A time to be thankful

Okay, time to catch up a little...

Here are some (week old) Thanksgiving highlights.

Pop Pop and Duncan

A fence for the cow so he won't get out...

(isn't it obvious?)

And at our house, no one takes a bite until we go around the table and say what we are thankful for. I love hearing every one's thoughts each year, it is a wonderful reflection of who we all are and where we are in our lives - how our thanks change and how they stay the same. Every year I think I should write them down and start a journal of sorts documenting our thankfulness's over the years - I would love to pass those thoughts on to my children. This year my good friend Richard who normally always has a seat at our table, ended up spending the holiday with his own family (I know - THE NERVE!). However he did email me what he was thankful for this year and I just felt the need to share... A brief story: On a warm Sunday in July, I received a series of phone calls from Andria, while she and John were on the road home from a week at the beach. The calls revolved around how she and John had managed to get on the north east extension of the PA turnpike—without getting a toll ticket. They managed to get the lack of ticket problem resolved, with absolutely no help from me—although it took four phone calls to establish there was nothing I could do. However, in the final call, Andria mentions that she and John—ok, John—will be painting their living room on Monday, in preparation for Andria’s monthly book club meeting—at their home—on Tuesday. Now…most people would budget a little more time than 24 hours to paint, but not these two. And Andria encouraged me to stop by to lend a hand Tuesday afternoon to put things back together. Tuesday afternoon I went over, just to see what help I could offer. With 4 hours to book club, most other couples might have been panicking. What I saw was a couple, working together to put up new drapes and centering new framed prints. I was charged with dusting. Damn, there was a lot of dust. I moved through the dining room, dusting and moving and dusting everything in sight. As I reached what I would describe as a china cabinet, I dutifully removed some Anne Myers pottery that was sitting on top of the china cabinet, and dusted each item. Inside one bowl, I found a baseball. Big surprise, right? But this baseball was different. It seemed to have been painted, or shellacked. And it had either the word “love” painted on it, or a heart, or both. I can’t remember now. But it seemed so…appropriate. A couple, working together, no anger, no panic, putting their freshly painted room back together, and while they debated the placement of pictures, a little baseball pulled it all together, for me. I carefully put the baseball back in the bowl. I did not mention it to Andria or John, until now. I am grateful for that memory: my friends, happy and working together. And a baseball that says it all. Happy Thanksgiving. Among other things...I think this guy needs to start a blog, don't you? Happy late Thanksgiving everyone, hope it was filled with all things good.

Team effort

Two amazing helpers, 1 pumpkin pie, 1 apple pie,

some totally cool cupcakes, a sweet potato casserole

and some very festive holiday cheer.

And off to Grandmother's house we go...

Perspective

Anal Retentive

Perfection

Airplane

C'mon, admit it...you've all done it...and it's totally fun!

Sheer joy. (and nobody puked...always a good thing)

Love love

love cranberries... Love that it's that time of year. Love that Thanksgiving is this Thursday...love the cooking, love the parade, love the family, the sharing, the being thankful, love the champagne. Love that Christmas and Hanukkah come next...

Comments

I just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone for their comments on this blog. Some of you actually comment here on the blog, some of you send me emails commenting and some of you just tell me in person. The method doesn't matter, but the kind words do. When I started this blog I never even thought about the comments section, I just enjoyed writing, taking pictures and somehow trying to merge the two. But then slowly the comments started rolling in...and I love it. Your comments are like lovely little morsels that taste good on my heart. I started thinking about this and realized it's a perfect example of the Giving post that I just did on Tuesday. I realize that it feels really good for me to give/share kind words or pictures of my family, and when you comment, the giving goes full circle. I find something I like and I share it, which makes me feel good... then you comment, which makes me feel good... which makes me want post more... Instead of paying it forward, we are kind of paying it round and round. There are times when I thought that maybe blogs were just another step in disconnecting us. Do we read a blog instead of picking up the phone? Are we communicating through blogs so we don't have to do it in person? With a little thought though, I think it is actually quite the opposite. One of the things I found most interesting as my blog progressed was that many of my readers are right here in town. Take my mother, my sister, my aunt, my friends or even my coworkers that literally spend all day 5 days a week with me... I think they read to stay connected, they read to get what we don't have time to say and they read (and comment) to communicate. I know that's one of the reasons why I read the blogs that I do. I read because I am interested in the life of my brother, my sister and my friends and I want to know how they are and what they are up to. I don't have the time to pick up the phone everyday and call each and every person, but I do have time to check the blogs, get updated and stay connected. So tonight I say; thank you for comments, for staying connected to me and my family. Thanks for technology. Thank you to those of you next door, and thank you to those of you in other states and countries. Thank you for your love, thank you for reading. You make me smile. All of you.

