Contageous

Today's skies are cold and dark.

My body hurts like hell.

My mood sucks.

I need rest.

Did you know yawns are contageous?

Once one person yawns, another is bound to follow?

I went searching for a good yawn to get my body going.

Yawning is good prep for rest.

Bingo!

Yup. Seems to be working.

Yaaawn (~stretch~)

Pass it on.

Cyber Monday

It's here.

The holiday shopping season.

Ugh!

I tried to tell the kids that due to the recent economy crisis

Santa has lost his workshop to foreclosure

and all the elves have left to work with

is glue and toothpicks.

I must use sarcasm entirely too much in this house

as they did not buy one single word of it.

Drat!

That means I need to come up with some Christmas cash!

In honor of Cyber Monday

I have created a sale in my Etsy shop.

Everything in the shop is 20% off

starting today and running through Friday.

I am hoping to get more items listed as the week progresses.

To take advantage of the sale

enter coupon code

YIPPEE

at checkout.

To all my cyber chummies who check out my shop,

Thank You!!!

To the rest,

don't worry.

I still love you too!

;)

Happy Silly Cyber Monday!

Thanksgiving Poem

On this Thanksgiving Day

I am not only thankful

but I pray.

I pray...

 

For those less fortunate

may they feel many blessings

for those feeling pain

may it lessen

 

I pray for hate to halt

for love to grow

the war to stop

for everyone to know

 

The love that is possible

is not just for you and me

it is for everyone in the world

it's called equality.

May this day be filled

with thoughts of peace and love

being sent from our homes

being sent from above

a gift of the spirit

riding safe in the wind

may it land in the hearts of those in need

let the healing begin

I pray for the earth

who feels inflicted pain

to be healthy and whole
to be vibrant again.

 

May the whole world unite

in feelings of love, hope and peace

may the sentiments combine

and the energy increase

Let this feast represent

union of heart

tying love around the globe

doing our part

I am thankful for the ground below

for the sky up above

I am thankful for you

I am thankful for love

~ Lynn Retzlaff

The picture below is from a few Thanksgivings back. We had some cousins over a few days prior.

The adults and children all traced our hands on construction paper and cut them out.

On some hands we wrote something we were thankful for. Others we left blank.

We made a turkey and used the hands for tail feathers.

We took it to the family dinner and taped it to the wall.

The string you see hanging held a pen at the end.

We encouraged other family members to pick a blank hand and add their thanks!

Monday Funny

Okay.

I just have to share this.

I was driving the kids to school this morning.

The sky was flashing with lightening.

The rain was so intense I could hardly see the road.

I dropped kids off safe and sound

and headed back home with a morning radio show

dialed in to keep me company

and keep my mind off the storm outside.

(driving in rain w/bald tires = worry)

The morning personalities had a comedian in house.

Luckily I was pulling into the driveway as he threw out his first lines.

If not, I may have driven straight into a ditch!

My day started with a huge belly laugh!!!!

Wish I knew who he was so I could

a. thank him

b. give him credit

 

Comedian speaking of online dating sites:

(paraphrased)

Every woman's profile has the same thing.

I love moonlit walks on the beach.

I love moonlit walks on the beach.

I love moonlit walks on the beach.

So one night I went to the beach.

There were at least 500 women walking around!

Buah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!!

Is it just me? or is that funny?

So obvious yet I never thought of it or heard it before.

Totally got me.

Hope it made you smile too.

Nothing like starting out the week with a belly laugh.

Have a blessed and happy week my friends.

p.s. can you believe I was able to get that moon shot with my little digital?

Life (part 2)

I created this mixed media piece the other day.

I left it open for interpretation.

I did not want to influence thoughts.

Interestingly enough, it made people laugh.

Funny.

Once I was done with the piece, I stepped back and looked at it

(kicked my inner critic in the groin)

and felt a sense of happiness myself.

The piece was created to help me deal with a painful situation.

Someone very close to me has anger issues.

~ • ~ • ~ • ~ 

That's me in that ball.

I was thinking how much life is like a hamster ball full of letters.

I spend a lot of time in my little bubble

pulling letters out of the sky to form words.

Words to create the life I want.

love

create

happiness

peace

beauty

nature

comfort

Life in my little ball looks good. I am surrounding myself with positivity.

Then someone comes along with anger and cussing, kicks my ball.

The angry hurtful words penetrate my ball and all my letters are scattered.

I feel dizzy, confused, hurt, insulted.

Until I gather my thoughts and right myself.

Then I look around at the mess and start picking up letters.

I start by breaking apart the hurtful words that have penetrated my ball.

I use the letters along with my existing letters to create new words.

Safe words. 

Positive words.

and I start to feel better once again.

This piece made me feel good. It helped me grow. It made me realize and learn.

I showed it to the person that has been festering in anger for three days.

I thought explaining it would make a difference.

So far no good.

It helped me though.

I'm glad it received smiles.

I'm going to pull those words in and add them to my ball.

laughter

smiles

giggles

I'm off to run around with these for a while.

Happy weekending!

Life

Stay tuned.

Story to follow on Friday.

Monday Smile for YOU!!!!

A new day, new week, new outlook on life!

I wanted to make sure all of you felt as sunny as me

this fine Monday morning so I'm sending you

something to 

make you

SMILE!!!!

I was browsing through Etsy last night
and found this hat ...

(photo is from etsy shop taraduff)
from this super fun shop...

and I couldn't help but fall in love.

I stared, I smiled, I coveted.

I felt my heart swell.

There is just something about that hat.

I wanted it, I needed it, I think I'm in love with it.

Obviously I had to get down to the bottom of my desire.

My husband knows me best so I thought I would ask him.

