My Spark

Sometimes, in stressful times, like the last day and a half Baze says things that make me so grateful. ....Profound things like ..."Ev-BahDee SING!".... or... "Mama, Par-ede!!!" which is ultimately followed by loud made-up song singing ,marching around the couch in circles and the banging of home made instruments(Because store bought ones are not nearly as fun). ...OR "Tinkle, Tinkle, li-ul STAR, Tinkle, Tinkle li-ul STAR, Tinkle, Tinkle li-ul STAR, Tinkle Tinkle Li-Ul STAR....won-der....up buv....high"....Ugh.... It's good stuff this.... Real good.

A Break from the Torrent

I'm taking a short break from my crazy, currently overstuffed and overstressed life to post this song by Tanya Davis called....
Art.

I wondered what would be the worth of my words in the world
if i write them and then recite them are they worth being heard
just because i like them does that mean i should mic them
and see what might unfurl

i think of the significance of my opinions here
is it significant to be giving them does anybody care
just because i’m into this does that mean i should live like it
and really do i dare

art, art i want you
art you make it pretty hard not too
and my heart is trying hard here to follow you
but i can’t always tell if i ought to

so i pondered the point of my art in this life
if i make it will someone take it and think it’s genuine
will they be glad that i did ’cause they got something good out of it
will they leave me and be any more inspired

i question the outcome of the outpouring of myself
if i tell everyone my stories will this keep me healthy and well
will it give me purpose, to this world some sort of service
is it worth it, how can i tell

art, art…

I found it posted on one of my favorite blogs (yes, I'm only a lurker there but alas...) a peek inside the fishbowl

As a (sort-of real but mostly) wannabe songwriter, this song really touches on the struggles of most artists I think. And since humanity is the only requisite for the production of real art(Don't you think? Or do the painting elephant and cat count too? And what of birdsong?) I think it might actually be a primary plight of humanity as a whole. Certainly a familiar one for those that blog... - Hi blogging friends! *wave wave*

Should we share the most intense bits of our soul? The ones that beg to be screamed from mountaintops... As well as the ones that intentionally confuse, entangle and hide themselves back in the deepest recesses at the first inkling that they are to be pushed out into the light? Is it righteous or selfish to express our souls in ways that make others feel the way we do - good or bad, simple or complex?

As usual, all I've got is questions.... I have to give myself the credit though that I am very well practiced at their asking... And that, my dears, is a start.

An internal summer frenzy

Seriously. This summer has been just nuts. They always have seemed to fly by. But wow. I really can't account for what was actually so busy and taxing but it really felt like we've been running for three months straight. Really.

I think a big part of it is that I am really having trouble completing things. Or maybe I do complete things and I just have so many things that need to be completed that I'm really never finished. I never quite feel accomplished in my day....my life sometimes. I am blessed/cursed by my love of experience. I have really high expectations for this world and my life in it. I think that's good actually. I want a completely fulfilled life. Now I just have to figure out how NOT to make myself crazy getting it....

In happier, cuter news Baze is officially a little boy. He turned 2 at the end of July and wow in the last couple of weeks I swear he's sprouted. What a beaming, inquisitive, mischievous outlook he has. I'm so excited to be around to watch(in wonder) as his little personality unfurls. What a treasure I've got.

WOW! That's just cool....

Unfortunately, I have to put this in a link to share....sorry....but totally go check it out!! This is sooooooo awesome!!

Yesterday and today....

Yesterday our living room was a lovely shade of Orange (2 actually). Today....it is a very neutral (albeit rather nice and retro looking) parchment-y color. Yes, last night we painted our living room. Shay's friend Julie, who does painting on the side, came and helped us. We started at 6pm and finished at almost 11pm. Impressed right? Huh? Huh?....AND it was ZERO VOC paint too!! Unfortunately, when the rooster crows at 5:30am , that means we missed out on quite a bit of shut-eye....humph.

And.... Baze and I went to the park at like 8:30am this morning(I caved pretty quickly. I just couldn't handle the "Pawk. Pawk. Pawk. Paawwwwk. Paaaaaawwwwk!" whining this morning after our night-of-little-sleep.) He played very nicely and even swung on the big-boy swing like a big boy! So cute! We played quite a bit and were playing "Chase me!" in the open area when Baze quickly decided to run right into the middle of the street. Now, the park is surrounded by streets, all of which are residential and not particularly well traveled. But it scared me to death and so I kinda screamed at him a little. Not five minutes later he did it again. At that point, I was scared AND angry so I scooped him up and told him we were going home. Our exchange went something like this: "We have to go home now. If Bazie can't listen to mommmy then we have to go home! It's a very bad thing to run in the street! It is dangerous! We don't go in the street...right Baze? No. Street. You say Baze. Noooo. Street." Having a vague understanding of the gravity of the situation after all my yelling and eyebrow furrowing, Baze responds very seriously "Noooo. Sheep."

