The mystery

The Word became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
the one-of-a-kind glory,
like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
true from start to finish.

John 1:14

The Plunge

So... I've joined this amazing group! The Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild. Oh my gosh! I LOVE it when there are people in my world that set a high bar for excellence. It inspires and challenges me and this is exactly what these people are doing. I've been attending for over a year and each time I come back from one of their meetings my brain is about to explode with ideas, challenges, and potential.

Just to be sure my person didn't feel short changed I made them
two cushions.  One for the wrist and one for the machine

Each month they throw out a challenge for anyone who wants to participate.  I’ve always been chicken in regard to these because I am not quite sure if I have a satisfactory standard of skillmanship.  I have quilted, but only for my family and if there are mismatched corners, they don’t care because it’s a gift from me and a treasure for both of us.  H’anyway, last month I thought it might just be time to jump in with a do or die leap.  Really now, if it’s not acceptable, I can work at getting better but I hate to disappoint the recipient.  This challenge was pretty open so I thought it might be a good one to start on.  It was to make a pin cushion of our choice out of any fabric and bring it to the next meeting to put in a large pin cushion swap. The cushions would be exchanged with other quilters from participating cities who have done the same.  Isn’t this brilliant!?  So... being a bit nervous about my actual quilting skills I made up my own little image, put it on transfer paper, cut out a shape with a backing, sewed the seams together, stuffed it and viola!  (When in doubt, go overboard! So my person gets two!)  So my version of a not so quilted pin cushion for a Quilt Guild Challenge and I went to the meeting with a little bit of a ball in my tummy.  But wanting so much to overcome my apprehension, I took a deep breath and followed through.

When in doubt - go overboard! See, they are interchangeable.
The one is winking to be cute and on a bad day, she's letting
one know... "you can do it!"  I need this kind of encouragement
and maybe someone else does too.

 

The president and founder of the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild, Holly Broadland is an amazing young woman who always states, “It doesn’t matter what level you are at.  Everyone is welcome.”  Do you know how empowering this is?  She’s marvelous.  You can follow her on her blog  Holly’s Red Bike. Last month she was interviewed by Tina Anson of Canadian Living Craft Blog.  Check it out!  You just might find my little contribution nestled among some amazing quilted pin cushions.  Gosh, I’m feeling a tad warm and fuzzy, like someone just said I belong.  So darn excited now that I’ve taken The Plunge!  Tomorrow is the next meeting and I'm participating in the new challenge.  Yikes!

Eastside Culture Crawl

Oh my gosh... I try to make it to one day of the Eastside Culture Crawl every three or four years and this year I was invited to join two well-school women in the world of art and literature.  Well read and with strong ideas of art and things new, not to say movies as well.  I was thrilled because I was the fly on the wall.  My favourite trek for the ECC is the home studios of which we landed in a couple and then headed to William Clark Studios that is floor upon floor of studios often two or three artists in one space.  What I love about this Crawl is that you get to see the artist AND a rare chance to see in their work space and art.  Here were some of my faves.

Jill Pilon - Mixed Media Artist
Jill had a real nice modern touch.  Would go great in any high end minimalist setting.  Loved it!  She was super too.  After posing without her glasses we asked her to put them on. They suit her so nicely.

Jill Pilon - She had a piano in her studio as well!

Famous Empty Sky - Mixed Media, Drawing, Printing, Collage, Photography, Painting
FES was great telling us various stages of a well developed process that is all her own. You certainly can tell that she has worked at perfecting this method.

We not only talked with Famous ES, we also were delighted to meet her daughter and granddaughter
Everyone fully vested in her venture and of course, delving in their own mediums.  Such a treat.

Afuwa - Printmaking, Painting

 

We loved hearing Afuwa's point of view.  Unique, honest, complex.  We probably could have brought a good bottle of wine and spent a chunk of time with her just hearing her point of view.  An amazing treat!

Afuwa - we were invited to decode the binary on the plexiglas screen.
This was one of my expert companion's favourites! 
Can you see the code?

Colin Johnson - sculpture

 

Colin was so fun to talk with.  He had been working on this through the night to complete.  After my co-crawl walker teased and cajoled information out of him, we saw the rest of his work.  Absolutely delightful.

 

Colin Johnson - the centre doors hide a liquor cabinet with mirrors and another secret storage to the right.

 



Colin makes wooden puppets and a whole lot of other neat stuff

There were more but either my pix didn't turn out or I could not find their links.  Darn!