Hmm.... he couldn't figure it out either.

Ah well.

Perspective

I've been feeling pretty down on myself lately.

I didn't know what I was thinking trying NaNoWriMo.

Four kids to raise, a baby during the day,

end of quarter conferences, meetings,

laundry, dishes, broken down vehicles,

messy house, homework and errands. Oh my!

My chronic pain is through the roof.
I haven't had time to blog in days.

Why did I think I could do NaNoWriMo?

Like every year, I began to feel like a failure.

The feeling sucks. I was folding. Giving up.

Then I was doodling as I tend to do,

when I realized something.

 Failing and falling are only one letter away from each other.

I thought about that.

Failing has such negative connotations.

No one wants to fail.

I certainly don't want to be considered a failure.

What about falling?

If someone is falling we try to catch them.

We create a soft landing.

We help them up.

We care.

 We are gentle and concerned wanting to know if they are okay.

I changed my perception.

I am not failing, I am falling.

I am having a hard time and I need help.

I am changing my internal dialog.

I am choosing positive words,

treating myself like I would others.

No more knocking myself down and folding.

I will pick myself up and dust myself off.

My perception about my challenge has changed. 

I may not make it to 50,000 words in 30 days.

I am realizing my physical disorder may not allow it.

I will make it the 30 days (and beyond).

If I complete the time and I complete the words,

I have accomplished NaNoWriMo

regardless of what the RuLeS say.

I will not give up.

I will succeed.

I am off to write, play and live!

How has your internal dialog been treating you lately?

Need a little help?

You are beautiful, you are amazing, you are valuable, you are loved.

Farm Faces

My mother owns horses.

They area boarded on a farm.

Took the kids riding this past weekend.

Couldn't resist these awesome farm faces!

 

 Okay, okay. This last one's a cheat.

He was asleep on my printer when I came home and I couldn't resist!

Did they make you smile?

Good!

My job here is done.

Have a smiley, warm fuzzy, everything you wished for kind of Tuesday!

Love,

           Me ;)

P.S. Elena - There's a horse here with your name on it!

Simplify

My weekend theme

worked out so well

I am carrying over

into my week.

Why?

simply because ;)

What are you in need of this week?

Vicarious Living

Vicarious -  felt or enjoyed

through imagined participation

in the experience of others: a vicarious thrill.

 

Vicarious Living.

What a concept! What possibility!

To live vicariously through others allows one to dream,

experience and live as they might not do on their own. 

You can live vicariously through movies, tabloids, blogs, and other media.

You can live vicariously through friends, family and those around you.

You can live vicariously through books, dreams, even rumors.

 

Vicarious living can be entertaining.

It can give us an escape.

It can be healthy if not overused.

 

It can also gives us an excuse.

An excuse not to live our own lives.

Make our own magic.

Have our own happy ending.

Vicarious living has caused stagnation in my life.

I am realizing that now.

 

I have spent much of my time on this planet imagining I had the life of someone else.

As a child I lived vicariously as a way to survive.

As a young adult, it was a way to dream and imagine the possibility of my life.

Even now I spend time on other blogs imagining how amazing it must feel to create,

 to succeed, to get published,

to own land, to do any of the things I wish and desire to do.

Silly me! All the time and energy I spent living vicariously

could have been spent creating exactly the life I want!

Of course I didn't always know what I wanted.

I learned a lot about what attracts me,

what moves me and what I desire through watching others.

From now on I vow to use observation

to learn

to appreciate

to get inspired

NOT to live vicariously.

no more excuses

no more fears

I vow to live my life.

full of action

full of love

full of passion

for Me!

How about you? Are you ready to live?

If you haven't already, start your journey today.

I dare you!

One Word Wednesday - Cock

Buha ha ha ha ha !!!

Made you look!!!!

Damn. I think the joke's on me.
Is that a male? I think it might be a female.
At any rate, it's one purdy bird.
Now I've officially screwed up my one word post with too many words.

Have a brilliant, fun and spontaneous Wednesday!!!

Artist Link

I am not much of a doll person.

Never have been.

Sure, I can tell a good doll from a bad,

a cute one from one less adoring,

and I can certainly tell good craftsmanship vs. mass produced in China,

but I have never really been a "doll person".

A bit ago I came across a doll artist whose work

Drew Me In!!!!

Her dolls are so unusual, so unique,

so haunting,

intriguing.

They are dolls like I have never seen before.

Those expressions, those eyes.

The clothing.

I keep going back and revisiting her blog

just to stare at her amazing creations.

Something about them draws me in.

They have stories to tell.

They are not your average girly doll.

See for yourself

HERE

Tidbits

Hello Blog Land!

I only have time to share tidbits of my weekend

as I'm off to start NaNoWriMo!

Weekend Tidbits:

We parted with my husband's 20 year old little blue bomber. 

His rusty, trusty, old Toyota station wagon.

He's been the proud owned for the past nine years.

It has faithfully allowed him to keep his job

by getting him to work safely and on time.

Now he works from home and needed a truck for hauling.
He did not want to part with his faithful friend but it was time to move on.

So long little fella. We'll miss you!

(Little Blue is now resides with an older couple and their dog in the country)

 

 Let's hear it for Costume Parties!!!!

 

It certainly wouldn't be Halloween without pumpkin carving.

Pictured here is our beloved cat Farley.

He's a 15 year old half-persian.

We named him after Chris Farley 

because they're both big, orange and funny!!!!

 

My husband and I went on a double date this weekend.

We went to The Comedy Club.

Guess who was headlining???

The Farley Brothers!!!!!!

 

(John Farley)

 (Kevin Farley)

 Hope you had a great weekend too!