Merry Christmas!

"Stillness Flows" (c) 2005 AK Philippas

Before I start my travels to join my family in celebration of Christmas, wanted to wish everyone who stops by a joyful holiday season and many blessings in the New Year!

Happy Holidays

Having trouble uploading photos again, so I'll simply write an update & add them later: It feels wonderful to be home. I stayed late at the office yesterday to finish preparing 8 expense reports to submit before the end-of-year deadline. That was the last task on my To Do list and when the final PDF file was emailed to our Finance office, a wonderful feeling of exhiliration came over me. I'm on vacation! YES. It's been several years since the luxury of paid time-off was available to me and I'm very grateful for it.

So what did I do first? Came home, prepared a quick dinner of portabello mushroom ravioli with brussel sprouts sauted in butter with a bit of chopped ham & red onions, sprinkled with fresh Parmesan--a very tasty combinaton and then wrote all my Christmas cards. At11pm, drove to the post office to mail them, so they'd go out early morning. Unfortunately, chose the nearer PO and they don't pick up until noon. Oh well, at least their on their way.

This morning I slept in until 8:30am. Felt great. My 7am physical therapy appointment got canceled yesterday by the therapist so I didn't have to rush off to the Health Center, though I did want to keep the treatment momentum going. After breakfast decided to finish painting the mirror frame which has been on the kitchen table for 2 weeks now (with a first coat of sheer gold acrylic). I added a sponged copper and then scrub-brushed more old-gold color. Looks so much better than the harsh black which didn't look well on the wall in the living room. After a few hours of drying, I'll add a cover coat of clear acrylic to finish the project.

While the brush was wet, looked around and remembered the small, square, black wood frame in the studio, which I thought was also too harsh for the little photo inside it, so I got that down and brushed some gold acrylic over the black. Might change the picture inside, but the frame definitely feels better.

So, today is a day of preparations for Christmas. Gifts are already wrapped and waiting in their travel bag. Main tasks are house cleaning and a few items to buy for my sisters' and Mom's Christmas day stockings (a new tradition for us). When I stayed over last year after our Christmas Eve celebration, my sister hung up one of her socks for me, next to their official stockings. It looked "modest in size" but turned out to be quite stretchable and filled out nicely after Santa stopped by during the night. Lots of fun!

Wishing you a wonderful day!

Soaring Together

When driving to work in the morning, my route goes through a lovely park which borders the Long Island Sound. Often there is enough time to park by the walkway and look out onto the water for a short meditation before starting a day at the office. Today there was a bonus, even though there was only time to drive slowly through and observe the silvery water with its soft gray/pink horizon, 2 joggers embracing the cold and a few, scattered geese heading toward the islands. I was humming various holiday songs to myself, feeling very grateful & glad to have seen the geese, because watching birds flying always inspires me. As I turned toward the last bend in the road, I heard a honk and looked up to the left, gasping at the sight of about 50 Canadian geese flying in a perfect V formation! Where were they a minute ago?! My heart soared out to greet them & their powerful, harmonic movement across the sky. BEAUTIFUL! I cheered, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!". As the holiday preparations gather intensity & stress begins to mount, I wish you quiet pauses to notice the beauty that still surrounds us.

One

A snowflake is one of the most fragile creations, but look what they can do when they stick together!
-- Unknown


That came in my 'As A Man Thinketh' daily email. Another reminder that it's what you do with what you have that really matters.

Trust Courage

Whatever path you take in life

There will be joy amidst the strife.

Rememer always "Love is All"

And in your heart hear angels call:

You're held and watched

With Loving Care,

So trust your heart,

Get out there -- dare!

To live the fullest you know how

And let your mind

Rest in the Now.

- Alexandra K Philippas

(c) 2006