Letter Writing: Old Fashioned Romantic Gestures

I have a few fairly old fashioned tastes when it comes to what I want from a man and a relationship. One of these things is that I want a man who will take the thought and time to send me an actual handwritten letter, and send it through the mail with *gasp* an actual stamp. I find that I can eliminate a LOT of suitors with this one simple request. Their response to this request tells me a LOT about them. I get a lot of excuses such as; "I hate writing" "I have bad handwriting" "I could do it in a couple of months when I have more free time" "I don't have time for stuff like that" "I don't have any stamps or envelopes", etc. If you can't take the time to do something as simple as write me a letter, than I must not mean very much to you. If you cannot take the time to some something so simple and thoughtful and personal than you aren't very serious about wanting to court me. There is only one person who has actually said that they would write to me.... I find this sad, but also hopeful that all is not lost in the hopes of real love.

Another reason why letters mean so much to me is that when my parents got divorced, my mother gave me all of the letters that my dad wrote to her when he was away at college before they got married talking about how much he loved her and me and I can't read them without crying. I also have her journals from when she was younger and those are some of my most priceless possessions, along with photos. I have boxes that I take with me everywhere of every letter that anyone has ever written to me from middle school until now. The written word is so amazing. Somehow you take more time to think when you actually wrote on paper than you do on a computer or through text. It takes that extra thought to know that what you are writing will be there on paper forever.

I know that I wrote more before being a mother and now I have sucked at it in the written form, I have been documenting a lot electronically, but that could all go away one day. I keep buying journals that I want to fill the pages of, I have them next to my bed, I used them for dream journals and late night thoughts but I bought a bunch of fun new colored pens so that I can have even more incentive to write more. I need to get on it myself. I need to print out more pictures for Liam to have and to post up around the house and to have actual REAL photo albums for Liam to look through. 

Alphabet Train Kid's Activity!

Today was a great day to try out one of the DIY activities that we have been looking at.  I have been wanting to try the one that is called the Alphabet Train!  I though that it would be a lot of fun and also a great learning experience for my son Liam.  It is really easy to do and requires minimal supplies.  You generally just use things around the house and the possibilities are endless.  You could come up with all kinds of different combinations if you played it 100 different times.  This took up about an hour to an hour and a half of our time go through the letters and looking around the house (mostly Liam's playroom and bed room) for stuff that we could use. 


Supplies:
 26 Sheets of Construction Paper (any paper will do)

Items from around the house that start with all of the letters in the alphabet!  

Directions: 
Draw Letters onto the paper and lay out the paper in a "train"!  Now go around and find the items that match up with the letters.  (We also added Letter flashcards so that it gave my son the opportunity to match up the letters from the flash cards with the letters on the paper and give him an idea of where to go from).  I would try to think of things around the house and send him in search of them!  This was so easy and so much fun!  I definitely recommend it to anyone with a child that likes to do things associated with the alphabet and it provides for a wide age range.

Set out the letters into a train, which can be quite fun

 Add the flashcards

Now go around the house to find stuff to place on each paper 

 Now you have the train all set up and you can go back through the letters for fun & learning

 Here are the items we used for each letter in case you are needing a place to start! 

