Music Monday

Just couldn’t resist.  I loved spinning this one on my parents’ big console stereo and imagining that David Cassidy was singing it straight to me.

Welcome to our world!

Look who came knocking on our door on Friday morning!   A family in the neighborhood had bought him off Craigslist (isn’t that illegal?) and then realized he was more work than they had planned on and that he wasn’t an outside dog.  They knew the right house to come to!  They even already had all of his bags packed and brought them with them.  He trotted right in, and he has not left my side since.  I mean NOT LEFT MY SIDE, helping me now to understand what my friends on the AOL Pug Board mean when they refer to velcro pugs. 

I’m always taken off guard when someone makes a comment about pugs being ugly.  What?! Long before I had one, I thought they were adorable.  And now that I’ve been owned by one (and now two)?  I think they are just flat out handsome.  But it’s not their looks that have so endeared the breed to me.  It is their adorable personalities.  They  live to please and love and entertain.   They totally give themselves up to sleep- with snoring and rolling into a ball and smacking their lips at the deliciousness of it all.  They know how to find a good spot for a nap, generally in someone’s lap, or on the high back of the couch or  on the floor wherever a strong ray of sunlight  is shining in.  They like to pop off, barking long and hard at a passing pit bull…….once it is at least a half a block past him.  We are mighty lucky to have such an exuberant guard dog!

We don’t know a thing about where life has taken little Otis so far, but we are sure glad to welcome him into our family.

Thanksgiving with the family

 

Rules for a successful holiday: 1. Get together with the family 2. Relive old times 3. Get out before it blows  storypeople

 

Dessert Errata by Michael Feldman
A PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

Go resignedly to the folks’ remembering it’s just for a few hours. Though you must make appearances at her side as well as your own, eat with as much relish as you can muster, for this, too, shall pass. Choose carefully your words, gingerly stepping around your cousin Ruth’s latest fiasco with the Arthur Murray instructor, and ask not about Marlene.
Let on not that you have heard the stories before, and utter them not aloud simultaneously nor anticipate the punch lines. Chew with vigor and bite thy tongue, for the bird hath been cooked since Tuesday, yet praise it tenderly for it never heard a compliment in life. Be sage about the dressing though you know not the origin of the little hard things; should you bite into the wedding band, return it with discretion. Though it resemble syrup, pour not the Manischewitz on the sherbet.

Avoid your Uncle Lou; he is vexatious to the spirit. Kick not your little brother under the table, but show the forbearance of the season and pound him later. Picture Naomi and the kids as alien life-forms, and learn from them. Shout not at Gram, for she heareth what she chooseth. Though you take on much wine, sing not The Barber of Seville nor show undue attention to your niece, who has become quite the young lady. If belch thou must, let it not herald the start of a contest. Mince no words over the piece of pie which passeth all understanding.

Above all, say nothing on the ride home, even though the temptation to cite what might have happened but didn’t be great. For that give silent thanks, resolving to firm up those plans for Aruba over Christmas.

Amen.

 

 

All funny stories aside, one of the greatest things I have to give thanks for this year is my family.  I truly love every holiday minute with them……or most of those minutes…….or lots of minutes with various individual family members…..No, I truly do love every moment with them and do not take those moments for granted.

A tradition that we started on our first Thanksgiving after my father died was to do some sort of a family project together as a way of giving.  We’ve done stockings for homeless men, toys for kids at a neighborhood center, and this year we did stockings for little boys in a residential care program. 

I wouldn’t trade families with anyone. Not on our worst days, and certainly not on Thanksgiving!

Wednesday Link Love

Aren’t these sweet potato cupcakes the cutest?! And they sound tasty as well.

Priceless post here if you are a dog owner/lover or if you love cats, or if you don’t care for either.  Just a good read!

Grinch or no Grinch, what a great idea for an Advent calendar!

File this idea for next year. Cute as can be!

Filing this one away too. For….something, someday.

These pictures make me feel all warm and smiley.

We all need to heed this list from time to time.

Music Monday

Okay, so it’s Tuesday.  Well, actually Wednesday….Link love later

Pure joy. Pure joy.

What the Day Gives

Suddenly, sun. Over my shoulder
in the middle of gray November
what I hoped to do comes back,
asking.

Across the street the fiery trees
hold onto their leaves,
red and gold in the final months
of this unfinished year,
they offer blazing riddles..

