Tuesday, August 18, 2009

My new book and a bit of a soapbox.

Like my aprons that hang in my kitchen...

And the dish towels that lay in the basket...

There is a common theme in these two pictures above. Can you guess what it is? Keep reading and you'll see.

I just started reading my new book. I absolutely love it so far. Back up, the last book I read, Here on Earth, was a good book but I was disappointed with the ending. It was very anticlimactic and it really was no surprise. I love a good twist in the end...or a good message and this just kinda laid there. Still, who am I to judge a well written book! Kudos to any author, I say! I will say this, it's inspiring me to write again. I miss it. I miss absorbing myself into another world. Oh well, soon perhaps. :)

Here's the book I just started reading. In a nutshell and very well put here is something I grabbed off of the author's website:


"The Last Time I Was Me is about a woman named Jeanne Stewart who has just hit crisis point in her life.

Unfortunately, she has reached that crisis point in front of 834 advertising execs, calling them, "pointless" and "schmucks." She has also assaulted her cheating boyfriend in a creative, and some might say humorous fashion, and is now facing both criminal and civil charges. She is grieving for her mother, still hiding from her past, and wondering if she should drive her new-old Bronco into the Pacific Ocean. When the moon is full and her truck packed with her high heel collection, her grandmother's teacups, a violin that brings her to tears, and her mother's china, she heads for Oregon. In Oregon she enters a court-ordered Anger Management program, runs naked along a river, falls in love, buries a body, learns more than she ever wanted to about germs, re-builds a house, eats piles of pancakes for the first time in years, covers herself in peanut butter, flies like a bird, runs a gubernatorial campaign, reaches out to those in desperate need of help, and endures a court trial.

She's busy.

Hope you enjoy The Last Time I Was Me.

It might make you cry. Might make you laugh. So get your chocolates and bubble bath ready before you begin. "

Courtesy of CathyLamb.net

I am loving this book so far and I have to say I can relate to what the character is going through. In a less extreme way, I am sort of at the point myself. You know, we've all lived life as we have been brought up to believe...what life is supposed to be like, what it's supposed to be about. Don't get me wrong, I am so thankful for how my parents raised me. If it weren't for them I wouldn't be who I am today instilled with good morals, values and a kind and loving heart. But....I still have questions. I seem to always have questions about life. Who defines what life is supposed to be like? How did the standards of society come about? If someone defined that standard at some point, who is that person....why did he set the standard and does that standard fit any other unique person like me..and you? If it doesn't, who are we? I'll tell you who we are. We are each individuals...we are each unique in ourselves, faults and all, and that's what makes life so exciting. It makes life exciting when we meet new friends who change our lives for better or worse because good or bad, I believe there is a reason to everything. All I know for sure is that I'm here to live life. Live my life to the fullest. But you know....I wanna live life as ME. I don't want to be the person that I'm supposed to be. I don't want to be the person that is supposed to like what everyone else likes or does what everyone else does. My unique qualities are here for me and to possibly touch someone else's life in a positive way and to harm none in my path. If I can do at least that, my life is priceless. See, that's what this book is about. It's about letting go of all we thought we should be so that we can finally be who we really are and to live the life that has been waiting for us all along. So if I wanna eat a whole bag of chocolates in one sitting....or if I wanna put my cat in a baby stroller and walk around the neighborhood, let me. If I want to enjoy laying in bed all day, don't tell me I should get up to exercise a little. Just enjoy my unique qualities and laugh with me. :) Seriously though, I probably wouldn't put my cat in a baby stroller. Lol!

So, about the pictures above. We may all be made of the same thing....we may all look the same....but we're still just a bit different and those differences are what makes life so fun! I mean really, look at all the beautiful designs in those dish towels and those aprons. Diversity! You gotta love it.

Okay, I'm off my soabox now. :) Thanks for indulging me. Now...go live life as YOU!

*sniffle, sniffle* Does anyone have a tissue?

25 comments:

debra@dustjacket said...

Oh loved this post honey! Thank you.

Hey ages ago there was a lady in my town who'd put her little dog in a baby stroller and go down the street. She'd put her shopping underneath ... it was a bit snappy though!
xoxo

Lola said...

What a great post - many thanks for sharing!

Hope you're having a wonderful week too!

xxxLOL LOLA:)

Tracey said...

I love what you have to say and agree! I think we spend (waste) too many years and too much time doing what others expect and worrying about what is said. From what I've learned about you,, you are a very wonderful, exciting woman. I dont' know if I would have had the courage to move away from home,and start over. But you did! I am so glad our paths crossed and that I am blessed to know you!

