Happy Holidays

I agree it is a little too early to start saying "Merry Christmas" but I am sooooo ready to get into the holiday spirit of the season!
Yes, until January 2nd you will only hear holiday-related songs on this site! Please let me know what your favorite holiday song is and I will add it to my playlist for your listening pleasure whenever you come to my site!

Lost and (I hope) Found

This is to the father at the park who I watched frantically walk from here to there in a panic, holding one scared, crying child while screaming at the top of his lungs for his other, obviously missing child.
All I did was stare at you while I helped my daughter get into her carseat.
"Should we do anything?"
"No"
"Are you sure?"
"We can't"
Thankfully someone did come to your rescue and ask you what was wrong and then they sped off with purpose towards the ranger's office as you continued to scream for the missing child, while the one you were holding grew more scared and cried louder.
At one point we made eye contact.
Then I got into my seat, closed the door and we drove away. We left you there alone and scared.
What kind of person am I? I am still thinking about you and praying that you found your other child and that the child you were holding was comforted.
This is to the father who was scared and alone - I'm sorry.

This Woman

By Butternose
(Check out song #23 "Daughters" to get the feel for this entry.)

It’s a shame that you’ll never understand,

The woman I became,

The woman that I am.

To you I’m just a girl,

But to me I’m someone else.

A wife,

A mother,

An individual if nothing else.

I don’t know how to explain

Who I’ve become,

Or who I want to be.

But I want you to know,

This woman that I am,

There’s more than what you see.

Maybe one day we’ll meet on common grounds,

And we’ll

Listen, and

Observe,

Value, and

Esteem

Each other.

Until then I’ll stay your little girl,

And you can stay my mother.

Something to make you laugh today

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJxehS0wJrU

Wasting Minutes

(Check out song #17 "Carry Me" for this entry)
I was talking to my friend today and she called me on my cell phone. We were talking for some time and she stopped in the middle of our conversation and asked me if she was wasting my minutes.
I was taken aback.
Why would she be wasting my minutes?
I told her that there's no such thing. She asked what I meant, what kind of phone plan did I have?
I started laughing and explained to her that I wasn't referring to the phone plan I have. Instead, I was referring that talking with my friend is never a waste of my minutes.
She thought that was sweet but I also hope that she knows I was sincere.
I recently reached the ripe old age of 32 and I've had a lot of experiences with people of all walks of life.
There have been people I've loved and let go and there have been people I've loved and lost and there have been people I've loved and are still close to my heart, who I talk with often (or as much as I can).
For those of you who know me and for those of you who have yet to meet me, I always trust and love the person you are at first meeting, maybe a bad thing for me but I'll take my chances. It's where our paths cross after that, that will either build that relationship or dwindle it.
I think I can say that throughout my years I have built more relationships than those I have let dwindle.
I'm the friend you can trust when you ask, "Please don't tell anyone."
I'm the friend you can count on to tell you the truth, but gently.
I'm the friend you can turn to when everyone else has turned away.
So, if you're ever wondering if you're wasting my minutes my answer is :
I'm the friend who listens.

Hunger Pains

To hear other people's thoughts is what we all, at least some of us, think we would most desire.
"I wonder what she really thinks of me as a friend?"
"I wonder what the hesitation in my husband's voice meant when I asked him how I looked in this outfit?"
"I wonder why that stranger is staring me up and down from across the room?"
Things of this nature.
I've had the recent privilege to have that desire filled and it wasn't anything that I desired to hear.
A little background info: Over the past two years for reasons unknown to me, I've gained about 30 pounds, most of it in the past year. I can tell a huge difference in my body where as others politely tell me that they haven't noticed a change, that I look the same. While I appreciate their kindness, they're full of it!
In 2007 I was active, going to the gym everyday and wearing a size 10. Now, I'm slightly active, don't go to the gym at all and wear a size 16 on a good day.

Recently, on a trip to visit family that I haven't seen in a while, someone who thought I was out of ear's shot made a comment after I squeezed past them at the dinner table.
"Man, her ass got HUGE!"
That shot a pain in my stomach. Funny thing, it felt kind of like a hunger pain.

Within the same week I was told first-hand that someone was looking at some pictures of me from about 2 years ago and made this comment:
"Wow, Butternose used to be skinny!"
This time the comment punched me right in the gut and made the top 10 list of things that have made me feel horrible in my life. I cried and the hunger pains shot back through my stomach.

Maybe some of you will say this might have been good for me to hear so I'll get off my ass and finally do something about my weight but it truly didn't have that effect. What it made me want to do is rewind back to right before the first comment where I was happy with myself and content with my weight for the time being.
I had been working on exercising more and eating better the week before all of this happened and, not that I'm going to stop now, but those comments just made my efforts seem worthless.

I'll get past this, I get past most everything.
Time is a burden to memories.

