Life is a Scavenger Hunt

This week:

Every year of my childhood, we'd have this on the TV on New Year's Day while we started taking down Christmas decorations.

"Barra Barra" and "The Minstrel Boy"...still one of my favorite albums ever.

This blog is a hoot.  I dig her and her method of delivery.

I love me my Fred Meyer olive bar.  Yay for stuffed grape leaves (not my photo).

AWESOME!!!

I choked on my coffee.

 I've got mine up and running.

Brilliant idea to keep track of life and its memories.

Monkey #1 Achievement:  Managed to entertain himself without destroying anything noteworthy.

Monkey #2 Achievement:  Shared her room with her brother for a week (family visiting) without killing him.

My Achievement:  I learned to make handmade paper.

A Season of Thanks in a Time of Change

(This is a repost from an old blog...but it's still a valid posting for me.)

A lot of people count their success and the quality of their life primarily by the possessions they own and the position they have within whatever community they count themselves part of. I've been guilty of that, and to a degree, I'm still guilty of it. However, I've come to the conclusion that the material is transient (as is, in truth, everything else). I am grateful for what I have, what I own, but I no longer believe that my possessions define my life.

A wise man once said that the Universe is conspiring to give us everything we need. I believe those words to be truer than most. What we need and what we want are two entirely different animals. Occasionally, what we want is what we need, but usually not.  I am thankful for every person who has touched my life for better and not.

Buddha said that our [so called] enemies are our greatest teachers because they make us identify those traits in them that we despise and then identify them within ourselves. I am grateful for those people who have rubbed me the wrong way because they've left me with infinitely valuable lessons and insights.

I'm incredibly grateful for the people in my life who enter my presence with a smile, kind word, warm hug, and a happy thought. These are the people who show me every time our paths cross how fortunate and how rich I really am. A conversation I had with a good friend last night made me realize how derelict I've been in making sure that people know how much they mean to me.

People are always talking about the "starving children in China" and the "sick and dying people in Africa". Yes, those are sad facts of life, but at the same time, what about the emotionally bankrupt people of the world? People who have everything they could ever want, but they don't have a kind word for anyone, there's never a message on their voice mail left "just because"? I feel sorrier for those people. Starvation, sickness, and death are all part of the human condition. But emptiness of the soul is a travesty. And I am everyday grateful that I have people around me who help prevent that happening within myself. I only hope that I return the favour.

With every step, every breath, every beat of my heart, I give my thanks, for I shall never want.

*

"The planet does not need more successful people.  The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of all kinds." -- the Dalai Lama

*Photo found on Google images

Life is a Scavenger Hunt

This week:

Numb3rs...LOVE this show.

This album was given to me by a friend years ago and is one of the few physical discs I still own.

LOVE this blog.  I've referenced a few things from it in previous posts.

I've had a sweet tooth lately...

BRILLIANT book.

I still laugh when I think about the poison ivy.

Not sure if I like what it's telling me.

Fun Halloween crafts to do with children of all ages.

Monkey #1 Achievement:  He learned to play "Drunken Sailor" on his upright bass.

Monkey #2 Achievement:  She learned how to make legitimate noise on her flute.

My Achievement:  I learned how to crochet flowers and am halfway through making Monkey #2 a scarf.

Halloween Tablescapes

Yesterday we touched on the idea of a Halloween party (see the invitation links).

Today, we're going to talk making the table setting, or in this case, the tablescape, look amazing.

I know that a lot of them seem incredibly busy looking.  They are.  Those are mostly for parties where not a whole lot of time is going to be spent sitting around the table.  Busy it up, folks.

Also...I'm just as cheap as the rest of you, and I probably have even less storage space now than you do, so not only is it all about the Dollar Tree and the Day-After sales, it's about repurposing and scavenging.  You'd be surprised what you can manage when you get creative.

REALLY simple to do this one.  Just fill your jar with red colored water and toss in a whole head of cauliflower you've cut the stem off of.  Easy peasy.

All those wine bottles (or in the case of my household, wine AND rum bottles) you've gone through in the last [few] month[s]...PERFECT candleholders.  Just soak off the labels and stick in a candle (save your stubs for this...waste not, want not).

Elegant and simple.

A few rubber rats, a nifty skull (I found one I love over at Big Lots), a few miniature white pumpkins, some offset candles, slightly tarnished silver pieces, and a black lace tablecloth (pay attention to thrift stores...or just buy a length of lace at a fabric store)...I'm liking this one.

The bar is open.

