Waiting for the New Year

Susan Branch is one of my favorite artists. She is a talented writer, illustrator, author and her cookbooks transport me back to wonderful childhood memories. Her Christmas post was about a dinner party that she held recently. As eight dinner guests sat around a beautiful holiday meal, candles glowing, wine glasses sparkling... someone said, "You can always see the kid in a person if you look closely." There was a hush over the chatty table, guests leaned forward looking into the faces of each other. Suddenly they were transported back in time, little girls in party dresses and black patent shoes swinging back and forth under the table...little boys squirming and fidgeting in their seats trying to be good!

What an insightful notion, that inside each of us.... is that wide-eyed child of long ago. Waiting and hoping for snow on Christmas or that one special present under the tree. Thrilled with the simple pleasures of the lights on the Christmas tree or that delicious coziness of flannel pajamas and a hot cup of cocoa topped with marshmallows. 

Let this be our resolution for the New Year, to allow ourselves to recapture that sweet magic of childhood. To keep kindness in our hearts and expect good things to happen. We all need that special quality of youth to give us hope and encouragement for the New Year ahead!

Spooning Weather

Accuweather has some bad news for us here in the Midwest. They say buy a snowblower and hunker down. Accuweather actually said, "People in Chicago are going to want to move after this winter." Now that's scary.

Here in Arkansas, we have a way to forecast our winters with the lowly persimmon tree. Not too much to look at, it's scrubby and rarely grows to it's full potential. They are plentiful on farms, mostly a fencerow tree. Wild animals are about the only ones that enjoy the mature fruit that is sticky sweet. Before they are ripe, they'll make your mouth pucker!  

But inside this golden little orb Mother Nature has hidden the forecast for winter. When you split the seed open you'll see the shape of a knife, fork or spoon.

Old timers say the knife forecasts cutting cold, the fork a mild winter and the shape of a spoon means we'll be shoveling lots of snow.

There's a spoon inside each of these this year. And the fact that the tree is loaded with fruit is yet another sign of a bad winter... Mother Nature providing for the animals.

The Farmer's Almanac doesn't exactly agree with Accuweather. They are predicting a milder winter than last. The Almanac was my Dad's "go to" source for weather and planting. He'd buy a copy and by the time he was finished with it, the cover would be completely worn off, the pages dog eared.

I hope the Almanac is right and it's not going to be as bad as last winter. We had record cold and record snowfall.

If I was smart I'd gather up some of these persimmons for Ozark Pudding!

Home Sweet Home

We moved a lot when our daughters were growing up. I've counted before, 18 addresses in 45 years. Not enough time to put down roots with many of the houses. Home should always be that place where memories are made. It has to be much more than four walls to feel like home and a Mother's job is to add the ingredients needed to make the warm and fuzzies.

If you reach back into your childhood those feelings are stirred when you remember how you felt in the security of those walls. It wrapped around you like a blanket and protected you from the outside world. I can remember my bedroom...the wallpaper was pink roses. I can see the white curtains moving gently with the cool breezes from a south window. It was an old house, on the corner of Summit and Division with a big wrap-around porch. Mom had the banisters full of pots of begonias and impatiens and ferns. I would set out in the swing and watch as neighbors mowed their lawns or walked to the neighborhood market. Inside, Mom was almost always in the kitchen cooking.

Since our daughters are eight years apart, their strongest memories would most likely be two separate houses. For Stephanie the house on Birch in Harrison is where she learned to ride a bike, celebrated many birthdays and wondered how Santa got in the house Christmas Eve since we didn't have a fireplace! For Amy the house at Horseshoe Bend is where she lost her first tooth, learned to swim and played long summer days with our dog Lizzie. It's not far from here, if you go by boat it's only a few coves away. It seems like such a long time ago that we lived on that little farm, 25 years can seem like an eternity while feeling like a "blink ago."

Every house had celebrations...holidays with family gathered, sleepovers with best friends and private "alone in their bedroom" time when they played and pretended and grew up. 

In their heart and minds will forever be the color of that bedroom or the pictures in the hallway. Etched in their memories are playing house or riding their bikes or just setting and dreaming about their future.

Home is as simple as the front door...

...or the sound of the doorbell~

It's that feeling of welcome and being the most important thing in your parents' lives. That is what being a Mother is, and a Father too. Forever that bond that never goes away, only gets stronger. Even when we are separated we hold those memories most dear.