In the frozen fields of my life
there are no shortcuts to spring,
but stories of great birds in migration
carrying small ones on their backs,
predators flying next to warblers
they would, in a different season, eat.

Stunned by the astonishing mix in this uneasy world
that plunges in a single day from despair
to hope and back again, I commend my life
to Ruskin's difficult duty of delight,
and to that most beautiful form of courage,
to be happy.

~ Jeanne Lohmann ~

(The Light of Invisible Bodies)

Thanksgiving Countdown

One week from today is the big day!  Not sure what you most look forward to on the dinner table that day, but I have some definite favorites. 

My mother’s dumplings and her stewed tomatoes have been my lifelong favorites.  At the big gathering we attend earlier in the day, the absolute must- have’s are yellow squash casserole, real mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes (the old fashioned marshmallows on the top kind) and persimmon pie!  Heavy emphasis on the persimmon pie! What is it on your table each year that it just wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without?

I guess we could make light work of eating if we just whipped it all up into a cake.   Here is the recipe!

Wednesday Link Love

Great idea for a wedding, or any kind of special outdoor event!  Check out this guy’s beautiful wedding photos, especially if you are here in Louisville. 

Nice little Thanksgiving printable here.

Love this room, and especially that book wall!

Fun shower theme, but could just as easily be a fun party theme.

I have this very light fixture, and look what I could do to make it look better!

I bet some folks on your Christmas list would really love some of these.

Adorable little embroidery pattern here.

Who wakes up thinking that you could probably make some way cool art with thousands of crayons standing on end?

A Jackass is a male donkey

I read a great quote today:

"Don't try to win over the haters. You're not the jackass whisperer."

Scott Stratten

Love it!  But it brings to mind a funny story.  I’m like 8 or 9 years old, and my mother who never ever ever says anything even bordering on bad made reference to someone acting like a jackass.  (It may or may not have been me!)  Anyway, I may or may not have been a jack-ass, but I surely was a smart one.  I trotted over to the dictionary and when asked, I said I was looking up the word “jackass”, that I just wanted to see exactly what that meant.  ( I knew full well!)    My mother was quick on her feet-  she said, “Well, when  you find out, I want you to write the definition 25 times.”  

A jackass is a male donkey.  A jackass is a male donkey.  A jackass is a male donkey.   A jackass is an  inappropriately obnoxious person.  A jackass is a male donkey. A jackass is a male donkey.  A jackass is a…

Music Monday

I hate to shop, but this would maybe turn a shopping trip around for me.  I like  the guy at the very end of the video who can be heard yelling, “One more time!”

Recognizing Me

I heard an interesting interview on NPR a couple of days ago of a woman named Heather Sellers who has a condition called Face Blindness.   It’s a processing problem, and has a long medical term, but folks with is cannot recognize faces.  Not their mothers’ or their children’s, or their sweethearts’.  Facial features don’t register.  Now, they can most often compensate by recognizing clothing or posture or even hair, but it’s still a confusing existence.  You can check out the story and her new book here. 

I can’t imagine not being able to see the faces of those I hold so dear.  I have them memorized- in some cases I have several of their faces memorized.  Their younger faces, the faces they have grown into, their faces from a distance. 

There is a face I am often blind to though, and that is my own.  I’m not sure if it’s normal, but I’ve just spent years only looking at my face in the mirror close enough to swipe a little make-up across it each morning and an early morning lip gloss application done by looking at my lips in the rear view mirror of the car.   My mother and I Skype every night, and since I’ve been doing that, and since there I sit looking at myself in that little box down in the corner, I am surprised at the person I see.  She looks and has so many facial expressions like my dad!  She obviously doesn’t care about her unruly eyebrows!  She has a slightly crooked smile. 

So, I’m going to try to make a conscious effort to become a little less blind to the face in the mirror.  I’m making friends with her.   I’m going to give her a smile when I see her- she looks like she could use one. 

Six Word Saturday

Record Breaking Crowd, Epic Night Out

DH and I enjoyed our first event at the Yum! Center last night, and were part of the 22,000+ crowd there to cheer the Lady Cards along.  Added bonus was to get to see Angel McCoughtry’s jersey retired.  Best part?  Getting to sit with and eat dinner with friends, even if some were Tennessee fans.

 

Trust me on this- Pure Joy!!

Before you do one more thing, go straight over here and watch this video.  I promise you will not be sorry!

And you will enjoy following that with this sweet story.

