Just Plain Joy

Subscribe at my new location!

2010-07-13T21:24:00.000-07:00

Hello world! I have moved this blog over to its own domain name at www.JustPlainJoy.com. I have not been able to figure out how to transfer the RSS Feed so if you receive email updates from this site please visit my new home and subscribe!

Since there will be no new posts from my Blogger account you will no longer receive updates and emails from here. It has been a wonderful two years with Blogger and I hope you will follow me over to the new domain. Thanks for being a loyal reader!

Quote of the Day

2010-07-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

"It's no longer about where ideas originate but how they spread, who picks them up, and how they are re-imagined." - Co-founder of Twitter

Quote of the Day

2010-07-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

"I will prepare myself and someday my chance will come. " - Abraham Lincoln

Quote of the Day

2010-07-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

"What seems to be in the way is the way." - David Richo

Quote of the Day

2010-07-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Use loneliness. Its ache creates urgency to reconnect with the world. Take that aching and use it to propel you deeper into your need for expression - to speak, to say who you are." - Natalie Goldberg

Just Plain Joy is finally on Facebook

2010-07-09T21:38:00.001-07:00

Hello all my loyal readers!

I hope you will check out the new Just Plain Joy Facebook page and become a fan by clicking the "like" button!

Check out the Facebook page!

Quote of the Day

2010-07-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

"To love is to become loving." - David Richo

Quote of the Day

2010-07-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Journeying is built into us no matter how beautiful our home." - David Richo

Quote of the Day

2010-07-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

"The call to live in the present comes at the wrong time for someone who needs first to explore the past and be free of its stubborn grip." - David Richo

Quote of the Day

2010-07-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

"In healthy intimate relationships we do not seek more than 25 percent of our nurturance from a partner; we learn to find the rest within ourselves." - David Richo

Quote of the Day

2010-07-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Bread takes the effort of kneading but also requires sitting quietly while the dough rises with a power all its own." - David Richo

Quote of the Day

2010-07-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

"It is not that practice makes perfect but that practice is perfect." - David Richo

Quote of the Day

2010-07-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Nature cannot afford to lose any of her stewards; so she has calibrated the heart so it is never permanently fulfilled." - David Richo

Quote of the Day

2010-07-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

"We are born with a capacity to dance together but not with the necessary training. We have to learn the dance steps and practice until we move with ease and grace." - David Richo

Quote of the Day

2010-07-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

"The human heart holds much more love than it can ever disburse in one lifetime." - David Richo

Quote of the Day

2010-06-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

I recently read an interesting book about relationships - How to be an Adult in Relationship - The Five Keys to Mindful Loving by David Richo. In summary, the author states that we need five A's from our relationships - attention, acceptance, appreciation, affection, and "allowing" (the freedom to live in accord with our deepest needs and wishes). These aspects of love are the building blocks of identity and our human personality.

According to Richo, we need these elements in our childhood, we seeks them in our adult relationships, and then we give them to the world through our spiritual practice. Richo is a psychotherapist and teaches all over the country, including Escalen Institute in Big Sur. While the book had a heavy emphasis on our spirituality, I pulled out several great quotes that I am looking forward to sharing here.

Quote of the Day

2010-06-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Things ain't what they used to be and never were." - Will Rogers

Quote of the Day

2010-06-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

"I get by with a little help from my friends." - John Lennon

Quote of the Day

2010-06-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow." - Unknown

Quote of the Day

2010-06-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be." - Douglas Adams

Quote of the Day

2010-06-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

"We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another." - Luciano de Crescenzo

* This is a picture of me and my friend Heidi completing the Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon in June 2004 - two wedding and three babies ago (combined). Happy Birthday Heidi!

Quote of the Day

2010-06-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

"It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end." - Ursula K. LeGuin

Quote of the Day

2010-06-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Security is an illusion. Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing at all." - Helen Keller

Quote of the Day

2010-06-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down." - Oprah Winfrey

Quote of the Day

2010-06-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling." - Margaret Lee Runbeck

Quote of the Day

2010-06-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quote of the Day

2010-06-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

"The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it." - William James

Quote of the Day

2010-06-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Expect the best from each day." - Alexander Lockhart

Quote of the Day

2010-06-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish." - John Quincy Adams

Quote of the Day

2010-06-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

"It is not length of life, but depth of life." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quote of the Day

2010-06-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

"And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." - Nelson Mandela

Quote of the Day

2010-06-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

"The miracle isn't that I finished...The miracle is that I had the courage to start." - John "The Penguin" Bingh

Quote of the Day

2010-06-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Only those who dare to fail greatly can every achieve greatly." - Robert F. Kennedy

Quote of the Day

2010-06-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it." - Lou Holtz

Quote of the Day

2010-06-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

"The best way out of difficulty is through it." - Will Rogers

Quote of the Day

2010-06-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

"We are never disconnected from those we have loved." - Just Plain Joy

Quote of the Day

2010-06-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

"What lies behind us and lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quote of the Day

