Three Beautiful Things This Week

Three Beautiful Things This Week was inspired by a wonderful blog that Three Beautiful Things. Everyday, Clare writes about 3 Beautiful Things that happen each day in her life. It's a wonderful blog! I can only hope to imitate her in a very small way.

1) Memories preserved.  How I miss these people!  I was born into a crazy, amazing family where I was loved so much!  Everyone should be so blessed!

2)  We are experiencing the "Winter Thaw."  Temperatures are climbing above the freezing mark.  This is so nice in January.  The best part, it happens every year!

3) There are deer tracks all over my front yard.  I wonder what they're finding there?

A week From Wednesday is Christmas Eve! OH! MY! GOODNESS!

Advent is almost at an end.  There just isn't enough time!  I really want to catch my breath!  The good thing is I thought today was tomorrow, and it's not, so I have one extra day!
Whew!

Time to make lists, I guess. 

Does it matter?  I probably won't get everything finished. 

Prioritize. 

1)  Breathe

2) Pray

3) Laugh

4) Do Not Cry

5) Stop

Things will happen as they will.  There are so many things I cannot control like the passage of time.  The passage of time has caught me unprepared.  Will there be less fun?  I don't know.  For me the important things of Christmas will be::

1) Midnight Mass

2) Family

3) Weather permitting, lighting luminarios in the driveway to lead the Christ child to our home

4) Eating our traditional dinner

5) Gathering around the tree to open our presents

6) Making memories

7) Taking pictures

These are my priorities.  Let the rest fall where they may.  I look forward to the holidays, not the holidaze. 

I am part Grinch, but the time for Grinchiness is almost over.  I think I should have been more Grinchy this year.  Focus on the New Born Babe, and it's okay to be a Grinch.

How's that for a segue?

This is a link to my latest article for Catholic365.com  It's called::

It's okay to be a Grinch When it Comes to Christmas!

At least I think so! 

Listing Saturday:: Reasons to prepare ahead of time for Christmas

Stores close early on Christmas Eve.

Santa has gotten older and likes to get to bed earlier.

Target bags are not acceptable as Christmas wrapping.

(I wish they were.)

Food doesn't cook itself.

You can listen to Christmas Carols while you get ready.

Newspaper stars for the tree are a true no no, unless the children have made them.

You can only watch so many Christmas moves before your head explodes.  Excuse yourself and get ready for Xmas.

If you're ready early enough, you can gather the family and go to church. 

Even the kid in you wants a present.

Christmas is really more than just a day.

There is beauty in remembering.  You're making memories.  What kind of memories do you want your children to hold near to their hearts.

If you're ready in time for Christmas, you can enjoy yourself. 

In the end, it's all about love, not the rush.

Looking Back at 2013!

Happenings

I fell on the ice, but I came up without a concussion or a cut in my head.  I had a huge bruise on my head, and my head still hurts in that spot, but the doctor told me to expect that.

I missed a stair in my house, and I broke the talus bone in my foot.   I'm still dealing with that.

I lost 20 pounds on Weight Watchers!

I learned to appreciate the fact that my friends will help me when I need them.

I learned to embrace and really like me!

I got my first black eye.  When I was sick, and, apparently dehydrated,  I fainted.  I hit my head on a box I had placed next to the closet I was going to clean out that morning. 

I learned to  make my own greek yogurt, and is it delicious.

I learned to make my own electrolyte drinks at home, in case I can't get to the store to buy some when I'm sick.

I learned to make my own "sippy" cups out of mason jars to keep myself hydrated during the day.  I plan to use them when I'm sick, too!  No more fainting, if I can help it!

I learned to appreciate a friend more than I thought I could.

I learned that although life is difficult, when we look for the good, you can always find some, somewhere, but you have to look.

I threw up on myself in a public place.  No warning.  No reason, and the only thing I had to contain my vomit was my coat.  I learned humility there.

I learned that no matter how many times I clean out the hall closet, it just makes room for more. 

