Top 10 Tuesday

Hello, friends.

I sincerely hope you're well. I hope that you enjoy what have been my joys this past week.

Top Ten Tuesday

1. Supper Bowl from Jaidee Thai Restaurant I went to Jaidee Thai for dinner with my friend Mandi and her friend last week. I typically stick to the traditional Pad Thai dish and garden rolls but I was willing to try something different so I ordered the Supper Bowl. It is a large bowl of soup with very tender pork, rice noodles, bean sprouts, bok choi, green onions, and cilantro. It was topped with crispy wonton crackers. I got it as spicy as I could get it. I absolutely loved it and will most likely have it again by the end of this week. The restaurant is fairly new. For such a tiny place, it seats a lot of people. The walls are a funky orange color, their teapots are elephant-shaped (I want one), and it's BYOB. I tried bubble tea there, too. I had bubble tea once before when I was up in Michigan earlier this year and it was great. The bubble tea at Jaidee Thai was okay. I had the mango flavor. Mandi loved it.

2. Mars has a Volcanic Heart Pluto isn't the only planet--I mean "planet"--with a heart. Knowing that I like to collect images of hearts in nature, etc., Brian sent me pictures of Mars' heart. This isn't news or anything, but I wasn't aware of it, so I was properly tickled. The heart is formed by volcanic activity on the planet. I can definitely relate to possessing a volcanic heart.

3. "I know how you are." I went home this past weekend to visit with family. My mom has been taking care of my very ill sister and it's the most moving thing I will probably ever witness in my life. They have the usual mother/daughter relationship even still, my sister contradicting my mom and my mom standing her ground. When my sister was getting smart about something, my mom put her in her place--you gotta do what you gotta do--and said to my sister, I know how you are. For some reason that really pummeled my heart. In the right moment, it can be the most beautiful thing a mother can say to her child. I mean, to know how someone is, is true love, right?

4. Learning to Change an Ostomy Bag On a related note, while helping to care for my sister, I learned the surprisingly easy process of changing an ostomy bag. This was my first time seeing a stoma (the small piece of colon that says hello to you at the opening created by a colostomy) and it looks like a rose bud.

5. Chilling at the Green Bean Coffee House with Brian On Sunday when we came back from spending the weekend with my family, Brian had some work to do and I wanted to do some reading. He had mentioned how he thinks working at the café might be less distracting for him and he'd be able to get a lot accomplished. I was of course on board, so we went to The Green Bean Coffee House, which is a newer café in the Altoona area and it's only a walk away from the apartment. We spent the majority of the afternoon there, he with his plain-Jane coffee and me with my frozen chai latte. I'm not a stranger to this café, but this was my first time truly taking in the atmosphere. Some of you know that I enjoy my alone-time reading and writing in cafes so it was kind of nice that I was able to enjoy it with my guy. We stayed long enough to watch daylight turn to night.

6. Lemony Snicket's Advice on How to Write a Thank-You Note

7. Universal Waite Tarot Deck Like I mentioned in a previous blog, I will be learning the symbology of Tarot and incorporating it any way I see fit. This is a very lovely deck and I'm excited. Look forward to monthly horoscopes in 2018!

8. MoviePass So, for less than $10 a month, I am able to go see as many movies as I want and not have to pay for tickets because of MoviePass. It's getting to be that time of year when the better movies will be coming out, just in time for the Oscar's. I love going to the movies (yes, even by myself) so I think I'll tremendously benefit with the pass. So, what are the stipulations? I can only see one movie a day. It has to be a movie at a participating theater (Altoona's theaters participate), and it has to be a regular viewing (not IMAX, 3D, etc.). My pass (it looks like a debit card) came in the mail yesterday and I used it for the first time today. Easy-peasy. I saw The Snowman. It wasn't that great, but it definitely put me in the mood for snow and cold-blooded murder.

9. An Old Friend So, when I was a little girl, another little girl lived next to me. Our families got along swimmingly and I always thought that it was precious that everyone called her mother Bunny. Anyway, the little girl's name was Ashley and she was a year younger than I was. They eventually moved away and our friendship didn't blossom any further than that. Now she's an amazing woman who lives 5-6 states away and there is no doubt in my mind that if circumstances were different, we would be amazing friends. But instead, we're distant admirers of one another. Even though this is the truth of our barely-there friendship, we both find complacency in it. She sent me a message this past week asking me if I'd create some paintings for her to give away as gifts. She didn't realize this at the time, but this was the distraction and invitation to creation I have been needing. I haven't painted in a long while but here was someone who not only remembered my bird art, but enjoyed it enough to want to share it with others. She is saving me in a way she does not know. I'm looking forward to all the creating ahead. Thank you, Ashley.

10. New Stamps! I went to the post office the other day and picked up some new Forever Stamps.

These WPA (Work Pays America) stamps are classy and eclectic. In the late 1930's, the Works Project Administration employed millions of people to new jobs in public services from zoos to national parks to various necessary trades. Communities all over the country thus developed numerous parks and other public spaces and to this day, these spaces are necessary and need protected. Not only did the WPA employ millions into trades, but a lot of artists, writers, and creative professionals were also employed into various trades. These stamps represent some of the many posters that were created to celebrate the WPA.

And aren't these the sweetest? These The Snowy Day stamps celebrate the children's book by the same title. The author/illustrator is Ezra Jack Keats, an author who is well-known for incorporating multiculturalism into children's literature. I don't know about you, but I would happily live in that little red snow suit.

#toptentuesday