Jammin' in My Jammies

I was listening to Katie Melua, as I celebrated the completion of the 5th month of 365-self~portraits, WordCount Blogathon 2011, and going on strong with 365 days of blogging, also in it's 5th month! 

Sometimes, the only way to overcome the feeling of being closed in, feeling helpless, desperate and hopeless - as if the world, your world is coming to it's end is to simply take life ONE minute, ONE hour, ONE day at a time.

..

Birthday, Blogathon & Being Beautifully 40

What a beautiful Sunday filled with simple pleasures!

Today, Omi B, the girl's adopted grandmother here in the Netherlands, and my soul mom celebrated her birthday.  It was also a family get together since the Yuletide season, not everyone was present, still it was very heartwarming to see everyone who was there.  Specially, L, P's daughter, who called this week to say she would like to come for the celebration.  This needs special mention because teen-ager's usually drift away from such gathering because of their own busy social schedule, and we understand it perfectly.  So it was very endearing to know she made specific plans to join us and call ahead about it.

While P drove the girls to Omi B (we would not have all fitted in the car), on the way he picked up our present for her: digital picture frame (Tomorrow, I will edit here tomorrow, what it is exactly, how Omi and the family reacted, our own impression etc. because I am too sleepy to write about it details now!).  Then he came back for me, and stored in our memory card the pictures we put together for the digital picture frame.

I used the time that P was on the go to finish the first post in a blog I created yesterday, entitled Being Beautifully 40.

Initially, the idea is to record thoughts in a 9 month period before the big 4-0 milestone. Plans developed to expand this idea to include: writing articles based on improving life stylishly and affordably; it will also be about healthy living through simplifying life and balancing priorities. In short living life to the fullest! Life does not simply begin at 40, you savour it more intensely.

Also, as I mentioned in a previous post, there is another blog born from this mother blog, entitled The Lightness of Being on the Bike.  I thought it is only appropriate to give this particular passion it's own home.

 

There were many things that I learned this month, which gave me confidence to put into action the ideas of creating those two mentioned blogs.  Most of it was through reading Michelle V. Rafter, who is the blogger behind WordCount, and spearheads the WordCount Blogathon I participated for the first time this year.

As I put my feet up with my Sunday's best shoes, I bask at the warm feeling of experiencing the rewards of living life simply, one day at a time, and the simple pleasure of being able to record them in words, which used to elude me.

 

Sending my love to all faithful readers, followers, generous commentors from ICLW, and WC Blogathoners!