A is for Apple, Asparagus, Airplane

B is for Butterfly, Bubbles, Binoculars, Book

C is for Crab, Car, Carrots, Camera

D is for Duck, Dog, Dolphin

E is for Elephant, Eeyore, Eyes

F is for Firetruck, Farmer, Fork, Flashlight

G is for Glove, Ghost, Glasses, Giraffe, Gas Station

H is for Hat, Helicopter, Hippo, Heart, Hammer

I is for Ice Cream

J is for Jack-in-the-box, Jam, Jack-o-lantern

K is for Kite, Key, Knife, Kale

L is for Lamb, Lion, Leaf, Lotion

M is for Mouse, Milk, Mouth, Moon, Monkey

N is for Nest, Nose, Nut

O is for Owl, Octopus, Orange

P is for Penguin, Phone, Pumpkin, Panda, Pear, Pepper

Q is for Quilt, Queen

R is for Rainbow, Rooster, Rabbit, Radio

S is for Star, Snake, Shark, Seahorse, Sun

T is for Train, Tiger, Tea, Tambourine

U is for Umbrella, Unicorn

V is for Violin, Van, Vacuum, Vitamin

W is for Whale, Whistle, Wasp, Worm, Watermelon

X us fir Xylophone

Y is for Yo-yo, Yogurt

Z is for Zebra

Because of You

Because of You

All because of you

Hearing your voice in the dark

No longer am I blue

You rekindled a spark

Deep within my

My pain is finally gone

My heart whispers softly

Singing it's joyful song

You're so close

Yet so far away

Wonder if he knows

How much I need him today

Alone here I sit

With you in my heart

Inside I'm throwing a fit

When we are a part

Slipping off my mask

Letting out my pain

What is it you ask

Love has reached me again

Your words amaze

Spoken from within

Away pass the days

Is loving you a sin

Somehow you found a way

To caress my soul

From the very first day

Having you was my goal

What do I need to do

To have you in my life

My love for you grows

Cutting my pain like a knife

*This is a poem that I wrote in 2002 and was published thanks to my Senior high school English teacher Miss Karnop who submitted it without my knowledge and bought me the book that it was published in for a graduation present.  I spent my entire Senior year thinking that I was a horrible student as English had always been my favorite subject and she had been so hard on me and always pushed me.  It wasn't until the end of the year when she finally told me the potential that she saw in me and helped give me inspiration in my writing when I felt that I couldn't make it.  I will never forget her, and was sad to see that she ended up moving after that year and getting married.  I wonder where she is now.

I Embrace You Now

I Embrace You Now
Brittany Lynne McCann
9/7/09

Yearned to be free
Happiness to Reclaim
Cut all the chords
Start anew, fresh
So much time wasted
Too much time lost
Lost inside one’s self
A quarter century flies by
I’m right here waiting
This is me Now
You cannot break me
Immeasurable strength
Don’t judge without knowing
Some days held on by a thread
New found strength
More lessons learned
Never go back
Always moving forward
Fear no longer paralyzing the progress
Can always choose again
I’m ready and willing
Brush off the old
No room for the fake
No heart for the lies
Come real or not at all
Never needed anyone else
Me against the world
Rolling in armed and strong
Prepared for this journey
The untrodden pathways
The wisdom to discover
Feet can’t keep up with intentions
Laughter found in each day
Take me as I am
Completely or not at all
All is me, as I am all
No time for games
Won in overtime
Ready to move on
No adversary strong enough
No tears lonely enough
I open my heart to you now
As I was afraid to do before
No room for regrets
No need to look back
I embrace you now
My all-encompassing future

*I wrote this poem as I was getting ready to enter into the military again and make a huge move to Texas as I was in the process of pulling myself out of a dark place in my life.  It is enlightening to read this now as I have just ended my 11 years with the military and have a newfound freedom and feeling more stressfree as my primary reason for moving is coming to a close.  It was what I definitely needed at the time and allowed me to move into a different realm within my career.  I do not harbor any regrets and I am again embracing the future in a different direction. 

Dear Unconditional Love

Dear Unconditional Love

No matter what happens, I seem to figure things out on my own. I grow older and wiser with each passing moment. I have so many amazing things that I have yet to experience in life. So many ups and downs, challenges and triumphs. Each day always creating an even better and more refined version of myself, even when there are days that feel like I am going in reverse. Eventually it is merely making me stronger and more appreciative of the future and the now. I keep moving forward somehow, always moving no matter how slowly, when there are days when getting out of bed is all that can be mentally accomplished. I continue to do what I can to give my all to each day, even when my all is more on some days than others. I try to be brave and to feel no fear, to be sure to conquer the fear that makes it through. The last couple years have pushed me more than I ever knew possible. Given me so many days that I had nothing left to offer but laughter at the irony of life, the ridiculousness of the situation, and the realization that no matter how bad things seem they can always be worse. I do not sit here vindicated I sit here thankful and rejuvenated with the things that I have been allowed to overcome and to grow from. Everything is a blessing, a new opportunity to learn from in the classroom of life. I have been incredibly fortunate with those in my life whose love has been my rock, my strength when I no longer had anything to give. No matter what capacity it came in I will NEVER forget, and I only hope to come close for anyone in life to try to repay back this miracle of love to the universe.
Yet it has all been bittersweet because you have not been here to share it with me. You have not been here to grow with me, to laugh with me, to cry with me, and to merely LIVE life with me. To me this is the most unacceptable thing of all. I know you are somewhere, so close and yet so far away, but what are you waiting for? I have never been very good with patience and I cannot find a valid way to justify each day gone without you in my life. In searching I am afraid that we may have gotten lost along the way, that we somehow missed what was there. So I will sit here becoming the best I can be for you and more importantly for me each and every day. I will not close my eyes to whatever way it is that you have chosen to reveal yourself to me this time. I don't want to live with regrets and each day wasted without you is a waste of time that could have been OURS. Time that can go by in the blink of an eye if we are not careful. I'm no longer afraid, so why should you be? Stop making excuses, stop postponing life. Stop being afraid of the end before a beginning is ever allowed to happen. There is no reason to postpone the ultimate in shared happiness. I am here telling you that I am not running, I'm here and I am ready. So what are you waiting for? Come and get me.

Your Soulmate


*This is a letter I wrote in February of 2010 as I was feeling very open to welcome new and wonderful experiences into my life.