Happiness

I wish I could invent a tool
that could be held upside
the brain
and listen in on thoughts
so I could understand more
why people think things they think
and do things they do
when they make no sense at all

Until then, I have to just wonder, and realize
that we are all different
and we don't all agree, nor do we need to

but we can still be KIND

THANKSMAS

Life is sweet.

We treasure things that are important to us.

THANKSMAS, December 11th.

Good times...

Good family!

Building On A Little Dream

In the movie French Kiss, Kate has her mantra to get her through
her fear of flying. She sings "I love Paris" and holds an
image in her mind of a "little stone cottage" that sits on a hillside
in Italy. She comes face to face with
the actual stone cottage that she had been dreaming of.

And life is sweet.

My life has taken me on many roads. I'm heading into the autumn of my life,
and I can say I've finally found my little stone cottage. We're building it, Wade & I, even
if it is currently just a little dream. Keep watching.

Life is getting good! <3

BOOK REVIEW: CHOICE the Portable 7 Habits

Stephen R. Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has come up with
a sweet little PORTABLE book that is interesting, engaging, uplifting and inspiring!

* it is by chance that I happened to find it at Powell's two days ago*

It was on the wrong shelf in the wrong area in the wrong room. POWELL'S is a HUGE bookstore on an entire city block in downtown Portland. A MUST destination if
you love books and can be lost for hours in a bookstore. That's me!

So this book called out to me. I knew I had to have it... and the price was right: $7.50. Better than a
poke in the eye, I like to say!

I teach kids all day long about making choices. How to stop and think. I knew I could use this
book with the kids I work with. But I had no idea I would use this book within a DAY
of buying it, and then again today by sharing some of it's contents with a friend
who needed this information RIGHT NOW to solve a problem.

The book is all about choices. How we have a choice in how we react to something. How we think about something. How we live. Most people believe they have little control about what life has to offer them. But life is all about choices.

This book offers a quick little read, in black and white. Only takes about an hour at the most to get from front to back. But if you want to really absorb and FEEL what this book has to offer, you should stop on each page and absorb the information. Read it over and over again. Pick pages that resonate within you. I find that I can find a page that corresponds to how I am feeling at a particular time that will help me work through that feeling.

I also use the information to pass on to others, whether it be on my blog, or my Facebook page, or in person.

A simple quote or idea can have a profound impact on a person who has an open mind.
The suggestions in this book are perfect if you are open to change or to the possibility of changing
your life for the better.

Here is a sample:

If you look at things properly, there's no need to wait for the dessert cart.
DESSERT IS EVERYWHERE.
~ Merrill Markoe

Have a look: it's worth the time! Make the choice!

www.stephencovey.com
www.stephencovey.com/usatoday

Get Low Trailer (HD)

GET LOW

I don't normally get excited to see a movie, but when I heard NPR interviewing Robert Duvall about this movie, it piqued my curiosity.

This movie is about an elderly recluse who stages his own funeral, WHILE he is living. Bill Murray acts as Duvall's funeral director. Based somewhat on a true story, it offers an interesting insight into the life of a hermit.

After hearing about the movie, I went home and looked up the trailer on YouTube, which I will include here. Now I'm sold! I can't wait for it to come out later this year.

Have a look:

SIGNS of the Dimes...and dragonflies...and dreams...

SIGNS OF THE DIMES

Signs:

Dreams

Dragonflies

Dimes

All signs pointing me in the direction of something quite lovely, and I had a feeling it was on the horizon... sure enough.. it is here. And the signs telling me that it is right.

With a grateful heart, I embrace and welcome these signs with love.

Summer Half Full and Half Empty

The lake house

Quartsville

River Bend

So, summer is half over...

Half still left...

Love

My new collection, I have decided, is going to be
snapshots like these, of couples looking
happy together.

I went to take a look at my friends booth in
Beekman's, and happened upon these two
photos. They were the only two, in separate
places, all over the mall, that were actually smiling
and looking happy.

I walked away from them...gave it a second thought...
and went back for them. I'm glad I did. I decided
I would be framing them somehow and
making a collage of them in my bedroom.

Hopefully I will have a whole wall of sweet couples
smiling... and it will give me hope.

When I got home, I decided to play around with the pictures a bit,
and here you see the result. So far.

Ah, love is grand.

DILEMMA!

It's nobody's fault but my own.

I can't cry about it if I'm not willing to do anything about it.

I'm talking about my recent dilemma about getting a new job

or sticking with the one I already have.

I need more money, that's certainly true.

I also really love my current job, low pay and all.

It has it's perks... a summer off to enjoy house sitting someone's

gorgeous lake house piece of heaven.

I'm with my family.

Sure, being broke sucks. But having money isn't everything.

And I always survive.

I'll try not to complain, if I don't take a new job.

It's coming, this I know. But I do love these summers....

maybe just ONE more?

On My Mind

On my mind:

Thinking about the last day of school and missing "my" kids. Will I see them again?
Going back to summer term. Dropping math. Am I doing the right thing?
Get a summer job? If I like it, don't go back to the "school" job?
Work vs. college?
Quilly getting old.
Matt going off to Job Corps. Our last summer with him?
Emptying the garage.

Just to name a few.

Yet, even with all this "thinking", I know that things ALWAYS work out, no matter what.

So, instead of worry about it, I just think about it, instead.

Childhood memories.
Up top, I'll never forget those dining room curtains. Oh the things we remember.

Take for instance, above. On my birthday at Grandma & Grandpa's. I'm 7 or 8 here.
My favorite gift: Grandma's specially wrapped (in tin foil) hunk-o-cheese.
Her cheese always tasted better, even though later she told me it was the
cheap brand at the store. Oh, that Grandma!

She told me that Grandpa insisted on some certain brand of coffee. But it was
expensive, Grandma said. She started buying the cheap brand, put it in the other container.
Said Gramps never knew the difference. Oh, that Grandma!

Here you see, above, Jimmy and I. I think I was about 10. Jimmy looks
so sweet ~ a devil in disguise!
This is in Medford on Shaefer Lane.

This one, above, one of the few it seems of us with Mom. This picture
reminds me of life as it truly was: boxers, beat up Barbie dolls and old fake fur coats.
Might as well throw in Franklin Street and that old VW bus. Let's not forget those
home hair cuts...

This one? Ah, fond memories at Grandma's again. Dad has that table now. And I want that Barbie doll.

LIFE GOES ON. Make good memories, and be sure to write them down!

Family Beach Memories

We climbed over rocks to find a secluded beach (above) that was
a little slice of heaven!

Wonderful!

Just BEACHY

Dad, king of the house, overseeing from his throne!

Kristina was here!

These, on my power walk.

BEACH WEEKEND was great! Most of the family was there! Weather
was good on and off. The house was wonderful, especially the hot tub. Not a bad room in the place, either.

* good times *

Letting Begonia's Be Begonia's

Grandma's Begonia

I've been taking care of this lovely plant since Grandma passed away
over 16 years ago. This is the happiest and healthiest it's been.

I moved it to a sunny south/west window where it has decided
it is quite happy. It's thanked me with a proliferation of these
florets and shiny leaves since!

Do you want a start of it? Let me know!

We keep things that we love with us at all times. We can even keep part of something
that has passed on alive in other ways.

Thus, letting begonia's be begonia's.

Kids