Planning Ahead

2011 WordCount Blogathon Blogroll

Here is the official list of bloggers participating in the 2011 WordCount Blogathon.
A
Ahil Amar - Ahil Amar - Thoughts from Ahil Amar
Alana Mautone - Ramblin’ With AM, Living in upstate New York
Alexandra Grabbe - Chezsven Blog, What it is like to be a green innkeeper and live on Cape Cod year round
Alison Law - Lawthenticity, Personal and professional stories and observations
Alison Preston - LadyMoxie, Relationships with an added pinch of food, music, and bacon in the dish
Amanda Steinhaus - Ms. Panda’s Blog, Writing because I love to write!
Ana Gonzalez - Our New Casa, Purchasing and remodeling a home; Live, Love, Laugh, Travel, Tales of a traveling family; Life’s the Beach, Helping Miami visitors make the most of their stay
Ana Gonzalez Ribelro - Ace the Journey, Making decisions about life and money
Annabelle Foster – Year of Shopping Detox, One girl, too much debt, and a game plan
Andrea Parker - Autism Fundraising Guide, Advice from the trenches
Angela - Baby Hellfire has a Blog, Peace and Tofu Chicken Grease!
Annie Daniel – Aniel Daniel, Random occurrences and my ever-changing interests as college student
Anjuli - Unbirthday Escapades, Blog of memories past and present
Anne Wainscott-Sargent – The Writing Well, Mastering the power of prose in business and in life
Annette Gendler - Memoir, Writing & Life, Writing, teaching and publishing memoir, and creative nonfiction
Anyes - Far Away in the Sunshine, A woman pursuing her creative dreams
Arial - Contrapunto, Happenings in Panama
Ashley Lyon - You know I love You More, Book reviews and fandom excitement!
B
Barb Freda - Babette Feasts, I write about cooking and I stew about writing
Barb G - Never Another Diet, Finding Enough, the Quest for a Diet-Free Life
Barbara McDowell Whitt – A 1960s High School Diary, Nightly reflections by a young Iowan
Bebe Bahnsen - Bebe’s Blog, Politics, religion, life in the South and general musings
Becky Leung - Tummy Time, Fixing digestive issues with a healthy lifestyle and good nutrition and exercise
Bill Lascher – Lascher @ Large, Travels of a freelance journalist raised by a pack of lawyers
Billie Noakes - Billie Noakes, General musings (usually light-hearted)
Bree Hays - PenSlave, My move to Guam
C
Cara Law – Cake Me Home, Because life tastes better with cake
Carrie - Random Girl Geek, Reviews of things that catch my eye
Catherine Canaceli - Periwinkle Confessions, Finding God in Everything
Christina Leach – Chris Scraps, A blog about my life and crafts
Christianne - Cyanne99, Inner Thoughts and Ramblings
Christine Calvin - Inspired Life, Current events, women’s issues, randomness, sometimes silliness
Christine Evans - 52 Crafts in 52 Weeks, Exploring a new craft every week for a year
Claudine M. Jalajas - Belle Designs, Jewelry-making resources
Connie - bhulbhulaiyan, Travel and memories
Conrad Zero - Conrad Zero, Tips, tricks and resources for authors of all genres
Craig Motlong - Pacific Writing Company, Writing for writers
Cynthia Rosi - Simply Hug Yourself – Enjoy your whole self in Columbus, Ohio
D
Daisy - Compost Happens, Family, garden, crunchy green eco-writer
Dawndela Webb - Insomniac Imaginings, Musings and rambles of a stay-at-home mother of three; Erotic Images, Erotic fiction
David Allen - Amazing iPad, All things iPad
Dayle Fraschilla - I Shall Be a Toad, Passions, both big and small
Deb Wolf - Counting My Blessings, Gratitude at God’s amazing grace
Denae Darcy - Denae D’Arcy – TV journalist, freelance writer, social media enthusiast living near the Great Smoky Mountains
Don Gonzalez - Gonzo’s Gab, Pontificating on Catholicism, technology, politics, cigars, writing, homerdogs and teaching
Dylan Fogle - DiscordianZen – Dark and it’s different
E F
Elizabeth Humphrey - The Write Elizabeth, Writing. creativity. play. life.
Elizabeth - Amnesia Lane, Journey through the shows, books and characters that inspired my love of writing
Estelle Sobel Erasmus - Musings On Motherhood, Midlife and Other Forms of Madness, A Running Commentary On My Transformative Journey Through Motherhood
Esther Rumfelt - Health and Wellness Coaching, Helping you live well, be healthy and enjoy life
Frances Barker - Felting Needle, City and Guilds felt-making student, textiles and Suffolk living
G
Georgia Fogle - Got P.M.A.? – Positive Mental Attitude. Get Some.
Gerri Curless - 50 Is the New 40 – Wife, mother, grandmother trying blogging, crafting and sharing what I’ve learned with others
Ginnie - Nua Feileacan, 30-something woman on a journey of discovery
Glenneth - Let’s Talk and Walk, Getting healthy through walking, eating better, and having fun
Gloria Marie - GloriaMarie.com, Personal blog, mostly about photography.
H
Haley Shapley - Girl About the World, Travel writer’s tales of wanderlust
Harry Marks - Curious Rat, Chewing on the tech industry’s wires
Heather - Discover Washington State, Life in the Evergreen State
Heather Brooks - Serve One Another in Love, An online ministry for Christians of all ages
Heather Williams - This Blog Will Give You Cancer, Talking about nothing
Holly Green - WithoutAdo, Bible and secular articles
Hope - The Life of a Daydreaming Mommy, Mommy blogger
J
Jackie Dishner - Bike with Jackie, Turn obstacles into opportunities and other self-development lessons
Jamie – Barmaid Sookie, Tales of a barmaid
Jan Culpepper - Life and Times of a Preacher Mom, Juggling life, ministry, parenting, a relationship and whatever else life throws my way
Jan Udlock – Imperfect Mom, Professional writer, parenting expert, mom of five
Jane Boursaw - Reel Life with Jane, Home to Jane Boursaw’s syndicated family movie and TV reviews
Janis Price - Whispers & Roars, Life of a writer when your full-time job is not writing
Jenn - Kepkanation, Politics and pop culture
Jenni Derryberry Mann - Mamahhh, Navigating the labyrinth of motherhood one breath at a time
Jennie Phipps - Freelance Success Blog, Freelance Success outtakes
Jennifer Walker - My Morning Chocolate, Delicious inspiration for people who wake up thinking about food
Jennifer Willis - Jennifer Willis, Journalist, writer and editor.
Jennifer Woodard - Wordzopolis, DIY marketing and public relations
Jenny Beikes - Out of My Head, Musings on life events
Jessica Braun - Pink Rose, Blooming in Generation Y, I write about me, my life, my VISTA experience
Joan Lambert Bailey - Popcorn Homestead, Gardening and living in Tokyo
Joanna - My Daily Mooosings, Simplifying life and culture in the Netherlands
Joanne Mason - About English Idioms, What they mean, how we use them, where they came from
John P. Jones - Writing at Gunpoint, When writing is not a comfortable experience.
Jon Bell - On Mount Hood, All things Mount Hood
