joy : BouncebackCafe.com

Perfectly Crappy…

April 24, 2012 - Posted by Ellie

Photo credit: thart2009

Are you letting the crappy parts of life darken an otherwise perfectly crappy day?

If some area of your life sucks – do something else. Life is too short – and too long – to spend it being miserable. Life may indeed be short but it is for a fact wide. It is high time we started settling for more.

— Jill Conner Browne
author of Fat is the New 30: The Sweet Potato Queen’s Guide to Coping with (the crappy parts) of Life

Kudos to photographer, Diana F. who managed to see past the “crappiness” of her photo which is shown above; she boldly published it to Flicker^®, tagging it “a perfectly crappy photograph… taken with a perfectly crappy camera.” Sounds pretty negative doesn’t it. But please note: she didn’t delete this sweet but flawed photo of a mountain meadow scene. Instead she Continue reading » Perfectly Crappy…

It’s a Wonderful Dog’s Life!

March 6, 2012 - Posted by PattiAnn

Photo credit: Kat Martin

In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn’t merely try to train him to be semihuman. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog.

— Edward Hoagland

Every morning for the last nine years I’ve done the same thing – I go into the kitchen and let the dog out of her crate. She spends the night in her crate so that the cats don’t bother her and she doesn’t bother them.

This morning, I actually noticed something I do. I say, “Good morning. How ya doing?” And BAM, it hit me. She’s always doing Continue reading » It’s a Wonderful Dog’s Life!

Launch the Crayola Bomb!

December 23, 2011 - Posted by Ellie

Photo credit: michant2

Originally published on December 21, 2010.

May you enjoy all the colors of Christmas!

PattiAnn and I wish you the best of Christmases! Eat, pray, love… Yeah I know I stole that line but it seems to fit the season. So I say it again… as you gather with loved ones (or ones who need your loving presence) to eat, pray, love – may your celebration of Christmas paint your world with the colors of joy and good will.

Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon. A happiness weapon. A beauty bomb. And every time a crisis developed, we would Continue reading » Launch the Crayola Bomb!

It’s COLD Out There!

December 22, 2011 - Posted by Ellie

Photo credit: laszlo-photo

Originally published on December 8, 2010.

Is it too cold for you too?

Winter is hear and I’m COLD! Brrrhhh!

Oops, I’m so cold I have brain freeze – I meant “here” not “hear”.

Lately I’ve been longing for a quick jaunt to my favorite winter getaway – anywhere with beaches still warm and balmy… But “getaway” isn’t in the tea leaves for me this winter. I’m officially “home for the holidays” – so my next best and “doable” choice is a good, long soak in a HOT tub… Or a Continue reading » It’s COLD Out There!

Under the Tree – What Gifts Will You Find?

December 15, 2011 - Posted by Ellie

Photo credit: HikingArtist.com

Will there be the gift of play?

It might be easy to run away to a monastery, away from the commercialization, the hectic hustle, the demanding family responsibilities of Christmas-time. Then we would have a holy Christmas. But we would forget the lesson that we who are followers of Jesus do not run from the secular; rather we try to transform it. It is our mission to make holy the secular aspects of Christmas just as the early Christians baptized the Christmas tree. And we do this by being holy people — kind, patient, generous, loving, laughing people — no matter how maddening is the Christmas rush…

— Fr. Andrew Greeley
Woman’s Day 12-22-81

Despite my reluctance to join the ranks of those who have merchandized the spirit right out of Christmas I am raising my voice in praise of toys. Yes, TOYS! I am of the not-so-humble opinion that toys are a secular aspect of Christmas that we should run toward… and, in childlike fascination, we should revel in the creativity and imaginative play that toys engender.

Surely all God’s people like to play…

— John Muir

BTW – you Facebook-ers – have you helped assure that one more needy child will receive a very special Christmas gift because of your daily efforts? ABC7 reports 50,000 clicks to their Spark of Love Toy Drive but their goal is 70,000! Help them get there by December 23 – every day your click contributes $1 and helps buy one more playful toy for a needy child:

LIKE IT!

“Like” ABC7 on Facebook and a $1 donation goes to the Spark of Love Toy Drive, thanks to our partners! (From now to Dec. 23)

See – there are some good things you can do even if YOU are one of the harried and hurried.

Ok, back to toys and transformation… In keeping with today’s techno-savvy world, a very playful social media maven created a clever telling of the Nativity Story – click on the link and then HOLD ON TIGHT for a Digital telling of the Christmas story – brought to you via the techno-toys of today’s generation: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google, Wikipedia, Google Maps, GMail, Foursquare, Amazon… and by reader Xelliott123’s 11 year old, techno-savvy granddaughter! Continue reading » Under the Tree – What Gifts Will You Find?