I worked hard on my clay.  I learned a lot of things about polymer clay and how to use it.

I've made some beautiful pieces with polymer clay.

I got stuck with glass, but I'm starting to go back to it.

I began to write again.

I've learned how much I love being alone.

I'm learning to embrace silence more than quiet.

I'm enjoying cooking again.
I still don't like grocery shopping.

I learned that when working with those who are dying, they want their dignity and their life.  Most hope that someone will remember them.  I know there are some I will never forget!

I realized, this year, how much happiness Pixie brings to almost everyone she meets.  She's such a happy dog, and a blessing to me.

I love our monthly retired teacher breakfasts!  It's so much fun to get together and talk.

Time really does fly when you're having fun!

Memories Found

I stopped when I opened the small, corked jar,

and

for one, brief second,

I stopped breathing.

More memories,

certainly 

unexpected.

Who would have thought that someone

at one time

placed these roses in that jar.

The fragrance was still there,

not strong, just a whisp of scent to remind me

of 

that Mother's Day,

that anniversary,

that birthday,

I'm not sure when, 

but the memories flooded back.

I'm just not sure which one.

Surprise!

Memories in a jar.

 

Memories

Oh, what a day!!!!

I got to meet Hannah and her Mom at the 

Multiple Myeloma Run.

Hannah has 140 feet of Beads of Courage beads.

Hannah is an amazing young woman.

The Runners and Jenny

Bobby, Jenny, Nick, Katie, and Sara!

 Sara was running for Jenny and Dan.

The Cheerleaders

Esther, Mary Clare, Andy, Will, Paula, me, Jenny

Even though we weren't running,

Mary Clare and I crossed the finish line first!!!

Katie crossed the finish line first!!!

She really was the first of the team to cross the finish line!

Nick and Bobby were next to cross.

Sara crossed the line next.

Sara was carrying 2 strands of BOC beads in her pocket.

These are the beads that went to the run.

The rest of the runners carried them across the finish line.

These beads will go to 

Beads of Courage this week!

All in all it was a great day!!!

More Memories of Chicago

The Chicago Skyline against Lake Michigan

Jenny loves trains!

Chicks hatching.

The Biograph Theatre, where John Dillinger was killed.

Improv Theatre

It was a great weekend!

I Heart Macro! - The Great Chile Cook Off Jewelry

I HEART MACRO
I was number 11.  Number 9 won.  Oh, so close!

Chili Cook Off Jewelry! 


Memories are made by doing, then preserved with love!

Who said that?  ooops!  I did!

Normally,

I am not a person who enjoys making jewelry.

I'd rather make beads and enjoy what designers make with them.

However, when an event is at hand that sounds like fun,

I love to make jewelry that will make me smile when I remember that special event.

I've already talked about the 

Great Chile Cook Off.

Being from the Southwest, that was an event I wanted to preserve.

So, I did make jewelry.

 There was the necklace with the chile peppers.

(I made all the beads!)

I added matching earrings to the necklace.

Could any jewelry collection be complete without a bracelet for one arm and

bangles for the other arm?

Here's what the jewelry looked like on.

 I really like it,

and I smile when I remember the fun of the

Great Chile Cook Off!

I Heart Macro!

This Old Rocking Chair

I heard the story, the other day, that a Facebook friend knew a man whose wife was having a baby very soon.  She wanted to hire a "Night Sitter" so that they could sleep through the night while the "night sitter" got up and took care of the baby.  She was stunned.  So were a lot of us to hear this.  It wasn't that the mom was working and needed the help.  She was planning on staying home with the baby.  Of course, dad would continue to work.  Nevertheless, how many of our husbands would get up and help us with our babies at night?  The couple had family in town who was willing and able to help.  The mother to be simply wanted one because many of her friends either had one or had had one when their babies were born.  The man was complaining because the cost of such a sitter was $1000 per week!  (If only I had earned that much as a teacher to take care of other people's children day after day after day!)

