The lesson of Winter

Something I've noticed...
Something that's happening is this thing...
It's called:
Winter.
No matter how much vitamin D I take
(And I take a whole lotta buncha)
It's still not SUNNY!
Why did I leave California again?
I forget.
Look at this little girl.

I left this!

I could have been sitting on the beach building sand castles
Letting the sand sift through my hands
Laying there forever, just doing nothing
With this little girl.
No wait.
By myself.
I forgot, I don't actually know that girl.
shoot.
Well anyhow, I could have been all by myself on the beach....
No wait.
I forgot. I wasn't going to live at the beach.
I was going to live in some non-castle passing out hot dogs.
Ohhhh yeah....

hmmm.
Thank goodness I came back!
Even if there isn't a lot of sun or sifty sand...
there's still beaches...

and I mean

I know people.

And also...

Come on Mindy
It's SEATTLE!
It's supposed to be like this in January.
And February...
And March
Probably a little of April...

I guess winter is supposed to be like that.
That way, I remember how much I love the sun.
If it was always there I would forget that I loved it so much.
I would take it for granted.
Like I do with everything in my life.
So thank you winter.
For opening my eyes to see that the sun does not belong to me..
It's a gift

Lessons about cupcakes, and love

On Wednesday
Jennie turned 23
It was a big day....
I mean, 23 is a big deal
Jennie is a woman now.
She's a grown up.
To celebrate her transformation into this journey of adulthood, we invited over Jennie's best friend...

Poppy
As you can see
She made Jennie cupcakes.

She even let Jennie help!

After spending some time with Poppy, I realized something...
Poppy has a lot of insight and wisdom on life.

Not only did she teach us how to make delicious cupcakes...

Poppy taught us how to love.

While Jennie and I would have been content to have a party with just the three of us, Poppy saw someone who was being left out, and took the initiative to include him in our adventures.

Mister Kawits!!!

She opened right up to him and made him part of the group.

She did everything she could to make him feel comfortable.

She even took care of his medical needs.

I often overlook those in need of friends.
Recently though, the tables have turned,
And I find myself being the one in need.
And I now see how important it is to be a Poppy.

But you know...
The best part of the whole thing was...

Poppy didn't even realize how wonderful and selfless her gift of friendship was.

She simply opened her heart, and loved.

Beach house blues

I'll tell you about a little place where I live.

No. Not Seattle.

I mean, I suppose physically I do reside in Seattle...

Mentally...

I live at my beach house.

I live in a quaint little town on the shores of an imaginary beach in some other world. The weather is always exactly what it should be, and everyone is happy and life is perfect as I have allowed no space in my imaginary life for troubles or worries.

The beach house is spacious and airy, with wood floors, french doors, and a cozy couches. Every morning I sit on my porch swing and sip hot coffee with this really great guy I married until our scruffy dog begs us to walk him along the beach. We spend the afternoon working on our treehouse, where we hope to sleep on hot summer nights. There's a gazebo with twinkle lights that extends out into the water where we dance on clear nights. And every Saturday we walk down the beach to our favorite cafe and.....
Well. You get the point.
Anywho
Today was especially gloomy, so I went away to my beach house.....
And I suddenly got really sad.
Because
I realized something...
It's not real.

Dang dreams
Keep on ruining reality.