Talk about a conversation piece.

This photo is linked to Alderberry Hill, but the blog post itself is gone.  I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this looks like a pizza pan, a few candlesticks and an old bundt cake pan glued together and spray painted black, loaded with fall foliage and various miscellaneous Halloween accessories.  Sky's the limit with this one.  This could be awesome in the middle of the table, or made larger to look welcome people at your front door.

I like her style.

Those skulls looks like Mercury glass, but you can always use silver spray paint.  Big Lots, thrift stores,  Ross, and yard sales are good places to find garish candlesticks that are in desperate need of black spray paint.

Goodwill tea set and some black paint.

A Lush VAMPIRE-Style Dinner Party

I promise I've sent you to the right link.  You just need to scroll down a bit.

And then there's the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink look.

Go crazy.  Have fun.  We're never too old for any of it.

Tomorrow, we'll talk cocktails.  Because, let's face it...we probably could use one [of each] by now.

Miley...Miley...Miley

Betty White has hit the nail on the head.

And I don't care if this was actually taken while Gaga was on stage...it's perfect.

Seriously.

Wow.

It's not that I'm overly shocked by Twerkgate (I did survive Nipplegate, remember)...it's just that I'm disturbed by the direction things seem to be going.  It just gets me when I see people doing things that I know would make me want to use my head to repeatedly hit a hard surface 10 years from now if I did them.  

And maybe this is a little high-handed of me, but I do believe that celebrities do have a sort of responsibility to their fans.  Lead by example, folks.  I guess it should be soothing to know that hypocrisy is rampant elsewhere other than in my own life...but it's not.

So...I want to share a few things that I'm planning on sharing (in my own words) with the two monkeys I'm helping to raise now.  

The first is an Open Letter from Mother to Daughter.  I'll have to break it down a bit for Nina as she tends to get sidetracked by the funny bits of things, but the foundation is sound.  

The second is The Postscript to the aforementioned blog post.  That's for adult use to make sure we're clear on everything.  

The third is a letter from father to son on What a Real Man Really Is.  This one I will be delivering verbatim to Gavin.  

For the record...I am not anti-Miley or Robin Thicke (I actually had no idea who he was until a few weeks ago).  I'm just anti-having-kids-look-up-to-you-for-all-the-wrong-reasons.  That's all.

Parents...good luck.  It's a harder world out there.  It's not an easy fight.

Feline Therapy

I love the time I get to spend with Timber.  From the time I wake up (with her in between my feet or behind my knees) to the time I go back to bed (with her waiting on the bed for me), I have a constant furry companion there to keep an eye on me.

We're a lot alike, actually.  We both love to spend time with the people we love, but we enjoy our alone time.  We prefer the blinds to be open, but only if we're not trying to sleep.  We both tend to break into song at inappropriate times (although I usually don't before 0600), but we enjoy the silences that can stretch on comfortably for hours.  We love to stretch, but sleep curled up.  We also enjoy baths that last for hours (although I prefer mine in a tub with a loofah).

She's my smirking snuggle bug.  The booger that has to get into everything.  The assaulter of shoes and attacker of sharks.  The cat who loves to sing us the song of her people at 5AM.

I'm pretty lucky to be her stupid human.

Yeah...I didn't know I couldn't knit either.

Monkey Business

Nina being Nina.

This little girl cracks me up.

Life in the Non-Smoking Section

I haven't had a cigarette now for FIVE WEEKS.  After smoking for over a decade, that's no mean feat.

I was always an outdoor smoker, though.  My house in Joshua Tree has an amazing patio that I had set up into an outdoor living room of sorts where I would spend hours everyday, usually with a cigarette in hand.  My home here in Idaho has a lovely deck that I have likewise turned into a very comfortable living space where I have spent countless hours...also with a cigarette in hand.

I was worried when I got out of the hospital (where I had gone a solid week without nicotine of any kind) that I wouldn't be able to enjoy my outdoor space as much because it might be a trigger.  I've been delighted to find that what was once my smoking place has become one of my creative spaces instead.  I spend hours out here curled up on the futon (I am right now) writing these posts out longhand on a legal pad clipped to an old clipboard I've had since grade school, working on my book, reading other blogs, perusing my Kindle, working on a blanket, or simply enjoying a cup of coffee or a bottle of cider.

(I actually only miss smoking when I first get behind the wheel.  That's when I REALLY want a cigarette.)

My brain tells me that I do miss smoking.  My tastebuds tell me that this is a lie.  Either way, I'm just happy I can enjoy my old smoking space without a cigarette firmly in hand.