2010-06-03T08:00:00.001-07:00

"Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." - The Golden Rule

Quote of the Day

2010-06-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

"The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; They just make the most of everything they have."- Unknown, a favorite email

Quote of the Day

2010-06-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different."- Unknown, a favorite email

Quote of the Day

2010-05-31T08:00:00.000-07:00

"You shouldn't be too eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever."- Unknown, a favorite email

Quote of the Day

2010-05-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become."- Unknown, a favorite email

Quote of the Day

2010-05-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

"No matter how hard your heart has been broken, the world doesn't stop for your grief."- Unknown, a favorite email

Quote of the Day

2010-05-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Maturity has more to do with the types of experiences you have had and what you have learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you have celebrated."- Unknown, a favorite email

Quote of the Day

2010-05-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Sometimes the people who kick you when you're down will be the ones to help you get back up."- Unknown, a favorite email

Quote of the Day

2010-05-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Either you control your attitude or it controls you."- Unknown, a favorite email

Quote of the Day

2010-05-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

"We are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel."- Unknown, a favorite email

Quote of the Day

2010-05-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

"You can keep going long after you think you can."- Unknown, a favorite email

Quote of the Day

2010-05-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

"It's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be." - Unknown, a favorite email

Quote of the Day

2010-05-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Just because two people argue, doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because two people don't argue, doesn't mean they do love each other." - Unknown, a favorite email

Quote of the Day

2010-05-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Just think how happy you'd be if you lost everything and everyone you have right now...and then, somehow go them back again." - Kobi Yamada

Quote of the Day

2010-05-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

"The whole secret of a successful life is to discover your destiny, and then do it." - Henry Ford

Quote of the Day

2010-05-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Treasure this day, and treasure yourself. Truly, neither will ever happen again." - Ray Bradbury

Quote of the Day

2010-05-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will never be shortened. Happiness never ceases by being shared." - Chinese Proverb

Quote of the Day

2010-05-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

There are only two things you "have to" do in life. You "have to" die and you "have to" live until you die. You make up all the rest." - Marilyn Grey

Quote of the Day

2010-05-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

"No sense being pessimistic. It wouldn't work anyway!" - Graffito

Quote of the Day

2010-05-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Laughter prevents hardening of the attitudes." - Anonymous

Quote of the Day

2010-05-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

"What I'm looking for is a blessing that is not in disguise." - Anonymous

Quote of the Day

2010-05-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

"A light heart lives long." - William Shakespeare

Quote of the Day

2010-05-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot, hang on - and swing!" - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Quote of the Day

2010-05-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Don't let yesterday use up too much of today." - Will Rogers

Quote of the Day

2010-05-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Sometimes the best answer is 'I don't know.'" - Just Plain Joy

Quote of the Day

2010-05-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

"To really enjoy the better things in life, one must first have experienced the things they are better than." - Oscar Homolka

Quote of the Day

2010-05-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

"If we're going to be able to look back on something and laugh about it, we might as well laugh about it now." - Marie Osmond

Quote of the Day

2010-05-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Do everything. One thing might turn out right." - Humphrey Bogart

Quote of the Day

2010-05-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

"You can have it all. Just not all at once." - I was a really good mom before I had kids, by Trisha Ashworth and Amy Nobile

Quote of the Day

2010-05-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

"You tend to attract integrity and honor if that is how you regard those with whom you work." - Nelson Mandela

Dirty Little Secrets

2010-05-04T08:00:00.001-07:00

When my daughter was about six months old, I saw an interview on Oprah that made me feel a lot better about my transition to motherhood. It was an interview with Trisha Ashworth and Amy Nobile who have written a series of books - I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids, I'd Trade My Husband for a Housekeeper, and Dirty Little Secrets of Otherwise Perfect Moms. I ordered all three and spent a whole afternoon laughing my head off. Then, I passed them on to all my friends who recently had become mothers.

With Mother's day just around the corner, I wanted to share some of my favorite "Dirty Little Secrets" from I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids:

"I lost my job but still dropped my son off at daycare and pretended to look for a job while I went shopping and got a manicure."

"Sometimes I think I can't believe I gave up nine months of drinking for this."

"I let my six year old son watch Access Hollywood with me."

"I tell my daughter that I'll check on her in two minutes each night when I say goodnight...but I never do."

"We've agreed not to have t.v. in our house. The moment my husband goes out of town, I pull out the hidden thirteen-inch screen and rent some videos for my kids."

"Sometimes I secretly let the milk run out so I have to make a late-night grocery run - all by myself. I drive slowly, put the windows down, and enjoy a tiny piece of solitude."

"I want my own apartment because I don't like people touching my stuff. And I would prefer if my husband didn't visit."

"I tell lies. Soccer practice was cancelled; we can't go. Or the pool's not open; we can't go."

