Some Days You're the Pigeon...

It gets better, Big People.  I promise!

...And other days, you're the statue.

I suppose you could flip it around and say that some days you're the statue and other days you're the pigeon. 

I think the first way keeps ya kind of humble, don't ya think?  The second way reminds you that brighter days are ahead.  It gets better.

I think that's the gist of my message for ya today, Friends.  If you're havin' a bad day or a bad week or a bad stretch of indeterminate time, you've gotta remind yourself that even though you're the statue today, one of these days, you're gonna sprout some wings, fly off and eat some stale hot dog buns somebody is kind enough to put out for the birds, and then go flying back and strafe the daylights out of whatever it was that was holding you down.

Do pigeons strafe?  I don't know.  I don't have much experience with that kind of bird.  I know the starlings at my house strafe things like the deck and the cars and my Mommy (she HATES birds!!!), and the seagulls over in Wellsville strafe.  But do pigeons strafe? 

They must.  Because it really stinks to be a statue in pigeon territory, I hear.

Anyways, Big People.  If you're havin' a day where you're bein' strafed, take heart.  It's gonna get better for you.  Take it from your pal Zoe.  I wouldn't lead you astray. 

I love ya lots!  I'll see ya tomorrow!  Muah!

A Happy Journal!

Just writin' in my Happy Journal today! 

Hiya, Friends! 

Hey, you know something that I like to do?  I like to write down the things that make me happy.  I even have a whole journal set aside for such things! 

I call it my Happy Journal!

All's it is is a composition book that I bought, and it has a cheerful flowered cover on it.  In fact, that was one of the first things I wrote about in my Happy Journal- that lookin' at the Happy Journal made me feel happy inside!

You might think that keepin' a Happy Journal makes me kind of a sap or an annoyingly happy person that you'd just wanna slap if you saw me in real life, but my Happy Journal isn't for you.  It isn't for me to show off how happy I am.  It isn't for me to be insufferable.

Nope.  Here's what my Happy Journal does for me, Friends: See, I'm not happy ALL the time.  I know.  It surprises me, too, and I'm Me!  But it's true.  I don't think anybody's happy ALL the time.  We all play the Doll Drums every once in a while, and sometimes, it's really hard to get out of that rut.  That ho-hum feelin'.  Sometimes, it's really hard to remember that I AM happy most of the time. 

That's where my Happy Journal comes in.  When I'm really down in the dumps on a day, Friends, I open up my Happy Journal and read about all the things and people and events and jokes and pretty much everything I've written down that makes me happy.  I start to remember, 'Oh, yeah!  That DOES make me pretty happy!'  and next thing I know, I've got a smile on my face, and I start to feel better about whatever's going on and trying to steal my happy.

If I've learned one thing, Friends, it's that bein' happy is a choice I can make, every single day.

How about THAT?!

Walk Away and Then Come Back

Sometimes the best way to come back is to walk away for a while, Friends!

Friends, I think you'll remember my frustration with practicin' the piano I was experiencing the other day.  I think you'll remember I got kinda ugly, on accounta I kept pushin' on the wrong keys and making my songs I was tryin' to play sound all wonky and wrong.

Do you know what I did to stop feelin' frustrated?  You bet.  I walked away.  I walked away from the piano.  I walked away from lookin' at music notes.  I walked away from everything that's black and white, which was really difficult, considering my best pal Rozzie is white with a black nose.  And heck.  Her eyes are the same color brown as the piano itself!

I ended up making an exception for Rozzie.  She's both persuasive and persistent.  She doesn't take it as the final word when I tell her I can't hang out with her 'cause she reminds me of the piano.  In fact, she told me that whole notion was kinda dumb.

That's why I love Rozzie so much, Friends.  She delivers tough love to me in doses I need to have and that I can handle.  It IS kinda dumb to avoid her, just 'cause she's the same colors as the piano keys.  And I firmly believe that everybody in their life needs a friend that will listen to you, support you, listen to you some more, and then tell you an idea of yours is dumb if the idea warrants it.  I think havin' an honest voice like that, talkin' to ya from a place of love and support is what keeps ya from gettin' all neurotic. 

Who even KNOWS where it woulda gone if I'd indulged in stayin' away from Rozzie, on accounta I was frustrated with the piano and she's the same colors as piano keys.  I really shudder to think about it, Friends.  I really do.  Coulda been a whole lot of neurosis going on up in my head!

Anyway.  I left the piano alone for a little while.  Let the frustration go away.  I listened to the very musics I was trying to play.  "Subdivisions" by Rush, of course.  I watched the video about the Randall Park Mall that uses a piano arrangement of that song, over and over.  It reminded me how much I like that song and how much I'd like to be able to play it well myself.

So I've come back to the piano today, Friends, for some playin' just for fun.  My friend Rozzie reminded me that I'm three and nobody's expecting me to play perfectly.  I'm just s'posed to be havin' fun and tryin' out all kindsa new things.  So that's what I'm doing.

You know the old saying, don't you, Friends?  Repeat it with me!

