"Leave It As It Is..."

That full quote reads: "Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only marr it." ~President Theodore Roosevelt~

During my time off, I have been catching up on some tv that has been burning a hole in my dvr. I finally hit 'play' on the 6 part PBS series by Ken Burns called, The National Parks: America's Best Idea. I have only one episode left to watch, but I must say now that it is an absolutely amazing series. I have always been impressed with Ken Burns documentaries mainly for his attention to detail. Burns does beautiful, beautiful work. The photography in National Parks, both still and moving, is stunning. I constantly hit the pause button just to take in the scenery for a few extra moments. The stories, writings and antidotes born out of the National Parks by those who visited them in the late 1800's and early 1900's are so engaging and re-told by voices you'd recognize: Tom Hanks, George Takai, Sam Waterston, John Lithgow, Eli Wallach and many others. They share these moments beautifully without upstaging the series. The spotlight is left right where it belongs--on the story and the scenery. The whole series is narrated by Peter Coyote, who is brilliant in the role as 'tour guide through history'. As someone who has done professional voice over work for many years, I bow to his seemingly effortless vocal mastery in this piece.

"God never made an ugly landscape. All that the sun shines on is beautiful, so long as it is wild." ~John Muir (1869)~

I was lucky that both of my parents held a big love for our National Parks and took my brothers and I to many of them when we were kids. We would camp and hike and fish and sit around the campfire late at night. I have scattered memories of these trips as I was a pre-teen for most of the trips. The memories I do have though, are vivid. I remember Mesa Verde National Park like I visited there yesterday. That Park, those ruins, that mysterious band of Indians who just up and disappeared one day....intrigued me so. I remember Yellowstone and watching Old Faithful burst skyward. I also remember some of the stinkiest sulfur blurps of mud bubbling there too. I remember the Grand Tetons and standing at a split-rail fence that bordered the valley that ran up to the base of those peaks. Imagine how silent we were, staring in awe....


Oh, these vast, calm, measureless mountain days, inciting at once to work and rest! Days in whose light everything seems equally divine, opening a thousand windows to show us God. Nevermore, however weary, should one faint by the way who gains the blessings of one mountain day; whatever his fate, long life, short life, stormy or calm, he is rich forever.

~John Muir~

The National Parks: America's Best Idea is quite the history lesson, but unlike any history class I ever sat through. I've learned so much by watching this series. Not only the struggles our own nation went through to preserve these gorgeous areas, but those who helped spearhead the whole system. The one person who takes center stage for the first two episodes is John Muir. I have read more John Muir works and writings in the past week than I ever did in school. Pity, really, as Mr. Muir was a top-notch wordsmith. With a string of words, Muir could paint, not just a picture, but an entire panoramic landscape in high-def! Some of his writings, that I'm reading for the first time, have literally brought me to tears. Few contemporary writers do that for me.

If you haven't already, download, rent or buy The National Parks: America's Best Idea and watch it. And if you've already seen it--watch it again. And watch it with your kids. Maybe it'll inspire them to go see these wonders in person one day. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to take them!

"Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of nature's darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. As age comes on, one source of enjoyment after another is closed, but nature's sources never fail."
~from the book Our National Parks
by John Muir (1901)~

(thank-you Mr. Muir)

Rebounding in 2010....

I am once again turning my blog over to the writing prowess of my friend and writer, Joel Burke, who updated his blog with the most insightful writing about using 2010 to your fullest potential. Thanks Joel, for once again giving me lots to think about for the upcoming New Year!

What would be your personal top ten moments in 2009? Take a moment to write down one list that contains both the wins and losses! Then, begin to reflect on each one. What were you thinking and feeling with both the highlights and the low lights. What did you learn from each one? I would guess for most of you, 2009 has been a year of tough losses. In fact, you likely are suffering through a loss right now as the New Year begins.

In basketball, most games are won or lost by a rebound. However, for a rebound to happen, there has to be a missed shot! You may have had some missed shots in 2009, but be ready for a rebound in 2010! One of the most basics fundamentals in basketball when you shoot the ball is to follow it. In fact, there is a good chance you will get your own rebound from the missed shot!

Two of the best rebounders in NBA history were Elgin Baylor and Charles Barkley. They didn’t have the height or even the jumping ability, but they had a hunger and a desire to go get the ball after a missed shot!

In order to be a great rebounder in basketball and in life, we all need to have three skills. These skills are not about talent, but rather our attitude.

1. Aggressiveness

2. Positioning

3. Determination

Aggressiveness: The basketball term is to crash the boards. You’ve got to have the desire to go get the ball. In basketball and in life, you can’t expect the ball to bounce your way. You must go get it!

