Slow Me Down.

My neighbor Tom was moved to inpatient hospice care Friday evening.  Our little neighborhood is in a waiting place.

Sunday afternoon in our neighborhood

When I find myself failing to notice the beauty of a moonlit night, the abundance of harvests fruits and vegetables, the perfection of clouds agains a blue sky, slow me down and give me gratitude and reverence for all your gifts. 

~ from my Lenten devotion, p. 57

I started a shawl for my friend Renie (Tom's wife). Knitting Kidsilk Haze on size 5 needles ... is certainly slowing me down. I didn't realize quite how perfect the project was until I read those words this morning.

A Rose among Thorns.

Today's Gratitude Note opened with these lines:

Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; 

I am thankful that thorns have roses. 

 ~Alphonse Karr~

and gave us this challenge:

As you consider gratitude today, think about something that bothers you, irks you, ticks you off. Pause. Can you think of one thing (just one) (but maybe more) that’s actually good about this particular thing? Does it stretch you in some way? Can you accept the thorns in order to celebrate the rose?

I couldn't help but recall those words as I left the polls this afternoon after casting my ballot in what has been the most awful election process I could imagine.

I love this country. I love (most of ... let's be honest here) the people who live here. The right to vote - to elect those who will lead this great country of ours - is a privilege and an honor. And casting my vote in an informed manner is a responsibility I have taken more seriously this year than ever.

Regardless of next week's outcome, our nation has a lot of healing to do. We'll need to keep our eyes on the rose

One nation ... with liberty and justice for all

because I think the thorns are going to be plentiful and painful.

So - this wasn't at all the post I thought I'd write today, but it's the one that seemed right. Many of my blogging friends are playing along with Kat and Carol today and talking about their favorite teachers. Click here to read more about it and to join in the fun!

Watercolor Wednesday | Five Minutes.

Thanks to Kat and Bonny, I've been following along with Michelle's Gratitude Week. Today, she's invited us to

Take some time today to step outside or to sit in a favorite spot in your home. Take five minutes (yes, you can carve out five) and get quiet. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, then open your eyes. What delights you, what shakes you, what makes you say oh my?

Five minutes. What struck me first when I read those words was that it wouldn't be hard at all for me to carve out that time. In fact, those minutes might give some purpose and direction to this day that felt a little bare when I laid out my calendar on Monday. no knitting class. no toddler to care for while his parents were in the hospital caring for a newborn.

I step outside every day, and I like to think I do it with purpose and eyes wide open ... so I rarely (if ever!) do it with eyes closed. The park seemed like the best place to try it. I found my favorite bench and sat down. closed my eyes. waited what seemed like five minutes (but was really just two). and opened them.

I saw golden sunshine and felt peace

and immense gratitude for where I am right now that allows me moments like this.

the time to experience them. and share them.

Happy Wednesday, my friends!

Choosing Gratitude.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure.

~Psalm 16:9

Yesterday's devotion* struck a chord with me. It talked about how being dissatisfied with what we have, where we are and even who we are is encouraged by our culture. But really, I have what I need. It encouraged me to start a gratitude journal (that's a practice I had for several years...and let go)...and to actively begin each day choosing gratitude.  Here's what I wrote yesterday:

1. a good night's sleep (finally!)

2. up dark early to hear the birds singing (love how Kym calls this "bird joy")

3. Sunday mornings at my church - the liturgy, music, fellowship and message really feed my soul.

It's a daily reminder that I am choosing gratitude.

*My daily devotion is from These Days, a quarterly publication from the Presbyterian Church.

thankful right this minute.

...no surprise, carole's prompt today is about being thankful. and of course it's a list of only ten things. no way I can be complete, so I've decided to be quick. ten things for which I am thankful right this minute.

1. my husband. I've known him for over 33 years and we've been married for 29 years (yesterday). I can't imagine my life without him, or...

2. my daughters. I hate to list them together because they are two very different people but for this list, they count as one! I know I am truly blessed to have grown daughters who count me as friends. every day, they make me want to be the best person I can be. and right this minute, I'm thankful that they're covering me while I get my bumpers fixed!

3. holly... sitting in my lap as I type this. warm. cozy.

4. my health. whew! I celebrated my 50th birthday this past weekend with a few long walks. and I'm training to run a half marathon in march. exercise keeps me sane...and fit!

5. my family. love that my sister and sister-in-law are friends more than family. and that my parents and brother and neices and nephew (the one who's still at home) came for my birthday party. I hope someone took photos of the people...mine are (almost all) all of the drinks and decor.

6. my friends. ok, yeah, that birthday thing again. but really, it makes me realize how many friends I have. and how much I love them for loving me!

7. the weather. we had a really hot summer and we might still have a cold winter, but so far, our fall has been beautiful. they're predicting highs in the 60's for thanksgiving day. and the trees still have a few colorful leaves.

