My reasons, seasons, and lifetimes

I read a great poem once that forever holds a special place in my heart. Today, as I chatted with a friend via Facebook, I knew the person on the other side of the chat window was one of my lifetime friends. No matter how much time passes between phone calls, IMs, or actual face-to-face visits, we act as though we saw each other yesterday. I honestly can't remember the last time I gave him a hug. He lives on the other side of the country, and his visits to the east coast are usually spent with his family. I'm not even sure if he's ever seen my 4.5 year-old son except through pictures.

But none of that truly matters at the very core of our relationship. Because at the end of the day, I know that when we're 75 years old, teasing each other at our 55th high school reunion, that our bind will be as strong then as it was when we were 12. And that either one of us get the other to laugh so hard we might pee just by saying "Boarding school?" in just the right tone of voice.

And I can't forget my dear friend, Virtual Linda. We were college roommates, and if you told me then that we would be the friends we are today, I might have laughed in denial. But the universe has a way of bringing people into my life exactly when I need them. And VirtualLinda has never missed a curtain call. And i am eternally grateful for the role she gets to play in life.

The older I get, the more I appreciate the reason, season, and lifetime souls that cross my path. I may wish a reason would serve for a season. But when I step back and examine the whole picture, I know that we all play the part that's been designed perfectly for us.

Paint your roof white

I'm all for changing habits and behaviors in the interest of protecting Mother Earth. I teach my kids to reduce, reuse, and recycle regularly. In fact, most days when we walk to and from school, we collect trash and recyclables along the way to properly dispose of them when we get home.

Now, according to this article the US is recommending we paint flat roofs white, or another non-heat absorbing color.

It could work.

But I wonder if the practicality of actually implementing will ultimately be harder and more costly than not making a change.

I mean, really, growing corn to use ethanol as a substitute for petroleum for fuel has not saved the planet anything, but has caused much more damage to the earth in the long run.

Let's really think through these ideas before we make global changes. We don't need another "this will save the planet" idea to end up harder on our Mother Earth.

Irony in the Baltimore Sun

Is it just me, or is it a little ironic that on the same page the Baltimore Sun features an article about author Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto which lists several rules for eating healthy, is an article about and a huge picture of and article about a deep-fried sandwich that has been deemed MD's ultimate burger?

Shop, save, share, earn: all at one website

The internet is filled with oodles of sites listing online coupon codes and "deals of the day" announcements. But few combine all of that with a focus on building a community of web-savvy shoppers willing to share the best deals around.

Enter Buxr.com: a site that not only provides the coupon codes for thousands of on-line merchants, but allows its free-to-join community of members to provide details of other sales not provided by Buxr.com. Sales could be on-line or in-store, and once details of the sale are provided on the site, you are entered to win one of five cash prizes in the daily deal contest. To win your share of the cash in the daily contest, you have to collect the most votes from your fellow deal finders. Winners in the daily deal contests are awarded points that get tallied monthly to determine monthly winners, who split a $700 kitty.

It's an intriguing idea: provide as many coupon codes as you can, but encourage others to share what they know by motivating them with money.

Who isn't motivated by money?

I like the discussion board feature where you can ask fellow Buxr-ites to get feedback or suggestions on various products. As far as I know, the best reason to buy or avoid a certain product is the feedback of customers who've used it before me.

Through Buxr.com, you really can save while you shop and earn while you share.

Life is a Roller Coaster Ride...

I heard this song the other day on my drive home from... somewhere. It's been a while since I could call a song my life theme. And this one is perfect. Here's the link to the video.

And here are the lyrics. They speak volumes to me.