This type of  'Crawling' works up an appetite so off to Havana on Commercial with my art buddies.

Yes... here they are talking about books, book clubs, and a little later they announced that they were going to their 'church' in the morning.  The Vancouver Sun Sunday Film Series.  aka Breakfast and a movie

They are all over the culture of Vancouver.  So fun!  Such a great day!  Lucky me.

THE VANCOUVER SUN SUNDAY FILM SERIESpresents
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK 10am Sunday Nov 18
at The Park Theatre



Join us for a
free breakfast at 9:30am.
Guest speaker
Katherine Monk
Post media film critic.

Always in Style.

I wanted to give our sweet neighbour a thank you for coming to the rescue last week when all three of the adults in our house had the stomach flu and the 10 month-old was in dire need of healthy food on a schedule.  Sweet neighbour came through like a pro.  She's the only one on the block who also has a 10 month-old and knew exactly what should be on the menu.  Having been housebound I had no card card but did have a Sizzix Owl Die that was an impulse buy a week ago.  Impressed with my own foresight I grabbed a plain paper bag, put my glue stick to work, and had something to say a homemade thanks.  I used to complain about having too many bathrooms.  Not last week.  We needed all three!!!  In everything give thanks. Here's to you sweet neighbour so thankful for you too!

Reno world

It's so close to being done!  My floors have changed and the front stair treads were delivered today. Our finish carpenter is coming this week to hang doors and start putting down the base boards.  New floors, new cabinets, new appliances!  I'm living in a dream house without having to move away from my wonderful neighbours of 21 years.  Started this transformation at the very beginning of September and here we are thanks to my very diligent SwHt.  I'm LOVING it!  Some have asked if I was sad to let the artwork on my floors go. I can easily say 'no' because it's not hard to release one thing when there is another thing much more desirable ready take it's place.  In our case, a little explorer.  Can't tell you how much she matters to us.  The colour of the floor hides so much, not too dark, not too light.  My kind of upgrade.

Age Appropriate Wardrobe for 55+

My parking spot at church today.  So pretty even
though it was raining.

Figuring out how to take my pix.
... learning curve...
but you can see that tiny peek of colour right?

Was thinking of Fall on my way to church today. How this burst of colour is so amazing. Mother Earth saving the dramatic for last. I'm looking for my own personal blast of colour and wondering how I could renovate myself. Went to H&M yesterday and picked up a little bit of colour in this plaid shirt. Fall always makes me feel a little bit Ralph Lauren-esk. Never goes out of style and is always any age friendly. 

I love the blogs where young women are sharing what they are putting together and where to find it.  Haven't landed on one that aims for my demographic although I think this blog is fantastic and always puts a smile on my face.  Something to aspire to.  But while I'm not quite in this older demographic either, I'll keep working on myself.



Painted floors



My studio.  Of all my floors I will miss this one the most.  It was here we celebrated my girlies with wedding showers
and here where my own artist daughter started her painting career.  And here where I find comfort and let the music play.

 I'm not exactly sure how the conversation went ever so long ago when our living quarters housed three teenagers, two parents, and three medium/large sized dogs.  I believe it was initiated one day when we inadvertently introduced the dogs to a new food without a slow change.  The results were catastrophic as their digestive tracts needed time to adjust (if you know what I mean) and the ancient carpet in the family room HAD to come out.  But what to do?  We did not have a plan to replace the carpet and there was old flooring everywhere which would mean only a matter of time, change in food or not.  Our complete house was a high-traffic area and we were hard pressed to decide what to do with the floors on a tight family-raising budget sooooo.... the conversation was birthed and initiated a new task for me to run out and grab a few cans of inexpensive mis-tints from Home Depot and maybe one or two 'chosen' colours to tie things together.  And so it began.  Who knew?  that slowly and surely floor after floor would expire for various reasons and up it would come exposing the sub floor just begging to be painted.  Our own version of wood floors under our bare feet.  We loved the feel and they became just part of the landscape.  Each year more and more traffic worn. 

My kitchen floor.  The demo begins.
'One day you are in and the next you are out.'
They literally took a saw or sander to all my floors

Fast forward, O I'd say, 15 years or so?  Maybe 10, and this week marks the demise of all these floors with professionals coming to do major surgery and then put a 'real' floor in.  Laminate is not what it used to be people!  And with the passing of the third dog last December, we are ready to add to our family which is now sans teenagers.  We chose a laminate especially with a critter in mind.  And just maybe there will be two of the four footed kind.  Either way, I am not sad to see the painted floors go, even though this is how all my friends know us.  I just could not keep them clean any longer.  I will miss them and I'm ever so grateful for an open-minded SwHt who let me do things my way. 