"When something really frustrates the dickens out of you, walk away for a little while.  Then come back to it.  If it doesn't frustrate you anymore, it's time to play again, but if it does, then you should go eat an Oreo cookie and do something else for a while."

Words to live by, right there, Big People.  Words to live by.

I'll see ya tomorrow!  I love ya lots!  Muah!

Self-Rescuing Princess!

I'm a self-rescuing princess, Friends!  How about that?!

Well, hiya, Friends! 

You know, this princess thing just isn't going away for me.  It really isn't.  And if I weren't such a self-possessed Little Kid, I'd probly be wonderin' if there's something wrong with me 'cause I cannot sit through even half of Disney's The Little Mermaid. 

I've really been looking into this Princess phenomenon, Friends.  Pretty much all the stories are the same: a pretty girl in a big dress is in a jam, or she isn't living the life she wants to live, and she waits around for her prince to come along and whisk her away. 

These girls.  Sometimes they have a curse on 'em.  Makes 'em fall asleep and not wake up until the prince shows up to save the day.  Sometimes, they're wearin' really uncomfortable shoes.  Cinderella, I'm mainly lookin' at you.  I mean, really.  A shoe made of GLASS?  What the what, exactly, are you trying to accomplish, Cindy?  I can't believe that glass slipper was all that wonderful to wear.  Glass is really hard, and no amount of magic is going to be able to make an EVA mid-sole and waffle tread look ethereal.  So why would it be a great thing to hafta wear a shoe made of GLASS to a dang ol' ball, anyways?  Aren't you s'posed to DANCE at a ball? 

If I live to a hundred billion years, Big People, I will never understand why Big Girls cram their feet into pretty-but-pretty uncomfortable shoes and then pretend that they're not in excruciating pain as they shimmy, shake, and do the Locomotion at dances.

Wanna hear my alternative?  Boots.  I just love 'em.  If I can't wear my sneakers to something', on accounta they're sporty, give me my pink boots.  Pretty, AND comfortable.

Geez.  No wonder these princesses can't save themselves.  Their feet hurt!

Well, and their big ol' dresses must get in the way.  Because when you're wearin' a big ol' dress, you've gotta act like a lady, whatever that means.  Look at Princess Peach form Super Mario Brothers.  She's gotta stay up top of the stupid castle, waiting to be rescued.  Maybe if she wasn't stuck wearin' sucha big dress for everyday wear, she'd be able to scale down the outside of that castle and rescue herself!

Don't get me wrong.  I love to wear dresses.  I love to wear big ol' tutu skirts!  I like to be stylish, but I also like to be able to move and kick!  Yeah, I wear big ol' skirts and dresses, but I wear shorts underneath.  Bloomers.  Pants sometimes.  In case I've gotta run, or swing from monkey bars, or in case I've gotta kick something. What if I had to climb up onto a horse and ride it, Friends?  We're talkin' about fairy-tale princesses, after all.  It could happen!

Friends, hear me on this.  I appreciate the Princesses.  I really do. They sure are pretty, and they can put on a GREAT ice show.  But I like Elsa and Anna so much because they are active in their own story. Anna might think she's waiting for true love to rescue her, but she's more than capable of saving herself.  She really is, Friends.

And in that vein, I am going to be a self-rescuing princess, Friends.  A bloomer-wearin', boot-scootin', dragon-ridin', self-rescuin' princess.  And I wouldn't be surprised if I don't rescue a few princes, while I'm at it.  How about that, Friends?  How the heck about that!

Hey.  Don't you worry about me, Friends!  I am not a weird little girl, just 'cause I'm not wild about the same things other little girls are.  I am me.  And I am GREAT with that.  

I'll see ya tomorrow, Friends!  I love ya lots!  Muah!

The Disney Princess Canon

I don't think princess movies are my cup of rootbeer.

Hiya, Big People! 

Well, after my recent trip to see Disney Princesses and Heroes on Ice, I've decided that I ought to familiarize myself with the various Disney Princesses, especially those that I saw skating on the ice on Saturday.  Like I mentioned in yesterday's post, I wasn't really all that familiar with anyone, except for the Frozen crew. 

I purchased a copy of "Cinderella" and "The Little Mermaid" at Sam's Club on Saturday night and tried watching "The Little Mermaid" on Sunday at my house. 

Yes, I tried. 

Friends, I think maybe princess movies just aren't my thing.  I know a lot of other little kids my age, other little girls, especially just love 'em.  But not me.  And I don't think that makes me a weird little girl.  I DO like princessy things.  I love wearin' tutu skirts.  I love the movie "Frozen."

But I love watchin' Cars and Planes, and playin' with my blocks and toy car I get to tinker on.  I love doin' art.  I love bein' a Doctor of Humorous Healing. 

I don't think that makes me weird.  I think that makes me Me.  So I'm a little different from the little girls who are all about all the Princess movies.  So I don't know Sleeping Beauty from Cinderella.  I have time to learn all that, if I wanna, someday.  I have a lot of fun, and I'm happy.  I'm a happy person.  I'm a happy little kid.  I don't hafta fit all the way in for that.  People like me, just the way I am.  I like me, just the way I am.

