Daily Prompt- Que Sera Sera

Do you believe in fate or do you believe you can control your own destiny?

So, whenever I see or hear the words “Que Sera Sera! I hear Doris Day singing and I can picture her twirting with the full skirt of her dress fanning out around her. I love Doris Day and old movies and old songs. I grew up on all of them, thanks to my dad. But that’s not what this writing prompt is about, is it?

I am a firm believer in fate. There, that was easy- I’m done and I can move on to my next appointment, which takes place in 23 minutes. I have a busy day ahead of me and I’m a bit worried about falling behind on my Blogging 101 assignments. Okay, back to the topic. Fate.

I also believe we are free to make our own choices and control our destiny- it’s just that we end up where we were going to end up. Everything happens for a reason, right? I look at the chain of events that took place in my life that led me to this day. I can clearly see the connection of each choice I made, why I made it and how I got here. But this is where I’m supposed to be.

Everything does happen for a reason. I have told my kids this for years. If you feel like you’re stuck on the same track and the same “issue” keeps appearing in your life over and over, there’s probably a life lesson in there somewhere that you are supposed to have learned. If you keep making the same mistake, whatever it is, take a step back and look at it. It’s going to keep popping up until you deal with it.

Along the fate line, I believe you get the kids you need. Whatever their foibles are, that’s what you need to work on. If they have some of your annoying traits, maybe you just need to accept that annoying part of yourself and move on. Or maybe you need to look at it in a different light, put a positive spin on it. A very close friend told me that I’m a bit of a pain in the ass. (Don’t you love friends???) I said, “You mean in a good way, right?” He stared at me pointedly in silence, his stern look softened by the twinkle in his eyes. I tried again, “Maybe I am but the good in me sort of balances out that pain in the ass stuff, right?” Now the corner of his mouth was twitching and he turned away, tossing over his shoulder, “If that’s what you need to think….” hiding the full out grin on his face. I punched him in the back. Softly- I’m not a hard ass. Just a pain in the ass. Well, this friend’s route into my life was pretty direct but it took awhile before we became friends. I know our friendship is fate working at its finest. The friendship blossomed out of a casual friendly relationship at a very difficult time in my life. This friend not only serves to give me reality checks when I need them but also as a reminder to laugh at myself and not take everything so seriously.

Fate. Yes. I’m where I’m supposed to be. It might not be a fun place at times. But choices I made got me here and it’s the right place.

Top Ten Beatles’ Contributions to Society

I’m a bit of a Beatles’ fanatic. I really enjoyed this post and wanted to share it with you from another blogger. (I’m happy to find out that I’m not the only one!)

Inspired by…

So, the day 12 assignment is to write about being inspired by community, or more specifically by a comment we left on a post we read two days ago. (Actually it was supposed to be “yesterday” but I’m a day behind.) The Chocolate Frog is the inspiration for my post. Anna’s blog spoke to me, plain and simple. But not plain or simple in any way. Everything about it is unique and quirky. It reminds me of my middle child, K. This blog is something K would write. For all I know, he has written things along this line. 

Throughout K’s transition from female to male there have been many ups and downs. I had a very unhappy teenage daughter. I feared for her life. Although she swore she would never consider suicide, I wasn’t so sure. Finding out that K is transgender was a shock and it took some adjustment. As we started on this journey, I hoped that K would finally find a peace within himself. At times it was difficult. And for a time I lost sight of who K was.

And then little glimpses would come shining through and I was able to remember K. I was able to recognize my child again.

Anna’s blog reminded me of how creative and imaginative K is. He writes the most amazing stories- some of them are really out there! He’s also an artist and his paintings are quite colorful and vivid- very much like he is. He has the most random thoughts and his interests range from buffalo to science fiction. He is himself and I love him and I love how The Chocolate Frog reminds me of him. 

 

Liebster Award

I was nominated for the Liebster Award and I am thrilled! I wasn’t sure what it was and while I was looking into it (and trying to stay on top of assignments) I received 3 more nominations. How cool!!! I want to thank – http://wordpress.com/read/blog/id/66716650/

I also want to thank Athena’s Wicked Owl, CKB.Reviews, and http://navigatedotblog.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/i-am-in-for-liebster-award-yay/ for nominating me as well. 

The Liebster Award is awarded to bloggers with under 200 followers to try to promote their blog a little and also bring together a community of bloggers. The rules of the competition are as follows:

The nominated user must provide a link bank to the person who nominated them.

Provide 11 facts about yourself.

Answer 11 questions set by the person who nominated you.

Choose 11 more people and ask them 11 questions.