And just for posterities’ sake let's look at the rest

Navigational star, the center of the studio floor.  I had figured out exactly where North was. 
See not to far off from being perpendicular.  I had sort of hoped it would be more dramatic
but decided to stay with authenticity.

My kitchen table stood over this modern faux carpet.  This section
is painted over linoleum which is ever so much more hardy than
the plywood sub floors.  This one stood up to a beating.
I copied this from a particular painting and now when I want
to give credit I cannot remember their name.  It may come to
me later.

In my study, where I do most of my work for a living I painted
large tiles and topped it with a more traditional looking carpet
style.  I also included the Twenty-third Psalm around it's border.
I've literally sat on the promise of those words for years and
prayed many prayers along with David.  "He prepares a table
before me..."

Front hallway looking into my studio

It marks the end of an era for me.  But we have things we are looking forward to in the future and a little grandbaby that we want to crawl over the floors so it's time to upgrade.  What a sweet reason to do so! 

MCC Quilt Auction

Last week my sister, on her way home from an epic trip with her friends to France and Amsterdam, stopped in my part of the world to spend a few days with me.  I've been travelling vicariously through her pix.  When she comes we always head East to Abbotsford to see my now 91 year-old father.  We just happened to learn that the MCC quilts that will be up for auction at the annual MCC Festival for World Relief sale Sept 7&8, were on display at the Clearbrook Public Library (on display last week only). My sis took these fabulous pix.  Mennonites are known for their quilting and I have at least three of my own mother's wonderful hand quilted blankets. Seeing these up close and personal was a real treat. The hand stitches are phenominally consistent!  I so admire the work of these women (some of whom have been my friends since childhood) AND I am proud of the cause that their raised funds will go toward as part of MCC's relief development and peace work around the world.  So many opportunities to do good.  I LOVE it!

Ayden Gallery Vancouver



Had a fantastic weekend!  A dear longtime friend and I went on a day adventure to celebrate my birth.  She let me choose the destination and since I had to do some price comparing at Dressew, it seemed more fun to have a companion.  Both she and I had not been down to this end of Vancouver in a while and we dropped into a few old familiar haunts... and a few new ones.  Had lunch at the Greedy Pig.  Stopped by the Salmagundi Shop with the apothecary drawers that I remember going through as a teenager and my kids have done the same.  Could not resist stepping into Button Button and we hiked down Water St. 

Fluevog store Gastown

 Passed the gas clock in Gastown and took a peek into the amazing new Fluevog store.  Gee... those windows are a dream for a sunny day.  Can you see the sunlight on the floor indicating that almost the whole ceiling is glass??!!!  I can only imagine how mystical this space is when the rain falls.  Absolute class!  I have a pair of Fluevog Angel wing tipped boots that I bought for my birthday gift in 2000.  They are scuffed and have a few drops of paint and I consider them dear friends.  Sooo comfy. 

In the evening my SwHt and I headed out for 'The Beautiful Decay of Life' opening at Ayden Gallery in the International Village.  My daughter's work is being shown there.  So delighted when we arrived to see her three paintings front and centre when you walk into the gallery.  Quite impressive!  And they look amazing! 

 

The Beautiful Decay of Life at the Ayden Gallery Aug 10 - Sept 2, 2012

Oil on canvas, Rebekah Joy Plett



How blessed am I????!!!!  





Calgary

So I'm just back from my second trip to Calgary to join daughter-the-younger on a visit to see daughter-the-older.  Calgary Trivia: the sidewalks are only one person/stroller wide so when the three/four of us went for a walk (which was every day except for the day that we had the car), we had to walk single file or do this.  Usually little Miss E and I went ahead and the sisters would chatter behind us.  For some reason this prompted little Miss E to have to do her own chatter and she would kick her feet up and yack away to herself. 

And that one day we had the car? we were off to Costco to buy a very deserving homemaker a Dyson vacuum cleaner.  I confess that we just might have walked around the corner in the store and mocked out loud at the sight of halloween costumes being on the rack in July until we saw the little dragon and 'just had to have it' for **you know who** because she specializes in dragon speak which is one of the many reasons we love her!!! 