8. plenty of food. marc and I are diligently working through the weekend's leftovers to make room for more come thursday. more than enough is an easier "problem" than the not enough so many have.

9. this on-line community. I've been away a bit these past two months and I've missed it. it's special to share pieces of my life with y'all and have the opportunity to see pieces of yours too.

10. icloud. ok, you knew I'd get to something technology and mac-related at some point? right before we moved (in fact the day the movers came!) I upgraded my mac software so my phone and ipad and laptop could all share...contacts, calendar, photos, notes... it has been a lifesaver these past few weeks that I have ONE version of everything accessible from any of my favorite devices.

ok there you have it. a little bit sweet. a little bit silly. and a lot to be thankful for!  how about you?

click here to join the Ten on Tuesday fun!

hello november.

late afternoon walk on november 1 - on the sidewalk across the street from my house

...I've been looking forward to seeing you for weeks! now that the packing and unpacking is behind me, I can enjoy your cooler temperatures. love being able to wear a sweater with skinny pants and flats and the beautiful cashmere scarf that sara brought me from florence. and shorter days. honestly, this one's hard for me, but I'm giving it my best effort - focusing on cozy nesting and comfort foods (I bought a slow cooker and I can't wait to try it)...and knitting. birthday celebrations and family parties. you always remind me how blessed I am and for that and so much more, I say thank you!

cranberry bliss.

...text message from sara, 1:52 pm this afternoon:

Bought the stuff to make cranberry bliss bars!
Should smell blissful when you get home :-)

oh my yes. I wish you could smell this.


as much as I love coming home to chill, coming home to family, warmth, lights...and the smell of baking, is the best!

(thank you sara, it's wonderful!)

tuesday unwrapped.

...as much as I love letting these tuesday posts be completely spontaneous, I was a bit worried driving home from work at 5:30 that I had nothing in mind. the only photos I'd taken today were of a new trunk show at the shop (a blog post there coming tomorrow). I was thinking something along the lines of welcome home - I turned on the porch light and the tree lights (and turned up the heat :-) - and took holly out for a walk.

and then the moment hit me. that walk. the simply company of my best four-legged friend. the routine. the 30 minutes to unwind* (even better when it's not cold outside). love love need this time.


especially this time of year when it's accompanied by snowmen aglow.


*if you're familiar with myers-briggs, I am a committed "I" type (INTJ to be exact). working in a yarn shop for six straight hours every tuesday drains nearly every bit of energy I have. this walk with holly recharges me.

grateful, every day.

...an email from big picture classes (where I'm taking ali edwards' one little word class) arrived in my inbox yesterday announcing a new self-paced class called grateful, every day.

this one caught my eye because big picture classes will  donate 100% of the proceeds from my $10 registration fee to the charity of my choice, and they'll match that $10 100%, for a total donation of $20.

wow!

I've wanted to learn art journaling for years and the teacher mou saha, says her goal for this project is to create an art journal exploring the blessings in our own lives. what sealed the deal was looking at the supply list. a class that has me using watercolor paper and three different kinds of faber-castell pens seems like a perfect way to start.

so I signed up. (note that I wasn't able to designate a specific charity, but I was able to select one area from a list of four - women, children, animals and world relief). still a great deal. and a wonderful way to start this sunday.

(sorry for the long silence here - things are good, just very busy!)

10 things for which I'm thankful.

...limiting this list to 10 things is hard. but this morning, these are the ones that are top of mind.

me, my dad and my mom at macaroni grill...after lunch and before shopping (see #8)

1. a family who loves me. unconditionally.

2. my health. as I walked dark early with vanessa, and then again with holly, I am especially grateful I actually enjoy those daily walks.

3. I'm surrounded by friends, in person and on-line. we make each other laugh, and cry. we listen. we share. we play. we are there for each other.

4. sara's coming home tomorrow.

5. skype with katie. we have her first knitting lesson scheduled for tonight and I expect to share a champagne toast with her on thursday.

6. holly. she is the best four-legged company I could ask for. (and some days, she's the best company period :-)

7. we have plenty. our holiday challenge is one of "too much", not "too little".

8. holiday traditions. the photo above was taken at lunch yesterday. for about ten years, my parents have been coming to see us for thanksgiving (my sister, my brother and I all live within about 20 miles of each other; my parents stay with my sister and the rest of us take turns entertaining them). lunch and shopping is our monday tradition. (and our wednesday tradition.... that might be tomorrow's blog post!)

9. time to do the things I love. knit. study. take photographs. blog.

10. my knitting students. they are fun and inspiring and when a lightbulb goes off for them, it's just the best! I can't imagine anything else I'd rather get paid to do than teach them!

thank you, carole, for another wonderful prompt!

one more.

