One Part Inspiration...

The year that was to become, is now, the year that was.  And what a year it was!  I don't believe that any other year that I will live, will comprise so many big events.  2013 seemed to have had one of everything: births, death, (no resurrections - unless you count some of the meals I rescued), weddings, anniversaries, visits from far and near, retirements, big birthdays, additions, subtractions..and everything else in between.  As I look back, I realize that even though there were a lot of big events,  the 'in-between's' actually comprised most of the days, and this is what I share with you now: Days of Mercy At the beginning of the year, I saw this sunrise and made a picture of it - wondering if this was a sign about how the year would turn out.  I hoped it was because I had just come through a season of darkness. Rainbow Days  More harbingers appeared.  Each time I saw a rainbow, I was reminded again, that no matter what wa...

Every Christmas season, I choose carols to present at the special events.    One of the songs, which isn't sung much anymore, is " Good King Wenceslas ".   Truth be told, I have always found it sort of hum-drum. The melody is repetitious and I have never heard a version of it that captured my imagination. The story of Good King Wenceslas is about rich king who saw a poor man at The Feast of Stephen and decided to give him help. He enlists the help of his page-boy to go and bring him tangible help. Although I have sung it many times, it was always without much spirit. However, last year, I was struck by a vivid picture within the carol and it became a game-changer for me. Wenceslas and the page are about to go out into a raging storm.  I imagine it was the kind of blizzard in which you cannot see anything.  The kind of blizzard threatening the very life of the person who ventures out in it. The page says [voice trembling - my interpretation]: ...

Looks like another festive occasion, you say?  That's correct!  It was a big birthday for my mother-in-law and a great opportunity to celebrate together.  And even better, I got to use my good dishes! In case you lost the significance of that last statement, it was the first time since we left the farm four years ago, that I have been able to use them.  They have been in storage ever since then, until the week before the big wedding. I had a lot of fun laying out the flatware, and placing the plates in just the right place. I went online and re-learned how to fold the napkins into standing fans (epic fail at the elf's hat version....and this one: I added roses in a line of vases along the table for decoration.  The table isn't that big, so I decided that the guests could serve their plates in the kitchen.  I bought sparkling apple juice and filled the glasses for a toast to the birthday girl. The dinner was a great success.  The best part w...

Say you were going to have a baby shower and you were in charge of games.  Say you didn't quite know how they would all go.  It might be a good idea to try out the games on your husband and a couple of dinner guests to see what you might need for the shower. There are advantages to having your husband play the games that women usually play.  For one thing, husbands are very analytical, and can give you all sorts of  pointers on how to run the game more efficiently.  For another thing, you get a perspective on the games that would never have occurred to you in a million years.  And thirdly, it's a fun way to spend an evening with friends - to find out sides of them you never knew existed. Say one of the games was to try and guess the prices of baby items.  This game, played in mixed company would make the woman-friend feel very good about herself because the men would grossly overestimate the cost of the items.  For instance:  a jar of ...

I was going to write tonight.  But it just felt like too much thinking.  So I got distracted and started reading posts from other years about Christmas.  I have entertained myself for about an hour this way. "Oh yeah! That memory!" "I forgot about that.  That was a good one!" "Sniff" "LOL" And now, I am going to bed.  With visions of sugar plums dancing in my head.  I will be more diligent about a Christmas post another day.

Today I decided to write a post and went to my 'Drafts folder'.  I perused the various options for topics which I started and never finished.  Of all the choices, "Fitness" caught my eye.   I decided I would edit and then post all my wise thoughts on Fitness.  [It might be worth mentioning that I  started this post over a year ago]  I pressed "EDIT" and found the body of the post was empty. Maybe it's just my cracked sense of humour but I found it quite amusing that I had written N.O.T.H.I.N.G. on Fitness. What doesthatsayaboutmythoughtson fitness? That I have none?  That I am so motivated to become fit, I simply cannot find the time to blog about it? I tend to find more enjoyment in talking about other things? That I can no longer remember what I was going to say about fitness?  (Probably closest) So I start again. When I was in high school, I obsessed over my diet.  My diary was filled with a list of food I ...

Sometimes you have to think inside the box, and imagine it to be a different box. Case in point: In a bid to have my newly-minted silverware drawer more organized, I stopped at Ikea the other day to find a product which they carry. My new silverware drawer is bigger than the individual boxes I had been keeping the silverware in and I was finding that they were sliding all over the drawer.  I didn't want an old-fashioned silverware holder because I needed to store more items in it than the slots had room for.   I know this is a First-World problem, but it was frustrating to continually put the little boxes close to the front of the drawer, knowing they would slip to the back of the drawer as soon as I closed it.  I tried to use other items to stop the slide, but the items were not big enough.   What I needed was another one of theseexpandable sets so I could put all my ecoutrements inside and know they would stay in place.   Sounds easy enough, r...