easy as pie

pie isn't exactly easy it turns out but i enjoyed the process even so. sebastian and i peeled apples and sang silly songs to distract nico from crying then we rolled out the (gluten-free) crust using a wine bottle.

i was really happy to have a pie cooling on the windowsill while a meatloaf cooked in the oven. yes, a real meatloaf. it was my first ever both making and eating. i wanted to make a warm "traditional" meal since jason had a poor start yesterday (got up late, missed the bus, ate a snickers for breakfast, typical monday antics). oh, and the vegan plan is back on the shelf.

this morning, i overheard a neighbor telling another neighbor "well, it's just another day to get through". how many people live their life with that attitude? incredibly sad. i've started reading Transforming Problems Into Happiness by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. it is kind of like a cliffs notes version of some of the basic dharmic texts but it is beneficial. "the thought of liking problems should arise naturally, like the though of liking ice cream or the thought of liking music" (p. 11)
i watched harold and maude last night and i totally heart maude. i'm sure you've watched it but there are some stunning shots and amazing lines like:
Maude: I should like to change into a sunflower most of all. They're so tall and simple. What flower would you like to be?
Harold: I don't know. One of these, maybe.
Maude: Why do you say that?
Harold: Because they're all alike.
Maude: Oooh, but they're *not*. Look. See, some are smaller, some are fatter, some grow to the left, some to the right, some even have lost some petals. All *kinds* of observable differences. You see, Harold, I feel that much of the world's sorrow comes from people who are *this*,
[she points to a daisy]
Maude: yet allow themselves be treated as *that*
[she gestures to a field of daisies]

and

Maude: A lot of people enjoy being dead. But they are not dead, really. They're just backing away from life. *Reach* out. Take a *chance*. Get *hurt* even. But play as well as you can. Go team, go! Give me an L. Give me an I. Give me a V. Give me an E. L-I-V-E. LIVE!
[beat]
Maude: Otherwise, you got nothing to talk about in the locker room.

Harold: You hop in any car you want and just drive off?
Maude: Well, not any car - I like to keep a variety. I'm always looking for the new experience.
Harold: [smiling] Maybe.
[sobering]
Harold: Nevertheless, I think you're upsetting people. I don't know if that's right.
Maude: Well, if some people get upset because they feel they have a hold on some things, I'm merely acting as a gentle reminder: here today, gone tomorrow, so don't get attached to things.
Maude: [gesturing to a sick tree growing through a sidewalk] Harold, we have *got* to do something about this life.
Harold: What?
Maude: We'll transplant it. To the forest.
Harold: You can't do that.
Maude: Why not?
Harold: This is public property.
Maude: Well, *exactly*.
Harold: Maude?
Maude: Yeah?
Harold: [Pulls a ring from his pocket] Here.
Maude: [Gasping] A gift!
[Reading the engraving]
Maude: "Harold loves Maude"
[Looking up at him]
Maude: And Maude loves Harold. This is the nicest gift I've received in years.
[She throws the ring into the lake, to Harold's surprise]
Maude: So I'll always know where it is.

anyway, my tea break is over. time to tackle the daily lessons and get out under the blue blue sky. hope all is wonderful with you and yours (and if it's not, you should change the way you are looking at it). xoxo