It probably doesn't help Baze to understand the "No Running into the street" effort when I'm rolling in the street laughing. Hard. Does it?

Oh Sweet Bazie!

Just a quick note. I have to note this so I will remember a (two?) cute Bazism.
Baze has recently discovered his pockets. Which truly, is making me realize how amazing pockets really are. They mean you can go around picking up more and More and MORE rocks and sticks and still have your hands free to point at things(emphatically!!) and name them (ie...Mon!=Moon, Papee!=Puppy, Cawe!!=Car!!). So the really cute thing is that his version of the word Pocket is actually Pocky...just like his ride-on rocket is referred to as a "Rocky".....ugh. Little precious man....

All The Things I Can't Get Done

I know this title sounds negative. And well, it is really. I cannot seem to get any of my important life projects done. Do you have these kinds of To Do items? The ones you can't ever seem to scratch off your list, even though you are positive they would change your life for the better in their final completion.

Here is my list:
* Create a internationally diverse, vege-filled, and cheap menu plan and matching shopping lists for at least a months worth of meals(A country focus a week). (Yes certainly a challenge...but not impossible....)

*Load more music on my phone so when I go to walk on the treadmill at the Y, I don't have to listen to the 8 songs I originally loaded on there (Before Baze was born...) over and over and over again.

*Purge my crafty area. I need this stuff to be way more functional and inviting. I LOVE to do any sort of crafting. But not being able to find what I want to play with makes it far too frustrating to even attempt. So....some crafties must go. (The hard thing about this one is not only do I NOT actually want to get rid of any of my craft supplies but I never have a large enough stretch of time where I can dig it all out and sort it. I've started this one before, but it always all gets crammed back in where I found it because we have a showing....ugh!)

*Figure out a good daily schedule where I am satisfied with the state of the cleanliness of the house on a regular basis AND I spend lots of one-on-one time with my Bazie and my Hubby...AND have a little time to spend on Barefoot ..AND have some time(at least an hour and a half a day to spend working out at (or getting to and then working out at) the Y. Is that asking so much?

*Go out on a "Take your time" date with just my hubby. Where we spend the day just together and find again what we found in each other before we had a precious little man in between us all the time.

Okay, now I'm starting to get "wanty"...I want this ....I want that....I want a million dollars ....

Going to bed now...with "If I Had a million dollars" stuck in my head...

Oh, my Intuition is going off again!

So, I was walking this morning at the Y. (As I do every morning...M-F....I'll post more details about the super walking workout that I've been working on, another time.) To set the scene a little I walk on the treadmill amongst a bunch of other workout machines and in front of two large gyms. There is a track that is above the open gyms that goes around the machine area(an upper level) as well. So I'm walking and I get a weird feeling. Suffice it to say going 5 days a week means I have at least seen all the other regular walkers/work outers and have spoken to quite a few of them. Whilst I was walking today though a new guy started walking around the track whom I had never seen before. It was one of those moments when as soon as he stepped on the track I knew he was there. He wasn't hideous or anything. Relatively large (in a fat and gangly, NOT muscular way). With a red face and an farmer-styled foam black cap. He was one of those people who seems not to have eyelashes or brows but actually does, their just almost clear in color. I remember vividly his red rimmed eyelashless eyes. So, what began as a slightly ominous feeling coinciding with this guys arrival, began to slowly grow. Now, I don't believe in judging people on looks alone. And generally I think I do a pretty good job of checking my assumptions. But, I have also learned to trust my intuition. So for the first bit I alternated between trying to figure out my menu plan in my head and having an argument with myself (in my head, of course) that went something like this:
Intuition me: "I have a bad feeling about that guy."
Logical (often critical) me: "Your so judgemental. Just because the guy is a little disheveled looking does not mean he's dangerous. Give him a fair shake. "
IM: "No ,but really. I think I need to go. Seriously, that guy is giving me the heebe geebes."
LM: "Calm down. It's nothing. You are just being paranoid. Take a breath and stop trying to find excuses to stop your workout."

...at this point we're at about 10-15 minutes since this guy appeared. And all of a sudden he disappears and reappears one treadmill away from me. The whole five minutes he walked there I was telling myself :"Don't look at him. Don't make any funny gestures or lick your lips or sneeze or ANYTHING that would give him any ideas" Exactly what ideas I thought he'd get I don't know. But it took so much exertion to keep myself from running away that my treadmill heart monitor kept lowering my incline (to account for my ever increasing heart rate). He only walked on the treadmill for like two minutes and then got off and began walking around the track again. I regained some sense of calm and continued my workout, trying not to be weirded out by this strong feeling of drowning/sinking. About 5 minutes later he got back on the treadmill. By this time there were a bunch of people in the machine area training on the new weight machines they put in last week. So I felt a little less scared.(I was no longer arguing the logical side with myself but was fighting the full throws of 'fight or flight'. He walked on the treadmill for about 10 minutes that time and the entire time I planned my escape.

I figured when my time was up he'd probably be walking on the track again so I'd keep walking until he was just out of line of sight and then I'd quickly wipe down the treadmill and run downstairs. He smelled like an old wet ashtray. Now, I have smoked and smelled like smoke before but this is that kind of smell that overtakes you in its strength and pungency. It was as though he had soaked his workout clothes in an outdoor ashtray after the rain. It was a pervasively ugly smell. So I asked myself "Why would someone who smokes so much be here walking for so long?" (I walk for about 50 minutes which is really long for most people and he was there almost the whole time). He just didn't seem to belong. So the moment he got off the treadmill and started walking the track again I kept a watch. As soon as he passed where I was in line of sight I hopped to the spray bottle wiped my treadmill, collected my stuff and left.

Have you ever had this feeling before? An intuition so strong that you completely neglect all sense of logic for some ancient self preservation alarm? Am I crazy?(As 'they' say....paranoia, will destroy ya!)

More importantly, does it make me a bad person for feeling this horribly about someone who I've never met and hasn't done me any harm?(yet?)

Tales of a cutie pie...

Must get down these two cute Baze stories before I forget them.

One happened a week or so ago. The hubby and Baze were watching "the Upside Down show" (its a fairly cute Australian kids show with two guys that are actually quite funny and do mostly a bunch of pretending..) In this episode one guy gets his hair cut and comes out of the barbers and says..."Oh no...I forgot my sticker" So the other one says, "Here, have mine." He then proceeds to take a pretend sticker off his shirt and places it on the first guy shirt making a *scht* noise for emphasis. Then the one who gave his "sticker" away then says..."Now I don't have a sticker!" So the other guy goes "Oh, here!" And making the scht noise pretends to give the"sticker" back again. As you can probably guess this little game goes on for like twenty rounds. And apparently in the time they watched Baze picked up this little routine and started playing it with dad. So at dinner that night Baze says "NaStikoo....scht". I don't get it at all and do my normal "Oh really! How interesting!" and then daddy informs me of their new game. I watch agape for like five minutes!! It is just so amazing and adorable to see him pick up on "situations" like this and then recreate them....and so entertaining to watch him pretend so effectively.

The second one happened today. We were at the Y (aren't we always) in the changing room changing for swim class. The door to the room has a button lock - you know the kind where you shut the door then press the button on the handle and it locks the door. Baze was ready to go and playing with the door handle. And I was still paranoidly getting my suit on (he has previously opened a public bathroom stall door on me mid pee....so a little paranoia is fair in this situation). Then all of a sudden he presses the lock button and says "dng dough". I'm all like "Hey Don't open the door...mommy doesn't have a shirt on!!" And he does it again...presses the button and says "dng dough-g" ...with some sort of intonation....and I realize...he's pretending the button lock is the door bell...Ding Dong!! Once again, desperately cute this one.....

Posting anyway....

I have a tendency, being a quasi optimist, to want the world to see that best happy part of me. Unfortunately, that means my blog seems to go silent when I have nothing "good" to say. Like now for instance. So, in the spirit of being completely honest with and about myself I've decided to post anyway.

I am sick. As in, I can't breathe through my nose, my head is exploding and my body aches. On top of the ultimate joy of illness I am of late struggling with a bout of depression brought on by almost 4 months of cleaning what is essentially my eternally dirty house. AND juggling a baby and two dogs out of the house on the whim of a perspective home buyer who doesn't even make it INSIDE the house!! Even better is the fact that we have no idea where we'll be in the near future and cannot plan anything. Including a vacation. Of which we have not partaken of the bliss of since we conceived our almost 2 year old Baze.

Rant over? Yes, I think so. On a happy note.....or at least a mostly happy note. I have developed some really great friendships at the YMCA since I've been walking 5 days a week. I'm really excited that I've been keeping up on the fitness plan!! Yay Me!
The End.

For all the momma's

In honor of Mother's Day I have to send out some love to ALL the momma's out there...
* For pet mom's - and YES it totally counts. Dogs (Pets really..)are people too.
* For mentor's and 2nd mom's who give you all the things your blood momma can't. Support and love at times a bio mom can just be to close to your pain to really help....
* For all those mom's trying desperately to birth their own children whatever it takes and whatever it costs.
* For foster mom's, adoptive mom's, step mom's and surrogate mom's. This crowd never seems to get the love and props they're do. Loving children you birthed yourself is hard enough let alone loving and caring for children that aren't your own. Often times fighting hard just to love them....many times completely unappreciated.
* For all the mom's that make mothering look easy....AND all the rest of us. Who struggle every single day.
* For all the mom's whose children have lost their way.... who are fighting tooth and nail to keep them from destroying themselves.
* For all the mom's with children in the service fighting a pointless war....
* For all the mother's who have lost children. Our hearts are with all of you.
* For all the mom's who say "I love you" verbally to their children everyday. And for all the mother's who say "I love you" with every paycheck and support they can provide.
* For all the widow's, divorcees, spouses of servicemen at war and single mother's and father's who are both Mother AND Father every single day.
* For mother's with spotless and messy houses.....mother's who cook from scratch and mother's who cook in the nuker....
* For mother's with only one child...AND mother's with a house , a team or a classroom full of children who they call their own....
* For mom's with disabilities; physical, mental and emotional......keep fighting...you're winning!
* For mom's whose children have the flu and mom's whose children have cancer.
* For teenage mothers.
* For all the mom's who go hungry so their children can eat...
* For new mother's and the "so new" stuggle of sleep deprivation and sacrifice. And of all the mature mom's whose children are having children of their own...teaching and letting go all at the same time...
* For our mother's mother's mother's ...who had it so much harder than we can even imagine..


For all of us.....doing the best we can every single day....

My (new) Fave Websites

I have been hungry for new interesting things lately and have stumbled across some really cool web curiosities(or something like that).

http://www.43things.com - Life goal setting! How fun! And people cheer you on!! Just what I need!

http://www.freerice.com - Enhance your vocabulary. Play a little game. Feed hungry people. A win, Win, WIN!!

http://www.pandora.com - Ever wish you could talk to the radio and tell it how you really loved that song -but really hate this one? That's what pandora is. They're geniuses, I tell you geniuses!

http://www.gratefulness.org/candles - It's like beautiful spiritual place that can fit the whole world. I grew up in a Presbyterian church where, as youth, we lit the service candles. But I have to say it wasn't nearly as moving or cathartic for me as these little internet ones.

http://www.thestoryofstuff.com - If you haven't seen it yet, watch it.

http://www.eightprinciples.com and http://www.fivebigquestions.com - Thought provoking and entertaining....sooooo how I roll.

http://www.longnow.org - I just love smart people who think about things like this and make foundations to support them. Leave it to us humans to think about time and existence in a scientific way further than 2 or 3 lifetimes into it.

http://www.ted.com - More smart people!! And they're sharing!!

That's all today children. Good luck prying yourself from your puter for a while. ;-) Escapist?! Not me.

Home Update

We are...as you say....back to square one. Terminix came and said there was NO structural damage and that all that needed to be done was the Termite Treatment. So $1200 later...NOT $30,000 per Mean Inspector man's estimate, we are starting over. The original buyers really had our hopes up there for a while. We got a letter from their lawyer canceling their offer a couple days after the inspector came. And our lawyer sent them back a letter detailing what the problem really was and how we had fixed it. And then they came back to look at the house again with both sets of their parents a couple days after that response letter. But we haven't heard from them since. Now the attorney's period is over and we are no longer bound to their offer we have put the house back on the market. The most unfortunate part of this whole thing is that now I really have my heart set on the house we put an offer on. Because our offer was contingent on this home sale our offer is kaput. Which means we have to work really hard to get this house sold as soon as possible so we can put in another offer before someone else snatches it up. It's funny. I feel surprisingly upbeat even though I don't want to lose the house. I just sort of feel better not being in limbo. At least now, we know what we need to do. Hopefully all of the flowers will start coming out soon! More curb appeal!!

I puke on long roller coaster rides...

Well, I think a recap of recent months events is in order.

• Feb 1:We put our house on the market. (yes, it is a crappy time to put your house on the market. But we want to start trying for more kids soon and have no place to put them in our current house.)
• March 25: After about 5 or so showings we get an offer. Yay!!!
• March 26:After a couple of counter offers back and forth we land on a mutually agreeable offer which includes a closing of April 25. Yes. April 25 Ahhhhhhhhhh! We have to find a house!!!!
• March 31: Go house shopping. Look a second time at a house we had looked at in early Feb. Fall in love. Put in an offer.
  
• April 1: This date will forever live in infamy from now on... The devil. Seriously, the devil himself comes to inspect our house. Quotes from the devil: "This fridge (Brand spanking new in January) is dirty(said with utter distaste) but it works." "These to windows in the kitchen are painted shut. And they'd need supports. Could be hard on your back"(We completely redid the Kitchen in January including painting the window sills. They need to be razored, certainly. But do they have ten coats of paint on them and will never be opened again? No.) And finally the kicker...He shows the other realtor and the to-be buyer evidence of termites. And proceeds to scare the shit out of them (first home for them) telling them it is going to cost $30,000 mitigate the damage. Now, we did not know there was any termite activity in the house at all. We have done lots of work to this house and never found any sign of them. So finding termites on his part is fair. But some of the other inspectors our Realtor has talked to says there is no way it will be anywhere near that cost. Then....THEN we get the a counter from the House we fell in love with and put a bid on. And he can't be out until later in May(For three weeks either we'll have to board the dogs and move the three of us in my parents tiny extra bedroom OR for $2500 we could stay at the extended stay). Seriously nauseous now, I watch all the stuff we had just barely fitting together come crashing down. So now depending on what happens when we get a real termite inspector in here that new house may all go down the shitter. This is why I don't like getting my hopes set on things... Trying to stay positive though and I know that everything will work out eventually, its just really hard to see it that way right now.
  

If you are reading this....please send some good vibes our way. We can use anything we can get right now.....

My Bazie....

I just thought I should record some of the cute things my Bazie does now, before I forget them.

Kisses: He gives the cutest kisses. He hasn't quite figured out how to make the pucker sound, when he goes to give you a kiss he snuffs in through his nose. I think it's how he makes the pucker sound....soooooooooo cute.

Puppies:....Baze pronounces the word puppies ....Babouf..... I think the "f" sound approximates the "s" sound......Adorable!

Singing and dancing....Bazie likes to sing and dance all the time. Generally, he sings the "Brother John" Tune....and dancing...well he's got all the moves...from the Booty wiggle to the shoulder shake!

Counting: Bazie likes to point at things and pretend to count them. He did it first one day when we were getting ready for swim class. I have a series of decorative buttons on my suit and one day he pointed at one and said "uh"...then the next one "bu"..."uh" ..."oh"....etc......he's a genius!

His flirty "I'm Shy" smile. First, let me just tell you Baze is NOT shy. In the least. In fact quite the opposite. So its doubly funny when he walks up to some strange little girl or woman. Lifts one shoulder and tips his head so his ear touches that shoulder and SMILES...the cutest, most flirtatious smile he can muster.... He's gonna be a heart breaker!

You know there will be more on this subject.....

Synchronicity

...have you ever had that feeling, almost like a sound really, as if you were inside a large clock. Much like Big Ben. But bigger. And although, while you're standing there, you can definitely tell that time is passing ...you get caught up in the noise and spectacle of standing inside a large clock (I imagine, as I've never actually been inside a large clock) all of a sudden you hear the noise (or get the feeling and then hear the noise) that things are starting to line up. Gears are suddenly screaming at you to notice that they are almost aligned. And you have that sense of anticipatory excitement about the top of the hour approaching and the subsequent clanging bell.