Like a diamond

I visit you one last time.
You shake your head in defeat,
"You're leaving us again."
As much as it hurts you,
I know in my heart you understand,
You're forgiving that way.
What can I do, this life I must follow
And my feet on this road they travel,
Sometimes closer, sometimes further
A hope that things will settle for the best.
As I leave, I look behind me several times.
Once for you,
Twice for me,
Thrice to remember,
Four to never forget.

Sustaining Innocence

(Listen to the song "The End of the Innocence" to get a feel for how it set the mood for this entry.)

In Don Henley's song "The End of the Innocence" he talks about how as young children we're poisoned by fairytales. My interpretation is that he's not talking about Little Red Riding Hood or Cat in the Hat but, instead, he's talking about what we're told is the truth by those whom we place our trust in during our most innocent years - childhood.
As I get older, the fairytales that are told to me get more vivid and it's hard to differentiate the truth from the bitterness. I guess because I'm way past my innocent years (31), the elders in my family think it okay to tell me odds and ends about what was going on or continues to go on behind closed doors - I wish they wouldn't.
I try as hard as I can to wash away these sad stories that mean nothing to me and, as far as I know, never effected me directly.
But, it's hard when you know.

That being said, I'm sustaining innocence within. It's not about being naive, it's about allowing myself the memory of any person in the way I want it to be, as I remember them.

Inspiration

(Listen to the song "Growin' Up" from the songlist to get a feel for how it inspired this entry.)

I was watching my much loved Palladia music channel this morning and one of my favorite musicians was on - Bruce Springsteen.
Now, I have heard and listened to many of his songs but never put much thought behind what they meant to him as an artist because, let's face it, I don't have his number on my speed dial to ask him.
Knowing what a song means to its artist is a rare privilege, but especially when the artist him/herself is the one explaining the significance. The show on Palladia this morning was Bruce playing his song for an intimate audience and explaining the song's significance to him.
At one point he played and defined his song "Jesus was an only Son." He made an astounding point that just opened my eyes and inspired a new wave of thinking, immediately. He simply stated that "Life is a path of consequences and that we all follow one."
As simple as it sounds, it had a profound impact on me. Life is filled with decisions based on choices. And, depending on what we decide there is a consequence - positive or negative. Or, going even deeper here, maybe there is always a positive and negative consequence with each decision. How can one truly know the impact of his/her decision except for how it effects him/herself?
I've been dissatisfied with the title of my blog for a few months now because my entries aren't always cozy (due to my path) and I needed a way to express that to you all. I mean truly, it's life. And life ain't cozy all of the time.
With this new title I'll be more apt to blog because it's just about life with no expectations. I felt obliged to provide you with a cozy atmosphere at all times before but now it's time to get real!
I will continue using my pen name, Butternose, because it is a consequence of my path. It holds sentimental value for me because it is the nickname my maternal grandpop gave me in my youth.

In addition, here's the beginning of a new story that these words inspired in me today:

A Path of Consequence

A path of consequence is a road that we’re all certain to follow. It’s inevitable that everyone has one.

My grandfather, for example, until the day he died vowed that he was born of Irish blood although his family heritage proved otherwise. He would study Gaelic at the dining room table for endless hours with his Irish cap on, a pipe in his mouth and a glass of Irish whiskey at the tips of his fingers. He traveled with my grandmother to the Emerald Isle each year, immersed himself in the Irish culture and made many friends along the way. In his life, he wrote vivid poems, stories and painted life-like visions of his numerous journeys to the island. I often think that my grandfather, in his death, is living his dream across the Atlantic on his beloved Emerald Isle. Being Irish is the path that my grandfather chose for himself. The consequence of this is that he truly believed he was an Irishman.

You Don't Know How It Feels...

Or do you?
You know, I wonder what Tom Petty was thinking about when he wrote that song. Maybe he was thinking that his listeners would never know what it felt like to be a rock star whose life is made on the stage, one tour after another.
I shouldn't speculate but I am curious about the lives of other people. Sometimes I find myself wondering what it would feel like to live life in another person's shoes. How would I want other people to react to my situation? There is so much hidden emotion behind the obvious body signals in the people I encounter each day.
The other day I happened to be in a hospital where I happened to catch a person in scrubs, donned in a surgical cover, hair net and surgical mask attempting to control a complete meltdown of tears. This person, whether it was a surgeon, nurse or parent, was a concerned person at a minimum. They tried to conceal and control their obviously strong emotional state but couldn't help letting go the tears.
It was only a matter of 5-10 seconds from the time I turned and saw this person trying to hide the explosion of grief ensuing him/her to the time he/she composed him/herself but it was just enough time to make me wonder what it must be like to be them at that moment. I felt so bad for that person I just wanted to go up to him/her and give them a hug and maybe that wouldn't have made a difference but it would have made me feel like I was letting them know they weren't alone and that it was okay to let go.
Although I can't know for sure how it feels to be "you," you are not alone and what I hope to do is to be there for you, listen attentively and gain an understanding.