Holiday Hilarity

I have been having a little too much fun creating those funny, terribly sarcastic someecards. It's kind of right up my alley right now because each picture is like a perfect little writing prompt. Great for when I have writers block and need a lil fix o' funny. I have a lot of them so I have decided to start blogging them into categories just for fun. Here is my Fall/Winter Holiday edition. 

If sarcasm is your jam then check out my other someecards on my Pinterest board called: My Funny One Liners

Here is some Holiday Hilarity for you:
















Hope you got a laugh! I'm not going to say "sharing is caring" because that's lame. But you know what to do.

Happy Holidays!

Love,
Coco Cana

To read more of these wacky cards click here.

To read more from My Tales From The Crib click here.

To follow me on Twitter click here. 

Listening To The Whispers Of Your Heart. A Letter To My Children.

A letter to my children about turning life's lemons into lemonade and about finding your true passions in life. Listen to your mother and read this when you are feeling down.  Mama loves you.  xo

My precious Kiddie Cats,

When life gives us physical or mental pain to deal with and process and heal from, it also gives us time to reflect on stronger days. During this reflection we have the opportunity to either focus on all of the bad, or choose to scrape past the darkness in order to see the light - even if it takes longer than we'd like. Don't give up. Don't ever give up. We have to believe there is light or else the darkness will become too great and may pull us down deeper forever. 

Very recently, I have started on a journey - a path to positivity. On this journey I will surround myself with the things that fill my heart with deep happiness and great joy. You of course will be there on this journey with me, for your existence in my life is the greatest most magical gift I have ever been given. Without you and daddy, my life is not complete. The quickest way to reach this path for me is through nature. When I'm surrounded by nature and beauty, sunshine and fresh air I feel my soul waking up trying to speak to me. My body feels alive and electric. It's time to block out the noise so I can hear it. I've been stubborn for far too long.

We have the power within us to overcome our set backs and take back the life and the joy that may have left for a while. It is OK to feel sadness when sadness comes. But it is important to seek out the happiness and focus your thoughts and energy into reaching your happiness again. Don't dwell on your sadness. Learn from it. Learn how to deal with it the next time it finds you. Today I spent a little bit of time alone breathing deeply, exhaling the negativity and looking inward as I walked along the ocean shore, toes digging into the sand and enjoying the crisp March water. I've been going to the chiropractor to deal with a recent back injury that has left me needing more help in all areas of our lives for the past month from Grammy and Daddy. When this happens as it has happened before, there is a guilt I can't describe that comes over me because I'm not able to be the mother I want to be physically and mentally - the mother you deserve because my pain is so great. I allowed it to take hold too tightly this time and I apologize for that. I'm learning how to shed the guilt. I'm choosing to look at it differently now and in the future and I'm putting all of my focus on healing, strength and positivity. 

This is what I came away with from my walk in the sunshine. This is my message for you today. I hope you read it when you need comfort and encouragement, support and love. For that is my forever gift to you.  

My children-

Be still and find your joy.

There is greatness to be found in taking the time to stop the daily merry-go-round from whirling so that you can truly focus on your surroundings and find the happiness in the pockets of stillness. 

In stillness comes creativity.

In peacefulness comes contentment. 

In quietness comes discovery.

There is always something to be found when there is nothing.

Discover the joy of nothing.

When we quiet the mind we awaken the soul and are able to hear the whispers of our heart. These heart whispers are the keys to unlock your inner peace and happiness. Once you start listening to the whispers of your heart you will discover the words to the song of your soul for these heart whispers are never wrong, my loves. 

They will never lie to you. 

They are your destiny. 

They are your truth. 

They form the beautiful garden of your life.

They have always been and always will be there. 

So sing your song and let it escape your lips loudly. 

Sing it everyday. 

Sing it every night.

Teach me the words so that I may sing it for you if you feel too weak to sing yourself.

Feel the words.

Breathe the words.

Be the words. 

Do not ever forget the song of your soul and most importantly, do not ever let anyone try to change your song to something they can sing easier or something that they like better. 

For you my child are the only one who hears your own heart whispers so that you can write your own song.

You hold the power to your happiness.

Oh, and don't forget your sunscreen because a life full of happiness is a life full of sunshine. 

Love,

Mommy

*Written by Colleen Duncan Canavan 3-2-13

To read more from My Tales From The Crib click here.

To follow me on Twitter click here. 

To follow me on Pinterest click here. 

A Soko Inspired Poem

Soko opening for Sean Rowe at

McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, Ca.

  August 17, 2012

Pushing my fingers through my chest

past the bones,

feel the pain.

Lights blind my eyes as I reach in deep,

deeper down than I had planned.

There it is -

I hold my breath

in the haunting silence

of this room full of giants.

Small as a mouse I stand here bleeding...

I feel the pulse, pulse, pulsing through my fingers,

hair standing straight off my neck.

The light burning my eyes is whispering to me

letting me know I'm right where I should be.

Gasping and grasping tightly, I tug

forcing it to rip free.

Still pumping, ever pumping I pull it through the tunnel I left

to find my way out.

Because lord knows, I need a way out.

On the edge of a music stand I present this beating heart of mine as an offering to strangers in a dark room.