Proud to be an American

This picture was making the rounds on Facebook last Friday. I've seen it before, but each time I do I get a big lump in my throat and my heart feels very sad. I feel a deep hurt over what's going on in this county right now. We have lost direction, we've forgotten how to overcome.

I still have it in me to be a proud American, I'm not beat completely down yet.

In the 60's there were demonstrations, marches that spoke to the unrest in this country. I'm not saying we need riots or violence, but have Americans just given up?

We need change for the better,

...not just change for the sake of change.

When I looked around today, it seems I'm not alone.



Magic Carpet Ride

 

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Lots of changes in the last 44 years, it was a first having my better half post anniversary wishes on Facebook this morning! We have tried our best to change with the times, not stay back in the 70's. When we first married he was in his second year of college and I was barely 18. I imagine many of our friends and relatives thought our marriage was doomed from the start. Those first few years were very hard, disappointments when our life didn't go as we had planned. That was the first mistake, thinking life would go as planned!

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I got out my wedding dress a couple weeks ago, it's stored in a zipped garment bag now and has turned a cream color over the years. It has the smell that all antique things have, it made me a little sad to see it. It looks so small, I didn't even attempt to put it on! No one ever arrives at 44 years the same, physically or 

                      emotionally. I like to think I've grown in character as well as inches!

Nothing prepares you for marriage, it's one of those things that you just jump into with both feet and hope for the best. No rule book out there, everyone has to work through the hard stuff and appreciate the good stuff! Somewhere around 5 years (or kids, whichever comes first) we have a tendency to forget why we married in the first place. We forget that delicious kiss that took our breath away and it's all work and kids. Too bad we have to go through several more years until we realize that having that person in your life is so much more important than work or meetings or soccer games. 

44 years, and today I'm remembering how it felt going that aisle. It was thrilling in a sick-to-my-stomach kind of way, the excitement of a roller coaster and Christmas all rolled into one! That's kind of what happened in the years that followed... it wasn't always smooth sailing, but for the most part we have had beautiful sunsets every single day.

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I'm glad I chose you Honey, let's keep the magic going!

Lipstick Personality Test

Alright girls, if Christmas errands have you stressed to the max, you may need a little "brain vacation." Just for your entertainment, here's a Lipstick Personality Test! Check the shape of your used lipsticks. Chances are they will all have the same shape, see if you fit one of the profiles! Choose the pictures most resembling the shape of your used lipsticks then check out the personalities below...

Slant keeps close to original tip shape
Abides by the rules
Great follower
Does not like too much attention
A little self-conscious
Somewhat reserved
Likes a schedule
May occasionally color hair to attract attention

Rounded tip to a point
Lovable
Family-oriented
A "doer"
Exaggerates sometimes
Stubborn over little things
Needs people around

Rounded, smooth tip
Easygoing
Peacemaker
Even-tempered
Steady
Likable
Generous

Flat top

To the point
High morals
Needs approval
Careful about appearance
Very dependable
Conservative
Quick mind
Loves challenges

Sharp-angled tip

Opinionated
High-spirited
Dislikes schedules
Selective of friends
Outgoing
Likes attention
Argumentative

Flat top concave
Makes a great detective
Makes friends easily
Inquisitive
Adventurous
A prober
Complex
Exciting

Sharp angled but curved tip

Creative
Enthusiastic
Energetic
Talkative
Loves attention
Falls in love easily
Helpful
Needs schedule, but dislikes one

Sharp angled both sides
Spiritual
Curious
Seeks attention
Mysterious
Big ego
Faithful
Looks for easy way
Loves life

So, how accurate was this little test?

I'm a flat top (needs approval)!!! I think it has a "Magic Mirror" or something built in!

Tell me what kind of Lipstick you are...

Newtown's Children

Newtown's children... who simply were present for another day at school, parents who dropped them off without a second thought for their safety. As a nation we are shocked and saddened, everyone feels this latest attack to our core. Reporters can barely report the events, our President choked with emotion as he made a statement Friday afternoon. Just 11 days till Christmas they were making Gingerbread Houses in the classrooms, choir classes were singing carols and trays of cookies set on teacher's desks. Without any warning, for no reason that can possibly be explained, the violence that took the 26 lives at Sandy Hook Elementary has stopped us in our tracks. The joy we felt leading up to Christmas is gone.