Ride lyrics
Songwriters: Davey, Michael; Dorff, Andrew; Robbins, Chris;

Yeah

You wake up from your dreamin' and you don't want to face the day
You can't find a reason to think your world will ever change
You can hide beneath the covers
Or you can run outside, head up high and carry on

Life is a roller coaster ride
Time turns the wheel and love collides
Faith is believing you can close your eyes and touch the sky
To shine while you have the chance to shine
Laugh even when you want to cry
Hold on tight to what you feel inside and ride

It brings you up slowly then shoots you like a rocket towards the ground
It twists you and it shakes you before it turns you upside down
You can't see what's around the corner
And you can't look back, so just live it up and feel the rush

Life is a roller coaster ride
Time turns the wheel and love collides
Faith is believing you can close your eyes and touch the sky
So shine while you have the chance to shine
Laugh even when you want to cry
Hold on tight to what you feel inside and ride

Ride, ride, yeah

Oh yeah, shine while you have the chance to shine
Laugh even when you want to cry
Hold on tight to what you feel inside and ride

Ride, ride, yeah, yeah

Surprising the kids with a trip to the circus

I'm so jazzed that my husband and I scored tickets to this year's Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Baily Circus. We hadn't originally planned to go, since this year has already taken us to Disney World and on two ski trips.

But then this deal landed in our laps, and we're going.

The kids don't know yet. Since we love to surprise our little ones (and because the "how much longer" game is really un-fun for us) we probably won't tell them until we park at 1st Mariner Arena next week for the big event.

Want details on how you can score a great deal on tickets yourself? Check out this post over on Minivan Monologue.

Words from my brother of another mother

Let me tell you about my friend Bwana. We went to high school together and good ol' Laurel High. We were there when busing kids from one part of the PG County to another in achieve racial balance was all the rage. We were in what was called the "University High School" program (UHS). Supposedly, UHS was supposed to better prepare us all for college. Whether that's true or not, I don't know. What I do know, is that because of UHS I got to meet lots of really cool kids that I wouldn't have otherwise had exposure to, and for that, I'm grateful.

I'm not sure if Bwana and I were in much of the same classes. I want to say we had 10th grade English with Mrs. Lietch, but I'm just not sure. And I think he played football... for some reason I can picture him in a Spartan football uniform running out to the field. I was a cheerleader for a couple of years, so you'd think I'd remember the guys on the team. Can I just blame my lack of certainty on my ADD brain that even then had a hard time paying attention to all sorts of things?

What I do remember of him is that he was tall and mysterious. He was one of the cool boys who would make eye contact and nod his head in acknowledgment of the people he knew as he walked down the hall. He was quiet most of the time, probably because he was always thinking about something, processing whatever was going on around him. He stuck with his crowd and I stuck with mine (although, I don't think I actually had a crowd, but that's a completely different subject for another post).

Through the power of Facebook, I've come across many of the people who shared my years at Laurel. Some are now my friends. Bwana is one of the people via FB's People You May Know tool. My motivation for friending him stems from my reunion planning involvement. The easier it is to contact classmates, the easier it is to plan a reunion. But curiosity got the better of me one day and I started checking out his profile. Turns out he's a fantastic photographer. I started IMing him about his business, and we've had some fun conversations since.

Last week, he wrote a note to some of his lady friends. I loved what he had to say, and wanted to share it with the masses. He's a neat person. I didn't really know him in high school. But, I'm glad I get another chance to know him now. Here is what he had to say, and something I think is worth sharing to a larger audience.

There are very few women who understand the minds of men. I purposely say men and not a man because even fewer of you have ever met a MAN but that's another topic. When you have never experienced the real thing, it is almost impossible to detect a fake. Having never owned a real coach bag, is it wise to purchase one solely based on a claim from the seller guaranteeing its authenticity? If I faced that situation, I imagine that I would seek the wisdom of someone who had knowledge of what an authentic Coach bag looked like.

One of my sisters purchased a coach bag unsure of its authenticity and was then disappointed when its lack of quality construction and materials led to a short life span and subsequent embarrassment. Are you lost? I am merely using the impostor handbag as a substitute for the boys among us that are preying on woman desperately seeking MEN to LOVE but really have no idea what either word truly looks or feels like.

Ladies, you do have resources. Please use them. I have been a big and little brother to many of you and nothing saddens me more than seeing you hurt and mislead when it could have been avoided.

Specific Clarification:
Your virtue has value!
it is irreplaceable for the mentally, physically, spiritually and socially healthy women.

It is coveted by men and boys.

It is priceless to your husband.

The word booty has been used throughout history to describe treasure!!
Think about it.....

I love you all!

Your Brother,
Bwana