Ah yes, about that overwhelm: it's still there but it seems to have moved a little to the back burner. Thank you to those of you who left nice comments of encouragement: it was wonderful to read what you all had to say.
Monsieur Meow returns today and Herr Meow is taking a lovely nap with his new friend from IKEA, Albert the weasel and the house is nice and cool but not too cool and it's nice and quiet and I'm going to get up and continue to do things that need to be done this afternoon.
I had a great day with a wonderful friend (which really makes this husbandless break almost a complete and total raging success of female support) and I feel like I've accomplished things today. Or at least some things.
But by far, what I've gotten out of these past days is a little bit of perspective on what's truly important– like loving people around you; health and a sense of well-being; a cute and adorable child who cracks you up even as you want to start screaming; modern telephony; french fries; crafty Swedish people; the mist setting on a hose; really good canned soup that does not taste canned; and one's mommy.
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And so I wanted to share a meme I saw over at Frances's wonderful blog, blogjem, and which I thought was really fun and beautiful. And something you can definitely try whether you have a blog or not and still enjoy immensely.
Without further ado, my photomosaic:
Here are the instructions if you so wish to do this in your own blog (or just for fun):
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
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1. What is your first name? Maria
2. What is your favorite food? Hamburger and french fries! Is there anything else?
3. What high school did you go to? Monterey High School
4. What is your favorite color? lavender
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Heh…. yes, Cristiano Ronaldo– among others.
6. Favorite drink? Gin & Tonic
7. Dream vacation? Spa vacation…. mmm… and a bottomless credit card.
8. Favorite dessert? Chocolate cake (a la mode, but that got hardly any hits)
9. What you want to be when you grow up? A Renaissance woman
10. What do you love most in life? My baby, of course.
11. One Word to describe you. Observant
12. Your flickr name. Madame Meow
Thank you to the following Flickr people:
1. Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome, 2. hamburger cake, 3. IMG_0845.JPG, 4. Lavender bokeh, 5. Cristiano Ronaldo, 6. That Cool Refreshing Drink, 7. spa bento, 8. Our hand painted bakery menu board, 9. Maria Portinari by Hans Memling, 1470, 10. Baby cat, 11. snowflake melting on my coat, 12. Madame Meow
A Daily Dose of Zen Sarcasm! 
Hola from NCLM 🙂
Glad you survived 🙂 Nothing wrong with a little perspective every now & then, right?!?
Take care 🙂
Fun! I did one of those the other day, it’s so interesting to see what comes up when you do a search.
Congrats on getting some stuff done and realizing what’s important in life. I need to do that sometimes too. 🙂
oh wow. that meme is so cool!
and i’m glad you’re doing better! 🙂
Glad you’re feeling better…
Love the meme, did one at Prairie Dreams!
What a great meme! I love it!
Here from NaComLeavMo
I want a burger that large!
I really like this meme. I think I’ll do it soon. 🙂
That photo mosaic is very cool!! Truly a very cool meme.
Perspective and time apart is a good thing sometimes. Makes us thankful for what we have, and appreciate the time as well!
That was fun! I tried to do it, but had technical difficulties. 🙂 I’ll try it again when I’m not on the laptop, and it’s not feeding time at the zoo!
Hi from NCLM>..