Judy Downing - Customer Approach, Connect with customers to grow your business
Julia B. - Aunty JuJu’s Perspective, Thoughts on subjects that come up in daily life
Julia Munroe Martin - WordsXO – Words, writing, and life!
Julie – The Write Place to Be, Being a freelance writer
Julie Sturgeon - KnowledgeWebb, Don’t Sweat the Tech, The quirky, fun, interesting and very useful in social media technology.
Julie Tolbert - Culturally Speaking, Through technology the world is getting smaller; Today’s Tea, About tea in 2011
K
Karen Bannan - Natural as Possible Mom, Because being natural isn’t always possible – or easy!
Kari Wolfe - Imperfect Clarity, Literature and the writing and editing life
Kate Megill - Teaching what is Good – Teaching younger women according to the Titus 2 model
Kate Reilly - Polka Dot Suitcase, Family fun through creative living
Kathy Murray - That China Girl, A reluctant teen expat’s life in Beijing
Katie Jett Walls - One/Week, Blogging, finding my voice, and identifying my passions
Katy Manck - Books YA Love, Recommending standout young adult books, especially from first-time authors and small publishers
Kelly Morga - My Little Silly Life, The silly things, situations and people that make my life special
Khadijah M. Britton - BetterBio, Journalism that explores the intimate connection between life and science
Kris Bordessa – Attainable Sustainable, Reviving the lost art of self-sufficiency, one small change at a time
Kristi Bernard - Kristi Bernard, Information for new writers
L
Lara - Apple Days, Army Nights, Dispatches from a go-gettin’ Manhattanite Army wife, MiliTrends, lifestyle, health and wellness issues among military service members and their families
Laura Ackerman - A Learning Adventure, Learning from all I do, especially my mistakes
Laura - In my little town, The place where I write
Laura Newman - Patient POV, Patient stories that could make health care more responsive
Leah Ingram - Suddenly Frugal, Living more on less money.
Lesh Karan – The Mindful Foodie, Being mindful of your body, the planet and animals through real food
Leslie Knight - A Body That Won’t Break, A 20-something living and loving in Oklahoma.
Leslieanne Barclay - Kooky Boutique, Making, doing, home and family
Li Vasquez-Noone - Simply Nooner, My life as a writer, runner and gluten-free zealot
Linda - Thought Medicine, Exploring the power of mind from science to spirituality
Linda Bliley - Small Business Bandits, Embezzlers in small businesses exposed
Lindsay Oberst - Word Zeal, For writers who love words and want to be happy
Lisa - Pennywise Chick, Saving money, one penny at a time!
Lisa Carter - Intralingo, Literary translation, writing, reading and the creative freelance life
Lisa Elliott – The Haute Host, Effortless entertaining
Lisa Jaffe Hubbell - Eat, Read and Be Harried, My life, mostly in books, sometimes in food, and hopefully mostly funny
Lisa Tabachnick Hotta - Kids & Mental Health, Peeling back the layers of children’s mental health and development
Liz Sheffield - Motherlogue – Weaving words to explore motherhood and life
M
Maggie Fanning – The Happy Bibliophile
Marcy Orendorff - Marcy Orendorff, Clarity in Writing, Clarity in Life
Marge – Inside & Out, Engaging people on and off the web
Maria Gabriela Munoz - A Whisper Here and There, Books, movies, theatre, art and languages
Marissa Dacey - Child, You’re a Beauty, Music, art and pop culture
Mark Connolly - The Global Exclaimer, This newspaper is pseudo-serious except when it’s plain silly
Mark Stratton – Aggaspletch, An abiding sense of ‘Meh’
Marsha Maung - Yoga Mama, Live your dreams
Marvin Kirkland – Impermanent Insanity Writes, Writing to alleviate mental illness
Mary June - MJ Writing Who I am, Defining the different parts of me
Megan - Nothing More Than Apathy, Nonsensical ramblings of my mundane life
Megan Krause - Present Tense, All about Megan Krause
Melissa - The Peppermint Palate, Melissa’s life
Melissa Chavez - Marvelously Mundane, Media, tech and vegan influences and projects
Melissa Lindberg - Get Creative with the Good Idea Girl , Parenting, party planning and holiday celebrations
Melissa Oakes – Gardening-4-Life, Adventures in sustainable and organic gardening, and raising chickens, rabbits and bees
Mena Grazie - Preternatural Post, Vampires, shape-shifters, witches, and other paranormals
Michele Kelly - Kelly + LoDESTRO Blog, Communication and marketing ideas for innovative companies
Michelle Rafter - Word Count: Freelancing in the digital age, News, tips and advice for self-employed writers
Michelle Thompson - Create Minded, Creativity is a Lifestyle
Mikaela D’Eigh - La Belle Dame de Merci, Reflections on art in all its mediums
Miriam Rainwater –  The Twenty-Six Letter Imagination, Books for children ages 2-12
N
Nathalie Hourihan - Panic Station, The psychology of personal finance
Nicky LaMarco - Writing Pays, For beginning freelance writers interested in getting paid for their work
Nicole Ayers - The MadLab Post, Commentary on mainstream and independent films, interviews with actors and filmmakers
Nicole Taylor – Taylor and Clark, Talking about home improvement
Nikki - Today in Tees and Chucks, 20-something trying to be invisibly visible in a t-shirt, old pair of jeans and well-worn in Converse sneakers
Nisha – Le Monde, Everywhere I go I find a poet has been there before me
O-P
Ophelia Blom - Girl Stripped Bare, Laying my soul bare in all of its mud pies and fireflies
Pavithra Kodmad - Pavithra Kodmad’s Pages, I love to write and I love to write about what I read
Peggy Crippen - PCS Italy, Information for military personnel moving to Vicenza, Italy
Peter McCambridge - 9 Months with the Chicago Manual of Style, One man’s quest to read the Chicago Manual of Style from cover to cover in nine months
Peter Weissenstein - Join Me for a Cuppa, A virtual kitchen table where I post my views
Pierce Presley - The Pierce Presley, Me being me
PJ - Wild Optimism in Oviedo, Stay-at-home mom’s thoughts
R
Rachel Vidoni - East Coast Musings, The musings of a mediocre mom
Rafael - Neither Here nor There, A writer’s blog about her work
Rashida – Books, Bass and Beauty, Urban/Street Lit author, blogger and Hip Hop head
Rebecca Cola - Library Diva’s Guide to Volunteering, Managing library volunteers
Regina Sewell - Peering into Fog; Turn Roadblocks into Building Blocks; Possum Crossing: Culinary Adventures – I am rotating between my three blogs
Robyn - Good Blogs, My life as a wife and mother
Ron S. Doyle - BlogSaladBlog – Life with Ron
Ros Demaree - Small Town Writer, Commentary about everyday, small-town living
Rose Medlock - I Was Supposed to Be Samantha, Writing a first book
Ruth Cooke - Building an Awesome Life, Improving life for everyone
Ruth Terry – RE | group, Reinventing your professional self