...lunch at bistro vg. the three of us. of course the food and the atmosphere did not disappoint. of course there was pizza (hold the prosciutto). and also a cheese plate (sara was most impressed by the fruit conserve which might mean four kinds of cranberries at this year's thanksgiving table) and katie's favorite mussels.  of course there was plenty of great conversation. an older sister sharing advice about college, a younger sister sharing expertise about cooking and outfitting a kitchen and a mama happy to simply watch them (but still wanting photos of everything).

I am struck right this minute by how very fortunate we are to have times like these. no "of course" about that. except to say "thank you".

gratitude 2010.

...I got into a very good habit back in 2008 - being intentionally thankful for the many blessings in my life. I continued that into 2009 and then for some reason which I can no longer recall, I didn't start a new journal for 2010. And I've missed it. So when I saw cathy zielske's gratitude journal template, I decided to start again.

These journal entries are centered around a photo (hoping this helps me get a bit of my photo mojo back!), and with the scrapbooking will be a lot more than the daily words I was documenting. So I'm thinking this time about weekly entries...we'll see.

I really started thinking seriously about this project over a month ago - but as usual, I got mired down in the format details. The template is great for hybrid (some digital and some real paper/glue elements) and I was hoping I could use up some of my extensive stash of pretty paper. But I had so much fun with the beaufort album that I decided to go fully digital. And then there was the size. The template is 8-1/2x11, but I want to print out the pages and put them in an album. Costco prints great 12x12, 8x8 and 5x7...no 8-1/2x11. Yesterday, I figured out how to resize the template to be 5x7...and I'm finally ready to start!

I do need to figure out a better way to choose the "papers" for these layouts. That was the hardest part of the whole thing!

gratitude.

...I've been following along with these lovely devotionals. and the one I read today (from yesterday) must be shared.

(I came across my petals from may 2009 last night. perfect to document this. and it's always fun to start the day with a little photoshop!)

so very thankful.

...this past week has flown by. uncharacterically for me, I took very few photos. so writing down the words to remember.

::time with my mom & dad, especially the "just us" time that makes for good conversation
::lunch with my mom & sister...especially loved talking about "where were we when karen turned 18" (and the fried calamari)
::family mexican with both marc and rob
::one-on-one time with katie
::five miles in the park with sara before we cooked
::cooking thanksgiving with katie & sara - the parade on both tv's, and a very clean kitchen when we finished
::time to decorate, which allows all of december to enjoy (and a dark-early visit to lowes with marc to pick out our tree)
::a few days of beautiful late fall weather
::the traditions we have for this week with my parents and my family

looking forward (and back).

...I started two new projects today - the first a continuation of last year's gratitude journal.




I'm really pleased with how it turned out - and excited about capturing one grateful thought for each day. and one photo for each month.

the second is my "big" goal for 2009. a 365 project. and considering this or this for documentation.

I think these two projects will be a nice progression for my creativity - sort of a way of summing up what I've learned to do and enjoy these past two years. good habits now!

and looking back - I finished my december daily (aka "journal your christmas 2008") album yesterday. this is definitely a project I will do again next december. probably the same way - a mix of shimelle's prompts and simply taking photos and writing down our stories. the trick will be figuring out the album and the numbering scheme (I used up nearly all the 1's and 2's from my glitter stickers this time). but I've got nearly 11 months to work on that!




wishing everyone a wonderful 2009! live well. laugh often. love much.

happy thanksgiving.

...much to be thankful for!

(photo from yesterday's early morning walk in the park)

so far so (very) good.

...the photo was inspired by my 600 mile goal for 2008. I had been keeping up with the daily mileage in an old notebook and decided to transfer the data to a spreadsheet to add it up. I was shocked and wonderfully surprised at the total. 407.19 miles year-to-date! over two-thirds of that logged on a treadmill (at home, rob's gym or various hotels in orlando, denver, houston), and the rest outside, mostly at hembree park, but a bit on trips to dillard, st augustine and new york. not sure what the final tally will be, but I'm definitely planning to take full advantage of the longer days to make the most of the outside while I can.

gratitude.

...my word for 2008. wasn't even a hard choice, except for deciding between gratitude and grateful. I have a stamp that says grateful but I think I like the noun better. I probably won't discriminate much between the two. One of the good things about being 40-something is that stuff like that - it just doesn't matter. Glass half full - Liz cancelled lunch (she's sick, ugh...) - and that gave me time to finish the journal. Honestly, probably a good thing I had this much focused time. Took several more hours just to stamp the week numbers, glue to the pages, put the book back together, tie on the ribbons. and admire the finished product. for just a few seconds before I started the entry for week 1. My journal is a page per week. no set markings for an entry per day. figure I'll just focus on a week at a time. so - 52 pages to fill up with bits and pieces of my life for which I'm grateful. should be easy. and for that I consider myself very lucky. grateful.