Mamma Mockingbird feeding one of the babies…And and life goes on.

This weekend has been more than a little surreal for me.

The passing of my friend’s mother on Thursday evening had me switching gears by Friday morning. Instead of going through with the plans that I’d made for this weekend, I went into coordination mode; coordination of a collection to be taken up, coordination of who was bringing what food/plate/cups/drinks to the house, the creation of a memorial flier for my friend’s mother (I had done a few for co-workers that has passed away, and she really loves them, so I did one for her mom this weekend), and even the typing of the information for the funeral home via telephone given her computer had decided to take that time to run slowly and not allow her to create the document she really needed to have sent to the funeral home.  Somehow, between the lot of us, we got it all done, and with that I must say, Good-bye, Miss Minnie!  You were loved so much and will surely be missed by so many! Because one is the member of an extended family, it doesn’t make us any less family, and I could not have been more affected had this happened to one of my own blood relatives.

The passing of a member of our extended family has also caused me to stop and smell the roses, if you will.

These past few days have shown me that no matter what happens, family and friends stick together through the good times and the bad; the laughter and the tears; the tears that come from that hearty laughter when one of us says something so funny it just tickles the rest of us for days afterward.

I have also learned (or am in the process of learning), that life goes on, even when you feel as if it can’t possibly do so.

I am learning that if you work entirely too hard and don’t take the time to enjoy your family or enjoy the funny things in life, then why bother?

That said, I’m going to shift gears again and turn the mood in here around a little bit. Because, after all, it’s almost spring, which is a time of re-birth, emergence, and growth (hence the baby bird image that I shot a couple of years ago…what better way to illustrate the ongoing circle of life?

Remember my neighbors? The loud ones? Yes, I knew you did. The partying has come to all but a complete stop, there is no trash on the back deck blowing into my yard, however, there have been lots of comings and goings at most bizarre times of day. I hesitate to say it, for fear that I will jinx it, but I think the dude is moving out. I’m not a peeper by nature (that was my last neighbor’s job), but when you  have no blinds and leave the lights on all night long, one CAN see into your home. We are noticing that the wall decorations (and I use that term loosely, given the most notable was a pirate flag of some sort) are coming down, bags of “stuff” are leaving the home, and more than a few strange trucks have been pulling in and out. Because I am not a creepy-peepy kind of gal, I don’t really make a point of running to the window to see what’s going on, so I really couldn’t tell you what’s happening over there. But I live in hope!

I’m also hoping to say good-bye to unhealthy relationships with toxic people who have nothing better to do than to bring the people around them down. I am also going to say good-bye to my own feelings of not living up to standards I may have set too high for myself, or unrealistic goals I have put into place, because, honestly? Why set one’s self up for failure. Perhaps I should say that the goals have not changed, but the unrealistic deadlines have. After all, I hold three jobs, have a family, and run a household. All work and no play make Jules, quite honestly, a bitch…and you know what they say: “If mamma ain’t happy, nobody’s happy.”

That said, I leave you with this video that cracks me up every time I see it. My friend, Crocus, reminded me of this late last week, and it really fits all of the crazy neighbors, negative feelings, toxic people, and haters in general.  I apologize for the commercial beforehand. Enjoy: