Oh Sweete Spring, where you at, baby?

In an effort to remind myself that spring will indeed arrive, someday, somehow, here are a few more shots from the greenhouse to boost morale.

I just love the rusty old window frames, but I fear they need some major TLC or the whole place might just collapse around our heads.




Ah, those darling buds of May, or in this case, February.





Later, gator.

Something to Brighten your day

You've probably seen this by now, as it's gone viral, but in case you haven't, check out this video called T-Mobile Dance. If you liked the Frozen Grand Central, you'll love this. I defy you to sit still while you're watching it. I still have a smile plastered on my face.



And here is how it was done. I'm telling you, watching the non-professional dancers practice at home is hysterical, as is the older woman saying she was picked to do a waltz, because of her gray hairs, but "I can do the other stuff." And then she DOES! LOVE her:

Life's Funny Like That Party Day!

AKA Debby's Great Big Ole Kick Chemo to the Curb Party Day!! Her blog Life's Funny Like That is about lots of great and wonderful things, but lately it's been about Debby's battle with breast cancer. Her last chemo treatment is today, so we're celebrating, around the world. Bush Babe is in Australia in the midst of a hot summer, and I'm here in Montreal with a big snow storm about to hit, so join us in saying whoot whoot whoot to Debby!!

If you haven't had a chance to read Debby's blog, hop on over and you'll discover that even in the midst of chemo, she is funny, thoughtful, insightful, kind, truthful, and a damn fine writer. Some of us have been following her journey and today, her chemo is DONE. So pour yourself a glass of champagne, or chocolate milk or whatever tickles your fancy (me, I poured myself a wee dram of whisky in a pink elephant glass) and join us over at Bush Babe's place for our virtual shindig to toast Debby.

Buddy's already groovin', naughty dog....

Daphne Gray-Grant has some great tips

I love Daphne's newsletters which show up in my Inbox every Tuesday. They take just a few minutes to read, but they're pithy little gems of information. I also like the word pithy. Here is the latest one:

PW #159 - What the Japanese can teach you about writing

My family and I are moving house at the beginning of March. We're renovating our home and have to park ourselves elsewhere for full year. It's a mega-stressful undertaking -- made somewhat easier because we've found a house to rent in the very next block.

As you can imagine, I've been spending all my spare time thinning stuff. We wore our shredder to oblivion getting rid of old financial documents and we gave away 18 boxes of books last weekend. But I've also discovered a few treasures.

One is the short book One Small Step Can Change Your Life by Robert Maurer a professor at the UCLA school of medicine. I'm embarrassed to admit I received the book as a gift from a friend many years ago -- and the teeny tiny volume somehow buried itself in the stacks of clutter in my office. It emerged from hibernation last week and I read it for the first time. What a winner! And what lessons this book offers.

Subtitled "The Kaizen Way" the book presents the Japanese technique of achieving great and lasting success through small, steady steps. How small? Really small. For example, a single mother who was depressed, exhausted and 30 lbs overweight was instructed to lose weight by marching for one minute while she watched TV each night. One minute!

The woman became so enthusiastic about her success in achieving this modest goal she asked for more exercise. Maurer and his colleague then helped her build the exercise habit, minute by minute. Within a few months, the woman's resistance had disappeared and she enthusiastically embraced a full aerobics workout.

Maurer says Kaizen works because it:

· Unsticks you from creative blocks

· Bypasses the fight-or-flight response associated with fear

· Creates new connections between neurons so that the brain enthusiastically takes over the process of change.

So, how can this help you? Maurer offers six steps which I've listed here. And under each one, I've suggested a "how to" example that's specific to writing.

1) Ask small questions. Ask yourself, "how will I get my book written?" and your brain is likely to shut down. That's because big questions cause fear to arise. Instead, ask incredibly simple questions such as: "If writing were my first priority, what would I be doing today?"

2) Think small thoughts. Spend 30 seconds every day imagining yourself as a successful, accomplished writer. Picture sitting at your computer and seeing your fingers moving quickly across the keyboard. When you're comfortable doing this, imagine what happens when you run out of ideas and then see yourself successfully dealing with the problem.

3) Take small actions. Instead of vowing to write for five hours, spend five minutes writing.

4) Solve small problems. Look for small problems in your writing or writing habits. Perhaps you have a messy desk that distracts you? Maybe you answer email while you're trying to write? Perhaps your mouse is uncomfortable? Pick one problem and do something small to make it better.

5) Bestow small rewards. Big rewards tend to put your focus on the wrong thing -- big projects. Instead, you want to focus on something small. So reward yourself for achieving a small writing commitment. For example, write for five minutes and then reward yourself by watching a show on TV or reading a favourite blog.

6) Identify small moments. Look for what Maurer calls "hidden moments of delight" and note them to yourself. What pleases you about your writing? When does writing feel good? Look for the sense of pleasure rather than pain and celebrate it.

I know this may all sound flakey or trivial, but there's lots of proof that Kaizen works. Toyota reduced many of its automobile flaws with the small step of adding a pull-cord allowing workers to stop the assembly line if they saw a problem. Lance Armstrong uses "small thoughts" to improve his athletic performance.

Why don't you make reading One Small Step your small task for this week?

***

A former daily newspaper editor, Daphne Gray-Grant is a writing and editing coach and the author of the popular book 8½ Steps to Writing Faster, Better.

She offers a brief and free weekly newsletter on her website. Subscribe by going to the Publication Coach.

***

I'll let you know what small steps I'm making. Hint. It involves a piece of plywood with a stained glass lamp pattern on it. And it has nothing whatsoever to do with stained glass.

Close, but no cigar

Buddy did not win, but the lovely sweet Bear did. Congratulations BEAR! I almost voted for you myself.

Go to Ric Peterson's page here and check out the winner. Sadly, there's an honorable mention for a dog named Angel who just passed away.

All of this was to support the SPCA and to raise awareness about the problem of puppy mills here in Quebec, so it's all good. Buddy is okay with it. In fact, his appetite hasn't been affected in the least. What a good boy.

Thanks to all of you who voted for the Budster!

The Next 5,000 Days of the Web or The One

I happen to love the TED lectures as does my buddy kcdyer. This one dates from 2007 where Kevin Kelly explains the Web is only 5,000 days old, and wonders what the next 5,000 days will bring.

I think about my grandmother, who lived to be just shy of her 100th birthday. Born in 1889 in England, she traveled by ship to Canada and over her lifetime, she witnessed the birth of planes, cars, telephones, electricity in everyday life, indoor plumbing (she still kept a chamber pot under my bed when I visited,) computers, space travel...boggles the mind, no?

What are we going to see in our lifetime? I admit that although I love technology (I sound like Napoleon's brother, and if you get that reference, you get me) too much of it makes me long for a simple cabin in the woods. And when Kelly talks about The One, well, it's exciting, but part of me wants to run for the hills.

Believe in the impossible, he says. Hmm.

What do you think?

No News Yet Regarding Contest Results

The organizer of the contest is in B.C. right now, as we are starting the countdown to the next Winter Olympics being held in Vancouver in 2010, whoo hoo! So Ric Peterson has promised to do the tally this weekend and announce the winner on Monday or Tuesday of next week. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, here are some photos to amuse you while we wait.

This is Doug and me when we were first dating. Sheesh. We were babies! Doug looks about fifteen (although I think in this photo, he is closer to thirty.)

And speaking of babies, I found some old photos of me pregnant. Note the cool, giant red 80s glasses, oh yeah. And please excuse the wonky angle as this was way before digital.

This is literally right before Eldest was born. That's a baby bump and a half.

And this is the next day, right after I delivered her, all set to go home from the hospital. I miss having babies in the house, their sweet little feet like balls of dough, their tiny ears, the way they yawn with their whole bodies, and kick like frogs, the soft nape of their necks and fuzzy heavy heads....sigh. I miss all of it.