I am absolutely loving having this new little person around!

Commissioning

A commissioned piece that went out this week.  For a sweet one year-old.

Running the Race...

“Always concentrate on how far you’ve come,
rather than how far you have left to go.”~Unknown

Thankful



And it was good!



Who, in sitting down in front of these colourful and flavour-saturated berries, could help themselves and not say, "Who may I thank for these?"

Dear Creator... Thank YOU!

and... to the one who had THIS other brilliant idea, I need me a couple of these.   

Image from here



Unexpected

I went to a workshop last week.  Excited to learn something new, nervous that I will not qualify, anticipating that I will be surrounded by women who by their collective knowledge will raise the bar.  I take a spot off to the far side where I think I will be least noticed.  As close to a fly on the wall as possible.  We are asked to put our name in large print on a paper and tape it somewhere in our workspace.  After the instructions I am intent on the task - head down - focused on my work.  Not my old self, one who loves to welcome and finds life looking into a new set of eyes.  At the beginning of the class I lose a vital tool for the task.  It falls to the floor and bounces away.  I cannot proceed without it and have to mention this unfortunate loss to the instructor... more attention than I am prepared for.  My table mates don't hesitate, down on their knees on my behalf scanning for the rogue bolt.  I find this exercise excruciating, someone taking time away from her project to help me, feels like an eternity without productivity.  It's a fruitless search and an ask goes out if someone has an extra for me to borrow.  "Yes"  from a woman clear across the room.  I am profuse with gratitude, glad for the freeing of the others to go back to their babies.  I could have found another way to work on mine but it would have meant that I would not have made sufficient progress to keep up (more unavoidable attention).  I am humbled.  I know this is a gracious place to be in the scheme of earth living.  But it is quite expensive and I have to open my emotional nest egg to be willing to purchase it 'as is'.  Getting back to my comfort zone I am conscious of the chatter, the humming of the machines, and the periodic outburst of laughter.  I don't immediately realise that this is why I have come.  Not that I anticipate a single friendship to form for I have driven out to another town for this class and will not bump into any of these women at the local bank or store.  Yes, I had been quite brilliant in this part of the plan - no strings attached.  Unbeknownst to me a prayer that I have prayed along with David from his memoirs, is getting attention of its own.  "God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don't throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails!"

Giacomo Ceruti: women working on pillow the sewing school

 

When loss is part of your reality, especially loss upon loss.  Causes?  The curse of the earth and results of the choices of men.  There is this propensity to feel you deserve nothing more.  The verdict of others is more final than you want to allow and the nagging feeling that you possibly have done the same, is the washer that holds this emotional bolt tight.  How do you recover from this?  For healing is what I am in need of to become a giving part of society again.  And trust is a treasure that I am not ready to extend - in others nor in myself.  "Constance, did you find your bolt?"  "I like the colours you have chosen."  "What did you bring for lunch?"  Speaking only when spoken to is a new angle for me.  It affords my emotional eyes time to look around the room.  To eavesdrop and take notes.  To wonder if I can see where these women are setting their bar.  I have not been able to pick mine up.  ... Listening I lean in...  hope.

 ^26-28Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. Romans 8:26-28  The Message (MSG)

There comes a time when...

...after more than just a few losses, and the warning sign on your personal 'mobility device' aka your emotional data plan that operates the heart, soul, and mind GIVES NOTICE.  It's time to choose what really matters and be okay with IT.

LAAAAA!!!!!

The sun is up!  The sun is up!  Yes!  Yes!  Yes!
One of the best things I do for myself is go to the gym first thing in the morning.  Today we did my least favourite exercise to this... one of my all time favourite work out songs! Music matters! Sing Hallelujah everybody!

Let the Sun Shine In!

If you live in the Pacific Northwest ... yes up a bit higher in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia you will know that we have been longsuffering with rain!  No substantial amount of sun in sight -- for months! If there is just a moment of 'dry' I drop everything and get my lawn mower cranked up, driven by the single fear that it will be my only opportunity! 

This morning, the first day of summer, we woke up to the sun grinning ear to ear through our bedroom windows.  Hallelujah!  And to mark the end of one season embracing the start of another I put the last stitch on this yesterday.  (If the sun won't shine, I have a few tricks to bring brightness into my world and this is one of them.)

Kaffe Fassett's 'Yellow S Block'

Blue and green support the back

 

My mother-in-law loved this centre fabric.  A set of napkins that she picked up in France.



Nobody tells people who are beginners...

Inspiration... comes in every way you can imagine.  Thank you David Shiyang Liu for making this little vid not just for storytellers.

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
― Ira Glass

Now get to work!

So much good

I am catching my breath.  So much good in my world is a God gift. I am finding ways to mark major events.  My girlfriend was teaching me how God uses the pop of yellow in nature to give a burst of delight and how artists use this as well.  Here's my pop of light for my life changing marker.  Yellow makes my heart sing but it has to be seen in context.  Too much yellow does not work as well on it's own either.  It needs all the other colours to bounce off of.  Just like life, needs its history to relish and embrace that yellow pop.  Here's the beginning of my yellow life marker. 



Pickle Dish Quilt

 Remember my last marker when my daughter was diagnosed with the big C (albeit - one of the lesser threatening... and here we are looking in to the eyes of her sweet baby girl Little Miss E)  So as not to forget to be thankful and remember who holds the plans.  I am making markers for my eyes to remind my heart that God is present, the pop of colour in my life.


The Colour Run


Speaking of colour.  If I were a runner (I am not) but if I were, I would participate in this!  It's a 5K and making its rounds through the US.  It was held in Seattle a couple of weekends ago.  At each K marker, you get doused with colour and at the end you are wearing the medals of your achievement!  Fun to do with friends. 

And... if you love this kind thing I hear there is a Zombie run making the rounds as well... for the K markers I can only imagine.  They are saying "A zombie infested 5K obstacle course".  The virus is spreading... run for your lives!!!!  <grin>  Toronto's is scheduled for Aug 22nd.  If it was coming to Vancouver, I'd go just to see the fun!

Feast or Famine

So a week ago today was my first day unemployed. Layoffs due to financial constraints which is a sweet relief that it was not for poor performance. There is a profound calm to have to lean on God's everlasting arms when the change is not your own doing. I worked for a church and on this same morning God spoke a verse into the deepest part of my spirit. I am reading the Bible chronologically for the second year in a row and this time around I am asking God to get personal (not let it be just a fact finding expedition).  He knew exactly what would mean billions of words of encouragement to me -- especially on this last day serving my church which I had done for the past 15 years and when tears threatened to draw unwanted attention. The earth is [mine] the LORD'S, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it. Ps 24:1.  It was a rush for me hearing, don't worry about the next step, I own it all and there will be a place for you. I know people and I have all the 'stuff' you will need.  How dear and close I feel to Him.  So this past Sunday, just two days ago, to observe a recommended season of rest, I went to a new church alone without my SwtHt who is still working for the church that let me go. It was strange as SwtHt and I have left our house together @ 6:30am for 15 years of Sundays first as volunteers and then as staff (him fulltime and me part-time) loving every minute of belonging.  Now I was heading through church doors on my own probably greeted by another one just like me who got there super early and has been meeting the people of her church for a myriad of years.  I could appreciate every volunteer's gesture of giving and sensed God's joy. True joy is a God essence. I was poured into that morning and ever so grateful for anyone who finds a place to voluteer or work with a church.  Creating such a family atmosphere is worth the time for all the 'me's' that come needing a filling. 

I am vibing off this verse, excited and full of anticipation.  I've seen good days and tough days.  My SwtHt and I are seasoned veterans in following God to places we do not know.  God knew what was in store for me last June fulfilling a simple prayer request when I asked for a distraction to keep my heart set on Him through a tough season by bringing a grandbaby into our family and under our roof.  Bliss arrived by means of a full house and a place to serve my family. So, at her mommy's request, we went out to buy fabric for some classy bibs and I delightedly whipped up a few seeing as I have the time. Filling my mind with creating a pattern and fussing about the fit of course.  My daughter says our sweet little Miss E is styling.  I say, God knows so well what I need.  My heart is fervently grateful for family and babies and yes, churches too.  

Lented

I've been lenting and this week it draws to a close with celebrating.  I rarely observe lent but given the reason is to put things away for the purpose of drawing close to God I want to show Him by my choices that I take drawing close to Him personally.  Being Holy week I watched this part of The Jesus Movie (1999) to remind me how much Jesus loves people, especiallly women with all our unique quirks.  I'm so fond of the Mary's and Martha!  I can learn a thing or two from those girls.



