realized how sad and depressing a lot of their songs are. [Thoughtful pause] Still cool though~very cool indeed. And apparently they knew what was really going on-a bunch of sad stuff you just can't do much about.

Well, it's the end of the world (and R.E.M.) as we know it. But I feel fine. (fine, fine)

Okay, I can't stop. Since my brain IS 80% song lyrics, I guess this is to be expected.

I just can't get out of my head how rough times have gotten for most of my loved ones lately. Where are all the lighthearted sitcom circumstances? All the shiny happy people laughing? It's hard to find it amid the job loss, money lacking, sickness and death we've been seeing around here lately. If there's comedy, it tends to be dark or short lived.

Hold on.

This is not the kind of change we were hoping for! (Oops, that was campaign slogan banter, sorry.)

Back to the jumble in my head. I'm starting to wonder if the Lord is allowing more people to pass away so fewer are here to worry as even harder times come. Or is the crowd only thinning lately from my perspective? My aging self.

This weekend as we watched a dear cousin suffer a fatal heart attack during our yearly Red Rock Canyon reunion, I found myself thinking "And now, of course, THIS is happening." I didn't feel surprise-just more sadness. More grief for those suffering.

Why does praying not seem like quite enough?

If I thought latch hooking a rug would help in these times of grief, by gum I'd be turning out tacky mats by the dozen! I just don't seem to know what to do with myself to aid in this pain. I guess I'll just have to keep praying and work on being a blessing to others rather than a burden(says the dramatic high maintenance diabetic.)

Consider this, consider this:

Everyone around, love them, love them.

Where tomorrow shines, gold and silver shine.

Throw your love around.

Happy, happy.

And on that note:

This one goes out to the one(s) I love.

(My apologies to R.E.M. for what just happened.)

XOXOX

The nose knows what time it is

Don't let me startle you showing up blogside unannounced. I just thought I'd jot down an observance I made while going over some photos from a recent family trip.

I took a few of the usual "See, look, we've left the house!" pics of the various things we saw and experienced while on our getaway to Big Cedar.(BEAUTIFUL place, by the way.)

But now I'll deviate to the less predictable but palpably deeper reason I'm here.

Upon checking the pic my mom took of the hubby and myself, I happened to notice my nose had taken a stronger role on my face than it normally does. In the first photo I chalked it up to indiscriminate posing but then it went on to repeat its flared looks in each shot to follow. I'm not sure what this means. I don't even think it seems bigger than usual in that way that people say your nose keeps growing as you age. I just found it to be more nostril forward.

(I've got flare)

I wonder why my face is morphing before my eyes- under my eyes. I didn't feel I was the least bit stressed or strained, fatter or thinner than I was a smooth-nostriled couple months ago. It was simply as if I now found the world to be just a tiny bit stinkier than before. And you know what? Maybe. I. do.

Now, what about you? Is your nose behaving? Have you glanced in the mirror recently and seen a droopy eyed sharp shnozzed guy or gal gazing back? Perhaps there are two of you now?

Maybe this is just what forty-two looks like for me without the use of daily moisturizer. I rather hoped I'd age like a fine cheese since I eat so much of it, but apparently I'm taking a more of a Pete's Dragon approach to the decades ahead. Hey, at least I've got some tufted pink hair in my future! Now, off to practice my harmless quizzical look.

Smell you later,

Shans

**For more titillating topics like this, join me next time when I ponder visibly whether or not my newly bending pinky finger keeps bending.