 

Litany by Billy Collins

You are the bread and the knife,
the crystal goblet and the wine.
You are the dew on the morning grass
and the burning wheel of the sun.
You are the white apron of the baker,
and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.
However, you are not the wind in the orchard,
the plums on the counter,
or the house of cards.
And you are certainly not the pine-scented air.
There is just no way that you are the pine-scented air.
It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge,
maybe even the pigeon on the general's head,
but you are not even close
to being the field of cornflowers at dusk.
And a quick look in the mirror will show
that you are neither the boots in the corner
nor the boat asleep in its boathouse.
It might interest you to know,
speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world,
that I am the sound of rain on the roof.
I also happen to be the shooting star,
the evening paper blowing down an alley
and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.
I am also the moon in the trees
and the blind woman's tea cup.
But don't worry, I'm not the bread and the knife.
You are still the bread and the knife.
You will always be the bread and the knife,
not to mention the crystal goblet and--somehow--the wine

Wednesday Link Love

Aren’t these flowers pretty? Check out what they are and how they’re made here.

If you were going to be buying a scarf anyway, why not get one of these?

Oh, so sweet.

Nice reminder to show the same kindness to ourselves as we do to others.

Fun little treat to make with/for kids over Thanksgiving.

Love this series of Jen’s! It would be fun to do a whole wall in them.

Fun little video here. And if you want to know where you could get your own Swiss Army Bubble Blower thingie, try here.

I never tire of this “blog”.

No!

For the next few weeks we will be looking at he word NO as we prepare for Advent.  Some years ago, we as a church began to embrace a Reclaiming Christmas project that seeks to pull Christmas away from the commercial machine that seeks to consume the true meaning of Christmas.

 

We will also be looking at other things we need to say no to, and will hone our nay-saying skills together.

I’m needing this week to say a big, “Heck NO” to my work life creeping into my real life.  I’ve been turning my phone off in the evenings and believing that indeed the world can continue to turn if I am not consulted about the details. 

What is it that you are wanting/needing to say, “NO” to today? 

Music Monday

I was just introduced to Mindy Gledhill’s music this weekend, and I fell in love with this song, and I particularly love this cover of it. 

Sunday Night Blues

From the Urban Dictionary

1.
Sunday Night Blues
A thought that only crosses your mind on Sunday nights. A feeling of dismay, anger, helplessness, butterflies,and overall depression to the thought of attending work/and or school the next day-Monday.

There is no true cure for the Sunday Night Blues.

2.
sunday night blues
That, "Oh crap, I have to get back to work tomorrow" feeling you get on Sunday nights.

I was having a good time in Vegas last weekend but then I got hit by the sunday night blues.

I got an extra hour of sleep this weekend, had quality time with women friends, had a whole unplanned Saturday, enjoyed meaningful worship today, spent sweet time with my mother, got in a delicious Sunday nap, cooked good substantial food with things I had on hand, started a good book…………seems a shame to have to break this golden time up with a return to the office tomorrow!

Six Word Saturday

PERFECT Dinner for cool Autumn night

Recipe can be found here.

Urban Art

Love this urban art installment- check it out!

Which brings to mind a little art project proudly housed in my own neighborhood.

You can read a little about the project and the artists and their work here.

This particular piece, Gold Throne, is just around the corner from our house.

Never hard to give directions to my house any more with this handy and outstanding landmark!

And this one is a couple doors down from me.

Come on down to Phoenix Hill and check out all of the pieces!

Wednesday Link Love

Oh, I am so in love with this one!!  I love it enough to overlook the fact that it doesn’t have the normally requisite tub. One tiny flaw is the lack of an oven, but I bet one could be figured in there somehow.  I love it love it love it.  Look here at the rest of it!

Should you find yourself with hours on hand to just peruse the internet, this would be a fun place to hang out for a while!

Not sure which is more beautiful- Alison or her sweet sweater.

Oh my my!  Shelby always has the best Halloween costumes!

This is almost like overload.  So many fun things to make before Christmas, so little time!

Oh, I love these sweet walnut candles!

Katie is such an extraordinary young woman.  This post is hard to read, but framed in hope.

Do yourself a favor….scroll all the way down on this post to see the gnomes.  It will make your day.

Get ready for those cold winter nights.  How could this NOT be good?

Now THIS is Dancing with the Stars!!!

Music Monday

Four of my favorite people doing one of my favorite songs.