Positioning: This skill is setting you up for a rebound (success) by anticipating where the ball is going to bounce. Proper positioning and a little extra effort to get the ball will most often create a positive outcome!

Determination: This is purely an attitude that every missed shot is one you can turn into a made shot! You have “can-do” attitude of energy and emotion. This energy and emotion will not only help you succeed, but lift up those around you!

Yes, 2010 will likely be another tough year for all of us. However, I hope it will be a year for you to rebound from the missed shots of 2009! Now, go chase the ball!

Catnip caper...

My two cats have a wonderful great-uncle who bought them a bag of fresh catnip some time ago from an herb farm up in Maryland. It is a 1/2 lb bag that is taking forever to finish up but the bag is now almost finished. The cats know the sound of the closet door opening that houses the nip and they usually come running when they hear it. If they are out of earshot of the door, they definitely know the sound of that bag that holds the nip. As I try to walk around, over, through kitties at my feet who are circling me, weaving in and out of my legs looking up at me so endearingly. Their little, bright eyes saying "please oh please oh please put the nip down NOW!". They each get a little pile on the carpet in our bedroom and that is where they stay for the rest of the day. First they lay on it, then roll in it, lick at it, chew on it and eventually, sleep on top of it. Ahhhhh, a full day.

The bummer of this story is, is that Stillridge Farms in Maryland, the herb farm where my brother bought this catnip, does not have an on-line store, so I can't get a new bag of their favorite stuff. I now will have to search out another 'supplier' and hope that it will be just as good as their favorite nip!

Winter Solstice....

With those North of us digging out of a massive snow storm that hit yesterday, it only seems timely and appropriate to stop this week and welcome in old man Winter. Today is the eve of the Winter Solstice, the time when those of us in the Northern Hemisphere officially welcome Winter. Tomorrow at 12:47 pm (ET) the earths axial tilt is at it's furthest away from the sun, hence shorter days and longer nights and the official start of Winter. The small bit of good news for you Winter-haters, is that starting Tuesday, the days will get longer and longer--even if it is a little bit--as we once again start the process toward the Summer Solstice which comes June 21st.

"Throughout history, solstices have been celebrated and heralded with cultural and religious traditions. Our ancestors, who believed in mystery and magic, gathered together to celebrate the miraculous return of the light after the longest night of the year and that’s how Winter Solstice festivals were born. Still to this day,people all over the world celebrate Winter Solstice as a time of rebirth, a new beginning and a chance to marvel at the power of transition from darkness into light." (Daily World Buzz)



Nature chose for a tool, not the earthquake or lightening to rend and split asunder, not the stormy torrent or eroding rain, but the tender snow-flowers noiselessly falling through unnumbered centuries.
~John Muir~

Near miss....

I went to a cookie exchange tonight in my old neighborhood. I love that they still invite me, as it is for those who still live on the street.....it makes me feel good that they still consider me part of the group. Driving back home became a heart racing adventure though, as I almost hit a deer. We live a little further out in the country than we used to, so we have alot more wildlife to encounter on our roads out here. I don't know if our new surroundings are the reason why, but I have seen so many more deer on the side of the road who didn't make it across the road than any year before. Everyday I must pass by 3-5 that perished the night before. Well tonight I almost added to that number.

As I traveled down the dark, twisty two lane road that leads to our subdivision, I saw what I thought was a dog all of a sudden running along side my SUV. As soon as I put my foot on the brake to slow, the deer darted out right in front of me. I stood up on the brake, tires a-squealin', SUV going a little sideways and barely missed that little doe by a couple of inches. All of a sudden I realized why I see so many on the side of the road dead....they're not the brightest animals in the kingdom are they? Why would you dart out in front of the car instead of back into the yard you were just grazing in? As much as my heart was pounding as I watched her scamper off into the woods, I can imagine hers was beating probably faster! I hope she stays in the woods tonight and off the roads.

Cookie mountain....

I have been so absent updating my blog and I apologize for that. I have been baking like a mad-woman these past couple of weeks. The Mina Project that I am doing through my church-- where they give you $10 in seed money and it is your job to use your talents to build that $10 into more, then release the money back into the community for needy families--has been very active since I started before Thanksgiving, but even more so right now. I have been baking breads and charging $10 for each loaf. So far I have raised $350--35 loaves! Now the Christmas rush starts and on Friday and Saturday alone, I have 11 loaves due. The beauty is that it's another $110 dollars. That puts my total Mina money raised up to $460. I am soooo proud and sooo grateful to my neighbors and teachers at Cassie's school and friends who have ordered! I think that I may make this a yearly event to raise money for someone who is in need. My Mina money, btw, is going to Interact of Wake County, a charity Sal & I have long supported.