S
Sabrina - Taking Off My Coat, Removing fat from your body, life and spirit
Sarah E. Ludwig - Parenting by Trial and Error, The learning curve in raising kids
Sarah Wyland - Wears Inappropriate Shoes, My post-college life, with a big girl job and fabulous heels.
Sawyer Franck - Some Can Whistle, Even whistling in the dark is better than Prozac
Shana Sweeney - Benefits Babble, Demystifying corporate benefits
Sheila Callahan – Sheila Callahan, Who knows?
Sondra Hubbard - Cat Trees and Pet Supplies, The information your pet deserves
Sookie Stackhouse - News Bite, Where you can get your daily bite; Sookie Stackhouse’s Internal Ramblings, a creative outlet
Stacey Boyd - Today in Words, Life These Days, and Wish I Wasn’t Fat, Life with Stacey
Stephanie Suesan Smith - Information Central:  Gardening Questions Answered
Sue Dickman - A Life Divided, Food, reading and trips to India!
Summer Whitford - Delicious Prose, Write. Edu-tain. Excite.
Susan - Chain the Wolf, My first years as a freelance writer and learning how to run a small business
Susan Gay Jeffries - Quite Simply, Living everyday life with simplicity, beauty and grace
Susannah Fisher - Cricklewood Farm, Living the dream of living on a farm
T
Tabitha - Twenty-Something, 20-something new mom on food, friends, family and finances
Tai Goodwin – Practical, Profitable Social Media, Content marketing advice
Tammy Ellingson - Mama Can Dance, A mama who still grooves to her own beat
Tara Phillips - Two Hands and a Roadmap, Brevity is the soul of w
Tatyanna M Wilkinson - Blue Eyed Monkey Eeeks! , 60% opinion, 20% wisdom
and lots of ramblings…
Taylor Smith - Adamant Anvil, Creative prose and poetry
Tere Scott - Teachable Scotts Tots Homeschool and Elephant Ears Learning,  Homeschooling in the Midwest
Tess C. Taylor - A Journey of Words, Smart writing business insights
The Fitness Moms – Where moms come to get fit
Tia Bach – Depression Cookies, Mother-daughter co-authors of Depression Cookies promote their novel
TJ - Moonlight and Shadows, Character building of one red headed red wolf
Tracy O’Connor - I Hate My Message Board, Humor, crankiness, a museum of snack foods
V
Valerie Anderson - Home Central, Benefiting from the experiences of others and laughing along the way
Valerie Owens - Quality Research and Writing Services, Science, technology and entrepreneurship
Vanessa Geneva Ahern - Hudson Valley Good Stuff:
Where to Eat, Play, and Re-charge Your Spirit in the Hudson Valley
Veronica Del Bianco - ECO-NOLA, Exploring New Orleans’ ecological and economic green scene
Vicki Powers - Houston on the Cheap, Cities on the Cheap affiliate
Vivian F. - Agent 00355, Stories written for my characters and comings and goings of my life
W X Y Z
Walter L. Johnson II - Communications Careers Corner, How to start or maintain a career in communications or media
Yael - Yael Writes, Making conscious and healthy living accessible