Here are 11 facts about myself-

1. I am half Italian, although I don’t look it.

2. I am a loyal Chicago Bulls fan- through good times and bad I always love my Bulls!!!

3. I’m not fond of fair-weather fans- people who jump on the bandwagon when a sports team is flying high but can’t be found the minute they are going down. (So, if you follow hockey at all, you can imagine how much the Blackhawks fans bug me these days. Where were they 4 years ago?? Hmmm?)

4. I am an incurable romantic. I totally believe in true love, unrequited love and soul mates. The whole shebang.

5. I am painfully shy so writing this blog is a HUGE step for me.

6. I absolutely love cats!!! And I’m absolutely allergic to them.

7. I never considered myself to be the kind of mom who would have sons. I still look around and shake my head. God has a sense of humor.

8. Music is an integral part of my life. It leaks into every corner of my being and plays a major role in my day. It’s a huge part of who I am although most people do not know this.

9. I love everything to do with angels, ghosts, vampires, witches, and…..fairytales!

10. I follow my gut instinct at all times. It has lead me to some very strange decisions but that leads me back to my motto  “Everything happens for a reason.”

11. I watch American Idol and have successfully predicted the winners of the last 3 seasons.

 

11 Questions asked by Fast Times in Alaska-

1. Where are you living? Is that your dream location? I live near Chicago, Illinois. This is not my dream location- it happens to be where I grew up and where I wanted to raise my children. My dream location would be somewhere in Italy- I’m not sure where exactly but I would be there with the love of my life, just enjoying life and visits from my kids and grandkids!

2. What is your dream adventure? I would love to just jump into my car with a good friend and see where the road takes us. I would have unlimited funds and a very good GPS- just in case I needed it!

3.  Your favorite quote? “Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.” ~Alexander Hamilton

4. Your most life changing moment? My most life changing moment was telling family members about my transgender child, although I didn’t know it at the time.

5. What changed after said moment? My relationships with my parents and siblings changed forever. We are working on getting back on track as they learn to accept my child for who he is.

6.  If you could be any animal what would it be and why? I would be a cat. They are so cool, collected and graceful- something I am not!

7.  What is your perfect career? Not job, but career? Writing!

8. If you could meet any public figure, be it political, religious or celebrity, who would it be and why? John Lennon! I know he’s dead but I really would want to meet him. He’s an obsession of mine. I find him to be intriguing and I would love to talk to him about his views of the world, how he wrote his songs, what he thinks about love.

9. What is your favorite topic to write about? Love

10.  Big dogs or little dogs? Medium? 🙂

11. Why did you start blogging? I started blogging to give my writing the kick in the pants it needs.

 

My 11 questions-

1. What is your favorite movie of all time?

2. If you could drive any vehicle, what would it be? Do you own it now?

3. Do you have a pet? If so, what is it?

4. Do you have any siblings?

5. If you don’t have siblings, did you want them?

6. Coffee or tea?

7. What is your favorite season?

8. Have you ever been in love?

9. What is your favorite color?

10. Do you prefer to travel by plane, train or automobile?

11. What is one thing people would be surprised to find about about you?

Hi Neighbor!

Today’s Blogging 101 Assignment is to be a good neighbor, visiting and commenting on 4 new-to-you blogs. I found 3 of my new neighbors from their comments made regarding this assignment. For the last one, I went to the Blogroll page and chose it solely on name.

My first visit was to Looking Glass Mama. I liked the Blog name and being a mom myself, I couldn’t pass up the chance to meet another mom. Upon finding out she is in Australia and referenced a holiday with which I was unfamiliar, I kept reading. I have run into a few other bloggers who are either from other countries/continents or are US born but living abroad. Having never left the United States, I’m very interested in hearing about life in places I’ve never been. We have something in common- being the mothers of boys- although hers are much younger than mine. I can totally relate.

From there I went to visit The Chocolate Teapot. Okay, so I have to start by saying I don’t remember the blog being called that- it probably was and since I was flying without caffeine I most likely didn’t notice……but that name alone would have grabbed my attention. I was immediately drawn in with the header, which features Anna and Steve, the unicorn. Anna’s writing style grabbed my heart- it reminds me of my son’s unique style.

Next on my journey was Humping Heart. In a comment made in the Commons, she mentioned being anonymous and that was all I needed to see. Since I am also using a pen name, I was interested to learn more. I’m a hopeless romantic so her theme definitely made me want to stick around and read more.

As I closed in on the end of my quest for new neighbors, I decided to take a chance and pick a blog based only on it’s name. That’s how I ended up at Write and Day. With an opening line like “I write blog posts and stuff.” how could I not love it? Add in an entertaining post with a picture of a bear waving and I knew I was in a good place.

After poking around a bit and getting a feel for these blogs, which are all quite different from each other, I recommend all of them. I hope you will stop by any of them that sound like they might interest you. You won’t be disappointed!