The loaves are in addition to other orders that have come in over the past few weeks. It has been a very lucrative holiday for the Heavenly Scents Bakery, for sure! The past few days I have filled orders for not only Mina bread, but a large 250 Christmas cookie order, another platter of 30 cookies, 3-50 piece dessert trays, not to mention the weekly Sunday breakfast I do for 200. It's been very busy.

Through all of this, I give my thanks to God. Re-building this business since the move back to NC has been what I have prayed for ALOT over the past year and the clients are coming. Just like the Field of Dreams "If you build it they will come", I prayed for it and it has come and it still is. I am soooooo thankful! Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!

Lotsa lights....

My computer has been at the IT hospital for the past few days getting some bugs removed and I've been using my work laptop lately. I didn't realize how much I would miss my personal computer. Of course the day we got the CPU back, the monitor decided to blow up so I had to make an emergency trip out to buy a new one today. This monitor is much bigger than our previous one, so I feel like I'm watching tv rather than working on the computer. It sure is nice!

I've been wanting to publish these Christmas photos and can now that my harddrive is back. These are from our decorating weekend over the long Thanksgiving holiday.

Christmas Kitty. I haven't quite figured out what it is about cats and their love for either climbing into the Christmas tree to sleep or settling for the tree skirt. Casper has found his favorite spot for this year!

We decided to do a live tree this year. This guy is 10 ft. tall and drinks water like a camel. There are needles everywhere. I don't think we'll do a live one again next year. This is tree 1 of 2!!


Tree #2. This is the artificial tree we normally use that I went ahead and set up even though we had the real thing this year. It's pretty cool having 2 trees all decorated. There are over 1800 little Christmas lights between the two trees and they are only 25 feet away from each other. Oh, how we glow.....really!


I've always loved the idea of having a train at the base of my Christmas tree. Eleven years ago, when I was pregnant with Cassie, I bought this from a wood craftsman and painted it myself.
It is one of my favorite things to pull out of storage every Christmas. I love knowing that she will have it to pass on to her kids one day.....

Poinsettias......

I was in Sam's Club last week and was amazed at their display of poinsettias. The plants they have are monstrous. I mean huge! They certainly are gorgeous. I read somewhere recently that North Carolina is the 2nd largest grower of poinsettias behind California. These gorgeous red, white & pink plants bring our state almost $18 million in revenue...nice! Every year at this time, the email about the Legend of the Poinsettia shows up in my email inbox and it did this weekend. It's a sweet little story......

Maria and Pablo lived in a tiny village in Mexico. Because Christmastime at their house did not include many gifts, Maria and Pablo looked forward to the Christmas festivities at the village church with great joy and anticipation.

©2006 Publications International, Ltd.

To honor the birth of Christ, the church displayed a beautiful manger that drew crowds of admirers. Villagers walked miles to admire the manger, bringing lovely, expensive gifts for the Baby Jesus. As Maria and Pablo watched the villagers place their gifts in the soft hay around the manger, they felt sad. They had no money to buy gifts for their family and no money to buy a gift for the Baby Jesus. One Christmas Eve, Maria and Pablo walked to the church for that evening's services, wishing desperately that they had a gift to bring.

Just then, a soft glowing light shone through the darkness, and the shadowy outline of an angel appeared above them. Maria and Pablo were afraid, but the angel comforted them, instructing them to pick some of the short green weeds that were growing by the road. They should bring the plants to the church, the angel explained, and place them near the manger as their gift to the Baby Jesus. Then just as quickly as she had appeared, the angel was gone, leaving Maria and Pablo on the road looking up into the dark sky. Confused but excited, the children filled their arms with large bunches of the green weeds and hurried to the church.

When the children entered the church, many of the villagers turned to stare. As Maria and Pablo began placing the weeds around the manger, some of the villagers laughed at them. "Why are those children putting weeds by the manger?" they asked each other. Maria and Pablo began to feel embarrassed and ashamed of their gift to the Baby Jesus, but they stood bravely near the manger, placing the plants on the soft hay, as the angel had instructed.

Suddenly, the dull green leaves on the tops of the plants began to turn a beautiful shade of red, surrounding the Baby with beautiful blooms. The laughing villagers became silent as they watched the green plants transform into the lovely star-shaped crimson flowers we call poinsettias. As they watched the weeds bloom before their eyes, Maria and Pablo knew they had no reason to be ashamed anymore. They had given the Baby Jesus the only gift they could--and it was the most beautiful gift of all.

Twinkle Lights.....

