Moments D64; Mika the Frug

Today’s moment brought to you by a wee creature exploring the world around her. Today I met an absolutely adorable French bulldog/pug cross puppy. She is wee. She is vibrant and full of life and bounce. She stole my heart!

Her owner was quite happy that my colleagues and I watched her yesterday as he grabbed his morning java. In those few moments she managed to tear into a plastic bag covering a phone book (which we removed from her reach) and then she started tearing out the pages of another book on the ground. (Again removed). She was so cute and her energy was uplifting. I hope to run into her again.

Mika was her name. (This means beautiful smell in Japanese….hope the owner keeps her bathed!) She kinda looks like this frug:

Adorable - right?

Moment of cuteness and joy.

Moments D63; Family Genes

Today I had lunch with extended relatives from the UK. I won’t lie, I was a little nervous in meeting them. I’m not entirely sure why. I’m not exactly a shy person. But, I was feeling a little nervous none-the-less!

They were absolutely lovely and adorable people. We shared many stories and enjoyed a long lunch. What’s interesting to me, and the moment I choose to share, is the family similarities.

First, let me explain the connection between us. S’s line originates three generations back. Her great-great-great grandfather was the brother of my Dad’sgreat-great-great grandfather. (Head hurt yet?)

At one point during our conversation it was noted that I was incredibly similar to their niece - in looks, in personality. From there we talked about family traits. From fears to tendencies and onwards. It was incredible some of the touch points that were the same. Time (generations of time!) and space (different continents) don’t supersede genes.

It was fun. It was great to have a slice of someone else’s life shared with me. It was a moment where time, space and generations crossed. A very interesting moment indeed.

Moments D62; Arrivals and Departures

I realized today that the arrival area of an airport is filled with such joy and anticipation and happiness. As I looked around at the people around me as we waited for our respective flights to arrive, I saw many excited faces. I swear you could feel the anticipation in the air. On the flip side, the departure area of an airport can be filled with such raw, sad emotion as loved ones separate for some undetermined time.

It’s kinda like life. There are good days (arrivals) and bad days (departures). One without the other would lessen the importance of either. It’s the balance of life. The good and the bad. The light and the dark. But I digress…..

As I waited, I watched the people around me (I do love to watch people) and I realized that I was smiling. I really enjoyed seeing such excitement on other’s faces. But, there is one reunion that brought a tear to my eye.

In the crowd there was an older gentleman and his wife. She was sitting at the seat closest to the door and he was standing at the rail in front of the door. In one hand he held a “Dora-the-explorer” balloon and in the other a bouquet of pink carnations. You could feel the anticipation as he gently rocked side to side waiting for the doors to part and reveal his arrival. Time passed and with every door opening you could see he was hoping….and then the magical moment arrived. Somehow, someway his daughter and granddaughter came out the door that wasn’t being used. The granddaughter saw grandma first and went barreling down the ramp, under the railing and into her arms before grandpa could say “boo!”. Grandma immediately wrapped her arms around the little girl and smothered her with hugs and kisses and more kisses and hugs. Grandpa made his way over and it was quickly a big group hug with the little girl in the middle. Not far behind was the little girl’s mother and daughter to the older couple. She walked down the ramp with a huge smile on her face and added herself into the group hug.

It was such a beautiful moment. The love, the joy, the raw sincerity of it all. It was some time before the flowers and balloon were handed over as everyone was too busy hugging and kissing.

I love those moments. Moments when love is tangible. Moments when love seems to cause the rest of the world to fall away.

It is this moment I had to share today.

Moments D61: JUST DANCE!

Today’s smile comes from a video sent to me in the wee hours of the morning. It was unexpected. It had no supporting comments or information included with it in the email. Just the URL. I had no expectations, but as the footage unravelled itself, I couldn’t help but smile.

As I continued to watch nearly 5 minutes of footage I realized Matt had accomplished quite a feat. Imagine just how many lives he has touched. How many smiles he has brought to strangers faces. How much love and positive energy was born from this social experiment. Not only has he learned new dances along the way, you can see in the video that he’s teaching moves as well.

Moments of learning and moments of teaching.

Moments of dancing, smiling and laughing.

What a perfect way to start one of my favourite days of the year. The day that my family and I celebrate one of our own. One who, ironically enough, loves to dance and sing and joke around. The timing of the video was perfect and the sender couldn’t have known that.

So today I say - GET OUT THERE AND DANCE!

Moments D60: Home is where the Heart is

Today’s moment: Heading home.

Not where I live, but where I grew up. Even today, 36 years later, I still love to go home. I suppose it helps that I love (and LIKE) my parents dearly. We are actually quite good friends I dare say. Coming home is like a breath of fresh air or a captured moment of peace.

Moments of love.

Moments of laughter.

Moments of sharing.

Moments of comfortable silence.

That’s home to me.

#moments #family #love #laughter #home

Moments D59: Just ask the Question

My parents always told me to ask the question. No matter what the question, no matter how outlandish the request - ask the question. What's the worst that can happen? In our home - the worst that could happen was the answer no.

Today's moment was born out of this advice. Born from this deeply engrained part of me that won't NOT ask the question. Sometimes this means asking difficult questions. Sometimes this means talking to people that can be challenging and are more often reply negatively.

Today I decided to fight to keep one of our summer students on staff. He had a short-term contract with us to help out with the trade show. His contract expired as of today. This kid is one of the best kids I've ever had the pleasure of working with. He's hard working, motivated and quickly and easily asks for direction when he needs it and more work when he's done. This type of work ethic is a relic of the past and yet there is hope - this student is only 18 years old. With this type of dedication to the job, with his ability to connect with so many people in such a short period of time it's inevitable: He will be incredibly successful no matter what he chooses to do.

I'm certain that if I had I not acted upon the years of "Just ask the question" instilled in me we would have missed out on keeping this wonderful soul on our team.

In the end, Mr. H Jr. will continue on with us for the remainder of the summer. All because I took the time to confirm and double check with the big boss that he had all the information he needed to make a decision. (Obviously that wasn't the case!)

Moments of asking the question.

Moments of believing it is worth fighting for.

Moments D58: Follow Your Heart

Today’s moment was advice offered from a new friend (and coincidentally this advice was shared again with me later today by two of my nearest and dearest).

It’s really simple advice. Why isn’t it simple to follow. I stop to ponder this. I really truly believe it boils down to fear. (Did you see my blog post from Tuesday?)

Before the “doubt-monster” attacks, my heart soars at the thought of simply “following my heart”. Why can’t it be that simple? Once you strip away the fear what is left? OPPORTUNITY.

I know I’m regurgitating a bit of Tuesday’s blog post, but having had the “Follow Your Heart” tossed casually (and NOT so casually) at me, I had to explore it once again.

So today’s moment: Follow Your Heart. Keep it simple, but make a game plan. No one said you couldn’t plan when you follow your heart! (Hey, once a planner always a planner!)