"I tell my daughter, 'You are only two years old. It says right here on the package you can only have two cookies.' "

"We were in the grocery store, and when we hit the wine aisle, she screamed, 'That's mommy's juice!' "

AND, MY PERSONAL FAVORITE:

"When I'm at Safeway, I buy a Nordstrom gift card and charge it as groceries. I can justify it that way."

We all have our own dirty little secrets. These are not necessarily mine, but I enjoyed the honesty and candor of the mothers who shared their stories in these books. What's MY dirty little secret? I tell myself my daughter is at "school" when it's really day care. And, there are plenty more where that came from.

What is YOUR dirty little secret?

Quote of the Day

2010-05-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

"The answer to many questions is hard-work or love." - Just Plain Joy

Quote of the Day

2010-05-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects." - Will Rogers

Quote of the Day

2010-05-01T08:00:00.001-07:00

"Do or do not. There is no try." - Yoda

Friday's Fun Find: 3greenmoms.com

2010-04-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

Visit 3GreenMoms.com to check out LunchSkins - the reusable sandwich bag. When these three moms found out that 20 million sandwich bags from school lunches go into landfills in the US, they knew they had to find a way to be green and avoid this kind of waste. LunchSkins come in three sizes and a variety of cheerful colors.

Quote of the Day

2010-04-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

"No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor is given by what he gave." - Calvin Coolidge

Quote of the Day

2010-04-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

"What you fear, you create." - Dr. Phil

Quote of the Day

2010-04-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Everyone has been made for some particular work and the desire for that work has been put in his or her heart." - Rumi

Friday's Fun Find: LOOPTWORKS.com

2010-04-23T08:00:00.001-07:00

Looptworks.com is an "upcycled" retail company that rejects traditional manufacturing models and creates sustainable products from abandoned materials. They create limited-edition eco-friendly tshirts, jackets, skirts, hoodies, and gear. The Oregon-based company was launched in 2009, and has already been featured in O The Oprah Magazine.

Quote of the Day

2010-04-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

"No experiment is ever a complete failure. It can always be used as a bad example." - Paul Dickson

Quote of the Day

2010-04-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

"What the world really needs is more love and less paperwork." - Pearl Bailey

Quote of the Day

2010-04-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

"That is not a drug. It’s a leaf." - Arnold Schwarzenegger, Quoted on Marijuana

Quote of the Day

2010-04-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned." - Buddha

Quote of the Day

2010-04-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

"And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." - The Beatles

Quote of the Day

2010-04-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

"The best thing to hold on to in life is each other." - Audrey Hepburn

Friday's Fun Find: Micro-Expressions Test

2010-04-16T08:00:00.001-07:00

A micro-expression is a facial expression that is a display of someone's true emotion. Even when we are trying to keep a poker face, a micro-expression is the involuntary emotion that flashes across our faces for about a fifth of a second. Much of the research on micro-expressions has been done by Dr. Paul Ekman, and you can evaluate your ability to read expressions by taking the test he developed at http://www.cio.com/article/facial-expressions-test.

Quote of the Day

2010-04-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

"If you follow your bliss, doors will open for you that wouldn't have opened for anyone else." - Joseph Campbell

Quote of the Day

2010-04-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

"It's not as if what we see is what we get. It's much, much better than that. What we get is what we see...so create something wonderful." - Mama Gena

Quote of the Day

2010-04-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

"You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give." - Winston Churchill

Quote of the Day

2010-04-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it." - Chinese proverb

Quote of the Day

2010-04-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop." - Mother Theresa

Quote of the Day

2010-04-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Do all you can with what you have, in the time you have, in the place you are." - Nkosi Johnson, Zulu boy born into poverty with AIDS, died at age 12

Friday's Fun Find: Groupon.com

2010-04-09T08:00:00.001-07:00

Groupon.com uses collective buying power to offer daily deals to locals in most major cities. Sign up to receive discounts on a wide range of items, including wine-tasting, classes, sports tickets, restaurants, and more. Groupon is able to offer these great rates by promising businesses a minimum number of customers.

Quote of the Day

2010-04-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth." - I John 3:28

Quote of the Day

2010-04-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Unless someone like you cares a whole, awful lot, things aren't going to get better, they're NOT! - Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

Quote of the Day

2010-04-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do." - Goethe

Quote of the Day

2010-04-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least." - Goethe

Quote of the Day

2010-04-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

"There is no failure except in no longer trying." - Elbert Hubbard

Quote of the Day

2010-04-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

"Do great in the small things." - Mother Teresa

Quote of the Day

2010-04-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

"The key to wisdom is knowing all the right questions." - John A. Simone, Jr.

Quote of the Day

2010-04-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Happy April Fools Day everyone!

"If every fool wore a crown, we should all be kings." - Welsh Proverb

Quote of the Day

2010-03-31T08:00:00.000-07:00

Today is Cesar Chavez Day. I hope you will join me in remember the importance of his work.

“We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community... Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.” - Cesar Chavez

Quote of the Day

2010-03-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

"I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well." - Diane Ackerman