Thanksgiving was awesome. Mom, bro', husband and daughter gathered around a table full of food. It was all wonderful. It was also a big reminder of how blessed we all are. Truly a day of t-h-a-n-k-s.

The drive home from church Saturday night went from chatting about the service to 'hey, let's stop and get a Christmas tree!' as we drove past the local home improvement store. We had no plans to do the Christmas decorating this weekend, but boy how plans change! This is our first Christmas in this house and my husband really wanted to do a real Christmas tree versus the artificial we've done for years now. We have a vaulted ceiling in the main living area, so a large tree was necessary. We lugged our big 9 1/2 foot tree into the house and got it placed into the tree stand. It took us several attempts to get it visually straight up and down because the tree trunk was not perfectly straight. I decided to bring the artificial tree out as well and set it up in the foyer, so for the first time I have two trees decorated in the house. It was ALOT of work and required a quick trip to the drug store to buy a couple of extra strands of lights. We had to use every last ornament we own to cover two of them, but the trees really do look awesome. This house is quite a bit smaller than others we've lived in so the lights from the trees illuminate every corner. We glow, but what a gorgeous glow.

Giving Thanks.....

Thanksgiving
Pilgrims
move among us.
Silent, their gray lips mouth
prayers for the bountiful fields of
autumn. Feathered
Indians stand
tall in quiet corners
invoking harvest home in a
strange tongue. This is
our Thanksgiving.
Gathered together, we
are visited by the grace of
old guests.
~Myra Cohn Livingston~


Give thanks to God, whose mighty hand
Deals blessings good and great.
~Charles Frederick White~

Iron Chef Morgan....

Ok....I would sooooo get my butt handed to me on that show, but I can dream! I do want to congratulate Chef Jose Garces, who was crowned the new Iron Chef for Iron Chef America last night. I was rooting for him from day one. I had a chance to chat with him this morning and I asked him if the chefs really have no idea what the secret ingredient is on Iron Chef America or not. His comment was "I will neither comfirm nor deny that information!" HA! I just never bought into it that the chefs walked out there completely in the dark. With his Latino upbringing and cooking background, Chef Garces is certainly filling a void on that shows' panel of Iron Chefs. His first battle on Iron Chef America will be January 17th.

"What happened to my weekend?" is what I was asking myself last night. Cooking, that's what. I wish I could say I hated every minute of it, but I don't! I have a bear of a week coming up with not only trying to do prep and cook my own families Thanksgiving meal, but food for a bunch of clients too. I have had to print out a calendar so I can plan out my cooking schedule for the rest of the year. The little squares for this week are so full, I can barely read everything. I pre-cook almost everything for Thanksgiving, so that the only thing I have to do on Thursday is pop everything in the oven to cook or re-heat and grill the turkey. Today my grid shows me that I will cook and mash my sweet potatoes, cook the sausage and veggies for the stuffing and mixing it with the cornbread and biscuits I baked yesterday. This will all be done at the same time I am baking 8 loaves of bread for other clients. Wow....whatta week! I'm ready!!!!

The Fans Come Out At Night.....

Cassie and I went to the midnight showing of New Moon last night...well, actually this morning. The theater showed the first movie, "Twilight", right before the New Moon premiere, so we went to see it, too. Lucky for us we did because the lines for the midnight screening started at 9pm! We only sat through about an hour of Twilight before we walked across the hall to the 1 of 10 theatres that was showing New Moon. At 10pm, our theatre was half-full. By 11:30, it was packed to the gills. Funny how it was almost all Mom's--my age women and the rest were some high school/college girls.

Now I'm a fan of the books first. Stephanie Meyer crafted a wonderfully written saga in Twilight. So I give her mucho credit for even penning these fantastic books and certainly solidifying a financial future for herself and allll of her family still to come! But New Moon, the movie, was great. I had reservations about this second movie because part of the charm of the first movie to me, was the fact that it was a low budget film and kinda art-house looking. The promos for New Moon, with a substantially larger budget, looked all glammed up and very polished and I didn't know if I would have liked it so slick. But I was pleasantly surprised. I like the main characters, Edward, Bella and Jacob and their families. I enjoy the Cullen family and look forward to seeing their characters back in the fore-front in the future. New Moon introduces us to the 'wolfpack' and they were fun, dangerous and not hard on the eyes. Their transformation from man to wolf was very cool and the couple of fights they had in the movie were awesome....and very loud. I got the biggest kick out of the gasps and giggles and "whoots!" that escaped the audience at key points in the movie. The first time Edward shows up on the screen, the time when Jacob rips his shirt off to aid Bella, when Edward takes his shirt off and at that last thing Edward says at the end of the movie--nope not gonna spoil it for you. Women...we are soooo predictable. The movie did get a standing O when it was over, so I wasn't the only one who liked it. I'm going again tomorrow with a girlfriend and her daughter to see it again. Yep, gotta go again.

Walking out into the parking lot at 2:20 in the morning with literally a thousand other Twilight fans, you would never know it was 2:20 AM...it looked like it could've been 2:20 on a Saturday afternoon! Oh yeah....by the time New Moon was over, the theatre had already put up the poster for the 3rd movie in the saga, Eclipse, which comes out next summer. Woohooo!!!!

Before you, Bella, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were
stars--points of light and reason...And then you shot across my sky
like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty.

~Edward~

HOT!

I don't have a big, red HOT sign that flashes on like Krispy Kreme when my ovens are cranking out goodies, but I could have today. The ovens are working overtime this week filling orders for clients who are entertaining at work and at home for Thanksgiving. I filled two orders yesterday of bread and started two big orders today of bread and desserts that will take the rest of tomorrow to finish. Add to that my weekly catering gig for 200 and I am busy, busy, busy. I took another order today for a Christmas party next month that needs 250 cookies. Yay!

I had been searching on-line for bakers boxes, but in small quantities. I don't need 1000, more like 200. I finally found what I wanted, ordered them and they arrived last week. I love how my food looks all wrapped up, boxed and finished in pretty ribbons with my company sticker on the outside. It's all very Martha Stewart-y--so gorgeous. I have always been proud of my food, but even more so when it's all wrapped and finished properly.

Tomorrow I have a re-stocking errand to run, decorate todays food and start prepping for Sundays breakfast. I love this. I love this. I love this.

Getting out of the boat.....

My best girlfriend in San Diego is opening her new business in the next couple of weeks. Kim has taught natural childbirth classes for years now and has acted as a doula for many, many families. Along the way, she became licensed as a massage therapist specializing in pregnancy massages. She has always dreamed of owning her own business and her clientele has certainly grown over the years. Soooooo...over the past few weeks, she handed in her notice to her corporate job, found a little location/shop to rent at the Village Shoppes at the Bernardo Winery, which is a gorgeous location and one of my favorite places to shop. She's painting and decorating her store right now, will be stocking it in the next few days and will open up Pregnatique in December. Pregnatique will feature all things for women who are expecting and beyond--health products, clothing, books, holistic items and of course, Kim's wonderful massages for Mom and about-to-be-born baby. What an amazing idea and store! She will have her on-line store open soon after the new year, so she will soon be world-wide. Her business plan already includes franchising on down the road. Words cannot even begin to describe how proud I am of her. She is seizing the day and her dream. I love the phrase "You can't walk on water til you step out of the boat".....she's getting out of the boat. yay! You go, girl!!!!!

Four Corners.....

Joel Burke is a business friend of mine. He is not only a great programmer at KYGO radio in Denver, Colorado, but he also a great motivational speaker. He recently released his book "Inspire! Inspiration for Life and Life at Work". On his blog recently he wrote about the Four Corners of a Balanced Life. I thought it was just perfect and I want to share....

FOUR CORNERS OF A BALANCED LIFE
By Joel Burke

Doesn’t it seem the older we get, the more complicated life gets? When we are younger, we bought the fairytale that if we only get the new house, the new job and the new car, that our lives will be better. We would be walking down easy street and the struggles from our youth would be a distant memory. Well, go figure! We bought into that fairytale and now want to know about the return policy!

The fairytale can’t be returned, but we can take some corrective steps in putting more balance back in our lives no matter how complicated.

Commitment
This is by far the most important. Without a commitment and relationship with GOD, We will always have a void. We will all constantly be on a search mission for the next big thing to fill that hole. It will for a short time, but the new car smell will wear off and what will be left is emptier than a gas tank. Instead, we should be on a rescue mission that only GOD can provide. Moviemaker, Woody Allen, who is an atheist has said, “I can’t really come up with a good argument to choose life over death, except that I’m too scared…The trains all go to the same place. They all go to the dump.”

Contentment
All of us who have a competitive spirit and are constantly trying to be our best, contentment can easily be forgotten about and in some ways we can easily think that it is a weakness. We all must take time to enjoy and cherish those moments of contentment. My wife and I were driving out of Estes Park, Colorado on a Sunday morning after a snowfall. It was a picture that only God could have painted. I soaked up every second of it. I have to admit that 10 years ago, I probably wouldn’t even given it a second glance.

Concessions
Don’t fight every battle! We all must decide which ones that are worth fighting for and which ones don’t really matter. This doesn’t mean compromising what you believe. It’s about being more cooperative along the way on the non-essentials in life. That can sure lower the stress level and cause us to smile more.

Confessions
Forgive yourself and be the first to say, “I’m sorry” to others! When we make a mistake, ask God and others for forgiveness. This will keep us from living a life of guilt over the past and carrying around a mountain of regret through life. That’s a heavy load that sure will cause all of us to collapse.

The complexity of the simplicity! We all have made our lives more complicated and complex than are necessary. However, it truly is very simple. When we all put and give some attention to all four corners, we will be able to stay the course and stay strong even when trouble strikes!

The Flying Scarecrow....

The remnants of Hurricane Ida have been sitting on top of us for 3 1/2 days and we are drenched! Just yesterday, we had 5" of rain and add to that the bucketloads that fell the 2 days before that, I think we've had our share. Flights in and out of our airport have been delayed because of the blustery winds. There are some areas that are severely flooded--like, chest-high water! We haven't had any flooding here at our house, but you certainly will sink if you step onto our lawn. Very, very mushy! I see that this weekend we will start drying out as Ida continues to move northward.

Several times yesterday I had to chase down the big scarecrow that is part of my front yard decorations for Fall. I call him Efram. Efram was getting blown around all over the yard but I'll be honest, after the 5th time of chasing him down, I stopped. Clearly, Efram had his own agenda. No matter how many times I rescued him and placed him back with his other scarecrow buddy (Jr.) at the haybales, Efram would be gone again within five minutes. I mean, who am I to keep him from his windy day adventures? I went to check on him this morning and found him face down in my gardenia bushes off on the side of the house. Apparently, Jr. decided to join in the fun because he was laying on his back with one of the smaller pumpkins by his side and the pot of mums flipped over. Wow, whatta party those two had yesterday! They still had that cheery smile on their faces when I put them back in their place, so they musta had fun!

(pictured: Efram and Jr.--my party animals)

Scrabbled...

My daughter trotted downstairs last night and wanted to know if I wanted to play Scrabble. SCRABBLE!? She knows my weakness. I love board games and Scrabble is my favorite. Her enthusiasm faded fast though the first time I was able to use my 'Z' tile--a 10 pointer--on a triple word score spot. That 4 letter word, zone, got me 39 points and one pouty girl. She ended up beating me though because I had a 'Q' left over at the end of the game with a couple of other letters and had 15 pts subtracted from my total. Maybe tonight, she and I can play Life, another one of our favorites.

the evil Q...

Lessons Learned....

It was a gorgeous fall weekend, with the temperatures yesterday getting a little unseasonably warm. On Friday, I got the last of my daffodil bulbs planted. I have 600 now in the ground. I'm curious as to how many of those will actually come up next Spring. I will be sure to post a pic of the first little yellow faces that pop up! Also on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, three rare days in a row, I had my sportscar out on the road. Since the Fall temperatures are a little chilly to troll around convertible-like, I put the rag top on and went cruisin'. Hitting these tight, twisty country roads with all the fall colors a-blazin' is just that much more gorgeous (and fun!) when I can do it in my little roadster.

So at church Saturday night, our pastor continued his series on the 10 Commandments. We're up to #6 "Thou Shall Not Kill". Well, I know I've never taken a life and I'm going to assume that no one in our congregation has either.....well....I'm not quite sure about that guy who sits a couple rows behind us.....lol....just kidding. Instead of the sermon that would apply to no one, he twisted it to make it apply to us ALL. It was all about murdering people with our words. Character assassination. Talking unkindly about others. Well, HELLO!? Who is not guilty of that? Over the past couple of years, I've gotten a lot better at 'taming the tongue', as the bible says. I'm very, very careful about what I say to and about people. Before I speak, the thought rolls through my mind--"are you tearing down or building up?". If I stumble, I am quick to apologize and ask for forgiveness.
B-U-T....there is one person in my life who is my downfall. All I have to do is hear his name and I usually blurt out *jerk* or some other horribly, colorful descriptive word or phrase. I get off a phone call with him and I just grit my teeth and do my best Yosemite Sam imitation: razzin'-frackin'-rickin'-rackin'. This man exhibits some very unpleasant personality traits. He's mean and condescending, judgmental.....oh the list goes one and on and he brings out the worst in me!

Well, God certainly was talkin' to me through that sermon, because this guys face and name was rolling through my head and heart the whole time. I know that I cannot change him and the way he is, but what I can change is the way I react to him. You see, people who are hurting, hurt others. If there was ever someone who deserves compassion, it is he. If there ever was someone who could use a prayer to soften his heart, it is he. If there was ever someone who could use a soft, kind thought thought about them, it is he. Ok, God. Message received, loud and clear. Since Saturday night, when he has come to mind, I have surrounded his face and name with pleasant thoughts and words. So far, so good.

"Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.
Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it."

~Psalm 34: 13-14

Red Leaf....

....this little guy is holding on for dear life as all his buddies have all but fallen to the ground. I don't think this years' Fall was as brilliant and colorful as ones in the past, but it was lovely, none the less. There are stretches of twisty country road back here that have been my favorite routes to travel lately only because of the tunnel of colors I could fly through. Beautiful.

Later today, I will plant the rest of my daffodil and tulip bulbs as I already prep for next spring. Since this is a new house, the planting and landscaping is pretty much a blank-slate right now. The builders landscaper was very kind to plant a few daylilies around the property instead of his usual foundation plantings. I've added numerous ones to them, thanks to Broadwells Nursery out in Angier, which has the bestbestbest selection for next to nothin' prices. But I gotta get these bulbs in. I love daffodils and have already planted about 300 bulbs with another 300 to go in the dirt. Told ya! I love my front and back yards to be a sea of those little yellow cups in the Spring. I don't plant them formally, just scatter them about. I don't normally plant tulips because my squirrels end up eating all the bulbs before they get to bloom the first time. Maybe in this new location the squirrels won't have such high-end appetites? Probably not, but we'll see.

I'm also kicking off a Mina project through my church today and am counting on my neighbors to help me. This is all about taking your blessings and gifts, multiplying them and releasing them back into the community to help others. THAT is what loving one another is all about, right? I am taking orders for my holiday breads that I will 'sell' for $10 with all the money going to Interact of Wake County, one of my favorite charities. Cassie will be my runner today and deliver little fliers out to all their mailboxes. I hope I get orders for more than I can handle! I'll keep you up to date on how it goes. In the meantime, have a great weekend!

My nutcracker suite.....

While running errands yesterday I stopped by Homegoods, which is one of my favorite little home furnishing stores. It's a little bit of a trek for me to get to it so I don't go often, but when I do, I spend a good hour or two just meandering amongst all the goodies....

Well imagine my delight yesterday when I walked in and it was wall-to-wall Christmas stuff... just everything! I must of looked like a guy walking into Home Depot on a Saturday--all big-eyed and fantasizing about all the possibilities. Santas, dishes and sparkly stuff as far as my eye could see. Then, I saw it. My weakness. Christmas Nutcrackers. My Nutcracker collection right now stands around 52 and here was a whole display, top to bottom just filled and not a one do I have. There had to have been 250 of them--big and small, traditional and not-so, cheap and expensive--all standing at attention staring at me. I think I truly went wobbly in the knees a little bit! lol....

I only bought one nutcracker and only because he was already clearanced down to six bucks. He was the last one left and I think he needed a home. Ok, that's my justification. He's a pilgrim nutcracker holding a pumpkin. I don't have one like him because all of my guys are Christmas related. But, how is it that Thanksgiving stuff is already on clearance? I guess I missed the window for shopping for that holiday, which I'm sure was back in August. Anyway--I welcome him to my collection.

But I know before the Christmas season is over, I will visit them again and probably won't be so strong. Maybe Santa needs to pay that store a little visit!!!! ahem...

The day after.....

Halloween yesterday was just a blast. I had front loaded all my prep for a catering job this morning to Friday so I had all day yesterday clear. Cassie and I started carving pumpkins around 10am. We did five total--one huge one with a headless horseman, 2 medium ones with a ghost face and alien and then two small ones with old-school jack-o-lantern faces. Cassie wanted to do more but she quickly realized how much work really goes into cutting, gutting and carving each one. The biggest one, the headless horseman took almost a full 2 hours to do start to finish, but it looked awesome. They alll looked great.

Our subdivision had a costume parade and cookout in the late afternoon. It was great fun to see all the smaller kids all dressed up. Parents spend a lot of money of kids costumes these days. They certainly weren't wearing dollar store costumes, that's for sure. While we were there at the cookout they handed out awards for the best carved pumpkin and best decorated house. Our house won the Best Decorated, which thrilled me to pieces! We got this cute little painted house on a stake to put in our front yard. They even put spiders on it---which is what our house is decorated with (see earlier blog). I wanted my headless horseman pumpkin to be in the pumpkin competition, but they did the judging the night before and I don't carve til the day-of to avoid premature shriveling before Halloween night.

So Halloween has come and gone and now it is November 1st. It's raining today, so the decorations will stay up one or two more days so they can dry out. Then the house makes it transformation into the Harvest and Thanksgiving theme. Time to go find my turkeys.....

The family tree.....

I was reading Martha Stewart's blog the other day and she had posted pictures of tombstones at a graveyard near her home in Bedford, NY. Most of the headstones were dated the 1800's. One was from the 1600's! She named names and speculated as to what their life must've been like, whether their kin was buried next to them or if there was something special mentioned on their headstone. I wonder if the current family members of those buried folk know their ancestors story?

I know some people would find this type of walk-a-bout creepy, but I don't. I spent many hours as a kid walking through old and forgotten mountain-side burial plots looking for past family members. See, my Mom was, and still is a little, into genealogy--searching and tracking our family history. She was the first one who introduced me to tombstone rubbing. That is when you use white paper up against a headstone that is a little too worn for the naked eye to make out. With charcoal or pencil lead you then lightly go over the white paper and voila'! you would have a charcoal relief of what the tombstone originally said. Plus it gave her a 'hard copy' of full names and birth and death dates that she could carry home in hopes of connecting-the-dots with other family members.

She's gone back many, many generations on my Dad's side and quite a few on her side of the family too. Oh, the stories she has told me about some very colorful folks in our family history. Not to mention the family scandal or two that had been swept under the rug for years upon years only to be uncovered by....my Mom. There were quite a few undocumented name changes, one or two illegitimate children, a couple of mistresses, a couple of altered birth certificates, some relatives who just 'disappeared' and some really, really weird cod's (cause of deaths). There are a few other jaw-dropping revelations and stories that I won't share here. Mom would be aghast that I've shared this much already! lol....Maybe I'll write a series of books one day about all the characters that build the base of my family tree. They make for some very interesting stories.

When I was a kid, these cemetery walks used to bore me to tears, but now I'm glad that Mom did all that research. It's pretty cool to look over your life as the pieced together quilt that it is. Every piece is not always pretty and the edges maybe a little (or very) ragged and frayed, but every piece fits together and it makes us, eventually, who we are....

October....

I'm sitting here in my office working. Well, 'working', because I am spending more time staring out the window. There is a longing in my heart today to be outside, not in the office. The leaves right now are just gorgeous. More and more of them are falling today though, as a breeze is blowing. My backyard is a sea of yellow, orange and red--both on the trees and on the ground...

"O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all....."

~Robert Frost~

The first cut is the deepest....

My daughter has spent the past two days trying out for her schools' basketball team. This was her first time trying out for a sports team, so the whole 'tryout' process was all new and very exciting. The two-hour tryouts Monday and Tuesday were filled with drills, dribbling, shooting and team dynamics. Last night, she found out that she did not make the first cut. Ouch. My girl turned from the computer screen last night after she did not find her name on the list and told us the news. Then the chin quiver started.....

ahhhhh, that first sting of disappointment and rejection as a kid. It's a tough, but necessary hurdle to clear in life. There are sooooo many important life lessons to be learned in this experience for her though. That you gotta try your hardest, no matter the outcome. That it's ok to be disappointed for a little bit. How to be a gracious loser. How to now be a cheerleader for her friends who made the cut. How to create a game-plan to practice for next years' tryout....the list goes on and on and on. As important as the life lessons are though, as a Mommy, it's still hard to watch my baby take that first big hurt.

The Spider House....

I started decorating for Halloween a couple of weeks ago. This is our first round of holidays in this house, so the task is to figure out how your gonna decorate it--with what you have or new stuff. Most of our existing stuff works on this house. I love bringing in the haybales with scarecrows and pumpkins. They will stay up all the way through Thanksgiving. The pumpkins that don't become jack-0-lanterns over the next week, will stay as their companions. The newest addition to this house were the spiders. I bought these 4 five-foot spiders to hang on the outside of the house. We now live in what is known as....the spider house.


The mums have just popped over the past couple of days. I bought them with only buds and no opened flowers. Now they are all in bloom. They were worth the wait. On the inside I have a black candle house surrounded by a ghoulish cemetary with creepy characters milling about. My favorite decoration for Halloween though has to be my merry band of handpainted ghosts. My MIL gave them to me, the first one all painted by her, the other five still bisque that I got to paint. They were one of my first ceramic painting projects. They've been in 3 different houses now, numerous moves and are not as quite as ghostly white as they used to be, but I love, love, love unwrapping them every year.

While I write this I am baking Pumpkin Cookies to sandwich with Maple Cream to give to a friend who is having a birthday tomorrow. Gotta run before they become roasted pumpkin cookies!

Leaves....

Who knew that my early morning drive to the drugstore this morning would have been so beautiful? Thank you God, for that sinus headache so I could enjoy your beauty! lol...

The drive to my house.....

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded
to it, and if
I were a bird I would fly
about the earth
seeking the successive autumns!

~George Eliot