My Day in Haiku

Today's theme in the 2011 WordCount Blogathon is Haiku.

I love poetry, and have not written one for a while now, and so today because I am in such a great mood (after an emotional weekend!) I chose to celebrate it by creating not  one but three Haikus. Hope you enjoy the pictures that inspired me, as well!

Morning's Dawn*

Drinking Earl Grey tea
Early morning's pure pleasure
Bliss is in the simple things





Afternoon's Awakening*

Merry singing birds
Makes me float in happiness
Landing gently:  free



Evening's Expectations*

Family gathered
A wonderful tasty meal
I smile at the thought

BlogNote*

Titles are not for the Haikus but for the collection of 365~photographs.                                                          

Preparing for Sunday's First Communion

Today we bought middle daughter's communion dress, together with a new pair of shoes to go along with it. 

We  also got a Spring/Summer dress for the eldest, while the littlest came back from Germany with a dress bought by Oma H. 

They would be both wearing these dresses on middle sister's special occasion, which will be on Sunday!

Another daughter, who will have her first communion.

 It seems not so long ago  that eldest had her first communion (June, 2006), and we were still living in Germany, and life was very different.

So many changes, so many transitions, but traditions, ceremonies of life's passages remains constant.

The more I grow with our girls, the more I find comfort on all things constant, while I find simple ways to go with life's ever-changing flow.

What memories do you associate with first communions?