How can we end this, how can we ever make schools safe, malls safe, theaters safe? What is making our society so very sick?  The killers often come from families just like ours, parents who work hard and devote their lives to raising happy children. How does a child ever grow up to commit such an act of evil? 

We all hold our children a little closer, praying for comfort and healing to those who lost so much in Friday's tragedy.

The View

After a few windy days and then Sunday's rain, the leaves are almost off the trees. They are everywhere, knee deep in some places and glued to shrubs. We'll tackle them next weekend, mostly just blow them into the woods but even that is a job. My "yard guy" works for free, give him a good breakfast and he makes quick work of the leaves!!!

Fun to watch, the squirrels are busy outside finding acorns, hiding acorns and eating acorns! The birds and squirrels share a platform feeder, no sense fighting the battle to keep them apart. Just about every kind of bird visits the feeder including crows. They were lined up on the deck railing today, thrilled that I'd put banana chunks out. I wish I'd got a picture of them balancing in the feeder! Like most weekends, it flew by and Monday arrived in a blink. 

I'm wondering if retirement will slow down life. We both preface many of our sentences with, "When we retire..."No specific plans, but just knowing that we'll have longer than 2 days a week to "get things done" makes us feel like life is going to be easier. I hope so anyway. We built this house 7 years ago and it's a lot of work keeping up with the maintenance. It's beginning to creep into our minds that a smaller house might not be a bad thing, just not yet.

I don't want to give up fishing off the dock, picnics on the boat and especially the view...

But you know what I've learned in 42 years and 17 moves? Sometimes the next view is worth the wait!

Early Voting

You're either like Maxine or you know someone just like her... or both! The older I get, the more I LOOK just like her : ) sigh~  Mornings my get-up is pj's, pink houseshoes and if I get cold while surfing the net, I add a sweater from the hall closet. When I was younger, I would have literally died if someone caught me in this homeless person outfit... now not so much!  We live far enough out in the country that unannounced company just doesn't happen, good thing!

And then there are the people who are LIKE Maxine; brassy, bossy... they shoot from the hip. They don't have any problem letting you know their view on politics or religion. I have one person in mind here... she boldly told a neighbor she didn't like her landscaping, or the mix match cabinets in their kitchen. Hey, that is actually a trend Maxine! Can you imagine letting loose like that on someone? We might want to, but manners prevent us from going there.

Watching the debates reminds me that a little Maxine is not a bad thing. If we don't stand up for what we believe to be important, then we blend with the masses. "Toot your horn" my Dad used to say. We voted last Saturday to miss out on the crowds that I expect will be there come election day. Last week I noticed a lot of cars around City Hall on that first day of early voting. That's a real good indication that we all want to have our voice heard this election. Make sure your vote counts! 

Enjoy the View

I try not to go backwards, it's not a good thing to think about the past so much that you aren't looking forward... that's where we should be focusing our efforts. But it's hard to not think about the places where I've lived a part of my life. They no longer are familiar to me, even when I visit. Along this creek I was 15 and it was a hard part of my life. If you've ever moved to a new place, you know what I mean. Even though the town was picture perfect, it didn't feel that way. 

I spent the remainder of what was left of my teen years in limbo until the BIG part of my life started. Isn't that just the way we are as teens, waiting for life to "start" instead of using each day to the fullest? You can't explain the urgency, that time is ticking, even when you're young. Sometimes the best advice comes from the least expected source...

Advice From a Tree

Stand Tall and Proud

Go out on a Limb

Remember your Roots

Drink Plenty of Water

Be Content With your Natural Beauty

Enjoy the View

Life's Laundry

I can make an 8 o'clock appointment but my BEST days start with coffee and email, in that order. I can remember when I didn't have time for coffee or paper OR email. In fact email didn't even happen at my house until 1992. The monitor set on the desk in the kitchen and I rarely turned it on. Our dial-up connection to AOL left much to be desired. Logging on consisted of long periods of clicks and beeps, I usually just gave up on connecting to the World Wide Web.  It wasn't until the mid 90's and a faster computer that I realized there was something to the Internet that might interest me. I was slow to warm up, mostly using email and occasionally venturing out to find a recipe or looking something up that I'd read about. Those middle years were for kids and homework and laundry. Loads and loads of laundry or dishes to load and unload. There never seemed to be a stopping point. I was always one load away from being finished until the next day when I would be two loads behind! If you are still in your pj's this morning, on your second load of wash... you know just what I mean, don't you?