Then I looked at the rocking chair.  It's almost 35 years old.  We  bought it right before Jenny was born.  We shined it up and put it in the living room.  Jenny was a good baby, but she managed to get her days and nights mixed up.  She was so sweet and mellow at night, you couldn't help but enjoy her.  Nick on the other hand was all boy from the day he was born.  He would sleep for 20 minutes at a time, wake up to be fed and stay awake for 2 hours!  That was his schedule.  He was just a happy, bouncing baby boy. 

I don't remember the number of hours I spent in this chair with my babies.  We'd be awake when everyone else in the neighborhood was asleep.  The soft glow of the night light in the living room, lit my way to the chair with the baby.  We'd rock and talk.  We'd rock and play.  We'd rock and look at the world around us.  We discovered our hands.  We held fingers.  We'd smile at each other.  Hours upon hours were spent in that chair.

When the kids grew a bit older and they'd get sick, we'd often find ourselves together in the rocking chair even during the dark hours of the night.  I'd rub aching tummies and sooth feverish brows with a cool wash cloth.  We'd take temperatures.  We'd drink the normally forbidden glass of pop that did help to sooth the aching tummies.  We'd count chicken pox blisters.  Once in a while, we'd even turn on the TV softly and watch until we went to sleep. 

There was no night sitter and no family close enough to help.  We did this, and it was very hard at times, especially when I was exhausted or sick, too!  The reality is that, in spite of the difficulties of being awake when you didn't want to be awake, I would never trade this special time with my children.  This is time that can never be replaced or lived again.  I feel blessed to have had this time.  I thank God for it! 

My children are grown now.  There is no more cuddle time in the rocking chair.  When their children are born, I am hoping that one of them will take it to their home to rock and care for their children.  We'll see.  Maybe they will have a special chair of their own.  However, no one or event can take that time from me!
I was blessed!

My Meditaion Charm Bracelet

Taking the time to

pause and lift our minds beyond ourselves,

sometimes called meditation, prayer, being one with the universe,

has been proven, scientifically, 

to heal, rest, improve

our minds and bodies.

Finding the time, however, can be challenging.

Today, I made the first step towards making time in my day to take a mini vacation without leaving.

I made a "Meditation Bracelet."

 Each bead in this bracelet has a special meaning to me.

When I touch it, I stop.  I pause.  I get away from it all.

I'll share some of the bead meanings with you.

The heart helps me to remember that I am loved by God.

The rosebuds are my children who are the loves of my life!

 

The pearl charm reminds me of those precious, few trips to the ocean where the waves crash on the shore and the ocean sings.

The striped bead reminds me of the time we took a trip to the zoo and a HUGE tiger walked over to the glass, looked at me, and licked it's lips!

(The tiger was huge!  I was an adult when this happened!  It's not a childhood memory!)

What else could the cupcake mean?  I love cupcakes!!!

From this angle it's hard to tell, but it's a bird.

Why a bird?  Believe it or not, there was a time in my life, I wished that I could be a bird.

Do you ever make jewelry with a meaning?

Tell me about it!

Memories From the Basement

It was a two day event for Nick and me.  We attacked and cleaned the basement!!!!!

There was laughter.  There were tears.
There were some things we looked at and said, "Why did he keep this?"  There were other things we just said, "What is it?"

Nine garbage bags later.  10 bags full of things to the thrift store.  Then home for 6 more bags of garbage and 4 more bags for the thrift store.  Then it was done!

The tears came when we found things from their childhoods. Photos flooded our brains with memories. Memories of places. Visions of people we loved for too short of a time. 

Laughter came when we remembered why we kept the drawings, the photos, the journals, the paper clippings, and some of the things we found.

We wondered why somethings were still there after 40 years.  Why were they moved 20 years ago?  What meaning did they have then that they didn't have now?  Who were some of these people in the pictures?  Who was this baby in the picture?  Why did we have it?