I had this feeling right after Christmas. Actually, and it always seems to happen this way for me, I was feeling very disconnected. Very depressed, and unsure about the choices I've made regarding Baze and work (or lack thereof). I was certainly tired from the holiday and as usual a little let down. But this time it felt like more than that (probably part of my own special little version of mental illness :D). See, I have "spurts" where I feel really in tuned to myself , others, the world in general. After, many bad encounters with people and a lot of life lessons I feel like I really trust my own sense of intuition about people and timing. And I have a very creative mind. So much so, that some days its like a faucet (picture it like a magical faucet in the dessert*pop*)that I can't shut off. Every time I try to catch all the water (ideas.....inspiration) I start to fill up buckets (write...journal, craft even) but the water comes too fast. And I just can't keep up with it. And so half the water ends up evaporating as soon as it hits the hot sand. It's mostly exciting. I could really help the townsfolk (myself, my family, the greater world) with all that water. And a little bit bittersweet because of all the water that is lost in the process. During this last slump though it was like the faucet just stopped running. And then I just got soooooo thirsty. And eventually I just feel like I was getting buried in the sand. I need that water to survive. So. My point was.....all of a sudden I got that Big Ben *click* feeling. I started feeling more confident in my parenting. I started purging my house(that's a big one for me, it sort of represents letting go of my mom's thought patterns). I made a commitment to walking everyday. And I found Barefoot Books. What a good story too!

See, I found this Book of Fairy Tales at my local bookstore and I absolutely fell in love with it. And yes you can fall in love with a children's book. In fact I'm quite the Children's book slut. Which is fair since when all the people in my life failed me in various ways and at various levels. I turned to books. And you know what? I don't think I would have survived without them. So my thanks go out to all the authors who's books helped me survive.....Anyway, (geeze what a party pooper I am )...on with the story. SO, I bought this Book of Fairy Tales in like November I think. And I poured over it in the store. Admiring the beautiful illustrations and mostly classic stories that were organized by country of origin. And they are beautiful and riveting versions of all the traditional Fairy Tales to be sure. But with the impending holiday the book went up on the shelf to be forgotten. After the new year I began the household purge I was talking about earlier. And when I started sorting through Baze's books I ran across it again. And fell in love all over again. And that's when I realized the publisher was Barefoot books. Now, I've always loved to be barefoot so it felt kind of coincidental. And I just really loved the book. So I kind of scoured the book for more info on the publisher. And found their website URL. This is where my synchronicity truly began. I found that they were environmentally conscious. And that they were really working to produce high quality books, for children from all walks of life with themes that included acceptance and creativity. These are themes in my life! Then I found out you could sell Barefoot from your home. I was sold. I started selling towards the end of January. And I really feel like my faucet's back. In fact its more like a fountain! So thanks to Barefoot for helping me find me again!

Oh the Places you'll go!

Oh, the Places You'll Go!
Congratulations!Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!You're off and away!
You have brains in your head.You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the gal who'll decide where to go.

You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.
And you may not find any you'll want to go down.
In that case, of course, you'll head straight out of town.

It's opener there in the wide open air.
Out there things can happen and frequently do
to people as brainy and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along.You'll start happening too.

OH! THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!
You'll be on your way up!You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.
You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you'll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don' t Because, sometimes, you won't.
I'm sorry to say so but, sadly, it's true and Hang-ups can happen to you.

You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch.And your gang will fly on.
You'll be left in a Lurch.
You'll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant BUMP.
And the chances are, then, that you'll be in a Slump.
And when you're in a Slump, you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.
A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?
And IF you go in, should you turn left or right...or right-and-three-quarters?
Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?

Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.
You can get so confused that you'll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

The Waiting Place... ...for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come,
or a plane to go or the mail to come,
or the rain to go or the phone to ring,
or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a sting of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

NO! That's not for you!
Somehow you'll escape all that waiting and staying.
You'll find the bright placeswhere Boom Bands are playing.
With banner flip-flapping, once more you'll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you're that kind of a guy!
Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. there are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You'll be famous as famous can be,with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.
Except when they don't. Because, sometimes, they won't.

I'm afraid that some times you'll play lonely games too.
Games you can't win'cause you'll play against you.
All Alone!Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something you'll be quite a lot.
And when you're alone, there's a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.

But on you will go though the weather be foul
On you will go though your enemies prowl
On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl
Onward up many a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak.
On and on you will hike and I know you'll hike far
and face up to your problems whatever they are.
You'll get mixed up, of course, as you already know.
You'll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life's a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!(98 and 3 / 4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!
So...be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Brayor
Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places! Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting. So...get on your way!
---Dr. Seuss