Mother's Day On the Beach

The eldest found the shell and took a picture of it while we were walking down towards the beach

A short and what I hope will be a sweet greeting post:

Happy Mother's Day, and greetings from the lovely beach of  Zandvoort, the Netherlands!

How was the Mother's Day weekend, and how did you spend it? 

Another shell that the eldest found hanging in one of my ear hoops - I was asked by eldest not to forget to mention that detail!

Blognote:

I feel much lighter, now that the girls are at home again.  I have missed them terribly, and I think that was one of those little triggers that made the weekend a tad emotional, and turned me a bit of a melodramatic blogger!☺

Thoughts As Mother's Day Approaches (2)

Two years, one week and one day ago I took this picture of the girls. . .

I look at it again tonight filled with love and deep yearning, that I may hold them all in my arms sooner than tomorrow.

Through the years, I have been very hard on myself because I felt, that I have let manic-depression rule over my life, thus short-changing my daughters, whom I all have wished for all of my life, of a mother they deserve.

Luckily, I have been blessed with family, friends, and random wonderful kind-hearted people, whom I all have met throughout my journey to healing, who all have helped me in my struggles, and have not let me give up.

When  feelings of helplessness, fear, and all the myriad emotions, that one goes through when the dark moments revisit, I look at the images of my daughters, of moments captured that I would not like to forget, and after a while I see them in my mind, and their eyes, and see, to them, I am just the best that they could ever have as a mother.

I try to hold on to that image because not believing it is giving in to the darkness of my mind, and not the light of love of my daughters.

BlogNote 0:09 AM (this is actually more a note for me, so I will not forget...)

I almost did not write today, and spent half an hour in the bathroom crying, purging all the negative feelings I was having over myself before I literally shook my head, and made myself focus on "simply being there", no matter how I feel, and no matter what thoughts will pour out on the keyboard and on to the computer screen.

Yeah, 365 are not free from tears.

Thoughts As Mother's Day Approaches

My Mommy, , when she was 17 y.o.

These thoughts were written on the 5th of May...*

I will take the next few days as an occasion to sort out some old family pics, which I took with me when I left the Philippines for my first trip abroad, January 1993.

It is still difficult for me to look back because it seems since I left my birth country, life simply fast forwarded, and the years flew by so quickly with so many huge transitions, that I would have loved to have experienced with my family near by and not oceans away.

My Dad † passed away 1999, the year I conceived eldest daughter; my grandmother Nanay I † passed away before my Mommy finally visited us in Germany.  By then my own small family has grown with the second child in our second home in Hamburg.

There were so many milestones and painful experiences, which happened all at the same time, that I could enumerate but I have learned to focus on the great memories & treasured moments I did share with my family in the Philippines, and feel enriched by the great memories & treasured moments my family and I experienced in Germany.

There should be no place for regret in decisions made, which changed how life might have been. NOW is great BECAUSE of those decisions; the compromises and sacrifices one had to take along with those decisions are part of living.

Change is the only constant in life, which we have to accept for us to be able to truly BE in the simple moments we share, with the people we cherish.

Living in the now is what life is all about.

My thoughts as the days approaches  Mother's Day (Sunday, 8th of May)

*BlogNote:

With this post, I am taking Michelle V. Rafter's advice in 25 Ways to Blog Everyday, posted at WordCount, of pre-writing, and pre-scheduling the publishing of posts. Later on, I will be checking out  Editorial Calendar Plug-in, mentioned in the post, which is meant to assist with this endevour.

 It is a part of my baby steps to make blogging regularly a simple part of my life. ☺

Have Fun Getting to Know Holland! (Part 1)

(This was yesterday's emergency placeholder blog, for background story please click: here)

On today's WorldCount Blogathon 2011  I am sharing, what hopefully will be a fun survey for everyone! Yesterday, for personal reasons, I was not be able to participate on the blog event's first theme day, for the topic: My Favourite Books on..., and will have to do it instead another day this week!

The day before yesterday, I visited About English Idiom's page, by scrolling down the 2011 WordCount Blogathon Blogroll, and I found this neat survey widget!

So, I am using this for today, to try out one of Michelle V. Rafter's suggestion in 25 Ways to Blog Every Day. I have not done this before on this page, and I am excited to see the result!

