What IF...?

A long, long time ago when I was but a wee girl in high school, an English teacher of mine said, "You know, ladies and gentlemen, 'IF' is the word in the middle of life," and then he walked over to the chalkboard and wrote the following:

L-IF-E

I loved it. I continue to love it. Did the creators of the English language embed this little gem for us when they first decided to spell the word life? I doubted it, but there it was, that little preposition that has so many of us pondering throughout our entire existence.

As of late (probably because I have been storing up all kinds of creative juices by not being in the classroom for a whole year) I have been getting inundated by a lot of "What if...?" scenarios in my head. While they continue to build and crowd up my head, it has come to my attention that these are perfect writing opportunities!

I will post my first What If Quandary (with my response) next Tuesday. I think it would be great if you came on by and joined in, gave your own response or shared a link to your own blog where you responded!

In the meantime, in preparation for all of this out-of-the-box thinking, what are your big "What IF" questions?

If you have a What IF? question you would like to submit as a possible future prompt, please do so in the Rivera Runs Through It Community What If discussion.

Five Reasons Why Today ROCKS!

Today is turning out to be pretty awesome. Just in case you have been bogged down by the day-to-day of it all and didn't realize this, let me shed the light and give you my reasons why today ROCKS:

1. I'm breathing. This may sound ridiculous, but if we don't celebrate the little things they might start to feel neglected. Also... did I just say breathing was "a little thing"?! Whoa. My mistake - breathing makes ALL of this possible, so it pretty much rocks and I'm damn happy to be partaking in some healthy breathing today!
2. Summer officially begins today. None of this "unofficial" nonsense that we celebrate with Memorial Day, or waiting until the end of the school year - summer is a season and the season starts today at 1:16pm. Awesome. Let the fun outdoorsy activities commence!
3. I AM GOING TO A METS GAME TODAY!!!! I am writing this down and publishing it so there is absolutely NO WAY that my sickness can come in and steal this away from me. I am going. I didn't get to go to any games I had tickets for last year due to my repeated sicknesses. Today, I am going.
4. The tiger lilies are opened and beautiful.
5. There was a baby praying mantis on my rosemary bush outside!

Well, that's enough for now. It is time for me to go embrace my day and get ready for tonight's big game. I hope your day is ROCKIN' as well today!

Adjusting

Every single morning when I brush my teeth, this is the sign I have hanging over my shoulder in my bathroom. It didn't start there, but, for now, that is the perfect place to have it.

My mother used to have this sign hanging in our kitchen, so every person who walked in our house could see it. The message she hoped it would utter:

We have been left as an unexpectedly single-parent family. I am raising these two on my own while on disability and have NO IDEA how we are making it. But we love each other more than anything else in this world, so this might not be YOUR idea of "Home Sweet Home", but you should just ADJUST because this moment is just awesome!

I am still in the same house and after renovating the kitchen and going through so many things of what should stay and what should go over the last five years, I realized this sign still has a pretty important role. I moved it into the bathroom where it amuses me every day with its new message:

Good morning, Nicole. You were left this house, unexpectedly, five months after you got engaged. It was a blessing that you and your husband could live in such a beautiful and love-filled home, but let's face it: the two of you have NO IDEA what you are doing or how you are going to make it. This bathroom has been stripped bare, to its studs for over a year and a half now... This is not your idea of "Home Sweet Home", but life has thrown you guys some curves and you are ADJUSTING. Through it all, though, you love each other more than anything in the world and this is your moment (make it awesome!).

And, so, bizarrely, in my attempt to be transparent with the inadequacies of my home and homemaking for the guest who do dare to embark upon the "bathroom that once was", I have found a way to inspire myself each morning! I've embraced who I am - I'm someone who is adjusting, that doesn't mean I can't move on, it just means I'm learning on the job!