Little Miss E working the arts with me.  Since this pix she's
entered sleep training with her mom.  No more spontaneous
naps in my studio.  To the left... Yup I'm playing with paints. 

 And... this is how Little Miss E and I have progressed during our studio time.  I'm working on something new signifying a new season for me.  Listening for opportunity.  Seeking to be willing and available.  With God as the driver of my subaru outback life, it's always exactly what is needed and exciting.  He brought this little one just when we needed special hugs to fill a season of losses.  Couldn't have been more brilliant in His timing.  I so love it when He gets nose-to-nose personal!

We're doing it!

Image from here

I love coming home.  It doesn't matter where I have been during the day, I cannot get home fast enough.  And, I love it that I have found a way to contribute to something greater than just myself through a simple homestyle initiative.  Love Letters continues to raise funds for a sweet charity for the Dalit Community in India.  We love the idea of micro loans.  Never underestimate the start of little things and what they can do. We just filled another order to add to an overflow donation which now has exceeded what we pledged at the start.  We are excited about new things in the works.  March is marching forward month for us.  The R&D dept is knee deep in possibilities. We are almost at the halfway mark.  I deeply respect measurable and attainable things.

Happy for them

Image from here

Today we learned that our kiddies and little Miss E will be moving 12 hours and 18 minutes away via the Trans-Canada Hwy according to Google maps.  That's 973 kilometers or 612 miles.  They are excited and finally the planning of the next five years of their lives can begin.  They so deserve it after all that schooling!  Hello Calgary, I guess we'll be seeing each other on a regular basis.

A best thing

One of the best things I have done for my spiritual self is read through my Bible chronologically.  I have been told Bible stories since I was a little girl but even now after the first five books I get lost and can't quite figure out who is who when it comes to all those kings and kingdoms and prophets and name changes.  I did it for the first time last year and find I am grasping so much with this method.  I have a special Bible software on my phone and iPad but you can also find the chronological order here.  If you download their calendar for each day you can start at the beginning or if you don't mind picking it up midstrean, have them email you.  It's quite convenient and you do not have to search around for addresses, they do it for you.  I love smart programs!

Introductions

Miss E and me in my studio doing what we both do best

I am smack dab in the middle of  'joy'.  Surrounded on all sides.  Let me introduce you to Miss-E.  She is living in our house at the moment with her parents.  We will have five wonderful months together.  New to this task my SwtHt and I love to take our turns.  SwtHt has always had the most wonderful knack with little people.  It's a gift.  It doesn't matter the size.  Of all the long talks that started early in 1975 it never once dawned on me back then to check and see what kind of father and grandfather he would be.  Even though, the answer to this and a few other questions are deal breakers.  No... I just thought he was cute, immensely talented and the thing that mattered most to me was that he listened to my words and heard my heart. I have never met a man like this before or since.  As I've told my kiddies on occasion, picking the best dad in the world is the greatest gift I've given them.

Right word... Right time

It's Monday and I was thinking I need to introduce you to a very new and important person in my life but I will do it on a later post because this is a good New Year thought!

My SwtHt and I each have a new toy... an iPad2!  My game playing has increased 70%!  A new way for me to slow down my day (at the end <grin> no game playing during of course or I'm hooped!).  The iPad effect on him is he is reading heaps!!!  Who knew?  He's a natural learner and absorber.  The iPad makes his books more accessable and organizes them all in one place.  This, my friend, is how my guy's mind works.  The benefit for me?  He is my best referral recommending articles etc.  Last week he hit it on the head when he first taught me what he is learning from an article by Peter Bregman, 'Your Problem Isn't Motivation'  (it's follow through!)  I've been letting this principle simmer and I think it will be my buzz quote this year.  I am a thinker and even though it is my strength to 'think ahead', I can 'overthink' things. Yup... the other side of said strength and gets me in trouble regularly.   If you get snagged in the thinking tank, like me, check it out.  If you don't.  I would like to hang with you.

Sometimes you say it... Sometimes you show it

It's official!  Check it out!  On Dec 29, 2011 my goal to raise $200 to provide a Dalit family with a micro loan was accomplished with an extra $10 to throw in for good measure!  So many wonderful friends coming alongside.  Great things are never done alone.  To all of you who spread a pocket of love through purchasing a Love Letter... Thank you from me and from a Dalit family on the other side of this very earth.

This does not shut down the LOVE LETTER shop. It helps me think through what other project I want to work toward!!!  Keep watching!