Try to answer without using Google, and have fun with the poll!  Later on, you can look up your answers, and maybe learn a little bit more about the Netherlands, than you do now! I sure did!

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

BlogNote:

Please adjust the scrollbar on the side and bottom frame of the embedded poll to see for example the entire painting of Johannes Vermeer, and be able to answer the corresponding question! ☺

Greeting everyone in the Netherlands:
Happy Liberation Day!

Observing Remembrance Day & Celebrating Liberation Day

We observed Remembrance Day (the 4th of May) with our dear B, who will be off to France ; as usual thoughtful, loving and caring she invited us to dinner before her trip. It was a lovely bonding evening

After midnight (5th of May)***, when beloved P and I reached home we waved the Dutch flag to celebrate Liberation Day.

As you will read from the link  above, on Remembrance Day at 8:00 p.m., two minutes of silence are observed throughout the Netherlands.

To pay tribute to this day, I've combined the365~ self-portrait  images taken on the 4th, and the 5th in a collage.  For me to do this, I had to switch the blog (the emergency placeholder blog!) I posted yesterday with this post, you are currently reading (written on the 5th of May).  Now, you will see what was posted on this blog space you are currently reading once again as the most recent post (5th of May).***


I have to be honest that it is only this year, that I am slowly having a feel for all the special dates that is observed and celebrated in Holland, and I did not take in consideration, nay, I totally forgot, that the 4th was Remembrance Day *bows head in shame*.  Next year, I will have a better, more organized Dutch calendar.


This blog is my small step towards it.

BlogNote:

***I do realise this will not make sense to anyone except me.  But if one did saw the post which was on this space, then this will be a helpful information to lend a bit clarity to why the original post "disappeared" and you are reading these words now.

 I took the liberty as a publisher of this blog page to switch post because I wanted to mark Remembrance Day.  The lesson I have learned: as much as I would like to be a spontaneous blogger, I do need to organize a calendar, and plan blogs ahead according to the calendar for this complicated (explaining and...) switching of post not to happen again!.

Warming-Up for the WordCount Blogathon

"I always loved running...it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs."
Jesse Owens

Today, in search of inspiration, I googled quotes using the keyword marathon, and came upon the above quote, which I liked best.

I could replace the word "running" with writing, replace "the wind" with self-doubts, "feet" with imagination and "lungs" with will, then it will read for me:

I always loved writing...it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power.  You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting self-doubts as they come, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your imagination and the courage of your will.

 This quote could also apply to biking, my other passion but that is another topic altogether.

When I think of this year's WordCount Blogathon (my first!) , I automatically have to think on how I can compare it to running a marathon.  An endevour I would very much like to do in the future.

I feel that with patience and persistance, I could train for a marathon, and with will I could join and eventually finish it.  I started training 5 years ago, and every year I had to give up my training due to health and other personal reasons.  Still, I have never given up on this goal.  Someday soon, it will be achieved.

This somehow mirrors my dream to be a writer.  I know with patience and persistance I could create a body of work worthy of being recognized.  But I have had to battle health and other personal issues in my life many times during the last two decades,  that at one point the stress of it all disabled me to even write a simple personal letter.

In 2006 when I discovered blogging it was like learning to stand up again after what seems like half a lifetime paralysis, and as the years passed with anonymous writing online, I learned how to walk slowly back towards the path of my dream.  The first quarter of the year of writing on this page felt like a joyous jog.  With the participation in A to Z Blogging Challenge 2011, it was like running a half-marathon in preparation for  the WordCount Blogathon 2011.

I guess with this post, it is like waving at the other participants of this event just after we all left the starting point of this blogathon, and saying, "Hey! It feels good to be writing with all of you!"

When you wave back, what will you be telling me? ☺

365~ self-portrait for today, entitled: catching the last ray of the setting sun

Marathon Writing in May & Monday's Reflection on the A to Z Blogging Challenge 2011

 

“I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” ~ Mark Twain

Welcome to May, and welcome fellow excited bloggers, who are participating in this year's WordCount Blogathon 2011!  My warm greetigs as well and congratulations to accomplished participants of the A to Z Blogging Challenge April 2011 ! Last but not least, a  resounding, hello to the enthusiastic circle of  ICLWers!