That's pretty much all that matters to me, Friends. 

That's that, Friends!  Heck.  I love ya lots.  I really do.  No matter what you're into.  How about THAT?! 

Muah!

Surprising Saturday Revealed: Zoe's Zamboni Dreams

I was thisclose to the Zamboni!

Hiya, Friends!  Happy Monday to you!

Hey, remember how I said that I was getting a special surprise on Saturday?  Well, it ended up that Mommy and Daddy took me to First Niagara Center in Downtown Buffalo to see Disney Princesses and Heroes on Ice!  How about that?!

Of course, they saved my favorites Elsa and Anna for last, but they got the longest time on the ice, too.  Also, I didn't know camels have blue eyes or that they know how to ice skate, but it's true!  The "Aladdin" segment featured a blue-eyed, ice-skating camel, so that was pretty exciting!

You know, I am not as well-versed in the traditional Disney Princess Canon as other Little Kids my age.  I never realized this until Saturday, Friends.  There were hundreds of other Little Kids at the Arena, and they were all shouting out their favorite Disney Princesses' names, and shouting along to the lyrics of the songs, and the only ones I really knew were Elsa and Anna.  I mean, I recognized Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Belle from my Disney Princesses Candyland Game, but I've never seen their movies.  I thought all the Disney Princesses had really nice costumes, although the heroes seemed pretty interchangeable to me, aside from Aladdin and Christoph. 

There were some fireworks, and that freaked me out a little bit.  Fireworks are loud!  I have a problem with loud, which I know is kind of ironic, on accounta how I don't mind it at all when I, myself, am really loud!  I guess that's just a personality quirk of mine that makes me "me!"

But that doesn't mean I didn't have a lot of fun at the show! 

Quite to the contrary, I had a great time.  I realized just how much I like Tinkerbell.  Mickey and Minnie were there, too, and they're just as great in person as they seem to be on the television!  Olaf is a really great ice skater for a snowman! 

And.  We sat right in the front row, so when the Zamboni came out to clean up the ice for intermission, I was really, really close to the Zamboni, close enough to hear its engine!  I coulda reached out and TOUCHED it, if that sorta behavior hadn't have been highly discouraged. 

I waved and waved at that Zamboni.

Why?  Well, you might not know this about me, Friends, but I am a big fan of Zambonis.  I have a book I got for Christmas called "Z is for Zamboni," and it's a favorite.  Oughtta be a classic, if you ask me.  I've been to two hockey games in my life so far, and come intermission time, my eyes are glued right onto that magical vehicle.  When I see a Zamboni on the television, I always think about how much I'd like to be the lucky gal driving it.

Someday, I've decided that I'm going to write, produce, direct, and star in an ice show that's all about me and my Zamboni and the adventures we go on.  I'm not sure if I'll use fireworks in my show or not, because they startled me yesterday during the Disney show.  But who knows?  They might be less startling if they're in MY show, and I'm the one in charge of settin' 'em off when I say!

So it was a lot, lot , LOT of fun, going to that show!  Plus, I got to eat fancy cupcakes AND go to Friendly's AND drive the race-cart at Home Depot! 

How about that?!

In a "Rush" to Play Songs on the Piano

Practice makes... me frusterated!  I keep hittin' the wrong notes!

Hiya, Friends!  Happy Sunday! 

Oh, you know, I'm just usin' the day to practice up on my skills on the piano.  I just got a new songbook of Rush's Greatest Hits, and I'm trying to learn how to play "Subdivisions," on accounta I heard a piano version of it while I was watchin' a tribute to a mall Mommy visited when she was a Little Kid, and it's gettin' torn down. 

I thought the song was perfect.  I loved the video.  I kept watchin' it over and over again.  I kept askin' Mommy to play "Subdivisions" for me over the Sonos for a while, and then I realized I could just learn to play the song on the piano!

Well, Friends, that's easier said than done.  They say practice makes perfect, but I'll tell ya what practice makes me.  Practice makes me frusterated!  That's what!  I stick in flats that oughtta be sharp, I sharpen notes that should just be normal, and I hate rests.  If I wanted to rest, I wouldn't play the piano in the first place, now would I?  What's more, I say these things as though I know the first thing about pianos and music, other than my ears know when they hear musics that I really like.

Ugh.  You know what?  I'm THREE.  I wanna hear music I don't hafta make myself.  Maybe I'll try this piano-playin' another time, maybe when I'm older and more patient.  Don't get me wrong.  I love to sit down and push the keys, but I'm just not ready to be formal about it.  In the meantime, I wanna hear "Subdivisions" again, and I don't have the patience today to practice measure by measure.  So I'm gonna fire up the dang ol' Sonos and get my Rush on. 

Friends, you need to find something that relaxes you today!  Find something you enjoy, and do that something, mmmkay?  I know I will.

I'll see ya tomorrow.  I'll tell ya all about my surprise from Saturday!  I love ya lots!  Muah!