And that makes life even better...

Papa and Priorities

When I was growing up (legally, anyhow), I cannot tell you how many times I heard Papa launch into a pseudo-quasi-lecture about "Priorities".  It got to the point where I absolutely HATED the word.

But you know what?  Now that I'm an adult, I am ever-so-grateful for those lectures (and yes, the monkeys have been on the receiving end of a few of them).  And I would give ANYTHING to see Papa again.

Even if it meant hearing about "Priorities" again.

Back in 1984, laughing at the world together.

Tying Knots

So yesterday, I decided to teach myself how to knit.  One Sheepish Girl is partly to blame for this (her contribution to Artful Blogging was brilliant and utterly relatable).  Pinterest is responsible for the rest of it.  I got tired of seeing awesome needlework and being excited about it, only to discover that it's knit and not crochet.

Bugger.

So...I took myself down to Walmart and picked up a set of size 8 aluminum knitting needs and a skein of yarn I knew Nina would like (my first real crochet project was a scarf...might as well keep up the tradition).  I then found an awesome tutorial video over at Knitting Help (thanks again to One Sheepish Girl for suggesting online videos), and a few hours later, I could do a long-tail cast on like a pro.  Turning it into a second row took a little more time and a lot more patience (at one point, I said to hell with it and went back to the blanket I'm crocheting for Gavin), but I figured it out...finally.

Making progress on Nina's scarf.

Getting it to the third row...THAT took until this morning when I watched some more of the video.  I could not figure out why my first stitch either looked like crap or just unraveled on me.  God bless the instructor and her slip stitch.  I've now got six rows (little victories) and Nina is excited about having a scarf.  So excited in fact, that she asked if I would teach her how to knit.  So now she's making a hat on a loom (it's knitting...sort of).  I got her started with practice yarn to see if she likes what she's doing and so if it got COMPLETELY messed up, we wouldn't be out yarn.  She knows once she finishes the hat, she'll get AWESOME yarn.

Nina learning how to loom knit.  

Hooray for the sounds of happy silence.

Apple geek...

Alright...I gotta say it again.  I LOVE my iPad.  I love the funny pictures I get to take of Roy's kids.

I love the beautiful pictures I get to take of the world around me  I love that I can actually write on it (see earlier post) AND listen to Pandora while doing so.  I love looking at the stars with the kids, taking a picture of a constellation, having it identified, and then telling the kids the story behind it.  I love that I've got everything at my fingertips when I'm working on my book.  

I love the portability, possibility, and functionality.  It's been a creative revelation to me.  It is simply amazing how one little device can so drastically change your life.  It has wiped out the majority of my creative excuses.  Everything I need to write this blog, work on my novel, or capture snapshots of my life fits in my purse.  And THAT is a marvelous kind of freedom.

And so it begins...

There are days when I can barely manage to form a coherent sentence verbally.  Most days, it's a struggle to do so on a keyboard.  Why I became a writer is sometimes beyond me.  Maybe it's because I love a challenge.  Most likely because I was dropped on my head as a small child one too many times.  Either way...here I am.  

This past year has been one of incredible change.  Ultimately, all of it good although a lot of it didn't seem that way at the time.  After dancing barefoot across the desert for the better part of twenty years, I find myself dancing barefoot across the snow in Idaho.  (Told you...dropped on my head.)  Out of all the changes and the lessons that came along for the ride, I have come to the conclusion that life IS a scavenger hunt.  We stumble our way along, trip over various artifacts (some interesting, some grimy, some barely noteworthy), sometimes we pay attention, but for the most part we seem to just bounce around.  I'm done being aimless.  If life is going to bounce me around, I'm going to pay attention and enjoy the ride.  You only get to go once.

Five days ago I woke up from a dead sleep with a list of promises to myself for the year:  "My resolutions: to replace frustration with patience, to read more, to write everyday, to be in awe of my surroundings and take note of them, to commit random acts of senseless kindness, and laugh daily."  This next year I plan to carry my camera with me no matter where I go, cook more often with the people I love, attempt to accomplish greater things than just making it through the day without killing someone, work on (and finish) my novel, quit smoking, learn to play the guitar, get my flat ass to the gym on a regular basis, talk about books I'm reading (and listening to) with other people who are also reading, collect snowflakes on my eyelashes, bring smiles to strangers, and laugh as often as possible.

So welcome aboard.  Strap yourselves in and make yourselves comfortable.  It's going to be a helluva ride.