Light

If you listen,

Not to the pages or preachers

But to the smallest flower

Growing from a crack

In your heart,

You will hear a great song

Moving across a wide ocean

Whose water is the music

Connecting all the islands

Of the universe together,

And touching all

You will feel it

Touching you

Around you...

Embracing you

With light.

John Squadra

From his book 'This Ecstasy'

Giving

Last week I had Comfort Keepers quarterly meeting in my office. I always try and make them as "fun" as possible, I mean, you can't really expect 50 caregivers to sit for three hours and listen to training videos on incontinence and walk away loving their job. So my goal is to send them off for another 3 months feeling good, enjoying their job, being re energized and having goals. Every one of my meetings have a "theme". I have done Healthy Living, Setting Goals, Getting Organized and so on. So with Thanksgiving and the holiday season right around the corner, this quarter I chose Giving. I did my research and as always, came away really inspired by my choice. Without boring you with my hour long speech, the short of it was basically "giving helps us live longer, healthier and happier lives". The evidence and studies are extensive. Did you know that volunteering for 2 or more organizations reduces likelihood of death by 44%? More than exercising 4 times a week (which was like 36%) and much more. The only thing that reduces likelihood of dying more was (not surprising), quiting smoking (49%). Volunteering reduced blood pressure, improved insomnia, hastened healing time and much more. The benefits seems endless.

I'm not writing this because I found it surprising, but rather just as a reminder. In doing my research I found out that about a year ago Oprah announced to everyone in her audience that they would each go home with $1000...but there was a catch, they had to give it away (to someone other than a family member). Oprah said that she wanted everyone to feel how good it felt to give. Apparently the reaction that occurs in our brain when we receive money (which acts like dopamine) happens with even more intensity when we give it away.

I like to think that what my caregivers do everyday is volunteerism in its own way. They may get paid for it, but the action is the same, and according to them, so is the reward. To end my talk on Giving, I gave away 4 copies of the book The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein...which I believe everyone should have on their bookshelf.

Just food for thought on this Tuesday evening...

Oh, and one more thing parents...volunteering, even if forced, increases both grades and SAT scores :-)

Bunch of stuff

1. Mushroom Light, 2. Great Wheel Apocalypto - The Last Ride, 3. Light and Steel, 4. Old Florida, 5. crema, 6. tonight, 7. Untitled, 8. Untitled, 9. everday living as art 2, 10. log cabin closeup, 11. rise above the sunrise, 12. Bagan - flower & red, 13. Untitled, 14. Untitled, 15. cottage toy, 16. christmas tree bokeh

Finally back after a week from...hell...am I aloud to say that in a blog? So I needed to do something creative...another Mosiac Monday... Last week was exausting, stressful, a blur and well, I'm just very glad it's over. I was SO glad when Friday rolled around -and I had a lovely weekend. My sister, niece and nephew came Saturday for dinner...very nice. Especially nice for Coop and Dunc who just adore their older cousins. Here is Coop curled up with Sam...heaven.

Another new step this weekend...Coop figured out the computer... Part of it might have been that I finally bought him a tiny mouse that fits in his little hand, but really I think the time was just finally right, he had the interest and I had the time. We went to PBSkids.org to play some free games. His first pick was Curious George. He was clicking and dragging in no time at all! I was totally impressed. The computer was such a hit that tonight while I was playing around on Flikr, Coop crawled up in my lap and wanted to search for sharks...so while I went up to make dinner, Coop browsed hundreds of shark pictures...he was loving it...he kept hollaring up "mom, come look at THIS one". He clicks with his thumb, it's pretty cute. And last but definately not least...a couple birthdays... My dear friend Richard this past Friday. And my wonderful sister today. May you have many many more.

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you.

Crazy

Need more hours in the day...need more hours in the day...need more hours in the day...

Our life

John asked why in the world I would take this picture. It's simple, this is my space, this is tonight, but it is also many other nights. It is me and my life...it is our life. There is so much in this picture about who I am right now and who we are right now as a family. I sat here looking around thinking how much what I was looking at really defined us. My computer (essential), a pair of Smart Wool socks (also essential), a front loader tractor (of which our home has numerous), a diaper, John's Survival Handbook (light reading), John's new reading glasses (he is actually pretty cute in them), a Thomas the Train video, a container of chipboard hearts for scrapbooking, a glass of Pinot Grigio, my mason jar of pens and markers and a leather file holder with various magazines and such. It's messy and that's okay. This is my life...and I love it.

Weekend

Just kicking back this weekend... Pot of soup, bread, pj's till 10, sticky buns for breakfast. No where to go...just putzing around the house. Watching movies, lighting candles...aaahhh. You just need these weekends sometimes.