All of my stories, books full of stories pumping through those veins,

memories dripping, ever dripping to the floor.

My body still shrouded in pain - 

and I can't help but wonder if it's too much for this young life

as I stand here yearning for more?

I smile and trust you with my soul because if I don't I'll die from a life less lived.

I'll collapse from the weight of these words I carry on my back

and the memories will haunt my mind like a ghost floating through an attic...

...like an addict floating through a life.

So here I stand before you

naked

shattered

bones rattled bare

in my state of terrified adoration for the stage that calls me in my sleep.

And I will sing my pain for strangers in a dark room surrounded by giants

and if we all break free

ever free we will be

becoming angles who sing as one

beautifully.

-Colleen Duncan Canavan

*This poem was written after I got home from the amazing show at McCabe's Guitar Shop on August, 17, 2012.  We went to see Sean Rowe who kicked ass and whose words made us think, they made us cry, they made us laugh and at times they made us want to jump up and dance.  His soft spoken opener, Soko was charming and heartbreaking and the pain oozing out up on that stage made me want to slit my wrist half way though her set because it was so beautifully raw and touching.  After she left the stage we all looked at each other and just said, "wow!"  

This super cool evening was a birthday concert gifted to me by a very good, long time friend.  We met all the way back in kindergarden.  Thanks Leah!  This was truly a wonderful gift because you see, I am a stay at home mom who has little ones. I have a baby and a preschooler who like me to tuck them into bed at night so evenings out like this are rare. Especially when they are not with my husband who encourages me to go.  It was an awesome evening spent with wonderful people, delicious food, amazing live music and it left me feeling richly inspired - everything I ever want out of life.

Thank you!

Colleen Duncan Canavan "Coco Cana" is a freelance writer, two kids call her "mommy", a motorcycle riding hottie calls her "babe" and she is a lover of all things that burn deep within us. Except for heartburn, of course. That just sucks.  You can follow her mom's blog called, My Tales From The Crib here. 

My Journey To Motherhood: The Night It Hit Me - I'm A Mom

There are many lasting memories from the birth of our daughter. Memories that at almost four years later are so vivid I can still recall how her skin felt like suede, her cheeks like powder. The words of encouragement erupting into loud cheers from my birth team still echo in my mind as she finally came out on that last push. But there's one moment that really stands out as my, “I'm a mom” moment.

The night I had this slap-you-in-the-face realization was not during the 17+ hour labor where I paced the halls and folded into my husband's body with each painful contraction, or the 3 ½ hours of pushing (on my back) to finally get her out. It wasn't even necessarily the moment where she practically leapt out of my womb onto my stomach. I was squealing with delight, “My baby, my baby!” over and over as I held her in my arms - the nurses feverishly rubbing and massaging her red, squishy body. Just then our eyes met and she reached up and touched my face with her tiny fingers. For the longest time she was looking into my eyes and crying, touching my chin, lips and cheek as if to say, “It's you! It's really you! You're my mommy!” I'm so thankful to my nurse for capturing all of those special moments on camera because otherwise no one would believe us. If I saw that in a movie I'd think, “That would never happen!” But it did.

Even that moment, as surreal as it was, isn't the thing that's etched into my brain as “The moment.” Our two day hospital stay felt like a vacation. The friendly postpartum nurses cared for us like family. They offered much needed help with breastfeeding, armed us with expert swaddling techniques to transform our bundle of joy into a blissful baby burrito, and provided me with cooling gel pads for my already sore nipples. Mercifully, they encouraged us to sleep. Before our daughter's tiny cries could resonate in our heads and wake us from an exhausted slumber, they swept in like angels and scooped her up to comfort her. They answered every last concerning question we had with patience and understanding.

Leaving the hospital was a bit of a reality check for us. “Can we do this alone? They're professionals and we're just first time parents, how can they just let usleave like that?” Driving home looking back at the once empty car seat that was now filled with a tiny baby we thought, “Now what?” Luckily, my mom extended her flight to stay another week. I was exhausted from the long labor and in so much pain from pushing for so long all I wanted to do was sleep. We swaddled her tight, I nursed her and we placed our sleeping baby in her cradle next to our bed. “Wow, she didn't even cry, this isn't so bad after all!” Those were the last words I uttered as my head hit the pillow assuming we'd all sleep until morning. (Two kids later, I find this hilarious.)

An hour later we were jolted out of bed as if a drill sergeant were standing there screaming commands at us while honking an air horn in our faces. “What's going on? Is there an emergency? Someone's baby is really loud!”

Then it hit us.

“That's our baby!

Where's the nurse to scoop her up? Has she gotten louder?” This was a harsh reality made all the more jarring as we fumbled around the pitch black room trying to find this miniature siren (right next to us.) This nightly task quickly became second nature, but this first time was frantic, stressful, growing more and more urgent the longer she cried, and that's when I realized that I was the one she was crying for, I was the one who was responsible for nursing her, I was the one who could comfort her - so I scooped her up into my arms and thought, “wow, I'm actually a mom now and this is my baby,” and it felt good.

*This was originally posted on February 8, 2012 at BlogHer.com and was an entry into a contest put on by Ricki Lake and BlogHerMoms called Journey To Motherhood. We were asked to describe our own journey. This was 1 out of 4 entries I wrote for the contest.