In the short time of creating this small writing corner in this huge space of blogosphere,  I have participated in three blogging events.

First was the NaBloPoMo in March, something I have been meaning to do since I heard about it, more than a couple of months after I begun with anonymous blogging in September, 2006.  If you want to read about it's beginnings (November, 2006), you could check out an old interview with it's creator Eden M. Kennedy, which I recently found.

Through NaBloPoMo, I discovered Melissa Ford, who brought to life and hosts the IComLeavWe  (Interational Comment Leaving Week) on her page Stirrups Queens.

At the same time I came across Arlee Bird's annual blogging event, A to Z Blogging Challenge 2011, which is held every year in April.

I participated at both events within the same month. 

They say all good things come in threes, and I am happy to share that in the case of all these blogging ( ICLW is blogging related) events, this absolutely applies.

365~ self-portrait for today, entitled: I finished the A to Z Blogging Challenge!

As I continue my daily writing in the month of May, I am dedicating it to all readers old and new, generous, encouraging commenters, new friends, new bloggers I subscribed to follow, and most of all to those who would like to create their own blog page, and are seeking encouragement and inspiration!

I could and would write a long list, and posts of what A to Z Blogging Challenge gave to me this May, as a writer and a blogger. Today, I will summarize it in one thought: A to Z made me thoroughly enjoy writing, communicating, blogging in it's truest and simplest form like how I enjoyed and experienced it as a newbie, when I  discovered blogging 5 years ago!

All that I have experienced, the wonderful positive feelings, I will take with me as I do my marathon writing for WordCount Blogathon 2011. The time I did not have to visit pages of many A to Z participants ( & IComLeavWe participants), in April I will make in the month of May, and write about what I learned from each blogger I visited linking to their blogs.  Also looking forward to getting to know and learning from bloggers of WordCount Blogathon 2011.

Once again, thank you so much for the A to Z event Arlee Bird of Tossing it Out!


Inspire & be Inspired, fellow bloggers!

BlogNote 

If you would like to be inspired in your writing and perhaps  participate in next year's A to Z Blogging Challenge, please visit Arlee Bird's :

 

2011 Blogging from A to Z Challenge Reflections Mega Post

Randomness on the 1st of May

♡It's May!♡

Currently, I am dragging myself to save images I hurriedly stored on our desktop because I have been lazy to save them on the external HD, as each day ended in the past weeks of April.

This is not a good habit because I have lost a lot of family pictures through this! Although I have learned not to beat myself hard about such incidents, since I ONLY lost the pixels and not the memories (one does tend to attach to those pixels), I will always have the memories stored in my mind. It is also fun from time to time to have an evening of recalling what we actually did, without the aid of the pictures we have lost.

Still, it is lovely to have those pixels, so here I am pusssssssssshing myself to do what I tend to often procrastinate on: properly archiving pictures!

As it might be obvious to everyone by now, who have been graciously following this blog, I love doing collages and this relaxes me enough to distract me from the blah feeling I get while doing the chore that I am procrastinating on.

As I ate my lunch,

it's a curious feeling preparing lunch just for myself!

dreamily looked out of the window, at my favourite view

1st of May, the first picture from "our trees", which I am photographing regularly  through the different seasons

and recalled how P and I spent our day yesterday,

Our yesterday's cheers and tribute to Queen's Day

I dated pictures and put them in corresponding folders, and cleared this corner of the house and that corner of the house, steeling myself from just going out and grabbing my bike to escape from it all.

Now, I share this collage, and am forcefully willing myself to stand up and vacuum, mop the floor, THEN I have earned my ride on the bike, the freedom to take a camera with me, which has a fully loaded battery and a memory card  with 2 .0 Gb ; I am going to fight!.  Ermmm..., I meant, hopefully shoot some windmills! ☺

P lying down on the chilla couch, totally spent from the day's events!

Have a great start in the month of May! 

Joyous cheers, and a good luck to all of us, participants of the 2011 WordCount Blogathon!

Blognote:

Originally, I wrote a draft with the title (Re-)Introducing Myself in May.  I thought I'll save it for a day, that is not full of jittery energy, like today seems to be!   This random entry was writing out my thoughts to be able to focus and abate the build-up of anxiety attack!

Just another random note to myself, to not forget: it is okay to simplify...it is my blog after all! ☺