Look at this!  It's my first communion veil!  What is this?  This is my bull fighting cape from when I took Spanish dancing as a teenager.  Look at these newspaper clippings.  Mom, is that you?  Why didn't you tell me you used to act in plays?  When did you do that?  How old were you?  Where'd did all these cups come from?  I don't know, but put them in the thrift shop bags.  (White bags were for the thrift store.  Black bags were the garbage.)

Now, what's left of the memories are organized in plastic bins.  Memories stored until someone else comes along and says, "What is this?"  "Where did it come from?"  "Why did she keep it?"
"Who was that?"  "Was she really an actress?"

Memories from the basement, but a basement that's cleaned!

I Heart Macro - Memories

I Heart Macro - Memories!

Soon, we autumn will only be a memory!

But before it leaves,

(pardon the bad pun), 

here are some memories.

Wild growth

Floral Skeletons

Brown Eyed Susans

Weedy Flowers

Memories!

This Blog Will Speak for Itself

I'm not crazy about forwards,

but when you get emails like these,

you just have to smile.

Smile!

Smile!

Smile!

Smile!

Babe, We've come a long, long way!

Bigger Smile!

Newbie Bead Memories

Newbies!

I love you!

I was once a newbie's newbie.

I would use expensive glasses for those wonky spacers I made.

Almost all my beads had sharp ends.

Some of them looked funky because they were wonky.

(It was an accident.)

I called it creativity.

I remember once opening the kiln to see red beads in there.

Knowing I had no red glass, then checking on the glass I used.

It was clear with a red line in the middle.

Little did I know it was a striking red glass, and it struck in the klin.

Next came jewelry.

Wonky then. Wonky now.

Made with wonky beads.

You know, I still have that first bracelet I made with wonky spacers that look like discs.

I still call it creativity.

This really is creative!

What do you call creative?  

There are so many happy accidents out there.  

What are your happy accidents?

Summer Words

warm
hot
humid
green
red
yellow
orange
blue
leaves
garden
tomatoes
cucumbers
zucchini
lawn
mower
sunshine
shade
picnics
BBQ
grill
margaritas
ice
pool
swimming
walks
run
convertible
breeze
thunderstorms
lightning

What other words can you add to this list?

Lilies of the Valley and Memories

I can hear the radio coming from the neighbor's house. The Beatles are singing "I Want to Hold Your Hand." I'm sitting in the dark on the small cement fence in front of my house on 7th Street in Albuquerque.

I am waiting. I dab on a bit more of Avon's Lilly of the Valley perfume cream. The mosquitoes are buzzing me lusting after the scent of the lilies of the valley. Ouch! I'm bit again.

My mother is in the house laughing with her sister and watching TV. I can hear Lucy whining about something.
So many sounds and scents.

The lilac bush on the side of the house is in full bloom. I drink in the scent of the flowers wanting to wash my hands in the scent. The night is still warm from the hot day. At the end of the block, I see the car. He's on his way to work for a couple of hours. He slows down as he drives past me. He smiles and waves. I smile and wave back. Nothing more. Sweet and simple. My first love and soon to be my first kiss. I go in the house. I join my mother and my aunt and watch Lucy. I go to bed. My room is next to the lilac bush. I dab on more Lily of the Valley perfumed cream. Sleep comes in waves of scents and sounds. It is sweet and soft.

There is a time

Just a Song

I'm Home! Memories from the Bead and Button Show.

Friends I knew but had not yet met:















Robin and the Gaffer Girls!


















Dora Schubert: My facebook friend!


















Isis Ray: A new friend



















Bernadette Fuentes: A sweet and dear friend.

















Sara Sally LaGrand: My email buddy in the lobby.


















Samma and Trish: My WC friends



















Sylvie Lansdowne and her boys. (Thank you, Sylvie, for Fairy Princess Mallory!)

















Two very real fairy princesses: Sharon Driscoll and, you've seen her before, Bernadette Fuentes!

Wow! These are just a few of the people! How could anyone be more blessed to have come in contact with these fabulous people!

The Bead and Button Show was a success!