Zaroga said...

OH... I love this post :-)

You know Frank and I are very opposite... he is outgoing and talkative and I'm the shy, silent one... that occasionally gets a talkative spell :-) I love sports and he doesn't. We do share the same basic beliefs of God and raising children :-) We share photography, but he like black & white film and I love vivid color. Frank and I are best friend... best friends can tell each other anything and they are there for each other no matter what. We have never paid any mind to what others think of us... we just live our lives.

Your prince will come or not, but the life with or without him will be fabulous. I always enjoy reading your blog because you are so full of life... loving the adventure.

BALLET NEWS said...

Hi, just wanted to leave a comment to say how much I've enjoyed reading your posts today. You have a great blog, and I love your pictures. Thank you so much for sharing them !

Mila said...

Love the post!Thanks for sharing!

Lisa said...

I'll keep my eye out for that book. THanks for your wonderful perspective. Funny how so many of us struggle to just be ourselves (or just to figure out who that is). :)

Shirley said...

I just have to read this book! I didn't always act in a conventional way but most of the time, I did. Enough that it kept me from doing some things I wanted to do. And the job...do you know how many times I wanted to jump up and scream insults at my "superiors". I've never ceased to be amazed at how many ninnies make it to the top.

This was a great post!

Maggi said...

Wonderful words, thanks for sharing!

Laurie said...

I struggle with the idea of living my life the way I want to all the time. Being a sahm sometimes I think I don't deserve to follow my dreams.
Thanks I needed this pep talk!

Randi Troxell said...

wonderful post and this book sounds marvelous... it might awaken all of our inner ME'S!!

Heather said...

i will definitely check out this book! sounds like a great read. the cat in the stroller had me cracking up!

Noodlegirl said...

I love this post I feel so much better after reading it! Boy do I have lots to tell you!!!!!!!! Today is my last day packing my crapinto the pod.

Kathleen said...

Michelle....I have so much admiration for you. For many years, I sat by my telephone (no cell phones then) waiting for the man I loved to call me. Mostly he didn't. Instead of living my life, going places, being with friends, trying new things, etc.....I sat by my telephone, waiting for the calls that usually never came. I wish I had not wasted so much time languishing...I wish I had gone horse back riding, out with friends, trying new recipes.....just like YOU! I didn't have it in me. You are a strong, brave woman who knows how to live life. You are a role model for many of us. Bless you! Hugs, Kathleen

jen said...

Sounds like a great book!!!
I was so happy to see that you visited me...

jen

vanillasugarblog said...

Oh girl after I read what you just left me as a post on my blog I had to say I laughed out loud. My kitty pooped on my bed ONE time because he was very mad at me for being very stressed out. It was a week where all hell had broken loose and I was killer stressed. I now make sure I pay him lots of attention and not show all my stress to him. He hasn't done it since....fingers crossed. Man that time scared me. Sorry to laugh, but oh man.

soulchocolate@hotmail.com said...

Michelle, this is a tremendously soulful and uplifting post! You are truly a woman with a big heart! I've been wanting to post a comment on your blog several times this week, but i've been having a really crappy ultra slow internet connection here! least I have one thing to be thankful for today lol, my internet connection is back to normal!

Oregon Equestrian said...

:-)

Elaine said...

Yes, be who you are. You should definitely be true to yourself. I think as we get older we realize this.

I am not out to impress anymore. I want people to like me for me.

Think I'll check out the book. Going on vacation next week and need a summer read.

Lisa said...

Sounds like a great read!

Rainy Day Farm said...

Very Well Said! We should all live our best lives and not worry about following the so called "norm". That is what makes life fun. None of us are alike. Each person has something wonderful to add to this world!

Caroline said...

I just did a quick catch up on all your posts I have missed, I have been shamefully neglecting all my blogging friends!
This is a wonderful post, truly inspiring! I loved your comment about the tea towels and the aprons, so true!

Have a great weekend and keep reading!

Anonymous said...

Funny, I read you most recent post first and that made me cry, and then I come to this post, and discovered that this one made you cry! Well, not funny-haha-funny...you know what I mean...

Those are some deep thoughts there; I think about some of those too!

I'm going to read that book!

Patti said...

Michelle! I love who you are! keep on being and doing all the wonderful things that make you YOU! And the book sounds wonderful by the way!

cathleen said...

Exquisite post, Michelle...and I adore the aprons and dish towels. I find your blog to be truly delightful and your warm, lovely personality shines all over your words and photos.